My thanks to Roadfood.com

In a way I feel like a thief cause I get more from this website than I give. I cannot express how much pleasure I have received from the people I have met, the e-mail I have received, the post I have made and the recipocal post I have observed.

This is a neat hobby. I must confess that I am not a very good cook although I constantly experiment. I observe the knowledge of lleechef, Bushie, EliseT and of course the "Mayor. I will never be in the class of those fine people. Hopefully this Sundancer of the Tennessee Valley will learn and profit from all the posters. I will also confess that I have learned immensely from the different thoughts, recipes and techniques from the thousands of post that I have read in 2003.

I have to say that I have enjoyed this site and it has given me immense pleasure this past year. I can only hope that the following year continues to do the same. My sincere thanks to all that made my year at this site fun, educational and developing friendship with many of you. Some I will never meet although I feel that I know you.

Sincerely and respectfully

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I second that emotion! This site is truly a treasure of the web!!! everyone involved,from Jane and Michael Stearn to the newest jr burger with no posts, should be proud of themselves. I have gotten great "reads"--love the poetry!---,met new friends,picked up new recipes and enjoyed lots of great meals on the road thanks to the postings on this site--btw--the rec to get into the Loveless Cafe before any possible changes were made was GREATLY appreciated!!!!!--a highlight of my xmas trip!!-- Thanks to all of you!And heres hopeing you all have a Happy and prosperous New Year!!

Amen & Ditto!

Amen Paul!

You nailed it right on the head! I've been surfing Roadfood.com for a couple years now... I just recently ventured past the reviews and visited the forums... The knowledge base there is unbeleivable... You learn things you never knew about, yet in some threads get a filling of laughter that lingers for days with ya! I've been web surfing since around 1981 when it first started to get some basic ground, yet this site I visit when I wake up, work, get home and even on them sleepless nights! (Must be some sort of junkie).. ha ha... Nice thing is, it can only get better! I'm eager to read posts from some of the seasoned members, along with the new ones with a fresh view! Nice thread and Happy 2004!

Sincerely,

Victor Miske
Ada, MI

Gosh, Paul, that sounded like a retirement speech. I know it's not. All of us have prospered from your insights, your experiences, your knowledge, and your love of life.
One of the great byproducts of being active in this site is knowing that you're there.
One of my goals for this year is to meet some of the wonderful people on Roadfood.com. My wish is to make sure I have the pleasure of making your acquaintance in person.

I am proud to be able to call you my friend, Paul. And I do enjoy the growing friendships that I share with many of you folks out there. Roadtrips are taking on a new component now...We have to try to include a stop to meet XXXX as we pass thru whereever we are going. That adds a whole new dimension to our travel.
Our Jan-Feb roadtrip is begining to take shape and we are excited about some of the stops being included.

KIM- Did you tell Dave about your destination for the Vegas-Grand Canyon trip yet???

As I see it, a pickle can begin an adventure. Having worked on the Stern’s Blue Plate Specials, and owning a number of their books, I was well aware of the Roadfood site and would visit it frequently. But I paid no attention to the forums. Then one day in mid-October, I noticed there was a thread for True Kosher Dills. I put in my two-cents plain, and I have been hooked ever since. The enthusiasm and camaraderie that all of you express is overwhelming, not to mention the wit and – yes – knowledge possess. Watching the countdown to the Christening Contest was exciting a time as I had all year. Okay, I should get out more. You have brought many a smile to a not-so-old grouch, even if I did lose my prom date to Clothier. In a way, you are friends to me, even though I don’t know any of you. I wish you all the best for the coming year.

Rob Chirico (Grampy)
Greenfield, Mass

Paul,

You are so right and I love your use of the word hobby when it comes to our participation in Roadfood.com since I have also come to view it just that way. There is so much talk about predatory chat rooms and nasty websites that this little e-village of ours is a true oasis in a pretty filthy desert.

Thank you all for sharing your wisdom and good fellowship in the past year. I, for one, look forward to more of the same in 2004. Happy New Year!

I, too, appreciate your comments, Paul. Do know that your contributions enrich and enhance the experience of everyone here. We have all learned from you.

Thank you for the help you routinely and graciously provide. You have a generous spirit, my friend, and make a fine ambassador for the Volunteer State.

I particularly admire you for engaging new folks and making them feel kindly welcome.

Very nice post Sundancer !! Well said !

I always enjoy reading your posts and other regular posters as well !! This is a great place and I have derived many hours of enjoyment and entertainment here !!

I wish for the best for all during then next year !!

Sundancer,

You will ALWAYS be in the fraternity of what you called "those fine people". Cooking and eating is what makes your tummy happy. You don't have to be a French-trained chef! You could just keep cookin potatoes, okra and other stuff and naming all of it "Tennessee" this and "Tennessee" that. And it will all always taste GREAT!

We do happen to have a great cast of characters here on Roadfood. We can argue the virtues of chili with or without beans, cornbread with or without sugar, we can get off the subject without getting yelled at (well, Mr. Mayor does occasionally interrupt us, but not often).

Without the direction of you Roadfooders, I would not have eaten the dreeeaaaammmmmyyyy ribs at Dreamland in Alabama, not have had the ice cream of a lifetime at Blue Bunny in Le Mars, Iowa, not have eaten at Acme Oyster House in NOLA, Bob's Bar in Martinsburg, Nebraska and on and on. Thanks to all of you for the food recommendations, comraderie, the bantering, the recipes, the emails.

Best wishes to all and Happy New Year!!!!

My Thanks as well, I was really sick Last November December, January and February. Crohens Disease was about to do me in. Needless to say My ability to eat was non existent, bad Medicine reactions, in an out of the Hospital was just about more than I could Handle. But My love for food and the anticipation of the Sterns next review kept me coming to the site daily. Not only that, but I went state to state looking at all the old reviews. The mouth watering pictures were almost healing in some way.

My niece who was my caretaker a lot of the time just couldn't understand why I was "Torturing" myself by visiting the web site so much. But again, it gave me something to look forward to when I got well again. Also if things went from bad to worse I knew my old eating habits would be gone and the memories from this site would help to get me thru the rest of the hard times as well.

I am fine now, I am better than ever. I am giving the restaurants all the business they can handle. I am also making a list of the Roadfood Places that I will visit on my next "Roadtrip." Thanks go out to the Sterns and all you roadfooders out there that helped me thru the worst time of my life. I mean that from the bottom of my heart and all the other internal organs inside too! Even if they were the ones causing me all the trouble.

"Happy New Year Everybody"

BigGlenn, Glad you conquered Crohens and we all provided you with some entertainment! For the most part, being snarky is what we're really good at (it'll make you smile) and we can recommend the best places on the planet to eat (it'll make your TUMMY smile) and there are those of us that can tell you how to make a PERFECT Stolini! That'll make you happy too.

Glad you're better than ever! God Bless ya! and Happy New Year!

You'all have made this web site a joy to be part of. If it weren't for all the active, opinionated, friendly, provocative, right-on, and way-off input from registered users, Roadfood.com would not exist ... or would be very, very boring. Thanks to all you burgers of various sizes and configurations for sharing a delicious journey. Here's to good eating in the New Year!

Hey Michael, Who are all the people with you, where were you and what were y'all eating?

It looks like a white clam pie at Pepe's to me.

Grampy's right. It's a white clam pizza at Pepe's in New Haven. Those with amazing patience, posing for the camera rather than hoisting a hot slice, are, left to right, Steve Rushmore, Cindy Kuechle, me, Jane, Stephen Rushmore, and Marc Bruno. (Marc, by the way, is currently in Greece planning meals for the 2004 Olympians.)

I think it all comes down to a love of people.

Michael, I'm very jealous -- we went to Pepe's Tuesday night for the son's birthday, put in the obligatory 45 minutes on line, only to view with horror the sign on the interior door: "Sorry, no clam pies today" (complete with frowning clams)....we hung in there with a pepperoni and a bacon-and-onion, but nothing tops the bivalves....

I, too, am very grateful for this site. I check it daily at the least, and have always received great suggestions when posting a "where should I eat" query -- thanks to you all!

Joe K.

That Rushmore sure gets around. Twice in the same photo in different guises!!!!

Hey what photo is everyone referring to? I don't see one on this thread.
I cleared my cache and the pic magically appeared.

Thanks to all that have posted to the posted.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Thank you to the Sterns for running this unbelievable website. I believe I understand more about American cooking and eating now that I ever had before

This is one amazing website. The collective intelligence and wit is impressive, not to mention your knowledge of and passion for good food. It's a real joy to communicate with folks whose dining choices don't end at McD's, Red Slobster and Pizza Hut!

Ditto to all the above! This is a great site with lots of fantastic food info of all kinds, not to mention some pretty interesting and neat contributors. It gives me much pleasure to read the posts on the forums, and, more recently, to contribute as well, not to mention inspiring me to hunt out roadfood in my new area. I'd like to add my thanks to the Sterns and all the participants.

ps - I recently listened to a re-broadcast of Jane discussing Ambulance Girl on the Diane Rehm show and that was really moving and great too. Cool runnings.

When I sign on my 'puter everyday, this is the first site I come to. I may not post that much, but I always have to read what has been posted since the last time I was here, lol. I love this site...I found a place about 15 miles from me, (Keatons's BBQ) that I had no idea was there until I found this website!

I also would like to add my thanks for the great website and the contributors. I look forward to seeing what's new every day. Someday I hope to be able to figure out how to do a review and post photos.
A comment on the photo at Pepe's.....Six people and ONE??? white clam pizza. I sure hope more were coming as that paltry amount wasn't worth standing in line for....or was it?
My bet is that the Sterns sneak in the back door and get seated immediately.

quote:

Originally posted by Roy

I also would like to add my thanks for the great website and the contributors. I look forward to seeing what's new every day. Someday I hope to be able to figure out how to do a review and post photos.
A comment on the photo at Pepe's.....Six people and ONE??? white clam pizza. I sure hope more were coming as that paltry amount wasn't worth standing in line for....or was it?
My bet is that the Sterns sneak in the back door and get seated immediately.

Roy, just to set the record straight: that was the first of four Pepe's pizzas the Roadfood team faced that day, after dining at Modern Apizza and before Sally's. (We did take home leftovers from the 12 pies ... just to sample how they tasted eaten cold from the refrigerator in the middle of the night, then reheated the next day.) We did NOT wait in line ... but only because we arrived at Pepe's 10 minutes before opening.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Stern

quote:

Originally posted by Roy

I also would like to add my thanks for the great website and the contributors. I look forward to seeing what's new every day. Someday I hope to be able to figure out how to do a review and post photos.
A comment on the photo at Pepe's.....Six people and ONE??? white clam pizza. I sure hope more were coming as that paltry amount wasn't worth standing in line for....or was it?
My bet is that the Sterns sneak in the back door and get seated immediately.

Roy, just to set the record straight: that was the first of four Pepe's pizzas the Roadfood team faced that day, after dining at Modern Apizza and before Sally's. (We did take home leftovers from the 12 pies ... just to sample how they tasted eaten cold from the refrigerator in the middle of the night, then reheated the next day.) We did NOT wait in line ... but only because we arrived at Pepe's 10 minutes before opening.

Michael, let's not forget the excursion we also had at Louis Lunch while we waited for Pepe's to open!

Thanks Michael, I definitely feel better now....I knew there had to be an explanation. Glad you included Modern which is my personal favorite except for the Pepe's white clam which is incomparable. Have you posted the results of the cold and reheated taste tests?