A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (UPDATED 02/09/12)

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (billyboy)

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:56:39 GMT

Hey Lee, I don't know that Utica has necessarily "claimed" it, but it is a specialty at many Italian restaurants in the area.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (leethebard)

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:49:17 GMT

I've grown up with Escarole and beans...a standard Italian starter in many Italian restaurants around here in Jersey(and I'll bet many other places)....and I live nowhere near Utica!! How did Utica claim this one?

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle)

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:30:24 GMT

Ah, Croghan bologna. Sue's 96 year old uncle in Rochester usually has some of that good stuff around when we visit.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (billyboy)

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:01:32 GMT

Thanks Bruce! Green & beans is one i always seem to forget about, along with 1000 Islands River Rat cheese and Croghan bologna. I'll have to try some on my next trip to CNY in July.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (will_work_4_bbq)

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:09:28 GMT

I'm so glad this report got bumped. Somehow, I missed it the first time around. Fabulous report and remarkable pictures!

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle)

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:25:18 GMT

Billy, don't forget one of my favorite Utica dishes, greens and beans!

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (billyboy)

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:56:04 GMT

Hi ces1948!
I was reading through some of my reports and I realized that I never answered your question about Utica style greens. Sorry about that. They're not like southern style at all. Utica style are escarole greens that are sauteed in a pan with garlic and olive oil. Nearly every Italian restaurant in the Central NY region has them on the menu as an appetizer and each one has their own recipe and can also include: hot cherry peppers, prosciutto, provolone cheese, bread crumbs, parmesan and/or romano cheese, etc... I just had a shaved steak and greens sandwich for lunch today at a family favorite, Teddy's Restaurant, in Rome, NY (next to Utica) and it was great!

Cheers,
Billy

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (UPDATED 02/09/12) (CCinNJ)

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:58:07 GMT

I think Lulu Cake Boutique is now called Empire Cake. Same location...same goodies.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (cecif)

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 06:50:01 GMT

Amazing.
Jealous.
Yum.
Rock on, Billyboy!!!!!!

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (billyboy)

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:04:58 GMT

My last trip for 2011 was to visit my family in Syracuse, NY for Christmas. I made it back to Mother's Cupboard for breakfast. A seat at the counter meant I was able to watch the owner/cook engage with every local in the place (and I think he knew just about everyone's names!) and fix up some serious home fries! He's been working there about 14 years and has owned it for 7 years. The biscuits and sausage gravy called out to me and he threw a buttered biscuit on the griddle to make it even better. I was a bit disappointed to see the gravy being heated up in the microwave but it was pretty spectacular nonetheless. A hearty plate of rib-sticking food! Before I finished a couple saw me taking pictures and offered up the half of their 6lb frittata they couldn't finish as a model for my camera. Now I know what is next on my list...

My last stop was to the Second North Deli just a few blocks away from Alliance Bank Park, home of the Syracuse Chiefs baseball club. My sister had told me about this place a few years ago so I went back for another fresh London Broil sandwich with hot au jus and a side of homemade potato chip and a local Byrne Dairy milk. The beef was so tender and the bread was really crunchy on the outside and chewy inside, even after a dip in the jus "pool". And the chips had that balance of super crunchy edges and soft middles that I love! Sorry, I forgot the camera on this one.

Well, that's it for 2011. Thanks for sticking around. Hope to break bread with you at some point in 2012.
"Eating is an adventure, enjoy the ride!" - billyboy, 2012

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (leethebard)

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:59:40 GMT

Way to go, Billyboy!!!

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (CajunKing)

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:21:40 GMT

YOU DA MAN BILLYBOY!!

Awesome adventure and the foods not to shabby either

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (billyboy)

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:12:48 GMT

Back to Syracuse in October to run not one, but two races. My first meal that weekend was at the family-favorite, Stella's Diner, and I did my best to help my niece finish her very large chocolate milkshake. That's what family is for, right? The massive Fretta (read: mixed scramble) I had for dinner was delicious but had crying "uncle"!

The next day was the Run/Walk For William in Cicero, NY, a charity run to raise money for a local scholarship fund and I had the honor of meeting some very wonderful people. especially William's parents (the race coordinators).

My post-run reward was lunch at the B'Ville Diner in Baldwinsville, NY. In applying all that buffetbuster has taught me over the years I made sure to ask which pies were homemade and to order my coconut meringue slice BEFORE my meal! The locally-made Gianelli sausage marinara sandwich with home fries was no slouch either.

The day before running the inaugural Empire State Half Marathon, I went to the Expo to pick up my race packet and had the honor of meeting and getting to speak with Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon (1967).

My post race treat was an amazing homemade roast pork dinner with my extended family at my sister's house and a special treat I picked up was a mini in-house made grape pie from Wegman's supermarket. Flaky, buttery crust and an intensely grape-y flavor, I was only good for about 1/4 of this before passing it on to others.

In the weeks before I ran the NYC Marathon, I scaled back on the Roadfooding to give my body time to adjust to eating lighter and eating food that would better serve me in going the distance for 26.2 miles. However, my friends did put on a wonderful, touching pre-race pasta carb-load party the evening before with all sorts of tasty (regionally inspired) foods. Trays of homemade lasagnas, chicken riggies, salads, breads from a local bakery, whoopie pie, Nutella and PB, and PB & J cupcakes were but some of the delights we indulged in the night before the race. Sorry, I only managed to get shots of the cupcakes!

Running and Roadfooding has been a special mix for me for some time now and these next pics are the culmination of a lot of hard work over the past two years and many of my friends and family have been so supportive and even indulged with me on many Roadfood/Running adventures (running 4 miles to Peter Liuger's with my friend Eb for a bacon cheeseburger come to mind!). Billy below with Doug and Eb, the two best wingmen any runner could ask for!

Doug and I picking up our bibs at the Expo.

I've run so many times for almost every reason on here.

Our friends at the pasta party took turns writing us good luck messages.

Emerald Nuts is a big sponsor of many local races in NYC.

Doug and his wife put a lot of work into planning and hosting this party and my eyes welled up a bit when I walked in and saw all of the signs and these very special and funny quotes all over the wall. The effort that went into this really reminded me of how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends.

Marisa and D'Angelo came out to support Uncle Bill on his first marathon!

The whole gang met up post-race at a Starbucks near Central Park. When I walked in, Doug came over and gave me a hug at which point everyone in the place cheered and applauded. Wow!

My finish time.

And the medal. What a rush! To this day my eyes still well up when I listen to the theme song to "The Greatest American Hero" (believe it or not, I'm walkin' on air...). Yeah, I know, sappy, but what can I say?

Lest you think there wasn't ANY Roadfood during the race weekend, we did celebrate our finish the next day with cheeseburgers, extra crispy fries and shakes at the RF reviewed All-American Hamburger Drive-In in Massapequa, NY. In my post-race condition (read: loopiness) I forgot the camera but I can say that they were utterly amazing and can't wait to go back. About a week later I was helping Doug and Marisa paint their apartment and we had another post-race treat, pizza from Nick's Pizza in Forest Hills, Queens. They keep a pretty small menu of pizza and calzones. No sandwiches, wraps, pastas...pretty simple and amazing. The red and white pie was excellent but it was the fresh mozzarella, fresh ricotta and broccoli rabe calzone that blew me away. So rich and creamy and then the bitterness and the rabe cut through it and the dough was so crispy, chewy and had a great bready, yeasty flavor to it. Top shelf!

A subdued finale coming up...

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (UPDATED 02/04/12) (Tex-Max)

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:04:20 GMT

That North Star Orchard Cherry Pie looks awesome! The photography is not bad either. Thanks for sharing.
TM

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (jaylhorner)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:14:40 GMT

I'm getting smarter..... I now read your reports after breakfast!

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (billyboy)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:53:29 GMT

After reading cecif's report from a few years ago, I put the Patio DRIVE-IN on my short list. Definitely a "locals" kind of place and with throwback charm I really loved the Ham Bar-B-Que sandwich. Hopefully I'll be back this summer to try their famous chili dogs.

A friend of mine had told me about the homemade pies at Pumpernickel's Original New York Delicatessen in New Hartford, NY so we met up to split a couple of slices. Despite a big list I immediately honed in on the butterscotch pie and the coconut cream pie. Both were definitely homemade and I can't wait to go back and work my way through their menu.

A couple more trips to Voss BAR B Q (because I can never get enough of that homemade bbq sauce and chili!!) After I chowed down on a turkey bbq sandwich, Mexi-Burger, and a sausage sandwich with chili I was very content and happy I was able to squeeze in three trips here this summer.

Somehow in between all of this Roadfooding, I managed to squeeze in a half marathon! Running around the lake where I spent my youth fishing, camping, skiing with my family and friends sure brought back a lot of wonderful memories for me. And a new memory was created when my 6-year old niece (and the rest of my family) was waiting for me on the sidelines to hand me some much needed Gatorade! My fan club is loyal!

And I had to make one of the last foods of this a trip a homemade cherry pie from North Star Orchards.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (sk bob)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:30:05 GMT

HEY BILLY, I,m salivating enough to drown here.
but don't stop.
great job.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (Greymo)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:39:50 GMT

ces1948

Great stuff!
I was wondering about the Utica greens. Are they similar at all to southern style greens? they kind of look the same except for what appears to be cheese on the top.

I make this quite often. My recipe consists of escarole, chopped onions, chopped cherry peppers, and a little chopped salami or pepperoni or procuitto. We love it and usually have it with chicken parmesan.
OOps...............forgot that there are some bread crumbs and shredded parmesan cheeese in it.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (CajunKing)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:34:46 GMT

I can see why they say "I HEART NY" Im drooling

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (ces1948)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:58:51 GMT

Great stuff!
I was wondering about the Utica greens. Are they similar at all to southern style greens? they kind of look the same except for what appears to be cheese on the top.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (CCinNJ)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:34:28 GMT

Excellent report Billy!!

Congratulations on the running!! It is not easy but fun when you love to run!!

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (mar52)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:00:24 GMT

WOW! I have so much to say about everything so I won't!

You did an outstanding job with your pictures and I love your choice of friends and foods!

I like that you chose to eat or report on different types of food in your travels around town.

I'm also stealing some ideas on serving from your pictures.

Thank you for all that went in to your report.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (billyboy)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:57:47 GMT

In mid-October I went back up to my hometown of Rome, NY to run the Delta Lake Half Marathon. My first meal was at my nostalgic favorite, Teddy's Restaurant. The teddy bears and Teddy Roosevelt theme has always interested me and the food, especially the chicken parmesan, is quite good. On this visit, the Utica Style Greens appetizer was a taste of home and the homemade warm Toll House Pie won me over wholeheartedly.

I was going to include all of the tomato pies and pusties I had eaten on this trip but decided to just focus on the best ones I had tried. However, I did have to include the doughnuts I also bought at Ferlo's Bakery. Some of the best I have ever tried and I even came back for more at Christmas but forgot to get pics of the Boston Cream, Headlight, and chocolate cake versions I also tried but they were crispy, creamy and quite addictive!

A return trip to Roma Sausage & Deli was in order to pick up a half tomato pie and also to try one of their pre-wrapped slices to compare to the others I tried that day. The crispy, chewy, yeasty crust combined with the fresh tasting tomato sauce and salty, nutty romano cheese put it head and shoulders above the rest.

Just a short drive down the same street was Florentine Pastry Shop where I had chocolate and coconut custard filled pusties (pasticciotti) that haunt my dreams to this day.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (pnwchef)

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:59:04 GMT

Billy, nothing spells out the food culture and simple flavors of New York more than two simple words, "A slice". The walk up window at Patsy's is priceless and a slice at $1.75 has to be the best bargain in America. A NY Slice, only served at one place in my town is $2.50. I don't even want to talk about the Lobster roll, I've been missing these for over 30 years................pnwc

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (jaylhorner)

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:35:13 GMT

What a great way to start my day!

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (CajunKing)

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:19:08 GMT

My best Homer impression

"Mmmmmm Pies!!!!!!!!"

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (leethebard)

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:03:58 GMT

oooohh, those pies!!!!!

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (billyboy)

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:50:09 GMT

My friend Brooke and I spent an afternoon exploring the relatively new High Line Park in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. A really cool park developed on abandoned elevated subway tracks it offers some amazing view of the Hudson River, tall buildings and the city below without the traffic and pedestrian congestion of the streets below. And there are plenty of relaxing places to sit, enjoy something to eat and just people watch. Food vendors are starting to set up shop i the park and we found an outpost of People's Pops. The rhubarb shave ice I bought was cool and very refreshing on a hot summer day.

Towards the northern end of the park we found a food courts, an outdoor ballroom dance class in session as well as some food trucks such as a lobster roll truck, pizza truck and ice cream sandwiches truck. The one that really caught our eyes was the La Bella Torte dessert truck. The owner/operator was a man who had left his former profession as a union plumber to do something different. His wife does the baking and he operates the truck. We talked with him for a bit and he had some great stories from his life. The cannoli was really good too as was the S'Mores cake pop.

While I haver never visited Green Acres Orchards near Craryville, NY, I felt compelled to post the pie pictures because well, it's PIE and I have eaten pies from there on a few occasions and have been blown away every single time. The Apple Raspberry pie was chock full a fresh fruit in a buttery crust but the Peach Pie was the pie of my dreams!

I spent another day exploring a some Roadfood eats near the Madison Square Park area of Manhattan. The estimable RF-reviewed institution that is Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop was a narrow hallway of a place and like a throwback in time. The egg/tuna salad combo sandwich caught me eye and turned out be be very fresh tasting and jut moist enough and the cherry-lime rickey with which I washed it down was freshly made. I love that they make the kind of food that they make and you either get it or you don't.

Hill Country Barbeque * Market now has an offshoot called Hill Country Chicken just a few block away offering up fried chicken, fried pimento cheese sandwiches, and biscuits just to name a few things. My reason for stopping here on this days was to sample some of their many pies. I figured Buffetbuster would appreciate the seeing the "Pie Happy Hour" concept making it's way to the Big Apple! I picked up a couple of 3" Pie Cups which were between $3 - $3.50 (depending on the kind of pie). The Whiskey Buttermilk was a silky custard and very good but the Cowboy pie was so rich I almost wished I had ordered a glass of milk with it. It was exactly like a Magic Bar or Seven-Layer Bar in a buttery graham cracker crust that my mom used to make when I was a kid. Definitely heading back to try more pies on that menu.

Up next on the year's end RF Channel...back to CNY in October for some races and a tomato pies and pusties smackdown!

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (billyboy)

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:36:22 GMT

cavandre, that has been my "go-to" bagel combo for years. Ever since I was a kid I've had a thing for salty/sweet combinations.

Re:A look back on 2011: The Roadfood Year That Was (cavandre)

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:51:42 GMT

Everything bagel w. raisin-walnut cream cheese...how did you come up with that combo?