Tartinet's Profile
PVD/RI * May '12 * Open/Closed/Coming Soon
I noticed that City LIne Pizza, on North Main Street at the Pawtucket border, has an "opening soon under new management" sign up. Here's hoping "new management" knows how to make good pizza.
PVD/RI * May '12 * Open/Closed/Coming Soon
Classic Cafe on Pawtucket Ave (near Gold's Gym) has closed. They were a serviceable diner with good diner food, run by a charming family. Not exactly a chowhound destination, but beloved to me after years of friendly work lunches there.
Anyone want to open a humble but fantastic sandwich shop there, please? With good coffee?
Cape Cod in Winter discussion....Anything?
Quick's Hole is only open May-October, but I do think it has the best food in Woods Hole, which is unfortunately not saying much. It's good, local ingredients, efficient, fresh, no-nonsense, but not a place to linger over a leisurely dinner.
I wish they could combine their food with the location and ambiance of Phusion (down the street with a lovely view of Eel Pond and the bridge).
Quick's Hole
6 Luscombe Avenue
Woods Hole, MA 02543
(508) 495-0792
Good Southern Cuisine / BBQ in Providence/Patwucket, RI
Best bet it may be, but please lower your expectations. I had a bizarre sandwich there. It was called pulled pork on the menu, but it was hunks of meat, almost no sauce, strange pasty coleslaw, and the sauce on the table was good, but nothing I'd call barbecue sauce (and I know there are many kinds-- this was none of them. I hope my experience was an off day. I haven't been back to check.
(And my barbecue bona fides are that I grew up in Virginia, eating Carolina-style barbecue. Food of the gods, with juice down to your elbows.)
Dulles to Ocean City, MD: any good chow near Rt 50?
Family road trip! Six adults, ages thirty-some to ninety-some, will be driving from Dulles to Ocean City on an early June Friday afternoon. Hoping to miss Bay Bridge traffic, we're leaving Dulles at noon.
We're REALLY hoping to find somewhere delicious to stop on the way: anything from a full lunch with meat and two veg, to a stellar doughnut shop. Our tastes are broad: soft shell crabs, fried chicken, vegan burritos, cockaleekie soup, we like it all, as long as it's delicious, and made by people who love food. Cheap is nice but not required. Bucolic outdoor seating a bonus.
Thanks in advance, hounds!
Anyone been to the Providence Farmer's Market recently, especially Lippitt Park on Wednesday?
I was just there this afternoon, and I was impressed how well-attended it was (by vendors and shoppers). The vendors I noticed included Farmacy Herbs, Pat's Pastured, Wishing Stone, Schartner, 7 Stars, Olga's, and then at least that many more that I didn't get close enough to register who they were. Plenty to make it worth your while to show up. Easy to get your week's worth of food there.
And the fountain is working now! So nice.
Quick's Hole in Woods Hole: good pork tacos
This is probably the best food in the village of Woods Hole, which isn't saying that much (you can spend more money and/or get worse food almost anywhere else). They specialize in fresh, well-made tacos and burritos, and they have a liquor license (just beer and wine), and the atmosphere of a friendly take-out shop with a bar and a few tables, including an outdoor area.
The best thing I've eaten there is the pulled pork tacos: meaty, savory pork; tangy, crisp red-cabbage slaw, just the right amount of a crema-like "secret sauce", and fairly good corn tortillas (you can get flour too, but the corn are better). They are wonderful: tasty, filling but not groan-inducing, and freshly made. The lobster taco is very good as well, and the chicken and veggie tacos are just fine.
Not as good is the fish taco, made with fried fish. It's too much fried (thick, greasy batter) and not enough fish. Also worth skipping are the sweet potato fries, which are the all-too-common thick, limp and bland variety. It seems like whoever's running the fryolater just needs more training, and things will improve.
The tacos come with slaw or hot chips, and since the tacos themselves have so much (tasty) cabbage in them, I usually go for the chips, which are good but not amazing. They have a salsa bar, with mild, pico de gallo, and "no joke hot." I have not yet been brave enough to try the hot one, but the other two are quite nice and fresh (none of the pasty jarred stuff).
Quick's Hole is not super-cheap, but reasonable given the quality of the ingredients. Tacos are $9.00 (except the lobster, which are $15.00). They tout their support for local foods, and they have very cool recyclable and compostable cups, utensils, and containers.
Rasoi-Indian Restaurant
I second all that, and add that they were extremely accommodating, patient, and polite with my friend's dietary restrictions.
I loved the lamb/prune dish.
Can I save royal icing in the fridge for a few days?
I made some royal icing (with meringue powder) to decorate cookies, and I'm wondering how long I could save it in the fridge before it got unsafe to use. After 24 hours it was still totally workable, but I'm wondering if there's a point that the egg white powder would get funky...
I store it in a plastic squeeze bottle, so there's minimal air exposure or drying out, if that matters.
Special night out near Woods Hole?
Thanks for the suggestion of Osteria La Civetta. It seems like just the place we were looking for. Unfortunately, we didn't make a reservation, and we decided not to wait the projected half hour to 45 minutes for a table (this was early on a Saturday evening).
Instead, we made the terrible decision to go down the street to Roo Bar. Oh dear.
I ordered the osso buco, which was actually a lamb shank. A dry, dry lamb shank, served over gorgonzola-pear risotto, which was somehow both pasty and gritty, as well as being far too rich. Bleah.
I could go on, but the bottom line is that Roo Bar is style over substance; a place where good ingredients go to die an over-garnished, under-appreciated death.
Next time, we'dl happily wait 45 minutes at Osteria la Civetta, which looks charming.
LJ's BBQ
I had the "pulled pork" the only time I've been, and it was not what I think of as pulled pork. As Frobisher said, it's heavy, and I also found it dry and a bit tough. The coleslaw seemed similarly off to me.
I should go back and give them another chance, but I'm not holding my breath until I make it back.
Special night out near Woods Hole?
We're leaving the baby with her grandparents for the evening, and going out for dinner for the first time since she was born! We don't know the food scene there, but that's where the babysitting is, so that's where we'll eat! So can anyone help?
My first choice would be: within a 20 minute drive of Woods Hole, quiet atmosphere (no TVs), good service, and delicious food and wine. Any price point is fine: it may be another three months before we go out again, so we can splurge! Extra bonus points for paper-covered tables that we can draw on to amuse ourselves and each other (whether or not that's appropriate in a nice restaurant is another thread entirely).
I know our choices might be limited, since it's the off-season, so it's not likely that The Perfect Place exists. I can compromise on anything but the drive time and the delicious.
We like all kinds of food: spicy, meaty, veggie, fancy, plain... As long as it's delicious.
Thanks for your help!
Best delivery/takeaway in Pawtucket, RI?
Pho Horn's is great. I especially like their pho, pad thai, and a cold noodle/salad/grilled meat concoction whose name escapes me right now. In my opinion, it's better than Apsara Palace.
I've heard good things about Kafe Lila in Pawtucket, but haven't been myself.
In my experience, the China Inn is a solid, predictable American/Chinese place. No surprises, good or bad.
Cocina Guatemalteca in Providence/CF/Pawt
Mi Guatemala on Atwells is friendly, cheap, has huge portions, and (I assume) lots of Guatemalan food. I've eaten there twice, and both times it's been good, if not amazing, but I ordered pretty tamely. They might have more interesting stuff if you go deeper into the menu than I did.
Mi Guatemala
1049 Atwells Ave
Providence, RI 02909
(401) 621-9147
dinner salads in Providence?
I like the salads at Pizzico on Hope St. It's been a while since I've been there, but I remember a grilled salmon one, a grilled shrimp one, and a roasted asparagus one. I also really like their antipasto plate (no lettuce, but various delicious veg and marinated beans, etc).
CSA's in RI
We've tried both Wishing Stone and Ledge Ends. Ledge Ends actually encouraged us to eat more locally, since there's less choice involved. You just get a certain amount of each vegetable that's available that week. There is a swapping bin, where you can leave things you don't want and take something else, but we ended up learning how to cook and like more vegetables: baby turnips, celery root, kohl rabi, etc.
Wishing Stone was more convenient, however, since it's like shopping at a regular farmers' market with a debit account. You can skip a week, you can buy only the vegetables you know you like, and they have local grass-fed ground beef. You just have to keep in mind how much you're spending each week, so you come out even at the end of the summer.
Providence: Garrison's store closed, but they're still in business
And here's their website:
My Calphalon anodized aluminum pan is blistering!
Yeah, I know. I noticed the build-up, and since it seemed like a nice seasoned cast-iron surface, I gave in to my lazy tendencies and left it alone. Now I just have ten years of finely-seasoned crud that's starting to come off!
When I had an old, used cast-iron pan with a flaking patina, I just put it in a fire to burn it off and start fresh with bare metal. But I don't want to try that with this, since I don't know the temperature sensitivities of that anodized surface.
I have an awful lot of elbow grease in my future.
prix fixe in providence
I actually have had much better lunch and dinner experiences at Oak than their horrible, terrible brunch would lead you to believe. A few times, dinner has actually risen to the level of "quite decent, nothing wrong with it."
But I only continue to go there for dinner because it's nearby. I would not go out of my way.
My Calphalon anodized aluminum pan is blistering!
I really don't think it's aluminum, but you're right, I'm not 100% sure. The underlying surface looks just like a new anodized pan (smooth, dark grey). I might try the recommended Dormond stuff first, then resort to Comet if that doesn't do it, and if I still have no luck, then I'll go shopping! This pan was built to withstand serious abuse, and I'd hate to landfill it just for a possibly-solvable surface issue. I've been a big fan of that pan for as long as I've had it, and haven't had any problems with scratching so far.
Thanks for all replies!
My Calphalon anodized aluminum pan is blistering!
I've had this pan for more than 10 years--it was my first "real" piece of kitchen equipment. Over the years, it developed a smooth black patina, just like a cast iron pan. I treated it pretty much like cast iron: not a lot of soap, not a lot of scouring, left it clean but a little greasy between uses. The problem is that in the past couple months, that black patina has started blistering off. Little flakes of it must be ending up in food, but I haven't noticed. The unpopped blisters don't respond to a green dish scrubber, but I haven't tried a brillo pad yet...
Any one else have this happen?
How nasty are those flakes to ingest?
Should I try to remove the whole patina?
How would I even do that?
Thanks!
Joe's Shish Kabob in Fall River: Yum.
With the great lebanese bakeries and markets in Fall River, I knew there had to be a chowish restaurant hidden somewhere. Well, here it is. Joe's Shish Kabob has great, authentic lebanese food, even better than my old favorite, Lebanese Kitchen, in New Bedford. Five of us shared hummus, cabbage rolls, grape leaves, kibbe, pita (hot and puffy and chewy), mjaddarah, baklava, tabbouleh, and falafel. The food was delicious, seemed very freshly made, and was attractively arranged. The owner (I assume) was welcoming and attentive and all-around lovely. I didn't see what the total tab was, but the prices on the menu seemed reasonable.
One of the people we were with is both Syrian-American and a great cook, and even he agreed that it was very good: "almost as good as my mom's." Which is really all you can ask for.
The atmosphere, well, who cares. It's probably not a good first-date place (bright lights, plastic tables), but it's an attractive high-ceilinged mill space with exposed brick and ducts. Looks like a classy sandwich shop. But just go for the food. And then go back for all the food you didn't have room for the first time.
It's smallish: there are four or five tables, and I saw somewhere online that they're BYOB, although we did not B our own B.
Joe's Shish Kabob
275 Martine Street (Rt. 6)
Fall River, MA 02723
508-678-1818
Providence Dim Sum: Lucky Garden review...
Just went to Lucky Garden for dim sum (second trip), and had a mixed experience... The fried things were verrrrry greasy. We got the salt and pepper squid and fried taro dumplings stuffed with shrimp and pork. The squid was good for a few bites; but the taro things were so greasy I couldn't finish even one.
Other things were wonderful: the steamed rice roll with roast pork (much more flavorful than the steamed rice roll with shrimp that we got last time), the sticky rice in lotus leaf (stuffed with pork, mushrooms, and chicken, although the description only mentions chicken), and the choi sum were all delicious. One hint: ask for hot sauce and hot mustard (if you like that kind of thing).
The waitress encouraged us to get the egg tarts, which were... eggy. A bit like a sweet, light flan in a pie crust. They were fine. We also ordered the pork shumai, which tasted more like bland Italian sausage in a rice-paper wrapper than anything Chinese.
So, we'll definitely be back, but now we know a few things to avoid. In terms of amounts, the three of us couldn't finish everything I've listed here (brought home one of the egg tarts and one of the lotus-leaf packages), and the tab came to $38 with tax and tip.
Easy New Mom Dinners
I worked out a recipe for a huge batch of chicken-vegetable lasagna, anticipating being in exactly your situation next summer. I wanted a one-dish, leave it in the oven, protein, veg starch meal, and came up with this:
http://winkerwanker.blogspot.com/2007/11/if-you-ate-nothing-else-it-might-feed.html
"Butter" made from chicken fat? Could it be possible?
Thanks for the details. My favorite recipe is the second kind, with big wads of butter in it.
Instead of trying to make chicken fat take the place of butter in my normal recipe, maybe I'll try a different kind of recipe that might lend itself more naturally to a liquid-free fat. I'll look up that thread. Thanks!
"Butter" made from chicken fat? Could it be possible?
mmm, schmaltz....
There are all kinds of tasty things you can make with schmaltz, but I'm mainly just wondering if this Chicken Butter thing is possible, just for fun. Yes, a very specific, chowhoundy kind of fun. :-)
"Butter" made from chicken fat? Could it be possible?
As I understand it, the water content of butter is key when you're making the kind of biscuits I'm going for. The butter gets trapped between layers of dough, and when the oven turns the water in the butter to steam, the biscuits rise and become light and flaky.
I have made biscuits with rendered pork fat (lard) before, and they were a little greasy and heavy compared to butter biscuits. I did put the pork fat in the freezer, but it liquified again almost immediately when I started cutting it into the flour. Which is not to say we didn't eat them all and wish for more! :-)
"Butter" made from chicken fat? Could it be possible?
I have a bunch of nice, organic, rendered chicken fat leftover from making a huge batch of stock. I hate to throw it away, but it would take me forever to use so much in normal cooking. Can I somehow emulsify some liquid with the chicken fat, so I get something that would act like butter in biscuit dough?
I'm thinking i could warm up the fat, put it in the food processor, and add warm water bit by bit as the machine is running. If that worked, I could pour the temporary emulsion onto a cookie sheet and freeze it, so it gets solid before it has a chance to separate. I wonder if there's something I could add to the fat or the water to encourage emulsification.
Any food scientists or fellow experimentalists out there have any ideas?
Near the train station in Beverly?
I'm coming to Beverly to go out with some friends. They're not as food-obsessed as I am, so I'm turning to my fellow chowhounds for help finding a place for a Friday night dinner.
My ideal place would be walking distance to the commuter rail station, quiet enough for good conversation, nice enough atmosphere that we'll feel like lingering, and amazingly delicious. Does such a thing exist? It doesn't matter whether it's plain or fancy, although a glass of wine and a friendly attitude would be great.
I don't know geography in Beverly, so maybe there's nothing near the train station. Some of the places that sound good from the chowhound archives are cielito lindo and tryst (I know they're probably very different, but my most important parameter is deliciousness).
Any tips?
Thanks! I'll report back!
New Rivers (Providence) is reopening Oct 5th!
Oh, great! Thank you so much for posting this! We'll go soon, and have a good excuse to spend lots of money, just to show support, you understand, not because of the deliciousness and indulgence. Totally selfless.
