Nice! We'll definitely check it out.

Tomorrow, I'll be driving to a family reunion near Raleigh, NC. I'm guessing we'll be up for a dinner stop somewhere between Warrenton and Richmond, VA. Any recommendations for good, unique, roadfood-style eats along this route?

Thanks!

Hey y'all!

We're going to a wedding in April at the Mimslyn Inn in Luray, VA. We'll have some downtime Friday night and Saturday morning/early afternoon. Any recommendations for good local eats? We're looking more for the roadfood - upscale casual spectrum (as opposed to haute cuisine) but quality food unique to the locale would be awesome. We're happy to drive a bit if needed. What are your faves, VA hounds?

Thanks,
Lauren

Enjoyed an excellent dinner at Korea Garden last night. Hot and sour soup (from the Chinese section) will redefine this soup in your mind – not gloppy like so many restaurant preparations, but light and flavorful, with a little heat and good tang. Sliced pork tenderloin in a sweet and spicy sauce was outstanding, and the gal bi were tasty. Good kimchee, a nice seaweed with chili sauce and the ubiquitous marinated bean sprouts were nice sides – I couldn't go for the little fishes in what looked like a chili paste (Dean enjoyed them).

Nice people, simple place but the food was wonderful. Definitely going back.

1. Drive to Saxis, little town on Chesapeake Bay on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

2. Find and convince some gnarly-looking guy on the town dock to dip some soft crabs right out of his shedding box for you.

3. Drive straight home, cut off the faces, rinse out the innards, remove gills and apron. Rinse well and pat dry.

4. Dredge in simple but delicious New England Fry Mix (from Jasper White's Summer Shack Cookbook). I'm guessing plain old seasoned flour works great too.

5. Saute in an inch or so of bubbling fat – I used peanut oil. Drain on paper towels.

6. Drink beer, tear crabs apart with fingers, dip in remoulade sauce (also from Summer Shack Cookbook).

7. Lick fingers.

I'll never be able to eat them anywhere else again. Despite the adventure of cleaning, fresh is where it's at!

Last Memorial Day weekend, I had an awesome soft crab salad at the Narrows. I was stupid enough to order it again in October, thinking they wouldn't serve soft crabs that weren't good in October. That was a mistake. The crab in season, however, was AWESOME!

I'm on my train home, munching on a big bag of Garrett's mix, which I find strangely delicious. We had an awesome brunch at Frontera, had a quick dog at Portillo's while waiting for our table at Frontera, and generally enjoyed your awesome city. It's like Manhattan but cleaner and with friendlier people.

Last night, we had dinner with a friend's daughter who recently moved to Chicago. She suggested a place called Nacional 27, which we enjoyed. Drinks and tapas were great, seafood paella was reasonably tasty for being not terribly authentic. We'll definitely be back for a long weekend soon, since we were really blown away by the cool vibe.

Thanks for the suggestions! I did end up at the Garrett's next to the theater where Rent is showing. :-)

I spent quite a while this morning hoofing it around looking for the North St. Clair Street location, which I guess is the one that's gone. I'll try and find a location tomorrow. I want some for the train trip home!

Thanks for the pointer to Fox & Obel. I got some wonderful cheese, a split of Chilean cabernet and a fresh baguette, and am having a decadent afternoon in my cheap Priceline room at the Fairmont. :-)

What an great itinerary – thank you! I think we might just do exactly as you suggest. We love any food that is good product well prepared, from hot dogs to haute cuisine. Where's my best place for an awesome Chicago dog?

So, I'm finally getting my day in Chicago. Problem is, it's one day! I'll be staying Friday night at the Hyatt Regency, then leaving from the Amtrak Station at 7 PM. If I only get one day, where MUST I go? Thinking more along the lines of holes-in-the-wall and cool market-type foodie destinations, as opposed to the high-end dining experience. Of course, we can probably do the high-end dinner thing Friday night.

What are your favorites?

Thanks,
Lauren

Soprano's in the strip has someone who worked at Klein's and their garlic puffs are the real deal. The other food is nothing to write home about, so we just go in for drinks and garlic puffs at the bar!

Thanks for all the great suggestions! What do you think of the Mast Farm Inn in Valle Crucis? Saw the Roadfood review. Seems like it could be good or cheesy. :-)

Wow! Thanks for all the great ideas. I may have to stay longer. :-)

As far as cooking goes, any local produce / farmers markets going in mid-late April?

Thanks,
Lauren

Hi y'all!

We're heading down to Merlesfest in April, and we rented a cool house outside of Boone, NC for the whole week. We'll cook some, but I'd like some recommendations for excellent regional eats. I'm interested in the whole gamut, from transcendent roadfood to not-to-be-missed fine dining. We especially like places that are unique to their area, and local foods.

Never had a bum steer from a Chowhounder, and I'm looking forward to your ideas.

Thanks,
Lauren

Wow, thanks everyone for your suggestions! Unfortunately (on many levels), my dad appears to have had a mild stroke on the day before our trip, and we had to cancel. I will keep these excellent tips and use them on my next trip down.

So, we're spending a week at Christmas with my brother in Flowery Branch, GA. One day, my husband and I are going to hop the Amtrak train to downtown and spend the day exploring the city.

We'd love recommendations for things we should see / do / places to eat downtown. We figure we'll start at the Amtrak station, walk and use MARTA, then end up back at the Amtrak station. We like quirky local spots, and would like to experience the unique character of the city.

Come on, Atlanta locals – tell us what you love about your city!

Thanks,
Lauren & Dean

$28 plus tip, so more than 28 when all was said and done.

So, am I the only person in this area to not know about this hidden gem? Dean and I wanted to go out last night, and wanted to try somewhere new. Turillo's is a keeper.

Right on Route 30 at the light in Jennerstown, Turillo's has a retro neon sign that seems to be very popular on Flickr. When you walk in, it is super basic - cream colored walls, a small bar, and some booths split between two rooms. Menu is fairly basic – steaks, pasta, some seafood. We asked the waitress what steak she recommended, and she told us that the Porterhouse was beautiful that day. We ordered it with sauteed mushrooms, a baked potato and salad, and got some onion rings to share. Dean had a Yuengling Black and Tan, while I had a glass of chianti.

Not a high-end bar. Chianti was serviceable. The onion rings were crisp, hot and very tasty. Salad was a highlight. For anyone who remembers the old Fatigatti's restaurant near Bridgeville, this salad is an exact reincarnation (to my memory, at least). Bread was plentiful and served with real butter (often sadly missing from bread baskets in casual restaurants around here).

The steak covered the plate, was perfectly medium rare, and very good. The mushrooms were probably canned, which was kind of an insult to a good steak. Baked potato was perfectly done and happily missing its texture-destroying foil jacket. If you order butter or sour cream, see if you can get it on the side. We could barely see the potato under its mountain of condiments. We happily cleaned up every bite of our meal, and packed the resulting bone to gnaw on in the privacy of our own kitchen.

We finished up with a slice of a tasty pecan pie, probably from some local bakery.

The bill for this feast was $28. On my next trip, I'll likely skip the mushrooms and get my potato condiments on the side, but it was a satisfying meal in a funky place served by some seriously cool professional waitresses. We will definitely go back!

Lauren

I finally stopped using an outfitter and bought myself one of the La Caja China pig roasting boxes. It works well, is relatively inexpensive, and the resulting pigs have been to die for! Check it out. www.lacajachina.com

My husband and I want to do a long weekend in Chicago, and want to do it on a budget. Any recommendations for great ethnic and Mom-and-Pop type places – Italian, Mexican, Asian, Middle Eastern, etc. – in the downtown area? Where would be the best area to stay to get access to the best local haunts on foot and public transportation?

Thanks!

Lauren

Thanks for the reminder about The Back Porch. Can you still sit on the back patio in summer?

We in Westmoreland County have always suffered from a dearth of solid, non-boring restaurants. Seriously - we live in Ligonier, and there isn't much of culinary note out in these parts. Until now! Tonight, we discovered the Spitfire Grill in Greensburg, and we're awfully pleased.

Located on Broad Street in south Greensburg, Spitfire is in a low-slung brick building. It looks inviting from the outside, the interior is simple with nice lighting and a pleasantly clean feel. I didn't study the wine list but it looked of good range, and there were at least 5 each of red and white wines by the glass. I tried a Viognier and a dryish Riesling – both were pleasant. Dean had a Brooklyn Brown Ale (on tap).

We tried tonight's sushi roll special – spicy crab, pineapple, and avocado roll. It was not terribly spicy and the pineapple was a tad overwhelmed by the avocado, but it was fresh and tasty and handsomely presented with pickled ginger and a veritable planet-sized ball of wasabi. They presented it with chopsticks and the usual little dish for soy sauce – nice touch for a non-sushi restaurant.

Next, we dug into the pear and roasted beet carpaccio salad. Cute presentation – dressed arugula leaves were hidden in a little dome of beet slices. It was pleasant (if a little innocuous), with no element a standout. The nuts (hazelnuts, I think) added a nice crunch.

We tried the crabcakes, which were made with little binder and had nice flavor. They were served on a bed of julienned vegetables (zucchini, carrots, maybe green pepper) that was well-seasoned and buttery. The remoulade sauce was tasty, but the original portion on the plate was a little skimpy. We had to ask for additional sauce so we had enough to dab on each bite of the crabcake.

We finished up with decaf coffee, a Sandemans tawny port and the dutch apple fritters. Thick slices of apple dipped in a beignet-type batter and fried, then served with ice cream and a butter rum sauce, the fritters were quite good. My only complaint is that the apple slices were too thick to soften enough during their frying, so the texture was very firm and required quite a bit of wrangling with the spoon to cut them. I'll bet a short roast of the apples before making the fritters would enhance both flavor and texture. Coffee was smooth and very good (they serve La Prima Espresso coffees).

Service is friendly, efficient and not overbearing. It has some bumps – we had to ask for forks at one point, as they'd been taken away and not replaced – but the general staff attentiveness made this a minor inconvenience.

Friendly, low-key atmosphere and some of the best-executed dishes in these parts make the Spitfire Grill a winner for us. We're going to head there for the next Steelers game to sit at the long bar and enjoy the drink and $5 white pizza specials. And there is a great looking patio on one side (so this is truly a place for all seasons).

Lauren

Well, I have had the Agway (called that for Aggie's Way -- Aggie was Billy's grandmother). It's the Tarantino with raw garlic. We have yet to try the DeMatteo. We were going there for pizza last weekend, but the wait was something like an hour and 40 minutes. Again, calling ahead before you get your hopes up is key.

New Derry (and Derry, for that matter) is on 982 between Route 30 and Route 22. Nearest bigger town is Latrobe.

Pacific Ring in Squirrel Hill is now serving good dim sum (kitchen not carts, alas). It's where the old Sichuan House used to be. I think they serve from 11-2 or 3 every day. I went there with a friend a few months ago, and found it authentic and tasty.

Lauren

Update! We went the night before Thanksgiving with my parents, had some excellent pizza and bowling. And we found the pizza list! There are about eight different kinds of specialty pies (like the Popeye, Hot Onion, DeMatteo and Agway) and lots of toppings, including capers.

How disgraceful of me to advertise their selection as so limited. Yum, I'm going to have to go and get some pizza tonight.

Raising grass-fed beef is tricky - pasture quality, genetics, harvest age, etc. all play a part. The BEST grassfed beef I have ever had comes from Tallgrass Beef in Kansas. I eat as locally as I can, but have yet to find a local product that holds a candle here. I know the Tallgrass Beef is served at Harry Caray's in Chicago (among other places) and we have loved it. I have served it to grain-fed beef eaters to rave reviews.

If you want to try grassfed for health reasons and have a grain-fed palate, try Tallgrass.

-----
Tallgrass Beef Co
103 E Main St, Sedan, KS 67361

Dean and I have been twice, and enjoyed it both times. Don't order the puttanesca if you're not gutsy about spice - the dish packs a serious hot pepper/caper/anchovy wallop that we found delicious. I loved the fact that food was served piping hot and really had the feel of a lovingly home-cooked meal. Remember your wine!

Lauren

Hi y'all-

So, in my experience, downtown Pittsburgh tends to be a casual food wasteland after business hours. I'm going to spending some fair amount of time working late with a group in the near future, and I wonder if anyone has recs for GOOD pizza that delivers downtown in the evening.

Thanks!

Lauren

Carol and Randy Hawkey in New Alexandria (east, past Monroeville) can probably supply you with a pig. They raise pastured pork on their farm, and process the pigs on the farm as well. I get my chickens, lamb and pork from the Hawkeys, and their product is excellent. Contact them at 724-668-2634.

Have fun!

Great. Do they do it every Sunday? Tonight, at the Orient Kitchen on Baum, we asked the owner why he didn't do dim sum on weekends. He said there wouldn't be enough customers in Pittsburgh, and that he needed at least 100 people to make it worthwhile. :-(