Cornerstone : Hartford

Cornerstone's sandwiches don't quite match those you can get at Rose Deli (map) or Max Bibo's (map). That being said, their sandwiches aren't bad and the prices are amazingly low.

Pastrami roll: $3.75

Potato Salad: $1.18

Chicken Salad Roll: $3.75

Cornerstone is also semi-conveniently located across the street from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and the Hartford library, so if you're visiting and just want something satisfying, cheap, quick and more personable than the nearby Subway, give it a shot.

Cornerstone
529 Main St Hartford, CT 06103 (map)
(860) 278-2923

Gary Vaynerchuk - Wine vlogger

I like wines and feel like I have the palette to be able to appreciate them, but just feel lost when confronted with the wide variety of types, brands, years, etc. Apparently this dude, Gary Vaynerchuk, video blogger, is gaining in popularity on the internets for his wine reviews. He's definitely got that down-to-earth commoner wine-drinker feel down-pat:



[via buzzfeed]

Chicago overturns Foie Gras ban

This is an aside from my usual light fare. I by no means want to push any particular ethical viewpoint, but I think as a foodie, one should be at least cognizant of certain issues regarding how food is made, so I see this as more of an informational post...

Chicago has just overturned their two-year old ban on foie gras. Here's the NYtimes blurb, complete with mostly inane reactions that you'd expect from the internet, ranging from "I'm never visiting Chicago again" to "No one should dictate what I cannot eat. Hooray for Chicago!"

Btw, if you're unfamiliar with what foie gras is / why it may be controversial, here's the wikipedia link.

Judging from the comments, the process of making foie gras really gets at the larger issue of whether killing animals is okay for our sustenance and specifically the process in which we go about doing so. Michael Pollan's 2002 NYTimes lengthy article, An Animal's Place does a fine job of exploring this issue and responds to a lot of the instinctual responses the issue generally raises (i.e. "We're evolved to be carnivores. It's our right to eat meat.", "Everyone should become vegetarians.", etc.)

One more note on this issue that I think gets easily overlooked. Beyond the moral arguments, there are economic and political constraints at play. In other words, when the original foie gras ban was put into place, certain farmers and restauranteurs may have been negatively affected financially. In addition, enforcing the ban may have taken resources away from say crime or drugs. I'm not trying to sway opinion towards one side; however, I think a valid argument on such issues should take these external considerations into account.

Whew. I feel like I've just completed an academic essay. Okay, I'll be returning to my normally scheduled banter now.

Oooh oooh Cooking Korean Food

Youtube user Maangchi demonstrates how to make Korean food on video. Below she makes black bean sauce, cold noodle, Jia Jang Myun. Yum!

I'll have to try out her recipes sometime. (btw, gotta love those Korean shirts)

Harry's Pizza : Hartford

My gf and I were flipping through this year's Hartford Advocate Reader's Poll. Some of the results are somewhat suspect and/or rather sad, such as the area's best coffee going to Dunkin' Donuts, but other recommendations seemed worth a shot. The area's best pizza, for example, Harry's Pizza in West Hartford seemed like a fairly valid pick.

So we wander on over to West Hartford, which if you've never been, is a yuppies' paradise. It's a mecca of fancier versions of Crate & Barrel, Anne Taylor, yoga clothing stores, and other restaurants and stores geared towards the white suburban upper middle class demographic. Everyone also dresses like it's J.Crew land.

And Harry's Pizza fits in with the area; it's purportedly casual, but only because of its surroundings. In other words, it's not casual with some fat hairy dude in a sweaty white tank top taking your order. Instead, it's fairly attractive, well dressed females taking your order. It's a place that West Hartford youths could go to hang out.

We order a take-out of the recommended Portofino pizza, "a white pie with asparagus, shrimp, red onion, lemon and bacon."

The large pizza comes out to $28, not exactly cheap. The pizza box also has instructions on how to reheat the pizza: "1) Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. 2) Put the pizza in for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese starts bubbling. Also, **Do Not Reheat in the microwave.** If you do, we are watching and you shall be banned from our world forever....

But for all of my eye-rolling at the ridiculous yuppie'esque atmosphere, the pizza is absolutely marvelous. And it's not just "this is good considering we're in Hartford," but it's a frickn' do-a-wacky-dance solid pie. The crust is thin and crunchy, the shrimp are cooked just right and not dry at all, and the cheese is creamy and fairly sophisticatedly flavored. Maybe these yuppies are on to something after all.

Anyways, I know New Haven is known for the pizzas and everything and I've yet to try them, but I'm thinking that Harry's can stand on its own against them.


Harry's Pizza
1003 Farmington Ave. West Hartford, CT (Map)
(860) 231-7166
www.harryspizza.net

US Tastiest Streets

From the world's best to the US' tastiest/inexpensive streets: Good Magazine's list of America's tastiest streets

[via ieatblog]

World's 50 Best Restaurants

If you're off traveling the world and want the best of the best of the best food, here is S. Pellegrino's top 50 for 2008: Worlds50best 2008

I have been to a whopping 0 of these restaurants. Time to start cracking I suppose...

[via ieatblog]

Bistro942 / Eurocafe : Hartford

If it wasn't for my gf wanting to try Bistro942 (previously known as Eurocafe) for brunch, I don't think I would have on my own. I've become a bit of a grouch when it comes to trying European style cafes, despite our recent good experience with Marseilles NY. However, my reservations were unfounded in this case and I was pleasantly surprised by the food here.

The strawberry crepe (not pictured) ended up being fairly light and pleasing, with strawberry sauce that was not overly sweet.

The broccoli, tomato quiche was also nice. Warm with a crumbly crust. Again, a very light dish.

The banana foster over French Toast Baguettes were also restrained on the sweetness, which was probably the most surprising, given the number of banana fosters that are just sickeningly sweet. I was a little ambivalent on the french toast baguettes themselves, which had an almost bouncy consistency, but I could tell they were trying to use more authentic baguette bread.


Along with the food came tremendously friendly service. The waittress saw that we were ordering a couple of sweet dishes and recommended us to balance out with the more savory quiche, a more than solid recommendation.

Overall, we had a relaxing and certainly a much better meal than I expected going in. I would definitely recommend if you're in the area and in the mood for a lighter, European style meal.


Bistro942 (Eurocafe)
942 Main St Hartford, CT 06103 (Map)
(860) 524-1700
www.theeurocafe.com

Manny's Cafeteria and Deli : Chicago

I had a flight with a layover in Chicago Midway and was a bit surprised to find some decent food at one of the airport restaurants. I stopped at Manny's Cafeteria and Deli and picked myself up a potato pancake and chicken broth with a matzo ball.

The potato pancake was oh so greasy, but with its accompanying sour cream, was oh so good.

The chicken broth was I suspect from a can. The Matzo ball was probably really cheap to make, but for a weary traveller, they were tasty nonetheless and provided a pleasant counter-balance to the greasy potato pancake.

Put in the situation again, I'm not sure I would have chosen my meal any differently.

Manny's Deli
Chicago Midway Airport Terminal A, close to the Food court,
(Terminal Map)

Main location at:
1141 S. Jefferson Chicago, IL 60607 (Map)

Manny's Deli website

Ashoka Palace: Philadelphia

I had just finished an exam and was very strangely in the mood for a hot dog. A simple hot dog, one in a regular ol hot dog bun with ohhh, some ketchup, relish and onions. That would very much hit the spot.
So I go strolling down the street, with a swagger in my step, whistling a tuneless song, when my gastronomical storyline takes a dramatic veering turn towards...

...Indian food?

I had just passed by Ashoka Palace, a place I had been curious about trying out. It took me a good minute to rationally think through whether I wanted Indian food or not. Seriously, I was just standing outside, thinking.

Which is a very strange thing, since I'm more of "pregnant lady" style decider on what to eat and I had such a clear picture of plump juicy hot dogs in my mind.

Anyhow, the prices looked surprisingly affordable so I sprung for a Lamb Saag Wala, (Boneless lamb cooked with spinach and tomatoes) and a salty lassi.
The lamb saga wala was okay. I'm not sure if they toned down the spices because I'm not Indian, but the flavors were rather tame.


The same deal goes for the salty lassi. I was at first amused by the amount of froth on top. Oooh, it looks like a hurricane shown on the doppler 5000 radar. But then I tasted it and it lacked that pricky mix of spices that I'm used to a good salty lassi.

Which is kind of too bad. Ashoka Palace is apparently BYOB, something I overheard while waiting for my food. Also, the place is very casual, but much bigger than I expected it to be from the outside. It stretches in depth once you go inside and it might make for a good ultra-casual place to go with friends.

That is, if the food could be done more spicily. I don't know. Perhaps it's just one of those things, where you have to go with an Indian friend to get the real stuff. Or perhaps you just have to let the lady know you want the real stuff.

One more final note: apparently this place was somewhat excitedly anticipated on Chow and Phillyblog. If it means anything to anyone, its owner is the original chef of Minar Palace.


Ashoka Palace
38 South 19 St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 (map)