Culinary Poll #013: In Our Home Towns

Name your home town and then list the top one, two, five or more food related experiences you would recommend to people visiting your town. As Matilda, who suggested this poll (and thanks for that) puts it "must-do things". And, if you happen live in a culinary wasteland, don't hesitate to cathart and tell us why the culinary life is so poor there.

OK I'll break the ice. We have no restaurants in my hometown. Also no post office, no gas station, no convenience store, no school. If you want good food here you have to give my house a shot.

Well, my hometown is Chatsworth, Georgia, and has a population of a little over 4,000. The primo dining spots are:

Edna's Cafe, where the best fried chicken in town can be had, and the folks at the next table could be the local judge, the mayor, and local business movers & shakers. Ask for tea and it is assumed you mean iced tea (which everyone does unless they are yankee tourists passing through, and they don't matter anyway) and a pitcher of the best fresh-brewed, sweet-as-sugar iced tea is brought to your table and left for your enjoyment.

Ken's - for steaks and barbecue, and the alternate hang-out for the town's people in the know.

The Biscuit Box has the best country breakfast around. Nothing fancy - no crepes or fruit plates - but real cream gravy and biscuits, ham, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and grits. Mmm, mmm, mmm!

No alcohol is sold or consumed at either of these fine spots, except for possibly Ken's, since it is the meeting spot for the local Rotary Club, and they probably manage to imbibe if they want to.

I'll ignore my city of birth (Birmingham UK). To steal a (para)phrase from Terry Pratchett...
It's often said that all roads lead to Birmingham. That's not true. All roads lead away from Birmingham, but some people go in the wrong direction.

so to my place of residence, Norwich
- Very fine game (Venison, Pheasant, Pigeon, Partridge, Rabbit, etc)
- Good fish from the nearby large fishing ports
- (I've not had them but) Cromer crabs are world-famous in Norfolk
- Local specialist butchers, there is some fantastic quality around

I also can't comment on another local speciality... chitterlings. If you don't know what they are I'd suggest you're probably best not knowing.

regards

Ian

I also can't comment on another local speciality... chitterlings. If you don't know what they are I'd suggest you're probably best not knowing.
Ian

I know what they are, I've never eaten them or seen them prepared, and see no reason at this advanced age to change that!

Buellton, CA

Steak, grilled over red oak, at the Hitching Post II Restaurant
Sushi and sashimi at A-Ru
Danish Pancakes, topped with apples, and served with medisterpolse, at Ellen's Pancake House
Fish Tacos at Taco Roco
and aw, what the hell, you gotta have a
Bowl of Pea Soup at Pea Soup Andersen's

Fun question.

Ian and Robert....

Be of good care, my friends, for ye two cast dispersions upon a dish much beloved. Without chitterlings (pronounced of course as chitlins) ye would have us discard the very heart of soul food for many of those in the southern states of the United States. No less seriously, your foul words throw into doubt the very greatness of French cuisine, for under the name of andouillettes (a chitterling by any other name and all that...) these are the basis of some of the most delicious of provincial cookery. Be it truly known that without andouillettes, at least half of the bistros throughout all of France would vanish as if struck by a plague.

For those not in the know, chitterlings are the small intestines of pigs. Well washed and cleaned, placed in a large pot with water and cider vinegar, that seasoned with bay leaves, onions, potatoes, sweet green peppers, garlic, salt and pepper, and allowed to boil and then simmer for about three hours, the resulting casings are soft and tender. They can then be cut into 2 – 3 inch pieces and served hot with no further preparation other than sprinkling over with hot pepper sauce. Some let the chitterlings cook for a bit less, to cut them and then to fry them in oil.

Traditional French andouillettes are served in a similar manner in the Normandy region but in most of the rest of france after cleaning and boiling the intestines are filled with a chunky mixture of seasoned pork or veal before being pan-fried. Indeed, when well prepared, these can be among the most rewarding of sausages, especially when served with a mustard or red wine sauce and accompanied by the most crisply dry white wine of the region in which one finds him/herself. In Burgundy people like their andouilettes with Pinot Noir and in the Champagne area a brut or extra-brut n.v. Champagne.

Because we three are members of the forum and because Robin is our host, I shall not report either or both of you to the A.A.A.A.A. (l'Association Amicale des Amateurs d'Andouilette Authentiques) . Although those good people bear no relationship in their behavior to the members of PETA, they do tend to weep when their favorite dish is attacked. I have no desire to bring neither pain nor tears to any soul.

Best
Rogov

Fine dining options abound here in Thousand Oaks (T-O), Ca. (and Eastern Ventura county), but I'll recommend plainer joints offering good food for a business traveler on stopover:

El Tecolote, an inexpensive Camarillo Mexican Inn having a menu loaded with recipes virtually unchanged since the late 40's, which tells you just how good it is. Only three owners in 60-plus years. The best and most unique beans around.

Pacific Fresh Grill, T-O, an inexpensive seafood house with many fresh fish plates and some Greek food options, all which betters food found in nearly all high-end fish joints.

Brents Deli, Westlake Village, a sleekly-run, bustling and satisfying West-coast take on a NY deli with a big menu - done well. Traditional, hard-to-find mediterranean dishes seem to abound and are appeciated by those in need. Egg cremes too. There are probably a dozen daily soups.

Ristorante Marcello, T-O, a tiny Italian bistro having a mixed grill plate, Osso Bucco and homemade desserts.

Top Thai, Reseda. Terrific Northern Thai specialties, 'nuff said. Worth the twenty minute drive into The Valley.

Food ….

No visit to South Australia is complete without a meal of King George Whiting. Have it with riesling, and remember: the best rieslings come from Watervale or Eden Valley.

Overseas visitors should try kangaroo. If you like venison, you’ll like kangaroo. It’s widely available; come up to the Mt Lofty Summit restaurant so you can enjoy the view at the same time.

Buy a box of chocolates from Haigh’s (the Beehive Corner shop in the city or the factory shop on Greenhill Road). Haigh’s make the chocolate from scratch, beginning with the cocoa beans. (Get the dark chocolate cream centres, and have a glass of Seppelt’s Original Sparkling Shiraz to go with it.)

Restaurants … combining the food and the experience …

Go to Jolley’s Boathouse on the banks of the Torrens River for lunch, or an early-start dinner in summer when the evenings are long and light. All the food is good; you need to go in the daylight so you can watch the river, the birds, the rowers and joggers.

Drop in to Café Michael 2 on east end Rundle Street in the city, for green chicken curry. It’s the best green chicken curry in town.

Indian curries: the Dhaba Hut, on Kensington Road. Magnificent.

Drive for an hour down the coast to Pt Willunga, and have dinner at the Star of Greece, a restaurant perched on the clifftop overlooking a pretty bay. When I was a kid, this was the kiosk where you bought ice creams and fizzy drinks. Now, with a few glass windows installed and a new paint job, it’s a top-notch restaurant. You might like to have your King George Whiting here (see above). Sunset views in summer are extraordinarily beautiful.

In the same neighbourhood – Russell’s Pizza, a gourmet pizza bar that occupies a series of old buildings (a cottage and two sheds) in High Street, Willunga. No licence: BYO. Only open Friday/weekends.

Cute stuff .....

For lovers of small furry animals: Warrawong Sanctuary restaurant where the food is OK but you get to look through the windows at dozens of bettongs, woylies and potoroos that come into the garden at night.

I suppose I ought to include the famous Balfour’s Frog Cake, which has been declared a South Australian Icon by the History Trust. They are a cute curiosity; I won’t pretend they are great cakes. It’s a little square of (rather dry) sponge cake, sandwiched with jam, with a blob of artificial cream on top, covered with fondant icing. It is supposed to look like a frog. It is so sweet, it will make your teeth drop out if you actually try to eat one. But … well, read this http://www.balfours.com.au/html/frog_cake.html

My hometown is LaCrescent, which is the Apple Capital of Minnesota.

First stop: Bauer's Market for the best ever caramel apple with cider.

Then up the Apple Blossom Drive for breathtaking scenery of the Mississippi River. It's especially nice in the spring when the apple trees are blossoming. Of course if you come during harvest, you can enjoy a fun weekend at the annual Apple Festival, complete with rides, parades and the crowning of Miss LaCrescent (formerly referred to as the Apple Queen)

Begin your weekend at The Commodore Club, for a delicious cocktail and the best Friday night Fish Fry this side of the river. After dinner, head over to the American Legion for yet another cocktail and a nice visit with the local townfolk. If you order a white russian, be sure to bring your own cream!

I love my hometown and don't get there very often anymore. It was a wonderful place to grow up.

Hmm...Turku is a relatively small place with only approximately 180k inhabitants (although the economical area is quite a large one). Our favourites here are for instance the following:

- Restaurant Herman, which is actually an extension to my living room just across the street (international style cuisine)
(some pics here: http://www.ravintolaherman.com/kuvagalleria.htm )
- Sergio's, a lovely Italian family restaurant (Italian staff there, even I'm called "la Princesse" when I'm booking the table - very flattered, *giggle* ;-D). Web: http://www.sergio.fi/index.php?page=4&lang=2
- ...and finally the place where Peter G ("hedonist" in the previous forum) considers the fajitas being the best (otherwise it is a mundane place, but the fajitas are great - also the size!): http://www.amarillo.fi/517.html

We have also quite a good Brazilian restaurant here, and for those, who seek for exotic dining places, a Viking restaurant: http://www.ravintolaharald.fi/gb/ Quite a nice and exotic place!

By the way, in restaurant Harald you can spend quite a long time by only reading their menu as there is a viking story behind every single dish. It is a shame that those stories are not in the web menu.

the restaurant was named after the cartoon "Hagar the Horrible" (I think in nordic countries the more familiar name "Harald" was used instead of relatively unknown "Hagar")

http://www.ravintolaharald.fi/gb/

Tar ice cream? What kind of tar?

Matilda

My current hometown (Butte, MT) specializes in pasties because of the mining heritage. Unfortunately, I can't eat them, but if one is a carnivore, I understand that they're quite good in a junk-food sort of way.

http://www.ravintolaharald.fi/gb/

Tar ice cream? What kind of tar?

Matilda

Tar - the black, sticky stuff made from trees and used for e.g. bottom surface of wooden boats, or wooden roofs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar (see the paragraph concerning Northern Europe and "Uses" beneath it)

When I first arrived in Tel Aviv (not all that long after Moses and the tribe had been wandering in the Sinai Dessert), the city was basically a culinary wasteland. Starting in 1985, however, the city came to life in the culinary sense and now boasts restaurants from the most run down to the most complex, from the cheapest to the most dear. And in every category - many excellent choices for dining out. Best I can do is to refer one and all to my Tel Aviv restaurant guide, that posted here at viewtopic.php?f=30&t=16960

Best
Rogov

Tar - the black, sticky stuff made from trees and used for e.g. bottom surface of wooden boats, or wooden roofs.

When you think of it on boats and roofs it doesn't seem so appetising. But the sap from trees seems OK. Might be interesting.


Matilda

It is not bad - although one of my foreign friends described the taste referring it to cough syrup.

[Robin Garr]

Louisville, Kentucky, an exceptionally fine restaurant town for a metro its size (about 1 million) and location (the upper edge of the South).

It's very hard to narrow down the city's finest restaurants to just a few, but the following 10 would have to be mentioned, in no specific order. I'm sure I've missed a couple of strong contenders, and at least two more very hot prospects (Z's Fusion and 732 Social) are coming very soon.

Corbett's An American Place
610 Magnolia
Seviche
Le Relais
Proof on Main
Mojito
De la Torre's
Basa Modern Vietnamese
Bourbons Bistro
L&N Wine Bar & Bistro

Louisville, Kentucky, an exceptionally fine restaurant town for a metro its size (about 1 million) and location (the upper edge of the South).

Wow! When I was in Louisville visiting Hilliard Lyons just two months ago there were no where near "about 1 million". Are you including the cattle and insects in that total??

Re Louisville population, depends on which figure you want to use. The "metro" area figure claimed by Louisville is 1, 213,000, and another figure for "just" Louisville is 731K plus with the balance in the area 500K plus.
The above courtesy of google and wikipedia.
So if you include the insect population, guess we're into the billions, LOL too much density per square mile for me!

It must be because the people in Louisville are so nice and friendly that it does not have that "big city feel" to it.