Potlikkery

scouting daytona

In approximately three weeks we'll head south to Florida for our annual beachy vacation at Daytona Beach Shores. Naturally, my thoughts immediately turn to "What will we eat?" and "where?" Daytona is rife with chain restaurants, and so in the interest of avoiding them and compiling a list of chain alternatives I scoured the Florida Chowhound boards for advice from the locals and recent visitors who value good food as much as I.

Here's my working list of possibilities so far:

Cocoa Beach

• Black Tulip
• Cafe Margaux
• Roberto's Little Havana for Cuban sandwiches

Daytona

• Angells& Phelps Cafe for lunch
• Angells & Phleps for chocolate
• Avocado Kitchen
• Bookdock's Riverfront Dining
• Brickyard for hamburgers and speedway theme
• Cancun Lagoon for Mexican
• Chart House chain I've never visited
• City Island Farmer's Market for fresh eggs
• Daytona Beach Flea Market for produce and boiled peanuts
• Daytona Dogs for hotdogs
• Froggy's for world's largest biker bar/dive
• Hungarian Village  for authentic Hungarian cuisine
• Hyde Park Steakhouse a chain, one I've not visited
• Leannhs for Vietnamese/Chinese
• Long Doggers for various hot dogs
• Mr. Dunderbak's for German
• Pasha's for Middle Eastern food
• Ritter's Frozen Custard
• Ronin for sushi, Asian fusion
• Lukes Rib Shack
• Pete's Pizza for pizza
• Mai Thai for appetizers
• Maria Bonita for Mexican
• Steve's Diner for Polish specialties
• Sunglow Pier for breakfast (Daytona Beach Shores)
• Swiss Cake Factory for Cuban sandwich and pastries
• Thai Spice
• Top of Daytona for the view and the early bird specials

Ormond Beach

• Greg's Steak & Shrimp
• Hull's Seafood for fresh seafood to prepare yourself and hole in the wall destination
• La Gourmandise French Bakery for pastry
• Stonewood Grill & Tavern for chocolate bread pudding
• Tomoka River Grille

Ormond-by-the-Sea

• Betty's A1A Cafe  for fried food & best onion rings in 3 states

Port Orange

• Aunt Catfish's on the River
• Our Deck Down Under for casual by just off the boat fish

New Symrna Beach

• Blackbeard's Inn for cinnamon rolls, clam chowder, and prime rib
• J.B.'s Fish Camp
• Mon Delice French bakery for pastry
• Pig & Whistle for BBQ
• Spanish River Grill for fresh Cuban cuisine & bread pudding to die for

St. Augustine

• Gypsy Cab Company

saved by cinnabon, sort of

For once, my appetite for pastry saved the day.

The Atlanta airport has several concourses. Thursday afternoon my flight landed at concourse D and I noted a Cinnabon. I passed it by, naturally thinking that there was one in every concourse. Au bon pain distracted me long enough to make my flight and I traveled on to Philadelphia where I spent several days eating at restaurants of my choice and not of my choice. The novelty of Au bon pain is that there is not one servicing my pastry needs. Surely if it was an everyday thing, I'd not be so enamored of it.

When I stopped at Atlanta again and my flight landed at concourse B I went in search of Cinnabon. The main directory listed Cinnabon at concourse A. My traveling companion and I parted ways. We had about an hour to board our connecting flight to Tri-Cities, and she didn't want to be late to the gate following up my whim.

On to concourse A, where there was no Cinnabon. The directory at A listed D as the home of Cinnabon and our flight was leaving from concourse C, so no problem, they're adjacent. In the interest of saving time, I asked two airport workers which direction Cinnabon was, and they pointed me to the right. I walked and walked. Thought I saw a line, but that was at Burger King.

The Cinnabon counter was strangely free of cinnamon rolls. They were shut down? All out of cinnamon rolls?

[At this point in my story Ian told me that there aren't as many red-eye flights as there once were and as such, many airport eateries have limited their operating hours accordingly.]

I considered writing a nasty letter to the airport and to Cinnabon as well. Didn't even have time to compose it in my mind. Just went on my way, in dismay, in abject disappointment. It was pure luck that as I passed by a gate at concourse D I looked up and saw a flight to Tri-Cities departing at the same time as mine. I checked my flight number against the one at the gate.

They matched. Yup, they not only changed gate numbers, but complete concourses, too. About that time, I got a text message from my traveling partner telling me to go directly to the gate I stood in front of. I approached the gatekeeper and asked her if the flight was boarding. She said yes. I walked down the ramp and onto the plane. My traveling partner arrived about ten minutes later and boarded the plane after rushing to the gate.

The moral of this story is that the tummy knows! My desire for cinnamon rolls endowed me with a form of ESP, thus allowing me to be in the exact right place at the exact right time. How's that for tummy luck?

little bit of cuba

Cuban cuisine was on my list of things to eat while visiting southern Florida last month. But we didn't eat at Havana. It was on my list.

One day we grew hungry driving back from our climb up Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. I told Ian we'd passed two or three Cuban restaurants on our drive up Federal Highway to Jupiter, so we'd pass them again coming "home." The first was closed; only opened for lunch. But the second was open. We were early, right at 5 p.m. for dinner. As we walked through the door Ian mentioned the Zagat rating sticker he saw from the outside.

Perhaps our whim was a good choice. Of course it was. The service was wonderful at El Colonial. As usual, we were ready for dinner by five o'clock. They served us Cuban bread with butter right away. Yum. Ian ordered the steak and eggs. The bite I had was good.

Sadly, I cannot recall what I ordered. I got plantains, rice, and beans with it, and all those items were hot and tasty. Ian and I recall I had fish. It may have been the Grouper Creole. And we ate so much that we didn't dare order dessert.

The decor is a little dated, sort of seventies diner, but very clean and crisp with only black, white and red colors accenting the interior space. The menu had lots of choices and making a decision was difficult for me. The atmosphere was homey and family run.

pizza avoidance

If you find yourself ever at Riviera Beach, Fla. avoid Portofino's. The empty tables should have alerted us. The day was warm, and the ceiling fans didn't make a dent in the heat. But I appreciated the reggae and thought it terrible that it was quickly turned off once a pair of elderly ladies sat across the dining room from us. Then the music was ucky drek. Like Celine Dion or some such. Our pizzas were soggy. Our French waiter was not so attentive. Ian never got a refill. So while the pizza looked good, it wasn't our favorite. Soggy, soggy crust. It was hot, though. That's something.

capitol food

U.S. Capitol viewed from U.S. Botanic Gardens, Capitol Grounds

Eating in DC is always a treat. To celebrate Columbus Day, I didn't eat anything Italian or Spanish. Really, the first food experience I had there was shopping at Safeway for goat cheese, crackers, fruit, cereal, milk, and other nibbly things.

Then the real fun started Saturday night when Anna and I talked about what to eat before our play. We stayed in Adams-Morgan and were a short stroll toward Eighteenth St., NW. Before we left, I searched Zagat online for hints on what to eat, but had little luck.

There was an article about a Peruvian cuisine, but I didn't see its address and we didn't count on anything. I had an old Rough Guide Lonely Planet guide to DC. Nineteen ninety-seven, in fact. It turns out that the restaurants that we considered we all Done. Over. Closed. Normally I research the options before visiting a city I don't know, but Fiona, my host, is a native and we figured we'd have her guidance weekend-long, except that she was in Maryland at a wedding.

Las Canteras

Anna and I decided to walk and stop somewhere that caught our eye. The first place we came to was Las Canteras, a Peruvian restaurant. We checked out the menu and decided to dine there. Lovely decor. Deep red walls, wooden floors, thick stable tables. They offered us a spot by the window, which I would have taken in an instant to people-watch, but we sat where we gravitated toward.

I ordered a Picasa sour, a drink specialty. I winced with my first taste. It burned. I know better than to use a soppy straw. At least I will next time. It's made with grape brandy, lime juice, egg whites, a dash of cinnamon and Angostura bitters. They brought bread, butter, and  spicy relish, but weren't communicative about what exactly it was. Soon the table next to us was filled with native-Spanish speaking folks.

Get yer hot boiled peanuts at Eastern Market!

Couldn't pass up the cebiche. Weird how it was spelled with a "b" instead of a "v." But it tasted the same. I got the mixto, which included whitefish, shrimp, squid, and mussels. Yum. Divine. Could have eaten plates and plates of that. Anna ordered a quinoa dish prepared in a manner reminiscent of tabbouleh and served in three smallish scoops. She offered me a bite. It was cold and savory all at once. I would order it again.

Didn't want anything heavy for dinner, as if anything on their menu was heavy! The quinoa (KEEN-wah) dish suited me fine, but it was called something else, like quinotta or quinottia; can't quite remember and I didn't write it down. Nor, did I pronounce it correctly. It was quinoa and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. Soothing and just enough. Actually, I didn't finish the dish. Not because it wasn't good, but because I imagined staggering my way through the city streets feeling as full as a tick and regretting my overeating.

Tunnicliffs Tavern

After browsing the stalls at Eastern Market we found a table at Tunnicliff's where we could escape the heat, eat, and allow Fiona to watch the Redskins game. She explained football strategy while I ate my salmon bagel with capers, cream cheese, and onion. Missed out on the bread pudding because we settled our bill and the waiter ignored us afterwards even though he spouted off the list of desserts to us.

guava straight from the tree, U.S. Botanic Gardens

Without bread pudding in my tummy, we drove to the U.S. Botanic Gardens and scored a parking place in front of its entrance. We oohed and aahed over several edible items like the coffee bean tree, guava tree bearing its fruit, a display of peppers that we didn't dare touch, and several herbs.

trailing thyme, U.S. Botanic Gardens

Sunday night we ate in the same block as Saturday at Iyoti, an Indian restaurant. Sag paneer is my favorite and I always order it. I'm too predictable. But I know what I like. When I order something else, I'm invariably deeply disappointed. And naan. We shared the fish cutlets which were yummy, but reminded me of salmon patties I ate as a child. And the Bhel puri was something else. It's described as a traditional Bombay savory with rice puffs and crisp noodles. Even after having the waiter explain it to us, we weren't sure what it would be. Delicious, of course, but more like a dry, sweet and spicy cereal.

Then Monday morning we walked around the Mall and ate at one of their cafeteria-type establishments. I had a glorious beet salad. Institutional food can be fabulous. Red beets, goat cheese, mandarin orange slices, fried onion chunks, and arugula.

Their dessert options were lovely as well, but nothing made me really want to part with a Lincoln-note.

beans and rice

We tried to recreate the awesome black beans and rice Ian ate in St. Augustine. I soaked my beans, but not overnight. Did that boil 'em for two minutes and let them soak another hour before cooking them trick. I cribbed from one of Nigella's recipes and added cumin and coriander to the pot. Some salt, pepper, and garlic salt, too.

But it wasn't enough. Our black beans were certainly bland. We ate 'em. I'm scouring black bean soup recipes while awaiting a new cook book to arrive: Rosa's New Mexican Table (2007). One of the restaurants we ate at in Palm Beach was Rosa Mexicano. Their black beans were awesome. Everything there was.

The rice was nice. Haven't used my rice cooker that much since I bought it a few months ago. But when I do, I'm always thrilled at how well the rice comes out. Actually used Jasmine rice to go with the black beans. Ian preferred it over brown rice. And the arborio rice I cooked a few days ago was awesome, too. I love that I set the machine up, leave the house for a few hours, and return home to find my rice waiting and warm for me.

number one in palm beach county

Quite against my will I ate at a chain restaurant our first full day in Palm Beach County. I had something good picked out, something Thai, but once Ian heard there were two Cheesecake Factories within six or seven miles of us north or south, he determined that was where we'd eat. Cheesecake Factory thrilled me about twenty years ago, but now? I prefer it not. Their menu is too varied to do anything well. Their cheesecake usually disappoints. It attracts a certain crowd. Yet, it is familiar. And I had a decent time eating at its Boston location's bar. But that was only because the bartender was excellent.

Anyway. Cheesecake Factory in West Palm Beach is located at Cityplace, an up-scale shopping and dining monstrosity smack downtown near the city's convention center. Quite lovely if you're upwardly mobile, into spending lots of money on designer products, and don't need any integrity or authenticity of architecture to revel in.

But I digress. Actually, I'm building up to a rather poor experience. Parking is free on Sundays. We found a spot within a block. We were seated quickly outside on a patio adjacent to a large (20+) table of early twenty-somethings. They were loud. Their voices, singing, and obnoxiousness echoed. The service was slow. Our food was cold. Well, the endive salad I ordered, after learning that they were "out of" my first choice Market Salad, was supposed to be cold. So what took so lon to slap those few ingredients together? They were also "out of" diet coke, Ian's drink of preference.

The bread was good. As was the butter. My unsweet iced tea hit the spot.

The view was boring. We watched random luxury vehicles mixed in with some plebeian forms of transport search for close parking. We counted the different cab companies. One bit of excitement was the horse-drawn carriages. Actually, Cityplace is quite lovely. At night it is illuminated by lots of bulbs. And all the facades are shiny and new. And there are enough people not speaking English around you to lend a sense of exoticism or "not in Kansas anymore."

My salad was good, but bitter. Somehow I didn't realized just how bitter the endive would be. I suffered through. Felt as though I had to "take my medicine" in the form of this bitter salad so that I could indulge in the real reason I'd ever come to Cheesecake Factory: For the cheesecake.

Ian's grilled chicken sandwich was okay. It was supposed to be jerked. But tasted Bland to me. His fries were cold. Problems with the kitchen? Or with the service? Actually our waitress was serviceable. And we weren't in a hurry. But I couldn't help but notice that two men seated quite some time after we were had their pasta dishes promptly and had paid and left the joint before our cheesecake arrived. And I noted another unhappy couple; another issus of poor service.

Ian ordered the chocolate peanut butter cookie dough cheesecake. He complained that is was dry. The only peanut butter on it was the swirl of fondant (?) topping its edge. On the other hand, my cheesecake was grand. Very rich though. With a name like chocolate coconut cream one might think that there was lots of chocolate going on.

Thankfully not! The chocolate referred to its crust. The rest was coconut cream cheesecake over a bed of coconut. I'd liken it to a mounds bar. But better. The coconut I scraped off the bottom chocolate crust was gooey and rich; reminded me of the kind of coconut that accompanies German Chocolate Cake. Ian tried mine, and he thought my choice of cheesecake beat his hands down.

I reminded him that I have great taste. I married him, didn't I?

And yet our 2007 Zagat survey listed Cheesecake Factory as the most popular restaurant. It tops the list which includes other chains like Houston's, P.F. Chang's, Morton's, Ruth's Chris, Bonefish Grill, and Melting Pot. I've been to all but the last and prefer not to haunt chains of any kind. How can Palm Countian's prefer Cheesecake Factory when there is a wealth of authentic cuisine to choose from in Florida's largest county? Perhaps abundance makes them immune to good taste and they seek out the plain, the boring, the chain?

Ah well. I've several more days to spend sampling Palm County's restaurants and Cuban is next on our agenda. And something I've "learned" about my dining preferences is that I like an aesthetic view and I require quiet, or a romantic environment. Good food is important too, of course.

florida's oldest restaurant

Last year while we spent a week at Flagler Beach, FL we popped up to Saint Augustine for a day. The city is one of our favorites, though the new bridge saddens us. The old one featuring the lions had such charm, such character. Now there's just the concrete and metal bridge.

That visit I searched for ceviche. Surely a Spanish restaurant served it. But no, the person at the host station at the Columbia said it was not on their menu, nor did they know any other restaurant in Saint Augustine that served it.

We left Columbia, but I can't recall where, or what, we ended up eating that day. All I remember is how inviting the Columbia was. It was cool. Tile under our feet, hand -painted tile decorating the walls.

So Saturday we ate at Columbia. Our waitress was great. She anticipated our requests. She served us Cuban bread along with great scoops of butter at exactly the right spreadable temperature.

My cheap sangria was okay. The trouble with sangria is that I cannot and should not drink a pitcher it alone. Ian enjoys the hard stuff, so fruity wine holds no appeal for him at all. The better sangria was imported and mixed at your table and priced at about $20 a pitcher. I sucked down my $5 glass in no time and then made do with tap water. That's right.

The Columbia is the oldest restaurant in Florida and though it got it's start in Ybor City, surely it is appropriate to operate in Saint Augustine as well. Something else I learned is that its in its fourth and fifth generation of family ownership and operation. The newest restaurant is in West Palm Beach, near where we're staying.

Inside there's a mixture of bright sunlight and delightful shade  to suit any diner. Our table was at the edge of a courtyard filled with light from the skylight overhead. The noise was bearable. The service was quick. Perhaps there was light Spanish music playing in the background, but I cannot exactly recall it.

We studied the menu. We both love plantains and don't get them often enough to suit our cravings for them. I eyed the Paella. I've never had good paella. But as I recalled, it's a large dish. And this was lunch. Something light maybe? I ordered the boliche: "Sliced eye round of beef prepared with chorizo and roasted in a flavorful gravy. Served with white rice, black beans, and platanos."

Yum. My meal was so good. Great flavor. The beef was tender. The chorizo was rather bland though. Didn't have the zing I'm used to from my local taqueria. White rice, black beans, and diced onions were marvelous. They gave me two pieces of plantains. I gave one to Ian and gobbled down the other. Aaaaahhhhhhh, heaven.

Ian chose the black bean soup. They ladle it table-side. A server approached our table and flipped over a small bowl containing rice into a larger bowl. Then she ladled three generous ladles full of black beans out of the blue speckled pot over top of Ian's rice. Sure, it was basic, but it, too, was darn good. All he needed was cornbread, which I didn't see on the menu.

Dessert. Naturally my eyes stuck to the guava cheesecake description. But cheesecake is so ubiquitous that I try not to order it anymore. The two items that I debated between was the flan or the bread pudding. Server said that the flan is the best, if you like flan. I can take it or leave it. Of late, bread pudding floats my boat. So we went with that.

It was unlike any bread pudding I'd ever had. I expected it in a ramekin. But no. It's appearance was more akin to french toast. There were no raisins or nuts. However, two sauces battled for dominance: a rich rum sauce and a white chocolate. The pudding was terribly dense, in only the very best sense of the phrase. It's made with Cuban bread. I asked our server if it was pound cake. And that's when I learned it's true identity. The things that the chefs at Columbia can do with Cuban bread is astonishing. We didn't eat it all. It was far too rich, but quite satisfying.

And there's a cookbook! Didn't buy it though. But maybe next time through Florida's oldest city, I'll stop by the Columbia gift shop and take one home with me. I checked its contents though. That bread pudding recipe is in there. But it calls for Cuban bread, and where exactly shall I find Cuban bread in upper east Tennessee? Not likely.

succoring trough and glaze huffing

Almost any trip we make leads us south through Spartanburg, SC. And anytime we go at all near Spartanburg our lunch plans include a stop at Wade's. Spartanburg's heat is something else. It hits you like a skillet right in the gut and makes you almost have to walk bent-over when first exiting the air conditioning of your car.

Then Wade's offers succor. For years I've heard tales of the trough, as Ian and his co-workers call Wade's Express Lunch. Mostly we miss it. It's gone at 1:30 p.m. and only available through the week. For one price, around $7 a person, you get dessert, veggies, meat, and non-fountain drinks.

We stopped there Friday. They were out of fish. Out of perch, actually. But the woman working the meat area said she thought they had flounder. She returned with a plate of three strips of fried flounder and as many hush puppies. They weren't piping hot, but still serviceable.

Once you reach the vegetable area on this cafeteria-style trough line, you're on your own. Yup, you ladle or serve up the amount of veggies you can fit in your mouth. Don't think there are seconds, so you ought to fill up first time out.  I sampled the cole slaw (a winner!), mac n cheese, steamed cabbage, sweet potato souffle, and collard greens. Actually, I exclaimed upon seeing the greens, "They've got collard greens!"

Ian had many of the same sides as did I, yet also brought their potato salad, creamed corn, and black eyes peas to the table.  Potato salad was better than store-bought, but not my favorite. It wasn't creamy enough, maybe not enough mayo. Black-eyed peas were okay, but that's not something I regularly eat. Didn't try his creamed corn.

Neither of us got pie. Lemon, apple, and maybe pecan were offered. But none appealed to us, and a mere two days later neither Ian nor I can quite name the pie selections. Wade's has divine peanut butter pie, but that, and their other deluxe desserts don't accompany the Express Lunch.

The real winner was the sweet potato souffle. It was so sweet and yummy. Real butter in there. Melted marshmallows on top. Ummm. No nuts, not too heavy-handed with the spice. Pecans stud the top crust of the sweet potato souffle recipe I use, that's why I mention the lack of pecans. I can take them or leave them, but prefer most food nut-free.  I doled out a small portion of souffle on my plate, because I know there's very little nutritional value in this dish; other than beta-carotene. And when this sweet potato bliss converged with the cabbage and collards, let me tell you, everything tastes better with sweet potato souffle topping it! I finished off Ian's portion that he left uneaten. That souffle was better than any dessert I've had in recent memory.

And their tea is good, too. The only sweet tea Ian drinks is Wade's. And being calorie-conscious (he's lost about ninety pounds since March), he went with the un-sweet tea. He's also a bargain hunter, so even though he spends lots of grocery money on diet sodas, he didn't want to pay extra for the diet whatever that didn't come with the Express Lunch.

Before quitting Spartanbrug completely Ian drove us over to the Krispy Kreme store. No donuts for us. But oh that KK merchandise? He's gabbed about how great their t-shirt and sweatshirt selections were for months. Once we walked through the door, there was none found. They had a few t-shirts behind the counter. And one in his size. He bought it despite the bit of donut glaze dried to i's front. Since we remained donut-free we got our jollys by huffing the shirt from inside its plastic bag as we found our way back to I-26.

Ian wore the shirt next day on our stop at Saint Augustine, FL. Women were drawn to it. One looked at him, and his shirt and said "Krispy Kreme, mmmmmmmmmmm." Another said "Oh, Krispy Kreme would be so good right now." He reported that she was hot.

I've written of Wade's in the past. How can one resturant be so special and yet so ordinary all at once? Many folks could easily pass it by. Wade's offersd good quality food at great prices. Sure, some of it is fried. But my cabbage was steamed. And those greens weren't fried. Wade's is a treat.

got zagat

Got my Zagat in hand and headed for the door. Come Friday I'll be halfway to Miami and the dream of fine Floridian food will become a reality.