Journeys in Quality Food

What you probably think of when it comes to Reno...

You probably have one of two impressions of Reno, Nevada: either as what it once was, the divorce capitol of America, or as a mini-Las Vegas. But after spending a week in Reno, I found that there are some very promising spots for food-minded travelers.

I was invited to Reno by my long-time friend Alan Deutschman, the long-time business journalist. You might know his work from Fortune, Fast Company or Vanity Fair. He’s now the Donald Reynolds Professor of Business Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, which is training the journalists of the future.

Alan asked me to be the first Reynolds Distinguished Guest Lecturer, which let me spend three days teaching and talking with his students.

Even before I got to campus, Alan made sure that I found some of Reno’s best food spots and over the course of the week, I discovered more on my own. Here’s a list of highlights if you find yourself out West and want to explore beyond Reno’s hotels and casinos. [Read more →]

We’ve all been there: our work lives take over and there’s no room for the sidelines that we really enjoy. That happened to me over the winter and spring, as I was wrapping up my work with Changing Gears, the public media project that looked at the reinvention of the Midwest.

But I’ve been hitting the road again I’ve got some great meals to share with you from places as diverse as Reno, Nevada, and Toronto, Ontario (including a fine repast on a train). I’m also headed to Memphis and the Deep South and will be giving you my road map for places that you’ll enjoy.

Meanwhile, watch for some posts on stories about chefs in Chicago and the owner of a business in Ann Arbor that foodies adore.

Tupelo, Mississippi, is probably best known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley. It is not, as some people think, the home of Tupelo honey — that comes from Florida. Last week, Tupelo finally got something to celebrate: the grand opening of Toyota’s newest plant in nearby Blue Springs. (I wrote about the new factory for The Atlantic Cities.) 

One of the people who hopes to take advantage of a Toyota boom is Rob Lesley, the co-owner of Romie’s Grocery. Romie’s — whose slogan is “Put A Little South in Ya Mouth” —  is one of those spots you expect to see on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, except that for some reason, Guy Fieri hasn’t made it in yet.

It opened in 2005 on the north side of Tupelo, offering “meat and three” plate lunches and southern specialties at reasonable prices, but with a little imagination.

I ate there in 2008, and enjoyed some of the best catfish and banana pudding that I’ve ever eaten. I’ve been wanting to go back ever since.  When I do get there, Lesley says I’ll see some changes. Romie’s has added a dinner menu, and it now has a barbeque place downtown which Lesley says he opened in order to take advantage of more activity in the business district. “We joined in instead of fighting against,” he says. [Read more →]

Leah Chase is the last person I ever thought I’d hear cite General George S. Patton as an inspiration. But the doyen of New Orleans cuisine readily and extensively credits the World War II general for getting her through hard times.

Leah Chase speaks at the Ogden Museum

Not that they ever met. Although, had Patton lived until Mrs. Chase ran Dooky Chase Restaurant, it’s almost certain he would have dined in her restaurant.

Presidents like Barack Obama and George W. Bush, musicians such as Count Basie, Sarah Vaughn and the Jackson 5, and countless politicians and just plain folk  have all eaten her gumbo and southern specialties that are served at lunchtime from Tuesday through Friday. (Read a fabulous profile of Mrs. Chase from Garden and Gun.)

Patton, however, holds a lofty position to Mrs. Chase. He liked her favorite meal, meatballs and spaghetti, she said during a talk at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art last month.

But beyond that, Patton’s determination matched that of Mrs. Chase, who had to rebuild her restaurant after Hurricane Katrina and has faced numerous social, economic and personal challenges during her 89 years. [Read more →]

I’ve been visiting New Orleans for much of my adult life, before and after Hurricane Katrina. It is an enchanting city on many levels, most importantly for the joie de vivre and determination of its residents. They’re used to visitors and pull out the stops to welcome them.

Kay Danne, owner of On the Other Hand designer resale

But you’re not going to Las Vegas or Disney World or New York or Los Angeles. Here are some tips for absorbing what life in New Orleans is like.

1) Expect a slower pace. New Orleans is like Paris and Rome in the sense that people are there to enjoy life, not keep to a schedule. Appointments may slip five minutes or 15 minutes or half an hour. Your dishes won’t pop right up five minutes after you order them, because good food takes time. And traffic isn’t going to clear because you need to get somewhere. So, relax. Look around. Have another drink.

2) Everyone likes to chat. My northern friends, businesslike and focused, always have trouble with this. You do not march into a shop, do your business, and leave. You have a little conversation. You talk to the bar man. You chat with the lady at the counter. You talk to your cab driver and to people waiting in line with you. Why not? They’ve got all day (see No. 1).  [Read more →]

When you think about sweet things and New Orleans, some pretty rich dishes come to mind, like Bananas Foster, bread pudding, banana pudding and pralines. But these days, New Orleans has embraced one of my favorite desserts: gelato.

I’ve loved gelato since my first trip to Italy in high school, and I’ve made it in cooking classes as well as at home. I like the concentrated flavor and the small servings: you don’t have to have a giant ball in order to be satisfied.

We discovered two wonderful places for artisanal gelato in New Orleans, within a stone’s throw of each other on Magazine Street. One is La Divina, which also has a shop in the French Quarter and another on Loyola’s campus. The other is Sucre, whose wares extend far beyond gelato to macarons, house made chocolates and coffee drinks.

In Chicago, I’ve become a big fan of Black Dog Gelato on Damen Avenue, and La Divina is a lot like Black Dog. The flavors are made in small batches and echo what’s going on in the food world. La Divina’s rotation changes regularly, and run the gamut from Aztec Chocolate to Maker’s Mark. Along with gelato, there are panini and plenty of seats for lingering. It’s open until 11 pm, a perfect stop after a meal out.

Sucre, just up the street, just oozes European sophistication. When I settled into my seat and took a look around, I could swear I was in Paris. The decor is sleek and everything is perfectly prepared. The gelato is up front, the macarons are in the middle, and the chocolates and coffee are in the back. There’s a full bar and the offerings include milkshakes spiked with a variety of cordials. [Read more →]

You know that I love farmers’ markets, and I think they’re a great activity when you’re on the road. Most people who visit New Orleans think of the old market that’s now a tourist attraction, and home to Cafe du Monde. But New Orleans now has a small thrice-weekly market, with working farmers and fishers, and some beautiful local foods. (Its location changes from Tuesday to Thursday to Saturday, so be sure to take note of where it will be held on the day you choose to go.)

As I was checking out the list of vendors, I spotted Bittersweet Confections, owned by Cheryl Scripter. I sent her an email to see if she’d make me some dark chocolate covered marshmallows. It turned out Cheryl wasn’t going to be at the market that Saturday, because she was on the verge of opening her new shop. But Cheryl, showing trademark New Orleans hospitality, agreed to make me up a parcel of marshmallows and bring them over to the market on Saturday.

Marshmallows collected, we took a tour of the offerings. You could order up a cafe au lait, buy a croissant, purchase an autographed cook book, take home a dozen different varieties of greens and most important, snag ultra-fresh seafood for a fraction of its cost up north.

Shrimp, at the farmers' market

I was stunned to see medium shrimp, like those Tess Vigeland and I had eaten the day before at Charlie’s, selling for just $3 a pound — four pounds for $10. The lingering effects of the BP oil spill and the recession are keeping a lid on prices, but the shrimp, flounder and crabs that were at the market looked fresh and absolutely clean. [Read more →]

As soon as we landed in New Orleans on a sunny late October Friday, we headed for our first meal. The place of choice: Charlie’s, a seafood shack just a few miles from the airport. It’s been around for years, but now it’s run by chef Frank Brigtsen, whose eponymous restaurant is one of my favorite places to eat in the Crescent City. I’ve been dreaming about his chocolate cake since the first time I ever tried it.

Charlie's Seafood, outside New Orleans

Charlie’s (the sign says Charles, but nobody is that formal in New Orleans) was the perfect first stop. Here’s what you should order to eat: a cold beer or some iced tea. A pile of steamed peel and eat shrimp. Some grits. You might want to try one of the homemade meat pies, which are like an empanada but get a kick from pepper jelly.

And I’d also get a plate of crab calas, which are rice fritters with crab as one of the ingredients.

Just a few hours later, we learned how to make them — and a whole bunch more New Orleans dishes. I love taking cooking classes, and I’ve studied cuisine all over the world, from Paris to Ottawa to my hometown, Ann Arbor. You learn new techniques, get to know local ingredients, local cooks, meet other visitors (and sometimes locals) and have a grand time for the same price as a dinner out. [Read more →]

I spent a long weekend last month in New Orleans, and was struck by the city’s hospitality. Of course, New Orleans has always made visitors feel welcome, but I had the sense they’re especially glad to see them now. The effects of Katrina are still in evidence, and it’s going to take years before the city fully recovers.

I’ve got more coming for you, including the story of a cooking class that I took with Tess Vigeland, host of Marketplace Money. But as a lagniappe, I’d like to point you to the work of two writers I met while I was there.

Brett Anderson is the widely respected dining critic of the Times-Picayne, and he is just as nice as can be despite being the most sought-after man on the food beat. Wayne Curtis has the lucky job of being The Atlantic’s drinks reviewer. He gets to visit bars for a living — generally upscale ones, that is.

Take a look at their great work and come back to see where I went.

With apologies to Christopher Isherwood, I am now a pancake. Or to be more precise, I have a pancake named after me.

Nick's Specials

A few months ago, I wrote about five places to eat between Ann Arbor and Chicago, and included Nick’s Original House of Pancakes, or as we call it, Nick HOP. Nick Panos, the owner, and his family have become friends of the Maynards over the years, and we always like to talk about the latest places we’ve eaten.

When I got back from Toronto in July, I shared my breakfast experience at Saving Grace with Nick — specifically, their lemon pancakes stuffed with ricotta and served with blueberries. Nick told me he’d been playing around with a lemon pancake, and promised me he’d let me know when he’d perfected the recipe.

Imagine my surprise when I walked in this week and found out that he’d created the pancakes and named them after me!  [Read more →]