Pizzaz Benedict

Pizzaz - Celebre's
Eggs - The Family Cow
Sauce - Corropolese


The Best!

Noon Mark Diner - Keene Valley NY

On the drive home from camping in the Adirondacks, rolled up to this amazing diner in the small mountain town of Keene Valley (maybe 10 miles west of Lake Placid). Huge place, used to be a farmhouse, packed with people. It's also a bus stop.

The vibe and menu is small town but with homemade everything, maybe a touch of healthiness with the 7 grain bread and overall much more than you would expect from a diner. Really fast and friendly service especially considering our group consisted of least a dozen bearded dudes recovering from a week of whiskey, cliff diving and grilled meat.



All the bread, donuts, pies and pastries are made there - super simple, choice of donut is sugar or plain. Delicious. Breakfast was awesome. Big slab of ham steak, great corned beef hash, fresh eggs, endless refills of coffee. Dinnertime they have BBQ night on the patio in the back and even fresh Trout pulled right out of the river.

Also "Michigan Hot Dogs" are on the menu which I didn't try since I had plenty of them over the course of the trip. I was surprised to see Michigans this far south of Plattsburgh (where they originated) but hot dogs are everywhere up here.



Great example of everything a diner can be. Classic and comfortable and modern at the same time without any gimmicks but just great real fresh food. Please for the love of pete can we get one of these on Broad Street?

Noon Mark Diner
1770 Nys Route 73
Keene Valley, NY

Wawa Challenge

Serious Eats asked me to sample a mess of Wawa breakfast sandwiches for this recent article rating the country's best fast food breakfast sandwiches. They crowned White Castle's breakfast sliders (made with real, fresh eggs!) as the king, but Wawa's Ciabatta Melt received an honorable mention.

Here's some of the other sandwiches we tried. Overall the ones made at the sandwich counter (Ciabatta Melts, and the Philly Steak Egg and Cheese Hoagie) were far better than the heat lamp baked "Sizzli's".


• Junior Ciabatta Melt
The mini version of Wawa's Ciabatta Melt, pretty affordable at only $2.89. I wanted to try one without meat to really taste the quality of the eggs. They look and taste like real scrambled eggs, and they aren't microwaved, instead they are frozen and "rethermalized". However they do it, much better than those scary discs you get at Dunkin Donuts, or even on Wawa's own Sizzli's.The Ciabatta rolls are great, and they really overstuff these suckers.

The best part is, because it's Wawa, you can add ANYTHING on to your breakfast sandwich. Tomato, turkey, ranch dressing, whatever they've got. There's even a button, when creating your sandwich on the computer, to "add italian hoagie" to your egg and cheese. Sounds like an adventure. I didnt have the balls to try it.


• Pork Roll Egg and Cheese Sizzli
My Jersey-born girlfriend took the first bite. I asked her what kind of cheese it was. "American, of course! What did you think it was going to be, Gruyere?" As if anyone would have the audacity to put anything other than American cheese (or Wiz) on a slice of pork roll.

Other than that, a pretty lame sandwich. The bagel was tiny and pretty dry, probably from sitting under the heat lamps for 6 hours. And the scary egg disc was no comparison to the delicious, fluffy "rethermalized" eggs of the Ciabatta.



• Sausage Egg and Cheese Pancake Sizzli
Ripoff of Mcdonald's Mcgriddle but not as good. Nice packaging though, and much better than those scary microwavable shrink wrapped sandwiches that you would get at a 7-11 or a gas station.

The state of Wawa inside the city of Philadelphia is kind of scary. It looks like there's only 6 left. There used to be one on every corner. And the quality here is always a crap shoot. I used to eat Wawa hoagies all the time - only thing open at 2am after work - and never understood why anyone in Philadelphia (with real Hoagies around every corner) would ever eat them unless they had to. Stale bread, totally unbalanced sandwiches with hardly any meat and too many vegetables, or more cheese than meat, or so many pickles that the whole sandwich dripped in pickle juice.

But if you go to the Suburbs or Jersey, Wawas are like palaces. The size of a grocery store, with 8 registers and people lined up 10 deep for sandwiches.

Read More-
Serious Eats - Taste Test: The Best Fast Food Breakfast Sandwiches

Goetta

Got some Geotta for Christmas (thanks Jess) and now It's all gone. I would get some more but it's only available in the Cincinnati area.

If you don't know, Goetta is basically Cincinnati's Scrapple. Some might say it's better, but I would never take that position and insult my Philadelphia / Pennsylvania German heritage. Also German in origin, Goetta is pork and beef (including hearts and skins), combined with steel cut oats.

Cooked and served the same way as Scrapple, Goetta has more texture - due to the rough cut oats - and a stronger flavor. Don't be scared. It even converted a few Scrapple haters at breakfast the other day.

It's even prepared in the same way: boil variety cuts of meat on the bone with bay leaves and such for hours; remove meat and chop; cook grain in meat water; fold meat back in; form loaves. Maybe some celery or onions along the way.

Folks tend to look at Scrapple and Goetta as "gross" or "white trash" but really, It's a German terrine. There's even an annual Goettafest with German entertainment and Goetta Calzones.

Year of Food

Here are some food photos that I have failed to post,so there will be no where's when's and how's, just food for the eyeball.

Enjoy!

Pine State Biscuits

I've never been a big breakfast person, and for most of my life I've totally ignored the whole breakfast is the most important meal of the day thing. The only times that I make an exception to my no food before noon rule is when I'm on vacation, and oftentimes I end up kicking myself for not venturing into the world of breakfast foods more often.

On my last day in Portland I found myself awake pretty early in order to make a flight and have one last meal with the friends that I was visiting. We made our sleepy way over to Pine State Biscuits for an obscenely early breakfast that was one of the best that I've ever had. Their signature sandwich, the Reggie, sounds like a prime candidate for This Is Why You're Fat but it tastes like a dream come true. A giant flakey biscuit topped with fried chicken, bacon, cheddar, and the best country gravy I've ever had. The biscuit is tinged yellow from all of the great butter that goes into it, the bacon is cooked perfectly, treading that fine line between chewy and overdone, and the gravy has enough coarsely ground black pepper to make it borderline spicy. This sandwich would have been great even if the chicken wasn't, but the chicken itself was amazing. It was a boneless breast which tends to dry out easily, but this one was a triumph. Moist, crisp, and perfectly seasoned with hints of vinegary hot sauce and the tang of a possible buttermilk soak.

It's been a week since my last Reggie and I have to say that there hasn't been a morning that I haven't woken up and craved it. Next time I'm in Portland I'll have to go for the Reggie Deluxe that tops the whole thing with an over easy egg.

Kline's Restaurant

On the way home from camping we were hung over and dying for some diner food. Stopped in Cumberland, MD but the only place open didn't serve breakfast, and when we asked the waitress where to go she told us "Mcdonald's". Kind of hard to believe that an old mining town in the middle of nowhere full of old guys in VFW hats doesn't have a diner. Anyway it took an hour but we found the real deal about a mile outside of Cumberland on route 40.

Kline's restaurant is by the railroad tracks under a giant cliff. The "Lover's Leap Lounge" is to the left when you walk in and was filled with previously mentioned old dudes drinking beer at 10:30 on a Sunday morning. The restaurant itself was packed to the gills looked like the real thing. Everything on the menu was around 5 dollars and the food was incredible.



I had country ham & eggs with texas toast and noticed "gravy...75 cents" on the side order menu. Had to see what that was all about and she said, "Oh hon, that's not what you think it is, it's sausage gravy".. even better. Strange because there is no biscuits or biscuits and gravy on the menu. The food hit the spot, real slices of ham, amazing sausage gravy, even the home fries were fantastic and definitely made from fresh potatoes. In fact I'd guess most if not all of the food here is made from scratch.

Kline's Restaurant
1068 National Hwy (US route 40 ALT)
Cumberland, MD 21502

Eggs and R. Kelly

I recently moved into a new apartment with my lady and we decided to throw a little brunch get together. Little became big and Big Man made an appearance in the form of R Kelly's Trapped In The Closet - Chapters 1-22.

Eggs and R. Kelly was born.

Menu:

Fried Chicken and Jalapeno Scallion Cornbread

Raspberry or Pumpkin Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast crusted in Pecans and Coconut

Eggs Benedict Florentine with Chipotle Hollandaise

Swine Tray (minus the flu) Sausage, Bacon, Canadian Bacon

Strawberries, Mimosa's, and Bloodies.

biscuits & gravy

the best hangover breakfast of all time - except maybe creamed chipped beef on toast, which is basically a philadelphia version of biscuits and gravy. It's really easy, all you need is sausage, flour, and milk or cream and some butter, maybe some hot sauce or garlic powder if you want to get fancy.

Breakfast Meeting at Work

Every week on Tuesdays, my department has an internal breakfast meeting. Usually this consists of someone picking up a dozen bad donuts or various bagels. We all agreed on a schedule and today was my day to bring in the yummy morning food. So I decided to make Sun-dried Tomato Scallion and Ham Mini Fritatta and Cinnamon Swirl Muffins. They came out amazing. Perfect browning and fluffy. However, I failed to check my blackberry the night before to be notified that they had canceled the meeting. I rolled in with my little catering Tupperware all ready to go. I even re-toasted the fritatta to make them warm. Then I noticed no one was at work. Regardless, the food came out delicious.

Here are some quotes from the people who ate from my desk.

That was seriously breakfast nirvana. Much respect. The muffins were tres tres beneficial to my cravings for goodness.

breakfast in paris

Breakfast in france usually means a croissant and some coffee. which is great but if you're a filthy american like me you want a giant plate with eggs and a few varieties of meat all cooked in fat along with your bread. So I was happy to find a little tobacco/lottery stand a few blocks from our hotel proudly advertising "petit dejeuner" including "fried ham and eggs".

Past the old french guys smoking and drinking beer at 10 oclock in the morning were a few tables. We sat down and ordered some coffee and croque madam sandwiches which if you dont know is a grilled/toasted/warm ham and cheese sandwich with an egg on top and sometimes bechamel sauce.

The guy at the counter took a big swig of wine and walked into the back to cook up our sandwiches, which were damn good. nothing fancy just good french ham slathered with cheese & topped with fried eggs. and even a little side salad.. pretty awesome for a newsstand full of smoking drunks. Oh and the coffee in france is better than anything else, I dont know why, maybe it's in the water or something, even the stuff that comes out of vending machines tastes like magic.

Rodeo Breakfast

I have to scan in the Rodeo Menu because it's pretty amazing. But untill then this is where we had our Mexican breakfast in Echo Park. Yummy Carnitas and Carne Asada Sopas and the yummiest beef soup thing. Oh and fresh tortillas of course and a cute lady walking around trying to convince me to get some tres leches cake. I should've gotten it.

Rob and Ako's B-fast

I had great patio envy when I was in LA. Rob and Ako kept a lovely outdoor spot full of lovely plants that of course grow and bloom year round. Here is a most nice morning breakfast with our gracious hosts enjoying the sun and some tea.

Also Rob just updated his website.

Melrose Diner

I admit parts of South Philly are a little on the ugly side. Especially when it's cold and wet like it has been lately it's hard to find anything charming when its all kind of awash in grey. 

But amoungst these grey streets resides the Melrose Diner. Diners are never a disappointment, especially 24 hour diners. The Melrose already looks cool before you go in, with it's giant coffee cup sign on the outside. 

I went there for brunch and I was expecting some morning South Philly sass from my waitresses. Yes, they we're crazy ( I accidently got 3 checks?) but really really nice, like you'll always be "hey hon" nice. 

The food was regular diner food ( I will review cakes next time, which they are famous for) and came in the greatest dishware, of pink and white "toile". 

I plan on being a regular already.

Melrose Diner
1501 Snyder Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19145-3092
Phone: (215) 467-6644