Lunch on the Train...

This is a corner of the pallid salad I had today on an Amtrak train. The iced tea was fresh brewed and very good though. Alas - they no longer cook to order on Amtrak, which I remember fondly.

Speaking of Amtrak food memories - do you remember the chicken salad sandwiches with chunks of pickle they used to serve on Amtrak? They were surprisingly good.

Boldly Casual Cuisine?

In Florida last month, I drove past a restaurant which described itself as featuring "boldly casual cuisine."

(Notice I said "drove past..." - I'd rather go hungry than eat in place which describes itself in such a meaninglessly bizarre way...)

What exactly is "boldly casual cuisine", anyway?

The image that flashed into my mind of a lamb chop wearing a patterned sport coat has been disturbingly hard to shake though...

Goodland Grind & Gallery

At the far end of a dusty main street on the high plains of Kansas lies Goodland Grind & Gallery. This is a classic local coffeehouse, with local music events, artists work on display, home baked pasties and sandwiches, and very good coffee.

It's in a beautiful old building, with a painted tin ceiling inside, and a nice outdoor patio on the left side.

Goodland is a remote place, in the part of the state Truman Capote said Kansans called "out there." Its presence shows how far we've come in this country. What a change it is that now you can get a decent cup of coffee nearly anywhere. *


Goodland Grind & Gallery
1530 Main St
Goodland, KS 67735
Phone: (785) 890-7690

* Still hard to get a good cup of coffee in Missouri, in my experience.

Arthur Bryant's, Kansas City, MO

I consider myself extremely fortunate among coastal dwellers, because this is the fifth time I have been privileged to eat at Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, MO. (Calvin Trillin often calls this the single best restaurant on the planet.)

Not being a big brisket lover, and unable to eat ribs due to orthodontia; I opted for the burnt ends sandwich - and it was utterly spectacular. Smoky and sweet, with a crunchy richness and a lingering mildly hot finish.

Great people watching here - perhaps the most integrated place I've ever been in the Midwest.

(Ok, it's the only truly integrated place I've ever been in the midwest.)

Everyone is slightly hushed, as befits a temple; united in awed reverence for the piles of smoky perfection slathered in the incredible sauce, which Jane Stern calls "nearly a soul food curry." It's not a bad description.

The walls are lined with photos of celebrities and politicos eating with Arthur. (Curiously, they're all Democrats.) Hmmm.....


There's a photo of a bottle of his famous bbq sauce atop the actual south pole. There is also the famous cartoon of St Peter greeting Arthur at the pearly gates -
.

The cartoon from the Kansas City Star that ran with his obituary always makes me want to burst into tears..

Lynn's Paradise Cafe, Louisville, KY

Two eggs and bacon with biscuits and cheese grits.

On my drive from Boston to LA I stopped into Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville, KY. (Louisville being right on the way.)

Lynn's is a riot of pure retro-southern kitsch, with the bonus of also having very, very good food.

If the B52's dropped a lot of acid and opened a restaurant, it would be a lot like Lynn's.

My eggs were perfectly scrambled on the griddle, the generous serving of thick cut bacon done just right, and the cheese grits were great, not to runny, and cheesy without being overpowering. The biscuit (two of them actually) was a bit cake like, but very good. (That may be a Louisville thing, I don't know...)

On the way out be sure and check out the bear sculpture spray painted with an Elvis jumpsuit in the parking lot.

This is one wacky-good breakfast.

Lynn's Paradise Cafe

984 Barret Ave. Louisville, KY (502) 583-3447

Monday-Friday 7:00am-10:00pm Saturday-Sunday 8:00am-10:00pm

Grandpa's Cheesebarn, Ashland, OH.

This is the roast beef and swiss sandwich with garlic pickle and vidalia onion mustard at Grandpa's Cheesebarn in Ashland Ohio.

If you're ever driving thorough Ashland Ohio by all means stop. They have a vast selection of locally made cheeses and meats. The horseradish cheddar is particularly good.

White Turkey Drive in - Connaught, OH

It is my dearest hope to return to the The White Turkey Drive In, in Conneaut, Ohio for lunch.

Tragically, it is closed after Labor Day, so I am reprinting this entry from my trip east at the beginning of the summer. It makes sense, as this is the quintessential summer experience. Besides, outdoor seating and the five feet of snow they often get in these parts don't mix well.

This place was founded in 1952, and hasn't changed one bit since. It was by far the most charming and atmospheric of the joints I visited on this trip, and had shady picnic tables out back surrounded by a beautiful perennial garden.

I had the the turkey sandwich called the "Large Marge." (No, it's not named for the lesbian ghost trucker in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, but for the restaurant's original proprietress.)

I can only describe the sandwich as a "pulled turkey" sandwich. It is startlingly like North Carolina BBQ, but made with white meat turkey instead of pork. It was topped with bacon and American cheese. It was delicious, and very vintage-y in character as you'd expect from the looks of this place. It was accompanied by a delicious real milkshake, freshly made and with globs of vanilla ice cream still slightly unblended. The onion rings were good, but of the crumb breading type popular in the Midwest which is not my favorite. (My mother's onion rings were arguably the gold standard, closely followed by those at Liam's on Nauset Beach in Orleans Mass on Cape Cod.)

This place was so sweetly retro-Americana that I was nearly moved to tears while waiting for my sandwich. (I'm funny that way.)

I suddenly understood the much vaunted charms of the Midwest. I confess that this has previously largely escaped me.



Plus the state flag of Ohio is a pennant, the only one in the US, which is way cool.

Eckl's Beef on Weck, Orchard Park, NY

While driving cross country I have resolved to not eat at any chain restaurants, no fast food, and no mass market commercial cooking. Instead I will seek out more "old school" road food.

The first night of my trans-continental oddessy, in Buffalo, NY I am confronted with an embarrassment of riches. A choice between the Anchor Bar - (the original home of the eponymous Buffalo Wings) or Eckl's Beef on Weck.

I briefly entertain the idea of having buffalo wings for breakfast, so as to be able to try both, but Buffalo Wings are something of a nightmare to eat with braces, so off to Beef on Weck it is. Besides "Eckl's Beef on Weck" is a throughly enjoyable phrase to say aloud, so I am compelled to say it several times on the way to the restaurant.

The somewhat appalling photo is Eckl's Beef on Weck sammich - tragically underlit for the cellphone camera. It was much more attractive that it looks in this photo...

Eckl's is an unassuming white building in a decidedly residential neighborhood. A sign outside simply declares "Eckl's." In these parts no further explanation is necessary. A small brass plaque on the side of the building announces: "House Of Eckl - established 1934." Inside it is cozy and dark in a paneled suburban rumpus room sort of way. At one side of the dining room is the stainless sandwich assembly and slicing area.

A weck (Kummelweck actually) is a salted roll often described as pretzel bread, but it's much softer than that would lead you to imagine. It is also seeded with ground caraway seeds.

I order my roast beef sandwich medium rare, and it arrives a few minutes later. It is closer to what I would describe as raw. I am one of those who finds beef mildly distressing at the best of times, so this presents a minor challenge*, but my trepidation fades on the first bite. It is spectacular - the beef literally melts in your mouth, and the salt and caraway provide the perfect foil for the extremely tender beef. I recommend eating the sandwich upside down, as the salt crystals and caraway seeds have a more exciting effect when placed tongue down...

Eckl's Beef on Weck -
4936 Ellicott Rd
Orchard Park, NY 14127

* I find it exceedingly odd when people won't eat things they don't like. I believe in trying things several times, and then once more just to be sure.... When something I don't particularly like is presented to me, I generally eat it anyway, in the interests of both politeness and anthropology.