Central City Cafe--Simplicity, Simplicity

As fun as Pittsburgh is to wander around in, finding the different little areas, and their classic restaurants, Ben and I decided we needed a little vacation. I'd been working my tail off all summer, so it was time to take off and get out of the city for a few days. Now usually West Virginia wouldn't be our top choice, but we decided it was close enough to make a good weekend, and we could finish off the entire gamut of Triple D West Virginia in one weekend--since there are only two places! A lot of people thought that we were crazy for driving 4 hours just to go to a couple restaurants, but if we're serious about this thing we've gotta be willing to travel a little bit, and this was the first chance to really do a road trip like Guy--unfortunately we rolled out in a Ford Fusion not a '67 red Camero. We took off on a Friday afternoon and headed straight for Old Central City, Huntington, WV to discover the comfort food of the Central City Cafe.

Old Central City is the old downtown of Huntington, home to the old factories, 100 year old buildings, and tons of antique shops. Right in the heart of this cozy district, right across from a revamped, white gazebo is a brick building, highlighted by its green bunting, with old English lettering declaring you've reached the Central City Cafe. Open since 1993, Dave and Sherry Louther opened up the cafe after Dave retired from working on the railroad for 17 years. He was in charge of the railcar, cranking out 11 meals a week for 85 men--so now he cranks out just as many meals for all the Huntington locals looking for some heart-warming, just like Mom made food. This was probably one of the biggest places we've been in. Triple D has made us get used to cramped quarters, but at the Central City you've got plenty of room from the bar area in front to the full dining room attached to it. A shrine to Marshall University's Thundering Herd dominates the bar area, and you know that everyone in the place is devoted to the Herd and can't wait for football season. Inside the dining area, the walls are covered with old newspapers, antiques, Frank Sinatra's mug shot, and if you're a fan of the show Chuck like we are, a huge plastic marlin. They're famous for their homemade food, and our waiter--possibly the owner's son--gave us the low down on all the food Guy tried. Oddly enough we mentioned that we were checking out the other places in the area, and it turns out our waiter's sister is dating the son of the couple who own Hillbilly Hot Dogs--our other place to visit (check back in for their post 'cuz it'll be crazy). Guy didn't try a ton here--at least not that was aired, but the menu isn't huge, so we didn't have too tough of a choice. In pure cafe style they have about 9 hot dinners, 8 homemade soups, and tons of sandwiches...we opted for soup and some dinner.

Like I mentioned with LoBello's we had to try the soup that Guy tried even though we aren't really soup people--plus the soup came with their famous, brick sized cornbread, so we really couldn't say no. We went with the White Chili, which was spicy and warm, the type of thing you'd love to have a huge bowl of in the middle of December. The cornbread is literally the size of a small brick, super dense, and super moist. It isn't necessarily a sweet cornbread, but the texture was perfect and it was a good start to the meal. Now in terms of dinner, Ben and I had different opinons. He wasn't a huge fan of his dinner, and it's true the portions are kinda small, but it's a cafe so it comes with the territory a bit. He had the hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and cottage cheese. I opted for the meatloaf with mashed potatoes, peas, and cornbread. Now unfortunately they forgot my peas, but the mashed potatoes were absolutely insane. Hands down some of the best that I've ever had, very creamy, awesome seasoning, a great side to the meatloaf. The meatloaf had a very interesting seasoning, what we think was sage, which isn't usually how meatloaf tastes, but it was really really good--plus it was topped with ketchup so you can't go wrong. Overall, I liked my meal, but like Ben, I would say it was a one time stop--it was worth the visit, but there isn't anything that screams at me that we had that would made me itch to go back, but hey this was the first place that was a little rough for us, and that ratio isn't that bad, and we'd still recommend it to anyone who wants to do the Triple D rounds. Oh and try to get there early before they run out of the homemade desserts which we missed out on.

No website, but if you Google "Old Central City" you'll get a little information on the cafe.

LoBello's Spaghetti House--Picture it Sicily...

So if you ever find yourself cruising up 79 around Pittsburgh you'll eventually find yourself driving past the ghosts of steel mills and a city that was once the central hub of the steel industry...Coraopolis, PA. It can now be easy to breeze past the now small suburb and ignore it while heading onto bigger and better things, however if you persuade your car to pull off at the State Street exit you'll find in the heart of 5th avenue a little Italian restaurant that's been around for 65 years, a favorite of locals and used-to-be locals alike, and may just be the most talked about Triple D place we've encountered yet.

Of all the places we've visited no other has had so many accompanying stories from outside the confines of Food Network. It seems like everyone I know who has grown up or gone to school in Pittsburgh has a LoBello's story...Ben's parents used to eat there with some of their college friends, one of my friends from Seminary used to go there with his wife once a week, even at the hospital I worked at all summer I had veterans telling me that if I'm ever in Coraopolis I have to check out LoBello's. It wasn't just Guy telling us to discover the wonders of their real deal Italian but apparently everyone we came into contact with. Italian isn't how this place started out though...it all started with...hot dogs...yes hot dogs. 65 years ago when Rose LoBello's parents immigrated to the US from Italy they decided to open up a 24/7 hot dog stand, and by the time she was 14 Rose was waitressing and helping out her parents, but eventually the hot dogs lost their luster and they decided to go back to their roots and recreate their restaurant with the recipes they'd brought with them from Italy. Now years later Rose is still wandering around the tables chatting up regulars with plenty of hugs to go around, and the food is still as Italian as you can get. It's a small place, cozy, perfectly romantic Italian, with 8 booths and 3 tables as close together as you can get. Their history is literally written on the walls since the thing that you first notice when you walk in is that every wooden surface is covered with the carved names of past and present patrons (including the blonde haired Food Network star himself). Pictures of Rose's parents are still on the walls and the machinery they used 65 years ago are still hand-cranking out dozens of ravioli one order at a time, but believe me they're worth the wait.

All their pasta is cooked to order after each dozen is rolled out individually once the order rolls in. This is probably one of the few places where Ben and I haven't tried to cover as much of the menu as possible, but stuck to the classics...ravioli all the way. Before we got to the ravioli though we took a trip down the soup aisle, which is something we owe to Triple D. Soup is usually something we skip at restaurants, when the option is soup or salad we always go salad, never soup, but Guy loves trying restaurant's soups and LoBello's is no exception. Their specialty is Pasta Fagoli, made with homemade noodles creating a kind of Italian chili, thick, hearty, and heart-warming. The secret apparently lies in browning the garlic powder and gives it the kick it's become known for, and trust me it packs a punch for soup, but the next time I need something to warm me up during a Pittsburgh winter, this soup would be the number one choice. But if we thought the soup was good, dinner only got better. We got an order of meat ravioli and an order of cheese then split, but the edge would probably go to the meat, which tasted like there was a homemade mini-meatball inside. The dough was light and fluffy, yet dense enough to fill you up. The sauce is really the kicker though--don't expect a thick meat sauce at LoBello's--no no--their homemade sauce is thin with a depth of flavor I haven't found anywhere else...there's a kick to the spices and it's the perfect texture to be sopped up with the bread you get with your meal. While we weren't able to engrave our names on a booth, we will definately get another chance soon because they deserve a second (and third and fourth) visit to check out more of the menu and more real deal Italian.

MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT THEIR HOURS!!! They're very different everyday so check out the schedule and of course the menu (same for lunch and dinner just different prices)

http://lobellosspaghettihouse.com/

Dor-Stop--Welcome to the Pancake Jungle

Here's the cool thing about doing this Triple D thing...it isn't just Ben and I who are makin' the rounds. My sisters were really the ones who got us into Food Network, and we all love Guy, it was just Ben and I who decided to really crank these trips into a legit goal, but occasionally our schedule works out that we're able to get everybody to some stops. It's actually fun 'cuz my sisters have started keeping track of how many places they've been to too. So around mid-June, my family were swinging into Pittsburgh for my brother-in-law's birthday, and my oldest sister had seen "this place with amazing breakfast food" on an episode she was watching, so we decided that we'd head to the Dor-Stop while she was in town. Dormont is another one of those weird suburbs of Pittsburgh that is still technically in the Pittsburgh zip code, but is really it's own little area. It's kind of like this little town that refuses to become part of the city, and still has the small town feel from the small antique shops right down to the local diner that everyone flocks to every weekend...the Dor-Stop.

The Dor-Stop has been the go-to breakfast joint for Dormont locals for 23 years, and what put them on the map were their pancakes--or hotcakes as Vicki Lawhorne calls them. The Lawhorne's decided in the mid-80's that they really wanted a diner of their own, because as Vicki says she's a diner person, she cooks like she's in a diner, talks like she's in a diner, she is 100% diner. According to Vicki what really defines her as a diner owner is that the recipe they're most famous for isn't really a recipe at all...their hotcakes are different with every order because she just eyeballs the batter, but trust me she doesn't make mistakes, none of us had a bad pancake. Now the most popular question they get at the Dor-Stop is why that name?? They've gotten asked so many times that they've put the answer on the menu and on the tables. To make a long story short they took the beginning of the town=DOR and combined it with the fact that they are in close proximity to the Dormont Transit STOP, put the two together and you've got the Dor-Stop. Regardless of how they got the name though, the food they're cranking out is enough to put a line out the door anyday of the week. We got there around 10am on a Saturday morning and there was a line out the door! There wasn't even enough room inside to wait, because trust this place is tiny, but they pack in as many people as the fire marshall will allow. Now you can choose to sit outside, but when you've got a party of 9 to cram in an outside table isn't really possible. What's really cool about the people at the Dor-Stop though is they take care of you even before you've sat down. A waitress came out and brought everyone coffee while they waited and made sure they had a menu to keep them busy. Despite the number of people there though we only waited 20 minutes and then we were in for the best pancakes I've ever had.

Inside there are tons of tiny tables as close together as possible, and the walls are covered with pictures from when the town was being built and the railroads came in, plus tons of black and white pictures of old little league teams, so there's plenty to look at. The kitchen is right in the dining room and you can see the cooks going crazy on the line trying to make as many hotcakes as possible to keep everyone happy. Now most of us got hotcakes, but that didn't mean we all ate the same thing...there are at leat 10 different options for pancakes (so many choices Guy called this place the Pancake Jungle) on the menu so we all got something a little different. My sister got the Banana Oatmeal, which had this awesome texture that you really can't describe. My brother-in-law and I both got the Pumpkin, and let me tell you these things tasted like cake, no joke. They were crisp but soft and kinda dense, but so good, trust me I think about these things on a weekly basis. Now the pancakes aren't the only famous thing here. After they were open for a few years, people started to want something a little different from pancakes, so one of the managers whipped up one of the best things on their menu, the Raspberry Stuffed French Toast. My other sister and Ben got this, and then we all split out meals. The french toast is coated with corn flakes so they're really crunchy, then covered with a raspberry cream cheese and sauce, it's practically like eating dessert for breakfast. But if a sweet breakfast isn't what you're looking for don't worry...just try the jumbot. Now on Triple D this meal goes by a couple names, garbage plates, schultzy's mess, but at the Dor-Stop it's the jumbot. A crazy combination of eggs, potatoes, tomato, peppers, cheese, ham, and sausage, pretty much everything you can imagine, and when you put it together it's insane. We got one as an appetizer so everyone could try it, cuz that's what we try to do when we have enough people--sample a little bit of everything Guy tried, and with 9 people that's what we were able to do. This place is going to be a regular stop whenever we're in Pittsburgh, in fact I'll probably be there this weekend, now I just have to decide between the pancakes and the french toast...how does one Food Network fan make that kind of decision???

Check out all the hotcake flavors and the clip of the Jumbot..

http://www.dor-stoprestaurant.com/

Starlite Lounge--Holy Pierogi Batman

Let's say you're driving around Pittsburgh and you find yourself crossing the Highland Park bridge. You decide to take the first exit ramp towards Aspinwall and start cruising down Freeport Road. You pass a few Italian markets, some hockey gear stores, a mall, and then you enter the little town of Blawnox, Pennsylvania. Now you're starting to feel a little hungry, so you decided to see what Blawnox has to offer, it's a nice enough little 'burb, they must have something right? So you start looking around the main drag, and you pass by a pretty square looking building, just painted blue, nothing distinguishable to it, it just looks like well...a bar. A big, blue bar with no sign on the front, it's only once you pass it that you see the little board identifying it as the Starlite Lounge, but the place looked pretty bland right? Nothing too exciting?? Pretty boring...it's just a bar...just booze and peanuts right?? WRONG! You just cruised right on past one of the best restaurants Pittsburgh and it's surrounding areas has to offer...so pull a U-turn, find a parking spot, grab a beer and check out Moondog and the Starlite.

14 years ago a former musician decided to change careers and buy the local bar around the block...the Starlite. Around since '54, the Starlite is a favorite place to catch the Pirates' game, catch up with your buddies, and kick back with a Yuengling. The former owner sold the place to Ron--Moondog to everyone who knows the Starlite--he did so with one rule...the name stays. Moondog wasn't gettin' the Starlite unless it stayed the Starlite, so he kept the name and added his own touch to the menu, turning your typical bar food into one of the best meals I've ever eaten. Now you can definately still get your standard bar food, ya know wings, burgers, potato skins, that type of thing, but if you're lookin' for something more you can get that too from their fettuncini alfredo with chicken and mushrooms to meatloaf to the infamous chicken diablo, a spicy chicken and pasta dish that is a local legend. The one thing everyone says that you've gotta have at the Starlite though is the pierogis. Pittsburgh is a Polish town, and that means they've got some killer homemade pierogis. So whatever else you get on the menu make sure you're addin' on a pierogi appetizer, homemade with every order from the same recipe used by one of the Starlite's waitress' Grandma. These things are flying out of the kitchen so fast that on their website they actually recommend that you call ahead and pre-order them so they can have em ready for you. So when Ben and I strolled out of the movies on a Wednesday afternoon, we called the Starlite, ordered our pierogis and headed into Blawnox to see what else Moondog had to offer.

If you haven't figured it out yet, Ben and I are suckers for some good bar food. We would prefer a big plate of wings to the fanciest meal you could place in front of us, and because of that, the Starlite is in our top three of places we've been from Triple D (they're actually number 2 but I haven't told you guys about number 1 yet). We decided to mix up how we order a little bit so that we could both get a taste of everything, and I think our waitress thought we were a little crazy for it. Plus we were the only people in the bar eating, we didn't go into the actually dining room area where a couple other groups were. We decided to order a ton of food and just split everything and it was an excellent idea. We, obviously, had the pierogis and wow, better than could've been expected. Sauteed with butter and onions, and filled with cheese and potato these things (3 to an order) were huge and hearty. They were seriously a meal in themselves, served up with a side of applesauce, that my apple-hating boyfriend steered clear of. They were dense and fluffy all at the same time, a definate repeat order for the next time we roll into the bar. On top of those, we also got some BBQ wings, which weren't just your run of the mill drummies, no no, these things were whole wings, slathered in Moondog's famous sauce--they were Ben's favorite part of the meal. My favorite part was yet to come though...the Cowboy Burger. A huge burger covered in cheddar cheese, bacon, and BBQ sauce, plus fries that tasted like they were right off the boardwalk. Definately in the top 3 burgers I've ever had, and trust me I've had a lot of burgers, and few compare (again just wait for the number one Triple D joint). Our waitress expected us to need a box, but no way, we were there for dinner and we cleaned out plates and were ready for seconds. Everytime we talked about going out to dinner from this night on the Starlite always came up, but we haven't made it back yet, even though we absolutely will be back soon, and will probably order the exact same thing, because let's face it, why change a great thing???

Check out their Triple D clip and their menu:

http://www.moondogs.us/StarliteHome.html

Crystal Restaurant--Lamb on the Strip

So we've discovered "the run" in Pittsburgh, now it's time to meander to the Strip District. The Strip District runs through Pittsburgh and kind of has little districts even within itself. It runs along the Allegheny River and extends about 22 blocks through the middle of downtown, ranging through Smallman St., Penn Ave., and Liberty Ave. What started out as the home of the steel mills and wholesale warehouses in the 1800's has now become a hot spot for trendy restaurants and antique stores. No matter what you're looking for in Pittsburgh you can most likely find it in the Strip, and that includes Lebanese food. When we checked out Guy's index on Food Network's website, this was one of the few places in Pittsburgh we hadn't heard of or seen the clip for, so initially we weren't really sure what we were going to find. So as we were planning our date night for that week we looked up Crystal's and found the clip of it's food on YouTube and it turned out this place was a bar hidden in the heart of the Strip serving up authentic Lebanese cuisine along with your typical bar fare.

Crystal's has been in Pittsburgh for 5 years, so it's definately the "youngest" place we'd been to thus far on the Triple D road. Most places Guy samples tend to be decades old, and this place may still hold the record for being the place around for the shortest length of time. The restaurant got it's name from owner and head chef Crystal, who, despite never being in the restaurant business before, decided to open up a place where she could serve the food she liked to eat, the food that she grew up on, Middle Eastern fare. She hadn't been able to find a place in Pittsburgh serving up Lebanese food like her mom made so what better way to get that food than serving it yourself? So with the help of her mom--who still helps out in the kitchen (she's in charge of all the lamb sandwiches)--Crystal opened up this little bar on Penn Avenue. She's got a prime location, right in the heart of the stadium district, which serves her business well. In fact, only a few days before we'd wandered in, the place had been packed until 2 in the morning after the Pens had beaten my beloved Red Wings in one of the earlier games of the Stanley Cup finals. With an image like that, Crystal's really lives up to its motto of being a "meeting, eating, and drinking place." The atmosphere of this place is still probably my favorite in terms of an intimate setting--not something you usually find in a Triple D haunt. The place, despite the bar and Steelers' memorabilia, is covered in Christmas lights and each table has a candle on it which definately sets the tone for a date night. Crystal has covered the walls with old family wedding photos, so there's no shortage of things to look at while you're waiting for your meal. We were the only people there, except for a table of 4 regulars and Crystal--who was out and about making plans for the shipment of food she was getting ready to have delivered. Even with only two tables full though, the place looked packed, it's not that difficult when it's only got like 6 tables. Our waiter was really cool and asked if we'd ever been there, and when we told him no, he gave us all his recommendations off of the menu--"everything's fantastic, but go for the Lebanese." That's what we were there for since it's what this place is known for, and hey Guy featured it on a "Taste of Everywhere" so we couldn't just go and grab a burger, if we did Guy would've been disappointed. So what did we grab???

Ben and I are suckers for hummus, so we couldn't very well eat at a Middle Eastern restaurant without getting some, so that's how we started out our meal, and it was insane. Hummus can be a tricky food, some places have it too thick, others too creamy, but at Crystal's it's perfect, just the right combination. Plus, it came with fresh, warm pita, and a garlic dip that is one of the coolest things we've ever had at a Triple D joint. Every Lebanese meal at Crystal's comes with banana peppers, pita, and their homemade garlic dip, which is very cool and refreshing. Get yourself some pita covered in dip and hummus and you're in heaven, trust me. One of the things Guy raved about at Crystal's was the "Lamb on the Rod," and since I'm not big on the lamb (as we discussed at Grampa's) I let Ben cover that portion of the menu. The lamb gets marinated for 24 hours in oil, spices, and peppers, then gets grilled up. Now this isn't your average kabob with 4 pieces of meat, and tons of veggies--no no no not at Crystal's--the entire kabob is lamb. The best way to eat this stuff is make a little pita sandwich with a piece of lamb, garlic dip, and peppers and onions, even I thought this stuff was insane! I went for a more extreme form of Lebanese cuisine, with the combo platter featuring 3 different forms of Crystal's cookin'--grape leaves, tabbouli, and kibbee. I love grape leaves (Ben hates them so I got them all to myself) and these were definately some of the best I've ever had--heavy on the lemon juice and cooked perfectly. The tabbouli was what I dove into first, and it was exactly what you expect from tabbouli, clean, fresh, and bananas, but while the rest of my meal was good the kibbee stole the show. I'd never even heard of kibbee til Triple D, but man am I glad I did. It's ground beef, mixed up with spices and pine nuts then deep fried, and served in a kind of football form. Seriously with some pita and garlic dip, I couldn't get enough of this stuff. After we left Crystal's I said to Ben, ya know it's places like this that are the reason I love Triple D. If it wasn't for Guy, if we'd ever wandered into Crystal's I wouldn't have gone near the Lebanese food, I'd have played it safe with a burger, and never got to experience the reason Crystal opened up this place, her mom's home cookin'. So here's what I recommend, no matter if you love Lebanese food, or have never had it in your life, take a ride down the Strip and check out Crystal's if only to sample the garlic dip!

Check out all the Lebanese cuisine Crystal has to offer:

http://www.crystalonpenn.com/

Big Jim's--Veal Parm as Big as Your Head

Big Jim's really starts a new phase in the Triple D journey for Ben and I--it was really like the starting place for a small goal within the larger one of hitting up every one of Guy's joints. Usually, central Pennsylvania is home, but when Ben got accepted to grad school in Pittsburgh, the perspective changed. We had the whole city in front of us and inside of this awesome city were 7 Triple D favs. So when I moved to Pittsburgh for the summer, we decided our goal was to work our way through the city before my 10 weeks of internship were up. We started with Big Jim's--a place we'd visited earlier in the year after we'd seen the episode on TV, but like every other place we'd already visited it hadn't been photographed. I started work at the end of May and to celebrate making it through my first day of workin' at the hospital we decided to kick off the summer with a trip to Big Jim's. We figured since it was a kind of celebration, it'd be better to start with a place we knew we liked, ya know jump start the summer with style, and what has more style than some homemade Italian food???

Any Pittsburgh local can probably tell you exactly where "the run" is. It's a small strip of the city on the outskirts of Southside, underneath the Hot Metal Bridge, home to some old fashioned houses and a building you'd probably drive right on past if you didn't know what you were looking for--Big Jim's. From the outside, Jim's looks like a typical dive bar, only noticeable because of the sign up on the outside wall, but it's really what's on the inside that counts right? And that's why locals have been packin' into this place for over thirty years. There's a reason Jim's was on the episode "Long Time Legends." It's called Pittsburgh home since 1977 when the current owner's Uncle Jim bought the place to start cooking up his Mom's homemade recipes she brought over from Italy. Jim's nephew bought the place in 1992 with a couple of partners to keep his uncle's traditions alive. It started out as just a bar with about ten tables not counting the bar stools, but they've added on with a larger dining area recently. No matter how many seats there are though the place is always packed, so if you're going around dinner expect a wait--but trust me it's worth it. The first time we went to Jim's it was in February, we got there around 5:30 right as a huge snow storm was brewing, the weather didn't stop business though. By the time we left there were three inches of snow on the ground and a line of people waiting to get in--talk about dedication! Ben and I usually sit in the bar area, mostly because I like to watch the TVs they always have tuned into ESPN, cuz hey it is a bar after all, even if the food they're crankin' out isn't your typical bar food.

The second time we went to Jim's I told myself I'd try something new, I promised myself this would be the time I tried their homemade pasta, try their big as a brick lasagna, but when it comes down to it, I know what I like, and what I like at Big Jim's is the chicken parm sub. I've had this thing twice and haven't been able to finish it in one sitting yet. The whole is probably pushin' 16 to 18 inches of homemade bread (that is some of the best I've ever had) stuffed full of provolone, chicken, and their homemade red sauce. Their definately famous for their sauce, which is of course a secret family recipe that hasn't been changed in thirty years. Ben's the more adventurous of the two of us, so he changed orders the second time around, but it still didn't lead to either of us trying any homemade pasta. This time Ben replaced his meatball sub (made with homemade fried meatballs) for the infamous veal parm. Now if you're a fan of the show, you know Guy's prone to exaggeration, but when he said this thing was as big as your head, he wasn't lying. This was the biggest sandwich I've ever seen, and is one of the house favorites. Both the chicken and the veal are fried to perfection. They're crisp and tender, but be careful cuz these things come out smokin' hot--I've burned my mouth both times, but for these subs it's totally worth it. So between the two of us, we've covered their sub section fairly well--even though there are plenty more than what we've tried, and we've hit up a couple of appetizers too. They're fryin' up provolone sticks and making an Italian wedding soup like you've never had, complete with homemade mini meatballs. Put some parmesan cheese on top of it and you'd think you were in heaven. I'm still holding out hope that the next time around I'll try some pasta, but when you've got something as good as their subs and soup, it's hard to pull yourself away. Here's what I've learned from Big Jim's though, and I think it's the perfect example of Guy's goal with Triple D (If it's funky we'll find it), you can't judge a place by the outside. Driving by Jim's you'd probably think it's just a run down bar, but you'd be missing out on some amazing food, so the next time you're in Pitt, head down to the run and check out Big Jim's...it'll be worth the wait.

They just set up their website since they opened up a new place outside the city, but the one you're lookin' for is Big Jim's Restaurant so check out the menu on the left

http://www.bigjimsrestaurant.com/

The Fly Trap--The Finer Diner

While Ben and I's current locale is the great state of Pennsylvania, home for me will always be Michigan, between the Great Lakes and some of my favorite cities in the world, I really can't think of a better place to be than the Mitten State, but little did I know it was also home to some killer food in out of the way places. In all of my 22 years of living in Michigan, I'd never been to Ferndale--the polar opposite to Guy's hometown of Ferndale, CA--but of course that's what this show is all about, taking you to places you've never been, to experience food you'd never give a second thought to. Now, I must confess The Fly Trap isn't the first Triple D destination we've hit up in my home state, but it is the first that got documented (give us a few weeks and our official first will be made scrapbook official). Ferndale is a lesser known suburb of Detroit and about 45 minutes north of where I grew up. Luckily for us, it's actually only about 20 minutes from Lisa's sister's house, so we decided to take a day, go hang out with her adorable nieces and nephews and then roll into Ferndale to check out this self-proclaimed "finer diner." This was really only 2 days after we'd gotten back from Florida, so it was also marking the end of a pretty intense Triple D week, all that was left to see was how it compared to our previous two visits.

The couple who opened up The Fly Trap were lookin' to do a diner their own way after years in the restaurant biz--hence the moniker "finer diner." They wanted to spice things up and have a menu featuring the food they really liked to eat, so they suckered Kara's brother into being their dishwasher and opened up this tiny little joint along Woodward Avenue. The name "The Fly Trap" came from the fact that this place really was a fly trap when they bought it. They had to completely gut the place and start over--and it was no easy task, there are pictures documenting the transformation on their walls and the place was definately not a pretty sight originally. Today the place is insanely cool--with bright colors on the walls and a specials board that's written out in different colored chalk everyday on the wall, and hey it doesn't hurt that the entire outside of the building is painted lime green, it makes it easier to spot. What surprised us about this place was that it was tiny--after seeing the episode it looked a lot bigger, but that is only because of the mirror running along the back wall which makes it look twice its size. In reality, its a small place with about 10 tables and a few stools along the bar. When I asked about a t-shirt, our waitress popped open a closet crammed with shirts and a vaccuum cleaner and told me to go nuts. The lights were funky shapes and colors and really just gave the place a feel of its own that's almost indescribable, unless you ask my sister who'd call it "kitschy." Now anyone who wanders into Michigan is usually expecting some good down home food--burgers, fries, etc.,--not exactly a menu dominated by Asian cuisine with a twist, but that's what you find at The Fly Trap. Sean learned all his recipes from the Mom of his Japanese-American college roommate, who would feed them on weekends when they'd visit. This place definately still holds the distinction of most unique menu that we've experienced thus far, and because of that we're already planning our second visit in August, the off-the-hook menu won The Fly Trap the coveted prize of being my restaurant of choice for my birthday, but before I start planning my second meal there, let's talk about what we had the first time.

It took us all ages to figure out just what we wanted from this menu, because honestly each of us had about 3 or 4 things in mind that we wanted to try, and we definately ran the board on diversity. Ben was the only one of us that stuck to the Triple D menu and got the Lemongrass Pho Bowl with chicken, which was described by Guy as one of the best bowls he's ever had. This thing was huge and the flavor was crazy, it had a lot of spice--courtesy of the jalapenos, and was definately one of the most unique things I've ever tasted. I allowed myself to branch away from Guy's specialities cuz I'm a sucker for a good mac 'n cheese, or as they put it 3 cheese 'n mac--an intense mix of smoked gouda, cheddar, and blue cheese. The serving size was huge and it was by far some of the best mac 'n cheese I've ever had. Jenn covered the sandwiches with their Chicken Charmoula (North African Spiced Chicken Breast, Jack Cheese, Caramelized Onion on Grilled Sourdough with a Lemon, Garlic Aioli) that she definately said she'd get again, and Lisa handled breakfast with their Cowboy Curtis, a seared ribeye with "wildwest sauce" and some of the best potatoes she's ever had. Then to top it off--mostly because I couldn't decide between it and the mac 'n cheese--we all split their famous gingerbread waffle smothered in apples and dried Michigan cherries topped with their cinnamon syrup (which is probably going to be the winner of the birthday meal). The waffle probably stands in the top 3 of things I've sampled thanks to Triple D, and trust me that's sayin' a lot! And if our assortment of menu items wasn't enough, we didn't even touch that day's specials which ranged from a pulled pork omelette to cheddar cheese biscuits and gravy (oh and don't forget that Flavor of the Day shakes, which just happened to be strawberry). Guy featured them on "Off the Hook Specials" and they more than lived up to that expectation--this place had a funky atmosphere, a crazy unique menu, and I gotta say they definately got it right when they call themselves a "finer diner."

And if you don't believe me about the insane menu check out "Blunch"

http://www.theflytrapferndale.com/

11th Street Diner--A Taste of PA in Florida

Ya know when you think about Miami a couple things come to mind--white beaches, seafood, and some of the best night clubs in the country, but one thing you don't usually think of is a classic American diner. However, when we were planning our trip to Florida and looking at the Triple D places around Miami a diner is exactly what we found. We knew that we would be spending the end of our trip to the Keys in Miami, and so we decided to take advantage of the chance to see at least one place Guy visited in the area. Most of my family doesn't really go crazy for seafood, so we decided to hit up the 11th Street Diner--home of some American classics, which were born along the east coast, but like most things in this country retired to Florida.

Lucky for us, this place just happened to be only about 6 blocks from our hotel in South Beach, so our first afternoon in the city, we decided to walk down to the diner. It's notorious for being the late night hangout for everyone who's partied a little too hardy down on the strip, and are in need of some comfort food to ward off their morning hangovers. We weren't there at 2am when this place is at it's busiest, so we almost had the place entirely to ourselves. Here's the cool thing about the diner, it was built in 1948 by a dining car company in New Jersey, and located in Wilkes-Barre, PA for 44 years. The east coast, mainly Pennsylvania and New Jersey, are known for their silver clad diners, but in the 1990's it was dismantled and moved down to South Beach as part of the Art Deco movement in the city. With the help of volunteers and the city, it was restored to its original art deco form and opened on September 11, 1992, and from that day on its been a cornerstone of the Art Deco district. The diner is exactly what you'd expect from an east coast transplant--a silver dining car, filled with red plastic booths, and a soda fountain right in front. The front portion of the diner is exactly what it looked like in the 40's, but they've recently added on a sports bar in the back. We sat in the front part of the diner in their corner booth, and were only the second group of people there. But we were the only group of people eating...

Guy sampled a lot of food while he was here, and covered the full range of what he called "American Classics," and that's pretty much what all our meals looked like. My mom and Jenn got their famous turkey dinner, complete with cranberry sauce and stuffing--so good that Guy commented on it when he signed the poster he gave to them ("Killer chops & turkey!"). Lisa got the Argentinian skirt steak, another of Guy's favorites, that she got with mashed potatoes and mac 'n cheese. Ben and I diverted from the Triple D specials though, because on top of being featured on Food Network, they've also been voted the best fried chicken in Miami by the New York Times, so that's the route Ben and I took, along with some sweet potato fries for me, black beans and rice for Ben, and the mac 'n cheese for both of us. Now I've gotta say for being in South Florida, the fried chicken was pretty phenomenal, and according to Ben it was the best beans and rice he's ever had. Overall, we were all pretty happy with our food. I had forgotten to check the specials board on the way in though, and after rewatching Guy's clip I wished I had tried their pork chops with apples and cherries, but still I was pretty happy with my fried chicken. Now here's the thing about the diner, the food was awesome, but our waiter wasn't really all that happy to have business in the middle of the afternoon, so we were kind of left to our own devices. We all left happy that we'd visited, but were somewhat unanimous in our vote that it was definately a one time stop on the Triple D train. The food was classic diner fare, and definately lived up to the American classics, which was a unique find in Miami, but there wasn't really a ton that jumped out at us that made us want to revisit the next time we rolled through Miami. That doesn't mean though that I wouldn't give it a hearty recommendation if you ever find yourselves in South Beach, and are just lookin' for some good ole' fashioned diner food.

Again, check out the website and see what this awesome diner car looks like plus you can check out the menu, the dishes with stars by them are the Triple D favs http://www.eleventhstreetdiner.com/

Grampa's Bakery & Restaurant--The Unexpected Visit

It seemed appropriate that the first place we hit up (after deciding to start scrapping our progress that is) just kind of fell into our laps. In May, the two of us were travelling with my family down to Key West, but had flown into Fort Lauderdale and planned on making the drive down to the keys from there. Now here's the thing, we were initially planning on making a stop at a Triple D place while we were in Miami at the end of our vacation, so there was already one place in our sights. Here's the thing though, as we were pulling out of the Fort Lauderdale airport, we passed a sign that welcomed us to the booming metropolis of Dania Beach, FL. Now we both happened to remember that Grampa's (a place we had always wanted to visit after seeing their episode) was actually in Dania Beach, but we'd had no idea we would be driving through so we never thought about visiting when we were planning our trip to Florida. So once we'd hit the road, we just told everybody to keep their eyes peeled in case we passed by, and not even five minutes later we were pulling into the parking lot. Lucky for us, Grampa's is on the main drag through Dania Beach, and easy to spot from the road. We needed to eat lunch anyway, so like Guy says--it was funky and we found out, and our Triple D adventure began.

Grampa's was established in 1957 and is known around Dania Beach as being the best bakery around. The first thing that greets you from the road is a big red and yellow sign, with a smiling baker boy looking out at you, and while the sign is a great greeting, what's even better is what welcomes you to Grampa's once you walk in the door--their bakery. Three huge display cases featuring every kind of dessert you can imagine from homemade doughnuts, to cakes, cookies, and cream puffs, and that doesn't even begin to cover the wall behind the display cases with all their homemade bagels and breads--needless to say the place smelled phenomenal. The place itself is actually huge, with tons of tables and booths, plus a small bar along the back wall. They've got two huge, signed pictures of Guy on the wall, along with articles and other places that they've been featured. They were pretty busy, but we got a table near the bar and were greeted by one of the nicest waiters we've met thus far. Randy had noticed me taking a picture of Guy's picture and filled us in on all the specials that Guy had tried, and gave us some of Grampa's history. They're kind of a local legend and proud of it that's for sure. They still use the machinery from 1957 to make their breads and aren't looking to change anything anytime soon. So let's get down to it...what'd we eat???

Featured on the "Comfort Food" episode, we knew we were in for some stick to your ribs homecooking at Grampa's. Before we even got our meals, we knew we were in for some great food, just by the homemade danish and rolls that came with our meals. Since some of us had ordered breakfast, we were given two huge plates of homemade, warm apple and peach danishes that were so soft and gooey we couldn't stop eating them. Then since we had lunch orders too, we got a basket of their baseball sized, homemade dinner rolls. Now I'm a sucker for bread, and I can honestly say this was some of the best bread I've ever tasted. They were dense but light, and of course warm. But like I said those were just the beginners of our meal. By an awesome bit of luck, we were there on a Saturday which is the day they cook up their lamb shank special that Guy raved about. I'm not a huge fan of lamb so I stayed away other than a small bite, but Ben and my brother-in-law Jon had the lamb shank, a huge helping with a side of mashed potatoes and corn, all covered in the homemade sauce that comes with it. According to the boys, it was an amazing dinner, and well worth Guy's having it on the show. The rest of us had a pretty good mix of the menu, I had their blueberry pancakes--which were pretty incredible and also featured on the episode, my sister Jennifer had the largest turkey club sandwich you've ever seen, and my Mom and other sister Kristin had the hot, open-faced turkey sandwich, and our family friend, Lisa had an omelette. But of course we couldn't leave Grampa's without sampling the bakery, and believe me I wish we were going back to Florida sometime soon just to go and get some more dessert. We covered a whole range of snacks for the drive to the Keys--cinnamon doughnuts, Queen Anne's lace, mini baklava, cream puffs, macadamia nut cookies, and cream filled doughnuts. Needless to say it was a great start to our Triple D adventures, and if you're ever rolling through Dania Beach (or the Fort Lauderdale airport) check out Grampa's--you won't regret it!!

In case you're curious here's their website too (check out the pictures of the bakery) http://www.grampasbakery.com/index.html

Introductions are Money

So here's the deal...for the past two years Ben and I have been watching Diners Drive-Ins and Dives and wishing that we had Guy's job and could go everywhere he went and eat all the awesome dishes he was eating. So about a year ago, we decided that we were gonna make it a goal...we were going to try to get to every place that Guy's visited and see where it takes us. In the past year we've hit up about 12 places, but have really been getting serious about it over this past summer, especially once I decided that I was going to start taking pictures of our visits and scrapbooking everywhere we've wandered to.

The idea for the blog followed pretty soon afterwards because we figured that this would be a great way to get in touch with other people who are doing the same thing we are and it was also a great way to let fans of the show know what the places they watch on tv are really like. So for now the updates will come in pretty quick succession to catch up to where we're at on the list, but after those are done, they'll be more slow going depending on how often we get to places, but for now enjoy the pictures and the stories and hop on the train to flavortown.