Michael "Howling Woof" K.'s Profile

I'm feeling beneficent today, if not a little bored, so I am upping my rating of Fanwood Bagel. Of the multitude of bagel bakeries in the area, this place is closest to the archetypical, Watson Bagel of my youth. Their chewy texture elevates them above the bread-like bagels that one usually finds around here. Since the half-life of a bagel is measured in hours if not minutes, pre-slicing and freezing the extras is necessary, but the malt flavor and chewiness holds up well, even after thawing and toasting.
The proprietors are always pleasant, polite, and eager to serve the customers here. It's worth the trip, if you are a discerning bagel lover.

I'm forced to up my rating, because this place always entices me with it's siren song of exotic ice cream and sorbet flavors whenever I am near.

Today was unseasonably warm, and after a 40-mile bike ride down to Princeton, I hit Bent Spoon in a Mediterranean kind-of mood, where I sampled the heady Turkish coffee ice cream, and the tangy Greek yogurt ice cream with candied walnuts, which was fabulous.

I pedaled away, holding the cup in one hand, and the handlebar in the other, shoving the ice cream into my face. I momentarily lost my balance, and the tiny cup slipped from my fingers, landing upside down in the street. I abruptly stopped traffic, dismounted, picked it up, scraped a few black particles off the ice cream, and resumed eating it. No way was I going to waste that.

This fast-food restaurant got a shout-out in the Sunday NY Times about a month ago. The draw here is imaginative, inexpensive, great food. What more do you need from a restaurant?

Try the El Paso Burger (7 oz. Angus beef patty, roasted poblanos, sautéed onions, bacon, pepper jack, guac, lettuce, and chipotle mayo on a toasted Miami onion bun, $6.50), or the fabulous Cholula Buffalo Chicken Burger (crispy fried boneless chicken breast, Cholula Buffalo sauce, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and blue cheese dressing on a fresh-baked bun, $6.50). Not spicy enough for you? Have the Tijuana Dog (grilled hot dog, jalapeños, habaneros, cliantro, spicy salsa, and hot sauce ($3.50).

For something different, order Pete's Crab Burger (homemade blue claw crabcake, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and rémoulade sauce, $8.00), or, for brunch, the Triple Stack Omelette Burger (3 eggs, cheese, Taylor Ham, sausage, bacon, and crisp home fries on a fresh-baked deli bun, $6.00). Other 'burgers" include a bison burger, turkey burger, veggie burger, pulled pork, and pot roast burgers, as  well as other regional hot dogs (Chicago, Wisconsin, Texas, etc.), plus a couple of salads.

Beverages include milk shakes, Boylan's bottled gourmet sodas, Stewart's Root Beer, iced tea, and fountain sodas with free refills.
The crinkly fries are not hand-cut, but they are crispy and nicely seasoned. The onion rings are also very good. I'll be coming back here on a regular basis.

Times Farm, as this business is known, is no longer affiliated with the one in Plainfield, NJ, as it once was. It is located in the Five Points shopping center, next door to the excellent Napoli Italian deli.
This store is similar to a typical NYC fruit & vegetable market, featuring large, self-service bins of beautiful, fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs, bouquets of fresh flowers, and a dairy case with milk, eggs, and cheeses. There is a good selection of ethnic specialites including teas, Asian condiments and cooking sauces, salad dressings, canned tomatoes and imported dried Italian pastas, etc.
You can always find specialty items here that you won't find in larger supermarkets. For example, they carry the complete line of Ritter Sport Swiss chocolate bars. My personal favorites are the rum raisin and the milk chocolate-covered butter biscuit.

New Athens Corner deli is located next door to the Pithari Taverna restaurant in Highland Park. It is a subsidiary business, owned and operated by the same family that runs the restaurant.
The selection of Greek and Mediterranean specialties is more limited than at The Greek Store, in Kenilworth, but everything here is high quality. They stock a good selection of olive oils from Greece and Cyprus, fresh Dodonis feta, Kefalograviera, Kefalotyri, Halloumi, and Kasseri cheeses, bulk olives, homemade melitzanosalata (eggplant dip), tzatziki, etc. I didn't see any fresh pita bread for sale today, but they sometimes have fresh spanikopita (spinach pie), and always have nice, homemade Greek pastries. At least half the space is devoted to an extensive selection of Greek wines.
My only knock on the place is that it is a little pricey. I bought one bag of groceries this morning, and it cost me over $70.00.
The shop opens at 9:30 AM. Closed Monday.

The Napoli Deli, in the Five Points shopping center, was rebuilt two years ago after a devastating fire. This is one of the best Italian delis in the area. They do a brisk takeout business, especially around lunch time.

Daily selections include delicious hot entrees, homemade strombolis, paninis, individual pizzas, and sandwiches to order. Their homemade sausages are a specialty. Homemade salads include scungilli, tortellini with artichokes, grilled chicken with sundried tomatoes, canneloni bean with asparagus, fusilli primvavera, and several others.

A good selection of imported products line the shelves, including San Marzano tomatoes and artisan pastas from Italy. They also have a very large variety of locally-made frozen ravioli, as well as the full line of excellent Ciao Bella gelatos.

This building has been renovated, but the concept is old. It's an unimaginative, New Jersey diner, no different from ten other similar diners within a 5 mile radius.
There was a flat-screen TV on the wall tuned to the news, but the color was messed up, and the commentator's face was bright green. I hoped he was not a harbinger of the meal to come.
My wife and I had a la carte orders of french toast (2 small slices, $4.50) and pancakes (3 large. $4.50) with sides of breakfast sausage and crispy bacon ($2.00 per item). The french toast was limp and tasteless. No garnish on the plate, not even a dusting of powdered sugar. The pancakes were meh (The buckwheat pancakes at the Queen City DIner in Plainfield blow these away). Sausage was passable, but I'll eat anything with pork in it.
Available toppings consisted of pre-packaged butter pats, tiny plastic packets of Smuckers fruit preserves, and single-serve packets of Kraft artificial maple syrup. Pathetic.
I did order a side of decent fresh strawberries (about 1/2 cup, $2.00) to give my plate some life.
I glanced around at some of the other dishes being served. Everything had the same generic, institutional appearance, ersatz food.

I was watching the family of four sitting next to me, a couple with two young daughters. Each of them got glasses of orange juice, and proceeded to stir five or 6 teaspoons of granulated sugar into their juice. The parents helped the children with their sugar.
Mom and dad each ordered a large plate--three eggs, sausage, grilled hamburger patty, potatoes, and several orders of toast. The children had, as their breakfast, two large plates of french fries with ketchup, and strawberry preserves, which the father spoon fed from the little plastic packet directly into the younger child's mouth. Ugh.

An extensive seafood menu, plus daily specials, and a three-course early bird special served from 5:00 to 6:00 PM. The chef tries to put a creative spin on his dishes.
We had the pepper-crusted scallops over fried spinach garnished with crumbled gorgonzola, Clams Casino, pan-fried tilapia with lemon aioli, and Sicilian-style blackened swordfish.
The scallops were sweet and well cooked, although they weren't crusted with pepper, only lightly seasoned. The deep-fried spinach was interesting, but there was too much of it, and not enough scallops or cheese. After the first couple of bites, the spinach began to taste like oily, shredded carbon paper. Plus, it got all stuck in my teeth.
The clams (six, on a bed of raw spinach chiffonade) were small, but tender and nicely flavored.
The tilapia tasted fresh, and was a generous portion, served with rice which was tossed with sweet corn kernels and a little diced carrot, for color and crunch.
The swordfish was topped with a flavorful, fresh tomato and green olive pomodoro sauce. I ordered a baked russet potato, which was served with a small cup of sour cream on the side, which, unfortunately, was frozen solid in the middle, a result of being stored in a too-cold fridge.

The desserts--creme brulee, chocolate lava cake, key lime pie, and apple strudel are made on the premises. The server admitted to me that the tiramisu is bought in from Costco. I had the key lime pie, which was lackluster, but edible. Tea was Lipton.

I liked this place well enough to come back and try some other dishes. 3-1/2 stars. CASH ONLY, no credit cards accepted. Open for dinner every day, 5:00 PM-8:45 PM. Reservations only accepted for parties of 6 or more. BYOB.

This place has some redeeming qualities. The freshness of the produce is inconsistent, but it's not all bad. The green grapes are all brown, and the apples look sad, but if you pick and choose, you can purchase produce here for a fraction of what you will pay at most of the local supermarkets. As another example, the same Boar's Head smoked gouda cheese that sells for $9.99/lb. at Stop & Shop is $6.49/lb here.

I bought a hand of baby bananas yesterday that are sweet and delicious. I also found crisp loose carrots, nice Belgian endive, fresh sweet potatoes, good leeks, ripe tomatoes on the vine, and juicy Bartlett pears.

They support the local community with a comprehensive selection of hard-to-find ethnic specialties, everything from queso fresco and jars of Mexican crema to canned tamarind juice and Vietnamese rice paper spring roll wrappers. They stock many other Asian market specialty items that I use, like organic shoyu soy sauce, mirin, soba noodles, and genmai-cha (toasted brown rice green tea).
They also get daily deliveries of Portuguese bread and rolls from Teixteira's Bakery in Newark. This is a plus, and makes a stop here worthwhile.

I value and respect all opinions, so I want to give a special shout-out to the Yelper who dissed this wonderful museum because she didn't like...the food in the cafeteria!
This is my favorite of the Smithsonian museums. The building is gorgeous, and the museum's permanent collection is eclectic and fascinating. I especially love the art of Nam June Paik.
I try to stop here nearly every time I visit D.C. It never gets stale, because there are always new, temporary exhibitions.
Along with the National Portrait Gallery, which shares this venue, this is a calm oasis away from the mobs of tourists that visit the more well-known Smithsonian museums on the mall.

This museum stays open until 7:00 PM, after which you can find a good meal in nearby Chinatown, or at one of the popular tapas bars in the neighborhood. Parking is conveniently available at the large lot on 9th between H & I streets, ($5, all day on weekends).