The egg tart is perhaps not as lionized as the soup dumpling, but it can be just as much the subject of fantasy. Praises have been sung. Lists have been compiled. At least one film has been made. A good egg tart – not too sweet, barely savory and held together by a tender, flaky [...]
I’ve known a few people who have attended the University of California at San Diego, a large public university condemned to the city of La Jolla, and each of these friends has harbored certain resentment toward this fate. La Jolla is a beautiful city, the kind of beautiful that has come to represent the city [...]
I have never seen a Michoacan ice cream parlor off of Interstate 5. Now that I know of one that sits in the shadow of US-101, I see little reason to drive along the 5 again. There are, of course, other reasons for choosing US-101 over I-5 if a trip calls for traversing the 400 [...]
After a recent trip to the Socrates sculpture garden, Girlfriend and I struck out for Arepas Cafe on the south side of Astoria. While we were there to enjoy the restaurant’s tasty Venezuelan arepas, Latin American drink menus are always eye-catching, and we couldn’t slip away without ordering cold glasses of chica and toddy ($4.75 [...]
Floridians can get surly when it comes to Key Lime Pie. I don’t blame them when bakeries across California serve too-sweet lime pies colored green and label them “Key” on menus. I’ve never tried the real thing, but breakfasts at Lois the Pie Queen have got me thinking: Maybe the best key lime pie in [...]
There’s an entire world of restaurants within the borders of New York City. Frankly, I find it hard to give a shit about the newest opening, ambitious concept, or chef’s achievement when virtually the entire world also exists within the borders of New York City. It exists in the form of a bowl of Xi’an [...]
Every good meal deserves a show stopper. The immediate clacking of chopsticks – springing back into pointed motion after twelve dishes and two cases of Tsingtao – was my sign that the lazy Susan had one last spin during an extensive supper at downtown Flushing’s Fu Run. Taking a victory lap around the table was [...]
I don’t often play the role of “tourist,” but when Girlfriend and I spent a long weekend in Boston, I tried to put aside the hunt for local gems and regional food history that normally dominates my meals on the road. That’s how I ended up learning about the Penguin salt shake at the New [...]
I grew up in a doughnut town. As soon as I was capable of grasping a tiger tail, I relished trips to our local doughnut shop. Not just because the mixed aroma of weak coffee, fried dough and sugar was the next best thing to freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for a kid, but also [...]
Part One: Roundup Part Two: Judging My newest barbecue columns for Serious Eats tell the story of my experience as a first-time certified KCBS judge at “The Jack,” America’s most prestigious barbecue competition. As is to be expected in the world of controversial foods, the most passionate of barbecue partisans have negative things to say. [...]
