Since July 4th fell on a Monday this year, we got a three-day weekend at the beginning of the summer and decided to take that opportunity to do a little more traveling.  Our destination this time was Buffalo, clear across the state of New York.  Neither of us had ever spent much time there before, but since it’s our state’s second largest city we thought we’d go check it out.  Buffalo has an interesting history:  in 1950 it had over 500,000 people, and while today it has less than half that population, the past decade has been the first time since the mid-20th century that Buffalo’s numbers have actually grown.  With all that happening, there’s some interesting things going on in the city, so we decided to go check it out – and we’ll show you where we ate while we were there.  As a note, though, we will be featuring some images of meat here.

Of course you’re probably all wondering – did we get any wings?  We surely did, and in fact we got the chance to visit the original location of the Anchor Bar, which claims to have invented Buffalo wings (although more recently that story has been disputed).  They were kind enough to make Miriam an order of fried cauliflower, with their wing sauce in the batter …

… but naturally Cyril had their real wings, doused in their famous wing sauce.

We also visited two pizza places in the city, both of which are highly ranked among pizzas nationwide.  First up was Bocce Club, which lets you order pizzas in whole, half or quarter sizes – and the quarter is perfect for a personal pizza.  Miriam had (on the right) a pizza with hot peppers, and Cyril got one with pepperoni.

And we also headed over to La Nova, which is the official pizzeria of both the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres.  Their pizzas have an interesting feature:  the crust is sprinkled with sesame seeds, giving an interesting crunch that contrasts well with the cheese and toppings.  Here’s the pizza we got, with cherry peppers on top.

But pizza and wings wasn’t all we had in Buffalo – we also decided to check out a few breakfast spots.  One was Paula’s Donuts, which several people told us was a place we had to check out.  Here’s the selection of donuts we tried:  a glazed red velvet cake donut (on the bottom right); a peanut jelly donut, stuffed with raspberry filling and coated on the outside with crushed peanuts (on the bottom left); and a monster donut, with vanilla frosting and a mini chocolate chip cookie in the center.

On another morning we headed over to Five Points Bakery, which is especially known for their toasts – they make their own bread and stuff it with all kinds of ingredients.  Miriam had the extra sharp cheddar toast, which features bread dotted with white cheddar cheese and served with hot sauce, sour cream, pickles, and a blue cheese spread.

Cyril decided on the open-faced egg sandwich toast, which has smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, tomato, onion, capers, and pesto piled onto the same cheddar bread.

One afternoon we headed over to Ballyhoo, a cocktail bar that also serves up a small, vegetarian-friendly menu.  We tried their mushroom-based Reggie Veggie sausage, which comes topped with goat cheese, chimichurri, roasted corn, and avocado and some homemade chips on the side …

… and we also got an order of their mac and cheese.

And here’s where this blog post goes off course a little bit, because we didn’t just stick to Buffalo on this trip.  Since the Canadian border is so close to the city, we also decided to head across to Ontario one day and do a little exploring.  We went over the border in Niagara Falls, and on the Canadian side we saw a long line at a place called BeaverTails.  It turns out that this place is a chain in Canada that serves up one signature item:  a flat, fried piece of dough with toppings, which looks somewhat like a beaver’s tail (or a queue de castor over in Quebec).  We couldn’t resist trying something we can’t find in the U.S., so we got ourselves a Triple Trip beavertail, topped with a chocolate hazelnut spread, Reese’s Pieces, and a peanut butter drizzle.

And we also got to visit Puddicombe Estate Winery on the outskirts of Hamilton, Ontario.  In addition to a selection of their own wine and ciders, they also have a food stand that serves up a small variety of things to eat.  We got a sampling of a little bit of everything:  some mac and cheese, the winery’s home-grown strawberries, a maple tart, a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie, and a Canadian pizza, which is apparently a combination that’s popular in the country – it’s got pepperoni, bacon, and mushrooms on top.

We came home from this trip feeling like we got a good sampling of things in Buffalo and neighboring Ontario – we got to indulge in our passion for trying local pizzas, but we also had some good breakfast, some iconic Buffalo food, some pub grub, and a little sampling of things from across the border.  We really enjoyed our time in Buffalo and the Niagara Falls area, and we hope as well to inspire you to travel and check out the parts of New York beyond the reaches of New York City.

Where We Ate: The Best Food in Ocean City

Yeah, yeah, we’ve been taking a lot of trips lately.  But summer is prime traveling season, especially if you want a beach vacation,  so we recently decided to rent a car and go somewhere that’s not too far but was a new place for us to explore:  Ocean City, Maryland.  Ocean City is a classic summer town, with its long boardwalk, miles of beach, tons of hotels and motels, and plenty of people who flock there between June and September each year.  And if you do your research, there’s also plenty of interesting places to get great local food.  We hunted out some of these spots and we want to show you the delicious things we got our hands on there – but as a word of caution, we will show some images of meat here.

Beach towns are pretty well-known for their snack food – fun things you can eat while you park yourself on the sand or stroll up and down the boardwalk – and there’s plenty of good places where you can score some delicious treats.  For example, Thrasher’s, which has been in Ocean City for over 90 years, sells one thing and one thing only:  buckets of fries that come hot right out of the fryer.  There’s three locations around the Boardwalk, so we got ourselves some from the stand all the way down at the Ocean City pier.

Also on the boardwalk (as well as in West Ocean City) is Fisher’s, which scoops up tubs of flavored popcorn to take home with you as an edible souvenir.  We got some cheddar popcorn (on the left), but since we were visiting Maryland we also couldn’t pass up the chance to try their Old Bay popcorn too (on the right).

Ice cream is also a beach visit staple, and there’s two local places that we got to try.  If you’re in the mood for soft serve, check out Dumser’s Dairyland, which has seven stands across Ocean City.  We went to one of the locations on the boardwalk and got ourselves a vanilla and orange twist cone to share.

But if you’re looking for hard ice cream, you can stop at Justine’s, up at the the north end of Ocean City.  We each got a sundae there:  Cyril’s (on the left) was made with cookies and cream, peanuts, and hot fudge, while Miriam had espresso chip with caramel.

There’s some other great sweet treats to find in Ocean City – like donuts from Fractured Prune, which has set up shop in a bunch of different beach towns across Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.  One of the unique things they do is let you customize your own donuts, or you can order off their menu of donut varieties.  Here’s what we got:  at the bottom is their trail mix donut, with a banana glaze, coconut flakes, chocolate sprinkles, and peanuts; on the top right is a sundae donut, covered in a honey glaze, peanuts, chocolate chips, and extra coconut; and on the top left is a donut Miriam designed, with mint glaze and crushed Oreos.

Or if you’re fascinated by the edible cookie dough trend, there’s also a small local chain called Dodo where you can get scoops of dough served up to you.  We tried some of the peanut butter dough, studded with mini Reese’s Pieces – you can also get all kinds of different toppings on your dough, but we just got a plain scoop.

At some point in time you’re probably going to be looking for something more substantial to eat in Ocean City, so we’ve got you covered there too!  One afternoon we stopped by Rosenfeld’s, which has three locations in Maryland and Delaware.  They’re a Jewish deli that’s known for their reubens, and luckily for Miriam they have a meatless version – the Veg-Jewtarian – stacked with cheddar, Swiss and Muenster cheeses, tomato, coleslaw, and Russian dressing, all on grilled challah bread.

Cyril tried their more traditional corned beef reuben, with sauerkraut, Russian dressing and melted Swiss on a marbled rye bread.

Then for dinner one night we decided to stop into Liquid Assets, which is a hybrid restaurant-bar-cheese shop-wine and liquor store.  Since they have such a wide selection of cheeses on offer, we got ourselves a cheese board to start – we chose their Pecorino Grand Cru (on the left), their 30 month aged Comte (in the middle), and the Point Reyes blue cheese (hiding in the back right).

Then Miriam decided to try their vegan house made pasta, with a pepper, garlic and cashew cream sauce, topped with crumbled kale chips.

And Cyril had the pork chops, in a bourbon barbecue glaze with a homemade potato and squash salad on the side.

If you’re more interested in breakfast, we also stopped at Happy Jack Pancake House – and naturally, we tried some of their pancakes.  Miriam was recommended the cinnamon bun pancakes, stuffed with cinnamon chips and topped with a vanilla cream cheese icing.

Meanwhile, Cyril tried one of their Ultimate Pancakes:  the Elvis, made with peanut butter chips inside and sliced banana, bacon, and a peanut butter drizzle on top.

And finally, it wouldn’t be a beach trip without a stop for seafood (at least for Cyril).  When we asked around we heard that OCM Crabs was one of the best places in town, so we headed there and Cyril got to crack into a dozen crabs, dusted with Old Bay.

Thankfully there were also some sides for Miriam to eat:  corn on the cob, mac and cheese, and hush puppies.

All in all, we really enjoyed the great variety of food we got to try in Ocean City.  There were plenty of things to snack on, some treats to satisfy our sweet tooth, and places where you can get a good sandwich or a sit-down meal.  If we had to pick, we’d say our favorite place was probably Rosenfeld’s, because it was unexpected (who’d ever guess that you’d find a Jewish deli in a Maryland beach town?), it was vegetarian-friendly, and their reubens were top notch.  But really, all the things we tried were interesting and tasty, and it just goes to show how many great local spots you can find anywhere you go.

Where We Ate: The Best Food in Milwaukee

In mid-June we had a three-day weekend, thanks to Juneteenth, so we decided to take this extra time to do a trip to Milwaukee.  Why Milwaukee?  Well, Cyril is a pretty big fan of beer, so the Brew City was a perfect destination for him – but Wisconsin as a whole is also well known for its cheese production, and since we both love cheese we thought we’d also like to try some food there.  We ended up getting a pretty interesting selection of things to eat, as well as exploring many parts of Milwaukee, so all in all it was a good weekend away.  We’ll share here some of the delicious things we tried, and where we got them – but as a fair warning, we will show some images of meat here.

Speaking of cheese – one of Wisconsin’s most iconic foods is cheese curds, and specifically fried cheese curds.  Of course we had to try some while in Milwaukee, so we got ourselves an order to split at Points East Pub, which has a really great selection of bar foods.

And then we got some more at The Vanguard, a casual and vegetarian-friendly restaurant in the city’s Bayview neighborhood.

At the Vanguard we also got some poutine, which are made with cheese curds as well – this is their classic poutine, with a meatless caramelized onion gravy.

And since Wisconsin is also known for its sausages, the Vanguard has a huge, customizable selection of sausage on its menu, including vegetarian and vegan options that you can swap in to many menu items.  We got the Thai Breaker with a veggie sausage:  it’s topped with peanut sauce, shredded carrots, lettuce, and crunchy pieces, all on a bun.

For even more cheese deliciousness, we headed over to the West Allis Cheese Shoppe, which originally opened in the suburb of West Allis but also has a smaller location in the Milwaukee Public Market.  You can buy all kinds of cheeses there, but they also have a food menu you can order from.  Miriam got one of their customizable grilled cheese sandwiches, with muenster cheese, lettuce, avocados, and jalapeños, all on rye bread, with a side of homemade potato chips.

And Cyril tried their ultimate breakfast sandwich, which comes with a fried egg, ham, bacon, cheddar, and provolone stacked on rye.

West Allis Cheese Shoppe is also well known for their over-the-top Bloody Marys, so here’s the Milwaukeean, topped with a mini bratwurst slider, a piece of bacon, a few cheese curds, a beef jerky stick, a few strands of mozzarella, and pickles, olives, and celery, plus a small beer on the side.

There were some other cool restaurants we heard about in Milwaukee – for example, Oscar’s Pub and Grill, which some say has the best burgers in the city.  Miriam was able to get a veggie burger there, and she added on to it some smoked gouda, avocado, and jalapeños, served with a side of Parmesan-dusted fries.

Cyril, meanwhile, got the Big O burger, which comes with chipotle jack and smoked gouda cheeses, bacon, chorizo, fried onion, jalapeños, and guacamole on the side.

We also heard about Mader’s, a German restaurant dating back to 1902 that serves up a secret item:  a giant pretzel, about the size of a steering wheel.  It’s not on the menu so you have to ask for it special, and it comes out all warm and buttery with mustard and cheese dip on the side.

There’s also Kopp’s, a small local chain that serves up frozen custard (plus other fast food fare).  There we tried a simple sundae, with vanilla custard and a hot fudge topping.

We were also told that Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern was some of the best morning fare in town, so we headed over there for brunch one day.  Miriam had their fresh fruit parfait, made with blueberries, raspberries, banana, and granola on top of strawberry Greek yogurt.

And Cyril tried the Wolfundito, which comes with chorizo, sweet potatoes, peppers, onions, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, and beer cheese sauce, all topped with a fried egg sprinkled with spicy seasoning.

And finally, it wouldn’t be a trip away for us without trying some local pizza, and we specifically wanted to get our hands on some Wisconsin-style pies.  These pizzas are kind of unique for two reasons:  because they’re made with an ultra-thin crust, and they’re also cut into squares despite being each pizza being round, so you can get some odd-looking pieces.  We decided to visit two places, the first of which was Pizza Man, dating back to 1970.  We tried one of their signature pizzas, the artichoke a la mode, topped with red sauce, sliced cherry tomatoes, artichokes, garlic, basil, and cubes of cream cheese …

… plus a regular cheese pizza with red sauce and artichokes.

We also went to Zaffiro’s, which is even older – they opened in 1954.  We got another Wisconsin pizza there, this time topped with spicy sliced giardiniera peppers.

It was definitely a dairy-heavy weekend, as you can see:  we had grilled cheese sandwiches, pizzas, cheese curds, cheese-topped burgers, poutine, frozen custard, and a Bloody Mary with cheese accompaniments.  But we also found a cool breakfast café, a giant pretzel, and a a place that makes some really creative veggie sausages.  We went all around Milwaukee, on foot and by bus, and through traveling to all these interesting food spots we got to see a lot of the city.  These are just some of the many things you can eat in the city, so we hope we gave you some good ideas of where to go and what Milwaukee has on offer.

Where We Ate: Nonna Dora’s & All’antico Vinaio

It’s been a great spring for us so far because (among other things) we’ve gotten to try some new and interesting food spots around New York City, and so we’d like to share with you again the places we’ve been to lately that we’d recommend.  Today we’re featuring two Italian places in Midtown Manhattan, but they come from opposite ends of the restaurant spectrum:  one is a traditional table service spot, while the other serves up much more casual fare.  We enjoyed the unique and delicious food we got at both places, so read on to see what we had the chance to try – but just be warned that there are some images of meat here.

First, if you’re looking for a classic Italian restaurant experience, you can head over to Nonna Dora’s in Kips Bay.  This place has been getting a lot of press since it opened earlier this year – including a glowing review from the New York Times last week – because the food comes from a real life Italian-born nonna.  When we went to visit, we decided to start our meal there by sharing the melanzana, which is Nonna Dora’s version of eggplant parm.

The restaurant also has a very extensive pasta menu, including a number of vegetarian choices, so Miriam got one of the specials of the day:  this pansotti, filled with ricotta and buffalo mozzarella, in a butter, ramp, and morel sauce.

Cyril, meanwhile, decided to try the pasta flight, which starts with this cavatelli in a broccoli rabe and toasted almond pesto …

… then moves to the orecchiette, in a tomato sauce studded with rabbit meat …

… and ends with malloreddus in a sausage and tomato sauce.

Now if you’re looking for something more quick and casual, but also authentically Italian, you can head across the island of Manhattan to 8th Avenue, where you’ll find an outpost of All’antico Vinaio.  This sandwich spot started in Florence, moved on to open a branch in Milan, and more recently debuted an outpost here in New York.  They serve up nothing but sandwiches, except they’re not just any sandwiches – these are made on schiacciata bread, which is a kind of flattened focaccia.  There’s a couple of vegetarian options you can get, and Miriam went with the L.A. Fadeaway, made with arugula, sundried tomato, spicy eggplant and zucchini, and a gorgonzola cream sauce.

And Cyril had the L’inferno, stacked with porchetta, arugula, veggies, and a nduja cream sauce.

We’re really glad we got the chance to try these two spots:  one that comes to New York directly from Italy, and one that comes from the culinary creativity of an Italian immigrant.  And we also liked that we got to try not only a bunch of Italian pasta in a nice sit-down setting, but also some quick and easy sandwiches.  Both were great experiences, and both are spots that we’d recommend if you’re looking for some interesting and authentic Italian food in the city.

Where We Ate: More Great Food in DC

We wanted to share some more food recommendations this week, but not from New York – instead, from a recent trip we got to take to Washington, DC.  We’ve written before about some good things we got to try in the nation’s capital, and we decided to do another post to highlight a few more great places we found.  This time around we got to try a really great mix of places, featuring cuisine from all around the world and all around DC, and both sit down and counter service spots.  So check out our picks here, but do be warned that there are some images of meat in this post.

First off, like in many of the cities we visit, we decided to find some pizza.  Cyril especially likes to scout out some good local pizza spots, and one place we discovered was Matchbox, which has twelve locations in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area, plus two more in Florida.  We ended up visiting their Capitol Hill restaurant and split this Fire + Smoke pizza, made with spinach, basil, onions, and smoked gouda paired with a garlic and spicy chipotle sauce as the base.

We also got a chance to try Pupatella Pizza, which originated in northern Virginia but has since expanded to five locations, including one in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of DC.  There we shared an eggplant and red pepper pizza, which comes topped with smoked Provola cheese.

We also spent one night wandering around Adams Morgan, an area of DC that’s known for having a lot of interesting restaurants as well as some quick service places that cater to the crowds going to local bars and clubs.  We decided to hit up a few spots in the neighborhood, starting with Bul, which serves up modern Korean street food.  There we got an order of these honey butter fries …

… and Cyril also had some sweet and spicy Seoul-style fried chicken wings, which come coated in a chili sauce.

Across the street from Bul is Zenebech, which is just one of many Ethiopian restaurants in the city (because DC contains the largest immigrant Ethiopian community in the world).  Zenebech is consistently rated as one of Washington’s best Ethiopian restaurants, so of course we had to try it.  We decided to split a vegetarian combo, which comes with four choices laid out on a huge piece of injera – here is (starting at the bottom left and moving counterclockwise) tikel goman (a cabbage, carrot and potato stew), ater (yellow split peas cooked in tumeric), mesir (red lentils in a berbere sauce) and shiro (a chickpea puree).

Just a few blocks away we also visited El Tamarindo, a local Salvadoran restaurant that’s most famous for its wide selection of pupusas.  We got several different vegetarian varieties:  a loroco con queso (stuffed with greens and cheese), a frijol con queso (with pinto beans), an ayote con queso (with zucchini), and a jalapeño con queso.

And finally, the last placed we stopped before heading home was a pretty cool restaurant called Farmers & Distillers.  As you might be able to guess from the name, this spot not only serves up food but also produces their own line of spirits, so we were able to sample some of their spirits.  To go along with that, we also tried a few different things off their menu, starting with a bread basket made up of cornbread, sourdough, rustic white bread, and a wheat bread made with nuts and raisins, all served with homemade honey butter and jam.

Then Miriam got their cacio e pepe …

… and Cyril had a platter of their spatchcock chicken, cooked in a honey thyme sauce and served with veggies on the side.

All in all, we got a pretty good sampling from around DC:  we got to try food from three different countries, plus we had two different pizzas, and we finished off the weekend with a nice table service meal paired with some local liquor.  It was a nice variety of things to eat, and a reminder that there’s more to Washington than just politicians and the Smithsonian.  Plenty of people come to the capitol to see the government buildings and unique museums, but you’re also going to need to eat while you’re there, and luckily there’s plenty of interesting places to check out – and we think we’ve given you some good recommendations.