Old Forge must have hired a PR firm, proclaiming it the “Pizza Capital of the World.” This title is backed by the claim of having more pizzerias per capita than anywhere in the world - as well being the subjective “Best” of course.

Because Arturo’s is closed on Sunday’s to walk-in traffic, I went to Revello’s.

The cheese is interesting… at first I thought it was a blend of a few cheeses - some sharp, some smooth, mixing in small shards of onions which definitely piqued my interest. The way it sticks to my teeth and roof of my mouth makes me believe there is some generican american in there, BUT from all reliable resources, what makes old forge old forge is the BRICK CHEESE. The sauce is seemingly normal, and the crust makes me wonder if they bake it on the premises. Either way, it is definitely pre-baked then topped when creating your red pizza - I took at long peak inside the kitchen manned by high schoolers.

It’s essentially a variation of a bar pie - A hastily put together production from a bar kitchen that developed a fever for over the years. I can see the fever. It has a swell taste. It is totally unique, not necessarily great, but like a White Castle - all of the sudden a craving hits you. Plus the bar/restaurant would be a great place to have cheap, fun times with friends.

Make sure to order by the “tray”, if you say “pie” they will for sure know you’re not a PA native. Also, coming here gives you a chance to speak in northern drawl without people lookin at you funny (or caring if they do).

Of note is the preparation of a takeout order. After your tray is ready, they put the open top boxes in a large fitted brown paper bag then fold up the sides and twist the edges - most likely a mandatory part of initiation for a new employee. How did they know the secret ??? Everything in a brown paper bag tastes so much better.

Old Forge is a good experience to have under your belt, but mostly if you are interested in going to Disneyland, seeing the Eiffel Tower, and looking out cracks in the Liberty Bell. It is a tourism ploy. Definitely a unique pizza, but nothing compared to a little town about 150 miles east or even some country over the Atlantic, through the Strait of Gibraltar and up a toe.

Links:
What is an Old Forge Pizza? (from Old Forge Express Pizza)
Jigsy’s Explanation of the Old Forge Pizza
About White Pizza
CNN Breaks the News
The story of Brick Cheese
Brick Cheese Wiki
Old Forge Pizza Forum
Salerno’s at Roadfood.com
Recommended Old Forge Pizza: Arcaro and Gennell & Revello’s

A JO endorsement is hard to come by. My book endorsement is Trevor Corson’s Zen of Fish.

The idea was to up my sushi game. I wanted to reach that next level that so many people seemed cherish. I sidestepped all of them into a field distressingly bordering snobbery, but more into an appreciation of the fish.

I made it an interactive learning experience. I would read a few chapters then go to a sushi bar in Long Island, Brooklyn or Manhattan and apply what I was reading about. I went by myself. I started sitting at the bar, watching the chef’s movements. I watched where they put their equipment, what came from under the bar, what they kept under the glass. I watched how they took their orders, who took orders, who they conversed with and who they respected.

I learned to talk to the chefs.

Corson’s book is centered around a sushi school in Los Angeles. The students had varying levels of experience coming into the school, and it was interesting to see how they handled their challenges. The book weaves in and out of sushi history, playfully giving facts, little knowns, methods, and happenings around the raw fish world. For me, a person with a very low attention span, this read very easily.

The love was apparent in this book. You can tell that Corson developed relationships with his subjects and tried to make sure he conveyed his material to the readers. There is a section with sushi terms which I made frequent use of, and was happy to find that almost 90 percent of the time when I wasn’t sure of some sushi jargon, it was listed in the back of the book. Thanks.

You’d think I’d be an expert by now, but I’m not. I realize that I know NOTHING about sushi. I am now reading The Sushi Economy by Sasha Issenberg .

I can see my education lately is paying off. The other day I received the best compliment I’ve ever received. Maybe it was because of my fearlessness, interest, or possibly my knowledge of the food… When I sat at the sushi bar and started talking with the chef, he asked me: ‘Are you a chef?’ Hey, what an honor!

Links:
Why do you love sushi?
Zen of Fish
The Serious Eats Sushi Roll - Best Sushi in NYC

Beedenbender, you have officially worn out your welcome. Originally Steve Levy’s little boy, now you are grown up to a big man trying to surreptitiously get rid of the Latin American immigrants in Suffolk. You are trying to get rid of the lowest working class of people, the ones who do the jobs that no one else wants to do for a price no one is willing to take. You think you are helping the community?? Everyone has a right to live here. Everyone should be able to help out. By making it harder for people to live here, you are not helping. Do you think they will now leave? No, they will stay here and be poor. This will encourage crime. This can destroy your neighborhoods. Centereach is going down.

What, did your family come over on the Mayflower?

And what do you expect to happen to the contractors who hire them? Can you imagine what the prices of construction will be? What about all this red tape you are creating? So how long will it take for a contractor to get a group together to do your brickwork.

The law is meant to protect the people. Who are you protecting? Are you fending off the possibility of an illegal alien getting hurt and going to the hospital?? Big Deal! how much does that cost? About a week’s salary of a school paid lawyer. I say get to muckraking. Clean your teeth before you start talking trash. While I am glad to see you are not sitting back doing nothing, I believe you are fearfully hurting Long Island.

You are in way over your head here. You do not know the trouble you will be creating for these people’s lives. Maybe my views are wrong. I think you should try to make everyone happy. oh, sorry, they don’t vote. forget you.

Leg. Cooper’s bill to require the contractors to pay the taxes solves the problem fine, doesn’t it? I say that sounds like a great compromise.

This is a rare time I support 100 percent our religious leaders.

Links:
http://www.brianbeedenbender.com/
Newsday Article: Suffolk Lawmakers Pass Worker Status Bill
Farmingville Movie

That’s right. I am moving on. I will still be on Long Island, but where I sleep and my local everything is changing.

I have grown to appreciate my town in the past few years. Part of the reason I like it is there is still a genuine effort by solitary business owners to succeed. We aren’t overrun by chains or prefab strip malls. I see quite a few new stores opening up and stores closing down, it is definitely not easy for someone to stay in business here. I see it as good though. Infrequent does it occur that a great business goes away. Usually I can tell when a for rent sign is coming. Josephines, you will be out soon if you don’t get your pizza straight, you cannot just be pretty. Capri, your pizza is old school like I like it, I only hope that you have the inspiration to do great things with it.

I have done a lot here, and there is still lots more to do. My brother, his family and parents are here. I will be back frequently. I could definitely live here til old age. There is access to anything I can want and if I had a family of my own, I could see myself staying here indefinitely.

Maybe because I grew up here, but I like the food here. It is mostly Italian, but we do have some great spots like the Seaford Harbor Deli, Scuttlebutt, LaBella pizza, Sapporo Japanese, Abes Piteria, some rotating chinese, and within driving distance to levittown and freeport which have some very interesting places themselves.
Here is my list of Wantagh/Seaford food, drink and adventure.

I like Wantagh and Seaford. I grew up here. It will be over a quarter of my life here. Maybe I will be back.

Where am I moving? I am very excited to talk about it. To be revealed soon.

Today I got a little reality check…

For a month I’ve been looking forward to revisiting my favorite local sushi bar, Kohaku. I had some places I wanted to explore before I revisited, like visit the chef’s brother’s restaurant, Akari, in Merrick, and check out some other sushi places in the area before I came back.

So I went today and as the new usual, I tell the chef to give me whatever he wants. Now, I am learning that this is better to do on light customer traffic days earlier in the week so you get more attention. Also, I realize that I like to go by myself - I can just concentrate on the food and not worry about the other person liking what they are eating. Another useful tidbit is that you will most likely get a better cut of fish if you sit at the bar - if your customer was looking you in the eye, wouldn’t you want to impress him that much more?

Today I learned toro is not regular tuna but ridiculously delicious fatty cut of tuna. wow.

How it works is that the chef will place on the shelf of the bar in front of you your next piece to eat. Today I went through 3 rounds - one app as tuna nuta which was pieces of tuna and kale with mustard on it (so hot, I was leaking from my nose and eyes) - then a plate of nigiri (toro, tuna, yellowtail, sweet shrimp) then the fried shrimp heads (I love it). Another time he gave me them individually piece by piece and it rocked. I made the mistake today of having the piece with the seaweed (nori) last. You are supposed to eat the noried pieces right away because it is better CRISP! By the end the nori was falling apart, so oops.

Well, there is an obvious language barrier between us. I try to communicate and I even had convos prepared beforehand (izakayas and his brothers restaurant), but many times there is that excommunicative laughter that shows our language barrier.

Today a hostess handed him a shrimp and for some reason he showed it to me (I think) and then went to cutting it up. I thought it might be for me (even though I was already getting the check free???) so he peels it and cuts it and then puts its uncooked head on a plate in front of me. I am used to it being cooked, of course, but this time it was wet and oozing out some cranium liquid. It was right there in the spot where all my other dishes were placed… I said something to him like “just like that?” with an anticipatory smile. At this point, my naivety said Sure! I was excited to try this scary shit. I leaned forward and then immediately one of the hostesses took the plate to the kitchen to be cooked for someone else. It wasn’t for me…

That was close. I really shouldn’t just put my life in someone else’s hands. It wouldn’t have killed me, but it could have been pretty nasty. Would I know it’s nasty if no one told me it was not normal?

Oozing cranium juice. I would have eaten it.

Links:
Tuna Primer

118 Eldridge St
New York, NY 10002
(212) 625-8008

Dumpling House
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Manhattan/Lower East Side

The prices are a joke and the dumplings are greatness. A banana will probably make you stronger, but forget that - the wafting fried flavors only seduce me for dumplings.

Food is basically free. They should apply for a non-profit tax exemption.

written 09/17/2007

Links:
The Villager article
Yelp Reviews
Chinatown Dumplings thread on Chowhound
Post with pictures of the New and Improved Dumpling House
More Clear Pictures from Foodinmouth.com
A week of Dumplings
How to wrap dumplings

Does this mean that Patsy’s Pizzeria will no longer be allowed to prostitute out the Patsy’s name? It seems to me that Patsy’s Restaurant should be suing the pizzeria company - they are the ones controlling the name after all. I do not know name rights legality, maybe the food has to closely match the original’s intended menu in order to be a proper sorta-franchise.

The judge will be holding off until August to decide if Syosset Patsy’s gets to keep the name. Another jury is supposed to decide on any cash settlement.

In my opinion, as a patron, Syosset Patsy’s DID damage the Patsy’s name. I first went to the Syosset Patsy’s with a friend who told me this was a chain in NYC. When we ate there I felt like it was a meaningless chain. It was better than olive garden, but still not the homey feel that you’d expect; it did not blow me away at all. I am actually turned off to Patsy’s now. If I saw it in the city, I would not go because I’ve already gone in LI and it was not great when I went. SOOOoooo, it IS in a sense taking away business - I know b/c it took away my business.

Only after researching the name do I now have the respect for the company.

As for the name game, I would say they have the right since they bought it. How can you argue with that? It’s the Patsy’s Pizzeria’s integrity that is hurting here. I guess it’s a lesson learned for selling your name.

Is it telling that the Staten Island Patsy’s , which lived under the same rules as the Syosset brand, closed last year? I’d say this only proves that there is some integrity in the world. How can they even compete with some of the great italian pizzerias/restaurants in staten island?

—————–
Links:
Newsday article
Daily News article with great comments

This Monday, chain restaurants in NYC are being forced to post calorie information on their menus. The government is deeming chain restaurants as restaurants having 15 or more locations across the country.

While being a hard advocate of not interfering with individuals’ abiities to run their own businesses, I am also heavily against most chain restaurants. I believe this will deter people from going to McDonalds, and therefore be more willing to try something new - That is what I am hoping for.

I could care less about the right of the people to know how many calories they are putting in their bodies. I don’t think the problem is the lack of calorie knowledge at all. I think the problem is the polysyllabic, chemically engineered, preservatives that are put in the food at large chain restaurants. I think a problem is the uniformity of towns which choose Wendy’s over their own neighbor’s restaurant. I have a problem with Kate Murray opting for a shopping centers like the ones on 110 in Farmingdale instead of helping independent businesses prosper.

The state believes this will help the obesity problem and prevent diabetes. Little do they know that any restaurant has an unreal amount of salt and fat. What do you think makes it taste so good?? If you want to eat healthy then cook for yourself, look at what you’re putting in your food, buy items along the edges of the supermarket. Try losing your tastes for chips, sweets, sugars, and other crap. It is easier than you think.

I think it will either desensitize people or have a major impact on the fast food industry. People are going to be very surprised to see how many 4 digit menu items they are eating. Getting a blooming onion will be a joke now (and a serving is only a 1/4 onion). This new law may also lead to smaller portion sizes or even multiple portions to an order. What if I said that menu item #2 was 3 servings of 435 calories, %30 saturated fat? I think people would get a kick out of eating more than one portion at a time. Doesn’t sound that bad, does it? By the way, I am available for marketing consulting, Arby’s. Leave me a comment if interested. Seriously.

Little do they know it, but finally the government is fighting big business. My libertarian mouth is keeping mum.

Restaurants won’t start being fined until June 3rd.

Links:
My friend’s cooking site, lots of choices for healthy and delicious food.
Calorie listings for the main Fast Food restaurants
LoHud News Story
NYSRA Trying to Block the Regulation
Public Opinions on the Ruling

359 Metropolitan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718 963-4140
Spuyten Duyvil
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: Brooklyn/Williamsburg - South Side

I had heard about Spuyten Duyvil for a while - It’s been a bookmark for the last few months even. Only the other day did I find out that that bar without a name I was at a couple of weeks ago actually WAS Spuyten Duyvil.

I can see it now. I can see what the fuss was about. Something I haven’t seen is such a selection! I haven’t even heard of most of the beers here, and the ones I did try were really good. How can a staff be knowledgeable about all this alcohol? Very smart apparently. Very studious.

Decor is cool. people did not claim to be hip at all - which is always appreciated.

and look at that.. they have their jukebox list on the website
I mean, yeah, pretty fucking good music.

I had always heard of the beer garden they have here. Last week I went into the backyard of this bar, where people go to smoke.. I mean, I guess it’s a beer garden…. It’s outside.. I wouldnt go bragging all around town though. I think I may be spoiled by the garden of Astoria…

There are highs and lows to every trip here. The mold wine (?) was pretty awesome, and I liked their mugs so much I went out and got them for myself (at Ikea). I was also turned off by the bartenders b/c they were as cold as February. The clientelle is well behaved, which is not always what I am looking for. highs and lows.
09/16/2007

Links:
Official Website

An essential part of the Passover seder is the Hiding of the Matzoh. Every year, my father hides the matzoh for the kids to find. The joke of my family is that the matzoh is always in the same place; my grandfather always hid it next to his plate, under the tablecloth, my father always hides it under the table cloth, I will probably do the same. When we were kids it was still fun even though we always knew where it was. We just wanted something to do! and also get a dollar.

For the last couple of years, my father has been making scavenger hunts for my niece. He writes clues on cards and has her searching all over the house for the next clue, the prize is the afikomen. We can only have dessert after the Afikomen is found. She got 10 bucks this year! Yo, I got a dollar if I was lucky.

Here is the video of last year’s Afikomen scavenger hunt:

Don’t Read if you are under 12 years old:
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Another fun part of the Passover meal is the legend of Elijah. The deal is that you are supposed to leave the door open (in my house my mother thinks we are going to get robbed so she doesnt do this), and fill a glass with wine to leave for the prophet Elijah. Sometime during the night, Elijah will come in and drink from the glass…

Usually the scavenger hunt is a good time for me to drink from Elijah’s glass. I tell my niece during the presentation to keep an eye on the glass to see when he drinks. The kids usually forget about it by this time, so now is your shot!

Links:
Judaism 101: Passover
Two Minute Haggadah: A Passover Service for the Impatient
Letterbox

After a dismal season, the boys at the Garden decided they would treat their loyal fans by providing all you can eat food and drinks at the Garden.
Wow - what a great day! I am just imagining all the food I would get! Think about the high end bites you could get! French fries, pastrami sandwiches, chicken fingersss, those delicious sausages, hot dogggs, and all that coke! Yo, whatever, I’m excited by the possibilities.

The Knicks plainly sucked this season. I have been glad every night we don’t play the knicks games on the news program I work for. We did this story though.

Strangely, reports say that by halftime there werent any lines at the concessions. My guess is that people packed up in the beginning and just wallowed in the glory the rest of the game. I’d still be eating.

Other

Links:
Newsday Article
AP Article
Jeffrey Tastes post on AYCE Ballparks

I had omakase for the 2nd time recently. It was a little different than my first time. This time it was more refined and structured.

We went to Kumo Sushi in Plainview, NY. Kumo is a nice, contemporary place. The chef is pretty highly acclaimed, and relatively young it turns out.

I told the server I wanted to order from the chef. She looked uncomfortable with that, and the chefs looked busy. I then said to her ‘Omakase.‘ She called to the chef “Louis… omakase”
Chef Louis turned to me and explained essentially that omakase is a menu item and it’s price was $78 for 2. Our decision to split it was a good one.

First, he prepared Toro Tartar:

“Chopped toro with ponzu sauce & caviar”
It was a pretty good size, probably would be too much tartar for 1. Those pieces of caviar were a great surprise. The consistency made it fun to eat and also felt fun in the mouth. It was like a flaked pudding or something. funny.

Black Cod Miso

“Broiled black cod with miso sauce”
I really liked this dish. The flavor was delicate and blackened. There were dollops of some Thai/peanut sauce possibly - I couldn’t identify it. The fish was cooked perfectly - that was no fluke haha. sorry.

Usuzukuri

He seared these pieces of engawa(fluke outer section) with a torch. I felt like this should be more of a presentation, but no, he did it behind the bar. I guess a torch is a usual piece of equipment. The pieces were easier to eat than engawa sushi, very light taste, but it was interesting to eat.

Main sushi dish:

Nice assortment of pieces including yellowtail, scallops and caviar, fatty tuna, salmon, sweet shrimp (no head) and a special roll.
For an interactive picture of this dish, you can see my flickr page.

Fun experience. All the food was very well prepared, the staff was nice, the restaurant itself is beautiful and modern. I am willing to find out if omakase next time will be the same.

Oh, I almost forgot about the dessert - Again!

The first time I forgot to take a picture.
It was Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream - which is green tea ice cream inside a “mochi” shell, which gives a feeling somewhere between peanut butter and licorice.

This was a contemporary omakase experience.
I would like to find out if the same menu is be served next time.

Links:
Kumo Official Site
What is ponzu sauce?
Mochi Ice Cream

Hey Ange,

I want to tell you about a new experience I had this weekend. I am really excited to tell everyone about it. It’s nearly a turning point in my life. As you know, I’ve been talking about going with the crew to one of these Japanese pubs in the city for a while now. I’ve been especially influenced by a friend on yelp, Brendan W. who always seems to go to the coolest places. He has a list of Japanese pubs, each one I want to check out. So my friend Matt came over this weekend and we met 4 other friends at Village Yokocho around 9th and 3rd ave.

Aright, enought with the informative blog stuff, this place was awesome. Its not a storefront, I dont think many of them are. Here, we walked up a staircase and when we are inside it’s like a sushi hut and then all these casual tables around it. My friend said it made it feel like it was outdoors - and somehow, with the lighting and the air in there, it felt like it was.

It’s basically the greatest drinking environment I’ve ever been in! It’s seriously like disneyland for me. It’s meant for drinking, so there are pitchers of beer and a lot of sake. But then theres more than 4 pages of little bites of food to share. the dishes are like 1.50 - 9 dollars. Theres yakitori, japanese tapas, korean bbq(you cook it on the table) and other things - some wild things too. I saw chicken cartilage on it, and i remember andrew zimmern eating it on his show and he was uneasy with that. we had deep fried squid legs, octopus ballsk, and some fried tofu. It was mixed company and some people were coming from dinner so we didn’t go full on at all. before the other 4 got there, me and matt split an L sake and skewers of scallops, onion, and mushrooms. we did have a few drinks before so by the time everyone else got there my mind was juice.

WE HAVE TO GO with phil and dan and other people - who like to eat, have fun, and drink - all three. Everything else just seems toned down to me now, it’s like this is exactly what I think fun times should be - tables talking your friends, crazy foods and easy, plentiful drinks. PLUS they are a bit hidden, the music is fun pop from overseas, it’s private with your friends yet theres cute girls around, and everyone is eating and drinking drinking.
I still have a smile on my face. like the cat who ate a mouse.

your bud,
Jeff

I wanted to get one last Schnack in before they closed.
I looked on their website today and they are now officially closed. It is a sad day. They had some good burgers and accessories.
Today I will post a little poem I wrote for this little establishment, who knew it would become a eulogy? I hope to visit again very soon before they go away for good.

122 Union Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
(71 855-2879 Schnack
Categories: Burgers, American (Traditional), American (New), Vegetarian, Hot Dogs
Neighborhood: Brooklyn/Columbia Street Waterfront District

Oh yeah ! Beer shakes, shoestring fries, sliders double triple quad.
What more could you taste - what more can you want?
A trip here from an excursion to Red Hook.
Im hungry ‘lets go to Schnack!’ - Thats all it took!

Friendly service and open air dining room.
Dirty? maybe. See if I pick up a broom.
Give me your grease, your grime, your food.
Man, that Schack put me in a good mood!

Links:
Schnack official site
goodbye Schnack blog post from A Brooklyn Life

They lay down the challenge: 4 patties on one burger and you get your name on the wall. Looking up, there must be about 6000 names up there. The hometowns are from all over; Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut… I wonder how far have people come to get their name up there?

Just putting down any challenge is enough to make my mind go crazy. My eyes get big with the thought of defeating a challenge! Imagine, my name up there with those who have conquered the 4 pattie burger….
————————
Well, I did it. So did my brother, for the second time. When I finished, I realized it wasnt that bad at all, I definitely can do at least one more. I chose not to because I knew my sister-in-law would hate me if she had to watch me eat another of those burgers.

I asked to have both our names together on the wall. I thought it’d be cool and unique.

At American Burger, you also have the additional rewards of a red star for 2 of the 4X pattie burgers or a BLUE star for eating 3 or more of the 4X burgers. Eating one more wouldn’t be enough for me though, reward wise. Knowing that I was in the middle of the pack would just hurt my pride too much. Even though I saw about 6 total blue stars and maybe 25 red stars on the whole wall, I still will only do it all the way if at all. Too bad too, I was in one of those endless stomach situations yesterday.

The burger stands about 4 inches tall with a wall of burgers. It is stupid to even try to take a chomp out of the side, you have to do it in chunks rather. Overall, it wasn’t that bad at all. Good burger! the fries arent bad, the shakes taste like yogurt ice cream, the lugnuts suck.

So look up next time you are at American Burger Co. Maybe you will see someone you know, maybe it will be “Jon and Jeff Orlick from Wantagh, NY.”

Here are some other food challenges that you can go on:
76 Oz Steak Challenge at J&R Steakhouse. Here you are challenged to eat their entire steak (in one hour), it looks huge - about a foot and a half across. If you win you get it free and get a T-Shirt. If you lose you have to pay. It’s $60.

This will be definitely be a challenge. Me and my brother can throw it down despite our size. For me, if the steak was good and juicy, I would definitely put up a fight. That’s nearly 5 pounds of steak! I don’t think I’ve ever even seen that much before. I guess it’s 5 steaks big. hmm, if they could cook it like I do, and I didnt have to get up, and I had only one glass of water, AND I prepped the entire week —- MAYbe I could pull it off. It’s on my to-do list.

Just don’t let this happen to you:

Links:
American Burger Co. Official Site
Wordhampton Article - About American Burger Co.
Great List of Eating Challenges from AICE. My mind is going crazy now with the possibilities! I don’t think I can do most of these… They seem outlandish.

It took a while, but I have proof that the Secret Shopper is real!
Here is a check for my reimbursement to a restaurant I secret shopped

After a couple of emails saying the check was late, I finally received my check.

After all the naysayers and the years of naivety, I finally received my check.

So there you go, it’s real.

I recommend you do it too. The participating restaurants will be ones with a hierarchy of management structures, so keep that in mind. They will generally tell you some days and times which they have available slots for participants. You pick it and in the next 12 hours or so are expected to fill out a few forms which will take you half an hour.

Hey, I am now being paid to eat and write about food. THAT was one of my goals for the blog.

http://mysteryguestinc.com

Newsday Article - 4/03
NY Post Article - 4/02

More developments in the case of two Patsy’s….
It was a gentleman’s agreement to lay off each other when Sal Scognamillo, son of Patsy Scognamillo of Patsy’s Restaurant in the Theater District called Patsy Lancieri of the East Harlem Patsy’s Pizzeria after prompted by a letter from Lancieri asking them to stop using his name.
In the phone conversation, Lancieri said: “I think we could get along. I will not bother you anymore,”

Everything was fine until Patsy’s pizza started selling their name in 1991 - thanks to Lancieri’s widow AND Frank Brija for being first the john, then the pimp.

I say stop feeding off someone else’s good name. I say make your own pizza your way and become great through that. I say the two chiropractors seem should have just bought a dunkin donuts or little caesars.

Are the 56th street Patsy’s people mad because this location is not up to par and is giving them a bad name? Quite possibly - and deservingly so. I am mad because this Syosset patsy is giving Long Island a bad name by associating us with sub-standard, mock food. You can read my original review of Patsy’s here, pleading to live up to their reputation.

Here’s something interesting, there is no mention of the East Harlem original location on the Patsy’s website. What’s up?

Links:
East Harlem Location Yelp Reviews
Make your own
Frank’s Favorite Slice
First post at Jeffrey Tastes

I KNEW there was something fishy about Al Anthony Patsys of Syosset. The pizza wasn’t quite up to par, and there is no mention of it on the official Patsy’s website.

Now the Syosset location is being sued for use of the name.

There are lots of arguments who deserves the name. Pizza aficionados are quick to point out the difference between the two Manhattan brands. It usually is the argument of who’s sold out to using the least expensive, mass produced ingredients first. Chowhound Discussion started by Jim Leff
The East Harlem is the original location, but the other Patsy’s has already expanded to 6 locations. PLUS, Grimaldis is actually (cousin of original Patsy) Patsy Grimaldi’s new joint

From a great article describing the difference between Grimaldi’s and Patsy’s:

Lombardi had three disciples, all of whom begat equally legendary New York pizzerias: John Sasso (John’s), Anthony Pero (Totonno’s), and Patsy Lancieri (the original Patsy’s, in East Harlem). These places in turn all begat mini-chains. Patsy Lancieri’s widow sold the Patsy’s name, along with the original restaurant, to an outside group in 1991; as a result, Lancieri’s nephew Patsy Grimaldi changed the name of his Brooklyn Heights restaurant from Patsy’s to Grimaldi’s in 1996 to avoid confusion.

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I guess the question is: Who has the right to prostitute the Patsy name?

Links:
Newsday Article
Daily News Article
Patsy’s - Since 1933
My Review of Al Anthony Patsy’s in Syosset
East Harlem Patsy’s Review from Slice
Best Pizza Review of Harlem Patsys
Yelp review of Harlem Patsys
What’s up with Patsy’s and Grimaldi’s?

46 Great Neck Rd
Great Neck, NY 11025
(516) 466-9361 Koryodang Bakery
Category: Bakeries

My brother used to work in the area and would see all these people go into Koryodang and coming out with amazing looking pastries and sandwiches.

I went with him to his old stomping grounds to visit the bakery that was.

So this is a Korean Bakery…. Seems awfully French to me… (wait, was that ignorant? shit)

The bread was great. All the pastries and cakes looked perfectly executed. Unfortunately I am not a dessert person at all.

I got the homemade roast beef. My brother ordered a ham and cheese. The meats are on the slighter side of average amount and taste. Nothing special at all. The bread, however, pulls up the slack and makes it a great sangwich. The eastern euro guy next to us got a great looking salad. Unfortunately, I am not a salad person either.

Worth a try for my polar opposite.

Links:
http://www.koryodang.com/
Their product page is funny because it shows what the products will look like if a bite were to be taken out of them. They really do look almost too good to eat, so it’s good to see this much.

April 1st - April 10th

Another Restaurant Week!

Official Site

Smokin Als and The Lakehouse are highlights for me, but I am sure there are many great restaurants to explore here. This week sounds much more appealing than the Hamptons one because it is in a small area in a town rich with history of the sea.

Article about the “Restaurant Renaissance” in Bay Shore

Participating restaurants:
Aji 53 Japanese Cuisine
Captain Bill’s
Chowder Bar
Cool Water Grill
Declan Quinn’s
fatfish
Forum Diner
Molly Malone’s
Milk & Sugar Cafe
Mitsui Japanese Restaurant
Nicky’s Clam Bar
The Nutty Irishman
Peninsula Oriental Cuisine
Siam Lotus Thai Restaurant
Smokin’ Al’s
The LakeHouse
T.J. Finley’s
The Pie at Salvatore’s
Tula Kitchen