The Breakfast Billy, and I'm not talking an IKEA bookcase

Every so often you stumble across a bit of culinary genius. While down in Seaside Heights/Midway Beach New Jersey this past summer, we went into this little greasy spoon & bait/tackle shop combination for breakfast called Betty and Nick's. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm a huge fan of diners and little hole-in-the-wall places... Betty and Nick's is PERFECT.

Ambiance = A
The rods and reels hover over the patrons of the restaurant. The restaurant has an entrance to the bait and tackle shop for your day's deep sea fishing needs. We were at the last booth, so what you see here is pretty much the whole place.


Menu = A
This little sandwich from heaven is listed on the menu as The Billy, I believe, named after its creator who should be knighted. It's a hard roll (if you're from the NJ/NY/PA area, you know what this is) with eggs, cheese, pork roll, AND a hash brown. I ate half at breakfast, and half for lunch. Can you believe it, a hash brown on a breakfast sandwich? Now that is a man who knows what good food is. It's also helped me switch associations of "BILLY" from the strangely named IKEA bookcase series (which organizes your passions) over to a little heart attack sandwich (allowing me to eat my passions).

Tomato Pie, the God of Pizza

As most of you may know, pizza is my favorite food. I don't know how I managed to get through 40 something years of my life without eating Tomato Pie, especially growing up outside of Trenton NJ where it was invented. Blasphemous.

The first time I ever heard the word Tomato Pie was while I was playing at my Nana's house on Deerwood Drive. The neighbors across the street (The Bell's) asked me if I wanted some Tomato Pie (pronounced"tamayta"). Now, when you're 5 years old and are asked that question, you get this Ren & Stimpy Image of this bubbling deep pie crust with whole tomatoes bobbing up and down in this hot soupy filling. Well, at least that's what I saw, so I turned down the invitation. Maybe it was a good thing, I guess I wasn't ready for it and would never appreciate it like I do now.

Fast forward to my August summer vacation trip... my mother and her friend Lorraine drag me, my husband and my l'il daughter to Palermo's in Bordentown NJ. As DeLorenzo's is the most popular place to get Tomato Pie (Mom is not a fan of waiting or lines), instead we go to this BYOB hole-in-the-mini-strip-mall-wall. We order a plain Tomato Pie, and one with half mushrooms half pepperoni.

I have never eaten so much pizza in one sitting (a personal record!), with such enjoyment, marveling at every bite how amazingly sweet, salty, and perfect this food is. I am instantly transported back to the island of Capri, which was the only time I had ever eaten a "margarita" pizza THAT good, the best in my whole life. Words fail me, I'm reduced to tears in my eyes joy with a lot of "mmm"ing in all vocal scales. The crust is round, thin, cheese on first, tomatoes in chunks on top, then topping if necessary (not). I think the topping hides the sweet flavor of the Tomato Pie. I had to force myself to stop eating, it was THAT good.

The definition of Tomato Pie (why it's not exactly Pizza) is best represented from the City Dictionary (Trenton specific) as "Trenton's unique vision of a pizza pie, light on the cheese and heavy with big chunks of tomato drizzled with olive oil." A more in-depth story is posted in the last story of this blog for those who want to know the subtleties.

Next time you have the chance to order a Tomato Pie (there are several varieties depending on the state/city you get it in), please give it a shot. I welcome any references or stories about this deletable food that you have - please comment!

Foodgawker.com

Do not view this site if you are currently hungry:
http://foodgawker.com/

You Know It's A Bad Idea, But Somehow That's Not Enough

So... I'm at the supermarket looking for ice cream and I saw THIS: Edy's Limited Edition Root Beer Float ice cream. Essentially, I know it's going to be a mistake, but I NEED to get it. I figured there was about a 90% that I would be unable to finish a complete bowl without regretting it... yet I still bought it. (It actually turned out to be pretty good!)

It's like when you frequent the same place for lunch and no matter how many times you have to be reminded that you don't like the steak sub there, you find yourself ordering it again and again because you WANT it to be good. Or when you see a commercial for food that you don't even like, but somehow your brain begins to crave it.

Your brain may lie to you, but
your taste buds will not.

A Dear John letter to Dark Chocolate

Dear Dark Chocolate,

How many years has it been? I think my love for you started back as a kid, when I had the easter basket with all kinds of chocolates in it. Pirate coins, cadbury eggs, bunnies, Pez, you name it. At some point though, you stood out, you caught my eye, teased my palette. Wrapped around coconut, flavored with orange, straight up, it was always so sinfully divine.

Granted, there is that long-standing agreement you and I have with WHITE chocolate which I'm so glad you're OK with, but honestly I did not see this one coming. I have fallen in love. I don't know how it started, maybe because you weren't available and I had no other option. Then when I had the option, I chose Milk Chocolate over you.

I have been in denial for months. I thought maybe it was a phase? So, I went back to you - and you know what? You're bitter. I think I need someone sweeter right now.

I know you're upset, but you know what? I don't know how long this will last. Life is funny that way. There will always be a special part in my heart for you. I hope to see you around again.

Love always,
Dawn

Vendo-Food, A Little Slice o'Heaven

It was a dark and stormy day around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Rain had been pounding all day, and it was definitely the hot coffee, macaroni and cheese, comfort food type of day.

I lamented aloud for a pop-tart, when Dana (one of the producers here) said (snap!) there was a vending machine in the next building. Laden with change we dialed in the right letter and number for the vendo-treat.

The cherry pop tart (toasted) was DELICIOUS! The super sweetness punches through once it's been toasted. I don't know how I only ate one. For those of you who like a more Pastry-Taste, eat it straight no heat.

I love food out of vending machines. There is something magical about it - I don't know if it's the wide array of choices at your fingertips, or feeling like a big kid who can just pick something naughty to eat and Mom won't know. On the pop-tart trip, next to the traditional snack food machine, was the MEAL vending machine.

Maybe I'm sheltered or something, but I've never really seen a vending machine with real food in it. Sure, I adore the spinning desserts at the diner, but this was approaching the 8th wonder of the world status to me. I just kept pushing the arrow button to see what would spin around on the multiple levels. White Castle Burgers, Easy Mac, Ham and Cheddar Lunchables, Chicken Tender sandwich, Ramen noodles, Corn Flakes, yogurt, YooHoo, stuffed sandwiches. I've never even had a real White Castle Burger (yet), but heck, there was one here in this machine.

I'd love to know what the coolest thing you got out of a vending machine was. : )

The Original Flavor

Every good product eventually reaches a point of such success that its makers are faced with the question: Do we create additional versions of the product or do we continue with our current offering alone. Like a sequel to a movie, adding additional variations rarely improves upon the original. As a result, it's usually the original flavor that's the best. ... but that doesn't seem to be enough to prevent companies from continuing to try to improve on perfection.

At a recent trip to the supermarket, I found two such examples:

Oreos
While the 'Double Stuf' comes pretty close to being as good as the original, Nabisco seems to have taken things to a whole new level with this wide assortment of products. (I know there are lots of folks who prefer Double Stuf, but I still favor the original.)

Oreos are a classic which are hard to improve upon. I've tried a number of these product variations and none comes close to the original snack.




Cheez-Its
Like the Oreo, the original Cheez-Its approximate perfection. Cheez-Its and a can of Coke is one of my favorite ways to binge.

While, in theory, there are lots of great options in terms of cheeses to use, the original cheese flavor seems to work the best. The White Cheddar tastes pretty good, but is far too messy. And the new Pepper Jack has a nice aftertaste -- but not a great during-taste.

Additionally, along with different flavors, the Sunshine Company added variety by creating different sizes of the product. The Big Cheez-It is like the original Cheez-It, only bigger. While, in theory, this should result in an even better experience, more often than not, a larger version results in poor eating ergonomics or a disruption in the delicate balance of flavors in the product.

So remember, aside from Cool Ranch Doritos and maybe Hint of Lime Tostitos, it's always best to go with the original flavor.