Recent Episodes

 

Dwight Furrow, the author of American Foodie: Taste, Art, and the Cultural Revolution, talks about the philosophy of food. We discuss everything the impact of everything from automobile to Alice Waters to the Slow Food movement have shaped the way Americans think about food.
 
 
 
 

 

Inbal Baum, the Founder of Delicious Israel, joins us to talk about where foodies should eat when they travel to her country.

• Shakshouka is a popular dish in Israel
• Israeli Breakfast is a distinct and important meal
• The modern cherry tomato has roots in Israel
• Tel Aviv and Jerusalem top the list of cities you should visit
• Beach season runs from April to October
• Rosh Hashana is a great time to visit Israel
• When you visit Tel Aviv, go to the Carmel Market, the Levinsky Market
• Try the date syrup, Silan

 

 

Food for Thought

• Q: After pita bread, what is the most common food used to “wipe” humus?
• A: Raw onion.

 
 

Out of the Frying Pan

• Favorite Spot for Outdoor Dining: Milgo & Milbar
• Favorite Place to Buy Spices: Cafe Arma in Levinsky Market
• Herbs to Try: Za’atar and Hawaij (in Yemenite Coffee)
• Favorite Winery: Sphera
• Favorite Place for Dessert: The Malabia
• Favorite Food Experience for Kids: Max Brenner
• Chef to Watch: Eyal Shani
• Dish to Try at Different Places: Shakshouka and sabich

Bennet Jacobstein, author of The Joy of Ballpark Food: From Hot Dogs to Haute Cuisine, talks to us about what foodies can find at different baseball stadiums around the country.

• Hot dogs and sausages are not the same thing.
• The quality of ballpark food was elevated in the 90s as new stadiums were built and food television shows took off.
• Stadiums have highlighted regional foods.
• Gordon Biersch‘s founder Dan Gordon introduced garlic fries at Candlestick Park in 1994.
• The song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was written in 1908.
• The Yankees replaced Cracker Jacks at one point, but brought it back after a public outcry.
• 

  San Francisco Giant Gordon Biersch Garlic Fries

  Veggie Happy spearheaded the movement to get veggie dogs sold at ballpark stadiums.

• Andrew Zimmern has a stand in the Minnesota ballpark.
• Rocky Mountain Oysters are bull testicles.
• “The Big Six” are the food companies that service the major ballparks.
• As you go from ballpark to ballpark, try the hot dogs at each to see how they’re done differently.
• Proceeds from Bennett’s book go to Second Harvest Food Bank.

 

Food for Thought

• Q: In what year were Cracker Jacks first served at a baseball game?
• A: 1896 in Atlantic City.

 

Out of the Frying Pan

Here’s what Bennet recommends you try at each ballpark:

• Yankees Stadium in New York City: Chicken and Waffles.
• Fenway Park in Boston: Lobster Roll and a cuban sandwich.
• Wrigley Field in Chicago: Chicago-style hot dog with Vienna beef.
• Turner Field in Atlanta: Boiled peanuts.
• Marlins Park in Miami: Cuban dishes.
• Safeco Field in Seattle: The Ivar’s hot dog (with fish) and cream cheese hot dog.
• Nationals Park in Washington D.C.: A cauliflower hot dog and presidential cupcakes.
• 

  Chicago White Sox Chicago-Style Hot Dog

  Busch Stadium in St. Louis: The BBQ.

• Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles: Tommy Lasorda Spumoni ice cream.
• AT&T Park in San Francisco: Crab salad, lamb sausages, and Gordon Biersch garlic fries.

Try a Food Tour

Top 5 Lists

One of the meanest things that has ever happened in the last forty years of people writing about regional food was somebody, somewhere, up and decided that Atlanta, Georgia was not a barbecue city. Since then, scores of misinformed food writers have made the poor decision to give the Peach State short shrift and focus on barbecue in other places. Make no mistake, I bow to nobody in my admiration of the awesome barbecue traditions of Texas, Memphis, North Carolina, and all points in between. But this nonsense that Atlanta’s not a barbecue town, that Georgia’s not a barbecue state, has gone on long enough.
 
Atlanta is more than just a cultural melting pot, where the barbecue traditions of every other region come to life. It’s a vibrant and wonderfully diverse city where new traditions carve out their own niche. If you’ve got a weekend, come to the ATL and try these five places for five very, very different takes on wonderful barbecue.

 

1. Big Shanty Smokehouse

Chic Dillard had been working as a consultant in the restaurant biz for something like thirty years before opening his own place about two miles west of I-75 in this northern suburb in 2007. Since then, he’s received awards and acclaim for some of the best pork in town, offering “inside pulled” or “outside chopped” meat that smokes over hickory for twelve hours overnight. So richly seasoned that the meat is a dark red and brown, it genuinely doesn’t need a drop of sauce, although a pretty good tomato-vinegar blend is available on the side, along with some killer potato salad and heavenly banana pudding.
 

3393 Cherokee St NW
Kennesaw, GA 30144
(770) 499-7444
 

 

 

2. Heirloom Market Bar-B-Que

If you’ll pardon me mixing my metaphors, Cody Taylor and Jiyeon Lee have been the new 800-pound gorillas on the block in Atlanta since they opened Heirloom Market in the too-small space next to a convenience store in 2010. They’ve been waging war with county officials for having too many cars parked up and down the roads ever since. Those who brave the very long lines for takeout here – in an uncomfortable compromise, they have been limiting dine-in customers for several months – will find some amazing pulled pork given a sparkling, Korean flair, with novel, constantly changing sides like their kimchi cole slaw, several great sauces, and arguably the best beef brisket in town.
 

2243 Akers Mill Rd
Atlanta, GA 30339
(770) 850-1008
 

 

3. Hudson’s Hickory House

 

Buford Hudson opened this popular family restaurant in 1971, and created a style only found in the city’s western suburbs. His hickory-smoked chopped pork is served completely drowned in a thin, blood-red vinegar / Worcestershire / pepper sauce that nobody anywhere outside of this region replicates. Hudson-style sauce can be found at nine or ten other restaurants in the area, like Wallace in Austell, Johnny’s in Powder Springs, and J & W near Carrollton, all of whom accompany it with a bottle of magma-hot mustard and cayenne. Absolutely unique and utterly unforgettable.
 

6874 Bankhead Hwy
Douglasville, GA 30134
(770) 942-4828

 

 

4. Miss Betty’s House of Ribs

Betty Patterson set up shop in this old trailer in 2006. Various family members tend to the pit in a screened building out back, and inside, she’s greeting old friends and new with the sweetest charm of the south, and one of the most curious sauces. Arguments have been started over the ingredients in the Boss Sauce: is it soy sauce and Caro syrup? Honey with Worcestershire? Whichever, a thin drizzle over these thick, peppery ribs is a fabulous treat. The ribs, incidentally, never taste quite the same, owing to differences in wood and preparation time, but they always taste perfectly fresh. Sometimes, you’ll have to wait a few minutes while the smoke is making your ribs just right.
 

1281 Bouldercrest Dr
Atlanta, GA 30316
(404) 243-8484
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5. Wyatt’s Country Bar-B-Que

 

The intown neighborhood of Kirkwood is home to a ramshackle green and yellow building so garish that it looks like the Bugaloos have fallen on hard times. You’ll thread your way through a very narrow corridor to place an order to go, and possibly carry it to an adjacent screened porch to kick back and consider what you’ve selected. Pig’s ears and oxtails are popular here among the older customers. The chopped pork is smoked and then steamed, and you’ll definitely want to order it with the sauce on the side. It’s never technically dry, as it’s been marinating in its own gravy, with a texture similar to pot roast. The Kansas City-style sauce is a very good accompaniment, and, in a really neat magic trick, changes the flavor of the meat completely. I like to alternate tastes, one bite with sauce and one without. They taste not a darn thing alike, but boy, do they taste good.
 

1674 Memorial Dr SE
Atlanta, GA 30317
(404) 371-0311
 

 
That claim can be made about Atlanta barbecue in general rather than one single, fun, restaurant. With so many restaurants here that are so radically different from each other, I’d argue that one reason we’re overlooked is that we represent too great a challenge. There is no flavor that can honestly be called “Atlanta barbecue.” We’re too broad, too wild, and too tasty to be shoved under a single umbrella. Don’t overlook us on your way to more storied temples of smoked meat. Pull up a chair and stay a while.
 
What’s your favorite barbecue joint?
 

 

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Grant Goggans has co-written, edited, and taken woeful photographs for the blog Marie, Let’s Eat! since February 2010. When he is not eating barbecue, he is eating something else.

The core of any successful food tour is a great route of top-notch tastings, excellent tour guides, and well-thought-out narration that features fascinating historical and cultural information. But there are also tons of details that will really take a tour to the next level. As America’s top ticketing solution and customer service team for food tour operators, we at Zerve have worked closely with entrepreneurs who are learning the ropes, and we’ve spent a lot of time on the phones with customers, hearing about what they like and dislike. Based on all that accumulated knowledge, here are five tips for anyone who is an aspiring food tour guide.
 

1. Have your tour end where it starts

 
If you’re located in a city with good public transit, it might be okay to have different start and end points. Otherwise, it’s asking for trouble. People will be annoyed to have to walk back to their cars, will not be familiar enough with the area to find their way back, and will experience all sorts of minor confusions that result in complaints and negative reviews. There are some successful food tours that don’t circle back to Point A, but if you insist on going that route, it is absolutely essential to publicize the fact clearly and loudly before the customer commits to spending money on a ticket.
 

2. Have alternative options for vegetarians and those with food allergies

 
Obviously, you have to be upfront about the kinds of foods your group will be sampling so that people will know whether the fare will be unacceptable or even dangerous to them. With that in mind, it’s important to offer alternatives, because every potential customer with a reason not to eat the food on your tour is a customer who doesn’t book a ticket.
 

RELATED: What is food tourism?

 

3. Make sure you include a bathroom break and time to sit down

 
In general, a well-planned walking food tour will take around three hours and cover one to one-and-a-half miles total. You might be planning to visit establishments where there’s not always room for a full tour group to sit down, but that’s a lot of time and distance to cover without taking a rest, so make sure you build in a failsafe spot to sit and munch — and a place to use the restroom — around the halfway mark. This is especially important for older customers and those who simply aren’t in top physical form. If you lead them on a grueling march, expect negative reviews!
 

 4. Hand out bottles of water at the beginning of the tour

 
Also in order to keep your customers healthy and happy during your journey, make sure they have some water to sustain them along the way. They’ll stay hydrated during the walk, and the water also functions as a palate cleanser between tastings. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to build goodwill — customers might be annoyed at having to spend more of their money on drinks during the tour.
 

RELATED: What is a food tour?

 

5. Give a map to the tourgoers after the tour, so they can head back to shop

 

You may be leading tourists to interesting areas that they’ll want to explore further, but your tight schedule might not allow it. So create and distribute an information-packed map of the stops afterward. Customers will be able to revisit the areas they loved, and they’ll know the exact names and locations (and phone numbers, and websites…) of the businesses you visited — so it’s not only convenient for them, but also an excellent way to build professional relationships. You can even offer to print coupons on the maps!
 
Have you been on a food tour? What was your favorite part of the experience?
 

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Ian Wright is the Blog Manager for Zerve. Zerve is the live customer service team and software solution that powers thousands of high-quality activities throughout the United States. You can book tickets quickly, securely and easily at www.zerve.com and keep up with their travel tips at blog.zerve.com

Rhode Islanders are not used to 12-foot snow berms or cold spells that last more than a couple of days, so this winter has been an especially cruel test of our endurance. But if there is one silver lining to The Blizzard of 2015 (aka The Blizzard That Never Ended), it is this: we’ve had a justifiable excuse to order hot chocolate like it’s no one’s business. Granted, that’s my M.O. year-round, and if you’re like me, you don’t need a historic winter to entice you to order hot chocolate. These decadent beverages require no excuse, but just in case you find yourself in need of a drink that warms you from the inside out, here are the top 5 hot chocolates in Providence.
 
 

1. The Shop

The Shop is new to Providence, having only opened in August 2014. The owners are a young couple often found ringing up orders and creating beautiful latte art. They care about quality service and are happy to answer questions, particularly those about their coffee and their locally sourced selection of Humble Pies. The Shop is perfect for setting up a laptop and getting cozy with your neighbors on the bench-style seating. What makes this hot chocolate unique is its flavor profile. During the month of January, the owners experimented with different flavors of hot chocolates: Peanut Butter, Raspberry, Peppermint, and Banana, all topped with a homemade marshmallow. Even though I went back every week and thought all were delicious, the peanut butter hot chocolate was like drinking a melted Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. WOWZA. Currently, patrons are voting on Facebook for their favorite flavor, which will then become a staple menu item, so it’s safe to say I hope Peanut Butter gets the vote!
 

$
460 Wickenden Street, Providence, RI
(401) 684-1140
http://www.theshopfoxpoint.com

 
 

2. New Harvest

New Harvest is a Rhode-Island-born coffee roastary that got its start fifteen years ago in a drafty shed in Rumford, Rhode Island, and now their coffee is sold in shops and Whole Foods Market stores across New England. Their namesake shop is located downtown, inside of the newly revived Providence Arcade. One of the benefits of New Harvest, aside from their prime location and killer coffee, is that they’re open early in the morning and stay open well into the night (10pm weekdays, 12am Thursday-Saturday). There are business suits by day and hipsters by night, and the baristas are magicians. Not only do they create the fluffiest hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted (i.e., it was as light and airy as it was creamy and chocolatey), they also create masterful latte art. Bonus? After noon, they offer a full bar, so if anyone likes Baileys in his or her hot chocolate…I’m just saying.
 

$
130 Westminster St, #118, Providence, RI
(401) 438-1999
http://www.newharvestcoffee.com

 

RELATED: Take the Providence Foodie Quiz

 
 

3. Duck and Bunny

This is one of the better known establishments in Providence. The restaurant calls itself a “snuggery” to allude to its coziness, and it was built into an old house. The original floors and fireplaces still remain intact, and it feels as if you’re walking into a family’s home. They’re known for their brunches and selection of cupcakes, but their hot chocolate is the best kept secret in Rhode Island—it is, I think, my favorite of them all. They offer a “regular” hot chocolate, but I advise going for the one on their cocktail list, the Drunken Raspberry Chocolate. It’s out of this world. This drink epitomizes “sinfully delicious” with its rich raspberry flavor, its smooth finish, and its dangerously sweet intoxicant: ChocoVine’s Raspberry Chocolate wine. I would have never thought a dessert wine would blend well with hot chocolate, but one cannot taste wine; rather, one experiences an added sensation of warmth and an almost immediate buzz. Even my guy friend, who arrived skeptical, wished he’d ordered a larger size after his first taste. Anyone who likes raspberry and chocolate (surely anyone with a pulse) will fall instantly in love.
 

$$
312 Wickenden St, Providence, RI
http://www.theduckandbunny.com

 
 

4. The Elephant Room

This is one of my favorite places in all of Rhode Island. It’s located in Pawtuxet Village, only a ten-minute drive from Duck and Bunny, and is worth the journey because the ambiance cannot be beat. It’s a tearoom by classification, and their tea list is as extensive as a beer list is in Belgium. They offer sweet and savory crepes, and because I can never decide between them, I usually get one of both. One Friday night, following tea-infused cocktails (brunch and lunch are their prime times, but they have live music on weekend evenings), the chef asked me if I would like to try their hot chocolate, and I’m so glad I did! With homemade whipped cream that tasted like melted marshmallows, it was pure bliss.
 

$
2170 Broad St, Cranston, RI
(401) 461-2170
http://elephanttearoom.com

 
 

5. Sweet Indulgence

Also located in Pawtuxet Village, Sweet Indulgence has won multiple awards for offering the Best Cupcakes of Rhode Island. And no wonder: this is the Mecca for all things chocolate and dessert. Imagine Willy Wonka’s idea of heaven, add the color pink, and you’ve created Sweet Indulgence. Designed and run by Johnson and Wales graduates, this shop offers chocolates, cupcakes, brownies, lemon bars, homemade waffles, and best of all, the most exquisite hot chocolates you ever did see. Topped with marshmallows and chocolate shavings, they like chocolate bars melted and stirred. And if you visit in the summer (or just prefer cold drinks), you can try a frozen hot chocolate. It tastes better than smoothies because it still maintains the essence of a hot chocolate despite being blended and cold. I don’t question it; I just enjoy it. You should, too.
 

$
2202 Broad St, Cranston, RI
(401) 467-4850

 

RELATED: About the Food Scene in Providence, Rhode Island.

 

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About Jenny Currier

Jenny is a transplant to the east coast from Roswell, New Mexico. She used to swim with dolphins for a living, but now she writes, eats, and travels. She also holds down several jobs in order to support her eating habit. Her tagline likely reads, “Sometimes I’m funny.”