Food Lush

Restaurant Spotlight: Beggars Pizza

by Tara

Last week my family flew to the Chicago suburbs to see family. My primary goals in Chicago (besides seeing family and having a good time): meet up with online friends, see the Bean, and eat famous pizza. I accomplished all three!

The famous pizza our family members swear by is Beggars, which has been around for several decades and touts THICK toppings. 

We ate it twice in six days. (It was really good.) The second time I remembered to take pictures.

This is deep dish pepperoni.

One piece was like two servings of a casserole. It was so filling. And so good.

What's your favorite famous food?

(Pictures by my shaky hand with my phone.)

Off the Beaten Path: Gems in Downtown Napa

by Caitlin

Ask anyone about a trip to Napa and they'll probably start discussing all their favorite vineyards, tasting rooms, and restaurants. A trip to Napa most often consists of a trip to Napa valley and the towns surrounding Napa proper (Yountville, Saint Helena, Sonoma). What I didn't realize when I started planning my first trip out there (and asking for advice, which I received here in spades, and was very grateful for) is that Napa itself is a town, with a downtown area and everything. The past few years have not been kind to the city of Napa, and a lot of businesses have closed. So while the wineries and restaurants in the surrounding area seemed to have flourished (and please correct me if I'm wrong on that), downtown Napa can be a little depressing, with empty storefronts. My husband and I stayed in downtown Napa, though, and boy are we glad we did. We truly couldn't have picked better. 

To start, we arrived at our hotel (The Avia Napa) on a Thursday. Apparently we timed it well, as on the first Thursday of the month during the summer they shut off the street right in front of the hotel for a Chef's Market. We spent the evening wandering around listening to live music, drinking local wine and beer, and sampling all kinds of delicious food from various local vendors. It was a delightful way to start our trip. And I'm saying this as someone who normally finds street festivals to be kind of overwhelming and overrated. To me they're usually too crowded and it's not worth standing in line for mediocre food. Not the case here. We did stand in a few lines, but it wasn't suffocatingly crowded and we met so many great people; locals who were happy to stand around a table in the middle of the street chatting over a glass of wine with a couple of tourists. Including, oddly, a couple who had their two young kids with them named Zach & Caitlin. (This will only be odd if you recall that my husband's name is Zach. It also may be a lot funnier after 3 or 4 beers.)

 

Photo by me.

The next morning my husband woke up early and went in search of good coffee (necessary, on a number of levels). He found a place on Yelp with stellar reviews, and went to check it out. Molinari Caffe was everything Yelp said it would be and more. Zach struck up a conversation with the owner, Rick, and came back to the hotel room telling me what a nice guy he was, and how well he knew his coffee. And Rick does know his stuff: that coffee was perfect, let me tell you. We ended up going back there every day.

Photo from napavalleyregister.com.

We were actually in Napa for a wedding, so we went to plenty of other restaurants and wineries in Napa Valley while attending wedding events and celebrations. We also had a few extra days to spend on our own, and were constantly popping in and out of the hotel. At one point we found a flyer in our room for the Napa Valley Toffee Company, which was next door to the hotel. Again we turned to the yelp reviews, and again they didn't let us down. 

They also have a wine and espresso bar and one afternoon we were in desperate need of caffeine, so we wandered next door for some refreshment. While we were there we chatted with the woman who helped us, and told her we'd come by because of the blurb the hotel had put out. (It turns out she was the owner, and she hadn't seen the hotel flyer, apparently the hotel just loves the toffee?) (We brought one down for her the next day.) We sampled some toffee, and it was quuuuite good so we got a bunch for gifts, and while we were chatting, asked if she could recommend a nearby restaurant that was off the beaten path a bit, where locals go. She recommended Carpe Diem Wine Bar, and, you guessed it, it was another Yelp hit. 

 

Photo from tripadvisor.com.

We happened to hit it on the night they were celebrating their two year anniversary, and it was very crowded. We were lucky and surprised to find the last two seats at the bar. We were further surprised to sit down right next to Rick, from Molinari Caffe, whom Zach had met the day before. We ended up having dinner and chatting with he and a few of his friends at the bar all night, and it was a truly memorable evening. (As a bonus, he supplies their coffee and ordered one of his newest brews for us to try.)

As for Carpe Diem itself, it was my first chance to try what's become a favorite bubbly: Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs. It was recommended by a Food Lush reader, and I probably would never have tried it if not for her. Thanks, Elz! We tried a bunch of things, and our favorite was the boar meatballs. The crispy, goat cheese stuffed olives were great, and we also enjoyed one of the flatbreads and the alligator tacos, which were that night's specialty. Rick ordered the ostrich burger and when we saw it served we were sorry we didn't have enough room for one!

We hit plenty of the well-traveled places you've probably heard about in Napa (Ad Hoc, Bouchon Bakery, Domaine Chandon, etc.), and we really enjoyed them all. But we also loved making these memories of places we'd never have imagined or planned on going to, and we're so glad we did. We met some truly wonderful, gracious people and got to share delicious things with them in beautiful Napa. What's better than that?

Have you been to Napa? Have you found any hits off the beaten path?

Pie Five: Pizza on the Quick

By Julie

A few months ago, my friend told me about a new pizza place that was popping up all over town. “You’ll love Pie Five,” she said, “because you can pile any and all toppings on your own pizza and be stuffing it in your face within five minutes.” And that is a very apt description.

So I went online to find out a little more about the place, and noticed they were having a contest. As I am wont to do, I entered. Two weeks later, I was reading an e-mail telling me I’d just won pizza for a year.  Free pizza? For me? A whole year? Jackpot!

Pie Five is a place to satisfy your pizza craving fast and on the cheap. It’s basically Subway for pizza. You wait in line for your turn to select a 9-inch crust (thin or hand tossed), sauce (from 7 options), cheese (from 4 different kinds, or all at once), and toppings (at least count 22, but that’s always subject to increase). Once they have your pizza just right – don’t be afraid to ask for more or less of anything – your pie is sent through a high-speed oven on a conveyor belt.  You can add sprinkles of cheese and other raw items once it’s baked (do not miss the “magic dust” or the sun-dried tomato tapenade). And the kicker? It’s only $6.49, no matter how much you’ve piled on top.

I’ve taken my family a few times so far, since I’m allowed to share my prize and I’m generous like that (also because I wouldn’t fit in my clothes if I ate pizza every week), so I’ve learned a little bit about the process of super fast pizza creation. As I mentioned, don’t be shy to ask for extra cheese or more pepperoni if you’re not seeing enough; they have no problem adding more.  They have specialty recipes if you don’t want to think too hard about what combination of toppings you want, and you can use them as a jumping off point to design your own unique pizza (or start from scratch). Really, it’s all about your personal pizza experience.

While this isn’t gourmet, fancy pants pizza, it is a great way to get your pizza fix without having to wait for a delivery guy or perusing a picked over buffet.  I think it would be great for a quick lunch. Go get creative with your pizza.

(Photo from: Pie Five)

Dallas: Campisi's

By Julie

Ask someone to name a favorite food, and pizza is often high on the list. That is certainly true for me. I love just about any variety – thin crust, pan style, meat-topped, veggie-topped, any combination you can concoct (except pineapple, because sweet things do not belong on pizza ever, ever, amen). But if there is something special, something truly unique, something above and beyond the tried and true classic definition on a pizza, well, then it’s got a place in my heart forever.

And for my money, special pizza comes from Campisi’s.

Campisi’s, opened in 1946 by the family Campisi (duh), is a wonderful Italian eatery, despite the sign on their flagship location that proclaims Campisi’s an Egyptian restaurant. It just so happens that when Papa Campisi moved into the space, he didn’t have enough money for a new sign for the former Egyptian Lounge, so he just stuck on his name and added the word restaurant. Locals still call it “The Egyptian.” Legend has it that Jack Ruby spent his last evening here before he shot Lee Harvey Oswald, so this is a genuine piece of Dallas history here.

But you want to hear about the food.

The food is fantastic, all of it, but it’s the pizza that is their claim to fame. It is truly unlike any other pizza. First of all, it isn’t round, nor is it rectangular. It’s oval-shaped. (Their boxes are rectangular though.) The crust has a rustic, homemade bite to it, and the sauce is rich and flavorful. You can add any variety of toppings, but I highly recommend their All the Way pizza, covered in Italian sausage (heavy on the fennel), salami instead of pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, and green onions. On any other pizza, this combination might be boring, but here, it is sublime. It is easily the best pizza have ever eaten. (The closest second is the pizza I used to make myself when I worked at an Italian restaurant in high school and had free reign with the cheese, so any pizza that can beat that has to be amazing. And it is.)

I thought long and hard about what food I wanted to highlight as the best snapshot of my hometown. I considered the Mexican place around the corner from my house that my family adores, and I promise to take you there if you visit me. But Campisi’s is Dallas, as far as I’m concerned. And I know I’m not the only one who feels that way.

Seriously, please visit. I will personally introduce to the best pizza Dallas has to offer.

(Photo Credits: campisis.us, nbcdfw.com)

Houston: The Hobbit Cafe

By Jessica

 

One of my favorite quirky little places to eat in Houston is The Hobbit Cafe. I mean, I don't know how many of you have a Lord of the Rings themed restaurant with a menu that refers to "Elevenses" and "Second Breakfast" close-by, but we do and it's pretty cool. It's hard to imagine that some place with that sort of name and theme wouldn't be just completely over the top and obnoxious but somehow, it isn't. The sandwiches, however, are with even their slim size still being OVERSTUFFED and packed full. Hobbitses don't like to go hungry, after all.

The restaurant, which originated in 1972 as a vegetarian place, has expanded their menu to include chicken, fish, beef and buffalo all while keeping a very large selection of vegetarian dishes and smoothies. They also tend to have a pretty good beer or wine selection and the huge oak tree out front makes for a nice shady area on the deck to kick back and enjoy your meal.

Weekends bring brunch and gingerbread pancakes so really, there isn't a bad time to visit. 

(Photo from: BeerTripper)

Austin: Black Star Co-op

By Erica H.

There's no question that Austin, TX is a cooperative city. There's a University co-op, a popular grocery co-op, co-ops for housing, nursery schools, radical books, and raw-food pet diets. It's hard to live here for ten years, as I have, without becoming invested in one of these movements. My co-op is for beer.

Black Star Co-op kicked off in 2010, and not only am I a member-owner, I am a CHARTER member and my PICTURE is on the wall and I have BANGS in it, so everyone should probably check that out next time you're in town. But even if you aren't a VIP of my level, Black Star is a nice spot for anyone who 1) likes beer, 2) likes food, and/or 3) needs a place where the small children they are toting won't be a spectacle.

The main draw, of course, is the house-made beers, and while I haven't been crazy about every one I've tried (there was recently something involving watermelon that I could have lived without), I love the constant rotation of seasonal items and the unusual selection of things like cask-conditioned ale.

The food is just as, if not more, tempting. The "snack plate" lets you choose amongst several types of cheeses, pickles, and meats, many of them local. We had one on our last trip there and it was great! (In that I learned that I do not like chicken liver mousse, and every learning experience is a valuable one.)

The less adventurous could always opt for a burger with garlic fries.

Or hope that they do another Sunday roast soon.

You know what that is on the side of the plate? It's Yorkshire freakin' pudding, is what. They also have criminally good macaroni and cheese, nice pub-style fish and chips, and I recently defied the Texas summer heat with a hot and spicy bowl of Frito pie. Something for everyone! Beer for all!

Empire Cafe Houston

By Jessica

 

If there is one thing that Houston knows and does well, it's food, being No.1 in Men's Health Fattest City again. Of course, part of that rating is the insane number of fast food joints we have here (1,034 per that article) but I'm not here to talk about fast food, I'm here to talk about good food and GIANT slices of cake at one of my favorite places, Empire Cafe. When I say giant, I mean it.

 
You can clearly see from the picture above the three layers, but each slice is also a nice wedge and they don't skimp on ingredients or taste either. My personal favorite cake there is the Lemon Poppyseed which has lemon and poppyseed, as the name suggests, but also a layer of raspberry as you can see in the picture below.

Of course, Empire isn't just about cake, as much as *I* personally focus on it, it's also about really good brunch, lunch or dinner, tasty coffees and a funky, laid-back atmosphere. There are also two different outdoor patios to enjoy during the brief moments of decent Houston weather and watch the hustle of The Montrose go by.

{Top Photo from: HoustonPress Greatest Grub Chocolate Cake}

The Best Museum Food in DC

by Elissa

The National Mall in Washington, DC is packed with great sights: the U.S. Capitol, the monuments and memorials, and all the fabulous museums bring the tourists in droves this time of year. Unfortunately, most of the food options on the Mall are totally forgettable (think boiled hot dogs and reheated chicken fingers). But I am here to tell you about a museum cafe that would merit a visit even if you had no interest in visiting the museum it is a part of: Mitsitam Cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian.

{photo credit: visitingdc.com}

This is not your average museum food. The cafe features native foods from throughout the Western Hemisphere, including the Great Plains, Mesoamerica, the Northern Woodlands, and the Pacific Northwest. You can enjoy things like buffalo chili, cedar plank roasted salmon, and wild rice salad with dried cranberries and watercress. My family visited the museum over the weekend and I was reminded anew how much I love this place. I had a cold green tomato soup that reminded me of a tangy gazpacho, the aforementioned wild rice salad, and a delicious black lentil salad with roasted tomatoes and an agave vinaigrette. My three-year-old enjoyed a fry bread grilled cheese, and my husband went with a buffalo burger. For dessert we had fabulous fresh fruit tarts.

Mitsitam Cafe is definitely more expensive than your average snack bar, but the quality is so good that it still feels like a decent value. Check out the current menu here for a sense of the prices. The setting is also lovely; the cafe looks out onto one of the fountains surrounding the museum.

So if you ever find yourself looking for a meal on the National Mall, head straight for the National Museum of the American Indian. (I have generally not been blown away by the museum itself, although the building is a beautiful space. But on this visit we focused on the kids' center on the third floor, which was a huge hit with my son and which I would recommend to anyone traveling to DC with young kids).

Jus' Mac, Houston

By Jessica

I think we can all agree that Mac n Cheese is a universal comfort food, yes? There are recipes everywhere you look with all sorts of minor (or major) tweeks upon the classic and everyone seems to have their own go-to recipe. The phrase "blue box" has a lot of meaning for lovers of mac n cheese and no matter how laden with chemicals it is, there are folks that will always reach for blue, period. 

In Houston, we have an entire restaurant (two locations, actually) devoted to the stuff and it is the bomb, in my opinion. My husband and I went to dinner at the Heights location recently and we will be back again, although maybe a bit earlier in the day because it's a smallish place and it was quite crowded, with not a lot of parking available, truth be told, but the food was definitely worth it. 

The dishes come in two sizes: personal (1/2 lb) or regular (1 lb) and you are asked if you'd like your dish topped with toasted bread crumbs. Simply put, YOU DO. You can also choose your pasta type. 

In the picture above, my dish (the bottom) is a personal and my husband's (top) is a regular. I've read other reviews where they recommended the personal as a child's serving, I definitely would not go that far, I consider mac n cheese a rather filling dish with all the pasta and dairy so a personal size is a good choice. My husband is usually a huge eater and he was unable to finish all of his. You can always opt to add a salad, appetizer or dessert if you are concerned with portion sizes.

I chose the Goat Cheese: goat cheese sauce, roasted tomatoes, garlic, and mozzarella with whole wheat pasta topped with toasted bread grumbs and goat cheese crumbles. My husband went with the Chili Cheese: homemade chili with whole wheat pasta topped with colby jack and fritos. The entire menu of tasty options can be found here and I look forward to trying more of them in the future. 

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and Other Breakfast Adventures

by Caitlin

As has been established around here, I'm from New England. Specifically, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

What has perhaps not been established is that I love pancakes. I LOVE PANCAKES. I love breakfast food in general, and I especially love eating breakfast at a cheap mom and pop place with people that I love. In High School my friends (Hi Tamarah! Hi Paul!) and I would regularly get up at O'Dark Thirty to go out to breakfast before school started. There was a tiny, greasy place in our part of town that served up the most delicious homefries, coffee, and sausage, egg, and cheese bagels you've ever had. And if memory serves, all that came to around a measly $3. Three dollars! To be fair though, that was in the late 90s, a time period that saw me listening to angsty chick rock mix tapes and inexplicably dressing like a sk8r boi. I don't think a delicious $3 breakfast could convince me to return to that time period.

In a delightful twist, my husband Zach (who was growing up and going to Hike Skool a mere 70 miles away, though we wouldn't meet until a lifetime later) was also fond of going out to breakfast. However, he was frequenting his local Bickfords (before it was marketing itself as Bickfords Grille, which HA HA HA HAA), and was frequenting it in the afternoon. During these visits he was often served by the same waitress, who would come by his table with the coffee pot and say in her gravelly, pack-a-day smoker's voice and Boston accent "Ya wanna wahmah hun?"

(Translation for those of you who don't speak Bostonese: "Can I offer you some more coffee, in addition to what you have in your cup, in order to keep it hot?")

I've heard Ya Wanna Wahmah Hun quite often in my own house, as it has been adopted as standard phrase when coffee is being served; accent and gravel in the voice required with the delivery.

(I just asked Zach the waitress's name and it was...drum roll....Doris.  Oh come on already. DORIS. As he put it "Of course. What else would it be?" What else indeed.)

Alas, Mom and Pop places are not to be found in Northern Virginia, and we are often left to make our own pancakes and bacon. There's one place in Old Town Alexandria that sort of came close. Ish. But it's just not the same. Once in a fit of desperation Zach and I hit up the local IHOP, but they served Fake Syrup and the rehydrated potatoes gave him unpleasant flashbacks to years spent cooking on a submarine. So, as I said, back to square one: Cooking at home.

Which I'm getting to, I promise.

In January we were back in Boston visiting some family when I met that same friend from High School (Hi Tamarah!) and her husband and toddler to carry on our breakfast routine. We went to Sugar Baking Co. in Roslindale, MA. I'm hooked on Yelp and will always check out reviews ahead of time where possible. The reviews for Sugar are all over the place, but we had a great experience. The food was excellent, the atmosphere laidback, and it was kid friendly yet not overrun with kids. The food is sustainable and locally sourced where possible which is something I strongly support, as you'll know if you've been around here much.

One item that was mentioned frequently in the reviews were the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. I love pancakes, and I love anything lemon, but I must admit that I'm a bit of pancake purist and I doubt I would've ordered these without the help of my fellow Yelpers. I'm so glad I did. They were divine! They were dense but somehow fluffy, moist, and had a perfect crispy edge. The lemon brightened them up but was not overwhelming, and I'm guessing the ricotta was responsible for their spectacular texture/density situation. In short: RECOMMEND.

Photo from dashrecipes.com.

Turns out Sugar Baking Co. didn't invent the lemon ricotta pancake. I feared I wouldn't be able to find a recipe to duplicate them at home, so imagine my surprise when I found tons of them online. After sifting through several, it seems the most tried & true is this one from the Food Network & Bobby Flay.

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm looking forward to my next big weekend breakfast opportunity.

Have you tried lemon ricotta pancakes?

Do you like in Northern Virginia and know of a place where one can get both delicious pancakes and the real maple syrup that they so richly deserve?