HUNGRY GERALD

HG was devastated to learn that Chong Qing, the Chinese restaurant in Seekonk, MA. (just over the Rhode Island border and short drive from the R. home) had closed. Owner said there were not enough Chinese in the area to support his very authentic cuisine. Eating there was a culinary highlight on stopovers in Rhode Island to and from Prince Edward Island. Big smiles yesterday when HG learned the restaurant, now called Chong Qing House, had reopened on Wickenden Avenue in Providence. HG called the owner and learned his cuisine had remained intact in the new location. Plenty of dishes featuring innards beloved by the Chinese. And, of course, frogs. HG’s favorites have remained intact — that was the assurance given by the owner. Salt and pepper shrimp. Eggplant with garlic. Fried string beans. Fiery Ma Po tofu. Cumin lamb. Szechuan wontons in chile oil. Black pepper chicken. Sliced fish and sour cabbage soup. Beer duck and tofu in hot pot. Shredded pork belly with smoked bean curd. The menu covers all the bases. HG suffers from Chinese food deprivation. BSK does not share HG’s obsession. When the duo lived in New York, HG always wanted to dine in Chinatown. BSK would be pleased to try other ethnic cuisines. In any case, when HG returns from PEI in the fall, HG is confident that BSK and the R. family will join HG in the Chong Qing pleasures.

Rhode Island is one of the great culinary destinations. Eccentric and tasty. HG has written about New York Specials (hot dogs drenched in an odd chili-tomato sauce); Dell’s icy lemonade, stuffies, calamari with hot peppers, clam bakes, grilled pizza, etc. A new discovery for HG yesterday was O Dindis. This is a plain spoken, authentic, family oriented Portuguese restaurant. Famished HG/BSK arrived in Providence ready for a hearty dinner. And, that was what O Dinis provided. First, a bottle of chilled Vinho Verde. Then, appetizers of little neck clams in a white wine and garlic sauce plus shrimps in a tomato based garlic sauce (with just a touch of heat). Thankfully, there was a platter of Portuguese bread to soak up the lush sauces. BSK and Arianna R. shared a giant serving of the house specialty: Clams and pork Alentajana. This is a stew of pork tenderloin and potatoes topped with steamed little necks in a pungent sauce.(Rhody clams are the best). HG ate a king-sized slab of nicely grilled red snapper with boiled potatoes. These potatoes were not mundane. Perfectly cooked and when slathered with the two sauces, onion and garlic, were heavenly. Drank a very good Portuguese cabernet (Portuguese reds have been underrated). Dessert was splendid flan. HG wants to go back to O Dinis with a crowd so the greedy boy can taste many things on the menu: Cod in a dozen varieties; bife a case (steak topped with a fried egg accompanied by rice, onion/garlic sauce, fried sliced potatoes); seafood stew (a Portuguese version of Mariscada); etc. And, the prices are very modest.

Last stop before Providence (and reunion with brilliant and beautiful granddaughter Arianna R.) was Lewisburg, Pa. A bit of irony. Lewisburg is the home of Bucknell University, the alma mater of (sadly) the late Philip Roth. Since, realistically, HG’s years are dwindling down to a precious few, as the song puts it, HG recalls Roth’s brilliant short novel, “Everyman”, based on the eventual fate of all humans. But, all gloomy thoughts were banished as HG dined at Lewisburg’s Reba & Pancho’s restaurant. It would not be surprising to find a restaurant like R & P’s in Paris, New York or any other big time culinary center. However, Lewisburg? Simply put, this is a great restaurant in every detail. Interior design. Service. Food. Wine. Ambience. HG/BSK started their meal by nibbling on a freebie of toast crisps, roasted almonds and extra virgin olive oil. Glasses of chilled Italian Soave. Appetizer of perfect slim pomme frites enlivened with a melange of fried herbs and a tangy aioli. Main dishes were mind blowing. BSK had a juicy pork chop on a bed of herbaceous and creamy polenta. HG had a giant crab cake (sorry, Baltimore, this was the best crab cake HG ever consumed). This crisp wonder was loaded with lush chunks of crab bound together by a minimal filling The sauce of a puree of poblano and other peppers complemented the sweet crab meat perfectly but did not overwhelm it. HG/BSK drank a favorite Italian wine, Montepulciano d’Abruzesse The Paris bistro overtones continued with two nicely executed desserts, classic creme brûlée and chocolate mousse. Yes, no need to fly to Paris for a perfectly executed meal. Just get on the road to Lewisburg.

There was a time (namely the 50’s and 60’s) when New York City was world capital of steak. And, the carnivorous center was Steak Row (E.45th Street from Lexington to First and its environs). The Daily Mirror was published an E. 45th and the Daily News on E. 42nd. In addition, the area housed lots of news and wire services, and feature syndicates. Some of the steak houses had news related names: Pen and Pencil, Press Box. The Editorial, Front Page, Late Edition, Fourth Estate. Other steak joints on 45th and the surrounding area were Joe and Rose, Palm, McCarthy’s, Pietro’s, Danny’s Hideaway, Assembly, Mike Manuche’s and Christ Cella. In the west side theater district there were Gallagher’s and Frankie & Johnny. On 23rd Street, the wonderful Cavanagh’s. Of course, in Brooklyn the kingpin was Peter Luger’s (still reigning). Of them all, HG’s favorite was Christ Cella. Not content to serve the best steaks, salads and cocktails HG ever savored, Christ Cella would greet the spring season with the ultimate platter of shad, shad roe and bacon (Christ Cella was one of HG’s seven favorite New York restaurants of all time. The others were Le Pavillon, Fornos, Luchow’s, Gage and Tollner, Gitlitz Delicatessen and Keen’s. Only Keen’s remains). When HG/BSK lived in Colorado, their favored dining spot was the Denver branch of Palm. Unlike Palm on Second Avenue in New York (“Where Tough Guys Feed Big Shots”), The service was gentle and friendly in the western mode. HG’s favorite dish was sliced rare sirloin served over a tossed salad. BSK replicates this dish, improving it with lush blue cheese dressing. Like New York, Denver Palm adorns its walls with cartoons of local celebrities. As a leading local PR pro, HG felt like a Big Shot as HG dined beneath a flattering cartoon of HG’s handsome mug.

Sweetbreads are the thymus gland of a cow. When cooked properly, they are one of the truly sublime delicacies. They have always been a staple on the menus of fashionable restaurants in New York. Veal sweetbreads are the best. In Paris, sweetbreads (ris de veau) are served in scores of eating places catering to budgets big and small. They are usually sautéed and served with a variety of sauces. The trick is in making the exterior crispy while keeping the interior meltingly soft. HG’s favorite sweetbreads dish was served at the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel. The sweetbreads were presented on a slice of lightly fried Virginia ham and topped with a generous amount of Béarnaise sauce. Very good sweetbreads were obligatory as part of the vast appetizer presentation at Jewish weddings, Bar and Bas Mitzvahs. BSK got a surprising (and shocking) revelation about culinary overabundance at the first New York Bar Mitzvah feast BSK attended with HG after their marriage. The event was at a fancy Queens catering hall. There were two appetizer tables–cold and hot. Cold featured chopped liver, smoked salmon, sable, whitefish, kippered salmon, red salmon caviar, egg salad, herring salad, potato salad, whitefish salad, olives, pickles, sliced onions, scallions, celery, Greek salad, green salad plus cheeses, bread and rolls. The hot table held sweetbreads, sliced tenderloin steak, baby lamb chops, pigs in a blanket, Greek spinach pastry plus bowls of a mushroom, wine and onion sauce. Glass of white wine in hand (later replaced by red), BSK took modest helpings of all the good things, cold and hot. HG, with a frequently refilled glass of vodka, attacked everything with gusto. After more than an hour of eating and drinking, BSK said: “Wow!! What great food. I overdid. I ate too much.” Then a voice sounded over the loudspeaker system. “Ladies and Gentlemen: Dinner is served. Please take your seats in the dining room.” Astonished BSK said: “They’re kidding. This is a joke.” “Nope,” replied HG.

Prepared properly, kidneys are delectable. However, they have to be properly cleansed before cooking in order to get rid of any urinary undertones (Do some Google research to find cleansing techniques). On the other hand, Leopold Bloom (fictional hero of James Joyce’s Ulysses) famously stated that he liked kidneys for the faint trace of urine they left upon his palate. Kidneys (rognons) are on almost every French bistro menu. Prepared in a variety of ways. Mustard sauce. Wine and garlic. Tarragon and butter. HG had lamb kidneys seared on the exterior and pink inside at a pleasant bistro near the Eiffel Tower, Au Bon Accueil. The kidneys were served with ample, buttery potato puree. Mario Batalli, the colorful Italian chef, has a good recipe for fiery Kidneys a la Diabolo. Sardi’s, the New York theater district landmark, had tasty lamb chops accompanied by grilled kidneys (Caution: This was 50 years ago). Steak and kidney pie is an English standby, of course, and HG had a lush version at London’s Connaught Hotel. When Greenwich village residents, HG/BSK often picked up a container of kidneys in mustard sauce from the prepared foods section of Balducci’s, the wonderful Sixth Avenue grocer. Most Americans are suspicious of kidneys. They are missing a treat.

HG’s two favorite writers on food and restaurants are Calvin Trillin and SJ (No nepotism. SJ’s blog, OishiGevalt.com, is both appetizing and brilliantly perceptive about many aspects of Japanese culture). HG shares with both writers a love for garlic and chicken fat, staples of HG’s late Mom’s Eastern European kitchen. Sammy’s Rumanian, the raucous, venerable restaurant in Manhattan’s lower east side features HG’s “Holy Trinity”: Garlic, Chicken Fat and Vodka. Here’s what Trillin has to say about Sammy’s: “Following the Rumanian tradition, garlic is used in excess to keep the vampires away. Following the Jewish tradition, a dispenser of schmaltz (liquid chicken fat) is kept on the table to give the vampires heartburn if they get through the garlic defense.”). Happy HG is looking forward to a dinner of chicken sautéed in olive oil with thirty gloves of garlic (plus lots of herbs from BSK’s garden). There will be a loaf of fresh ciabatta to soak up the juices and to spread with savory soft garlic. Count Dracula, beware!!!

Daughter Lesley’s last night in New Mexico. Back to Providence in early ayem. A festive restaurant meal was called for. So, HG/BSK and Lesley dined at Joseph’s Culinary Pub. a buzzy room on Agua Fria Street in downtown Santa Fe. Hearty food. Super big portions. The threesome started with (one portion for the table) fried logs of polenta with roasted radicchio covered in a gorgonzola dolce sauce. The dish could have fed six people. HG went on to marrow bones covered in a sauce of perfectly cooked mushrooms. This was the “small” portion. Misnomer. It was giant. BSK and Lesley shared a ratatouille of charred vegetables in a romesco sauce with ricotta gnudi. Another vast dish. BSK and Lesley then had braised short ribs with some inventive vegetable accompaniments. Good, but not great. Ribs needed more cooking in order to achieve fall off the bone succulence. HG had the house specialty. Rabbit lasagna. Not like any lasagna HG ever encountered. This was a tall, round mound of rabbit meat, fresh pasta, ricotta, mascarpone, parmesan nestled in a rabbit bolognese sauce and topped with slices of sun dried tomatoes. Yes, HG met the Easter Bunny early. The Bunny provided marvelous dining. (Sorry, it seems the dish will soon to be off the menu until autumn). Dessert was butterscotch pudding and lemon tart. The pudding was mind blowing. Joseph’s has a great beer/ale list plus some down home green chile New Mexican dishes. HG/BSK will be back to try.

Joy. Laughter. Delight. And, yes, much feasting. HG/BSK’s daughter, Lesley R., and HG’s daughter, Victoria, have been with us in New Mexico for a sun and fun visit. Alas, Victoria’s visit was all too brief. Vigorous exercise as BSK took the women on hikes along the Pojoaque River and Las Barrancas in Jacona plus a very adventurous climb along the lofty mesas of White Rock and Bandolier. The climb provided extraordinary views of the New Mexico panorama of mesas, mountains, arroyos, etc.. Indeed,The Land of Enchantment. The women (plus HG) visited the juried art show at the Los Alamos Art Center where two of BSK’s beautiful pots were on display. (A juror bought one before the show opened). Feasting? There was a comfort food dinner of risotto mixed with freshly picked, plump asparagus(a true springtime delight). Platter of cheeses, nuts, fruit, red wine and port. The next night, BSK dipped into Vikram Vij’s cookbook for a curry dinner. Aided by able sous chefs, Lesley and Victoria, there were three curries: Cauliflower steaks; eggplant garam masala and chicken curry (the family curry at Vij’s Vancouver home). Victoria’s brother-in-law, Richard, an eminent potter who lives with his wife (also a distinguished potter) in Santa Fe) joined us for the Indian meal. He beguiled us with a discussion of his practice of a highly spiritual branch of Korean martial arts. Richard teaches a class (currently 15 students) in the discipline. Not the familiar Taekwondo, Richard’s teachings emphasizes spiritual growth and understanding (even though, if absolutely necessary, the martial arts can be used to demolish a violent threat). Spent the morning at Santuario de Chimayo, the adobe church (founded in 1816 and designated a National Landmark in 1974) located in the little town of Chimayo. The church contains a room called “el pocito” (little well) which contains “holy dirt”, earth that (according to believers) cures ailments. The earth (sometimes eaten) is rubbed on the body. Crutches and others items related to ailments adorn church walls, attesting to the miraculous cures. The Santuario is the most important pilgrimage site in the United States. More than 30,000 pilgrims are there on Easter Sunday. “Penitentes” walk to the church (some from as far as 95 miles away). Since Victoria couldn’t leave New Mexico without a green chile extravaganza, HG/BSK, V. and L., lunched at Agelina’s, the funky, down home restaurant in Espanola. Chicken enchiladas with plenty of fiery green chile (vegetarian Victoria had cheese enchiladas and vegetarian chile). HG had a big bowl of tender menudo. As HG writes this post, Victoria is in Los Angeles and BSK and Lesley are participating in March For Our Lives rally in Santa Fe. Gun madness must end.

New York has changed so much that HG/BSK have little desire to live there (even part time). However, great to visit (stated like a true “out of towner”). HG loves eating at daughter Victoria’s downtown restaurants (Rosie’s, Cookshop, Shuka and Vic’s). Of course, there are the wonderful museums (and sharing a plateau de fruits de mer with Victoria at Balthazar). And, Chinatown. But, when HG becomes nostalgic, HG longs for the oyster pan roast at the Grand Central Oyster Bar. Oysters, butter, half-and- half, clam juice, celery salt, Worcestshire sauce, Heinz Chili Sauce (might be missing an ingredient) cooked in a unique steam kettle and served over white bread toast. Sprinkle of paprika. IN HG’s day, the steam kettle was utilized by an aged, unsmiling Italian. HG would often precede the pan roast with a dozen shucked oysters, drink Ballantine’s IPA and have Nesselrode Pie for dessert. Yesterday, while the East Coast shivered, HG/BSK enjoyed typical New Mexico winter weather: 50 degrees, blue skies, brilliant sun. Gets colder at night so BSK made a pot of comfort: the BSK oyster pan roast. Used big, plump, Pacific oysters (modestly priced and sold in containers at Whole Foods). Most of the traditional ingredients but substituted whole milk for the cream mixture. No, it didn’t quite reach the heights of the Grand Central version, but it was very tasty. Cold Pouilly Fuisse was the right accompaniment. Cambazola cheese with ripe Comice pears for dessert, With this kind of food and this kind of weather, Noo Yawk nostalgia is blunted.