Frank Pepe Pizza

As a child I have fond memories of Frank Pepe's Pizzeria in New Haven.  They are famous for their coal fired brick oven pizza made with the freshest ingredients. We would go as a family and sometimes wait hours in line to enjoy one of their famous pies if we could even find parking on the small Wooster Street.  You know you have arrived when you pass beneath the Wooster Stret arch.  

This New Haven institution has been operating since 1925 and celebrate its 90th year this year and not much has changed. The interior looks just as it always has for the past 30+ years and is comprised of two large rooms.  

There are a half dozen booths in the first room along the right wall with a large counter along the left. The oven are along the back wall.  The second room is to the right and both walls of that room are flanked with booths. The walls are covered with historical photos of Frank Pepe memorabilia. 

This time I wasn't with my family and was sharing the experience with a few friends. We selected the fresh tomato pie which is a seasonal pie they make every summer with fresh local tomatoes. I also chose to get a bottle of Birch beer soda which I can't say I have found anywhere else but Pepe's pizza.

The pizza pie is served on a standard half-sheet and is the quintessential example of how a pie should be. The chewy charred crust surrounds the fresh sliced tomatoes and secret cheese blend that oozes and bubbles flavor. The sauce is sweet and tastyand couldn't be more perfect.  They also don't slice a pie into perfect slices some look like you might expect while others are not triangular.  It's part of the experience to have different sized slices of pizza here. 

It didn't take us long to polish off the pie and one large was more then enough for the three of us. Sometimes as a kid I would get an Italian ice next door but today it wasn't meant to be since I was stuffed with the perfect pizza. 

If y find yourself in New Haven around lunch or dinner don't hesitate to stop by and if there is a line it's worth the wait.  

Providence/Boston Food Truck Showdown

With 20,000 people descending on Providence Rhode Island's, India Point Park for the first ever Providence/Boston Food Truck Showdown the lines stretched clear across the grassy park for many of the 20 trucks in attendance. It was advertised that there would be 10 trucks from each Boston and Providence to compete.

According to the shows promoter Food Truck Festivals of America they had 15,000 pre-sale tickets and another 5,000 at the gate sales. The event was sold out roughly 1 hour after opening. We arrived a little early with our pre-bought tickets. The line was already pretty long. At 12:00 sharp they opened the gates to general admission. Attendees had the option to purchase VIP tickets allowing them early entry to the event for shorter/no lines.

After passing through the gates we made our way to the far end of the park and decided the first truck we would visit was Happy Taco from Gloucester, MA. I picked their fried Baja Fish Taco while Dan went the Grilled Chicken and Chris with the Braised Beef. My taco was light and delicious. the red onions and light lemony sauce was just the right balance.

Next we decided to try something different at the Uyghur Kitchen. They specialize in Turkish food. We each picked the Lamb Kebab Wrap. It included a spring mix, tomato's, pickles, feta cheese with their special yogurt sauce all wrapped in pita bread. The lamb kebabs were marinated in a mixture of onion, garlic and pomegranate juice, which added a kick of tartness to the lamb. While the sandwich on a whole was very tasty the quality of the ingredients was disappointing. In particular the lamb was very grizzly and nearly inedible with the exception of a few pieces. It was also very strange with the pickles. They added a bizarre flavor I didn't care for.

After finishing the Kebab wrap we went to the Samuel Adams beer garden to collect the beer that we got along with our entrance. Chris I enjoyed Angry Orchards while Dan go a Summer Ale. We all commented that the can's tasted a bit off and wondered if they had been sitting in the sun to long.

After a relaxing brew while listening to some music we decided or rather I decided it was time to hit the trucks once more. Unfortunately the lines had grown to ridiculous lengths and I opted for a desert waffle from Zinnekens of Cambridge. I picked the Sin which was a soft and chewy waffle made with caramelized Belgian pearl sugar covered in Nutella and banana slices. It was just the right way to finish of a fantastic festival and a full stomach.

Stuffed we went for a walk up to Thayer Street to check out all the little stores along the way It was a perfect day and a great time enjoying the sights, smells and tastes of Providence & Boston too.

Phantom Gourmet Wine and Food Festival

This past weekend we continued our sampling of local foods and libations by attending the Phantom Gourmet Wine and Food Festival! The food and wine festival was held in the beautiful main atrium of the Boston Center for the Arts. and provided locals with a sampling of 12 of Phantom's favorite foods, along with 36 varieties of wine.

The Phantom Gourmet is a food-related television and radio show based here in New England. Originally, the Phantom Gourmet was an anonymous critic who visited local restaurants, provided reviews, and conducted interviews with chefs and restaurants owners. Today, The Phantom Gourmet, Inc. is run by the Andelman brothers, Dave and Dan. Though the original concept of the anonymouse critic is no longer part of the show's format, the company logo and overall idiology remain intact: "Food and Fun. That's all we serve." The festival, complete with a "Wine Snob Detector," was very relaxed, and provided a casual, social environment in which to eat, drink, and be merry.

Our group began with samplings of classic red wines such as Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon from Ghost Pines vineyard. Ghost Pines is a California-based vineyard named for the ghost pine tree, which is native to Califronia, and grows in nutrient deficient soils, the same as the grapes used to make their Cabernet. Ghost Pines relies on the blending of grapes from different appellations to craft each of their wines' unique characters. One of the vineyard's signature blends, their Cabernet Sauvignon, is created by the mixing of Cabernet grapes from their Napa county vineyard, and Merlot grapes from Sonoma. Robust, dense, and hinting of oak, Ghost Pines was a favorite amongst our dry wine fans. Though the blending process makes each of these wines unique and impossible to duplicate, our group found the samplings to be a bit too dense for our liking.

Between libations, we sampled local foods from shrimp Mozambique to savory cheesecakes. A favorite among our group was Harrows Chicken Pies. Harrows was originally opened in Reading, MA in 1930 by Charlie and Winnifred Harrows, and has remained a New England staple for more than 70 years. Though the Harrows no longer own the business, it was purchased by an employee, Walter Arsenault, in the 1950's and has been owned and operated by members of the Arsenault family ever since. Harrow's pies are made with all white meat chicken, potatoes, carrots, and the same buttery crust that made the restaurant's pies in 1930. With New England just beginning to emerge from this year's exceptional snowfall, our group agreed that Harrow's pies would make for outstanding comfort food in New England winters.

Towards the end of the festival, we stumbled upon another California vineyard called Bread & Butter.  Bread & Butter is noted for their cool climate grapes and cold fermentation processes, which, combined with their malolactic fermentation process, creates wine that is smooth, rich, and void of sharp acidities. Their flagship wine, a Chardonnay, is a perfect balance between the "bread" and the "butter" for which the vineyard is named. The bread, is B&B's process of storing their wine in barrels made with a range of oak woods from France, the United States, and Eastern Europe, which imparts flavors of vanilla, toast, and nuttiness to the wine. Meanwhile, the butter is B&B's malolactic fermentation process, which takes the malic acid, (the tart notes found in green apples and other citrus) and converts it into lactic acid, (the softer, richer notes found in butter and cream.) This Chardonnay is a personal favorite of our friend Grace, who notes that the stability and buttery notes of this wine make it a wonderful cooking wine, suited best to shellfish and risottos.

Winding down our sampling, our group had a calling of the sweet tooth, and decided to partake in one of Boston's sweetest treats, Chilly Cow's frozen custard. Chilly Cow's has been a New England manufacturer of ice cream pies, cakes, and frozen custards since 2006. Made from high-quality cream, sugar, and eggs, the frozen custard at Chilly Cow's isn't just any old ice cream. The creamy texture of frozen custard courtesy of the egg yolks, sets it apart from traditional ice cream in both texture and flavor profile. Chilly Cow's had vanilla, salted caramel, and black raspberry available for the festival attendees, and our group made sure to sample each variety. Twice.

Overall, the Phantom Gourmet Wine and Food Festival was a very casual event, and an easy way to spend an afternoon. If you are looking to try various types of wine in a snob-free environment, this festival would certainly hit the mark. Though the large crowd was a positive marker for the festival's turnout and provided mass exposure for local businesses, our group feels that this event will not be a repeat offender in our list of weekend excursions, due to the excessive crowding of these events.

Task 30 - No Name Restaurant

In a city which made a name for itself as the birthplace of the American Revolution is an institution with no name. Located in the revitalized seaport district of Boston is the oldest restaurant in Boston known only as the No Name Restaurant. 

Opened in 1917 as a diner catering to the local fishermen working on the pier it now caters to tourists more than locals. It has become a must see for visitors to our city and its rustic well-worn interior and lobster eating instructional placemats add to an experience they won’t forget. 

Its dining room spans the width of the building and has limited premium water view seats overlooking Boston harbor. While the view is spectacular the food is really the winner here. While reviewing the menu we snacked on some homemade garlic bread. Having been before I know their famous Fish Chowda is worth every bite and decided it was a must have.

When their famous fish chowda arrived at the table I knew I made a good choice. The broth was creamy but not heavy. The fish was abundant and tender. It was as I had remembered it, Perfect!

For my entrée I picked the broiled scallops. The seafood is prepared minimally, with most items offered broiled, baked or fried. My scallops were garnished with just a lemon and came with a side of French fries. They were perfectly cooked and very flavorful. I’ll admit that I maybe got more food then I should have and struggled to down it all. 

As a whole the meal was excellent but if I had to pick a favorite it would have been the chowda and if I needed to pick something that could be improved it would be the French fries. 

You pay as you leave at the front desk and the gentleman on duty was polite and interested in our experience. It is the kind of place you go back to knowing you’ll never have a bad experience 

Apple Picking at Tougas Family Farm

An apple a day ..... Keeps the doctor away or so goes the saying and after the 33lbs of Apples picked at Tougas Family Farm in Northborough I'll be eating at least one a day for a while. Apple picking is one of those must do things in the fall and its always a fun experience.

With the variety of farms in the area we selected Tougas Family Farm because of the variety of apples they grow, the reputation they have, and the proximity to where we live. Its a quick simple ride and right off the highway in Shrewsbury, MA. It was also named one of the Ten Best Apple Orchards in Country by Woman's Day and one of the Ten Best pick your own apples by USA Today.

They have a huge parking lot clearly labeled which is a good thing since the crowd of people we saw when we arrived was shocking since we had arrived early. There were  already significant lines to gain entry into the orchards through their small red barn. We lined up with everyone else and the mood seemed energetic and with the sun shining brightly why not be excited to enjoy the fresh air and some great apples.

At 10:00 sharp the doors opened and the lines seemed to move quickly with each group picking the size back they would fill. There were two options a Peck ~ 10lbs was $25 and allowed up to 4 people into the orchard or a 1/2 Bushel ~ 20lbs for $35 which allowed up to 6 people into the orchard.The idea was that you could pick as many apples that will fit in the bag they gave you. The larger back was significantly bigger then the small and since we planned to make a few pies  we selected the 1/2 bushel. After paying we made our way through the gates to the orchard.

The apples that were ready to be picked were on the far side of the orchard and you had two options to get there. By tractor pulled cart or by foot. Since everyone else was in line to take the tractor we decided to walk. As we made our way to the picking area we walked through row after row of apple trees. Each and every row was labeled with the type of apple being grown. That made it easy for lay people like us to figure out which apples we should pick. Also helpful was the chart on the side of our bag telling us which apples were best for eating and which were best for baking.

There were several types of apples ripe for the choosing and they included Jonagold, Empire, McIntosh, Macoun, Crimson Crisp, Fuji, Gala, Cortland, Mutsu, and Honeycrisp. As we wandered the rows of apples looking for those perfect specimen's to add to our apple pies we sampled as many of the different apples as we could. Some with sweet while others tart. some were juicy and others more dry.  I loved the Honeycrisp's as they were described as explosively juicy. We tried to stick to the guidelines for what apples made good pies while picking and it didn't take long before we had a full bag and full stomachs.

Again we had the option to ride back to the barn by tractor or walk. We stuck to walking and it felt much longer a trip on the way back with a bag about ready to explode with apples. Once we cleared the gate of the orchard we put them in the car and returned to the small village of barns for some home made apple cider doughnuts and fresh apple cider.

 
 
I love apple cider doughnuts and these certainly didn't disappoint. The apple cider was equally as good and refreshing. Once done we walked through the other buildings admiring the pies for sale before heading out ourselves. They also had a complementary apple recipe packet for anyone to take. You can download it here.

 

After a great day picking apples it was time to bake some pies. We purchased 6 ready made pie crusts by Pillsbury and enough sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour as necessary. Once home we began the long process of peeling, cutting, coring our apples. Well it wasn't really that hard since we had the right tool that did it all for us. All we had to do was crank and then cut up the spiral but apples.

Then we combined sugar mix which is a ratio of 1/2 cup flour with 1 tbsp. of flour and 1/2 tbsp. of cinnamon and 1/2 tbsp. of nutmeg. Once thoroughly combined we coated our apples liberally in the mixture. That sugar coated apple combination we then stacked generously into our pie plates creating a nice mountain of apples. Next we rolled the second pie crust on top and using our thumbs and forks we sealed the two crusts together. We also added some vents to the top of the pie to let it breath. In the old days you would use a pie bird to let the steam out.

We placed our three pies in the oven art 350-degrees for about an hour and tested bu putting a knife into our apples they should be tender and soft. That was it we made three pies and had left over apples from that 33lbs bag of local farm grown apples. we couldn't wait to sink our forks into a slide with some vanilla ice cream on the side. They were delicious.

 

 



  



King Richard's Faire

King Richard’s Faire, a renaissance fair held in Carver, Massachusetts, recreates a 16th-century marketplace and transports visitors back in time. It comes complete with handmade crafts, a wide array of performers including, musicians, singers, dancers, minstrels, mimes, jugglers, magicians, comedians, exotic animals, acrobats, mud beggars. It also includes the popular knights jousting on horseback, a royal court, and the fictional King Richard.

The idea of a renaissance fair is intriguing and definitely interesting even given the steep entrance fee of $29. We arrive just before 12:00 and made our way through the gates into the shaded 80-acre pine forest where we found a small medieval village where many of the spectators come decked out in full 16th-century garb.

There were 8 stages and a tournament field. And that is where we started. We made our way to the Dance stage where we were awed by the musical and dance skills of Hrafn with their Irish War Pipes & Drums and their lovely belly dancer.

 

Next we wandered to the Kings Stage and witnessed Paulo Garbanzo’s juggling act. He is clearly a skilled juggler and his show was a mix of juggling and magic/illusion. His grand finale was juggling 5 flaming torches which he did so effortlessly and worked his way down until only two were left.

 

If admission allowed re-entry I might have left for lunch and com back but they have you once you arrive. There is no re-admittance so you must stay for as long as you can and that includes buying lunch at Canterbury Kitchens. They work with the ticket style system where you are forced to buy tickets in $5 increments leaving you nearly incapable of using all your tickets.  We got $40 bucks worth and it was just enough to get a pulled pork sandwich each, a large fries to share and a regular size beer. We had 1 ticket left over.

After eating we headed to the Torture Show which was an interesting experience and I’ll admit when Ses Carny took the nail and plunged it up his nose into his sinuses it made me turn away. Something about things going places their not supposed to go disturbs me. Either way it was a perfect fit for the King Richard’s Faire and his entertaining performance was definitely one of the better at the fair.



The best show/performance was The Mud Show with the sturdy beggars.  Billy Billy Von Billy and Bob the Beggar after selecting a fair maiden as judge gave a comedic grotesque performance with forced audience participation. To prove their side of the stage was the best they got the audience to participate in a series of challenges from who was louder personal displays of mud enjoyment such as face planting in the mud to drinking the muddy water. Next it progressed to kissing audience members while covered in mud. The final coup de grâce involved collection of money from the audience and the side that collected the most would be spared having to eat mud. Billy Billy Von Billy was the unlucky looser and ate mud from the area’s mud pool.

 

Jack Lepiarz who performs as his alter ego Jacques Ze Whippeur in his Dashing Danger show at the Kings Richard’s Faire is a playful and exciting performance. His performance is part Pepe Le Pew and part Lumiere. Jacque first came to King Richard’s Faire in 2008 and has been a recurring act ever since. His skill and precision with a whip was on full display at the Kings Stage as he skillfully whipped piece by piece a stick from his mouth before his final act of a flaming whip. His comedic style and flamboyant flare made his show that much more captivating. I am sure when his shirt came off he got the attention of a few more
people too. You would never know he is a local radio broadcaster when not performing.

 

 

 After dashing lothario we moved on to the total opposite. The Washing Well Wenches and their Good, Clean Fun… Wet Dirty Women performance. This raunchy yet entertaining comedy show was a splash as the two wenches entertained us with audience participation and a quirky song.

This was definitely one of the highlights of the faire and worth every second of the performance. Be warned if you sit up front think Shamu at Sea World. You might get wet. Also avoid being called up on stage since that's a recipe for having everyone at the faire remember and laugh at you.

While we waited for the Tiger show and the Jousting we took a seat at the Hell’s Mouth Stage for a performance of the Sheriff’s Court. I gathered by the spectator’s presenting Violation tickets that over the course of the day they were given them for alleged violations of the kings law. They selected 6 juror’s from the audience 3 ladies and 3 guys who would after hearing the prosecution and the defense the Sherriff leaves it to the jury to decide their fate. If they are guilty they must sing as punishment. The crimes varied from public indecency to public displays of affections. It was honestly pretty boring and there is so much more with this I think they could have done.

After the Sheriff's Court we took the opportunity to wander into many of the shoppe’s. Most if not all the shoppe’s catered to the medieval times selling pewter beer mugs, swords, or other regalia appropriate with the times. Some carried more novelty type things like candle’s formed into dragons or chairs that hang from hooks. Then there were the more fantasy like horns you could wear. I picked up a small pair as a subtle costume to wear for Halloween.

With the Tale of the Tiger Big Cat Show starting soon we headed over to Tiger stage where we were introduced to a variety or Bengal tigers, ligars, a rare white tiger and even a playful monkey. The animals were amazing to see and the show was more about preservation then a performance. The animals were clearly very well taken care of and are used to help educate and fun programs to help the animals in the wild.

 

The final event of the day was the Joust to the Death at the tournament field where four knights battled to the death. Things got a bit out of hand when one of the knights didn’t respect the crown or the tournament and turned it into a bloody brawl.

 

 

All in all it was a fun day albeit a bit pricey for admission. My other gripe was that at each of the stages the performers more or less begged for money. After a steep admission I would have expected that at least the main stage performances would be complimentary without a feeling of obligation to pay more. Some like the Mud Show, Jacque Ze Whippeur and the Washing Well Wenches were wroth giving an extra couple bucks the majority of things were a bit of a bomb. It’s likely I won’t return since I am not one of those die hard renaissance people and given to cost. I did take my picture with a few of the performers.