CultureJunkie

Where Hash Rules

You all know how I love a good meal, and a good bit of Boston history, so I was delighted to find a marriage of the two in George Cuddy's book, Where Hash Rules. It's the story of Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe, a landmark in Boston's South End since 1927.

Simultaneously a rich historical account of a city block, and a love letter to the people who made history there, the book is full of personal anecdotes,  newspaper clippings, photos, recipes and blog posts that tell the story of the Manjourides family and their restaurant over the course of 85 years.

In that time, Charlie's has borne witness to a wildly diverse neighborhood that has played host to criminals and celebrities alike. Prostitutes and mobsters, politicians, performers and athletes – everyone from Sammy Davis Jr, Duke Ellington, Joe Lewis and Whitey Bulger, to Tom Brady, Nomar Garciaparra, Robert Urich and Al Gore - have dined at this 32-seat shop. It's cash-only, and offers communal tables, both telling attributes of the no-frills, genial experience you are likely to have there.

In its early days, Charlie's was the only restaurant in town that would serve African Americans. The Pullman Porters  -  men hired by George Pullman to work on the railroads as porters on sleeping cars  - established their Boston headquarters above the restaurant and admitted original owner Charlie Poulos as the only non-black member so he could play cards and shoot pool with them.

In the years since, all sorts of characters have crossed the threshold, including Cookie the bookie, Chapman the peeper, Richard the storyteller, and Biggie the bulldog. They've all contributed to Charlie's vibrant history.

But central to the story are the four beloved proprietors and siblings, Arthur, Marie, Fontaine, and Chris, who have been slinging hash – and stories – for decades.  Their immigrant father Christi was Charlie Poulos' first employee, starting out as a line cook and then through some shrewd business dealings becoming a partner in 1946.  This family's story, their hard work and dedication to the business as well as their community, has all the tenets of the American Dream.

Though I’ve yet to visit Charlie’s in person (despite living here for nearly 20 years…the shame!), I feel like I know them all. And like the author, I feel slighted that I missed out on so many of the memories.

And what of the food? Charlie's consistently gets rave reviews for its great meals at great prices, and it won the prestigious James Beard Award in 2005. I am dying to try the cranberry pancakes and the raspberry griddle cakes. And of course, the famous turkey hash.

You can purchase Where Hash Rules (ebook) at Amazon or Barnes & Noble, read more about it on Boston.com and Bon Appetit, and stay up-to-date with restaurant happenings via their Facebook page.

And perhaps I'll see you at one of their communal tables one day soon.

Da Conch Shack

We're loving all the fresh seafood on this island!

Last night we had dinner with another couple from Boston at the restaurant Coyoba, where I had a Corvina fish special.

Today, we travelled out to Da Conch Shack, a fantastic spot on the beach serving all manner of conch (deep fried, pan fried, stewed, curried...) and some really good jerk chicken.

The best part was seeing how the conch go from sea to table (and glossy souvenir shell, as well). Check out the photos below: (1) entrance to the restaurant (2) empty shells are plentiful in the water; below them are large nets full of live conch; (3) men cart buckets of conch up onto the beach and (4) give 'em a whack with a hammer to dislodge the conch from its shell; (5) another man then pounds it with a meat tenderizer before sending it into the kitchen. It was very tasty!

Girl Scout Cookie Locator

It's Girl Scout Cookie time, and I have it easy: I get my annual Samoas fix through a coworker's enterprising young daughter (she's got a lock on all orders in our office).

But what if you don't know any Girl Scouts (who are in fact the sole distribution channel - selling cookies is part of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, so they don't simply sell them online)?

Then the Girl Scout Cookie Locator app is for you! Using your phone's GPS, the app will show you cookie sales nearby, as well as information on flavors and some social media integration.

 

It's currently only available for iPhone (I'm Android, so thank goodness I have my contact!), and is reportedly rather buggy, but I like that the Girls have gone mobile.

 

 

Boston Wine Expo

We had a fun time at the Boston Wine Expo on Sunday (an alternative way to tailgate before the big Pats game!), and the best part was getting in early with the Trade crowd before doors were open to the general public.

There was a great assortment of wines - some of the more memorable ones were Banfi (Italy), Joseph Carr (California), Muscato di Limnos (Greece), Chateau Ste Michelle (Washington), and an assortment of Chateauneuf du Pape (France).

And let's not forget all the food accompaniments! Among them:

• Serrano ham sliced fresh off the bone (eek)
• 100% grass-fed beef jerky with garlic powder rub and brown sugar glaze from SlantShackJerky.com (YUM)
• Pecorino cheese with white & black truffle oil from TastyTuscan.com (double YUM)
• Brix chocolate (I love the milk chocolate, which pairs well with Port, Sherry, and dessert wines)
• A chocolate whoopie pie from The Whoopie Wagon in the gift bag

Here are some pictures from the event:

 

Scenes from the Gala

The TV Diner Platinum Plate Gala was a fun event. Amazing people watching (e.g., women of a certain age showing lots of skin and sequins), good food, and fun music. But as with most of those events, it was pretty crowded, which meant long lines at the bar and tasting stations, and a need to juggle your food and drink. I'm glad we went, but probably wouldn't do it again.

What amazed me most was the amount of beef on display. Short ribs in particular. I'd say half the food vendors had some version of beef short ribs as their signature dish. Don't know if it's the cold weather, a down-economy (which tends to elevate comfort foods), or just good prices on beef short ribs, but everybody was offering it up. Not a good night for any vegetarians in the house!

But there were also some tasty tuna plates available (surprisingly, my favorite was the Teriyaki Ahi Tuna Wanton from Not Your Average Joe's), a couple of duck options, pork sliders, Caesar salad, pasta, and plenty of desserts (my favorite being Pete & Gerry's Heirloom Egg Custard with maple walnut topping).

You can view the full photo set here (taken with a smartphone so apologies for the bluriness and/or darkness):

 

Next up: the Boston Wine Expo!

TV Diner Platinum Plate Gala

I'm very excited to attend the 5th Annual TV Diner Platinum Plate Gala tonight in the Seaport! The event will feature over 30 area food and drink vendors serving their signature dishes.

Here's a sneak peek from co-hosts Billy Costa and Jenny Johnson of TV Diner:

A Delicious Year

This email I received recently from restaurant reservation site OpenTable made me chuckle: I sure do eat out a lot! And the funny thing is, it doesn't even include the nights out when I didn't use OpenTable or when someone else made the reservation.

But it's a great tactic on their part, and a great walk down memory lane for me. I didn't realize I'd been using the site for so long - I registered way back in 2002! Back then, it was strictly a web-based solution, but now I primarily use their Android and iPad apps.

And look at all the fantastic places I've dined!

Truly a delicious year decade.

Evernote Food

There's a wildly popular productivity app called Evernote that lets you store notes and ideas - in the form of text, images, web pages, or voice memos - for future reference, list making, and archiving. I use it in its Web, iPad, and Android incarnations to note restaurants I want to try, wines that I like, travel ideas, and other random info that I want to remember. The beauty of it is that I can store info from all three devices (laptop, tablet, mobile phone) and it synchs for easy access from any of them.

So I was excited to read about its latest update: Evernote Food. You know how much I like to document great meals (as evidenced by yesterday's post and my Flickr feed dedicated to good eats), and this app promises to let you "capture, share, and relive your memorable meals." Sadly, it's not yet available for Android so I'll continue with my traditional ways. But I like where they're headed.

Oishii

One of the most delicious and most artfully presented sushi in Boston, courtesy of Oishii in the South End. Above are two of their specialty rolls (Sockeye Salmon and Maki covered with Toro), below is an amuse-bouche of pureed edamame. We also started with the Tuna Mango with Baby Ginger and ended with the Chocolate Molten Cake. It's appropriate that the name translates to "delicious" in English. Oishii! おいしい 

The Cookie Department

There is a neat little start-up called Kickstarter that has been getting lots of press lately for its ability to crowdsource funding for a variety of creative projects (raising nearly $100 million alone in 2011, it's 3rd year in existence). There are tons of interesting endeavors listed on the site, but this one in particular caught my eye:

The Cookie Department^TM makes "fully funtional" cookies that are not only natural and delicious but also have functional benefits. Here's a sampling (full details on their site):

• Awaken Baked - caffeinated chocolate chip for a pick-me-up
• Chocolate Chip Nookie - infused with Maca Root, a natural aphrodisiac
• Tough Cookie - peanut butter toffee infused with whey protein
• Great Full - vegan sweet potato-cranberry-oatmeal for antioxidants
• Snap Back - gingersnap infused with cayenne pepper, cloves, and blackstrap molasses for a body detox or hangover cure!

After a successful test run in San Francisco, The Cookie Department^TM founders are looking to raise enough capital to take the concept national ($12,000 in pledges by Sunday, Jan 15th - and they are 87% of the way there). I love everything about this - the business concept, the product (admittedly, I haven't tried them personally...YET!), and the Kickstarter pledge levels (e.g., pledge $20 or more and get a shout out on their website and a personal thank you phone call from the founder, Akiva Resnikoff. Again - there are more levels with benefits ranging from free cookies to an invite to their launch party. Full details on the site). Plus, the whole Kickstarter process is so simple - log in via Facebook and plege via Amazon - making it easy to support projects you love.

Check out The Cookie Department^TM and consider supporting them. Life is better with [functional] cookies!