dannysixpack

Philly has awful cheesesteaks. The BEST cheesesteaks are at the philly cheesesteak shoppe on divisidero in san francisco, CA. the one in berkeley is quite good too.

dannysixpack

Next Month my partner and I are flying from NYC to shanghai to beijing to try authentic beijing duck. Peking duck is just rather non-remarkable in NYC and we want to try the real thing.

going to try soup dumplings while in shanghai, while we're at it, but we do get good soup dumplings and joe's shanghai in NYC.

i'll check back here to fill you in.

Ceres

Dont know if this would count as it really isnt gourmet. Im a seafood and tiki bar freak so a couple times a year I'll run to the keys for stone crab season, and fritters though I make better ones myself. I get what we refer to as the trifecta ... Stone crab claws, smoked fish dip, and conch fritters.

And yes, I'll take a heavy chilled Chopin vodka martini with blue cheese stuffed and a water back, every time !! But it's dry to the point where I don't even want the picture of the guy who invented vermouth in the same room as my drink.

So maybe since I drink martinis i'm not a foodie....And then I'll hit Joe's on my way back to the airport just to remember what life was like when it was at its best.

BuildingMyBento

No need for gourmand tastes in this thread! Who can savor a Philly cheesesteak or BBQ if an amuse bouche preceded those most informal of US staples?

That trifecta sounds good, but what's in the smoked fish dip?

VivoPerLei

I would have loved to have made a dining run to El Bulli as one illustrious FT'er actually did.

I guess I would ask the question, how many restaurants in the world are really worth making that kind of trip for? What one restaurant in the world is at the top of your bucket list? I would like to go to the Fat Duck or the French Laundry, but that's just me

braslvr

For me it certainly wouldn't be any restaurant where the tab would exceed $100 or so for two, unless someone else was paying for it. Way too much really really good food out there for a quarter to a third of that. @:-)

cordelli

Philly makes philly cheesestakes. If people don't like then they will find them awful. It's a bit silly to complain that they use cheese wiz, since that's pretty much the definition of what makes a philly cheese steak a philly cheesesteak now (Cheese Wiz was not yet available when the sandwich was invented,) and the two best known places sell eight to ten times as many sandwiches with Cheese Wiz than they do American or Provlone, and Pats maintains a warehouse of 15,000 #10 cans of the stuff.

Sweet Willie

which is why to get the "true" cheesesteak experience one has to try w/whiz no? There are some products that are better regionally than others. For instance in the Chicago area, while most cheeseburgers/fries come with american cheese or the nuclear yellow nacho crap cheese sauce, some places serve a much superior cheese such as Merkt's cheddar. I held out an ever so slight hope that cheez whiz was somehow superior in the Philadelphia area w/the history of the fabled cheesesteak.
not from DiNic's, the roast pork/aged prov/rabe was from Tony Luke's.

Roast pork is not a Chicago sandwich, so almost no one serves it Philly style. There is actually a place in Chicago that I just went to a couple weekends ago and this place serves a roast pork sandwich Monti's www.ilovemontis.com but the sandwich does not come w/aged prov and the rabe is not really the florets and contained chunks of stems (2" long pieces), so I wasn't impressed with it for those two reasons even though the bun/pork were quite nice.

Italian Beef in Chicago is still the way to go IMO.

Ceres

Here is my recipe for South Florida style fish dip.

Smoked fish (not salmon) ie whitefish - Mahi - Kingfish- Amberjack-wahoo


2 blocks of softened cream cheese (equal the amount of fish by volume)
1/3 cup mayo
1/3 large Red onion
1/3 red pepper
1/3 green pepper
1/2 small shallot (optional)
1 Jalapeno
1 lime
1 head garlic (roasted)

Teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
3 drops liquid smoke flavoring (optional)

old bay seasoning
Garlic salt
Garlic powder
Salt
black pepper
coarse ground pepper
Cayenne pepper
paprika
provincial spices
Lawry’s seasoned pepper

Run fish through food processor until it almost becomes saw dust consistency Place in large mixing bowl.
Finely chop the three kinds of pepper and the onion. Fold into softened cream cheese and mayo and roasted garlic and juice of one fresh lime.

Fold in the fish and spices and Worchester sauce together. Season to taste and if necessary add some liquid smoke.

I am heavy handed with the spices.....
Serve over crackers and let the addiction begin

swag

Back in the good ol' days ('01) when Southwest offered double credits for online booking and had a $30-each-way sale to celebrate their 30th anniversary, I once flew to New Orleans for lunch.

I woke up, walked the dog, then headed to the airport. I had a great meal at the now closed Uglisich's, and was home in time to walk the dog that evening.

Captain Flush

A few years ago I was living in the DC area and had never been to New Orleans, but knew I had to get myself there considering the way some of my friends gushed about the food scene. In December I realized I needed a couple more flights to reach my desired status level for the upcoming year. Crunched the numbers and discovered that IAD-MSY-PHL-DCA would give me just enough miles, so I found some reasonably priced flights and went for a single night. Unfortunately, a delay on the way there made my dinner plans impossible, but I still managed plenty of beignets, brunch at Commander's Palace and a to-go order of jambalaya supreme from Coop's Place that brought stares of envy from the FAs on the MSY-PHL leg.

Still need to make it back, as that trip was just enough to whet my appetite.

IceTrojan

I will vouch for Philly Cheesesteak Shoppe's awesomeness. I will say though, I've had outstanding cheesesteaks in Philly, and they weren't at Pat's or Geno's (most local shops blow Pat/Geno out of the water).

slawecki

the big dinner run i recall(the run of the century), was when robushon decided to hang it up in paris and have a farewell dinner in paris. cost a lot for the time. included lots of nice wine the big J R cooking with everyone you could think of helping, and transport. from nyc, included a concorde ticket.

Flubber2012

Yeah, just as "hard core" anything will do X for their fix, foodies might go to Tokyo for a martini or Lima for a ceviche.

BuildingMyBento

Thanks Ceres. Though mayo...should've guessed! I don't have a problem with it on a blt, but when there's already cream cheese and all of the other flavors, is it really needed? Is it just too "loosen" things up?

Also, provincial spices as in Provence, or as in spices stereotypes in the Deep South would use?...