Dining runs
 

As a part time food and travel writer, I'd love to hear some of your craziest stories of runs for the simple pleasure of dining in a particular restaurant (or place). How many of you have flown to Tokyo for a cocktail or Lima for a ceviche? Combined with a mileage run is ok as well, but I'd love to hear about the hardcore foodies here ....

i cannot imagine a "hard core foodie" going to tokyo for a cocktail or lima for a ceviche. do foodies drink martinis?

i have gone to lyon for a restaurant run(foie gras and oysters), paris for lievere royale (2 or 3 times), and london for a Bangladesh run.

Not part of a MR, but few years ago I drove from DC to Toronto for 9 hours, in Toronto I had pierogies in Polish restaurant and then drove back home to DC.

My first MR to Japan from DC with 1.5 day in Tokyo. For breakfast I had Starbucks, for lunch Subway, for dinner French food from Café CROISSANT :)
Next day for breakfast I had McDonalds and for lunch Burger King.
Only when I came back home I realized that I didn't even try any of the Japanese food. On my next MR to Japan I had nothing but Japanese food :)

Not quite the same as a dining run, but if I have a long enough layover in some cities, I'll go deal with traffic (vehicular and human) just to get a bite at a place I like.

HK for example makes this very tough. The food court at the shopping center at Tung Chung is IMO a food hell. Cantonese, Chaozhou and Taiwanese food (and terrible attempts at Japanese) have led me to board a bus to get South Asian grub in TST. Granted, that mall has a supermarket in the basement, but it all depends on how much time I have.

This has to take the :-: "worst title of the year" award :-:

Dining runs sounds like something that happens when the chef had norovirus, or the chicken had salmonella.

I have certain "must eats" in different places when I travel, but I've never gone someplace "just to eat" ... well, with the exception of a couple of Wine Dos in NYC ;)

I was needing a few miles once, or there was a promo or something, so a flew from somewhere in the New York area to Atlanta simply to try the hot dogs at Varsity. Did the CNN tour, and then headed back for the return flight.

Loved the hot dogs by the way.

Flew to Philadelphia for the purpose of trying the famed Philly Cheesesteaks, whoa what a mistake that was, friggin' cheez whiz. The roast pork was great.
They still don't hold a candle to Chicago's Italian beef sandwiches but of course this Chicago based/grown guy might be biased a bit there.:)

I'd have to say Singapore is my food runs back in the day when one could get cheap fares from ORD. While sure I was able to get a great return on the miles I would earn, my sole focus when going would be to just eat my way through the endless options in Singapore, what a great food town.

For those that went with me to the Seoul Do, a few years ago, there was no doubt that the trip had a certain food focus to it.:D

Roast pork at DiNic's? The one with provolone and rabe? One of my favorites. How is it in Chicago though?

XXX-ATL-MAN - OK to go home but also to have Lamb, Lamb and Lamb as a change from the beef.

Went to ANC for King Crab also -but for other reasons too.

Have done multiple LAX-HNL runs for garlic shrimp. Morning flight out, return on redeye.

SIN runs for Sri Lankan crab.

As I am quite the gourmand I once went to LAX for an afternoon to grab in n out. It was mainly because I forgot I had an expiring frequent flier ticket, but the lunch and 4 double doubles I was able to bring home were worth it!

Back living in KC now but when I was not, I have done an MCI run for BBQ.

End of last year I did a dining run to Stockholm in order to reach PM.

Here's my blog post on that trip.

http://blog.travelchannel.com/the-tr...er-am-i-crazy/

So basically you went to Stockholm and the Raw Pig was one of the dining highlights - awesome. :cool:

You reminded me Gralistair, of my run earlier this year just to get some KC BBQ! I was coming from Tokyo and going to Ankara, so...I've got nothing.
Except that Arthur Bryant's was the one worth going back to, Gates was terrible, and Jack Stack was ok.

Embarrassing that I forgot, since it was a long time in the making.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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. @:-)

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.

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.

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

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.

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. :cool:

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

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).

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.

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.

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?...

South Florida is anything but the deep south :)

Yes as in Provence. The original recipe calls for a lot more mayo, and I cut it down as it is only lube pretty much. You can split it with sour cream, and mayo just a little oil I would think. Also I forgot sea salt .... and if I have time ill roast off the peppers first, but I'm OCD!

not for the express purpose of going there, but more than once I have routed U.S. to Asia tickets through HKG in order to go to this hole in the wall lunch place I like. I just book a layover long enough to go into town, grab lunch and then continue to my destination.

Lame as far as distance goes, but he have gone to Philly just to add to Marriott megabonus and eat at Moriomoto's.

Bern's Run! Back in 2000, a bunch of FT'ers flew to TPA solely for the purpose of eating steak at Bern's. I flew down from DCA in the afternoon, ate a beautiful dinner and flew back the next morning.

^

I flew to Chicago to have an italian beef sandwich... and to deliver a cell phone to my son who had just graduated from bootcamp. I was on the ground in Chicago for maybe 5 hours.

If it weren't for the fact that I was craving italian beef, I would have just mailed him the phone.

Could I suggest "Longest Restaurant Trots" as an alternative title? ;)

Some of the posts are fascinating. We've never done any more than drive one or two hundred miles for a meal or some special food. When we're considering a destination, food and dining always are part of the conversation though. :)

Trust Sweet Willie - he's right
 

Guess I am the food junkie - have done short (sometimes just day or overnight) trips to/for

1. Chicago - Italian Beef (Al's), Greektown - many times
2. Milwaukee - Cheese curds, Pabst, and smoked chub
3. Austin - what else, and of course, the only Salt Lick I like (Driftwood)
4. Sacremento - Squeeze Inn (blame Guy and Diners/Driveins/Dives)
5. Memphis - BBQ (I like Interstate better than Redezvous)
6. Kansas City - BBQ (lamb ribs, but I don't remember where)
7. Phoenix - One of the few Roy's we hadn't tried yet - on July 3rd no less. Convinced the manager to buy us a round of drinks for having traveled further for dinner than anyone else that night. Watched the fireworks over New Orleans on the way home the next day.

There's others (lots of weekend trips, but not primarily for the food). But why leave home when you have stone crabs here, and I have become a Truluck's AYCE convert.

I'm guessing the same place I've had them, Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbeque.

BTW, next time you are in Chicago, a BBQ place called Barn & Co does very tasty lamb ribs every other Thursday night www.barnandcompany.com I'm trying to get a Flyertalk dinner Do in the near future here.

open invite to anyone who has time at ORD, give me a PM, if I've got time, you'll get a ride to one of the best Italian beef places to try one.

haha, thanks