Good Job!!

Well, here I sit at the NIH, while MFO is being screened for participating in a study of Essential Tremor, an affliction which has affected members of her family to varying degrees.  Anyway, I am waiting in the waiting room, so thought I might give a quick mention of our dining experience in St. Louis/Charles with FOJTE… (as requested by a loyal west coast reader)

We drove up from Cape where FOJTY lives and met FOJTE and his wife for dinner.  He had pre-selected Prasino,  a new place that occupies the location that was once the home of Noah’s Ark for you St. Louis old timers.  He and his wife have had several good experiences there so he was confident in taking Dad/BottomFeeder there.  Prasino is an upscale modern limited chain with three locations in Illinois and now recently expanded to St. Charles, MO.  Curiously, they offer all three meals, breakfast, lunch AND dinner.  The lunch menu is kind of a scaled down dinner one, but the breakfast offers eggs.  There are categories for small, big, green, rolls, flat breads, tacos and so on.  Sandwiches are listed under “hands on”. They bill themselves as “green” (in the environmental sense), and of course try to feature “local” “Our priority is serving hormone/anti-biotic free meats, sustainable seafood, organic produce and eggs. Every effort is made to buy locally whenever possible, but we have also sought out exceptional ingredients from around the country from like-minded vendors”. They have a large inside seating area, with a pleasant little lanai covered patio outside that is somewhat screened from the nearby interstate.  FOJTE had carefully secured a reservation for outside seating as the weather was conducive to al fresco dining.

So we arrived at the restaurant (all DFD’d of course) ready for a nice meal and catching up with the family.  FOJTE went to check us in, and it soon became apparent that all was not running smoothly.  He came back to report that although he was assured that reserved patio seating would be accommodated, that person was apparently misinformed that reservations were not accepted for outside seating.  Of course this was not received kindly by FOJ, and he can be rather forceful (using his “teacher” voice), and soon the floor manager and then the general manager joined in the conversation.  Profuse apologies were made as well as an offered round of drinks, and they would try to seat us as soon as possible, and we were ushered into a little outside seating area next to the tables, which was separated by a small bunch of planters (containing herbs).  We were begrudgingly settling in for the drinks when the management team appeared again, and said, “we’ve never tried this, but we have an idea!”.   They went back inside and soon reappeared with a couple of servers struggling with a large table.  "I think this will work", they said, and proceeded to set us a special table in that area that was apart from the regular outside diners and almost private.  More apologies were offered as well as the drinks, places were set, and menus brought.

They could have blow us off, but I thought that was a considerate way to handle an unfortunate situation.  I wish more restaurant people would realize they are there for us, not the other way around.  We left thinking we would return, rather than evil thoughts and nasty blog postings. “Service” is becoming a lost art (Are ya still werkin’ on that, guys?) and it was nice to see that some places still care about making a good experience for their guests.   Manager guy checked in unobtrusively a few times during our stay.  Nice touch.

Enough time as passed that I would not be able to recount the food ordered, however I DO remember that I had the braised short ribs (which are appearing on more and more menus) and they were very good.  St. Louis Pork Steak was also an option (not called Pork Butt).  However, I do recall that everybody else was happy with their meal, and portions were such that lunch the next day was secured.  I would recommend (along with FOJTE) that you consider it on your next visit to St. Charles.  There are lots of great food options in St. Louis, but St. Charles is a bit sparser in that department.  Be specific when you call for reservations.

The next day the weather remained temperate and beautiful so we joined the FOJ’s for lunch.  Local Missourians know there is a burgeoning wine area west of St. Louis, with vineyard springing up like mushrooms after a rain.  FOJ is up on that stuff so he took us to Chandler Hill Vineyards, about an hour’s drive from St. Charles.  The newer vineyards are build on the latter day Napa model, that is, a large edifice containing tasting, some dining, event rooms and so forth, plus outside seating.  This one is no different, and of course we made the first stop in the tasting room, again familiar to anybody who has been in Napa/Sonoma.

While they do bottle some wines under their own label, they offer others from all over (California, Oregon, Washington, and South America) which may be a bit different than your experience.  They will also sell any by the bottle.. Cash is king.  Space doesn’t permit going over their tasting scheme, but there are three categories offered: Missouri; West Coast (with a Chile thrown in for good measure); and Reserve ($36 up to 69/btl).  Tasting is kind of like ordering Chinese food, you have options for three of this, or two of that, or one of…. A bit daunting.  Anyway, we chose some of each and shared.  Missouri wines were, well, Missouri wines as you would expect, quite acceptable.  But there were some good others like the 2010 Diamond Mountain Reserve that had some teeth to them.  Regardless, it is always fun.

After that, we retired to the outside patio which overlooked the vines and a very pleasant view... It was also "market day" with local vendors of crafts and stuff...  "local"

On the veranda, food was available along with (duhh) bottles of wine which we availed ourselves of (bad English?)  It was awfully nice.

There was live music, and lots of people having fun.  Us included.

After that we retired to the hotel for a restorative nap and our final night in STL was spent in their home, breaking in the newly renovated (by sweat of FOJTE brow) outside patio and some lovely grilled salmon, along with some very nice wine. (at this point FOJTE is probable bemoaning his father’s failing memory).

Next morning, pack the MOMSTER, point north and head for MFO’s SIL in Wisconsin .  Oh, we stopped along the way at the Czech Slovac museum in Cedar Rapids Iowa.  MFO had some material on the people who settled here (St. Mary's County) long ago of that heritage and thought to offer it to them.  Another story for another day.

And, speaking of another day, tomorrow we gather ourselves and head for Normandy, France.  So who the hell knows when you will be assaulted with another Bottom Feeder.. who of course will be internationally

DFD

Post Script:  this was finished at home, as about the time I got rolling at the National Institute for Health, MFO was finished.  Final decision to come, but they don’t think her tremor is obvious enough to participate in their study  (good or bad news?).  By the way, those people were the most courteous and friendly folks we have run across in a medical institution.  Maybe another story for another day.  (Damn, there are so many “another days”)

Three kind of rants...

Okay, I've been proper lately, so allow me to go off track and rant a bit...

 

ONE

 

It is gratifying when sometime you get reinforced in your personal thoughts by an “authority” on a subject.  I am quite fond of Tom Sietsema and his restaurant reviews published weekly in the Washington Post magazine.  Sunday’s edition contained a review of “Etto”, to which he gave an unusual three stars.  It is a new venture but started by some very respected long time DC chefs.  But what I really liked was his introduction to the review where he was talking about new, aspiring chefs and “stardom”.  “I don’t begrudge anyone wanting to be a success; what bothers me is that celebrity has become the end goal, the brass ring.  What happened to putting out consistently great food and making patrons happy?  When did that become secondary to fame for celebrity’s sake?”

Right on.. I couldn’t agree more.  All those idiot TV shows that use cooking as a thinly veiled grab at ratings and are now just another “reality” show, like Big Brother, Survivors, and the ilk.  Close ups of pained faces upon learning that that have not “won”.  Good grief.  Like pizza and Chinese food, there seems to be a insatiable public appetite for this drivel.  The more popular food magazines like Food and Wine and Bon Appetit contain multiple page ads for events in someplace like Aspen, featuring pretty much the same lineup of “chefs” like Mario and his buddies.  When do these people have time for sautéing something?  I have never been and never will attend, but I can only imagine how superficial and silly those things are.  And, for the record, I am still personally wounded after seeing Thomas Keller in an Avis ad.

TWO 

 

And while I’m at it, I have a confession to make.  In an effort to try to stay at least even (a battle I’m losing) with social media, I have signed up and now have a Twitter account.  Like facebook, I try to use it to find out what’s going on, so to speak.  These days most newsworthy stuff in the food and sports world find their way to the public through those outlets. So, in order to hear stuff you kind of need to scan them once in a while. I don’t much participate except when on travel and internet when time is valuable and hard to come by, and then as you know I sometimes resort to facebook to share (not in their sense) pictures and stuff.  Mostly I lurk.  I am still not sure how to post on Twitter.

Anyway, both of those media things bring me to another thought.  Somehow, a lot of people seem to think they can divorce themselves between their “real life” and their social media life.  Don’t they realize you can’t separate the two?  You are the sum of what you are. Yes, you may hold a responsible job or own a business, but some don’t seem to think that what goes on facebook will reflect on their “other” life.  A case in point that got me going the other day was that Jason Dufner who won the PGA golf tournament, personally published on Twitter a photo of himself congratulating his wife by patting her on the…. ummm, aahhh, “back”, along with a comment I won’t pass along here.  I always thought of him in another light.  Not now.  I know there are public and private personas, I just don’t care to see behind the curtain sometimes.  Cheapens them.

THREE

 

And lastly another sports related rant.  And in reality, it is kind of like my occasional rants on Notre Dame (Hi, Domer!) it is in reality the media hype of the subject that I don't like more than the object.  Notre Dame is really a good school, it’s just the mystique that bugs me.  And Tiger Woods is somewhat in that category, although his reality is still a bit tarnished.  But the “media” apparently think that’s all the public cares about.  Last weekend was the first of the television contrived “Playoffs” for the FEDEX cup, a lame effort by networks to feed the public’s perceived notion that there has to be a “best” or one winner. I’ve dealt with that crap before.  Anyway, a radio spot (like sportscenter) was relating scores, and they concluded with “and in golf, Tiger Woods is four off the pace in the Barclay’s playoff”.  Like the only thing anybody cares about is what the heck T is doing.  Not who’s first, but where’s Tiger.  Sigh...

 

Okay, enough.

 

DFD

 

 

Not much on a Saturday

Well, here we are on another weekend.  As it turns out, this will be our last here in the digs for a couple of weeks, as we are about to embark on yet another foreign travel experience.  You may recall that this one is with a group of folks led by the intrepid Loic, chef cum tour guide to revisit Normandy, his native region of France. I believe food will come into play.  Ha ha.  The regional drink is Calvados and Cider however, but maybe a stray bottle of vin will appear.

 

On a much, much, lower level, I got a surprise the other day.   Long time readers will remember that there used to be a McDonalds at Millstone (home of demon infested stop lights) and Three Notch Road.  It was closed a couple of years (?) ago in favor of their newer building up the road a piece.  You also may remember that there was the usual “coming soon” sign erected, informing us that a Golden Corral would “soon” be occupying the space.  Well, not so fast.  That sign eventually morphed into “opening summer of 2013” and in fact, some modifications to the interior of the building were done on a sporadic basis.  Well, the other day as I was passing by the site, I saw this:

And in the space of a couple of days, McDonalds/Golden Corral is now

 

With kind of the (now) oxymoronic sign still reminding us of the management opportunity. 

Probably not hard to manage a flat piece of dirt!

Fries to Ashes, Steak to Dust, I guess.  As I recall the “coming soon” shopping center north of 235/4 included plans for a Corral of Gold, so maybe they thought they would cut their losses.  Be interesting to see what might arise from the ashes here.  Please dear Lord, no more Pizza or Chinese food!!

Speaking of food we stopped by our local Farmer’s Market down by Hermanville road, and were pleased to see that it was pretty well filled with customers and vendors.  We got some pork chops from WAG meats, cheese from Keyes Dairy, and finally found some sweet corn from Russell Farms (seemed to be the only seller of corn today).  And somehow I never tire of admiring the produce..

 

So as we gradually open suitcases, create lists, and start make piles we will take time tonight to enjoy a nice dinner preceded by of course cocktails, and since it is such a nice day probably on the porch, and perhaps a Clayborn Martini.... and since it is just us, we just may crowd the boundaries of

 

DFD 

 

To Market, to market...

So after a 600 mile, ten hour day, we have arrived back at the digs completing this year’s ten day “Midwest Circle Tour”, a journey of about 2800 miles. And somewhat reflective of George Ade's comment who allowed as how “The time to enjoy a European trip is about three weeks after unpacking”, we do find that memories pop up and you realize what a good time you had despite the daily rigors of the road and so on..  Our trip was sort of divided into three phases, Cape Girardeau (FOJTY); Saint Louis (FOJTE); and La Crosse (MFOS). Each place has its own attraction, and still not sure we’ll do a three part recap, but we’ll at least start in Cape.

Cape Girardeau is an old river town on the Mississippi and now is home to Southeast Missouri State University (affectionately known as SEMO).  Both FOJTY and his wife graduated from there in Criminal Justice and Nursing (apologies if this isn’t the exactly correct term) and have bought a house for themselves and our granddogs Stanley and his older brother Jeter.  I think you met Stanly already.

Anyway, on our first night there, FOJTY grilled steaks for us on his Big Green Egg.  As an aside he has become a pretty respectable cook, specializing in BBQ of all sorts.  Recently he has become interested in baking (why, I can’t tell you) and makes breads and pies and such.  Was a very nice dinner accompanied by a bottle of imported (all the way from Maryland) Barbera from Slack Winery.  The Big Green Egg is a fascinating cooking device, full of vents, little doors, and things to regulate the interior temperature, much more sophisticated than my common Weber.  FOJTY swears by it however.

Anyway, it is always enjoyable to visit them, not only for the family aspects, but Cape and the surrounding area is very rural (remember the confederate flag?) full of farms and rolling hills.  On Saturday we visited..

 

 
 

 

 

Which has become very popular with their community due in part to the efforts of Ross Peterson, here shown in the stall of his Laughing Stalk Farmstead.

Besides the opportunity to buy locally grown products it is also the place to be on a Saturday morning, both for the people

And of course many bring their dogs, so Stanley got to meet some of the local residents

And then there’s the food.  I never cease to be amazed at how beautiful the fresh produce can be.  Mom nature does a good job – just a sampling of her palette (for our palate)

And speaking of food, there is one regular vendor that is immensely popular

A Mennonite couple appear with their trailer every week and sells one of America’s favorite foods:

You might notice besides the donuts there is goat cheese!  What a pairing.  FOJTY says they are the best donuts he’s ever had.   And I need not remind you that (it is popularly believed) a police officer should be a connoisseur of that particular delicacy. So, while he was off with Stanley talking to friends I decided to treat everybody to some and unwittingly ordered a half dozen (seems reasonable for four people).  Well take a look over the shoulder of the cook and you can see the size of them (unnoticed when I was ordering). 

They are about seven inches in diameter, and probably contain about one hundred and fifty percent of your daily recommended amount of sugar.  But, boy are they good.  It was really a treat to see the local community support the farms of the area, and everybody was so friendly.  Small communities do have their benefits.  By the way, we got some of the smoked cheese and it was very good.  Still is..

That afternoon we had to go “up the road” to the next stop, St. Louis, FOJTE, and the benefits of the “big city”.  Well, at least the “Biggest Little City in the Midwest”.  And while Stanley was sad to see his new grandparents go, I don’t think it lasted long, as with our vacating the guest bathroom he was able to finally return to his favorite resting spot on the cool tile....

So off we went, and since we had a dinner engagement (which turned out to be a doozy) we left the proper garb on top of the valises so we could be

DFD

 

Rapid Road Report

Hello there… remember me?  Have been giving the FaceBook cognoscenti a quick update here and there, but have not had time to get into the blogosphere for the rest of you….  And, I only have a few minutes here as I need to DFD for our final supper in Wisconsin before pointing the MOMSTER back toward Maryland tomorrow.

I believe we left you with a wonderful meal in Lexington Kentucky and the journey to FOJTY’s digs in Cape Girardeau.  The reason for little time behind the keyboard is (and these will be future editions of the feeder in varying amounts of detail:

Lovely steak dinner prepared by FOJTY and his green egg

Meeting our Grand Dog Stanley

A very nice outing at the Farmer’s Market in Cape

A meeting with our Grandson at Mr. Wizards Custer stand in Richmond Heights, MO

A VERY interesting dinner with the FOJTE’s at Prasino in St. Charles (wait till you hear this!)

A lovely visit to Chandler Hill Vineyard near Augusta (including lunch and … wine, and …. Wine)

A charming picnic supper on the recently renovated Patio of FOJTE

A visit to the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, IA (where in MFO excited the head librarian with items from the SMC Historical Society that she can transfer)

Driving the back roads of northern Iowa and Southwestern Wisconsin to La Crosse/Onalaska

Helping MFO’s Sister with developing her future home “in the Country” in rural Wisconsin

A restful cocktail/appetizer session at Waterfront in La Crosse

More work with MFOS

Preparing to have a nice dinner tonight

Other than that, not much to do.  Oh, I will do a quick Foodie bit.  Today among our errands we decided to get lunch from Culver’s a local (now rapidly spreading) traditional hamburger place, home of the Butter Burger.  Yes, a chain, but where else can you order Cheese Curds?  One small note, this is what you are confronted with when you walk in the door

 and are almost immediately greeted with: “Welcome to Culver’s what would you like?”.  They are so efficient that lines are non-existent and "you’re up".  I suppose that regulars might be ready but can you decipher the phenomenal blast of information? Plus, they don’t have a meal number system so you can bail and say….. Uh, number three.   So after conspicuously standing in the back ground you finally step up to order your Butter Burger.  “would you like that in a value basket?”  Uh, I guess so.  Whew.   Nope… what side would you like with that?  (choice of about 6) or maybe from the premium sides (where you get the cheese curds).   Completely humbled at this point, if you’re not taking away they give you a little plastic tent with a number and you go sit down.

On the plus side, the food is brought to your table by very pleasant servers, shirts are tucked in, they don’t shamble, they give you eye contact and ask if there is anything else they can give you.  The place is spotlessly clean, the food is hot and kicks Mickey Dee’s behind in quality. 

And finally although I sometimes rail at the Face Book posters with their incessant postings of puppies and kitties, I can’t help but present (ta daaaa) our Grand Dog

Stanley!

He is a Wire Haired, Pointing Griffon lest you doubt his lineage…  Okay,  time to

DFD

Over the road

As the social media mavens know (by route of FaceBook), we have embarked on another journey, shoehorning a trip between France I and II, to Missouri and Wisconsin to see the FOJ’s and SIL respectively.  So last Wednesday,  we loaded up MFO’s vehicle (AKA the MOMSTER) and headed out for our usual route over the Nice bridge

 

 

And through Virginia, West (by God) Virginia, into Kentucky and our usual spot to RON welcomed by the equine community

And as usual, being creatures of habit (as well as discerning taste) we were able to dine at one of our favorite restaurants, Jonathan at Gratz Park, a restaurant inside a little boutique hotel in downtown Lexington

I’m sure we’ve at least talked about this place before, but this time I took the little ELPH and with the aid of a Beefeater Martini (eschewing the DMOTRWAT), I overcame my inclination not to take pictures and got a few to share with you.

Due to a large contingent of attorneys gathering for some function, we were seated in the bar instead of the dining room.  And you know what?  Having been in each, I think I actually prefer the bar (which might say something about the Feeder).  It is exactly the kind of bar that I wish were available at home..  cozy, all dark wood, quiet (at least this time), white tablecloths, crystal and silver

Another thing that draws us to this restaurant is that Chef Jonathan (Lundy) has long espoused “buy local” before it became all the rage.  Born and bred in Kentucky (“a Kentucky native who grew up in Midway on Lundy Farm, chef Jonathan Lundy is a culinary ambassador for the Bluegrass”).  His menu has always reflected what we would now call “locally sourced” ingredients and his dishes give a nod to Southern foodways.  For instance here’s a portion of the starter menu:

A virtual listing of classic Southern cuisine which carries throughout the rest of the menu.  There is a fried green tomato salad, bourbon and coke braised short ribs, shrimp and grits. We decided on the pork belly (reluctantly nosing out the Grit Fries) and pot sticker appetizer (MFO) starters and (fresh) peach glazed pork chop and for some odd reason I took a special veal scaloppini dish, which, okay is maybe not so traditional, but called me somehow.  The appetizers were beautiful as well as a treat for the palate

(Pork Belly)

 

 

(Pot Stickers)

An interesting note about my pork belly (no cute comments please):  Notice on the menu it says "Ale 8 One Braised …."?  Well I thought that meant some craft brew which would have been appropriate maybe, so I checked it out on the web.  Guess what?  Turns out it is NOT a beer but a soft drink with deep roots in Kentucky.   I’ll include the link for you to read more about it, but if you don’t want to take the time, the name means “A Late One” (Ale 8 one, get it?)…  nice job Jonathan! It did provide an interesting sauce for the Bellies

At this point it was suggested that I put my camera “someplace” and we enjoyed the rest of the dinner with no more documentation other that in the memory.  A glass of Fieldstone Merlot helped the scaloppini (which were light and tasty).  Can’t say enough about the place (although maybe I did in your view)!  If you’re EVER in Lexington, you gotta go.

We awoke the next morning, and cut southwest along the innumerable “parkways” that Kentucky seems enamored with, which although kind of pretty are monumentally boring.  I’m sorry. Although there are occasional reminders of the culture

Eventually we got to the “big muddy” around Cairo, crossing the river

With an interesting old bridge that provided kind of a nice image

Although we had intended to go "South" instead of our normal route up through Cairo, due to some bridge construction we were driven to go into Cairo to turn around and were reminded of the ghosts of an old river town

But eventually we had the traditional welcome to the "show me" state:

And had an uneventful drive to Cape Girardeau where we are currently staying with FOJTY.  Tomorrow up the road to STL to see the other grandparents, our grandson, and FOJTE!!  Once more

DFD

Letting Go....

I guess it’s time to turn around and look forward instead of backward, although I am still warmed by the memories of the France experience.. funny how that lasts

And moving forward we are, as we are leaving on Road Trip Wednesday to go see the FOJ’s in Missouri and the usual “side trip” to Wisconsin.  A little twist is that we are going to stop at a museum in Cedar Rapids so MFO can offer some stuff from her SMC Historical Society Archives to them.

Things are moving fast, making it hard to keep up with local food stuff around here.. Two more places have “opened”; the Mission BBQ folk in San Souci, and the Ruddy Duck (Seafood and) Ale House in the “old Evans”.   Reports are that both are being swamped with customers.  Even though Mission is kind of a chain they are both independents.  The Feeder has not visited either yet, and probably won’t before the road trip.

We have had a few local food experiences since our return, however.  We had dinner with friends at DiGiovanni’s which I guess is under the new original owners.  It was okay, took a while for the food to appear even though the place was not full, and somehow most of the waitstaff looked like they would rather have been someplace else.  The word “guys” was used effusively.  I forget what I had, which probably says something.

On a better note, we had brunch at Bistro Belle Maison (Solomons) yesterday.  A friend joined us for what we had hoped to be a quiet interlude, with good conversation and nice food.  Brunch kind of lends itself to a leisurely time on Sunday to recharge yourself before getting back to whatever grind Monday brings you.  I am pleased to report that they do NOT have a buffet which is quite common for Sunday brunches, but instead offer a menu with several choices.  A lot of them included fresh peaches, as usual paying attention what is currently fresh and local.  Yesterday we enjoyed an omelet of artichokes and fresh vegetables, a beef tenderloin crepe with gruyere, and a flatbread (caramelized onion, sliced duck, topped with greens and crumbled cheese).  They also have a brunch drink menu offering Bloody Mary’s with your choice of premium vodkas, garnishes (celery, olives, Giardiniera, etc.) and even Bacon!  Also a choice of Margaritas like pomegranate or cucumber.  I asked our server if their Bloody Mary mix was hot, and was told “no, it’s very mild, not hot at all”.  So I ordered up one with celery and sea salt on the rim (another list of choices).   Well, when it arrived I decided that the server’s definition of “mild” was not the same as mine.  It burned on the way down.  After a few sips I diluted it with (the cucumber infused) water and it was much more suitable for my palate.  As has been our experience there, the food was outstanding.  A nice surprise was that the “Duck Fat Frites” that accompanied my crepe were about matchstick size, and a gave a very nice crunchy touch (except for the one that leapt off the plate onto my slacks leaving an instant grease stain… sigh).

There was live music was a singer with an amplified guitar.  Yes, we are too old, but as Tom Sietsema would say: “must speak with loud voices to be heard”.  It didn’t seem to bother the other tables so it may be a generational thing..  I will pay more attention next time to avoid the musical accompaniment unless it is a classical guitarist or something..  The food will bring you back regardless.

And lastly, another opening…  the little “Day’s Off” deli that occupies a space behind the Twist liquor store at the corner of the demon infested lights, finally has opened.  Seems like it has been forever in the process.  Anyway, MFO and I stopped in to check it out the other night and get a take away sandwich.  We were hopeful that it is a cut above the recently opened “Jerry’s”or the recently relocated Subway.  They feature the same kind of stuff (sans the oriental fried rice, etc, and pizza at Jerry's) but the usual array of hot and cold sandwiches, wraps, salads, cheese steaks, a plethora of “apps” in the form of nuggets, sliders, poppers, etc..  MFO selected a chicken Quesadilla, and I ordered a Reuben.  They also had a case of fresh fish, some meats and poultry, I am not sure what those are.  Perhaps the stock for the catering arm of the business?.. will have to investigate that further.  Except for the line cooks in the open kitchen, the staff seemed to be of high school age and were acting accordingly (at the time there was only one table occupied besides us).  My Reuben was served on rye bread, that was like you would get if you bought a loaf of common rye bread in the supermarket.  Same texture as ordinary white bread, only “brown”.   Lunch meat corned beef, and by the time we got home the sauerkraut juice had rendered the lower bread slice unusable..  when I asked MFO how her quesadilla was she replied “it has chicken”.   Since I would hope they are still a better alternative to other purveyors of that kind of stuff (plus they are very convenient to the digs) we’ll do another visit..

 

Sorry I am not talking about foie gras, hommard, or veau, but that’s the way it is.. and yet, yet, we still must be

DFD