Hello out there in Blog Land!

Yes, I know it’s been a while since my last post. Summer time is always busiest at WXPR Public Radio. I was just wrapping up some final reports following our summer pledge drive last week when Jan, the “Polka Queen," approached me. She waved a stiletto-like finger at me, “write a new blog, or else." I felt gelded.

So, today’s blog is being written under duress. But the timing couldn’t be better since I’m about to leave on vacation. Most of you know I’m a foodie. A trip away to me becomes an adventure in tracking down the perfect gastronomical experience.

By the time most of you read this, I’ll be somewhere in New England. My wife and I plan on wandering up the coast until we arrive on the beaches of Southern Maine. This is where we spent the first seven years of our married lives back in the 80s. Foodies; this is the place to satisfy your seafood addiction.

Lobster is to Maine what cheese is to Wisconsin. And the restaurants along the beaches of Southern Maine are the home of the “live and kickin'” lobster shore lunch. Yes, my friends. I plan on sitting down at one of the “el fresco” picnic tables overlooking the coast at low tide, contemplating a spread of steamed lobster, steamers (wonderfully succulent clams), corn on the cob, a chunk of corn bread and bowls of drawn butter. Now that’s good eatin!

Last night, I called my old friend, Tom, who still lives in Maine. Tom’s a foodie too. When I explained my quest for the ultimate foodie experience he immediately suggested we take in lunch at the Wentworth by the Sea Hotel in New Castle, New Hampshire.

At the Wentworth, Tom explained, I will find the ultimate lobster roll. For the uninitiated, a lobster roll is basically a lobster meat sandwich. But at the Wentworth, the oven broiled bun is stuffed with something like two pounds of lobster glistening with, you got it, hot drawn butter.

For us, no trip to the New England coast is complete wi... [Read More]

When it comes to the eating experience, what kind of food are you?

• Are you a parsley sprig on watercress with a side of sprouts?
• Do you order your fish broiled when beer battered and deep fried is an option?
• Do you consider a rice cake a decadent treat?
• Yes to any of these? Skip today’s blog. Like a bratwurst smothered in sauerkraut, you’re not going to like it.

Today, my foodie friends, I’m inviting you to join me in reliving a recent gastronomical adventure where I feel I discovered the Foodie Holy Grail.

If you aren’t sure you’re a foodie, here’s a short quiz.

• Do you buy jeans with the “koosh” (lardass) more room in the butt?
• Have you ever ordered two entrées because you couldn’t make a decision?
• In your opinion, are the sweetest words ever spoken include: “lunch is served” and “all you can eat”?
• Yes to any of the above? You’re a foodie.

Recently, my wife and I, on a weekend getaway in Duluth, stumbled onto an event called Taste at Fitger’s. They just happened to be celebrating their 15th annual Taste of 2009 when we arrived.

Picture this: You’re inside a historic brewery-turned-Four Diamond Hotel overlooking Lake Superior. The hotel is connected to a maze of subterranean catacombs lined with boutique shops, restaurants and pubs. You can feel the history of beer surrounding you, and you know a lot of beer flowed past these brick walls at one time.

But tonight, history has been replaced with display tables and decorative booths as chefs and restaurant representatives from the Duluth area scramble to get their special treats ready. My unofficial count surpasses 50 tables. A $40 donation benefiting the local food bank earns us the privilege of sampling all of them.

After paying our donation, we receive a pass on a neck cord and a beer/wine glass for ample sampling. We pause in front of the first table, contemplating a fancy French pastry disp... [Read More]

Hi Friends!

I’ve been away for awhile conducting research for a new direction I plan on taking my blogs. I enjoy some of the finer things in life, especially when properly cooked and displayed on my plate. Today I offer you my first restaurant review. The research was extensive and it required me to pull the cloak off an urban myth.

One of my favorite movies is The man who shot Liberty Valance. I’ll try not to ruin the ending for those of you that haven’t seen it, but the movie's two stars, Jimmy Steward and John Wayne, find themselves caught in a plot where a legend is confronted by the facts. The movie’s grizzled old newspaper editor finally summarizes the situation with this profound statement: “when legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

That statement came back to haunt me following a recent trip to Green Bay. Every region has something it's famous for. Visit Kansas City and it has to be barbeque. The East Coast: something in a shell served with drawn butter. Texas: steak. I think you get my drift.

Well, for years, the Green Bay region has been famous for three things: Chicken Booyah, Friday Night Perch Fish Fry and a bowl of chili from the legendary Chili Johns.

“Booyah” was a word coined in Green Bay back around the early 1900s. It’s a variation of the word “bouillon” and refers to a thick chicken stew that was (still is) served in the back of community centers and church kitchens. Good homemade Booyah is thick and rich and gets even better when left in a pot on the back burner. I’ll save my Booyah review for another day.

Most of Wisconsin, not just the Green Bay region is known for its traditional Friday Night Fish Fry tradition. It was originally marketed for German Catholics who observed “meatless” Friday and made up the majority of the population. With prohibition, Friday Night Fish Fry offered the struggling taverns an opportunity to bring customers into their alcohol-less bar now turned into eateries. Ba... [Read More]

Hi all,

How do you like the weather? Someone told me once that hell freezes over at 500 degrees below zero; schools in Northern Wisconsin open on a 2-hour delay.

Well, there’s no question we’re back into regular winters again. Perfect. Along with the sucky economy, we just sit in front of the woodstove, bitch, drink cheap beer and dream about summer vacation.

Last week I received an email from Dave, one of my co-workers from the summer of ’79 when I lived and worked on Michigan’s Mackinac Island. He just got around to reading my blog from last July where I recounted my summer reunion at Fort Mackinac.

A star is born

Dave thanked me for recapturing our youth and stirring a lot of memories from the days when we were all young and skinny. He loved the stories from the summer we shared the Island with the cast of the movie Somewhere in Time. It was being filmed on “The Rock” that summer and it wasn’t uncommon to bump into its stars: the late Christopher Reeves, the still living Christopher Plummer and mega-babe, Jane Seymour. You may not believe this, but I too was counted among its stars, although my “extra” role most likely ended up on the cutting room floor.

There seems to be some regional affection for a place just a little quirky, a little behind the times and where horses have replaced the automobile. Whenever I blog about Mackinac Island, I get the most emails from readers eager for more. So I thought I’d give you folks pondering a trip to the rocky dot just off the coast of St. Ignace a few insider tips from someone who once lived there.

The fudgies

First of all, ALL visitors to Mackinac Island are called “fudgies.” It’s not really a term of endearment but accurately describes the island’s leading export and the people who shovel... [Read More]