Regular Guy Grub

Hey folks, Buddy Hurlock here. I'm off this week.

But I still have some more observations to pass along about how the fast food industry is dealing with the economy. A recent story at pizzamarketplace.com goes over how the prices of cheese, flour and pepperoni remain high.

The direct link is http://www.pizzamarketplace.com/article.php?id=12561&na=1

Also, for you McDonald's fans, don't panic if you can't find the double cheeseburger on their Dollar Menu. Because of costs, their double cheeseburger will now cost $1.19 (prices may vary!)

However, making its debut is the McDouble Burger, which for $1, gets you a double burger with one slice of cheese. No big deal to me, as I usually get chicken (and fries) there.

But just wanted to report the change.

Catching up......

Hey everyone. Talorico here.

I'm back after a little more than 2 weeks of some unexpected time away from the office.

The photo to the right, the view from my favorite villa in Tuscany, is where I WISH I spent my time off. Next year....(I heard the olive harvest this year was wonderful. Can't wait to get my shipment of Italian extra virgin olive oil this month made from olives hand-picked from the groves tended by my friends Janet and Stefano.)

I need to play catch up today and will be back to regular posting very soon.

Look for Buddy's Regular Guy Grub post tomorrow.

Thanks for being patient and please keep checking back.

Reader mail: UPDATE

Happy (early) Turkey Day.

My R&R is continuing - though I'm about to make pies, cranberry-apple chutney and do some other Thanksgiving-y cooking tasks - so I'm giving you Reader Mail two days earlier.

I'm just bought a case of white Meritage made by Murietta's Well Winery in California. It's a Bordeaux- style blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. I first tried the crispy, yet creamy wine that has a hint of spice at Harry's Seafood Grill and it went perfectly with a pumpkin gnocchi. (Thanks for the recommendation Anne Hood!) I got the good folks at Kreston Wine & Spirits to order it for me. I can't wait to serve it tomorrow and see what the gang thinks.

I'm taking a few more days off so probably no new posts until Monday. But, this Friday, my Taste column in 55 Hours is about the new Orillas Tapas Bar & Restaurant. I'll add a link as soon as the column goes online. UPDATE: HERE'S THE LINK.

Send your reader mail questions to me at ptalorico@delawareonline.com. You ask. We answer. Every Friday. (Or earlier due to a holiday.)

Here's the mailbag:

QUESTION: Hello Patricia,

After seeing you mention the new tapas restaurant on Market Street, we decided to
give it a try.

The food was OK Not great. One standout was the Arepas a la Orillas -- corn meal
lollipops with chorizo and manchego. They served a really good lemony aoli with the
olives we ordered. We ordered a couple of cocas -- topped flat breads that our
server referred to as pizza. They would have been better if the toppings were
served in a bowl with flatbreads on the side.

Our server was less than hospitable and took sarcasm a bit too far. When asked for
recommendations without bell peppers by one of our party who is allergic, he made a
recommendation that was served with peppers. When we pointed this out to him, his
answer was that he didn't actually tell the chef no peppers or anything. As if that
were a strange thought.

Another observation -- the tables are WAY too small for tapas. We were crowded and
had to juggle plates and ditch the candle.

So...that's my take. May have been an off night for them. Our wine selections were
squashed twice because the previous night had been busy and they were wiped out.
The room itself is really beautiful and warm. I wish them well -- it usually takes
awhile to get the kinks out. I look forward to hearing your thoughts once you've
had a chance to visit.

T. Miller

ANSWER: Hi T. Thanks for your take on the restaurant. Orillas is the topic of my column on Friday. It's only been open, maybe, 2 weeks?, which is used to be much too earlier for a review to appear, but in this day and age of instant news, I decided to give readers the scoop early. Don't want to give away too much until the review goes online. I'll post a link when it does.

UPDATE: Washington, D.C., chef Jose Andres has been wowing crowds at his tapas temple Jaleo for at least 15 years and Philadelphia chef Jose Garces's three tapas-style eateries (Amada, Tinto, Distrito) are insanely popular in that city. Delaware actually has had a popular Spanish tapas restaurant before - anyone remember Annie's Tapas on Union Street inWilmington? Now, we have Cafe Azafran in Lewes, Ole Tapas Lounge near Newark and the new Orillas. There were a few missteps and wobbles, but I think it will only get better with experience. HERE'S THE LINK.

QUESTION: Please go to Riviera pizza in Fox Run Shopping Center off of Route 40.
The pizza there is damn delicious.

ANSWER: Since I'm doing a lot of cooking tonight, I'm tempted to go out and pick up a pizza. But instead, I think I'm going to pass along the suggestion to my favorite pizza man, Buddy Hurlock, our Regular Guy Grub writer.

So not the pits

Had lunch today at the Charcoal Pit. The real one.

Anyone who's lived in Delaware for any length of time knows that, of course, I'm talking about the Concord Pike location.

The Pit no longer offers Delaware best burgers - I think I've got to give that crown now to Five Guys - but I must say I so enjoyed lunching there. (I got the 4-oz. "Pit Special" - basically a burger and fries. It was only $4.99. Washed it down with a root beer, $1.99. It was a juicy and very satisfying burger.)

What I love about the Concord Pike Pit- the only one I visit - is that it hasn't changed much at all. Cheeburger Cheeburger was pretty lame because it tried to look like a 1950s style burger joint.

There's no trying at the Pit.

I love the tired, worn leather booths, the old jukeboxes, the ketchup/relish served in the little paper cups nestled next to the burgers, the black and white photos on the wall. I even like that silly chain they put up near the front door so people don't go charging into the dining room.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I'm guessing that you'll see a lot of visiting nostalgia seekers in the Pit throughout the weekend.(The Pit's closed Thanksgiving Day.) I overheard the guy at the booth next to me saying he hadn't been there in years but used to love to come during his high school and UD days.

I nodded as I chewed (and wished I had ordered a milkshake.) Next visit.

What's next?

With more and more meals being made in the home, the economy has hurt restaurants, but has yet to shut down the industry completely. In fact, AOL has come up with a list of what could be the "next big chain" of restaurants.

The full list can be found at http://smallbusiness.aol.com/features/next-big-chain, and Five Guys (which started in Washington, D.C.) made the list, as did Surf Taco (from the Jersey shore). Here's a sampling of what else AOL found, with some brief comments by myself. How would any of these do in Delaware?

Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza. Based in south Florida. Besides the real big guys, pizza chains are hard to find in this area. San Francisco Oven did not last long, appearing briefly in one of the shopping centers along Route 40 (all of those centers have blended together to me). Not sure how Anthony's would play in Delaware, as coal fired pizza is not that novel.

Brother Jimmy's BBQ. Based in New York City. The popularity of BBQ places is on the rise. Delaware might not be the next best step after Manhattan, but I can see a Brother Jimmy's popping up here in the near future.

Chop't Salad. Based in New York City and Washington, D.C. Uh, a salad place? Next.

Firehouse Subs. Almost 350 locations nationwide, the closest in Virginia. Hey, if Subway can do it, so can someone else. But with Wawa so popular, plus Delaware's own sandwich shop chains, Firehouse would be a tough sell here.

Hot Head Burritos. Based in Ohio. An alternative to Taco Bell? I don't eat Mexican anyway, so don't ask me.

HuHot Mongolian Grill. Based in the Midwest. Uh, I don't remember a Mongolia at Epcot. But anyway, no, I've never had Mongolian food, and big leap of faith here, I'm guessing I don't like it.

Max Brenner: Chocolate By The Bald Man. I had to include this one. There are two New York City locations plus others worldwide. They have chocolate pizza. That's either the best idea I've ever heard or the worst.

Season's 52. Seven locations in Georgia and Florida. A "casually sophisticated grill and wine bar," which seems to be a nice way of saying "just like Ruby's and Friday's."

Uncle Franky's. Three locations in Minneapolis. Hot dogs and burgers, along with 1970s music and cartoons for kids. Sounds the Ghost of Shakey's and Ground Round Past. Also sounds like a winner. Get someone out to Minneapolis now and let them know about Delaware.

The Costco crazies

I don't shop often in Costco. Why? I tend to go a little nuts once I'm there.

I'm not quite sure what happens to me. Suddenly, I become a person who can't live without a 25-pound bag of flour. No lie. I bought 25-pounds (!) of flour. It was $6.99, and, really, who can resist that bargain? I also bought 4 pounds of butter and a ginormous bag of walnuts. Oh, and don't forget the big container of vanilla extract.

Some shopping fiend possessed my body. I didn't recognize the person who was happily pushing the cart through the Costco aisles and tossing in giant containers of mustard, a six-pack of anchovies packed in olive oil and two cans of Cento plum tomatoes that were bigger than 6-month-old babies. (Grandmom Talorico's ragu will be making an appearance in my kitchen real soon.)

So what am I going to do with all that flour? Looks like everyone I know this Christmas is getting cookies or some kind of baked good. This morning, I already made banana-nut muffins and peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies. I'm gearing up now to make dough for Thanksgiving pies.

Is there a 12-step program for a Costco addiction?

Reader mail: UPDATE

Happy, snowy Friday. I'm technically "off" for some R&R through next Friday, so just a very short Reader Mail post today.

First some food news:

Did you see The New Yorker article about Dogfish Head in the annual Food Issue?

My fellow critic Eric Ruth gives a fork up to Tagami (formerly Utage) in Independence Mall off U.S. 202.

UPDATE: The former Utage owners are now hosting dinners at the Hockessin Athletic Club. Here's a link to a story that appeared Wednesday. (See second item.)

Now onto to the mailbag:

QUESTION: Dear Pat,

When Sweet Basil first opened you did a great article about them.
They have a lot of new dishes, new holiday specials, and the best Thai food in the
Brandywine Valley.

I have been going there since they first opened and every meal is
a delight. Have had birthdays, holiday gatherings, business lunches/dinners.....and
as a BYOB, you can't beat it in today's economy. The owners, Paul & Griselda
Lauprasert work so hard to please their customers.

They just sent out a new mailing of specials.

Thanks for all you do for our community - I love your column.

Best regards,

Carol

ANSWER: Thanks for the kind words Carol. I've "Thai'ed" one on several times at Sweet Basil off U.S. 202 near Glen Mills, Pa. It is, indeed, worth a visit.

Second Helpings offers Reader Mail every Friday.

You ask. We answer. Email me at ptalorico@delawareonline.com.

Chow at Ciao's

I'm treading on Buddy Hurlock's Regular Guy Grub turf here, but I recently had a couple of great slices of plain cheese pizza from Ciao's in Prices Corner.

I'm all about New York style pizza - thin, crisp, crunchy crust - and Ciao's delivered the goods. Picked up two slices - $2.50 each - and then realized it would have been cheaper to buy a whole pie (A little over $10.)

Next time.

Readers? Your thoughts on Ciao's?

Top Chef recap

I'm getting this out of the way right now: Every time I see "Top Chef" contestant Carla, I immediately think of Beaker, the Muppet.

She's got an eye-pop thing going on.

Hot dog challenge was funky cool. I would definitely go for the "Indian" style dog - sounds really good. (But, hey, didn't contestant Radhika say she wanted to show she could do more than Indian cuisine? Yeah, whatever. As long as you win, that's what's important.) Stefan is showing his scary side - he looked like he wanted to filet guest judge Donatella Arpaia for hating on his "world" dog or whatever the heck that was. (And, ugh, Irish-style tartar sauce , i.e. mayonnaise, on a dog??) Stefan, use your knives for good - not evil. But have a meltdown at least once, this season, pretty please. We want a good flip-out.

Baltimore chef Jill deserved to be in bottom for not even trying to make a hot dog and then wrapping up a store-bought one in rice paper. What's up with that?

I love that Chef Tom opened the doors to his Craft restaurant for the chefs to use. That's a great restaurant. Last time I was at Craft, Tom was actually cooking that night. We had a wonderful time and the food was incredible. After a James Beard Awards ceremony one year, some friends and I went to his Craft bar and the staff was having a party to celebrate a win. We tried to leave - didn't want to infringe on the party - but they insisted that we stay and have a glass of bubbly.

I'm a huge carpaccio fan, so I was all about Fabio's dish. I eat that dish quite often in Italy and I loved his creative use of olives. (Was that a molecular gastromony technique??) But then Jamie's chilled corn soup - which should only be made with perfectly sweet, in-season corn - looked equally delish.

OK, is it me, or does Padma seemed to be overacting this season? First the weird face after the bone in the hot dog and then the fake throw up scene with the terrible lemon meringue martini? Is this a chef's show or Fear Factor?

Let it be known that real diners don't eat ostrich egg quiche. Buh-bye Jill.

Regular Guy Pizza: Version 1.1

First things first. This isn't a revision of my Regular Guy pizza ratings from July.

This is just an extension. A bonus pack. A special, hidden feature you just found on that DVD you've had for months, by clicking somewhere else on the menu.

Maybe next summer, I will officially renew the Regular Guy pizza list. But for now, Dom's Pizza & Steaks in Newport (998-7154) remains No. 1, with Little Vinnie's on Faulkland Rd. near Wilmington (633-6801) second.

For that story last July, it was tricky to sort out all my favorites, since I enjoy pizza so much. Here are some other places to consider (some of these were honorable mentions in July).

Valle Cucina Italiana in Pike Creek (998-9999), otherwise known as Valle's Pizza. I didn't have to look up their number. Well, it is easy to remember. But, I've been going here since I was a kid. Can anyone remember the smaller place, about one-third the size of what it is now? Remember the enclosed game room with four tightly packed games and a pinball machine? Remember the ice cream and hot dogs from neighbor Tempo's? Ah, the memories.

By the way, you once had to leave your home to play video games. They called them arcades. It cost 25 cents for one game, except of course for... Dragon's Lair. I can't quite remember the games I was best at. Tempest, Tron, Mr. Do and Tapper come to mind. I could sit down at Pole Position right now and know exactly when to ease up on the pedal and when to floor it. Sometimes, I made it past Act II on Ms. Pac Man. Once in a while, I got to drive the boat in Spy Hunter. When all the good games were taken, I played Popeye or Berzerk. If those were taken, I played Joust. But I digress.

It's hard to tell from what place I've eaten the most pizza. If Grotto is first, then Valle's is second, no doubt. Remember the small, the medium, the large, and the medium-plus? Just in case a medium was too small and a large was too big. Lately, I have favored their strombolis. The one I had recently was perfect, packed with cheese and pepperoni. When the sauce and the grease shoot out of the boli with every bite, burning your hand a little, remember, that's a good thing.

Margarita's Pizza on Main St. in Newark (368-4611). Very good pizza. Another great New York-style place, and a classic for anyone who went to University of Delaware. Philadelphia has Pat's Steaks for late night eats. We have Margarita's Pizza. No night at the Stone Balloon was complete unless you went to Margarita's afterward. What do I think of the new building where the Stone Balloon once stood? That one day someone will think, 'Hey, this would be a good place to put a bar.'

Giordano's Pizza in Kennett Square, Pa. (at (610) 444-5733). Another place with good pizza, but to me, even better strombolis. With its large sports bar, separate from the main restaurant, Giordano's is also a great place to watch the game.

Lastly, a word about the Reader's Choice selections. For pizza, the results were (1) Seasons (2) Pizza By Elizabeths (3) Pat's. The pizza at Seasons and Pat's is good, just not tops to me. As for the other place, c'mon. That's not Regular Guy pizza.

The hot dogs came out (1) The Dog House (2) Johnnie's Dog House (3) Jake's Hamburgers. I absolutely agree with No. 1. But where's Deerhead? Or even Charcoal Pit? The readers goofed here. As for Johnnie's, I have been there once, and kinda shrugged my shoulders. Jake's? That's a curveball for the hot dog list. Were the voters confused by some sort of butterfly ballot? I've had a Jake's hot dog. Once. Anyway, where else can you get a great hot dog? At University of Delaware home basketball games, but not the ones at the regular concession stands. Go to where they sell food directly behind the one basket. That line isn't just for roast beef and salad (bleck). You can also get a superb hot dogs there, in a sandwich roll, with cheese sauce and sauerkraut available. If you like hot dogs and are at game there, it's a must try.

As for wings, it went (1) Wings To Go (2) Buffalo Wild Wings (3) Seasons. These are the same three I'd pick. You can't go wrong with any of these, especially the boneless wings at BWW and the Seaso-bites at, well, Seasons.