“Research” Report

Hello All!

After logging in today, I was shocked to see that I had not posted in 4 months! Apologies for being lazy, but I have been doing a ton of “blog research” during that time. In case anyone was interested, “blog research” is code word for stuffing my face with delicious food making it totally justified. I’ve been lucky to do a lot of travelling during those months and have sampled some pretty amazing food. Here is a quick breakdown of my travels:

May – Tampa, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New Jersey

June – Miami

July – St. Augustine and Jacksonville

August – Savannah, GA

I could share all of these amazing experiences with you today, but I am not trying to bore you all, and I will need some ammunition for future posts, so no reason to show my full hand. Here are a few discoveries, revelations, and personal opinions on my last 4 months of “blog research.”

1. Breakfast indeed is the most important meal of the day, though personally, I have no use for it. However, while in California I was turned on to something called an ‘Acai Bowl’ and any day that starts with one has the makings for an amazing day! The blended acai combined with the fresh fruit and granola is a perfect mix and it makes your body feel like it can take on anything. My first ever bowl was at Cafe Brasil in Santa Cruz, CA and if I were wearing socks that day, they would have been knocked off. Locally in Orlando, Press’d Juice Bar and Kitchen is doing it better than anyone. Their acai bowls and other vegan offerings are as good as it gets.
2.  Poke bowls are life. If you’ve never had a poke bowl, think of it like a large deconstructed sushi roll. It is part of traditional Hawaiian cuisine and it makes my stomach happy. The downside of poke bowls is that they are very difficult to find on the mainland. Best I’ve tried was at PokiNometry in Anaheim, CA. It was like a Chipotle for poke bowls that was absolutely wonderful.
3. This one is completely biased, but if you are looking for a great pizza, you need to look west of the Hudson River. The best pizza in the United States resides in New Jersey and few do it better than Star Tavern in West Orange. This place has been a New Jersey institution for decades and still provides and amazing pie to this day. My grandparents used to go on dates to Star Tavern, so I guess you could say it’s a family thing.
4. Ballpark food is out of control!! The more stadiums I visit, the more and more the food offerings are evolving at rapid pace. Sushi, crab salad sandwiches, and gourmet soups are just a few of the items I have seen recently. This is one place where the evolution of food feels wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed my crab sandwich at AT&T Park in San Francisco, it just felt like I was cheating on my stand-by. There is beauty in a lukewarm hot dog on a soggy bun, paired with a crappy stale domestic draft beer. It’s as American as our great past time and it doesn’t need to be changed!
5. Sometimes food doesn’t matter. Hold on a minute…before you read this a think, “What the hell is he thinking??” hear me out. Food is great. We eat to live, and some of us live to eat (hand raised). As great as food is, the best thing about it is that it brings people together to create wonderful memories. When I think back about all the great meals I have enjoyed over the past 4 months, I think about my family and friends before I think of what we ate. The laughter and great times we share together will always trump the food, but it certainly is a wonderful complement. When you eat with people you love the world stands still. That feeling is the best thing about food. Period.

Thanks everyone for reading today. I promise there won’t be another 4 months between posts, but the “research” will continue! Stay tuned for future posts!

-Jackcity

 

Orlando: The City Beautiful

Good morning readers! Thank you to everyone who read the first post, and welcome aboard to those who may be new to my blog. This post will focus on my favorite places to chow down in the “City Beautiful” known as Orlando.

I get asked a lot about where the best place(s) to eat in Orlando is. Honestly, that question has about as many answers as the “Meaning of Life” question. Orlando is home to an incredibly diverse food scene ranging from food trucks to Victoria and Albert’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, one of only three AAA-rated 5 Diamond Restaurants in the state of Florida. Orlando is not thought of as a great food city. There are roads with a seemingly endless number of chain restaurants (I’m looking at you I-Drive). We do not have our own Eater page. Our city is dominated by the world’s most famous mouse, but we have so much more to offer. There truly are some great food spots and here is my attempt to showcase some of the best in a couple of categories.

Disclaimer: These are only places that I have eaten at…Victoria and Albert’s is still my great, white whale, but that hopefully will be changing soon.

Pizza – This is a tough category to select since Orlando isn’t making great strides in the pizza game. The water in Orlando sucks, and is not conducive to making a solid pizza dough. The constant humidity also is a a large detriment to a good pie. I was born in New Jersey, so the bar for pizza was set pretty high before moving to Orlando in 1999, and it has been a constant struggle to find a decent slice in the Sunshine State. For a while, I thought that good pizza didn’t exist in Orlando, and I would have to cherish those moments I spent visiting New Jersey to get my fix. However, there is a spot in Lake Mary that is making insanely delicious pizzas, and I hesitate to say that they may be better than anything up North.

Terramia Brick Oven Pizza and Trattoria is a cut above the rest in Orlando. The pizza here is out of this world delicious and it filled the empty whole in my heart that formed while eating sub-par pizza for years. My personal favorite is the Salamino pizza which is covered in spicy salami and packs a pretty good heat punch, but it is perfectly balanced by the creaminess of the homemade mozzarella. No red pepper flakes needed! Along with great pizza, Terramia is also pumping out some pretty incredible Italian dishes. The gnocchi is out of control. Terramia is certainly worth the trip.

 

Burger – Another tough category, but in this case Orlando has a ton of great burger joints. I would put That One Spot, Splittsville, and Beth’s Burger Bar in that conversation, but to me, Teak Neighborhood Grill in MetroWest stands alone as the best in the O. Teak is definitely not your average burger that is currently littering the burger market. Teak is mashing some serious flavors and toppings together to create burger masterpieces. My personal favorite burger is “The Pig” which is stacked high with a giant patty, smoked ham, bacon, and pulled pork accompanied with a white cheddar sauce, onion jam and served on a pretzel roll. They also have some really unique burgers served on glazed doughnut buns and even a Cro-nut bun! It’s a sweet, sweet symphony of flavor and always a great meal. Teak is a great place to have a beer, catch a ballgame, and have some pretty epic burgers.

 

Top Dog – “One ring to rule them all. One ring to find them. One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.” In this case we are not talking about rings, but about restaurants. Surely there must be a king in the Orlando food scene. The title of this category may give away the true champion, but Yellow Dog Eats is heads and wagging tails above the rest; best in show if you will. Yellow Dog does some incredible things with food, and one visit there is sure to make anyone a believer. About 5 years ago I visited Yellow Dog for the first time, and it was a life altering experience. I ordered a “Mr. Smokey” which is pulled pork, pineapple slices, fried onions, smoked bacon, Fish’s Gold BBQ sauce all on a fluffy bun. The sandwich was a rush of flavors that I had never experienced before and it was so good I ordered a second one! I stretched my stomach’s limit that day, but I have no regrets. Yellow Dog is famous for their BBQ sandwiches, but their menu offers a variety of options for everyone to enjoy. I’ve sampled just about all the BBQ sandwiches and dabbled a little in their other offerings, and have never been disappointed. They have always have great daily specials, and don’t forget the tomato-mozzarella salad. Yellow Dog has a great vibe and still feels like a local spot even during their crazy lunch and dinner rush. Next time you find your stomach grumbling, make a trip to Yellow Dog Eats. Have a sandwich, have a beer, give Montel (their unofficial mascot) a pat on the head and enjoy one of the best meals you can have in Orlando!

 

Orlando is a great city with some great food. If you all have any suggestions on places I should try, let me know! I would love to hear where you like to eat!

#jackcityeats

 

 

Eat What You Like, Drink What You Like

I’d like to begin by thanking anyone who is taking time out of their busy schedule to read this. This is the first post of my amateur writing career, so I hope you enjoy it.

A few months back, I attended a class titled “Hospitality and You.” The class was heavily focused on how to improve Guest Service levels in any business. There was also a strong emphasis on the correlation between service levels and their affect on the perceived quality of the product offering itself. Ordinarily I despise sitting in classrooms, listening to someone drone on and on about something I could care less about, but this class was different. Out of all the great content that was delivered during the session, this is by far the most powerful takeaway. The instructor gave an example that you have all experienced before about how waitstaff can make or break a dining experience.

Imagine this, you are in a new restaurant and dissecting the menu. Your brain, heart, and stomach are currently having a clash of the Titans on what to order and after what seems like hours, you have made the ultimate decision. Your waiter comes by to take your order and you confidently speak those precious words to begin your culinary adventure…or you end your order speaking with an upward inflection, like my girlfriend who usually still undecided on what to order even after the meal has concluded. Getting back on track, you order and your waiter replies, “Ooooh, that’s my favorite.” It’s probably supposed to make the customer feel good, but in all reality it’s a huge turn off. As a customer, I don’t really care what the waiter likes and doesn’t like, because guess what…the waiter is not me!! The appropriate response would have been something like “Excellent choice, sir” or “Wonderful selection, Madame.” I have a huge amount of respect for the waitstaff of the world. It’s a job that I have worked in the past, and typically it’s pretty thankless. This is not an attack on them at all, it’s a recent learning of mine and something that really made me think.

Now…Eat What You Like, Drink What You Like. This has been my dining motto for quite some time, and I feel that it can improve your dining experience. I say experience, because eating should be more than a meal. As human beings we eat to survive, but we should also eat to feel alive. We all have our personal tastes and that’s what makes us all great. Let’s say you are at a steakhouse, but you are drawn to a fish dish that looks incredible. You are torn because you’re at a restaurant know on for a specific dish, but that fish looks so good…I have 3 words for you. GET THE FISH. It’s your experience and your choice. It’s like those pick your adventure books from when we were kids. “For steak go to page 19, for fish go to page 26.” Guess what, the stories will all end happily. There is not a chef in the world that will put a dish on their menu that sucks, so don’t feel like you always have to go with the flow.

The same principle applies for your beverage selection with your meal. We’ve all heard the, “Red meat, red wine…light meat, light wine” theory and to be honest, you can trash that. If you’re in the mood for a giant porterhouse but you want to pair it with a Moscato or a Riesling because that’s what you like to drink, then do that! Do not be afraid to order to your taste. That said, if you are still undecided on wine selection, if you are dining at a restaurant that has a sommelier, do not feel embarrassed to ask for their suggestions. They are some of the most respected people in the food industry and they spend years perfecting their craft. They will ask what you are eating and will ask about your taste preferences and are sure to select a wine that is sure to blow you away. Don’t be afraid to tip them either. Their craft is an art!

Thank you all for reading this first installment of Jackcity Eats! Each post I’ll leave you all with a little parting advice. Since yesterday was National Cheesesteak Day here you go…Warning!! If you ever find yourself at the front of the line at Jim’s in Philadelphia, order quick and order correctly. You’ve got plenty of time to figure out how. Get it wrong and they will toss you out of line. I’ve seen it, trust me.

Cheers!