ode to picnic and pantry (apologies to pablo neruda)

and it was at that age...picnic and pantry arrived

in search of me. i don't know, i don't know where

it came from, from kitchen or a restaurant.

i don't know how or when,

no, they were not voices, they were not

words, nor silence,

but from a tavern i was summoned,

from the branches of night,

abruptly from the others,

among violent fires

or returning alone,

there i was without a meal

and it fed me.

i did not know what to say, my mouth

had no way

with names

my eyes were blind,

and something started in my stomach,

thirst or forgotten hunger pangs,

and i made my own way,

deciphering

that menu

and i tasted the first flavorful bite,

flavorful, full of substance, no

nonsense,

pure wisdom

of someone who knows everything,

and suddenly i saw

the breads

blue oven

and earthy,

salads,

palpitating plantains,

kale perforated,

riddled

with braggs, garlic and ginger,

the winding rice noodles, the roasted vegetables.

and i, infinitesimal being,

drunk with the great gastrointestinal

void,

likeness, image of

bounty,

i felt myself a pure part

of the gastronomy,

i wheeled with the jeni's,

my gut broke free on the open table.

eat this now: wicked 'wich

ok i know it is a stupid name but wicked 'wich serves... you heard it here first (or well actually probably more like fifth or sixth)... the best deli sandwiches in cincinnati.

roast beef and cheddar on brioche

i cannot do justice to these sandwiches. the meats are roasted with care and sliced to order. the spreads are handcrafted. the side items are innovative and delicious. read what they say about it on their website:

Our interest in Wicked ‘wich stemmed from a desire to create a great sandwich and to share it with others. A great sandwich begins and ends with great ingredients. Certain things are a must in assembling a great sandwich. The butter toasted bread, slow pressure roasted meats, fresh produce prepared daily, and condiments and relishes that are well crafted. We like to refer to it as ‘wich crafted.

this is ALL TRUE. i know that seems unlikely. believe it, skeptical readers.

roast chicken and provolone (?) on salted rye

so far i have had the roast beef with cheddar on brioche (awesome) and the corned beef with swiss and coleslaw on salted rye (amazing). the corned beef is truly a marvel. you will never go to izzy's again (sorry izzy's). well except maybe for the potato pancake.

here is their menu. everything on the menu actually tastes even better than it sounds. you should eat there asap.

take the cake

bitch bitch bitch. that is all you readers do. "you don't post enough." "post more." "where are you?" blah blah blah. can't i get a break? ok, just kidding. wait, stop! i love you! i need you! don't leave me! come back!

a couple weeks ago i stopped at take the cake for lunch on my way to chicago. i was all worked up because @geekjames had posted the daily menu items and banh mi was on it. i am a banh mi freak and have been eagerly waiting for it to come back around on the specials list, and how perfect that i also was taking the day off and actually had time to go to northside for lunch.

oh they take the cake all right

i called ahead. "i really want the banh mi but i won't be there for at least an hour. will you guys still have it by then?" i asked. the woman on the phone assured me that they were putting more tofu in the oven and it would be fine. yay!

well i got there (probably an hour and a half later, i was packing and stuff) and they were out! i was crushed. "there's no way you can make it?" i pleaded. the chef gave me the eyebrow and told me she could do something with chicken and sriracha, but they were out of like half the ingredients and it would not really be anything like their banh mi. finally i gave up. i really think nobody there could understand why i was so depressed, but seriously i had been waiting for this banh mi for at least a month.

working hard in the kitchen, or pretending to anyway in order to avoid eye contact with the scary banh mi lunatic at the counter

i perused the menu and after talking things over with the cashier i decided on the patty melt, which was a burger with cheddar cheese, bbq sauce, tomato, onion, and roasted red pepper sauce. it sounded good (two sauces!), or would have had i not been all worked up over the banh mi. my expectations were low, honestly. i was depressed. i listlessly look some photos and stared at the baked goods which were doing absolutely nothing for me. i picked out a few to take to my friend lavine in chicago. i lamented my bad banh mi luck.

my food came pretty quickly. i looked at my plate. damn, that looked good. the burger was big. the tomato was red and juicy. the cheese was all melty. there were some very interesting looking salads on the plate. well ok, maybe this would be all right.

the patty melt and some damn tasty salads

i bit into the burger. tomato, sauce, cheese, and juices started dripping everywhere. this burger was delicious. it was cooked medium well to well done, which is normally overcooked for me, but it was still super juicy so i liked it. time for the salads. the greens were tasty and crisp. yum, watercress! the dressing was sweet and salty and tangy and delicious. there were big yummy strips of parmesan.

then the cucumber and jalapeno salad. the first taste i got was lime, rice wine vinegar, and... star anise? oh my god. yum. i devoured it. one of my last bites was a big hot chunk of fresh jalapeno. spicy and crunchy and tasty! i cleaned my plate. then i was like "oh my god. that lunch was good!"

the interior

i was absolutely and completely satisfied, and totally forgot about the banh mi. it was one of the best lunches i have had in a long time. everything was fresh and very delicious. the flavors were complex and interesting and somehow they all went together.

the space is great too. i went kind of late (about 1:30ish) and it was mostly empty. you could sit there and hang out on the couch as long as you want. it is modern, clean, bright, and open. you can spy on the whole kitchen (which obviously i did). everyone is friendly (although i do think they thought i was kind of crazy with my banh mi obsession). don't act obsessive and keep the crazy eyes under control and i am sure they will not act like they have to keep a 10 foot distance between you and them. haha.

the treats... sorry to recycle images but i only took one photo

prices are great. for my lunch i paid $6.95. the treats were maybe around $11 for four things: a peanut butter brownie, a peaches and cream tart, a carrot cake cupcake, and a chocolate cheesecake cupcake. that seems like a really good deal to me. i tried to resist eating the treats but could not so i tasted a bit of each of them and they were amazing. rich, luscious, and not too sweet (which is key for me in desserts).

lavine devoured the treats immediately and demanded more. i told her to get her ass to cincinnati. she has not visited me in two years, but take the cake just might be the thing that gets her here.

is anyone still out there?

sorry for my miserable lack of posts lately. i'm not dead, just super busy and exhausted. i spent the weekend in detroit for the final four, where i watched my spartans kick uconn's ass on saturday only to get completely, embarrassingly destroyed by the tarheels on monday.

my awesome friend lavine got us last minute tickets on ebay and we had what i can really only describe as by far the most amazing sports event experience of my life. watching my team play in the final four in our home state? unbelievable. this even beats the time we snuck an entire pollo campero fried chicken dinner for four (for the two of us) into the us open and gnawed on drumsticks and plantains while watching roger federer kick everyone's ass.

this was one of the best nights of my entire life. yes we were in the nosebleeds.

the game on saturday night was beyond description. the energy in ford field was amazing, 2/3 of the 72,000+ fans were there for the spartans and we were all loud as hell. i screamed so much that i lost my voice and got lightheaded. it was so much fun. monday was another story but at least we made it to the championship game!

my metro detroit food highlights of the weekend:

• lou's deli in southfield. get the counterman's treat: "Corned beef, Swiss cheese, cole slaw, Russian dressing on an onion roll." you can thank me in cash. i accept paypal.
• the breakfast club in farmington. get anything. it's all awesome. go for the tomatoes au gratin as a side. yummo! (sorry, that just slipped out. i promise it will never happen again.)
• vicente's cuban cuisine downtown. best cuban sandwich outside of miami (other than zingerman's although, to be fair, vicente's is more authentic). maduros that are so perfect you just marvel at them. amazing cuban food in detroit? yes my friends, the dream is now a reality.
• la marsa mediterranean cuisine in farmington hills. the detroit area la shish restaurants used to serve the best hummus i ever tasted in my life and chicken with this dipping sauce that was literally crack mixed with garlic. for years they were having problems with tax fraud and then rumor spread that they were sending money to terrorists in lebanon. thousands and thousands of metro detroit residents ignored the problems and continued to pour their hard earned dollars directly into funding al qaeda simply because they could not live without this hummus. then la shish got shut down in 2008 and the city mourned. but no worries, the food carries on at la marsa, which somehow got its hands on all the la shish recipes.
  
• jamaican curry, rice and peas, coleslaw, and lemon cake cooked by lavine and cindy and my mom's roast rosemary chicken. good luck finding that, suckas!
  

it was an awesome food and sports weekend. however, i barely slept. we drank bottle after bottle of wine, talked 24-7, and went to bed no earlier than 2 am every night. i also visited my family and tried to keep up with work email/voicemail. so it was crazy.

then i got back to work on wednesday and the shit was hitting the fan all over the place. hence no time to blog. i promise i will do better. don't leave me, readers!

sunny deli

lunchtime at the office...

eric: ok, let's go.
rickell: wait, where are we going?
liz: sunny deli. it's in the UDF building. or is it the UDS building?
eric: isn't it UBS?
liz: oh, maybe.
rickell: where is that?
liz: i'm not really sure. i have the address... oh shit, i forgot the address. it's on 7th street somewhere. we'll have to look it up on eric's iphone.
eric: we can't, i forgot my phone at home today.
liz: oh yeah, that reminds me, can one of you guys lend me money? i left my wallet at home. ooh, i think we're here!
rickell: what is this place and why are we getting on an elevator?
eric: what floor?
liz: 10, i think.
rickell: the 10th floor? how did you hear about this place?
liz: i read about it on the blogs.
eric: you and the blogs.
liz: you know, you guys are lucky to know me. think of all the food you wouldn't have eaten if it weren't for me.
rickell: oh yeah. that's what i think every morning when i wake up. i am so lucky to know liz.
eric: oh me too. it's my first thought.
liz: whatever, you guys are jerks. look, here's the menu, what are you guys getting?
eric: bibimbap. no beef.
liz: i thought you were eating meat now.
eric: i am but i am not sure what beef will do to my stomach. what are you getting?
liz: bibimbap too.
rickell: what is this thing you guys are getting?
liz: bibimbap. it's rice and meat and veggies. yummy. spicy. they only have it on wednesdays.
rickell: only wednesdays? what is this place?
liz: i don't know, they're korean but they have a deli. look, here's a picture.
rickell: ooh, that looks good, i want that.
liz: hi, i think we all want bibimbap. one with no beef.
girl behind the counter: no beef?
eric: no wait, i want beef, i changed my mind. do them all with beef.
girl: beef?
liz: this is the first time he's had beef in 15 years, can you believe that?
girl: beef or no beef?
eric: yeah. beef. sorry.
owner: here you go.
liz: yum, thanks! how long have you been here?
owner: 5 years.
liz: really? how long have you been doing bibimbap?
owner: since november.
liz: oh ok, so we haven't been missing out for that long. i was worried.
owner: haha, no. we just started.
eric: mmm... this is good.
rickell: this is damn good. what is this stuff in this little container?
eric: kimchee. pickled cabbage.
liz: it's fermented.
rickell: that's nasty.
liz: this is sooo good. we have to come back.
eric: mmm... beef...

(sounds of eating)

cincinnati pizza quest 2009 (january): ramundo's pizzeria

cincinnati pizza quest 2009 has arrived! liberal foodie and i are joining forces to bring you a joint review of one pizza place every month this year. why, you ask? well we were talking about it and we realized that we really do not know much about the cincinnati pizza scene, and we decided that, as responsible food bloggers, we need to remedy that asap. and who better to bring along for the ride than you, most excellent readers?

cincinnati nomerati has a great series of posts called cincinnati pizza showdown so if you don't feel like waiting a whole year to get the lowdown on where to eat pizza in this city, i recommend you head over there.

how many times have i driven by this sign without going in?

for january, LF and i decided to head out to ramundo's in mount lookout after we heard a rave review from our pal graham over at what i ate this week. the funny thing is that graham actually went there on my recommendation for good new york style pizza... and i had never been to ramundo's. but the ecstatic ravings of a few native new jerseyans (new jerseyites?) convinced me that there was most likely good pizza to be had there.

since graham had gone there on my recommendation, i felt it was my civic duty to actually try the pie myself. LF and i went for lunch one day and met her husband there. LF and i got the thin, new york style, and the husband got the thicker regular crust. we tried pepperoni, supreme, and cheese.

it's pretty tiny in there

i liked the pizza, but i did not think it was amazing. i think the best pizza of the bunch was the pepperoni. normally i am a huge plain cheese fan, but the pizza was just a little too bland for it to be really great at ramundo's. i really liked the cheese (gooey, lots of it) and the sauce (slightly spicy and flavorful but not sweet) but i was not a big fan of the crust. it just lacked flavor.

i also felt that the new york style slices were too thin. you could not hold them flat, you had to fold them. my ideal new york style pizza can be folded, but it is not a requirement. i actually preferred the non new york style slice... it was the same crust but just thicker and smaller (and easier to eat).

our spread

the ambience: there is none. there are a couple little tables and a counter, that's it. i think ramundo's business is mainly carry out. but the staff was super nice and let us stand at the counter and eat even though we were in the way since both of the tables were taken.

prices were great. i got two slices and a large fountain soda for $5.99 (including tax). my wallet was happy.

extreme close up

the official cincinnati pizza quest ratings (on a scale of 1 to 5 slices, 5 slices being the best):
crust - 2 slices
sauce - 3.5 slices
cheese - 4.5 slices
topping - 3.5 slices

overall - 3 slices

i recommend ramundo's as a cheap place to grab a slice or two for lunch or a late night snack. the pizza is good without being great, but it doesn't try to be anything it's not, which i think counts for something.

(i forgot my camera that day so all photos are courtesy of LF)

zingerman's delicatessen

i'm sorry new york but the best deli i have ever been to in my life is in ann arbor, michigan. if you have ever been anywhere near the metro detroit area, odds are you have heard of zingerman's. it started off as a deli specializing in i guess just the best of everything. then it grew and grew and now it is this cluster of gastronomic deliciousness... there's a creamery, a bakery, a roadhouse, a coffee company, and a big mail order business.

if you just stopped here and never ate anywhere else again, you would die happy

this may sound like a recipe for disaster but let me tell you that i have literally never eaten anything that was not amazing from anywhere zingerman's. when i was younger, my family would take occasional trips to ann arbor and we always stopped at zingerman's for sandwiches, soup, and of course the crazy good pickles ("new" or "old").

when i went away to college i would make my friends drive to ann arbor on road trips just to eat at zingerman's. in the past year or so i've had to go to ann arbor a few times for work and i have rallied up posses of coworkers to nosh their way to sandwich heaven. i love this deli and so does everyone i know who has ever eaten there (and that is a lot of people since i have dragged practically everyone i have ever met there at some point).

goal in life #281: eat everything pictured in this photo before i die

the basic premise of zingerman's is simple... provide the absolute best of every food item they serve. if this means scouring the globe, even better. and on top of providing you with the most delicious array of food items available, the service kicks ass. it's like the staff just loves working there and can't help being happy just to be at zingerman's. i know that sounds cheesy but that is what i tell myself anyway. but seriously, if i worked there, i would be damn happy.

for me, zingerman's is all about the sandwiches and the pickles. that's what i go for. they have a huge menu (maybe 100 sandwiches at any given time?) which constantly rotates. of course, there are a number of old favorites which have been on the menu as long as i can remember. but there are also quite a few new choices every time i go.

i think these people might love cheese even more than i do

like any good deli, they offer all kinds of delicious sides (matzo ball soup, salads, latkes, etc.). they also have a full deli with every kind of meat and cheese imaginable, a bakery with chewy/tasty/delicious bread, a mind boggling variety of the best olive oils you have ever tasted, yummy sodas and coffees, and a spread of desserts including cakes, pies, gelato, cheesecakes, and cookies. and probably a ton of other things that i can't remember.

like i said, i always love eating at zingerman's and have never been disappointed. but on monday, during my most recent trip there, the heavens parted and the angels sang. it was as if zingerman's had chosen january 5, 2009, as the day of liz. readers, let me be the first to tell you... zingerman's, the best deli in the world, now serves a cuban, the best sandwich in the world. i thought i had died and gone to food heaven, until i realized that if i was truly dead i would probably be in hell and there ain't no cubans there (at least no cuban sandwiches anyway). here is the description: "#00 D-$'s Cuban Conundrum Cuban-style pulled pork, Arkansas peppered ham, Switzerland Swiss cheese, old-fashioned dill pickles, mayo & hot mustard on a grilled paesano roll."

best cuban in the US competition winner: ann arbor. runner up: miami

well since my soul is going to rot once i'm done on this planet anyway, i may as well live it up now. i ordered that cuban and a new pickle and i ate it like it was my last meal on earth. oh my god. soooo good. my sister got: "#57 Nic's Opportunity Zingerman's handmade fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced pepperoni, oven-dried tomato spread, oregano, & balsamic vinaigrette on grilled Sicilian sesame semolina." silly me, i let her try my cuban and she was hooked. so i agreed to trade sammies with her halfway through. if that doesn't get me a one way ticket to eternity with jesus, i don't know what will.

my mom is on a low carb kick so she opted for: "Mediterranean Experience Homemade hummus, barrel-aged marinated Greek feta, Spanish piquillo peppers, Italian artichokes, kalamata olives, oven-dried tomatoes & cucumbers." all this plus a big hunk of crusty bread. she chowed it down so fast that i did not even get a chance to taste it.

i'll take "things liz would sell her soul for" for $200, alex

we were so full at the end of the meal that we wanted a nap. i still had a 4 hour drive back to cincinnati ahead of me, so i recharged with some tasty zingerman's blend coffee. i had never had this before and it was excellent. we drooled at the desserts but didn't have room. ahh zingerman's... you never let me down.

bus ride from astoria to la guardia airport: $2
checking a piece of luggage on northwest airlines: $15
flight from LGA to DTW: $180
traveling 600 miles away from new york to eat at the best deli in the world: priceless

dilly deli, mariemont, anti-semitism, etc.

so for weeks now, i have been dying to:

• try the dilly deli
• see the counterfeiters
• explore mariemont
  

on saturday the stars aligned and i got to live the dream. celia and emma joined me on the adventure. the first thing i have to say is that mariemont is really cute. ridiculously cute in fact. the houses are all like english tudor style and the lawns are perfectly manicured. beautiful blond children skip carelessly down the street. there are gaslight street lamps and flowers everywhere. i feel like if i had stayed there much longer, i would have gotten chased out on principle. i could not get over the perfectly square hedges and adorable colonial style townhouses and the probably safe even at 2 am park.

our dinner at the dilly deli was tasty and pleasant. the dilly deli is, it turns out, much more than a deli. they have a full dining room and an outdoor patio. we ended up sitting inside because the wait for the patio was too long. the atmosphere is ok but there was this one fluorescent light that kind of made it weird. also the ceiling was just that crappy foam stuff. but there was a woman playing a guitar so that was nice.

the crowd: mostly old people and families with insane numbers of children. we were the only group of people our age there that i can remember.

the food was good. between the three of us, we had roasted asparagus, sweet potato fries, crab florentine quiche, a crab cake sandwich, and a shrimp/asparagus/feta/spring mix salad. it was all yummy but it was also nothing too out of the ordinary. the special that night was ribs which looked delicious but none of us was really hungry enough to order them.

one major standout at the dilly deli is their beer selection. they have a bunch of bottles but also a lot of good beers on tap. in fact they have brooklyn lager on tap!!! there were also a bunch of other good choices (i remember seeing old specked hen and one of those interesting belgian beers, not delirium tremens but something along those lines).

the dilly deli does regular beer and wine tastings and meals. they also have a great selection of cheeses, meats, and other deli-type items. i did not get a chance to check out the deli selections because we had to get to the theater, but it looked very promising from my seat. celia also said that on certain nights (i forget which ones), there is no corking fee if you buy a bottle of wine in the deli and want to have it with your meal.

service was good but unremarkable. i have nothing to complain about though so that is saying something. prices were reasonable. i think i spent around $20 for dinner and a beer.

my friend at work, who actually now that i think about it is usually full of shit, told me that mariemont was originally founded with the purpose of excluding jews. i thought this was ironic given that we were there to see a holocaust movie. overheard in the mariemont theater bathroom saturday night:

emma (jewish): mariemont is so adorable!
me: you know they hate jews here, right?
emma: what???
me: i heard this place was started by a bunch of people who were trying to get away from jews
emma: i never heard that! i wonder how they feel about terrorists?
me (lebanese): we're about to find out... i have a bomb strapped on under my shirt.
emma: and what about irish terrorists?
celia (irish): irish people are just lazy

all this after we had scandalized the ticket guy by showing him our like 10 year old student IDs in order to get a discount. he was all pissy like "how is school going, girls?" this kid was like 17. kiss my ass, punk! movies are expensive as hell. let's talk in 10 years when you are no longer sucking off the rich teat of mommy and daddy in mariemont. never mind, you will probably be living off your trust fund by then.

i was looking around on google just now to try to find some support for the anti-semitic mariemont theory, and i found this: "Mariemont was a planned white community within Cincinnati, recently (c.1999) integrated. It was anti-Catholic at its inception." wikipedia lists the 2000 census race stats: 97% white. 2000 median income: $57,600. sounds like there is some interesting hidden history here...

reader vote: what's your pick for best unofficial mariemont motto?

• mariemont: what we lack in jews we make up for in beers
• mariemont: where the grass is green and the people are white
• mariemont: cincinnati's little germany
• mariemont: hey, at least we didn't gas anyone
  

ok, i will stop offending people now. in case you are in the mood to lecture me, allow me to mention that in addition to being lebanese, i am also part german. i also knew a black person back in 3rd grade.

anyway, the truth is that i totally love exploring the random neighborhoods in this city which all have their own weird quirks and interesting stories. and while i am not sure it is worth a special trip, i definitely recommend that you stop into the dilly deli if you're ever out that way.

melt

i have been to melt (link note: cin weekly makes me want to kill myself sometimes but they are a good source for restaurant reviews) in northside twice now and i think i ordered the same thing both times: the artichoke melt. it is basically artichokes and cheese and tomatoes on ciabatta. except last night when i went it came out looking like pizza for some reason. i don't care b/c it was still good. i could have maybe used more gooey artichokeyness though.

i also got gazpacho, it was a chunky gazpacho and although i objected on principle to the corn in it at first, i quickly calmed down once i realized it tasted very good. i think all the veggies in it were from some local garden (or maybe i am just fantasizing about the hippie life in northside). overall, it was not great as far as gazpacho goes but it was pretty yummy as far as a cold, fresh, summer gardenish soup goes. i did think it needed salt though.

brian went w/ me and he got the... oh shit... what did he get? he got a melt w/ goat cheese, spinach, basil, something like that? maybe roasted red peppers too? it was very good. the goat cheese was really creamy. he also got this potato salad that was like a curry coconut potato salad. yummy! but i also thought it needed a little salt. i think sometimes people underestimate the amount of salt needed to make potatoes and tomatoes really delicious. or maybe i like salt too much (likely). brian is a food sharer like me so i was happy about that.

we discovered that melt is much bigger than i realized and has an adorable outdoor garden in back. that is where we sat. we got eaten alive by mosquitoes and eventually had to leave b/c i was bitching too much about the biting.

i told brian about this blog and he thought we should just go to really crappy places and write things like "cardboard never tasted so good." i'm writing that on here so it seems like i'm cool and do shout outs to all my readers even though the truth is that i have none.

special amazing discovery: melt serves brunch! i will be back to test it out. stay tuned...