White Pizza

In a very sneaky way, White Pizza has flown up my ranks in terms of my favorite pizza. I remember my childhood where the pizza I liked went Pepperoni 1, Cheese 2, and nothing after it. All of a sudden White Pizza just strolls into my life and knocks down a few fan favorites and joins my Top 5. Here's how I rank my pies:

1- Meat Lovers
2- Buffalo Chicken
3- Pepperoni
4- Bacon
5- White Pizza

What's crazy about this list is it can easily change based on where the pizza is from and if they have a certain type of pizza there. Just as an example, if a place makes their buff chick pizza with red sauce or blue cheese instead of ranch, GET OFF MY LIST. Stock in that pizza plummets faster than Tim Tebow's playing time this year (he's bad). Also, certain places use crappy bacon or they chop it up so small you don't get that key bacon flavor when biting into a slice. I'm not mad, but those factors and more allow for White Pizza to make a case for one of my favorite pizzas out there tryna function today.

The Goober

Yesterday was a good/bad-happy/sad day for me because I went with my aunt, mom, and brother to my aunt's house in Rhode Island to more or less close up shop there because my aunt sold the place. It's obviously a sad time because I'll never be going back there for long weekends, but it was really cool driving by places with my aunt and reliving childhood memories.

One of my favorite things to do in RI was go to Casey's Restaurant which was this awesome Irish inspired place to eat. Growing up we went there for dinner almost every time I went to RI so I was stoked to go. I was a picky little shit as a kid so we would order waffle fries and buffalo wings as an appetizer and I'd get another order of wings as my meal. Now that my taste buds have matured, I was ready to look beyond the first page of the menu to really see what Casey's had to offer.

Son. Of. A. Bitch.

We pulled up and there was a sign that said "closed for renovations" on the door. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I was talking about those wings ALL DAY (not to be confused with AP who we need to have a MONSTER GAME today) and now they've been taken from me. After some mental swearing we hatched a new plan and it was off to another fan favorite in Mews Tavern.

I know what you're thinking and no, this was not a Pokemon themed restaurant because it's called Mews. It's a nice lil tavern where I ordered a unique creation called The Goober.

 

At first glance I thought this would be a cheese fiesta of a burger (the likes that would make Francesca proud), but it went in a different direction. The Goober was a bacon cheeseburger with a fried egg (had it before and liked it) and a few globs of peanut butter. I like, nay, love all of those things, but I never thought of combining them before. Kind of a weird concept, but I went for it and had mixed feelings. Overall it tasted good (curly fries were a nice addition), but the peanut butter was a bit over powering in a sense that my taste buds keyed in on that instead of being able to taste the burger itself or the bacon. I like the idea, but I'd more than likely go for a normal cheeseburger next time and just drench that bad boy with BBQ sauce. 



Ted's Steamed Cheeseburgers

When I saw Ted's Steamed Cheeseburgers featured on Man v. Food I was stoked because it's in Connecticut.  For those of you who don't know, I'm born and raised in Waterbury, CT and now live (I was about to type reside, but I think that kind of sounds dumb) in Enfield, CT.  So learning of this once hidden now not so hidden gem, I knew I had to make a visit.

In a normal way I walked up to the counter and asked for a cheeseburger.  Casual and to the point, but then I looked up and saw options for "double meat" and "double cheese".  Needless to say, but I'll say it anyways because that's what people do when they say needless to say, I ordered a cheeseburger with double meat, double cheese, bacon (said EXTRA aka one of my travel season commandments), and fries.  Below is what was served up in 7 minutes flat:

At first glance you probably think this was amazing and you're right.  But you're only right if it's opposite day because this was one of the most disappointing burgers I have ever had in my life.  I'm sure you're shocked reading this because I basically like everything, but this burger just doesn't do it for me.  There was a lot of hype around it and I was really excited to taste a burger unlike any other, but when I bit into it I immediately went to sad face mode.

The burger was just "blah".  That's the best way I can describe it.  Just a lack of a taste.  Imagine your friend (for me I will use Brian Baum) who sucks at cooking trying to make a steak or a burger.  Instead of using seasoning or anything to enhance the flavor, all Brian Baum does is take the food out of the freezer and throws it in a pan on the stove (while it's still frozen).  After jabbing at it with a knife for a few minutes, the food is "done" and a greyish meal is "ready" to eat.  That's basically what I was presented with only it was dressed up with globs of cheese and bacon.  Don't get me wrong, I beasted it, but it was such a let down just like most sequels to great movies (exceptions off the top of my head would be Bad Boys 2, Home Alone 2, Rocky IV).  Bottom line, if you wanna know "What's Really Good", go somewhere not named Ted's.

Christmas Cocoa #5

It's all over folks! Today is the last day of Christmas Cocoa and it also happens to be my last day at work for 2012!!!  Gotta love working in higher ed because I have vacation next week and then a bonus week off for Christmas/NYE.  So to close out my week and to challenge the new champ in Mint Chocolate we have Caramel Cream.

Not blown away by the snowman on the cover because he's about to get seriously hurt.  I went snowboarding one time and my friends thought I would pick it up on the spot... they were wrong.  Frosty over here looks similar to me when I accidentally went off a jump at the bottom of the mountain and nearly did a back flip before crashing down and basically becoming a lifeless body.  But this isn't about me, it's about the cocoa.  While I liked the overall taste of it and the fact that it was different than all the others, something about it held me back from really enjoying it.  I'm a big fan of caramel (Caramellos are AMAZING), but I still had Mint Chocolate on my mind.  It was really unfair to Caramel Cream because it lost before the race even started.  No matter how delicious it tasted I would be comparing it to Mint Chocolate.  Just no shot at winning.

In the end, this is how I would rank my Christmas Cocoa Week:

#1- Mint Chocolate

#2- Milk Chocolate

#3- French Vanilla

#4- Dark Chocolate Sensation

#5- Caramel Cream

They're all delicious and all worth trying.  Nothing wrong with any of them, but if you're like me, save Mint Chocolate til the end so it doesn't ruin the taste of any of the other flavors.

Christmas Cocoa #4

We have a new champion!!!!! I really hope I don't say that in any of my fantasy football leagues this year (defending champ in 3 and I'm in the semis in 5 outta 6 leagues), but a new hot cocoa has emerged as my #1!!! Milk Chocolate has been solid for so many years, but Mint Chocolate now stands alone at the top!!!

 

There is just something about drinking a liquid version of an Andes candy that brings me to a happy place.  It might be because the taste of Mint Chocolate Hot Cocoa reminds me of times at my Aunt Maryanne's where I ate Andes candies by the mouthful until my mother yelled at me or it could be the times where I ate Andes candies at my grandfather's house and hid the wrappers in the couch cushions because I wasn't supposed to have any, but either way the taste of this cocoa was terrific.  I also took it to the next level via my mug because I had the pleasure of tasting this hot cocoa at home instead of at work.





 

 

That's right folks!  Merry Christmas mug!  Christmas makes everything better!  If you say otherwise then you're a liar, mean, a Grinch, and someone who is not my friend.  But back to the point of this blog, Mint Chocolate Hot Cocoa is my new favorite.  With only one hot cocoa left to try this week, I doubt it'll be knocked off the podium, but we'll see what Friday has in store tomorrow!

Christmas Cocoa #3

Santa!!! I know him!!!!!! This morning brought another solid flavor of hot cocoa in Dark Chocolate Sensation which was better than expected. Fun fact - I'm not a fan of dark chocolate anything. I mean I'll eat it, but I prefer milk chocolate 10 outta 10 times. So I was pleasantly when I took my 2nd sip (too eager with the 1st and burnt my mouth) because it was quite good. Still not better than the original, but not bad at all.

Christmas Cocoa #2

French Vanilla isn't just a flavor of coffee anymore! Swiss Miss is really stepping it up! Day 1 was the classic double-double guy in Milk Chocolate, but Day 2 brings the foreigner aka a lil Tony Parker if you will. I recommend trying it out, but I also recommend trying everything I try. Plus, the lil characters on the boxes are adorable!

Christmas Cocoa #1

I'm really trying to get into the Christmas Spirit this week since Christmas is 15 days away. With that being said, today marks the start of hot cocoa week! All throughout my travel season I've been searching for a variety pack of hot chocolate that has 5 different flavors so I can sample one each day of my final work week.

Search Complete. I stumbled across this 5-Pack in Target and experienced my own Christmas Swiss Miss Miracle. First up is the classic flavor of Milk Chocolate.

I don't know if the other 4 options can beat this. You know what you get with Milk Chocolate. In the NBA, Milk Chocolate would be a 20-10 guy. Someone like KG or Cousins aka Boogie. Regardless, this was a great start to my week of Hot Cocoa magic.  And let's be honest, how adorable does that little penguin look???

Travel Season Commandments

It's been a while since I've been able to write a new blog post, but I'm back in CT and have a normal routine again so I'm hoping I can post more frequently. Anyways, now that my Bonus Travel is over, I can take a breath and settle down for the winter before travel starts up again in the spring. After taking a long and hard look back at this travel season, I've developed an air tight list of Commandments that every Admissions Counselor should be aware of. These are not to be taken lightly and all should be followed in order to maximize enjoyment while on the road.

10 - Thou shall coordinate with thy colleagues to slumber at the same hotel (this allows for carpooling and easy get togethers for dinner and fun... thank God none of my friends look like these people)

9 - Thou shall NEVER neglect the free breakfast bag when leaving a hotel like a Hampton Inn (water, granola bar, apple... Why not? Take 2 if you can!)

8 - Visits, whether they are of the mini fair or individual variety, are strictly prohibited before 8:00 am (maybe even 8:30 am)

7 - Thou shall always wear a tie (or just look nice if you're a female), unless you work for a school that gives you a polo to wear. If that's the case, I hate you. But nevertheless, CLASS IT UP GENTLEMEN

6 - Thou shant be afraid of double lunches and dinners. If a visit or fair gives you a sandwich you should still buy lunch/dinner as a supplement to what you already ate. Nothing wrong with a wrap at a school then a burger after followed by dinner at a fair and then second dinner with other counselors after.

5 - Family style meals with other counselors is a must. Sharing is caring but it's also cool to order 5-6 different things off the menu and be able to sample some of everything.

4 - There is ALWAYS room for dessert. ALWAYS.

3 - The saying "that'll cost extra" means nothing to you when ordering food on the road when you have a company card

2 - Thou shall experience the local flavor of your area. If you're on LI or in Rhode Island, order seafood. If you're lucky enough to go down south, load up on BBQ. Referencing Man v. Food and other TV shows for places to go is also a great idea.

1 - Thou shall say the word "extra" with every meal. (Cheeseburger with EXTRA bacon, salad with EXTRA dressing, fries with a side of ranch... Actually an EXTRA LARGE side of ranch, EXTRA side of bacon with whatever you eat, EXTRA candy, hot fudge, and peanut butter sauce in your Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Friend-Z from Friendlys)

 

Go forth young ones and eager eaters and live thy life by these Travel Season Commandments! So it is written, so it shall be. In the name if Bacon, Ranch, and the Extra Meal. Bon Appetit!

BONUS TRAVEL

 

What time is it? Bonus Travel Time!! My travel season ended a little while ago, but I forgot about the potential for bonus travel! Between Hurricane Sandy and the snowstorm, travel for me and my coworkers has been kind of screwed up. Plenty of our visits and fairs were canceled so instead of moving on, I'm doing some makeup work and am in NJ for 2 days and NY for 1. I really want to blog about my "Travel Season Commandments" and a few other things from travel, but I'll just be patient until Thursday when travel really will be 100% finished. So for now, it's Bonus Travel Time which coincidentally is also Bonus Bacon Time aka a few more days for me to feast on whatever I want before going back to buying groceries. 

Thanksgiving

I don't think I really need to explain a lot here. We all know what Thanksgiving means, but to me it means something a little bit more. I love the day because I get to see my awesome family, eat massive amounts of delicious food, and watch football, but I also love the day because of an unspoken challenge I have. I don't want to accept the challenge, I try to avoid it, but every year I end up attempting and completing the challenge of "can I make myself so overly uncomfortable that I need to lay down for extended periods of time to try and breathe normal again". It's not a fun game, but I play it every year on Thanksgiving and every year I'm victorious, and here's why:

First up is the antipasto where I go ham - Italian ham that is. Prosciutto, salami, pepperoni, like 3 kinds of cheeses, and a variety of veggies (HEALTHY). Drench everything in dressing and boom! And if that wasn't enough, this is where I throw back a minimum of 3 pieces of pepperoni bread and a ton of potato rolls. Those roles are lethal because they're so tiny! I'll butter one and pop it in my mouth like a Skittle and eat it before I finish buttering the next one.

This round of food is where I CLEAN UP. I actually cooked the sauce this year and did a pretty decent job if I do say so myself. Stuffed shells (or any other cheese filled pasta) are my weakness so I always eat more than the recommended serving of 1 or 2. Throw on a couple of meatballs and cover it all in grated cheese and that's what I'm all about. I made it clear that this round is where I CLEAN UP, so after the food is gone, I use a few of those heavenly potato rolls to clean up the remaining sauce on my plate. Just doing my part with the dishes.

BEER. Lots and beer throughout the day ranging from Magic Hat IPAs to Sam Adams Holiday Porters to Guinness to whatever else.

 

After a full 15 rounds we go to the judge's scorecard and he tells me the fight didn't even start yet. Those were all under card fights and now it's time for the main event: TURKEY. At this point I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open, breathing, and really functioning as a normal human being in any way. I'm having such a tough time with life that sitting down is a 5 minute process. But it's Thanksgiving so it's time to suck it up and get out there. Turkey, corn, stuffing, and ridiculously buttered and creamy homemade mashed potatoes. Every bite was so good but every bite brought me one step closer to falling asleep and not waking up again. I took care of just about everything before passing out on the couch like I was legit dead. Challenge Accepted and Challenge Complete. Oh, and after 45 minutes or so, it was time to go to my aunt and uncle's for dessert. It's a modern day miracle I'm able to write this post and I'm not still on the couch or in a hospital somewhere. Thanksgiving, you've done it again! 



Pre-Thanksgiving Feast

I'm taking a break from my Travel Season recap to pay RESPECT to a holiday that gets overlooked due to Christmas. Most people think I don't care about Thanksgiving because I get geeked up about Christmas, but those people would be idiots. Christmas has a season and Thanksgiving has a day. Today is all about Turkey Day (and Christmas... I may or may not have bought a gift for my Aunt and Uncle this morning). I've been up and after it with mia madre since 5:00am starting the turkey, making sauce, and so on. But this post is about last night's dinner.

Honey Ham for days, rice, broccoli, PEPPERONI BREAD, apple sauce, and more. I eat at a ton of great places, but nothing beats coming home to my mother's cooking. Seriously, if I knew a girl who cooked as well as my mom or had a mom that cooked like this, I'd propose on the spot just to lock up this type of cooking.

And while I'm at it, I just had one of my mom's legendary omelets. I honestly don't get it. I watch her make it, ask her step by step what she's doing and why, yet I can never duplicate the final product. The cheese and bacon in this thing surpass what you see on 2 double quarter pounders. A few of my friends have experienced this and can back me up. Best. Cook. Ever. (Although my friend Frank Rinaldi is a head chef and owns his own restaurant down in NC, I think I might take her cooking over his, but don't tell him)

Top Spots This Travel Season

This year I had the pleasure of traveling all over the world recruiting for Western New England and looking back, there are a few places that stick out that I absolutely loved eating at.  First, let me clarify that "traveling all over the world" actually means "traveling to Long Island and different parts of NY", but it's the same thing.

For this post, I just want to highlight my three favorite places I went to this travel season as well and the three worst.  A lot of them will be mainstream places, but that doesn't mean they're not worthy of visiting.

Where would I be without Miller's Ale House?  Outside of Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and Target, I have the most receipts from good old Miller's.  There's really nothing crazy special about this place, but it was where I spent a few Sundays watching football with a lot of good people on the road.  They have good beer, better food (love me some Zingers), and just a great atmosphere which is why I kept going back for me.  Plus, how can you beat a place that has New England clam chowder in a bread bowl?  Always a great warmup before diving into some wings.

Up next would be Dave and Buster's aka an adult playground!  I'm so happy there was more than one location on Long Island because this place is seriously a ton of fun.  The food is nothing special, but everything else is.  So what if I'm banned from Chuckie Cheeses because I'm "too old to be in there".  I have Dave and Buster's which is 10 times more fun!  I'm pretty sure I went here 3 times in 2 days because the chicken strips aren't bad at all and I wanted to run around and win tickets.  I did find out a few things about myself...
1- I am not as good as I thought I was at air hockey (although I'm still the champ)
2- Trivia is not my game (it's ridiculous how many times I finished 3rd or 4th out of 5 people)
3- Bartenders can be the coolest people in the world if you have a good one (Joan aka J-Smooth)
4- Said bartender gets even cooler when she calls you by your college nickname "BiG"
5- Not one of my friends is a decent Connect 4 player

 Last, but certainly not least is a place that I drove by for 3 years and kept passing on stopping at.  The Double O Grill might be my new favorite place to eat in the Fishkill/Poughkipsee area.  Perfect blend of a diner/restaurant/bar/lounge.  Really cool on the inside as evidenced by the picture, and the staff is fantastic.  After I ate there I immediately regretted not stopping there the past 3 years.  A more detailed recap of this place will come in the next week or so...

Those were my favorite 3 places (although there were plenty of other places I could have picked), but I also have to mention the worst.  I blogged about it a few months ago, but the Majestic Diner was a big flop.  The main reason is as follows:

 This is garlic bread with cheese.  This is what I ordered and this is what I wanted.  Instead, I was given the following:

 These are waffle fries with cheese.  Although I absolutely 100% LOVE WAFFLE FRIES, I did not order them.  This picture is also a random one I found online.  I feel the need to say that because the fries I had weren't anywhere near that good looking.  In addition to this debacle, no one I ate with FINISHED THEIR MEAL.  And, to top it off, a few of those meals were SALADS... RYAN.  I guess it "serves" us right for not making a reservation anywhere...

I Guess I Gained Some Weight

Travel season for me officially ended this past Friday when I took the ferry back from Long Island and drove to my home in CT.  Definitely a bittersweet moment because I love travel, but I was definitely happy to sleep in my own bed and start to have some sort of routine again with my life.  After it's all said and done, it looks like I brought a little something extra home with me from travel besides hundreds of dollars worth of Christmas gifts that I already bought (link to find the Christmas Tree Shop closest to you!).

I weighed myself before leaving for travel in September and then again this past weekend when travel was over and sweet mother of mercy did I gain weight.  Gaining weight while traveling for work is inevitable because I'm FORCED AGAINST MY WILL to eat out.  It's also very easy to add bacon to everything and order dessert when the money doesn't come out of your own pocket.  Long story short, I packed on 13 pounds.

Yikes... not a good look.  But things could be worse so I'll take that unlucky 13 and knock em off in no time.  The important thing to remember here is that I enjoyed the hell out of the ride.  My next few posts (I'm thinking 3-4) will recap my travel season in its entirety so I can pick out the highlights, my favorite places to eat, and the 10 Commandments of Travel Season.

Why I Haven't Gotten Sick

As soon as I post this I'll probably start getting sick, but I figured I would let everyone in on my lil secret. Instead of ordering a giant, unhealthy meal at a diner or a restaurant, yours truly is ordering some sort of soup to warm himself up and regulate his system.

Today I went with a chicken motzah ball soup, but I usually order all kinds ranging from the classic chicken noodle to clam chowder to french onion. That's how I stay healthy and tissue free, but I would obviously order my meal too. Nothing wrong with a little soup as a warm up to warm you up before diving into a french dip or a Reuben!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AMERICA

Everyone knows I love food. I love eating food, cooking food, and buying food to either eat or cook and then eat, but what you're about to see crosses the line.

Why would you ever want a Mountain Dew and Doritos cupcake? Why? That doesn't make any sense people!! I mean I put bacon and/or ranch on just about anything, but a Mountain Dew and Doritos cupcake? Is this real? I'm kind of sad that America made this happen. And with that being said, I'm off to google this cupcake and hopefully I can but one near me. After all, I do like Mountain Dew and Doritos...

Breakfast, Lunch, AND Dinner

 

I had to work this past weekend at Western New England's Open House, but the beauty of working on the weekend means I can eat in the all-you-can-eat cafe! Instead of just getting brunch or going straight for lunch since it was 1:00pm, I decided to get a little bit of everything.

I definitely went heavy with breakfast by getting a few servings of homefries, a couple slices of ham, and two eggs over easy with cheese. Then came lunch via a turkey, bacon, ranch wrap which was "ok". Finally came the chicken marsala for dinner. Only got 2 or 3 pieces, but it was definitely worth saving room for! Dare I say that I can't wait for the December Open House?!?!

Hurricanes and Blizzards

Do you think I'm afraid of them?  Well, a little.  I've been camped out at my hotel in Fishkill, NY for both Hurricane Sandy (not to be confused with El Nino) and whatever stupid name this snow storm was dubbed and all I've been able to do is watch the carnage brought to the east coast by Mother Nature.  Flooding, fires, and just crazy amounts of destruction all over the place makes me happy that I've been staying inside a warm (not really so warm because I have the AC on down at 65 degrees) hotel that has power.  In order to combat Mother Nature, I've been ordering massive amounts of food from this place called Antonella's that delivers no matter what it's like outside.  Here's a sample of what's been brought to me:

 

When I get snowed in or hurrianced in, I like to go all out and order a lot of food in case I can't order anything the next day.  Unfortunately that means all the food gets delivered at one time and I end up eating most, if not all of it while laying on my bed watching The Office on my laptop.  For this round, I ordered Chicken Francese, a Caprese Bruschetta, and Garlic Bread w/ Cheese.  Little did I know that my meal came with a side of pasta, a side salad, two things of fresh bread, AND two orders of garlic knots for the price of OTH (on the house).  I almost cried when the guy handed me a pizza box full of food and two additional bags of food on top.

Another order was Chicken Parm where I again got a side of pasta, a side salad, and a small loaf of Italian bread.  It really pays to order the entree from one of these places because you get so much bonus food you won't know what to do with it.  And when I say "you won't know what to do with it", I mean those reading it and not me.  I knew what to do and that was eat it all and then slip into a food coma.

Two things I want to point out that are really funny to me when I order in are the expressions on the delivery guys' faces and the utensils and plates I get.  When I open the door to sign the receipt for the delivery guy he always looks confused.  I'm assuming he expected to see a family of four in my hotel room waiting for food and not just one guy.  Going with that, the restaurant I order from always gives me six of seven sets of utensils, plates, and napkins.  Again, I think these places think that this is too much for one person to order, but what are ya gonna do.  Hungry times call for hungry measures.  LAY OFF ME I'M STARVING.

Randy's Wooster Street Pizza - MVF

It's no secret that Man v. Food on the Travel Channel is one of my favorite shows.  Adam Richman is living my dream by traveling around the country and sampling the best that restaurants have to offer while getting paid to do so.  I hate that man so much because I want his life, but anyways, this was one of his many stops.  Randy's Wooster Street Pizza was actually where he did a 10 pounds stuffed pizza challenge that I was going to try, but instead we ordered the Galaxy 500 which was actually a larger yet lighter pizza.

This pizza was massive and you wouldn't know it just by looking at this picture so I had Drew do his best to give you a point of reference:

This picture doesn't even do it justice, but the moral of the story is the pizza was HUGE.  My first thought was that this pizza was gonna suck because of how big it was.  Most challenges I've tried or seen usually taste "ok" because the restaurant wants you to enjoy it, but also wants you to fail at the challenge so they can make money.  A certain restaurant in Connecticut that has a burger challenge makes their last patty taste awful so by the time you get to it, you are completely turned off from eating it.  Not gonna name names, but the point is this pizza was delicious from start to finish.  Take a look at how they layered the toppings:

That's how you do it!  That's how you put toppings on a pizza!!!  Pepperoni, bacon, and I think we did meatball/hamburger... drooling right now thinking back to how great this was.  Noticed the toppings to open cheese ratio in this picture.  Not a lot of cheese is showing which means they did a great job layering the hell outta this pizza with toppings.  Again, I didn't try the challenge, but the pizza is very good and worth going back to either try the challenge or at least try the unique pizza combinations that they have to offer.

Planet Wings - Population Me

After driving up and down Route 9 in NY for 20 minutes trying to find a diner I haven't been to, I gave up and settled on Planet Wings in Fishkill, NY. If I knew the quality of food they had before going in, I would have picked this place over a diner any day of the week.

I guess Planet Wings is a chain "fast food" place so I'm mad I broke my streak of not going to them, but it is what it is. I actually waited like 10 minutes for my food, which is unacceptable for fast food, but it was worth the wait. I ordered 10 boneless buffalo wings (they gave me 16), a "philly" cheese steak with bacon, and something called smilie fries. The first 2 things were good, but the smilie fries were outta this world. Crispy on the outside and smushy potato goodness on the inside... And I may or may not had them covered in cheese. I was definitely smiling after eating them and wished I ordered another few dozen of em.

Port Royale Grill - Man v. Food

TIME TO STEP IT UP!  Although this happened a few days ago, I obviously didn't blog about this until now.  Once I saw the episode of Man v. Food where Adam Richman went to Long Island and took on the Davey Jones' Locker Challenge, I knew I had to make a stop here and give it a shot too.

So I sit down, grab a menu, and am ready to open that locker door and attack all the delicious seafood that's inside.  But then I see the price...  Probably not the best idea to charge a $95 meal on my company card.  In theory, if I beat the challenge it would have been free, but if there's one thing I hate more than failing an eating challenge it's failing an eating challenge and having to pay for that meal with my own money.  Instead, I decided to act like a normal person and I ordered the crab cake burger.

Again, my stomach got the best of me because I had a nice cup of shrimp/corn soup (actually called shrimp/corn soup because our waitress didn't know the proper name of it) and Ant ordered some great tasting buffalo wings that I politely helped him with, but they are not pictured.  Overall this was a pretty decent meal.  The crab cake was fantastic, the side red mayo spread was ok, and I went with regular fries because Jenn ordered sweet potato ones ahead of me.  The secret part about this meal was the maple mustard crazy hybrid dipping sauce that I got on the side.  Holy hell was that a good call.  It literally made everything taste 3x as good.  I would equate that to ordering buffalo wings and then getting ranch to dip them in.  Instant upgrade to the meal.

Mamma Mia!

Here we go again!  And no I'm not referencing that classic gem of a song by Abba, but rather the final family style dinner I had at Mama Sbarro's on Long Island for this travel season.  Just thinking about it brings a tear to my eye for a variety of reasons.  It was great food, even better service, I laughed uncontrollably several times during the meal for no reason, and because this was the birthplace of Jeeves Got Iced aka ALC Long Island.

This time around it was Ant, Jenn, Sam, and myself and we again went with the family style option of each person ordering a meal and us all sharing.  I would have pictures of the appetizers, but one thing led to another and when the food (mozzarella and corazza and fried calamari) was put in front of us, my mind went elsewhere.  As for our main course, it was more or less a Murderer's Row rather than a normal order.

Jenn led off with Penne a la Vodka which was a fantastic choice.  No words needed to describe it because it was just a solid dish.  Next up was Ant with a familiar favorite (I actually just order Chicken Marsala for lunch - it's 2:50 so it's a late lunch...) but with a twist.  Instead of going chicken because of what I ordered, he went Veal Marsala.  The only thing that comes to mind when thinking back on this meal is the word tender.  The veal literally melted in your mouth.  We'll throw my meal up next which was the always reliable, battle tested Chicken Parm.  What's awesome about Mama Sbarro's Chicken Parm was that I got a massive plate with two huge chicken cutlets covered in cheese and sauce.  A bonus was it came with a side of pasta and instead of going with a normal order or ziti or spaghetti, I threw a curveball and asked for my favorite pasta which is gnocchi.  Our waitress say it coming a mile away and told me it would be extra, but then came back and said no charge for the substitute... too bad that can't happen all the time, but it was well worth it!  And batting cleanup was Sam with a clam over pasta dish.  Do I remember the name of it?  Nope, but I do know when you bat cleanup you need to be ready to knock it out of the park and that's just what this dish did.  Mix in a glass of red wine and it was just a great way to close out Long Island travel.

EXTRA INNINGS!!!  I'm actually gonna take a moment here to apologize for all the awful baseball references.  I'm kind of stuck in my hotel for today and tomorrow and I've seen Sportscenter like 7 times and they keep showing the same highlights of the Giants winning the World Series last night.  Nothing I can do but watch that so yea....

Anyways, we go to the pen and hopefully close out this blog with a bang!  Ant ordered an espresso truffle that came with ice cream, I stuck to ordering classic Italian food and went with a canoli (not as good as Avventura's in Waterbury, but I'm biased), and Jenn and Sam split a little pastry/cake/thingy.  I feel like I always forget what other people order when I go out and eat with them and try and blog about it later, but I do remember trying a few bites and it was quite tasty.  In fact, all of those desserts were non-fat just like the frozen yogurt I had today.  Obviously that's a lie, but another round of strawberry for me and my friends!

Pumpkin Bread

I love it, i need it, and cant live without pumpkin bread. But, the pumpkin bread at Starbucks is sub par at best. There I was, trying to experience a nice supplement to my pumpkin spiced latte, and I got a mediocre slice of pumpkin bread. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I was hoping for a nice, moist, delicious piece of pumpkin bread, but received a dry, almost brittle slice of grossness. Looks like I need to stick to the coffee...

A Nice Formal Dinner

I wish I read the title of this post before actually going to Baci, the restaurant that this post is about, because I might have classed things up a bit.  While staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Westbury, NY, I felt the need to go have a "nicer" dinner than the usual room service or Subway and Baci was suggested by the concierge.  Since this was a Friday night, all of my fellow road warriors from the field of Admissions had left for the weekend except for Rachel McAdams Sam, so we got together and walked down and around the corner to Baci.

We figured it was a "nice" restaurant, but when we walked in, we quickly realized that jeans and a T-Shirt didn't cut it.  Everyone looked a lot nicer than us and by comparison, it looked like we were members of the lower class who just declared bankruptcy.  Good thing neither of us cared and we walked right in and got a table.  Overall it was a really nice place and the food wasn't bad either.

Sam ordered something and I kind of forget what it was, but I'm thinking it was calamari over linguini with white sauce and a glass of red wine on the side.  Some would say that dish looks really boss, but that's because you haven't seen what I ordered!

BOOM.  Spinach and cheese raviolis.  I was hesitant to pull the trigger on this one, but I decided to switch things up from my favorite Italian dish of chicken parm and I'm happy I did.  I'll be honest, when my dish was placed in front of me all I could think of to say was "yeash" which was somewhat of a happy yes mixed with a simple acknowledgement of the food arriving.  I very rarely have pasta with a green sauce of any kind, but it smelt delicious, so I went for it.

All in all it was a pretty delicious meal.  If you're ever in the Westbury, NY area on Long Island, be sure to check this place out if you're interested in a "nicer" dinner than usual.  Just remember to stay in work clothes (if you dress business casual for work) and if you bring an umbrella, don't forget it in the restaurant.  To close this post out, I feel like ending with a nice homage to The Office and therefore bring you Lazy Sunday.  I'm hoping that this post is an A or an A+... but I completely forgot that there is an A++.  Enjoy!