Vicuña Chocolate Cafe and Factory

Vicuña Chocolate Cafe and Factory

15 Main St.

Peterborough NH

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Afew days ago, i was sitting at home watching a local magazine style show that focuses on places and people all over my beloved granite state, when something caught my eye, now its not uncommon for them to feature things out here in my part of the state, we are after all an artistic and musical mecha of sorts, well for New Hampshire anyway, but this had nothing to do with that, this had to do with a local woman named Neely Cohen, all around titan in the pastry and chocolate world as well as a former winner on the Food Network program "Sweet Genius", who with a kickstarter campaign started Vicuña Chocolate Cafe and Factory in a small hole in the wall sized shop literally 4 minutes from where i live in Peterborough. Now, i do love my chocolate, blame my mom's love of dark chocolate for that, and i do love to share wonderful places to go or buy amazing things to eat, and the idea of one of these places literally being down the street from me pushed this place right to the front of my must see line. And oh my god am i glad i did that.

Now going in, I knew that this place was an everything made on properly type of location, their chocolate bars are made in house, their pastries are made in house as well, as is some of their more unique items, they are the only place in New Hampshire, and by a quick googling, one of the only places in the US, where you can sit in the cafe, and partake of an old world tradition that is starting to make a come back the world over, drinking chocolate, think of it like a purer form of hot chocolate or hot coco, they also are one of the only places I am aware of that offers a tea made from the husk of the Cocoa pod from which the beans used to make chocolate comes from, tea being a secret passion of mine, I'd never heard of this before, apparently its very healthy for you, which is nothing new, well atleast to the those in the know on the whole "dark chocolate is good for you" movement.

We went in first thing on a Sunday morning, before the crowds showed up, i like to do that, it gives you time to look around and really get a good look at the place. We met Neely the owner, who was very friendly and talkative, and incredibly knowledgeable about her craft, and when you look into her history with chocolate, which goes far beyond winning a competition show on Food Network, way beyond, she has actually picked cocoa pods at the very farm where she gets her supplies from. There is even a place in the cafe were you can watch the staff making the chocolate on property, they weren't working when we went in, but I would assume it gives the place a sort of magical Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory like feel, but you know, with out a creepy boat ride through a tunnel or midgets that are forced to work there for asylum from the ravages of their homeland or any of the many unsafe dangers Wonka had on property. Honestly, if we had more time, i would have loved to sit and try their drinking chocolate, it smelled so very good, plus it seems like the kind of experience i need to have in life, sitting down, with a nice chocolate and coco nib brownie and having some drinking chocolate, sounds old timey, but awesome. My only real complaint about the cafe itself is it felt like it needed arm chairs, but i guess with their product the stains would be insane to clean. Oh well. Still a great place honestly.

 

As for their products, I mean thats why we're all interested in this anyway isn't it? They sell their in house made chocolate bars, chocolate chip and sea salt cookies, coco nib brownies, drinking chocolate, poor over coffee and cocoa husk tea. Now let me first tell you this, the coco nib brownies, are with out a doubt, the greatest brownie I have EVER had. They are moist and batter like inside, while still full of flavor from the nibs, and from the perfectly crispy outside, i seriously wanted to keep eating them till i couldn't handle putting anything else in my stomach, they were amazing, and honestly worth the drive to this place alone. The chocolate chip and sea salt cookies are just as amazing, a nice crisp bottom, a nicely golden browned top, with nothing but moist cookie dough like inside with giant chunks of chocolate, and just enough sea salt on the outside to make it taste amazing, i really wish she had these and the brownies in dozens, I'd go broke, but I really wish she did, it would be a gold mine. I honestly would love to go back for some of their drinking chocolate and husk tea, they seem incredibly good by the way they smelled from behind the counter. But really, you're all wondering about the chocolate bars themselves aren't you? They offer five kinds of chocolate bars, of which, they are made with bolivian dark chocolate, which is about 80% pure, too those that don't know, 80% pure is as close to pure chocolate as you will ever get, they mix the ground up coco beans that make the chocolate with only pure cane sugar grown not far from the cocoa beans themselves, which means you're getting a chocolate bar thats chocolate content is honestly possibly the most pure you will find anywhere in the world. As for their five flavors, they are pure chocolate, sea salt, yellow chili, coffee, and nib flavored, and now and then they make limited editions, when we went in, we got the last two of their honey and candied ginger bars, which btw, were like heaven in chocolate form. Seriously, you all need to try this stuff atleast once, its truly amazing, and ever so good, honestly there aren't enough words for how good the bars are, I am actually drooling abit wanting to go back for more while I type this, which really is something.

 

So the big question, is it all honestly worth it? Now I will say this, though the brownies and cookies were reasonably priced, between $3 to $4 per, which isn't all that bad, for the chocolate bars themelves, it is a case of paying extra for the high end quality, the fact there are only two things in the bars you are gonna pay for the purity, the bars are around $9.50 ot do per bar, which I am sure some of you just had a heart attack over, but honestly think about the quality of what you're getting, a chocolate bar that has only chocolate and pure cane sugar in it and is between 80% to 85% pure, which is about as pure as you can get with chocolate anywhere in the world, anywhere, and as most of you know, for that kind of quality, you do have to pay abit more for. So in the bigger picture its abit pricy, but you won't regret it, so its more of a not every weekend thing like the brownies or the cookies, but still a great treat. Honestly once you get to Vicuña and you try all they have, you won't be surprised why, though they are only open on weekends, and only in business sense last October, they've already been in Bon Appetit Magazine, New Hampshire Magazine, The Boston Globe, and many other publications both local, national and international. So if you're ever up around my little town in the middle of nowhere on a weekend, and you feel like trying something sweet and unique, then give Vicuña a try, honestly, you will fall in love, just as i did..... seriously i want one of their brownies like right now.... like RIGHT now.

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Chris

George's Deli

George's Delicatessen

1224 Gorham St.

Lowell, MA

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I know its been abit of time sense I sat down and wrote a review here, something i hope to change because I do love to do these, and I love the feedback I get from all of you who read what i write here, all the thank yous and suggestions. So with that said, I figured my first review of 2015 would be something special, not just a rare hidden jewel that most might just look past with no second thought, but a place that is special to me personally, and when I think of such a place, there is only one answer that comes to mind, a small out of the way place by the name of George's Deli, a place thats as much a part of my family as it is a part of the city from where we originate, you see, as we recently figured out in preparation for this review, my family has been going to George's for 46 of their 48 years in business. Its the first place most of us ever had take out from, and probably the one place you can get us all to go too in large groups now.

 Don't mind my mother and my uncle jeff in the shot, this was the closest i could get of a clear shot at the counter
all day, they were pretty busy when we went.

At first glance George's might seem like just your average small run down local neighborhood submarine sandwich shop with a slant toward Italian food, and to some degree that is exactly what it is, but yet, its also alot more, you see unlike most sub shops they make all of their subs to order, and put them together with the care that only comes from being in business for almost 50 years time. To put it as someone I took there once said after their first time "This ain't no Subway, thats for damn sure.". Though they do bring in some things, stuff like french fries and small things like that, they make the stuff that matters in house, as any place that wants to stay around as long as George's has should. For George's their key in house made product is their tomato sauce, and judging by the things they put it on, they are well aware of just how good it is.

You would think that like most places in the same field as George's that they would have one signature thing on the menu, you know, a draw, a thing you can't get anywhere else and people will drive for miles to get, but if you ask my family, and others who know of this little gem of a place to eat, you'll get a different answer from each person to what that is. To me personally, its what i got on our recent visit there, and what i get most of the time, the veal cutlet sub, or to some veal parmigiana, I like it served with extra sauce and provolone cheese, and a large plate of fries to stuff in the sub for extra yum factor, and because making food touch grosses out my aunt laurie, who just made a crinkly nose face when she read that, there is just something perfect about the way they make the sub, nicely fried breaded veal, just swimming in cheese and sauce, its honestly the only way I've ever had veal and truly enjoyed it. I also love their steak and cheese sub, but we'll get to that in a minute. If you ask my mom what she feels is their signature, she'll tell you either what she ordered when we went, the meatball sub, in house made meatballs cooked on a big flat grittle, then dropped into a sub roll and stuffed with cheese of your choice, and as you can guess, swimming in their home made tomato sauce, like i told you, they know what brings the people in and keeps them coming back, though my mother will also tell you her truest love on their menu is their traditional torpedo. Though some regions call it a ham and cheese, or some call it an Italian, in truth the torpedo is a hybrid of the two, made with ham, salami, cheese, tomatoes, shredded lettuce and normally abit of Italian dressing, my mother will tell you, she can not find anywhere that makes one the way George's does, I've seen her ask at other places, they really have clue how to get it right, much to her sadness. My uncle got what we around here call a Steak Bomb, I'm not sure if the term is universal or just a regional thing, but its a steak and cheese sub, which is a definitively east coast american classic, with peppers and onions, which yes, smelled as good as it sounds, even though i personally am not a peppers and onion person, well to be fair, its more that they don't like me more then i don't like them.

So you must be wondering, why would I review a place that by all accounts just seems like a little hole in the wall place that isn't really all that high end or stand out to the average food lover out there (for realz, i hate the term "foodie" btw), and the answer is very simple, to me, this is where it all began, most people's first non-homemade food is a place like Burger King or McDonald's, mine was here at George's, and sure, you could dismiss it as just some little out of the way sub shop, but to me, and more so, to my family, it'll never be that, its so much more then that, and sure as we all have grown older and spread out as we have, found other places we love to eat, if you mention to one that you're going to George's, and ask if they wanna go with you, you'll more then likely get a yes as an answer. So if you're ever down in Lowell, and you wanna get a feel of what the city's food scene is really all about, head up by George's, sure its across the street from a graveyard, and its small, but you won't be let down, i promise you won't. Plus, chances are atleast one person in the dinning room will be related to me, which, for some is kind of a bonus.

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Chris

Papa Joe's Humble Kitchen

Papa Joe's Humble Kitchen

237 South St

Milford, NH

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I guess this week has become a rarity for me, more then one review in the same week, and more so, two of those reviews, are of the same kind of place, a lovely little out of the way burger joint in the middle of my lovely valley that most of my state doesn't know exists, btw, my third review will be probably tomorrow and something totally different, but anyway back to this. After my review of Local Burger afew days ago, I was pointed in the direction of a place that is literally a little roadside burger spot, its called Papa Joe's Humble Kitchen, and I figured with it not being to far away, and I never being one to pass up a burger, because, you know, being american, I would give this little out of the way spot a go. And my oh my am I glad that I did. I must admit through I was expecting traditional stuff you would find at a roadside diner, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, ect, i was not expecting to find such high quality and lovely versions of it.

Literally just off the highway in Milford New Hampshire, in what looks like a small house converted into a small diner with pretty ample outdoor seating, is a little place called Papa Joe's Humble Kitchen, at first, it looks kind of like you might be in the wrong place, or maybe you're in some kind of general store converted from a home, or some other crazy thing that you would see in a small town like this, believe me, up here, I've seen homes turned into many a crazy form of store or place to eat, I think its a new england thing honestly. When you walk in the door to Papa Joe's you notice first how small the place is, and though thats not really a deal breaker, I've had some of the best food i can think of in the smallest places along the side of the highway, and honestly, I kind of was digging the whole few small tables and a makeshift lunch counter with chairs and the open kitchen right there infront of you feel, there is something authentic and truly american about such places, and i kind of worry sometimes these kind of places to eat are dying out, which honestly would be a real shame.

The menu at Papa Joe's really isn't that large, afew specialty burgers, side from your standard fair of regular burgers, double burgers and bacon cheeseburgers, they also have "the taco burger" which is a burger seasoned with taco seasoning, and served with salsa, sour cream and cheese, "the oriental cowboy", which is a burger with teriyaki, wasabi ranch dressing, chinese noodles, and coleslaw, "the cardiac burger" which is a double burger with genoa salami, pepperjack cheese, onion rings, cheddar cheese, bacon, jalapenos, lettuce and creole mayo, and "The Spartan Burger", a cheeseburger covered in barbecue sauce, a hot dog, bacon, onion rings and lettuce. The Spartan is a burger created to celebrate the local high school basketball team won the state high school basketball championship. There are also burgers named after, what i am assuming are the owners kids, "Matt's Steakhouse Burger", with cheese, bacon, onion rings, and ranch dressing, and a "Kelsey Burger" which is basically a buffalo burger, oh and they have a veggie burger incase you know some prius driving hippie who doesn't really care for any kind of meat.

Their sides, though also not a large amount, are pretty awesome, aside from five kinds of french fries; regular, bacon and cheese, chili, buffalo and ranch, and cajun, style, they also offer sweet potato fries, onion rings, and poutine, that weird crazy canadian thing with gravy and cheese curds, they also offer both a regular and chili and cheese hot dog option, you can also get fried pickles, fried chicken tenders, a bowl of chili, a BLT, a grilled cheese, they also offer salads and afew cold sandwiches as well, if you're not up for the off the griddle stuff. They also have an incredibly large take home and catering menu, which you can order or buy at the diner itself, and though I didn't try any of these, so be able to fairy assess them, I will admit, i kind of wish afew of the things on those menus were available in the diner itself, all they seemed to be missing for a perfect menu for their kind of location was some chicken wings, shepard's pie, meatloaf, this creation of theirs called "chicken cobbler", and afew other things, as well as desserts, all of which were available in their expanded take home/catering menu, but to be fair, faulting them for such choices would be kind of silly and down right bitchy, but who knows, maybe they'll change these things down the road, time will tell right?

My mother, who once again joined me on this adventure in stomach filling, ordered The Spartan and a small order of onion rings, I ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger with pickles, some chicken tenders and the bacon and cheese fries, unaware that the chicken tenders came on a bed of fries, which was ok, it allowed us to try two different kind of fries as well as the onion rings, we each got a diet coke and sat down and watched the awesome show that is cooking in a small roadside eatery like this. The cook and his two children, who i am assuming were the other workers were amazing in what they did, one kept prepping, the other worked the counter and prepped, and as is the normal main attraction at such an establishment, the cook went to work. I wasn't paying total attention to what he was doing, but i gotta tell you, this guy is amazing at what he does, he seasons the burgers with, what I am guessing, is a form of steakhouse spice rub, or maybe one of the many dry rub barbecue mixes out there, whatever it was gave the burgers the perfect mix of griddle and almost a smokey like flavoring, its like I've said before, its all about the seasoning when it comes to using fresh beef vs. prepackaged, and you can tell how much a cook cares by how well a burger is seasoned, sometimes they go overboard, and thats ok, but this time, not the case, perfect, with just the right amount of grease to give it that true "side of the highway" feel, honestly thats something you can't bottle, you have it, or you don't. the bacon was a nice middle ground, crispy and flavorful, but not to crunchy, and not all the fat cooked out, honestly thats the best way you can cook bacon. On The Spartan, the odd addition of the butterflied hot dog makes the burger a whole new thing, as it was said, its like going to a cook out and having everything all at once, so much so, i apparently need to try it myself when we go back again. The sides, honestly were perfect, the fries were light and crispy, often times in this kind of diner you find the fries are just heavy lead like balls of grease, and when you add the cheese and bacon, they just become magically good, though they use pre-melted cheese, or as a friend overseas calls it "vat cheese", thats fine, normally cheese wouldn't give you the same flavor or texture, plus its real chopped up bacon, which kind of makes up for it. The Onion Rings were pretty light and crunchy, also made on properly, i am rather picky about my onion rings, i like mine with thin slices of onion, these were alittle thick for me, but my mom liked them, infact she couldn't keep stop eating them till she forced herself too, always a good sign when that happens. The chicken was also pretty amazing, nicely cooked inside and out, crispy outside fluffy light inside, nice and tasty, I wasn't aware they came with fries, which is something they might wanna tell you on the menu, but as i said before, that was just a welcome surprise. Honestly the food was pretty damn good, specially for a place that looks like it was made out of someone's grandparents house.

So I guess the big question is, if you're driving by this little roadside, and you are feeling abit hungry, should you stop in and have a bite, or drive about 5 minutes south and into the center of Milford where there are some award winning places to eat all in one large circle, well the answer is simply, YES. See, lovely little hole in the walls like this are a dying breed here in america, oh sure there are those that are surviving and doing well, and you see them on local, regional or national television, but these small ones that don't really have big followings, or that many aren't aware of, are dying out. And honestly, the food here is far too good to let fade, sure I don't see Papa Joe's going away anytime soon, but its what it represents, the small place carving out a small niche of space in a landscape littered with fast food that barely serves meat, and doing it for the love of cooking good food for those that love to eat it. And to be honest with you, I can't wait to go back to Papa Joe's, the food, the places to eat, both indoor and out, are such a great location, and its actually a pretty good value too, honestly, if you're up for a drive into the country, where the air is fresh and clear and you can eat some lovely food in a lovely country setting, you should GPS Papa Joe's and give it a try. You will love it. I know I sure did. Oh and if you plan on coming back, get the free burger club card, for every tenth burger you order, you get one free, so if you have kids, that kind of is a great idea... 



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Chris


 

Local Burger

Local Burger

82 Main Street, Railroad Square 

Keene, NH

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I will let you all in on a secret, no matter how hard I might try and hide it by making it sound like i know my stuff about fancy foods and tons of homemade things, deep down, like every all american man, i am a burger guy. i know, shock right? Now when i go out for a burger, though I shamefully admit i have a weakness for a burger king bacon double cheeseburger, most of the time, i would rather go somewhere, abit upper scale, or that is atleast actually made of beef. And though that quest has taken me to many a local burger joint, its only recently taken me to a place, literally called, Local Burger. No, seriously thats its name, and i personally think its brilliant.

 

Located in the heart of Railroad Square in Keene, New Hampshire, is the second location for, what i am assuming is an attempt to expand into a regional chain, with their flagship location being located in downtown Northampton Mass. Local Burger is trying to be, as best i can tell, a somewhat more organic option to those that would wanna go to a higher end burger place like a Five Guys or one of those other higher end chains that are starting to spread out all over the united states. Local boasts locally raised grass fed beef as one of their choices of burger you can get, as well as one from the upper end of the Angus grading scale, though between you and me, i still kind of think the angus grading scale is nothing more then a marketing buzz term, but I digress, they also offer a turkey burger if you're not into beef, as well as a portabello mushroom made burger, and an all beef hot dog, cuz, why not? From these few choices, you can build your burger, or turkey burger or hot dog, or mushroom they're making to think for some reason is a burger even though it will always be nothing more then a horrible horrible mushroom all its life, sadly each topping you add costs a small amount to put on, which i assume is where they "get ya" as people say. but to be fair they do offer a pretty good amount of toppings for a small place, and they aren't all that badly priced per extra, but honestly, I don't like the idea of having to pay afew cents extra for barbecue sauce on my burger when Ketchup is free on the tables, that seems kind of redundant to me.

One of the saving graces of Local Burger though, is their "House Favorites" which is where i am assuming most of their orders come from, as well as their sides, I will get into the sides in alittle bit, but for now, lets have a look at the "House Favorites", again, its a small number of choices, but honestly, they're pretty damn amazing, atleast what we had on our trip in, there is "The Westhampton Burger", which is basically a bacon cheeseburger but with barbecue sauce on the bottom and ranch dressing on the top, in a surprising turn, they've brought the St. Louis staple of the "Juicy Lucy" here, for those that don't know what that is, its a double cheeseburger, fused into one, with the cheese in the middle, its tricky to make because the cheese must be perfectly melted so it oozes when you bite into it, the company's signature burger the "local burger" which is a double bacon cheeseburger with mushrooms and red peppers, both me and my mother who accompanied me on this visit are deathly allergic to mushrooms, so we kind of avoided that and the "amherst burger", which is a portabello mushroom burger, others include the "farmhouse turkey burger", which is a turkey burger with cheese, bacon, and some creation called honey dijon maple mayo, which sounds just amazingly good all things considered, a teriyaki burger which is a regular burger but with a spice of pineapple and teriyaki sauce, a southwestern burger which is just cheese and chili peppers, and because why not give us a curveball, a hot dog coated in Cap'n Crunch cereal and fried, then covered in buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing, because, you know, when you aim at college kids in a college town, hang over food is a must.

For our burgers, I had the westhampton burger, medium rare as a burger should be, the bacon was awesomely cooked, the burger was perfectly seasoned, the roll was even nice and hearty, I like when a place puts that kind of detail into their work, a bun is important even if most don't think its just there, it shows the care they put into putting together their menu, which is always a plus with me, the burger was seasoned great, my guess is salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder on each side as it cooks, honestly it was one of the best burgers I've had in months. My mother, who joined me on this adventure into foodery had the Juicy Lucy, having seen it many times on various tv shows and feeling happy the weekly special wasn't a kangaroo burger (I'll explain later), she got hers with just pickles and a tomato, cuz well thats how she was feeling like rolling today I guess, honestly, watching the cheese ooze out of that stuffed burger and pool in the basket it came in, truly was a thing of beauty, I was actually kind of jealous, well till she broke off a bit and told me i had to try it, this was my first experience with the juicy lucy, and it surely will not be my last, something about the mixing of the burger and the cheese being cooked inside the meat that just makes it so much better, honestly if you ever get a chance to try this thing, do not pass it up, you will regret it.

To go with our burgers we figured we would try some of the sides, their sides, like the burgers aren't very large in number, but thats alright, a small menu keeps a kitchen pretty much ontrack, their sides are truly where their uniqueness shines i think, they consist of; Handcut French Fries, Handcut Sweet Potato Fries served with maple mayo, Beer Battered Onion Rings with spicy ketchup, Fried Pickles with ranch dressing, Cap'n Crunch coated chicken tenders with a choice of afew different sauces either on them or to dip in, and buffalo blu cheese fries, which as you can guess are fries, covered in buffalo and blu cheese sauces. To try and get a good feel of the menu, we tried the regular fries, because a burger joint has to have good fries, the fried pickles, because my mother had never had them before, and the cap'n crunch coated chicken tenders with some honey barbecue sauce on the side, because, seriously how can you not try something like that if its on the menu? Its like begging you to try them. The fries were excellent, they weren't to crispy, and they weren't too soggy, they were seasoned perfectly and really were addictive, but they were no where near as addictive as the chicken tenders though, honestly, us here in the New England region are aware of a certain television food show that uses the term "a dish worth driving too", honestly, i would rive the half hour to Keene just for these tenders, i had no idea grounding up Cap'n Crunch cereal and coating fresh cut chicken tenders with it, then frying them would change the texture and the flavoring so much! but it did! in a good way! I honestly would go back just for that one side alone. Sadly through, the fried pickles, I could not say the same for, they have the same problem that i find most places that make their own pickles have, they can't properly give the pickle the several months it needs to fully transform into a pickle, they always leave them for only afew days, which though it gives you a nice crunchy pickle, doesn't really give you much more flavor then one bite, and afterwards all you taste is cucumber, Local Burger's fried pickles are no different, you get enough pickle taste in your first bite to know what you're eating, then you find yourself not really excited to take the next cucumbery bite because its just to bland, added to the fact they coat them weirdly, I at first thought they used the same cereal they use for the hot dog and the chicken, but I was wrong, this stuff tasted like a mix of flour and sand, but mostly sand, it was very mealy, gritty and lacking any kind of seasoning to compliment or enhance the fried pickle within, honestly, I've never been one to take three of something out of a full order then toss it, but we had no choice, both of us agreed they weren't worth it. Lucky though for Local Burger, that the rest of what we tried of theirs was beyond stellar, it was truly a great meal, and honestly, for two specialty burgers and afew sides, and drinks, coming in at alittle under $40.oo total wasn't all that bad in the bigger picture, and more importantly, when we left, we left happy, not feeling too full or bloated or heavy like sometimes happens at places of this type, I think thats a great sign. Another thing i should mention, though we didn't try the weekly special, this week a burger called "The Twisted Sister", which is a burger with peanut butter, jelly, bacon and sriracha hot sauce on it, if you do alittle looking, you'll see that they have some amazing weekly specials, sometimes even using more exotic meats like Kangaroo and Caribou among other crazy things and crazy combinations, the idea of which really makes me wanna go back soon!

Over all, I would say we had an exceptional time, sure there were afew things that weren't all that good, the things i mentioned, and i could maybe nitpick that the drinks are no larger then a medium at best, but you do get unlimited free refills, so i guess that balances it out, and that the cook times seemed abit long, but,we also were their first customers of the day when they opened today, so maybe that needed alittle time to heat the cooking stuff? I could do that, but honestly, i'd be just looking to find things wrong with a place that is truly a hidden jem amist the rest of the food places in the Railroad Square area of Keene, which is not only the heart of downtown Keene, but where the local state college's main campus is located as well, as you can see by my outdoor shots i made sure to include, the location is killer, right on a main road, you've got a giant common area right next door that during the summer, well on days that aren't raining, are filled with anything from street performers to weird protesters, they also have outdoor seating right there along the main drag under those beautiful trees, seriously there are to many things perfect about this place, honestly if you can, you should take a drive up to Keene and have a look, though i will admit, parking is a pain, but if you don't mind a walk down an old timey main street full of shops and places to eat, there are many parking lots and parking garages along the way, so, make a day of it if you aren't from the area, honestly you wouldn't regret it one bit.

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Chris

Suppa's Pizza And Subs

Suppa's Pizza And Subs

94 University Ave.
Lowell, MA

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I am always looking for something different, but yet, something that feels like home, i think deep down thats what all people who love to try and discover new foods and places to eat truly are doing deep down, in that respect, growing up in Lowell MA, I, like generations before and after me, lived and died by the corner pizza and shop, every neighborhood had one, and people would argue for days over which was the best, you can literally travel across the city and no pizza or sub will taste the same at each little corner place, its amazing really, sure people from larger cities can argue that its the same where they are, but I don't care, its where my adventure in food began, and thats all i really care about honestly. Ofcourse now I am older and living in another state, and able to travel for food if its worth it, but i'm sure you can all imagine the smile on my face, when i started hearing about a little corner pizza and sub shop back in Lowell that was starting to make some rumble on the food tv shows, websites and blogs all over the New England area, its a place called Suppa's, and alot of people are saying its the best in the city, if not the region, and with claims like that, you know i had to give it a look, and oh boy was i glad that i did.

Tucked behind UMass Lowell's main campus, Suppa's from the outside looks like just your average little hole in the wall pizza dive, and well to be fair from the inside as well, the ceiling is low, atleast for a guy my height, and the booths are small and cramped, and not really accessible to the larger people of the world, but thats just a personal thing, I get the feeling most people do take out or delivery from this place, which for what it is, is pretty much par for the course. Honestly, none of that really matters in the bigger picture, what does, is their menu, and whats on it, normally when there is a giant menu that worries me, and normally when on that giant menu they have the word "specialty" in atleast three places; as well as have a gimmick feature of a 3lbs. pizza, thats 3lbs. BEFORE the toppings mind you, thats a sign to run for the hills, run for them fast, run for them and never look back. However, in this case, the large menu and specialty sections are honestly what makes this place amazing, because that little crew that slaves rather tirelessly in the little kitchen this place has, truly makes magic happen, delicious amazing magic. I knew we were in for a good time when, while doing my pre-trip website scouting as i do, there was a list of atleast 20 different things i wanted to try out. That sort of thing never happens, ever. And in truth it just made me more excited for my trip here.

We decided on ordering afew subs and a pizza, to try and get the full range of their food, and because, well it all looked so damn good we just had to try it. I ordered a "Fat Cow" which is Bacon Cheeseburger w/Mozzarella Sticks on Bottom and French Fries on Top, Covered w/ Mozzarella Cheese & BBQ Sauce, a "Fat Chicken" which is Chicken Parmesan w/ Mozzarella Sticks on Bottom and French Fries on Top, a Buffalo Chicken Pizza, which, well is self explanatory, and i just had to try their specialty that got them onto local television, "Steak On A Stick" which, though not on a stick, is infact, basically a steak and cheese sub wrapped in fried dough, and then deep fried, you know, because food is awesome, and if you're gonna die from eating unhealthy, you might as well die happy as can be right? The wait for the food wasn't really all that long, maybe 20 minutes tops, which for three subs and a pizza isn't really all that bad honestly given the size of the operation, and all together cost me about 50 bucks total, which honestly when you see the actual size of what you get per sub and pizza, thats actually pretty good. I have discovered a new rule of life, if the subs come in a pizza box, not in a wrapper or one of those new sub containers, a pizza box, no matter what you order is gonna be a good time. A real good time.

Whats the best way to describe the food? Honestly, I am hard pressed to find a place from memory that might be anywhere near as good at what Suppa's does, their pizzas are incredible, i love the way they make it, not greek style with the big thick crust, not italian with the thin crust, but somewhere in the middle, where you got a nice light fluffy pizza, but a nice thick lovely crust as well, truly its the best of both worlds. As for the subs, well, the Fat Cow was amazing, the burgers were grilled on a charcoal grill with just enough scoring and char to give them the perfect flavor mixed with the moz sticks and the fries, and just enough BBQ sauce to make it interesting, the Fat Chicken, was incredible as well, even though part of my normal order at local favorite Sandwich Master is similar to it, the Fat Chicken stands out as its own and is great, the mix of chicken parm with the moz sticks and fries is every person that wants to mix food genres till they mash just right's dream. Though i will admit they might have added just abit to many fries to both subs, don't get me wrong the fries were amazingly good, perfectly golden and crispy, but by the end they and the cheese on them had sort of formed a cement like wall that almost seemed to much to get through, but again thats a personal nitpick. As for the Steak On A Stick, if you had told me a week ago, i would be raving about what is basically fried dough stuffed full of steak and cheese sub, i would have told you that you were full of crap and made it up, but honestly, i would drive the 2 hours to Lowell JUST for this thing alone, truly its amazing and something i could eat over and over and over and never get tired of, though to be fair the grease would probably kill me eventually. But i would die very very happy. And really, isn't that what we all want in life?

Honestly, I was leery going into Suppa's worrying that the hype might be to much and just overblown, but I was completely surprised and overjoyed to find out everything they said about the place is true, so honestly, if you are down by UMass Lowell, or don't mind the drive down to that part of my hometown, swing by and have a steak on a stick or a sub or pizza, you honestly can't go wrong no matter what you do.

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Chris

Kimball's Farm

Kimball's Farm

158 Turnpike Road (Rt. 124)
Jaffrey, NH

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This is more of a love letter to a family favorite location, and a local tradition, then a review if I am being honest, and i feel thats ok, because sometimes it can't just be about the fancy places to go and have a sit down meal, sometimes things can be about a family that owns 4 dairy farms through out southern New Hampshire and Northern Western Massachusetts, and how once you try it, you will never want ice cream from anywhere else, ever again, because truly, you've found the best there ever has been, and you refuse to subjugate yourself to a lower form of the product. Yes, before you laugh in disbelief, Kimball's Farm ice cream is truly THAT good.

I wrote this because today, for the first time in what seems like well over a decade, my mom and I ventured out to Kimball's Ice Cream, which its attached small time grill and general store, we had gone here most of my life as a child, making the drive from Lowell MA. atleast few times a year, either to the Jaffery one, which is near where i live now, and where the pictures are of, or the location in Westford MA, which i think is the original location. For a city kid like me, it was always a treat, where we were pretty much left with the only choices of ice cream being Dairy Queen, a Frosty from Wendy's, or those trucks that drove around selling ice cream sandwiches and the like, Now thats not to say there is anything wrong with places like Dairy Queen and the like, but you can't get an oreo sundae thats just covered in home made still hot when you get it hot fudge and whipped cream freshly made that day at your local DQ, no matter how hard you wish it to be true. Believe me, I've tried.

What makes Kimball's stand out, isn't really the unique home made ice cream or any of the other things you can get there, for me, its the memories, the drive out there, the whole time wondering what flavor you were gonna get out of the many they have available, if you're gonna get a sundae with cookies and cream, or one with peanut butter chocolate chip, or are you gonna go out in left field and get a bubble gum flavor in a waffle cone, you know, to be different, so many choices, so many to even think, and it was that whole feel, that memory that always brings you back to your childhood. Very few places can do that sort of thing to me, maybe i'll do a series on them, where I go back to places I used to go all the time as a kid but not so much as an adult for one reason or another, "Childhood Favorites" or something like that? I'll think of a name, I'm a creative raggle taggle gypsy if there ever was one.

For those that are wondering what we got, my mother got a hot fudge sundae with peanut butter swirl ice cream, my mom's ice cream weakness is anything with peanut butter in it for anyone thats wondering, and I had what I referenced earlier, a hot fudge sundae with Oreo ice cream and nuts ontop, I should have asked for chocolate sprinkles, or "jimmies" as we call them regionally, but the girl waiting on us was kind of dimwitted and I really didn't wanna make her think to hard, seemed like a nice girl aside from that, and aside from a plastic napkin dispenser attacking my mom randomly, we had a pretty good time, and plan on going back soon, so until then, enjoy these two extra pictures of the scenery...

Truly is a lovely place isn't it? In the middle of those rolling fields and pastures, you'd never guess that right behind this place is the old Jaffery Airport where we used to have epic firework shows, would you? lol It just adds to the charm really. Honestly if you're near by, and want a nice out of the way place thats just so wonderful and such a part of the town its in, and surrounding areas, then come on up to the Jaffery location, or if you're near one of the family's other three locations, hit them up too, honestly you can't go wrong. 

Well thank you all for sticking with me for this little ramble down memory lane, I'll be back with real reviews really soon.

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Chris