Comestiblog

"Seasoned" Greetings 2010

Barneys Holiday Windows 2010

Have a Foodie Holiday is the theme of this year's windows at Barneys New York on Madison Avenue.

We begin with a "revolutionary stew" of innovators and trail blazers:

Left to Right: James Beard, Jamie Oliver, Julia Child, Thomas Keller, and Dan Barber

More star chefs:

Left to Right: Anthony Bourdain, Daniel Boulud, Guy Fieri, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, and Wolfgang Puck

The ladies:

Left to Right: Paula Deen, Rachel Ray, Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, Anne Burrell, Sandra Lee, and Lidia Bastianich

And end with enough coffee to make anyone illy:

Barneys New York

660 Madison Avenue (SW corner 61^st St),
East Side, Manhattan

https://www.barneys.com/

By train:  to 5 Av / 59 St (exit NE corner 60^th St)
By bus:  M1, M2, M3, M4, Q32

Walter's Hot Dog Stand: The Tale That Wags the Dog

It seems that whenever I'm determined to like something, I end up being disappointed.  Walter's Hot Dog Stand in Mamaroneck is the latest example of a place that, in my opinion, does not live up to its superlative reputation.  After a couple of visits, I find myself more bemused than ever by the accolades lavished upon it by such august publications as Gourmet and The New York Times.

My opinions notwithstanding, the lines tell of a success story.  Students from Mamaroneck High School across the street, as well as devotees from much farther afield, happily wait on lengthy queues for singles, doubles, and fries.  The counter is lined with postcards sent from around the world by loyal customers lamenting the absence of "civilized" food in the exotic locales they find themselves.  There is also an impressive array of celebrities—including Bette Davis, Jonathan Winters, Gene Rayburn, Joan Rivers, Jimmy Fallon, and others—who have frequented Walter's over the years.  What draws them all here?

Ornamental carp crown Walter's copper roof and lanterns

One's first impression, even before seeing the menu, is of Walter's distinctive architecture: a Chinese-style pagoda.  A vestige from the days of roadside attractions, the building was erected in 1928, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places earlier this year.  With its oxidized copper roof, ornamental carp, and hanging lanterns, this dog's casing really stands out.  To play up the motif further, the letters on Walter's sign were drawn to resemble Chinese characters, with wieners representing calligraphic strokes.

Walter's single: a split dog with mustard-relish sauce

But is a pagoda enough to attract consistent crowds?  Let's take a closer look inside the bun.  Walter's hot dogs are different.  They're made from a mixture of beef, pork, and veal using a recipe developed by founder Walter Warrington and a local meat company.  (The same patented formula is still used today, albeit now under the manufacture of Boar's Head.)  But wait, there's more.  The franks are split lengthwise, cooked on a griddle with a "secret" butter-based sauce, and served on a toasted bun.  Portion sizes include single ($2.10), double ($4), and diminutive puppy ($1.15) dogs.  Toppings are limited to Walter's proprietary mustard-relish blend (whose latter component is scarcely noticeable), plain brown mustard, and ketchup.  No sauerkraut!

The tail end of a single

Walter's "split dogs" may sound intriguing, but how good are they?  I like a hot dog that is juicy and that snaps when I bite into it.  Splitting it, however, eliminates either possibility.  Furthermore, I find an all-beef content to be tastier than Walter's bologna-like meat blend.  Frankly, I prefer the taste and consistency of Nathan's frankfurters on Coney Island and, of course, the ones in Verona Park.  I don't dislike Walter's hot dogs; I simply don't deem them superior.  "They're … pretty good," I tried to reassure one of my Comestaccomplices.  "They're not pretty good!" was her reply.

Walter's double: twice the dog in one bun

Established by Walter Warrington in 1919, and now under the ownership of his youthful 88-year-old son Gene, Walter's Hot Dog Stand remains a family business.  Peter Fellows, husband of Gene's daughter Jeanne, is the manager.  Sadly, for me, this is a case of the tale wagging the dog.  It's the sort of place I want to love.  I just wish I could.

Walter's Hot Dog Stand

937 Palmer Avenue
Mamaroneck, N.Y.  10543-5410   (map)

http://www.waltershotdogs.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Walters-Hot-Dogs

By train:  Metro-North New Haven Line to Mamaroneck
By bus:  60, 61

Inside New York Eateries

Wijnanda Deroo's fascinating photographic exhibit Inside New York Eateries opened last week at Robert Mann Gallery in Chelsea.  With subjects ranging from plebeian to plush, her images offer a diverse exploration of notable Gotham restaurant interiors past and present.

Except for murals and other decorations, Deroo's photographs contain no human figures, thus allowing the viewer to focus on architecture and furnishings rather than on food and dining.  Moreover, this absence of people creates a unifying tension to her collective work.

Café des Artistes (left), Papaya Dog (right)

Many of the photographs evoke personal memories that span decades.  Who hasn't been to Yonah Schimmel's Knishery, or Lexington Candy Shop?  Or to The Russian Tea Room, 21, Grand Central Oyster Bar, and The Four Seasons?  I still recall pleasant luncheons at Jerry's erstwhile SoHo location, and delightful meals in the spectacular setting of the now-defunct Tavern on the Green.  I also remember romantic dinners at Café des Artistes that were followed by a horse-drawn carriage ride through the park.  My oldest recollection, however, is of the dingy Nom Wah Tea Parlor, an extant Chinatown fixture that looks just as it did half a century ago.

21 Club (left), Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant (right)

Finally, though I've never been to Lederhosen, Deroo's image—a corner table by a kitschy mural of Schloss Neuschwanstein amid the Bavarian countryside—has piqued my curiosity.

Robert Mann Gallery

210 Eleventh Avenue (between 24^th & 25^th Sts),
Floor 10,
Chelsea, Manhattan

(212) 989-7600

Dates:  9 December 2010 - 29 January 2011
Hours:  Tuesday - Saturday, 11:00 A.M. till 6:00 P.M.

Free.

https://www.robertmann.com/

By train:   to 23 Street
By bus:  M11, M12, M23

The Gardens at The Penn Stater Hotel

Though we dined there relatively recently, during the course of an otherwise memorable trip that took us through State College, Pennsylvania, it is with the greatest difficulty that I dredge up any inkling of the Friday evening America's Bounty Buffet at The Gardens Restaurant in The Penn Stater Hotel.  Despite the aid of my photographs and a comprehensive list of buffet items (see below), the dinner we shared remains a virtual blank.  The reason, perhaps, is that this was one of the most banal meals either of us had consumed in recent memory (or lack thereof).  Given the wide variety of offerings—far greater than that of the average buffet—such banality is a remarkable achievement.  My conundrum: how to tell you about something I scarcely remember?  I'll just have to give it the old [state] college try.

Let's start with what is easy to remember.  The setting is lovely: a tastefully decorated dining room divided into intimate spaces with panels of cascading greenery, and full-length windows with views to a well-landscaped courtyard.  Gardens, indeed!  The seating is comfortable, and the service very competent.  Appearances can be deceiving, however.  Our first indication thereof arose from the wine card:  white zinfandel was listed as a rosé.

The buffet ($22.95 per person) consisted of a long table of hot dishes near the kitchen.  Additionally, market carts, scattered in the dining room across from the hot table, overflowed with breads, pâtés, cheeses, fruit, salmon, caviar (and its traditional accompaniments), as well as countless veggie, rice, pasta, and tofu salads.

It all looked quite appealing—if only the food had been as sumptuous as its presentation.  This is where memory becomes sketchy.  As with all the items on the market carts, the breads came in several varieties.  Moist and crusty, none of them disappointed.  Although the cheese selections were rather ordinary, they were reasonably flavorful.  The pâté and salmon selections were presented either whole, or fresh from the mold, but were curiously dry and gamy (we wondered how long they had been prepared beforehand).  Alas, the salmon offerings—usually my favorites—were bland and disappointing.  Things devolved from there.  I tried small samples of several salads, and recall that I enjoyed a couple in particular, but their identity has been lost to me.  The same holds true for the dessert table.  While most of the offerings were too sweet, one item had my Comestaccomplice returning for seconds.

Can banality be disastrous?  Or is that a contradiction of terms?  In any case, between my companion and me, we tasted all but one of the hot dishes and were underwhelmed by nearly every one.

In the case of the steak, we had not only seconds but thirds.  This item was indeed memorable, but for all the wrong reasons.  For one, it was incredibly tough.  Though I abhor wasting food, three failed attempts to find a piece of sirloin I could chew was more than I could swallow.  We did, reluctantly, ingest parts of each serving, if only to avoid the embarrassment of leaving everything over.

The rest of the buffet items don't merit much additional comment.  Two observations we made at the time are salient, however.  First, despite our arrival at the start of dinner service, many of the hot items already looked tired.  The Tuna Brochette, for instance, appeared particularly questionable.  Second, our overall opinion, as we left, was that the food was completely industrial.  Except for the bread, and perhaps one or two other items, everything revealed the bland and tired characteristics of having been overly processed.  It's doubtful much of what we ate was local.  It was, more probably, trucked in from a bulk processing plant that emphasizes uniformity.  How else to explain such ubiquitous banality, given the enormous variety of foods on hand?

The Gardens Restaurant
The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel

215 Innovation Boulevard
(on the campus of Penn State University)
State College, PA   16803-6603  (map)

(814) 863-5090

http://www.pshs.psu.edu/

Please click above for a larger view of the buffet menu

Smoked Salmon

Peel & Eat Shrimp

Whole Poached Salmon

Caviar with Traditional Accompaniments

Homemade Pâté

Crudités, Dinner Salad, and International Cheese Board

Tuna Brochette and Wasabi Yuzu Dipping Sauce

Roasted Loin of Pork au Poivre with Gorgonzola Grits

Poached Fillet of Salmon, Julienne of Vegetables, and Oyster Sauce

Dessert Buffet