This past December, Miele’s Restaurant unexpectedly closed its doors just shy of celebrating 70 years of serving old school Italian to Verona NJ locals. For some it was an unfortunate circumstance of today's economic climate. To others, it's more personal, like losing an aging relative that you shared generations of memories with. But for me it was a matter-of-fact reminder that the already endangered Shrimp Beeps lost another home.  For those of you that may not know what a Beep is, let me clear one thing up, Miele’s did not invent the lightly battered, butterflied jumbo shrimp sau ..read more

There’s something badass about this foodigenous, that's only found in the Northwestern suburbs of Philadelphia. Sure, at first glance the zep, an abbreviation for zeppelin, looks like a typical meat and cheese hoagie and in some sandwich shops it's used as a fugazi synonym, but a legit, authentic Norristown PA spawned zep is something very specific. There are rules to this ISH You can't get a ham, salami and cheese zep. You only get one meat on an "original zep", and it is salami; cooked salami to be exact which resembles bologna more than it does a traditional dry genoa salami. “Okay, I ..read more

I’ve had the pleasure of eating great pizza all my life. It's one of the privileges of living in the US Northeast: you know like paying high real-estate taxes and noshing on good bagels. It wasn't until I ventured outside the region though that I realized even our worst pizza is good, comparatively speaking. So, I wasn't entirely surprised to hear the opinionate backlash from my fellow Northeast Paisanos when I teased this frozen pizza story on Facebook. I would never eat that trash ! -Why not go down the street for the real stuff? -Your mutha eats frozen pizza! Burn Baby Burn Personally ..read more

Full Disclosure, I've never actually been to Plattsburgh. I’m telling you this because a part of me feels like a fraud as I typically travel to the birthplace of a foodigenous before writing about it. And even though it’s only a little over a 5 hour drive up the New York State Thruway from me, for some reason I keep putting off trekking for a Michigan, the regional steamed hot dog slathered in seasoned chopped beef that’s neither a chili dog, Texas weiner or coney. Did you happen to catch that part about Plattsburgh being in New York, but it's called a Michigan dog? That’s weird right? I ..read more

Despite the fact my father was born in Williamsburg, I’m really a bit of a Brooklyn virgin. I’m not saying BK and I never shared a few moments of heavy petting and some over the clothes stuff but other than a handful of concerts, fancy cocktails shaken by well-quaffed mixologists and a spin on the Wonder Wheel, I'm a noob. I needed to reach out to the experts before starting my trek into NYC's most populated borough for pizzagaina, a savory Easter pie filled with ricotta, Pecorino Romano and a variety of salty Italian meats baked inside a flaky crust. ,,Fortunato Brothers, Mazzola, Frank ..read more

Well I made it, despite your directions. I hope you’re prepared for an incredible story about my unique lunch in the steamed hamburger capital of the country. But first, I'd like to clear up a common misconception I've been hearing ever since I started researching this foodigenous. Don’t confuse steamed ham with those addictive White Castle sliders, you know the ones with the tiny pin holes in the patties that you can eat twenty at a sitting and then twenty minutes later has you sitting again. You know what I mean. White Castle's "steamed cooking" is really just a bit of creative advertising ..read more

I don’t know what's more intriguing, the fact that there’s a Baltimore foodigenous named lake trout that’s neither from a lake nor trout or finding out that there are no natural lakes at all in Maryland. I can accept the food misnomer. I’m fully aware of the successful conspiracy by thousands of caterers to change the name of the Patagonian Toothfish to the sexier sounding Chilean Sea Bass. But learning about the no lakes thing…well that’s the type of shit that will have me waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Enough With The Suspense, What Is Lake Trout?! If you ever wa ..read more

Shrove Tuesday, you may know it better as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, is the last day of indulgence before a 40-day fast known as Lent. And it, without a doubt, makes my Top 5 Eves before a Christian holy day list. Not because I’m religious, I’m not. I just like how it reminds me of that day before any of my planned diet starts, when I eat all my favorites one last time, like I'm being sent to the electric chair. And the donuts, I really like the donuts. For hundreds of years, Christian cultures throughout the world have prepared for their lengthened fast by “emptying the cupboards” of all thei ..read more

You know that feeling you get, when a mysterious loner moves into town and suddenly one by one, people start dying. No one even fathoms the possibility that he could be the murderer, but your gut tells you otherwise. Like you are the only one that can see the truth. That’s how I feel every time I read about the regional hot dog style known as a Texas Tommy, an admittedly tasty wiener, split down the middle and topped with crisp bacon and melted cheese on a roll, blindly accepted to have been invented in Pottstown Pennsylvania sometime in the 1950’s. I don't believe it! I've read all ..read more

I originally intended to post this story about Fudgie the Whale in November, but I couldn’t get my ish together in time for my actual birthday, so I decided to shelf it until next year. But then I got to thinking and what better time to drop a story about the country’s greatest ice cream cake than during the 12 days of the “Big Guy’s” birthday celebration. Am I right?  But “that” thinking, got me to even more thinking and I’m just gonna say it. “Why isn’t birthday cake a Christmas “thing”. You have geese laying eggs, leaping lords and pipers piping, but no birthday cak ..read more