Eating the Great NY State Fair

We finally made it to the Great New York State Fair over Labor Day weekend, and it was quite an experience. There was so much to see and do (and eat!) that it has taken us another week to try and sum it all up for you, sorting through our notes on scraps of paper and collecting all our photos to try and describe it all. A little bout of unrelated illness delayed us even further, but now that the Fair has ended for the year, we are eager to share our thoughts on the experience.

Overwhelmed by choices!

If you follow us on Twitter you already know some of what we did that day. With only two stomachs between us (although Andrea has observed in the past that David must have an additional smaller stomach he can deploy at will, this is only based on conjecture and is not backed up medical science) there was no way we could have tried everything so we just did our best to make the most of the time we had. 


For four hours straight, we focused on sampling the greatest variety of fair foods we could, including many suggestions we got from our readers who shared tips here on the blog and by email, as well as on Twitter and Facebook. We tried a few of the fried fantasy crazy foods that get a lot of buzz, but we also made an effort to try some of the classic award-winners from vendors who have been at the fair for years, even generations. And considering that this was the NY State Fair's 170th anniversary, there were plenty of classics to choose from.


Here are some thoughts from both of us on our first-ever Fair Food adventure: 

Decisions, decisions...

ANDREA: Despite being a lifelong resident of New York State, I'd never been to the Fair. I thought I knew what to expect, but it was overwhelming enough that I now feel you have to go back a few times to get a handle on it. Parts of the midway felt like Coney Island--though we didn't have any, I was glad to see steamer clams offered at a few places, and I would totally have gone for that on another day.


DAVID: I grew up in a rural NH town that is home to the "oldest and largest agricultural fair" in New England. It was something we went to every year when I was a kid, so I know what big fairs are like, but I'd never been to an official State Fair before and this was at least 30% larger than size of what I am used to. It was a little intimidating at first, but the mood is very family friendly and the smells of frying and grilling foods were just like the fair I grew up with. I was ready to eat the first fried thing that looked good because clearly we'd be walking some of the calories off in the hours ahead.

"Pizze Fritte" or "Pizza Frite" - who cares? It was perfect.

A: Pretty quickly I was drawn to things representing the past--the first food we tried was the the Villa Pizze Fritte stand, with the retro chalet look and the 1960-era award. Yes, it was "fried dough," but it wasn't like the "pizza frite" I'd known from church bazaars growing up… but it felt like perfect "fair food" to me.


D: That place was crazy busy! I'd never seen fried dough like that, and I love places that are so established in their little niche that they're kinda famous and get long lines like that. Anyplace that has a real building and not just a trailer has got to be doing something right. Two feet of fried dough? Yes please! It was a delicious way to get started on the fried goods, and a fun novelty treat.

Emmi's eggplant sub "with balls"

A: In the International Pavillion, I continued the "60s Awarded Winner" theme when I was drawn to Emmi's Italian Subs, with their intriguing award-winning eggplant sub. "With balls" (meatballs"), it took me back to the family-style Italian food I had growing up in the Binghamton area. Soft sub roll, sweet tomato sauce (with a little kick), and a very traditional beef meatball--but the thin, sweet eggplant, batter fried but not oily or greasy at all, was definitely unique.


D: That eggplant was really good and original. But of course I couldn't wait to try the food that was getting all the buzz this year, the Donut Burger from Big Kahuna. A quarter-pound beef patty with your choice of bacon, lettuce, onion and tomato, all served on a sliced and grilled glazed donut "bun" from Harrison's Bakery in Syracuse. In fact, not long after we got to the Fair, there were already Twitter followers asking if we'd tried it yet. Turned out the vendor was only a few steps away from the gate where we entered so it wasn't long before I ordered one with all the toppings (no condiments though so the original flavors wouldn't be obscured) and I was pleasantly surprised by the result. It turned out to be the most tasty "over-the-top" food I had the whole day. 

Big Kahuna Donut Burger

It sounded crazier that it actually was -- not very different from a regular burger in terms of size or toppings. In fact, a "quarter-pound" burger (4 oz.) is small compared to the popular "gourmet" burgers you might get in Ithaca. The donut is the only real difference, but the sweetness of that sugar glaze really added a lot of flavor along with the calories. The biggest downside was the sticky donut glaze that got all over my fingers. A wet-wipe would have been very handy there.

A: That doesn't mean it wasn't still kind of gross. Have you seen the look on your face in the video of you eating that thing? I think you were a little embarrassed that you liked it as much as you did:





D: Well, just wait until I try to re-create my own version at home!

Not actual spiedies!

A: Yeah -- good luck with that... Enough about burgers. I have to say, I was very disappointed that spiedies were not better represented. I wanted to try the chicken spiedies offered by Gianelli Sausage, but the fact that there were no Lupo's or Salamida's there (Salamida's IS "State Fair" spiedies, after all!) kind of broke my Triple Cities heart. When I did see spiedies on a menu, they were being served with peppers and onions, or mushrooms, or something nuts like that… Guess we need to hit the Spiedie Fest if we want it done right! (For the uninitiated: spiedies are marinated grilled meat on Italian bread. The end. As soon as you add something else, as far as I'm concerned, it is NO LONGER a spiedie!)


D: I love how loyal you are to the food of your homeland! We really cruised through sampling a bunch of different foods the rest of the day, but this will become the longest blog post ever if we wrote more it all here: marinated kangaroo meat, fried alligator, fried pickles, handmade apple dumplings, maple cotton candy. Stay tuned for our next podcast to hear us talk about those more.

The Rainbow Milk Bar

There were also some things that seemed really popular for reasons we couldn't quite understand, with huge lines for $1 baked NY State potatoes, and the famous 25-cent "Rainbow Milk Bar." Perhaps it was just for tradition, perhaps it was just because they were cheap, but neither of those felt refreshing enough to be worth standing in line for on a hot and humid day so we moved on. Maybe next time?


A: I'd heard about "wine slushies" earlier in the summer… I don't know how long these have been offered by the area wineries, I just knew I wanted to try one! The slushy I had made with "Diamond" blend from Montezuma Winery really hit the spot for me, and this may become something I crave every summer!

NY Wine Bar and Brew Pub in the International Pavilion

D: As a grown up I'll say I was also pleased that it was okay to purchase beer or wine from vendors and drink them freely on the grounds without being restricted to certain roped off areas as I've seen at some places, though there were central places like the wine tent and the beer garden. Oddly it wasn't the Pride of NY building but the International Pavilion that featured NY State wines and beers most prominently. 


A: I wish we'd better understood the food layout before we got there, but maybe that only comes with experience. The "Restaurant Row" area of established food vendors like Baker's would have been a drawn had we not wound our way around to it at the END of our time there… and would be the sort of spot I think we'd want to hit first next time. 

Madness: the Deep-Fried Bacon-Wrapped Snickers Bar

D: I agree -- they had plenty of seating, nice atmosphere, and of course reliably great food. But being the glutton for punishment that I am, I couldn't resist at least trying one more "stunt food" you'll only find at a place like this: the Deep-Fried Bacon-Wrapped Snickers Bar. It was... an interesting failure. Way too much of everything. I don't know how anyone could eat an entire one themselves.


A: It probably does depend on your mood at the time: go for the latest crazy fair food, or the old favorites. 


D: Yeah, in the end I think the lemonade we got on the way back to our car was the most refreshing thing I had all day. We'll probably be more sensible when we go back again, but the variety of options for every whim definitely make it a great eating experience.



Slideshow: Highlights from the NY State Fair

So that's our NY State Fair wrap up. We'll be talking about the experience some more in our next podcast coming in October so be sure you're subscribed for updates. We'll also be posting more photos on our flickr page.


A *big thank you* to Chris at the NY State Fair publicity office for sending us the free passes to be guest bloggers this year. Even though the 2011 Fair has ended, there are still lots of fun events going on at the Fairgrounds throughout the year so be sure to visit NYSFair.org to sign up for updates and, of course, to start planning your own visit to the next Great New York State Fair in 2012!


Thanks also to all of you who sent in your suggestions for our visit -- it was a big help! We look forward to bringing you all new updates on the Ithaca dining scene and more when we return to a regular schedule in October. 


Until then, keep healthy, keep cooking, and keep Eating Ithaca!


Learn More:

• www.NYSFair.org
• NY State Fair on Facebook
• Follow @NYSFair on Twitter

We're Going to the NY State Fair!

Hello, Eating Ithaca followers! We've had an exciting couple of weeks and we've got so much to share with you in the weeks ahead, it's hard to know where to start.

First let's just get this out of the way: finally, after a year of hiatus, we are going to be bringing back the Eating Ithaca podcast starting in October. We're very excited and also a little nervous about it all (do we even remember how to do this?) but it's been long enough, don't you think? Look for more announcements here and on our Twitter and Facebook pages for updates. We'll probably be tweaking this website along the way as well and adding some new features, so stay tuned.

Secondly, we were contacted by people working behind the scenes at the NY State Fair last week who offered us free tickets to attend the Fair this year as guest bloggers!

We've never been to the Fair before, but we've talked about it as a great showcase for both good eating (two important food groups: fried and on-a-stick!) and for the amazing local culinary and agricultural bounty of New York, so we took this as a sign that it was time to go see it all for ourselves.

However, we need your help: What do you think first-timers should eat/see/do at the Fair?

Of course, we've been to other fairs before and they are always fun, but this is "The Great NY State Fair" and it's bigger than any we've been to before. Because it's so big we'd hate to miss out on something really great, so if you've been to the NY State Fair before, we'd love your advice. Tell us:

• your favorite must-try unique food
• your favorite place to get standards like french fries or funnel cake
• a unique competition or demonstration we should see
• specialty food products we should stock up on to bring home

If you're going to be at the Fair showing off products or talents of your own, let us know! We'd love your advice on any of it - just leave a comment below, post an idea on our Facebook page or tweet it to @EatingIthaca. We can't promise we'll be able to do it all, but we're sure gonna try!

The NY State Fair starts this week, running August 25th through September 5th. We're not sure which day we'll be going yet, but probably within the next week so get us your feedback soon. You can visit their website at nysfair.org for a list of all the vendors, concerts, and special events happening this year. They also have a cool mobile-friendly site that we're looking forward to using, including a "food finder" tool that is going to be very handy for plotting a course through a day of indulgent eating.

And if you've never been to the NY State Fair either, this might be the year to give it a try. Admission is only $10 and kids 12 and under are free, and it's only about an hour from Ithaca. We're honored to be getting in for free this year too, but we know we'll be making up what we're saving in admission by buying even more delicious fair treats -- err... supporting the food businesses at this fun annual event.

Get in touch with your ideas, and stay tuned for more updates. We'll have a full report on our NY State Fair adventure after Labor Day and even more when the Eating Ithaca podcast returns!

Learn More:

• NY State Fair
• NY State Fair Tickets
• NY State Fair Food Finder
• NY State Fair on Facebook
• Follow @NYSFair on Twitter

Remembering Our Local Food Pioneer Gary Redmond

We are saddened to hear about the passing of Gary Redmond, one of the great heroes and evangelists of local, sustainable food culture and entrepreneurship in Ithaca and the Finger Lakes. His influence and spiritual leadership for the local foods community here and throughout the Northeast are immeasurable.

As a founder of Regional Access, Gary helped connect a new generation of customers, including many of our best markets and chefs, with small growers and producers that create some of the best foods in the state, spreading their bounty across NY. He also opened up his resources to support small independent producers who needed extra space or production resources, and developed partnerships that helped expand the reach of companies like Finger Lakes Organics and the Great Local Foods network.

I had the privilege of spending some time with Gary back in 2009 to learn about his work and interview him for this podcast. It remains one of my favorite interviews we ever recorded and a conversation I shall never forget. It was clear that Gary was guided by a personal passion, philosophy, and spirituality that drove him to work for the greater good. His passion and spirit was infectious, he sought to do good, live fully, and share good food with friends.

Click here for a heartfelt letter from Regional Access about the loss of Gary, including details on a memorial to be held on Saturday, April 2nd in Newfield.

Our thoughts, condolences, and hugs go out to his family and everyone at Regional Access. We may have lost the man, but it's safe to say his legacy and his mission will continue to grow for generations to come.

-- Dave

DISCOVER MORE ABOUT GARY REDMOND:

• Eating Ithaca Sept. 2009 interview with Gary Redmond (mp3 direct download here)

• Eating Ithaca excerpt: Gary Redmond on sustainability

• Edible Finger Lakes 2008 profile of Gary Redmond

The 2011 Chili Festival POSTPONED TO SUNDAY 2/20!

The 13th Annual Great Downtown Ithaca Chili Cook-off & WinterFest is so close we can almost taste it! Come take part in this annual cure for the winter blahs down on the Ithaca Commons this Saturday, February 19th.

UPDATE: THE EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED!

Due to dangerous high wind warnings for gusts up to 60 mph for Saturday, organizers have re-scheduled the event for Sunday, February 20th, 11:30 am to 4:00 pm.

We applaud the decision to keep people safe and keep chili festival fun. See you on Sunday!


It's the first big local food event of every year and 2011 is shaping up to be awesome.

We've already heard from organizers that they'll have 50 different chili recipes competing to be the best, including dozens of meat and vegetarian varieties, from over 30 restaurants.

If you want to sample these delicious chili varieties for yourself, you'll need to get yourself some Tasting Tickets:

Tickets to Taste are $5 for 5, $10 for 11, or VIP tickets are 10 for $20 (and you get a special VIP line at each booth). Each ticket gets you a 2-3oz sample of chili or a comparable sample of other items from wine to chocolate. Tickets are now available for advance purchase at Autumn Leaves Used Books, 115 The Commons; Collegetown Bagels, Downtown at 203 N. Aurora St; Collegetown Bagels, East Hill Plaza; Collegetown Bagels, Collegetown and at the Downtown Ithaca Alliance office in Center Ithaca. Buy yours now and skip the lines on Saturday!

And while Chili may be the main event, there will be plenty of other events going on all day to keep you warm and entertained until the judging is done - the Chili Idol Karaoke Contest, Guitar Hero competitions, plus lots of live music and live performers throughout the day. If you've never made it to the Chili Cook-Off before, listen to our past coverage of this event in Episode #3 of our podcast to get a good idea of what to expect. This year also brings the return of the new annual Chili Cook-Off Mustache Competition! Grow it, craft it or stick it on (ladies too!) and be spotted by the official Chili photographer for your chance at complimentary VIP chili tasting tickets and other prizes.

Click Here for a complete Schedule of Events and plan your day now. Events are scheduled from 11:30 am - 4:00 pm and the weather forecast looks sunny, so dress in layers, bring your friends and family and your favorite spoon, and get ready to enjoy some great eating from Ithaca's best chefs. You won't have another chance to sample this much food in one place... until next year!

Checking in...

Hello local eaters! Can you believe it's December already? Time flies when you're... doing things other than blogging.

Just wanted to check in and let you know we're still here, still eating out way through Ithaca, but we've slowed down just a bit while we make adjustments to a new workload that came when Dave getting a full time job earlier this year. Great to have extra funds for eating out, but it leaves less time for blogging and podcasting.

But we hope to be back real soon with a special look at the sudden amount of activity on the local dining scene, bringing a few closings but even more new openings. Anyone who has been down our local "Restaurant Row" on Aurora St. in downtown Ithaca will already see two new openings that weren't there this summer, and there have been at least half-a-dozen others we're excited about as well.

Yeah, we've lost a few restaurants recently. The Coal House Cafe closed its doors (and it's still for sale if you're interested) and now this week comes word that Benchwarmer's on the The Commons has shut its doors.

*UPDATE* We hear now that Benchwarmer's is only shutting down temporarily for renovations during the holiday break and plans to reopen in early 2011. (Thanks for the clarification, Bruce!)

But there is so much new stuff in town to make up for these losses. Here's a brief list of some of the newest restaurants in Ithaca that we'll be taking a look at in 2011:

• Anna's - a Vietnamese restaurant in the space that was previously Mustard on S. Cayuga St.
• Ciao! - a Tuscan-style Italian restaurant from the people behind Boatyard Grill has transformed the space last known as Watercress, located near the Shops at Ithaca Mall.
• Delilah's on Cayuga - formerly known as Wildfire Cafe, they've changed their name and menu as of this month to focus on what they describe as "Savannah-Fusion cuisine."
• Mercato Bar & Kitchen - the space on Aurora St. that was Ragmann's for decades has been opened up into an casual Italian bistro
• Mira Mediterranean Bistro - opened quietly at the end of the summer by a former ZaZa's chef, it is making good use of the space formerly occupied by Dijon in Ithaca's Northside.
• The Piggery Deli - at long last, our favorite pig farmers from Trumansburg completed their transformation of the former Buzz Coffee on Franklin St. and opened a full-service deli, offering fresh sandwiches and coffee, plus a full variety of the same fantastic pork that makes their Ithaca Farmers Market stall so busy every Saturday.
• Sahara - a Greek & Mediterranean restaurant from Maan Alzitoon (of longtime Center Ithaca favorite King David’s), which just opened this week in the former Micawber’s on Aurora St.

Plus there's a new Subway sandwich shop up open at East Hill Plaza, and a couple new bars on on State St. and The Commons, and we're still eagerly awaiting the new pan-Asian restaurant from Lex Chutintaranond coming to The Commons as well.

It's an exciting season for local dining and we can't wait to try 'em all. But don't wait for us -- get out there and give 'em a try yourself and let us know what you think. We'll be back soon enough to share our thoughts, but you know what to do until then:

Keep Eating Ithaca!

Cheers,

Dave & Andrea

Ep. 54: Lessons from Lex, Capital Kitchen, and Cayuga Lake Two Ways

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It's our September issue and we've got a local superstar for the cover as we sit down for a chat with Sunit ("Lex") Chutintaranond. Lex is the man behind some of the best and most beloved independent restaurants in Ithaca of the past 25 years. He introduced opened the first Thai restaurant in Ithaca with Thai Cuisine, then went on to create Just A Taste, Madeline's, and Zaza's Cucina*. Now Lex is putting the finishing touches on what he calls the dream restaurant he's always wanted to open, an intimate pan-Asian restaurant on the Ithaca Commons in a historic building he has helped restore. "My training is through eating," Lex tells us, and his passion for great food is the core of our conversation.

We're also continuing some "training through eating" of our own as we return to trying every restaurant in Ithaca from A-Z. We'll be talking about the unusual new setting for sushi at Capital State Kitchen, and then we head to the water for a brunch cruise on the M/V Columbia ("I'm on a boat!") with Cayuga Lake Cruises and sample the world of wines at their sister restaurant, Corks & More.

All that, plus the latest updates on what's changed on the local dining scene, including the closing of Ithaca's oldest restaurant, the Lehigh Valley House, and more news about what foodies can look forward to in our community.

We are listener supported, so if you value our unique point of view in covering the Ithaca dining scene and sharing conversations with people in our regional food community, please consider making a contribution to help cover the costs of keeping this going. Make a donation by clicking on the DONATE button on our main page, and any time you want to get in touch or be part of a future episode, you may leave a comment on the blog, call our voicemail line anytime at 607-216-8624, or send an email to: feedback at eatingithaca dot com. Remember you can follow us on Twitter and on Facebook for continuing updates throughout the week!

Click HERE to Listen to Episode 54

Stuff we talked about in this episode:

• Zaza's Cucina
• 2003 Ithaca Times interview
  with Sunit Chutintaranond
• Capital State Kitchen
• Cayuga Lake Cruises
• Corks & More
• Don't miss the 2010 Ithaca Brewfest!
• Take the NOFA-NY Locavore Challenge
• Food Community Events at Ithaca's Food Web
• Edible Finger Lakes

*In the interest of full disclosure, a couple weeks after this interview was recorded Lex treated the two of us to an amazing complimentary dinner at Zaza's Cucina as his guests in the interest of demonstrating what he feels a true, fully authentic Italian dinner experience should be. This had not been discussed or implied prior to our interview and had no influence on the interview in this podcast. It remains our policy never to ask for or accept free meals or special treatment from a restaurant we are reviewing. We accepted this offer because we were already fans of the menu at Zaza's, we were not reviewing the restaurant for this episode (nor will we be for some time), and because frankly we would have been fools to pass up an opportunity like that -- if you are ever lucky enough to be in a similar situation we hope you'll do the same. We did tip our excellent waitress generously and we'd like to thank Lex again for his hospitality.

Ep. 53: The Bagel Business, Bandwagon Brewers, and Buffalo Wings

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There are around 200 different restaurants and other dining options within Ithaca, and just as one closes another one or two take its place. It's a competitive enough market that anyone who can keep a restaurant open for 10 years must be doing something right. Which means that Gregar Brous and his partners at Brous & Mehaffey must be geniuses, for they've made local institutions out of their five Collegetown Bagels and Ithaca Bakery stores here for nearly 30 years. We're excited to chat with Gregar in this episode about how this mini-empire of his got its start, hear about some of the challenges he faces in running a food business, and learn what it takes to be successful in Ithaca.

We're also continuing our quest to eat at every restaurant in Ithaca from A-Z. As we go back to look at some newer restaurants we missed earlier in the alphabet, we find ourselves visiting a couple newcomers on the scene. Hear our reviews of the indie local offerings at Bandwagon Brew Pub, and a brand new outpost of the Buffalo Wild Wings sports bar chain.

Please remember we are 100% listener supported, so if you value our unique point of view in covering the Ithaca dining scene and sharing conversations with people in our regional food community, we'd to get your support by clicking on the DONATE button on our main page. Any time you want to get in touch or be part of a future episode, you may leave a comment on the blog, call our voicemail line at 607-216-8624, or send an email to: feedback at eatingithaca dot com. Remember to can follow us on Twitter and on Facebook for continuing updates throughout the week!

Click HERE to Listen to Episode 53

Stuff we talked about in this episode:

• Collegetown Bagels & Ithaca Bakery
• Our review of Collegetown Bagels in Ep. 15
• Our review of Ithaca Bakery in Ep. 41
• Bandwagon Brew Pub
• Buffalo Wild Wings
• Felicia's Atomic Lounge sweetened lime juice recipe
• Food Community Events at Ithaca's Food Web
• Local Restaurant News via 14850 Dining on LiveJournal
• Get your tickets to the 2010 Ithaca Brewfest!

Ep. 52: Cornell's New CALS Dean and a Taste of Tapas Downtown

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We're very excited to offer an exclusive interview in this episode as we sit down for a chat with Kathryn Boor, the newly-appointed Dean of Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. When she officially begins her term on July 1st, she'll be at the helm of New York State's largest agricultural college, the land grant university of the state, putting her in a unique position to help enrich and advance agricultural prosperity and research throughout our region. We learned a lot from talking with her about the role of food science in our modern society, and about the challenges facing the food industries in New York and across the country. It's a conversation guaranteed to enlighten anyone with an interest in where our food is coming from.

And in our restaurant review for this podcast, we continue eating our way through every restaurant in Ithaca from A-Z with dinner downtown at Just A Taste on Aurora Street. With a menu full of great options, we had a lot to talk about.

We are listener supported, so if you value our unique point of view in covering the Ithaca dining scene and sharing conversations with people in our regional food community, please consider making a contribution to help cover the costs of keeping this going. Make a donation by clicking on the DONATE button on our main page, and any time you want to get in touch or be part of a future episode, you may leave a comment on the blog, call our voicemail line anytime at 607-216-8624, or send an email to: feedback at eatingithaca dot com. Remember you can follow us on Twitter and on Facebook for continuing updates throughout the week!

Click HERE to Listen to Episode 52

Stuff we talked about in this episode:

• Cornell University College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
  
• Kathryn Boor named Dean of CALS
• Kathryn Boor Research Lab at Cornell
• Milk Quality Improvement Program at Cornell
• Get Tickets for Taste of the Nation Ithaca
  Tue. June 15th, 2010
• Food Community Events at Ithaca's Food Web

Ep. 51: Wining and Dining

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We're talking about two great things that go great together in this episode of our podcast. First we're off to Six Mile Creek Vineyard, the only Finger Lakes winery actually located in Ithaca, to chat with winemaker Paul King about his work and find out what makes their wines and spirits unique.

Then we continue eating our way through every restaurant in Ithaca from A-Z, this time heading up South Hill for dinner at John Thomas Steakhouse, a restaurant like no other in town. It's a high-calorie episode, so chew slowly and enjoy every bite!

Enjoy of what we're doing here? You can help us continue covering the Ithaca dining scene and bringing you conversations with people in our regional food community. Make a donation by clicking on the DONATE button on our main page, and any time you want to get in touch or be part of a future episode, you may leave a comment on the blog, call our voicemail line anytime at 607-216-8624, or send an email to: feedback at eatingithaca dot com. Remember you can follow us on Twitter and on Facebook for continuing updates throughout the week!

Click HERE to Listen to Episode 51

Stuff we talked about in this episode:

• Six Mile Creek Vineyard
• John Thomas Steakhouse
• Food Community Events at Ithaca's Food Web
• The Piggery to open a shop in Ithaca
• Ithaca Taste of the Nation
  Tues. June 15, 2010
• Ithaca Farmers Market
• "America's Next Great Restaurant" coming to NBC

Ep. 50: Ten Things Part Five!

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Every ten episodes we're talking about ten different things and we've got quite a lineup for you in our 50th podcast!

We devote most of this episode to Andrea's 5 tools for shopping and cooking at home, lessons she's learned over the past few years that can help you eat healthier and save you money when you shop. She's passionate about this and you're sure to learn something from our lively discussion.

You'll also hear what's new in local dining, updates on past guests of the show, how local USDA regulations are affecting small farms, ideas and resources for gardening in our community, plus feedback and ideas from our listeners. It's an episode packed with goodness!

If you are a fan of what we're doing here and would like to help us continue covering the Ithaca dining scene and bringing you conversations with people in our regional food community, please consider making a donation by clicking on the DONATE button on our main page. And any time you want to get in touch or be part of a future episode, you may leave a comment on the blog, call our voicemail line anytime at 607-216-8624, or send an email to: feedback at eatingithaca dot com. Remember you can follow us on Twitter and on Facebook for continuing updates throughout the week!

Click Play to Listen to Episode 50


Stuff we talked about in this episode:

• Waffle Frolic
• Edible Finger Lakes magazine
• Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook
• Really Simple Homemade Pizza at SmittenKitchen.com
• Jim Lahey's No-knead Pizza Dough
• NY Times discussion of local food crisis
• Marlo of Garden Gate Delivery explains USDA effect on NY farms
• Ithaca College's organic community garden
• Annual Spring Garden Fair & Plant Sale
  Saturday, May 15th at Stewart Park
• American Craft Beer Week at Bandwagon Brew Pub
  May 17 - 23, 2010
• Ithaca Taste of the Nation
  Tues. June 15, 2010
• Ithaca Farmers Market
• May Events calendar at Ithaca's Food Web

Episode 50 is coming soon...

So it's been two weeks since our last podcast - where's the new episode?

Well, to be honest with you, it's still in our heads. We haven't had the time to properly put this episode together yet so we're postponing it until next week. Just like we do for every 10th episode, we'll be talking about 10 different ideas about Ithaca eating that have been on our minds.

We'd also love to have you be a part of this special episode. Give us a call on our Eating Ithaca listener line (607-216-8624 - a local Ithaca number) and leave us a message about what you're looking forward eating in the months ahead. Maybe it's the fresh, local fruits & vegetables coming to the Ithaca Farmers Market, or a new restaurant opening in town, or maybe it's a new recipe or special ingredient you're looking forward to trying. Whatever it is, give us a call and share what you love about eating in our community, and be part of our 50th podcast episode!

See you next week!

Ep. 49: Eating Italian Ithaca at Joe's

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We're skipping the interview segment this week so we can focus on our review of one of Ithaca's oldest and most storied restaurants. After being closed for almost six years, Joe's Restaurant reopened early in 2006 but has only recently begun to regain the status it once had in the local dining scene. We chat about the changes we've noticed, mostly for the better, in our review.

We also have updates on what's new in local dining for waffle and coffee lovers, plus details on all sorts of activities and special events for local food fanatics in the Finger Lakes.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and on Facebook for continuing updates on everything we're doing, and feel free to get in touch with your ideas. You can write a comment on the blog, leave a message on our voicemail line 607-216-8624 (607-21-MUNCH), or send an email with your thoughts to: feedback [at] eatingithaca [dot] com. Stay in touch and keep Eating Ithaca!

Click Play to Listen to Episode 49


Get more information on topics from this episode:

• Joe's Restaurant
• Waffle Frolic
• Red Newt and Taverna Banfi Culinary Bounty Dinner
  Special Guest Winemaker & Spirits Dinners at Cornell's Statler Hotel
• Cayuga Wine Trail
  18th Annual Wine & Herb Festival
  April 23-25, 2010
  
• Food Community Events at Ithaca's Food Web
• Ithaca Farmers Market

Ep. 47: Maple Season at Sapsquatch / Lunch at Jade Garden

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The middle of March is peak harvest time for maple syrup producers in our region. Last year, New York State’s more than 1,500 maple syrup producers made over 362,000 gallons of syrup according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Only Vermont with 920,000 gallons and Maine’s 395,000 with gallons produced more maple syrup.

New York’s estimated 1.51 million taps produce enough sap to account for about 15% of the maple syrup made in the United States, and an increasing number of those are from small farms. In this podcast, we'll visit one of those small farms at Sapsquatch, a sugarbush just outside of Ithaca in Enfield, NY. We'll talk with co-owner Steve Gabriel, who tells us about the unique pleasures of making food from the forest. You can see photos from our visit on Flickr.

Then we're continuing to eat our way through every restaurant in Ithaca from A-Z with a review of the lunch buffet at Jade Garden, a Chinese restaurant in downtown Ithaca that seems unchanged in the nearly two decades we've known it. All that, plus news of upcoming events for the local food community and more, in this podcast.

For continuing updates on everything we're doing, be sure to follow us on Twitter and on Facebook. You can get in touch with a comment below, leave a message on our voicemail line 607-216-8624 (607-21-MUNCH), or send an email with your thoughts to: feedback [at] eatingithaca [dot] com.

If you appreciate our efforts at Eating Ithaca, why not make a donation? Your support goes directly to helping us keep this blog and podcast running, and making it even better as we go. Just click on the Donate button on the main page and you'll be helping us keep Eating Ithaca!

Click Play to Listen to Episode 47


Get more information on topics from this episode:

• Sapsquatch official website
• 2010 NY State Maple Weekend
  March 20-21 & 27-28
• Jade Garden Chinese Restaurant
• Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Fair
  Sunday March 21, 12:00-3:00 pm
  Boynton Middle School, Ithaca
• Community Food Growing Series: Seed Starting
  Monday, March 22, 6:00–8:00 pm
• AgStravaganza!
  Saturday, March 27, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
  The Shops at Ithaca Mall, Triphammer Road, Ithaca
• Community Food Growing Series: Training for Garden Mentors & Site Coordinators
  Monday, March 29, 6:00–8:00 pm
• Food Community Events at Ithaca's Food Web
• Blue Stone Grill Wine Dinner with Standing Stone Winery
  Sunday, March 28th
• Ithaca Farmers Market returns Saturday, April 3rd
• Learn more about the Ithaca Farmers Market Cookbook
• Genesse Bock Beer

Ep. 46: Going Local with Xeo and Burger Time at Jack's

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It's our first podcast of 2010 and we're glad to be back! The new year is already shaping up to be a great one for Eating Ithaca, especially with so many new restaurants opening on our local dining scene.

The big standout for many local food lovers so far has been the opening of the tiny cafe called Xeo (pronounced SAY-oh) in the Collegetown neighborhood. In this podcast Dave talks with Sebastian Villa, the young chef/owner and sole employee of Xeo, to find out why he became so committed to serving the freshest food possible from as many local or regional sources as he can.

We'll also discuss some of the dozen or so other restaurants that have opened or will be opening since our last restaurant review, and then we're right back to eating our way through every restaurant in Ithaca from A-Z. We've reached the letter "J" now, which brings us to Jack's Grill in Collegetown. We have that review, plus up to date info on some of the great food-related events going on around Ithaca, all right here in the podcast!

For continuing updates on everything we're doing, be sure to follow us on Twitter and on Facebook. We'd also love to hear from you directly: write a comment on the blog, leave a message on our voicemail line 607-216-8624 (607-21-MUNCH), or send an email with your thoughts to: feedback [at] eatingithaca [dot] com.

If you really enjoy what we create here at Eating Ithaca, why not make a donation? Your support goes directly to helping us keep this blog and podcast running, and keep making it even better as we go. Just click on the Donate button on the main page and you'll be helping us keep Eating Ithaca!


Click Play to Listen to Episode 46


Get more information on topics from this episode:

• Xeo on Facebook
• Xeo on Twitter
• Jack's Grill
• Events at Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County
• Maple Syrup Tours at Sapsquatch - Enfield, NY
• Food Community Events at Ithaca's Food Web
• Blue Stone Grill Wine Dinner with Standing Stone Winery
  Sunday, March 28th

We're Back...

We finally got back to the microphones this weekend! Join us for a new season of the Eating Ithaca podcast, with new interviews and conversations about the local food community and more of our restaurant reviews from A-Z.

It all starts with Episode 46 on Wednesday March 3rd!

Come to the Downtown Ithaca Chili Cook-Off!

The 12th Annual Great Downtown Ithaca Chili Cook-Off will be taking over the Ithaca Commons this Saturday, February 20th. It's become a highlight of winter for local food lovers and this year looks to be another great one.

We've already heard from organizers that they'll have about 40 different chili recipes competing to be the best, including 26 meat and at least 14 vegetarian varieties, from over 30 restaurants.

If you want to sample these delicious chili varieties for yourself, you'll need to get yourself some Tasting Tickets:

Tickets to Taste are $5 for 5, $10 for 11, or our VIP tickets are 10 for $20 (and you get a special VIP line at each booth). Each ticket gets you a 2-3oz sample of chili or a comparable sample of other items from wine to wings. Tickets are on sale now at Autumn Leaves, CTB (downtown) and the Downtown Ithaca Alliance office. Buy yours now and skip the lines on Saturday!

And while Chili may be the main event, there will be plenty of other events going on all day to keep you warm and entertained until the judging is done - the Chili Idol Karaoke Contest, Guitar Hero competitions, plus lots of live music and live performers throughout the day. If you've never made it to the Chili Cook-Off before, listen to our past coverage of this event in Episode #3 of our podcast to get a good idea of what to expect. We're planning our own full coverage of this year's event as well, including a special report from behind the scenes at the judges' table.

Click Here for a complete Schedule of Events and plan your day now. Events are scheduled from 11:30 am - 4:00 pm regardless of the weather, so dress in layers, bring your favorite spoon, and get ready to enjoy some great eating from Ithaca's best chefs. You won't have another chance to sample this much food in one place... until next year!

This is Important

As we prepare for a new season of Eating Ithaca podcasts, we've been thinking about themes and topics that we'd like to cover in our upcoming interviews. Today, we found one more when we watched this:

British celebrity chef and activist Jamie Oliver received the prestigious TED Prize this week, an award designated to helping him achieve "one wish to change the world." This is what he wished for:

I wish for your help to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.

We encourage you to help Jamie meet his goal by signing his petition to improve our food system, and let's find out what we can do in our own community to make sure that our connections to real food continue to thrive for future generations.

We want to continue to explore this and other topics in Ithaca and our surrounding region for our podcast and website, and we'd love to hear from you if you have ideas on how to get involved. In the meantime, we encourage you to share this video with someone you know and help spread Jamie's message for change.

Thanks.

2 Years: Where We've Been, Where We're Headed

Two years ago this week, we posted our very first episode of the Eating Ithaca podcast. At the time, we had no idea if anybody would care, or if anyone would listen at all. We were excited to see something we made out there in the world, but it was hard to tell what Eating Ithaca was really going to be.

So we made it all up as we went along. Gradually more and more people found us, we watched the number of downloads go up and comments started coming in on this blog we'd thrown together. Then Andrea became co-host, and our little podcast about the local Ithaca dining scene began to grow into something more than just talking about food.

We started getting out to meet the people behind the local foods of Ithaca and the region. We interviewed our very first guest, Kevin Cuddeback of Gimme! Coffee, in Episode 5. In that time, the podcast continued to evolve, more people found us, and now...

• That first episode has been downloaded more than 500 times; and we're about to hit our 10,000th download overall.
• We've produced 45 podcasts, plus a few specials.
• We've featured more than 34 exclusive interviews with people from all over our food community.
• We've given you our one-of-a-kind reviews of over 70 different restaurants in Ithaca.

It's been great fun . . . But we're just getting started!

Since we went on a podcast hiatus in December, we've been working on a better Eating Ithaca. Thanks to all the great input we got from our recent audience survey, along with the list of ideas we've been wanting to include on our website since the beginning, we're finally taking the time to make some of those changes happen. While we can't promise anything for sure, we will definitely be improving the look and navigation of our website, with a fully searchable and easy to use restaurant guide. We'll also be writing capsule versions of our restaurant reviews to complement our podcast, which will be archived and easy to access when you're looking for where to dine out in town.

Our primary mission remains the same: to keep you connected to local food. We will continue to interview the people behind the food we eat, and share news and stories about what's happening in the community. We're also planning our next special live event, and working with other organizations in the area to help spread awareness of the food culture of Ithaca and the Finger Lakes with the rest of the country. And we're going to have some exciting new opportunities for you to get involved and support us as we grow.

The new year is filled with great opportunities for us. We may still be making it all up as we go along, but at least we know you're listening and reading and sharing, and that makes it all worthwhile. Thank you.

We're still here in the meantime, and we're active most days on Twitter or Facebook if you want to stay in touch. The podcast will be back in February 2010. Talk to you then!

--Your pals at Eating Ithaca

Local food abounds in this week's Ithaca Times

We just picked up the newest edition of The Ithaca Times (Jan. 20-26 issue) and it's filled with some great local food updates.

Start on page 13, where Rob Montana writes an overview of new business developments in the City of Ithaca, including:

• A restaurant space on the ground floor of the proposed Hotel Ithaca, located where the Rothschild Building stands now at the edge of the Commons at Aurora Street. We presume this might interfere with the space currently occupied by Madeline's, which could bring interesting changes.
• A new restaurant from Lex Chutinaround, owner of ZaZa's Cucina, opening in the former Plantations on Ithaca Commons.
• A large restaurant opening in the beautiful glassed in space on the first floor of the Cayuga Place apartments off of Green Street, behind the soon-to-open Palmer Pharmacy and the new Gimme! Coffee. The local restauranteur is unnamed, but we hope they do that space justice. Given the right talent and the right menu, it could be the new destination restaurant of the year.
• The Finger Lakes Wine Center could open as soon as this spring.
• Panera Bread and the Olive Garden are still on track for opening in Southwest Ithaca, as we reported earlier, though we'd be surprised to see anything open before this summer.

The article also hints at the possibility of another food franchise opening in the Southwest neighborhood once the old Salvation Army store is demolished. Montana did a nice reporting job and covers a lot in this well-written piece.

There is also a Winter Times supplement in this latest edition, which includes an extensive preview of the upcoming 12th Annual Downtown Ithaca Chili Cook-Off & Winterfest, written by Taryn Thompson. That event has always offered plenty of fantastic cold-weather eating and we're looking forward to this year's event.

Finally, for all you home cooks, don't miss Henry Stark's interviews with chefs from four local restaurants offering their favorite soup and stew recipes. It includes Moosewood's Spicy Carrot Peanut Soup from Melissa Bergman, a Hearty Sausage and Tortellini Soup from Tim Gaffney at Ithaca Ale House, the hearty Arizona Pumpkin and Vegetable Stew from Liz Van Every at Greenstar Coop, and - our personal favorite - an amazing Hungarian Beef Goulash recipe from Dano Hutnik himself, of Dano's Heuriger in Lodi.

The best part about all this is The Ithaca Times is FREE! Most of these articles aren't yet available on the Ithaca Times website, so pick up a copy today, because next week they'll all be gone.

Behind the Blog: Ithacork

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We're wrapping up the year on a festive note as we go "Behind the Blog" to meet Tom Mansell of Ithacork. Though he's relatively new to the local wine scene, his blog offers a fresh, fun, and scientific perspective that makes wine easy to understand and worth getting excited about.

In this interview, Tom takes Dave on a tasting tour of some of his favorite Finger Lakes wines, covering the best grapes of our region. With the enthusiastic mind of a chemist, he helps Dave learn something new about how wine works, how we taste, and generally makes wine less intimidating and easier to comprehend. This episode is 96 minutes long, but it's worth listening to every minute, a perfect download to listen to on your holiday travels. However you choose to listen, and no matter how much you already know about wine, you can still learn something from Tom.

This is also our last podcast of 2009. We'll be back next year with new episodes of our regular Eating Ithaca podcast. In the meantime, you can find updates by following us on Twitter and on Facebook. We'd also love to hear from you, so write a comment here on the blog, leave a message on our voicemail line 607-216-8624 (607-21-MUNCH), or send an email with your thoughts to: feedback [at] eatingithaca [dot] com.

If you really enjoy what we create here at Eating Ithaca, why not make a donation? Your support goes directly to helping us keep this blog and podcast running, and keep making it even better as we go. Just click on the Donate button on the main page and you'll be helping us keep Eating Ithaca!

Click Play to Listen to This Episode


MORE ON TOM MANSELL:

• www.Ithacork.com
• Follow Tom Mansell on Twitter
• Tom's writing at The NY Cork Report
• Tom's writing at PalatePress.com

THE WINES WE TASTED:

• 2007 Shalestone Cabernet Franc (Seneca)
• 2007 Thirsty Owl Reserve Pinot Noir (Keuka)
• 2007 Heron Hill Old Vines Riesling (Keuka)
• 2007 Hermann J. Wiemer Dry Riesling Reserve (Seneca)
• * Tom's Wine of the Year:
  2008 Sheldrake Point Gewürztraminer (Cayuga)
• 2008 Fulkerson Winery Vidal Blanc Iced Wine (Seneca)

TOM ALSO RECOMMENDS:

• Heart & Hands Pinot Noir (Cayuga)
• 2007 Keuka Spring Vineyard Lemberger (Keuka)
• Tom's Lemberger Review on Ithacork

TOM'S PICKS FOR FINGER LAKES SPARKLING WINES:

• Heart & Hands Brut Rosé
• Damiani Wine Cellars Sparkling Wine
• Hermann J. Wiemer Cuvée Brut
• Château Frank Célèbre and Blanc de Noirs
• Bellwether Cider King Baldwin
• Eve's Cidery

ALSO DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Gary Vaynerchuk on Wine Library TV
• Riedel Glassware
• Jamie Goode's Wine Blog