Spoon #30: Walker's

Miss Dish and I actually swapped Spoon #30 a few weeks ago, but in the hoopla of Super Storm Sandy I have not had a chance to post about it.  The swap took place here at Walker's in TriBeCa:

Miss Dish and I first stopped in about a month ago, and we were so impressed that we decided to come back for a swap.  Walker's is another classic New York bar.  Opening in 1987, it has a full twenty-five years of service under its belt.  I like these bars that don't rely on "oldest in New York" titles to earn their keep - somehow they feel a little more "authentic".

If you stop in, I really recommend the hamburgers.  For a long time I scoffed at people who would claim the best burger, thinking "how can you screw up a hamburger?!".  Well, perhaps I'm just a little more sophisticated now where I can say the people at Walker's definitely make a burger of distinction!

And of course, here we have Spoon #30:

Marked "Winco Stainless 18-0", Spoon #30 looks like it a Winco Regency, just like Spoon #7.

Spoon #29: Out of the Blue

Ms. Dish and I were ultimately successful at spoon-swapping in Ireland at Out of the Blue in the tiny seaside town of Dingle:

Out of the Blue was highly recommended by our travel guidebook, and it did not disappoint.  They serve up nothing but seafood and have a strict "no chips" policy.  I'm no expert when it comes to seafood - I leave the that to Ms. Dish.  So when she said this was some of the best seafood she'd ever had I could not disagree!  Apparently the menu is made up daily based on what was caught and brought in that day to the harbor across the street!  

And here we have our first international spoon, number 29:

Unfortunately, #29 gives us very few clues as to its origin.  Only the words "18/0 STAINLESS STEEL".  Looking similar to an Oneida Baguett, but with an extra little detail where the handle meets the bowl;  a mysterious spoon from the Emerald Isle.

Goldilocks'd in Ireland

Greetings Spoon Swappers!  Very sorry for the delay in this post, but as mentioned last time, Ms. Dish and I have been on holiday in Ireland!  Aside from having an absolutely wonderful time, we did pack along Spoon #28 with the hopes of fitting a couple of international swaps.

As it turns out, it was not easy to swap spoons in Ireland!  All too often we ran into the oversized soup spoon and the tiny coffee spoon!  A regular 'merican sized spoon like #28 just didn't seem to fit in around here.

Such was the case at Apsley's in Larne, a seaport town in Northern Ireland.

 

We happened to stop in on a Sunday after arriving in Dublin several hours earlier.  Being a Sunday, most of the town was closed, but Apsley's seemed welcoming enough.  Aside from being our first Irish meal, this was our first Irish "Fry", a breakfast consisting of eggs, ham, sausage, potatoes, tomato, and soda bread toast.  In this case the fry also included baked beans.  Unfortunately this was a true Goldilocks situation as the beans came with a soup spoon and the coffee with a tiny spoon.

Next up was The Grill Room in Belfast: 

Apologies for the "street view" of The Grill Room.  The Grill Room was actually the restaurant attached to the hotel where we were staying.  Usually Ms. Dish and I are a little hesitant when it comes to hotel restaurants.  Often over-priced and under-delicious here in the States, this does not seem to be the case in the places we visited in Ireland.  Our dinner at The Grill Room was in fact very delicious, and Ms. Dish and I even ordered coffee and the desert with the hopes of swapping.  Unfortunately we were again thwarted by the tiny desert spoon!

On to the tiny town of Mullaghmor, just north of Sligo on the western coast of Ireland.  Ms. Dish and I headed up to Mullaghmor with the hopes of taking some photos of Classiebawn Castle before the sun set. As the sun went down the temperature dropped and the winds picked up - we found ourselves quite hungry.  Fortunately we found the Quay Bar & Restaurant just across from the town's tiny harbor:

Again had a great meal of traditional Irish pub fare, but we were Goldilocks'd by the tiny desert spoon!

In Galway, Ms. Dish and I stopped in at Mc Donagh's, famous for their fish and chips: 

Ms. Dish even tried the Fried Salmon, which I had never heard of before. With our fish & chips we ordered up some chowder with the hopes of swapping, but as the trend continued, it was served with a soup spoon.  Goldilocks'd yet again! 

Spoon #28: McGarry's

Everyone knows that when you need photo, video, or pro audio equipment, "You go to B&H!".  It was with that in mind that Ms. Dish and I went to that retail curiosity that is B&H last week.  And after doing so, we found ourselves quite hungry!  Luckily, just across the street is McGarry's Pub:

It is a little ironic that although we had just finished shopping at the largest non-chain camera and video store in the United States, we forgot to take a picture of McGarry's.  The picture above was taken by yours truly about a week later as I happened to be passing by.

McGarry's is apparently a pretty old pub, but it looked very new inside.  Their website confirms that although Mr. McGarry opened the pub shortly after World War One, the pub was reopened in 2007 under new ownership.

Maybe it's about time I spilled the beans that Ms. Dish and I are planning a trip to the old Emerald Isle soon, so we have made it a point to visit as many Irish pubs as possible in the hopes that we will be given sound advice by ex-patriot bartenders.  Our bartender at McGarry's recommended that we try a "snackbox" after I ordered up some chicken curry.  We'll give it a shot! 

Here is Spoon number 28:

I think this spoon may drive me to madness.  Right after we swapped, I thought to myself "oh, another one of these spoons" - I was quite certain that we'd swapped this model before!  But after obsessively searching the entire Spoon Swapper archives it seems this is the first occurrence! In particular, this flower on the end seems very familiar...

Well, no matter.  Marked "Winco Stainless", Spoon 28 appears to be from either Winco's Elegance collection:

Or, the "Elegance Plus" collection:

 
The difference?  Hard to say.

And again like Spoon 23, Spoon 28 does not feature the Winco "8 in a Circle" - maddening! 

Spoon #27: Billie's Fine Foods

ST LOUIS SLINGER SAMPLER PART II

Our Saint Louis Slinger Sampler continued at Billie's Fine Foods in the industrial neighborhood of Kosciusko.  Surrounded by warehouses, rail yards, and factories, I think of Billie's as a workin' man's diner:

As you might expect, they serve up a mighty fine Slinger: thick Texas toast, piled with meaty chili... this was the Slinger of my dreams!

And here is brand new (to us) Spoon #27:

#27 is marked "Bakers & Chefs", "736", and bears the safety mark of NSF International.  This spoon is just like Spoon Numero Uno, which we swapped at another fine diner, George's Coffee Shop on 164th street! 

By the way, those folks at NSF are tirelessly working to protect you.  For example, it looks like they just released some timely tips on preventing food poisoning while tailgating this football season.  Watch your marinades, Spoon Swappers!

Spoon #26: City Diner

Don't think for a second that spoon swapping is confined to any particular city, state, or even country!  This is true international business.  It is for this reason that Ms. Dish and I brought along Spoon 25 last week when we visited the mighty city by the mighty Mississippi: Saint Louis, Missouri!

Like most cities, Saint Louis has its regional cuisine.  Most of these sound like they were made up by a five year old: toasted ravioli, saint louis style "pizza", gooey butter cake, and my favorite, the SLINGER!

For those not in the know, the Slinger has a few variations, but the most common is constructed in this order:
 I. Toast
 II. Sausage or Hamburger Patty
 III. Home Fries
 IV. Chili
 V. Egg (Any Style)

Some places put the toast on the side... some swap out the sausage with ham or steak, but the basic idea is the same.

Naturally then in the course of our visit I insisted that Ms. Dish and I stop in at a couple Saint Louis diners for a SAINT LOUIS SLINGER SAMPLER!

First Slinger was had at the City Diner on Grand Street: 

This Slinger was pretty good; toast was on the side, and it was topped with cheese.  For some reason the City Diner reminds me of "The Max" from Saved by the bell.  Maybe it's the black and white checkered floor or the posters of Marilyn Monroe.

This was our first swap outside of the New York City area, so I was curious what brand spoon would arrive with my cup of joe.  Would we be treated to some rare regional spoon?  Well let's take a look here at Spoon #26:

It's a Qualite Poise!  We haven't seen this particular model of spoon yet, but of course we have swapped Qualite spoons before.  How very interesting though that we still can not find any information about this mysterious and evidently national spoonmaker! 

Look out for part II of the SAINT LOUIS SLINGER SAMPLER soon! 

Spoon #25: Adrienne's Pizza Bar

Last week Ms. Dish and I stopped in at Adrienne's Pizza Bar on Stone Street in Lower Manhattan:

Historic Stone Street has a really interesting story.  Many of the buildings date back to the construction which followed the Great Fire of 1835.  After falling into neglect for several decades, in the late 90s Stone Street experienced a rebirth as a lunch and happy-hour spot catering to the surrounding Financial District.  Designated as a pedestrian-only cobbled street, on summer nights Stone Street is lined with tables and the adjacent restaurants and bars are filled with happy customers looking to relax after a hard day's work.

Adrienne's is one such restaurant or "Pizza Bar".  Now we all know that New York Pizza is the best in the world, but Adrienne's specializes in the rectangular thin-crust Sicilian "Grandma Style" pizza pie.  Still, this might be some of the best pizza in New York!

Here now we have Spoon #25:

No. 25 is marked "Winco Stainless 18-0" and also features the Winco "8" towards the bowl.  Looks like Number 25 belongs to Winco's "Flute" series:

Very sleek and stylish! 

Spoon #24: Brasserie Le Bouchon

This past weekend Ms. Dish and I ran off to Cold Spring, New York in the beautiful Hudson Highlands.  In between exploring the ruins of Bannerman's Castle and the Mount Beacon Incline, we stopped in at Brasserie Le Bouchon.

I already knew that Brasserie was French for "restaurant" but what's a Bouchon?  According to the internet it's a particular type of restaurant, focusing on Lyonnaise cuisine.  Now I'm no expert, so I can not vouch for the authenticity of the dishes, but I can tell you our waiter had what appeared to be an authentically French pointy-mustache!  Mustaches aside, this place was very relaxed and the food was downright delicious.

Here is Spoon #24:

This looks like a Sant Andrea Bellini, just like Spoon #11.  Number 24 is a bit on the small side, so I was afraid that this swap may have been Golidlocks'd, but we ended up quite successful! 

Spoon #23: Ruby's

This past Saturday, Ms. Dish and I again found ourselves hungry in SoHo.  Fortunately a popular internet based user generated restaurant review site guided us to Ruby's on Mulberry Street!

Once again Ms. Dish and I forgot to take a picture of the place, so please accept this "street view" from the internet.

Ms. Dish and I almost passed on Ruby's as it seemed a little too "hip" and despite the very hot and muggy weather, there was no air conditioning.  We're both glad we gave it a chance though... It turned out to be a pretty cozy joint and after a couple of basil lemonades we were sufficiently cooled down and had a great meal!

Here we present Spoon Number Twenty-Three:

Number 23 bears the markings "Winco Stainless 18-10" on the back.  This spoon is very similar to Spoon 16, which was an Oneida New York.  Funny how repetitious spoon styles can be! 

Number 23 is evidently a Winco "Peacock" as shown here with the family:

You know what's odd about this spoon?  There's no "8 in a circle" on the back like all the other Winco spoons that we've run across!  Now what are we to make of that?  Is it a bootleg Winco?  This spoon seems pretty worn and old... maybe the "8 in a circle" is a more recent thing?  The only thing more mysterious than the "Winco 8" is a Winco spoon without it!

Spoon #22: Maxwell's

This weekend Ms. Dish and I snuck off to Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey:

Suffering from a lack of cameras at the time, the picture above has been taken from the internet.

Ms. Dish and I actually came to Maxwell's on our first date, but so far we had only been there for the music (they seem to always have the best bands) or drinks.  This was our first opportunity to sample the menu, we are pleased to report that the food is very good! 

Now here is the big news, Spoon Number Twenty-Two:

Yes sir or madame, your eyes do not deceive you; just like Spoon Twenty-One, this is a Qualite Dominion - our first ever direct-swap!  To honor the establishment where this occurrence first took place, I propose we call this a "Maxwell's Swap".

Perhaps of even bigger significance, Spoon 22 breaks our five-way tie for the title of "Most Swapped Spoon"!  The Qualite Dominion is victorious!  How mysterious then that we have still not uncovered any information regarding this spoon or it's maker...

Spoon #21: Old Town

This weekend Ms. Dish and I continued on our old bar kick, swapping at Old Town Bar on 18th Street:

We used to come here all the time.  Old Town is a classic old New York bar, dating back to the prohibition days.  The dumbwaiters, still in regular use, are the oldest in town!  We were so keen on the Old Town as it is not nearly as pretentious as most of these types of bars.  Then maybe a year or two ago we detected a turn for the worse.  The food was not as good... the staff were not as friendly... and the place got crowded.  On Friday though we were in the neighborhood and figured we'd stop in.  To our delight, it was just like we remembered back in the "Good Old Days"!

By the way if you happen in on a hot summer day, be sure to try one of their lemonade and vodkas!  And if you're a guy, you should stop in and check out the giant Hinsdale urinals which recently celebrated their 100th birthday! 

Spoon number 21 came in a bowl of Old Town's famous chili:

A Qualite Dominion, just like Spoon 14.  Now our "Most Swapped Spoon" contest has reached five-way tie!

 - Oneida Baguette
 - Oneida New Rim
 - Winco Continental
 - Winco Stanford
 - Qualite Dominion

At this point I am thinking that the title of "Most Swapped Spoon" may have reached ludicrous proportions; but we've come too far to simply forget about this contest. What next?  A sixth contender?  Or will one of these spoon giants prove victorious?

Spoon #20: P. J. Clarke's

The Famous P. J. Clarke's:

Pure class and more popular than ever.  For better or worse, there are a few P. J. Clarke's throughout New York now - and did you know there's even a P. J. Clarke's in Las Vegas?  The original, however, is located in a tiny building tucked right in between midtown skyscrapers.   You can tell a lot of people have been through this place, and at that its age (over 125 years!) it has had its impact on New York.  Just take a look at the History section their website. 

If you're a fella you have to check out the bathroom; stained glass ceilings and giant porcelain urinals make you feel like a king! 

Here's ol' spoon number twenty: 

Well if it isn't an Oneida New Rim.  Just the same as Spoon Six even down to the 9-11 marking near the bowl.

You know what that means - we have an unprecedented three-way tie for "Most Commonly Swapped Spoon" between the Oneida Baguette, the Winco Continental, and the Oneida New Rim!

UPDATE:  Hold your horses, I just realized we also have another contender for our tie:  The Winco Stanford!  A four-way tie between Oneida and Winco! 

The Spoon: A Poem

Some days I think I need nothing
more in life than a spoon.
With a spoon I can eat oatmeal
or take the medicine doctors prescribe.
I can swat a fly sleeping on the sill
or pound the table to get attention.
I can point accusingly at God
or stab the empty air repeatedly.
Looking into the spoon's mirror,
I can study my face in its shiny bowl,
or cover one eye to make half the world
disappear.  With a spoon
I can dig a tunnel to freedom
spoonful by spoonful of dirt,
or waste life catching moonlight
and flinging it into the blackest night.

- Richard Jones

Spoon #19: Fraunces Tavern

Earlier this week Ms. Dish and I stopped in to Fraunces Tavern in the Financial District:

Fraunces Tavern is an old building with a new restaurant.  In fact, many sources say Fraunces Tavern is the oldest building in all of Manhattan, originally built in 1719 as the home of Etienne "Stephen" DeLancey.

It seems that any building of such age falls into the "George Washington's Axe" category.  Do you know all about George Washington's Axe?  It's one of my favorite anecdotes, so I'll remind you.  Essentially it revolves around someone saying "This is George Washington's Axe!  The handle has been replaced three times and the head has been replaced twice, but it's his original axe!".  Another example is the Ship of Theseus which will have the philosophers arguing until they are replaced!  Fraunces Tavern certainly falls into this category.  Over the years the building has seen a lot of action; opening as a tavern in 1762, pre-Revolutionary War cannonballs through the roof, George Washington's farewell to the Continental Army, multiple fires, and a bomb attack by Puerto Rican terrorists!  In all that time the building has undergone many changes.  It seems no one knows exactly what it looked like originally, but the current manifestation is the best guess. Many more details can be found on Wikipedia and the Fraunces Tavern Museum website.

All of this history aside, last year a new restaurant operated by Ireland's Porterhouse Brewing Company opened for business at Fraunces Tavern, serving typical pub fare with some fancier options to suit the financial district patrons.  As the Porterhouse Brewing Company name would imply, they have several of their own brews on tap and if you enjoy a nice whiskey this seems to be the place to go.  Fraunces Tavern is a stop on the American Whiskey Trail and their "Dingle Whiskey Bar" is home of the "Fraunces Tavern Whiskey Society".

Now here we have Spoon #19:

We know all about this spoon, because it is identical to Spoon #3, a Winco Continental! 

Do you know what this means?  It means with two occurrences, the Winco Continental is tied with the Oneida Baguette as our most commonly swapped spoon!

Spoon #18: Brasserie 360

Now to continue with our French Food Double Whammy, Part Deux!

After visiting Madame Claude, Ms. Dish, Ms. Scoop, and I took a trip to Brasserie 360 on  60th and Third:

Disclaimer:  Above photograph taken by Runcible.  Please excuse the inferior quality when compared to what you have come to expect from the lens of Ms. Dish.

We traveled to Brasserie 360 on a hunch that this was the same restaurant Ms. Scoop would frequent when she lived in the area about 40 years ago.  Unfortunately, we discovered that this was not the place, but still we had a darn good meal. 


Here we have Spoon Number 18:  

An Oneida Baguette, just like Spoon Number 8!  With a record of TWO occurrences, this is officially our most popular spoon! 

Aside from the worn markings "ONEIDA 18/10 BAGUETTE", Number 18 also includes the mark "9-07" near the bowl.  Spoon Number 8 had the mark "5-10" at this location, which we speculated could be a date.  This "9-07" certainly seems to fit in with this theory.  Isn't it nice of Oneida to not only include the name of the spoon on the back, but also the date of manufacture?  That's how you run a world-class flatware company! 

Spoon #17: Madame Claude Cafe

Would you believe it has been a whole month since our last swap?  To make up for it Ms. Dish and I went on a spoon-bender, featuring a french food double-whammy!  

Also joining us was Ms. Dish's mother, Ms. Scoop!  Our first stop was the Madame Claude Cafe in Jersey City, NJ:

Disclaimer:  Above photograph taken by Runcible.  Please excuse the inferior quality when compared to what you have come to expect from the lens of Ms. Dish.

Madame Claude's is a real cozy joint featuring some excellent French cuisine.  In true Jersey City form it is B.Y.O.B.!  Spoon number 17 came along with some of the best French Onion Soup of all time:

Number 17 is marked "ADCRAFT MONTE CARLO S/S 8".  This is our first Adcraft spoon!  A little research tells us that "Adcraft" is short for Admiral Craft, "Serving the Food Service Industry Since 1952!".  Originally the company focused on "smallwares" (restaurant supply talk for utensils, pots, pans, et cetera), but now their range includes all sorts of commercial counter top equipment, such as meat grinders, mini pizza ovens, and hot dog rollers! 

Here is Spoon 17 in an Adcraft publicity shot:

Swapping Number 17 was relatively easy as none of the flatware at Madame Claude's seemed to match.  Perhaps this is a local hangout for all manner of spoon-, fork-, and knife-swappers, but it seems the kind of thing only a tiny French bistro can pull off. 

More to come on our French food double-whammy soon! 

Spoon #16: Skinner's Loft

Good Mornin' Captain...

This weekend Ms. Dish and I stopped by Skinner's Loft in Jersey City for brunch:

These were uncharted waters, but Skinner's Loft proved to be downright delicious.  As an added bonus, Ms. Dish and I got to continue our trend of eating Huevos Rancheros in Jersey City.

Here we have numero dieciseis, which is marked "Oneida 18/10 New York" and "56-11":

Oneida describes their "New York" pattern like this: 

This richly sculpted, plume-like design is finely crafted in lustrous stainless steel. New York is bound to noticed and appreciated by your patrons for its beautiful finish and exceptional quality.

 

I have to say that, extravagant descriptions aside, this spoon is pretty fancy.  Here is a picture of the whole family:

Searching for information on the Oneida "New York" pattern turns out to be pretty difficult because, wouldn't you know it, all the results come back for Oneida, New York!  

Spoon #15: Loreley

Earlier this week Ms. Dish and I took a trip down to Manhattan's Lower East Side to visit one of our favorite German restuarants: Loreley. 

There's not much better than sitting in the Loreley beergarden with a currywurst and a Gaffel Kolsch sharing in the "gemutlichkeit" of old Cologne!  Loreley's website points out that out of over 17,000 restaurants in New York City, there are less than twenty German restaurants.  To me that is astounding! 

Spoon 15 came to us with a cup of "Kaffee":

Marked "Winco Stainless 18-10", Spoon 15 also features the mysterious "8 in a circle" mark.  Looks like Spoon 15 is from Winco's "Stanford" collection:

I should point out that Ms. Dish swapped this spoon, exemplifying the stealth and cunning of a cool-headed spoon-swapper!

Spoon #14: BXL East

Worry not Spoon-Swappers - Ms. Dish and I are still on the prowl!  I know it's been a little while, but just this past weekend we excecuted another swap, this time at BXL East:

Ms. Dish and I went to BXL East to celebrate that festival of Belgiumish culture that is cycling's Ronde van Vlaanderen a.k.a. Tour of Flanders.  In between watching Belgium's own Tom Boonen sprint to victory and Fabian Cancellara's quadruple collarbone fracture we enjoyed a delicious taste of Belgiumese cuisine.
Here is our new Spoon Number Fourteen:

Fourteen was a tricky swap, as it is nearly identical to Spoon Thirteen.  It is differentiated by the marking "Qualite Dominion" on the back.  As with Spoon Twelve, I found no information about a "Qualite" manufacturer.  Are they defunct?  Anti-internet?  Also, as with Spoon Twelve, it appears that other manufacturers make a very similar "Dominion" spoon, including ABC Valueline, Walco, and Winco.  Isn't that suspicious?  Is there one huge factory out there somewhere stamping out "Dominion" style spoons with different manufacturer's names on them?  Or if you tell someone in the spoon business that you need a "Dominion" spoon, do they nod knowlingly and pull out a catalog of "Dominion" manufacturers?  And in fact wasn't it Spoon Number 4 that we identified as an ABC Valueline Dominion?  It was!

Spoon #13: Jackson Hole

Yesterday Ms. Dish and I found ourselves out late on the Upper West Side.  Overdue for a swap and with the Upper West Side under-served by our spoon-swapping, we sauntered into the Jackson Hole diner on 91^st and Madison.

I had read a review of Jackson Hole saying their burgers were humongous, more like a small meatloaf than a burger, so of course I had to see for myself.  Low and behold out came a meat baseball on a bun!  Ms. Dish had a Cobb salad and she reported it to be quite tasty.  We were lucky and got the best seat in the house; a table right on the corner that allowed us to both look directly outside!

Here is Spoon Number 13:

No. 13 is marked “167 Stainless Steel” on the back.  I’m no spoon snob, but Number 13 is very light and has some pretty rough edges.  This is strictly an economy spoon!  I guess as long as they’re grilling seven ounce burgers, Jackson Hole has to make cutbacks in the spoon department.  Unfortunately the manufacturer was so ashamed of 13, they did not leave their mark.  We will have to classify it as “unidentified”.