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!