Spoon #39: Flying Saucer

When you hear the words "Niagara Falls", one image comes to mind.  Of course, I am referring to the Flying Saucer Diner:

Naturally when Ms. Dish and I pulled into Niagara Falls, Canada a week or so ago, we had to see this landmark.

In all honesty, the best part of the Flying Saucer Diner is that there were locals eating there.  An oasis, in a otherwise very touristy town!

Credit goes to Ms. Dish for talking me out of the "E.T. Special", which includes all of two pancakes, three eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, home fries, and Texas toast!  A deal at $8.99 (Canadian). 

Here's our new intergalactic Spoon Number 39:

It's an out-of-this-world Oneida model, marked "CHINA 02-07".  This futuristic spoon has an air of mystery about it as I could not uncover any other information.  We'll keep looking though... the truth is out there! 

Spoon #38: Sapthagiri

The diet is over!  Let the swapping resume!

Just this past week, Ms. Dish and I were visited by our friends from the West, Lefty and Righty.  Since L&R are vegetarians, we decided to take them to India Square in Jersey City for some vegetarian Indian food.  We found ourselves at Sapthagiri:

I really like Sapthagiri in that it is exotic to a guy like me, but still very welcoming.  It certainly did not hurt that on this trip we had Righty with us, who knows his way around an Indian menu.  He went to work ordering and as dish after dish came out from the kitchen each seemed progressively more delicious.  I hate to even bring it up, but the most surprising part of the night may have been the check which was about half of what we were expecting! 

If you're like me, you may be wondering what "Sapthagiri" means.  According to The Internet, it is a hill in Tirumala, India consisting of seven peaks.  The peaks are taken to represent the seven heads of the deity Adisesha. 
 

Aside from being a vegetarian's paradise, Sapthagiri is also a spoon-swappers paradise, as each dish comes with its own spoon.  Here is our new Spoon number 38:

Marked "Winco Stainless 18-0", this looks like a Winco "Dots" spoon, just like #35.  38 is just a little different in that the "Mysterious Winco 8" at the bowl is not in a circle.

Stay tuned Spoon-swappers, as Ms. Dish and I have a bit of a road trip planned!  

Spoon #37: The Odeon

Well not long after Ms. Dish and I went on our new diet, we decided to break our diet, visiting The Odeon in TriBeCa.  Ordinarily we would have felt very guilty about doing so, but we both agreed this was one of the best meals we'd ever had.

Initially attracted by their classy neon sign, we had no idea that The Odeon is apparently something of a legend among the hip.  This was surprising as the place was not "hip" but just classy and unpretentious, not to mention an incredibly satisfying place to break your diet.

And here's a surprise - Spoon #37 is a new make!

Marked with the exotic name "Arcoroc" and "18-10", Spoon Thirty-Seven appears to be from the Vesca collection:

Arcoroc, it turns out, is a division of Arc International, a French manufacturer that dates back to 1825.  The company was founded as a glass-making outfit and is still well known for their glassware.  According to Wikipedia, Arc re-invests 3% of their turnover into Research & Development.  To the layman you might wonder what is left to R&D regarding glassware, but check out their "Effervescence Plus" concept - champagne flutes that make the bubbles last longer!  Or how about "Slide Control" - glasses with silicone seals on the bottom so they don't slide off your tray!  What a time to be alive!