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!