Spoon #42: Lou Malnati's

Recently Ms. Dish and I headed out on the road again, for a 'round the world journey!  First stop: Chicago:

And when in Chicago, you have to get the deep dish!  So off we went to Chicago's famous Lou Malnati's:

(Street View)

Let me tell you, this place was packed!  Yes it was no secret that Lou's is a "go to" for Chicago style deep dish.  And of course with a swap on our minds, Ms. dish and I had to be resourceful.  Obviously we would have looked out of place asking for a spoon to eat our pizza with, and with no soup on the menu, we resorted to coffee.  Our surly yet honest waiter advised it was pretty terrible, but we were desperate!  The first sip confirmed the warnings, but we were rewarded with Spoon 42:

Again we were in a tricky spot as Spoon 42 is very "soup spoon" in appearance.  However, rather than get Goldilocks'd out of Lou Malnati's we took a chance and made the swap.  Number 42 is marked "258 5619358 SYSCO".  That's a lot of information!  

Not having swapped A Sysco spoon before, let's do a little research.  Sysco, or Systems and Services Company is a huge multi-national Fortune 500 company doing about 44 Billion Dollars in annual sales.  And according to their website it all started in 1970 with a promise:  "to assist foodservice operators in providing consumers with solutions for meals consumed away from home".  I'm sure spoon sales are just a drop in the bucket for Sysco, but you can tell they are a very businesslike enterprise.  Why just type in "5619358" in their catalog and out pops all the information you need on Spoon 42: 

Ah the Sysco Windsor:  A perfect solution for high-volume, fast-paced dining.  The perfect fit for Lou Malnati's! 

Stay tuned as we hit one more Chicago landmark before continuing this 'round the world journey!

Spoon #41: Taby's

A little while back Ms. Dish and I, along with Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Ursa Minor all ventured out to Oyster Bay, Long Island.  Our objective was to meet up with the legendary Captain Pete and go for a pleasuresail on famed oyster sloop, The Christeen:

After a full day of tacking, reaching, luffing, and heeling, the whole crew was famished so we headed on over to Oyster Bay institution, Taby's Burger House:

Taby's is famous for their burgers, but take a tip from me - try the milkshakes!  Delicious!

We walked out with new Spoon 41:

Number 41 is marked "WALCO STAINLESS CHINA 18-0", and appears to be from the Walco Barclay collection:

It's been a little while since we swapped a Walco spoon, so let's see what they're up to... Holy Cow, look at this!

The new Royal Bristol Cheese Knife!  According to Walco this knife features "the perfect serration for any cheese. It also has the traditional fork tip for serving the piece after cut".  Imagine one of those in the hands of Captain Pete!  Oysters beware!

Things to Do with a Spoon: Play It!

A single spoon doesn't make too much noise, but if you have a buddy spoon-swapper you can take turns playing them!  David Holt makes it look easy:

Spoon #40: Canyon Creek

As I alluded to in the last post, Ms. Dish and I recently spent some time in Niagara Falls, Canada.  A little road trip such as this was sure to present plenty of swaportunities!  International swaportunities no less!

Never having been to Niagara Falls, I wasn't sure what to expect.  Personally I had it in my mind that these falls were off in the woods somewhere... maybe we'd take a tram to get there like at the Grand Canyon... As it turns out it's right in the middle of town, surrounded by hotels, restaurants and casinos.  Here's a view from the Canadian side:

So, with a "when in Rome" mentality, Ms. Dish and I decided to join the throngs of tourists and head to the local casino for a steak at Canyon Creek.  Unfortunately we forgot to take a picture, and since Canyon Creek is in a casino, we can't resort to our usual practice of using Google Streetview.  You will have to use your imagination.


Turns out there are half a dozen Canyon Creeks throughout Ontario, but I wouldn't label it a "chain restaurant".  The food was quite good, and the service had a very "professional" feel to it.  We counted the number of times we saw the manager walk past to make sure everything was in order, inquiring at each table if the guests were having a good time.  This is great for your dining experience, but a bit nervewracking for a Spoon Swapper.  Surely a man such as this will notice a foreign or out of place spoon!  Luck was with us, however, and we escaped unharmed carrying a brand new Spoon #40 to the casino floor:

Spoon 40 is marked "Oneida Barcelona" and "24-12" near the bowl.

Here's a picture of a Barcelona spoon with the rest of the gang:

And here's what Oneida has to say about their offering:

Smooth, rounded curves taper to slender shafts, giving Barcelona a warm, comfortable feel. The perfectly polished, tear-drop shaped handle feels as good in the hand as it looks on your tables.

I couldn't have said it better myself!

Now what to make of this 24-12 marking?  Number markings such as this have been seen on many Oneida spoons, and in the past I have speculated that it could be a date, but 24-12 blows that theory right out of the water! 

Final order of business, in researching Spoon 40, I discovered Oneida has created an online "Virtual Table", which customers can use to mock up potential table settings.  Real cutting edge stuff! 

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!