Spoon #12: Coogan's

This weekend Ms. Dish and I were accompanied by our accomplice Ursa Minor to Coogan's on 169th Street.

Coogan's is a bit of an icon in Washington Heights as it is one of very few decent bar/restaurants in the neighborhood.  There are two things you notice when you go to Coogan's.  First, there are probably near a hundred track uniforms from various schools throughout the country hanging from the ceiling.  This is explained by the proximity to the nearby track center located in an old armory down the block.  Second, there are all types of different people at Coogan's.  It's a real melting pot for folks who live and work in the diverse local community.  Along with locals, you'll find doctors and nurses from nearby Columbia Presbyterian, construction workers, politicians, and on the walls are pictures of famous personalities who have payed visit.  On Saturday when we stopped in the dining room was full of runners in the neighborhood for Coogan's annual 5K run.

Here we present Spoon Number 12:

Spoon 12 is marked "Qualite Fanfare" on the back.  The usual sources turned up very little information about a "Qualite" manufacturer, but it appears that Walco makes a "Fan Fare" line which is virtually identical: 

I will go ahead and call this a match, but why no Walco marking?  The mysteries of spoon swapping never end! 

UPDATE: After encountering additional Qualite spoons, it appears that this mark may not be related to Walco after all.

Spoon #11: Keens Steakhouse

When Ms. Dish and I have a special occasion to celebrate and we feel like indulging our inner carnivore, we always enjoy going to Keens Steakhouse on 36^th and 6^th.

Keens was originally a pipe club.  Hanging between the rafters are thousands of smoking pipes!  Back in the old days you would come to Keens, request your pipe, and a “pipe boy” would retrieve it for you.   The pipes are all long-stemmed churchwarden style, which are made of a thin clay.  Keeping track of these delicate objects was the responsibility of a dedicated “Pipe Warden”.  On display you will find the pipes of some of the more famous patrons, including Teddy Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill, Babe Ruth, Stanford White, and Will Rogers.  More of the history of Keens can be read here.  

Nowadays lighting up in Keens would probably fetch you a nice fine or at the very least a tour of the door, but you can still enjoy a delicious steak or their famous mutton chops.  Don’t forget to stop by the bar on the way out to say “hello” to Miss Keens! 

Here is our new Spoon #11: 

At first glance it looks like Spoon 11 is unmarked, but using Spoon Swapper Spoon-o-Zoom Technology, we can see plainly the words “Sant Andrea” marked on the bowl: 

Evidently, Sant' Andrea is an Italian subsidiary of Oneida.  Number 11 appears to be from their Bellini collection:

Now here's something interesting:  The Bellini comes in two versions, 18-10 Stainless and Silver Plated.  Could this be our first Silver Plated spoon?  Unfortunately my untrained eyes just can't tell.

Spoon #10: Brennan & Carr

This weekend Ms. Dish and I took the Spoon-Mobile out for a spin to Brooklyn's famous Brennan & Carr:

Brennan & Carr is known for its roast beef sandwiches, featured here on TV's Man vs. Food:

I think that video pretty much sums it all up, and Ms. Dish and I can vouch that the sandwiches are just as good as they look on TV.  Talking to natives from around the area, there seems to be some rivalry between Brennan & Carr and nearby Roll-n-Roasters.  Perhaps we can investigate in the future and settle this dispute.


Here's a tip: If you happen by Brennan & Carr, leave room for their blueberry pie a la mode - it's the tits!  Ours came with this: Spoon Number Ten.

Number 10 is marked only with the word "STAINLESS" on the back.  For now its origin remains unidentified.

Spoon #9: The Milleridge Inn

This past Sunday the whole family, Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Baby Brother Bear, Ms. Dish and myself all went out to the Milleridge Inn in Jericho, New York to celebrate Mama Bear’s birthday! 

When I was a boy growing up in the pine barrens and potato fields of Long Island, the Milleridge Inn always had a certain mystique about it.  A mysterious place that was very “adult”, very “fancy”.  The kind of place your parents went for their anniversary, or for company holiday dinners.  When “Milleridge” was mentioned, you knew you would be spending the evening at your grandparents!  In fact, it was only five or six years ago that I was actually invited to join my folks at Milleridge for the first time, and its secrets were revealed.

The Milleridge Inn is old!  Circa 1672 old!  Their website has a detailed history outlining major miletsones, from the original construction in 1672, to its first use as a roadside stopping point by Elias Hicks in 1783, to the boom brought about by the newly constructed Jericho Turnpike in 1815.  With these milestones the building was repurposed, remodeled, or added to.  What you see when you go inside is like a patchwork quilt of various eras, from the original fireplace now well over 300 years old, to the more recently added neon sign in front. 

So how does this all compare to the image of Milleridge when I was young?  Well… it is adult, it is fancy, but it is most certainly not pretentious.  It’s the type of place that changes, but so slowly you don’t notice until plenty of time has passed – just like Mama Bear and Papa Bear!

Here now we have Spoon #9, which very proudly bears the WALCO mark:

Since this is our first Walco spoon, we might as well look into their company a little bit.  The Walco website explains that Walco is a division of the Utica Cutlery Company, focusing primarily on the hotel and restaurant industries.  Here is a rendering of Utica Cutlery Company World Headquarters in beautiful Utica, New York:

Walco manufactures in the good ol’ U.S.A., but also imports some products from overseas.

The Walco website banner says the company celebrated their 100^th year anniversary in 2010!  If you’re like me, you may be a bit worried that being that old, Walco could be a little “out of date”.  Not to worry!  Recently Walco introduced their new “Freya Norse Goddess of Love” collection, featuring what they call the “latest trend in flatware”, Stand-up Knives! 

Stand-up Knives?  Now that's cutting edge!  Ba-dum ching! 

Zero Otto Nove: Goldilocks'd on Arthur Avenue

When I was but a young child, I went camping with my parents deep in the woods of Maine.  While my folks were attending to the camp, I wandered, and was soon lost in the woods.  Despite much searching, I would never see my family again.  Fortunately, I was taken in by a family of bears who treated me as their own.  My new bear family was very good at telling stories, their favorite being the classic tale of bear-human conflict, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”

I’m sure you have heard the story, but in case you haven’t (maybe you were raised by turkeys!), I will rehash it.  Goldilocks was a girl who some might describe as “intrusive”.  I’m sure her mother would say she was just “inquisitive” or a girl who “knew what she wanted”.  Anyway, Goldilocks is famous for breaking into the home of a typical bear family, eating their porridge, sitting in their chairs, and sleeping in their beds, all the while incessantly complaining about things being too hot/cold, big/small, soft/hard, et cetera.  In the end Goldilock’s narcissism caught up with her and the bears ate her. 

How does this relate to spoon-swapping?  I’ll tell you.  It all lies in the bane of the spoon-swapper:  The tiny “too small” dessert spoon, and its big brother the “too large” soup spoon.  These two will ruin your swap every time as they are completely and utterly un-swappable! 

Ordering soup at a restaurant as precursor to a swap is always risky, as the soup spoon is all too common.  Try swapping a standard issue spoon with one of these monsters and you might get away… but at the next joint, that big old soup spoon will stick out like a sore thumb!  So for this reason, soup is not the preferred route.  Much better to go with coffee or tea!  Nine times out of ten you’ll get a nice regular sized spoon with a cup of coffee… but it was not so when Ms. Dish and I visited Zero Otto Nove recently. 

Here at Zero Otto Nove, they serve their coffee with a little miniaturized spoon, ruining an otherwise fantastic meal!  We’d been Goldilocks’d by this “too-small” spoon!

Zero Otto Nove is on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, an oasis of Italian ambiance!  There is no shortage of fine restaurants and bakeries in the area, so Ms. Dish and I vow to return for a proper swap.

Spoon #8: New Leaf Cafe

Nestled into Fort Tryon Park, which I happen to hold as New York's most beautiful park, is the New Leaf Cafe:

After hearing nothing but good things, Ms. Dish and I had wanted to come here for a long time.  We finally made it on Sunday, and we were not disappointed!  Fort Tryon is home to such beautiful scenery, including forests, gardens, cliff overlooks, views of the Hudson River, and of course the famous Cloisters Museum.  What I like most, however, is the feeling I get when I step into the park and think I've stumbled on this incredible secret place.  The New Leaf seems to compliment all this perfectly in its own way.  Oh and did I mention it was none other than the incomparable Bette Midler who led restoration of the building through her organization, the New York Restoration Project?

It was at brunch at the New Leaf that we engaged our new Spoon #8:

Spoon 8 is marked "ONEIDA 18/10 BAGUETTE", and also has the marking "5-10" stamped near the bowl.

Here it is in a publicity shot, playing Twister with its friends:

Some people are so keen on the Oneida baguette, they take one with them wherever they go - like sous chef Richie Nakano!

This picture is from a very interesting article that looks into chefs and their tattoos.  Worth checking out!

How about the 5-10 near the bowl?  A date maybe?  Yet another mystery...

Introducing... The Swap Map!

Runcible and Ms. Dish plan the next swap.

Thanks to a generous grant from a mysterious benefactor, Spoon Swapper is enhancing your spoon swapping experience by introducing the interactive SWAP MAP!

View Swap Map in a larger map

At this point the Swap Map is very new and extremely experimental, but we have high hopes that it will prove successful in allowing us to track swaps geo-graphically!