Spoon #18: Brasserie 360

Now to continue with our French Food Double Whammy, Part Deux!

After visiting Madame Claude, Ms. Dish, Ms. Scoop, and I took a trip to Brasserie 360 on  60th and Third:

Disclaimer:  Above photograph taken by Runcible.  Please excuse the inferior quality when compared to what you have come to expect from the lens of Ms. Dish.

We traveled to Brasserie 360 on a hunch that this was the same restaurant Ms. Scoop would frequent when she lived in the area about 40 years ago.  Unfortunately, we discovered that this was not the place, but still we had a darn good meal. 


Here we have Spoon Number 18:  

An Oneida Baguette, just like Spoon Number 8!  With a record of TWO occurrences, this is officially our most popular spoon! 

Aside from the worn markings "ONEIDA 18/10 BAGUETTE", Number 18 also includes the mark "9-07" near the bowl.  Spoon Number 8 had the mark "5-10" at this location, which we speculated could be a date.  This "9-07" certainly seems to fit in with this theory.  Isn't it nice of Oneida to not only include the name of the spoon on the back, but also the date of manufacture?  That's how you run a world-class flatware company! 

Spoon #17: Madame Claude Cafe

Would you believe it has been a whole month since our last swap?  To make up for it Ms. Dish and I went on a spoon-bender, featuring a french food double-whammy!  

Also joining us was Ms. Dish's mother, Ms. Scoop!  Our first stop was the Madame Claude Cafe in Jersey City, NJ:

Disclaimer:  Above photograph taken by Runcible.  Please excuse the inferior quality when compared to what you have come to expect from the lens of Ms. Dish.

Madame Claude's is a real cozy joint featuring some excellent French cuisine.  In true Jersey City form it is B.Y.O.B.!  Spoon number 17 came along with some of the best French Onion Soup of all time:

Number 17 is marked "ADCRAFT MONTE CARLO S/S 8".  This is our first Adcraft spoon!  A little research tells us that "Adcraft" is short for Admiral Craft, "Serving the Food Service Industry Since 1952!".  Originally the company focused on "smallwares" (restaurant supply talk for utensils, pots, pans, et cetera), but now their range includes all sorts of commercial counter top equipment, such as meat grinders, mini pizza ovens, and hot dog rollers! 

Here is Spoon 17 in an Adcraft publicity shot:

Swapping Number 17 was relatively easy as none of the flatware at Madame Claude's seemed to match.  Perhaps this is a local hangout for all manner of spoon-, fork-, and knife-swappers, but it seems the kind of thing only a tiny French bistro can pull off. 

More to come on our French food double-whammy soon! 

Spoon #16: Skinner's Loft

Good Mornin' Captain...

This weekend Ms. Dish and I stopped by Skinner's Loft in Jersey City for brunch:

These were uncharted waters, but Skinner's Loft proved to be downright delicious.  As an added bonus, Ms. Dish and I got to continue our trend of eating Huevos Rancheros in Jersey City.

Here we have numero dieciseis, which is marked "Oneida 18/10 New York" and "56-11":

Oneida describes their "New York" pattern like this: 

This richly sculpted, plume-like design is finely crafted in lustrous stainless steel. New York is bound to noticed and appreciated by your patrons for its beautiful finish and exceptional quality.

 

I have to say that, extravagant descriptions aside, this spoon is pretty fancy.  Here is a picture of the whole family:

Searching for information on the Oneida "New York" pattern turns out to be pretty difficult because, wouldn't you know it, all the results come back for Oneida, New York!  

Spoon #15: Loreley

Earlier this week Ms. Dish and I took a trip down to Manhattan's Lower East Side to visit one of our favorite German restuarants: Loreley. 

There's not much better than sitting in the Loreley beergarden with a currywurst and a Gaffel Kolsch sharing in the "gemutlichkeit" of old Cologne!  Loreley's website points out that out of over 17,000 restaurants in New York City, there are less than twenty German restaurants.  To me that is astounding! 

Spoon 15 came to us with a cup of "Kaffee":

Marked "Winco Stainless 18-10", Spoon 15 also features the mysterious "8 in a circle" mark.  Looks like Spoon 15 is from Winco's "Stanford" collection:

I should point out that Ms. Dish swapped this spoon, exemplifying the stealth and cunning of a cool-headed spoon-swapper!

Spoon #14: BXL East

Worry not Spoon-Swappers - Ms. Dish and I are still on the prowl!  I know it's been a little while, but just this past weekend we excecuted another swap, this time at BXL East:

Ms. Dish and I went to BXL East to celebrate that festival of Belgiumish culture that is cycling's Ronde van Vlaanderen a.k.a. Tour of Flanders.  In between watching Belgium's own Tom Boonen sprint to victory and Fabian Cancellara's quadruple collarbone fracture we enjoyed a delicious taste of Belgiumese cuisine.
Here is our new Spoon Number Fourteen:

Fourteen was a tricky swap, as it is nearly identical to Spoon Thirteen.  It is differentiated by the marking "Qualite Dominion" on the back.  As with Spoon Twelve, I found no information about a "Qualite" manufacturer.  Are they defunct?  Anti-internet?  Also, as with Spoon Twelve, it appears that other manufacturers make a very similar "Dominion" spoon, including ABC Valueline, Walco, and Winco.  Isn't that suspicious?  Is there one huge factory out there somewhere stamping out "Dominion" style spoons with different manufacturer's names on them?  Or if you tell someone in the spoon business that you need a "Dominion" spoon, do they nod knowlingly and pull out a catalog of "Dominion" manufacturers?  And in fact wasn't it Spoon Number 4 that we identified as an ABC Valueline Dominion?  It was!

Spoon #13: Jackson Hole

Yesterday Ms. Dish and I found ourselves out late on the Upper West Side.  Overdue for a swap and with the Upper West Side under-served by our spoon-swapping, we sauntered into the Jackson Hole diner on 91^st and Madison.

I had read a review of Jackson Hole saying their burgers were humongous, more like a small meatloaf than a burger, so of course I had to see for myself.  Low and behold out came a meat baseball on a bun!  Ms. Dish had a Cobb salad and she reported it to be quite tasty.  We were lucky and got the best seat in the house; a table right on the corner that allowed us to both look directly outside!

Here is Spoon Number 13:

No. 13 is marked “167 Stainless Steel” on the back.  I’m no spoon snob, but Number 13 is very light and has some pretty rough edges.  This is strictly an economy spoon!  I guess as long as they’re grilling seven ounce burgers, Jackson Hole has to make cutbacks in the spoon department.  Unfortunately the manufacturer was so ashamed of 13, they did not leave their mark.  We will have to classify it as “unidentified”.

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.