Andrew Mark Veety

The Best Pizzerias In St. Louis - Part I

The Setup:

St. Louis native Yogi Berra once replied, “You better make it four. I don't think I could eat eight” when asked how many slices his pizza should be cut into. I've always been fond of this quote, not just because its classic Berra, but because in many ways it captures the American experience with pizza.

As a society who tends to revel in our own over indulgence, it is pizza that arguably sits at the top of the food chain as the meal we eat to excess. We consume the dish on a massive scale, usually from cardboard boxes and frozen cases, instead of freshly pulled from the blistering heat of a pizzeria's oven, which is arguably the only way to truly commune with a pizza.

There are only a handful of dishes in the American diet that have experienced the culinary version of manifest destiny that pizza has. From the hand tossed pies the size of car tires and coal oven blistered doughs of the East Coast to the West Coast take on the Midwestern deep dish, the very idea of pizza is continually borrowed and tweaked to make something just a bit different from the dish a town over, yet familiar enough to wet the appetite when the heady smell of a pizza pie baking in a rocket hot oven first hits the nose. 

Locally, St. Louis has been in the midst of a pizza renaissance, with a host of pizzerias successfully fighting for elbow room at a table dominated by the ubiquitous St. Louis style pizza. Indeed, when I originally asked for help finding the best pizzas St. Louis had to offer, I fully expected to spend some time making my way though the roster of locally famous pizzerias serving up cracker thin pies, covered from edge to edge with toppings and Provel, a uniquely St. Louis cheese product that more than anything is the ethos of the St. Louis style pizza.

Instead of the traditional favorites, folks came out in numbers for pies that are at the forefront of the changing face of pizza in St. Louis. I took your feedback and set out to find and rank what I think are the best pizzas in St. Louis, based on the votes of the readers of this site, starting with numbers ten through six.

Burger Of The Month - Carl's Drive In

For the eleventh time this year I gathered up a group of friends and food bloggers to take down a burger - this time for a lunch break on a warm fall work day. This was the next to last stop in a year long search for the best burger that St. Louis has to offer, based on the input of my readers. You nominated them and I'm eating them, one by one until I crown the best burger in St. Louis this coming December.

Joining me this go around were Church of Burger alumni Bill Burge (STLBites), Kelli Best-Oliver (South City Confidential / Food Blog Mafia), Stefani Pollack (Cupcake Project), project photographer Jonathan Pollack (J. Pollack Photography), Kyle Harsha (Sippin' Saint Louis / Harsha Wines) and Corey Woodruff (Corey Woodruff Photography).

With the introductions out of the way its time to welcome you all back to The Church of Burger. In the name of the bun, the toppings and the holy burger, I present unto you the November Burger of the Month from Carl's Drive In. 

Burger Of The Month - Carl's Drive In

A brief history of Carl's Drive-In:

In the 1930's, the small building that is the home of Car's Drive-In was a gas station that did a side business selling hot dogs and root beer.

In 1959 tha gas station was bought by Carl Meyer, who turned it first into a traditional drive-in, and then by 1962 a diner, enjoying a prime location on historic Route 66 outside of St. Louis.

In 1987 Carl's changed ownership again, this time into the skilled hands of Frank Cunetto, who can still be found behind the counter meeting the demand for his amazing hamburgers and house made root beer.

In 2010 the readers of this site voted Carl's the second best burger in St Louis. Road food aficionados rejoiced.

Classic American smashed burgers. The mother road. A dozen counter seats and a flat top. It is an understatement to say that I am excited about this months visit so we can see how Carl's paper thin patties compare to some of the best we've tried this year.

Penguin Drive-In - Say It Ain't So - Part II

It’s clear that events surrounding the Penguin Drive-In in Charlotte, North Carolina are creating quite a stir locally. I’ve been watching the comments on this site, in my twitter feed and on the Birds Facebook page with great interest from my vantage point here in St. Louis. I’m touched that so many people have taken the time to read my initial thoughts on the topic, and for that I thank you.

I’m especially interested in the thoughts around this boycott and how it will impact the neighborhood the Penguin calls home - - a neighborhood that by all accounts was rejuvenated in part by the rehabilitation of a classic American restaurant.

It’s a real concern  -- but I’m not sure its really the point -- at least for me.

You see, missing from this argument - - that a boycott will adversely effect its surrounding environment -- is an acknowledgement of just what the Penguin is.

Never mind that the Penguin was a failing business for many years, that its best days were far behind it before its business was rebuilt. Never mind that Jimmy King and Brian Rowe opened themselves to a questionable level of risk by allowing the Ballentine family to maintain the business's name and hold the lease on its home. Never mind that long time chef Greg Auten has been retained for when management changes hands in October. These things are the drama, the raw emotions, the things that will eventually fade for most people with time.

What matters is the uniqueness of this American landmark. What matters is what will be lost as the Bird’s menu is commoditized, its decor standardized and its vibe packaged up for deployment to cities far and wide. Make no mistake, that is the plan. That is why a franchise specialist has been added to the management team.

Without a doubt it appears that King and Rowe are getting the shaft and the community is rightfully standing up for them. Again, this anger, this defense of the recent management will eventually pass. The bigger issue is with the Ballentine family’s plans to franchise the Penguin. Franchising the Penguin is where the long term damage will be done – both to the brand and the neighborhood that opponents of the boycott are so worried about.

As the “how” of the Penguin is written up in business, marketing and operating plans – I wonder how the Ballentine family will capture the “what” and “who”? It is here that most franchise concepts fail, because it is incredibly hard to capture the soul of a place like the Bird and transplant it.

How will the Ballentine family institutionalize the people who rebuilt the Penguin? How about the work ethic and the feeling of ownership by the staff?

How will they transplant that ethos to its second location? How about its tenth?

As an example; if a Penguin Drive-In lands in Cleveland, Ohio, why will the employees there care about the restaurant? Why will working at the Bird be more than a job?

The simple answer is that it won’t matter anymore, the magic will be long gone. In an effort to bottle up and ship the Penguin to places other, the very things that make it special will be lost, even as the original location lives on -- even if it has more in common with a Monkey Joe's than a classic American burger joint.

Some Thoughts On "The Locavore's Dilemma"

Earlier this week St. Louis Magazine food critic Dave Lowry posted an essay entitled The Locavore's Dilemma: One Critic's Take. 

I encourage you to take the time to read Dave's piece and give it some thought. I know I did. What follows is a copy of the comment I left for the author. As always I would be interested to know what the readers of this blog think about this subject. I hope to read your thoughts -- either here or on the Relish section of St. Louis Magazine.

I commented:

The type of eater that Dave describes accounts for 1 or 2 of every 100 people who take an active role in the relationship between themselves and the food they eat. It's not clear if Dave intended to use his well crafted prose to spray entrails over a larger segment of the dining population with his essay -- but to this reader that is exactly what has happened.

While I am not a locavore, I feel the need to point out that Dave has targeted the low hanging -- and I assume local -- fruit to base his attack on. I will grant to the author that the locavore is an easy target. Indeed most ideas can be dismantled when they are pushed to their extremes, especially if you can paint the individuals who adhere to that idea as disingenuous, woefully bored and haplessly middle class. The locavore becomes a buffoonish cartoon under Dave's withering attack -- the author skillfully uses dripping sarcasm and absurdity to make his prey look absurd.

Missing from Dave's argument are harder targets -- namely the real social and political concerns associated with the local food movement. The issues of national farm, energy and health polices are real -- conceding these issues and arguments even in part to the locavore makes it harder to diminish them as a group.

Sadly Dave's argument is additionally weakened by a secondary theme that appears throughout his essay -- namely a sense of entitlement and arrogance associated with being an accomplished eater. Without specifically saying it, the locavore is regulated to the same group as the often maligned foodie. To many, the term foodie is an affectionate term, used to describe the fraternity of eaters. The darker side of the term foodie is an insult - a method for the experienced to point out the amateur status of another. If one can stratify eaters, one can maintain one's position at the top of the dining heap.

It would appear that there is not a single idea or lesson that can be learned from the locavore. The bounty of edible treats available to the culinary adventurous is here for our enjoyment, we need not worry ourselves with issues like our relationship to the food on our plate. To listen to the incessant ranting of the locavore is to harsh the eaters proverbial buzz. Please do not trouble me with your thoughts, be quiet and pass me the duck liver.

In the end, Dave comes off as angry and aggravated that an unwashed plebeian questioned the choices of the patrician. Personally I find it entertaining that the author appears so threatened by the opinions and ideas of such a small population of eaters that he is willing to use a literary daisy cutter to decimate them.

Foods Of Your Youth - Microwaved Fast Food

I spent my formative years working in the dairy and frozen section of our local grocery store. In hindsight one of the oddest foods that I would unload off of freezer trucks and stock into freezer cases were a set of products sold under the MicroMagic and MicroMarvels label -- small red boxes containing hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes.

The world -- or at least the Internet -- has largely forgotten about these one minute meals. However this commercial from the late 1980's lives on.

Mmmmmm tangy processed cheese food and microwaved tomatoes. And to think, you can't get this stuff in the store anymore.

So tell me, were microwaved burgers and fries the food of your youth?

Chef Boyardee - Wrecking Pizza For Over 50 Years

Since the 1920's, Chef Boyardee has graced the labels of canned and boxed Italian food convenience products. Named after its founder, Italian-American immigrant Ettore Boiardi, the Chef is an integral yet unfortunate element of childhood in America.

While canned ravioli comes to mind for most when the name Chef Boyardee is mentioned -- I think the "pizza kit" is a better example of the wholesale bastardization of Italian food.

A Brief History Of Provel

Part I - St. Louis, Missouri: A Convoluted Food History

There may be no city in America with a food history as confusing and misunderstood than St. Louis, Missouri. Sitting at the confluence of food history is The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, commonly known as the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Indeed it appears that the eyes of the country were on St. Louis in 1904 -- it also hosted the 1904 Summer Olympics and Democratic National Convention as part of the World's Fair events.

Records indicate that between 18 and 20 million people passed through the World's Fair gates between April and December 1904 -- providing an opportunity to showcase innovation and the technological development of the time. Truth be told, innovation did not stop at technology, it also included many foods and products that are standards of American culture today like the hamburger, the hot dog, iced tea, Dr. Pepper, puffed rice and the waffle ice cream cone. However, with the exception of the waffle cone, none of these items were invented at or for the fair. Instead it was the first time that these items were viewed and purchased in one location by such a large population of people.

So what does that leave the Gateway City to claim as its very own?

Toasted ravioli comes to mind, but its lineage is called into question when you dig a bit and discover a traditional Sicilian desert called Fravioli di Carnevale -- deep fried pillows of dough filled with ricotta cheese and cinnamon. The similarity of the two dishes clouds the origins of the much loved "t-rav".

Then there is a dish called Gooey Butter Cake -- a confection of butter, yellow cake mix, eggs and cream cheese. While the oral and written history indicate multiple creators of the Gooey Butter Cake, all the stories point to St. Louis bakers in the 1930's and 40's. In the case of the Gooey butter Cake, is safe to say that the dish was invented here.

Rounding out the list of purely unique St. Louis foods is a product that was undoubtably invented in and for the citizens of St. Louis, Provel. Provel is a white pasteurized process cheese made of cheddar, swiss, and provolone. Provel is the signature ingredient in a St. Louis style pizza, identifiable by its thin crust, toppings that run from edge to edge and the shape servings are cut into -- squares. The use of Provel is not limited to pizzas in St. Louis, it can also be found on salads, pastas and sandwiches.

Like many regional specialties -- chicken wings and cheesesteaks come to mind -- the documented facts regarding Provels origin and history are loosely woven with family and customer lore, often making it near impossible to determine a time line from product creation to wide adoption. Provel its seems, is no different.

What follows is an attempt to untangle the history of Provel or at least collect its history and legend in one place. As such it is reasonable that this page will be updated from time to time.

Part II - Provel. What is it?

According to Title 21, Part 133 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Provel is a pasteurized process cheese, a product created through the combination of several different types of cheese -- in this case cheddar, swiss and provolone. Simply put, the naming convention (pasteurized process cheese vs cheese) comes down to government mandated amounts of moisture and milk fat contained within the end product. Products that meet the guidelines are legally allowed to be marketed as cheese, while products not meeting the prescribed criteria are required to be labeled in a way that highlights the difference for the consumer.

The name Provel is trademarked and dates back to the first half of the 20th century. Provel originally was produced by the Hoffman Cheese Company of Wisconsin. Today the trademark for Provel is held by the Churny Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kraft Foods.

Part III - Though The Years

For a product like Provel, which for the most part is produced for and consumed in St. Louis, there is little in the way of a definitive history in the public record. The most often quoted history for Provel can be traced to a paragraph written by St. Louis Post-Dispatch food critic Joe Bonwich:

"Provel was invented specifically for St. Louis-style pizza more than a half-century ago by the downtown firm Costa Grocery (now Roma Grocery on the Hill, a primarily Italian St. Louis neighborhood), in collaboration with the Hoffman dairy company of Wisconsin (now part of Kraft Foods). Provel was developed to meet perceived demand for a pizza cheese with a “clean bite”: one that melts well but breaks off nicely when bitten."

Through the years there has been reporting in the St. Louis media that supports this history. However some digging has exposed competing claims that both support and challenge the historical record.

Before getting into the "who?" of Provel, it would be a good idea to look at the "why?". Its widely accepted that without the St. Louis style pizza, there would probably be no Provel. At the same time, without a man named Edward Imo, there might not be a St. Louis style pizza, or perhaps not such a specific example of the style. Edward Imo is a champion of all things topped in Provel and the person responsible for a local pizza empire that bears his family name -- Imo's Pizza.

Multiple sources suggest a link between Ed Imo and Provel formed after he reportedly began testing the product at a popular local pizza establishment named Helen's Pizza before striking out to open his first pizzeria in 1964. However in an interview I conducted with Ed and Margie Imo, both stated that they have no prior relationship with a pizzeria named Helen's, although they do believe that Helen's existed and sold pizza.

While not unique to St. Louis, Imo indeed helped to place the stamp of the Gateway City on the thin crust style. Forgoing a traditional crust with a "bone" at the edges of the pie, Imo spread toppings across the pie and used Provel in the place of mozzarella -- in contrast to thin crust pizzas found on the East Coast and Chicago.

Indeed it is the physical properties of Provel that make it the perfect match for St. Louis style pizza. The "clean bite" that Bonwich writes about makes sense when one thinks about the cracker thin crust that a layer of Prove rides upon. For a pizza that is cut into squares, its important to have a cheese that will not stretch and drip off the edges, especially as there is little besides a small section of pizza for the diner to grip onto. For the St. Louis style pizza -- form follows function -- the shape and composition of the crust is made for the delivery of toppings and ultimately Provel.

Ed Imo -- who's single pizza shop has grown into 100 franchises, each using approximately 25,000 pounds of Provel each year -- has earned his place as the evangelist for Provel, but he was not its creator. History and reporting points at another St. Louisian, Tony Costa, who owned a wholesale grocery near Seventh and Cole in the city of St. Louis -- an area on the periphery of what is now the Edwards Jones Dome. According to Abe Pezzani, president of the Roma Grocery Company, it was Costa who worked with food scientists from the Hoffman Cheese company to create Provel in the early 1960's.

Pezzani also provides an oral history regarding Ed Imo and his experimentation with Provel before opening his first pizza shop. Pezzani's retelling of the tale carries weight in St. Louis, as his company, Roma, purchased Costa's and is the primary source of Provel in St. Louis, including sourcing to Ed Imo's long lived pizza franchise.

Part IV - Lingering Issues

It would seem that the history of Provel has been written with the help of Abe Pezzani, who is indeed in a position to help document its path from food science in the 1960's to a beloved regional product and eventual pizza empire. However, like conflicting histories of chicken wings in Buffalo and cheese steaks in Philadelphia, it would appear that there is another competing claim to the history of Provel, a second and substantially dimmer branch of the family tree.

That story belongs to a grocer named John Sigillito and takes place almost 20 years before Tony Costa was reported to have helped invent Provel. The Imo's support this in part, suggesting that they remember hearing that the Sigillito's sold Provel at their downtown grocery. As told by John's wife Mary, Sigillito owned an an Italian food shop at Seventh and Franklin Avenue in St. Louis named International Food Products. According to Mary Sigillito:

"My husband (John) introduced provel cheese to St. Louis in the 1940s. Other people claimed they did, but we liquidated in 1954 and before that we were the sole distributors of provel in the area.

Provel was made by the Hoffman brothers in Wisconsin. It's a blend of provolone, cheddar and Swiss. The pizzerias liked this because they could use less, and it wouldn't get stringy and leave a mess on their clothes. The people who ate it liked the flavor and the convenience of not having the string. My husband introduced it to the pizzerias."

Jim Sigillito, the great nephew of John Sigillito provided the following family history via email after this post was initally published to help support Mary Sigillito's claim to the history of Provel:

"John Sigillito, who did in fact introduce Provel cheese to St. Louis through his downtown grocery, was my great uncle, the older brother of my grandfather Oreste Sigillito.  My grandfather came to the US with his parents as an infant in 1901 - John and the rest of his siblings remained in Italy, raised with other famillies.  John served in the Italian army in WW1 in N. Africa, riding camels in the infantry.  He came to the US and St.Louis as a young man.  His parents had a grocery on West Park near Manchester Rd and after he married Mary they opened their grocery business in downtown St. Louis.
 
Your description of the Provel history is accurate - and the dates involved pretty much bear out the fact that John Sigillito did first introduce Provel cheese to St. Louis. Then, after he and his wife closed their business in the 1950's,  his friends who operated the remaining Italian downtown grocery, which was known as Italo-American, continued to promote and distribute the product.  Italo-American was an old fashioned wooden floored grocery, with dried salami and cheese hanging and barrels of olives, and boxes of dried cod - and the smells were great!!  I have great memories as a kid going there and getting samples of the salami and cheese and olives.  The folks at Italo American were all friends of my Uncle John and Aunt Mary and treated us very well because of our relation to them.  The Italo Amercian store remained open downtown until the area was razed for construction in the 70's.  That's when the business moved to the Hill, where it still operated under the name Italo American for several years and continued to have a small retail storefront in addition to their wholesale business. If I remember right it didn't come to be knowm as Roma until sometime in the early 1980's when the retail storefront was closed - at least I remember still going there to buy cheese when I was in college around 1981."

Part V - Loose Ends

While there are a few differences between the two histories, the back story is essentially the same - the desire for a "clean bite" for St. Louis style pizza. It would appear that this part of the story is accurate, even if it originates from multiple sources.

Of interest is the location of Sigillito's shop - Seventh and Franklin, an address that no longer exists. A check of current St. Louis City maps shows that Franklin ends before it meets Jefferson Ave, but that is because the section of Franklin running deep into the city was renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. What was Franklin eventually runs into what is now the America's Center and Edward Jones Dome. The intersection of what would be Franklin and Seventh sits in the middle of the sprawling complex, which was built in 1977.

While the physical location International Food Products is long gone, it would have sat a block from Tony Costa's grocery near Seventh and Cole. The proximity of the two locations is hard to ignore.

We know that Edward Imo experimented with Provel before opening his own pizzeria in 1964. However, Mary Sigillito claims that her husband John began introducing Provel to pizzerias before his businesses closed ten years earlier. Both John and Mary Sigillito have passed away, so digging into which pizzerias John worked with, or if he was known to Edward Imo remains and open question.

Lastly, both stories point to the Hoffman Cheese Company of Wisconsin as being the product development arm of this story. Of note -- a succession of corporate mergers has left important aspects of Provel's history in the dark. Indeed, it appears that Kraft is unable or unwilling to assist with information contained in within its corporate archives. Personally my attempts to request information from Kraft have yet to result in a reply. It would appear Joe Bonwich has had similar results in his research. Bonwich writes:

"Hoffman Cheese got gobbled up in several successive corporate mergers, and Provel is now made by Churny Co., a subsidiary of Kraft Foods. The massive food conglomerate, though, doesn't seem to know it has provel in its portfolio. Of more than 3,300 recipes on the Kraft consumer site that contain cheese, none uses provel."

Part VI - Closing

Of all the foods associated with St. Louis, none is more synonymous with the city than Provel. It is a litmus test of sorts, helping to identify who is from, who has left and who happens to be passing though St. Louis. For people from St. Louis, it means pride and childhood memories. For people who have left St. Louis, it offers a sense of nostalgia and perhaps homesickness. For those passing though, even if the stay is for years or even decades, it is a puzzlement and a source of contention between those who "get it" and those who do not.

Part VII - St. Louis - Important Dates and Locations For Provel

View A Brief History Of Provel in a larger map

Part VIII - References

The Theory of PROVELATIVITY: Family Ties Pave The Way To Provel's Enduring Popularity, April 11, 2007, Joe Bonwich, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

She's Marvelous, And So Is Provel, October 17, 2007, Jane Henderson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Personal correspondence with Jim Sigillito, September, 2010

Interview With Ed and Margie Imo, September, 2010

Amuse Bouche For September 11th, 2009

Another day, another group of disjointed things I've been reading and doing....

• Excited that I'm developing a new concept around work day lunch time eats, angered that I forgot my camera when I left for work, again.
• Lamenting that it looks like I will miss American IPA night at The Good Pie as well as Hop In The City this year.
• S. 1650: A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve the purchase and processing of healthful commodities for use in school meal programs has entered the Senate. More at Slow Food USA
• Really enjoying the September 21st edition of "The Nation" which is dedicated to essays on Food Democracy, with essays by Alice Waters and Michael Pollan among others. Complementary to a recent article in Time on the real cost of cheap food.
• Sauce Magazine takes a tour of some of the best fries in St. Louis, manages to forget the amazing fries at The Dubliner. They make up for it with the recipe for the Subcontinental at The Royale on page 30 of the Wine, Beer & Spirits supplemental to the September print copy. While I almost always avoid cheese sandwiches, I'm oddly intrigued by the photo of the meatloaf melt at Jennifer’s Pharmacy. I blame Jonathan Pollack's tasty photo for my change in attitude.
• A year ago today I juxtaposed George Washington, Geroge W Bush and Sarah Palin. 8 years ago I walked out of my office to grab some coffee, looked up Broadway and saw the WTC on fire. I'm also still unsure if I should develop the roll of film I took that morning as I walked out of the city to Queens.
• Sure it works on the coasts, but will my Son get beat up when I pack him his first Bento Box for a school lunch?

Alice Waters Get's Her Wish

60 Minutes did a piece on famous chef, restaurant owner and Slow Food advocate Alice Waters recently, discussing the relationship between food, the Earth and our lives. 

Among the highlights of her interview were the ideas that healthy food is not a luxury, but a right of all people and her desire to have a vegetable garden planted at the White House.

Well Alice, congratulations, via the New York Times, "Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of the South Lawn on Friday to plant a vegetable garden, the first at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II."  

The Times continues, "While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern." 

I am so happy that awareness continues to grow on this issue and I am looking forward to shopping the great farmers markets we have here in St. Louis. I hope this interview and associated article inspires you to shop and eat locally this season as well.

Some more information

• Slow Food USA
• Slow Food St. Louis 
• Missouri Farmers Market Directory  
• Tower Grove Farmers Market
• Local Harvest Grocery 

Burgers On Air Force One

From National Geographic's upcoming TV series, On Board Air Force One, comes this fun clip of President Barack Obama ordering a burger and touring Air Force One for the first time.

His order? A medium-well burger with cheddar cheese, Dijon mustard, lettuce, and tomato — and a side of fries.

I wonder how that medium-well burger turned out, and why he had to ruin it with cheese.

Video courtesy of the National Geographic Channel

Ted's Charcoal Broiled Hots

At one time there was an old tool shed in the shadow of the Peace Bridge that was used to sell sandwiches to the iron workers constructing the international roadway connecting Buffalo, New York and For Erie, Ontario.

In 1927 the bridge was completed and the building was sold to a young immigrant who had operated a horse drawn hot dog cart in a park near the construction site. 80 years later, that rickety old shack that shook when trains passed is gone. However, over the years that small restaurant serving the western side of Buffalo has grown to eight plus a western location in Tempe, Arizona. 

Known locally as Ted's, Ted's Charcoal Broiled Hots are a Buffalo staple. A hot is a western New York flavor of dog made with a mixture of uncured pork, veal, and beef. Ted's uses this classic recipe as well as all beef dogs. Hots are available in multiple sizes, foot long and regular which are topped with chili, cheese, onion, a sad example of a pickle, Ted's famous hot sauce and much to my chagrin, ketchup. 

At Ted's, hots are charbroiled and turned often with a set of serrated grill forks that cut deep crevices into the dog and natural casing. The open flame method of cooking a hot leaves great grill marks and smoke flavor to complete the base of this hot dog. Well done dogs take on the look of a New Jersey specialty, a ripper, albeit a mildly fried one. 

For me, the snap of a grilled natural casing outshines the boiled dogs that are common in the Chicago Style and is at least as good as a New York dog cooked on a flat top griddle. Adding to the smoky and spicy dog is Ted's famous hot sauce, which if added in quantity will leave you grasping for the nearest loganberry pop. Much like the Beef on Weck, a loganberry drink is a perfect foil for the nitrite bomb served at Ted's. The local beverage stands up to the spice and smoke of the dog in a way that only a loganberry can. (I assume, it seems silly to try to figure out how a Ted's matches with a Coke.)

Sides are plentiful, but I would advise opting for the onion rings which are fried while you wait. Sliced and coated thinly, the onions cook fast and crispy, matching well with a hot from Ted's.

Opinion: Recommended

Nine Locations in Western New York and Arizona

Finishing Our Work - Tom Friedman

You may enjoy Tom Friedman's November 5th, 2008 op-ed from the New York Times.

Election Day

Sara and I were on line this morning at 6AM to vote, and it still took us almost an hour and a half. It was amazing to see our friends and neighbors lined up on a warm fall morning, everyone was in good spirits, we moved along at a decent clip, and in short order we were on our way to work.

Today I have hope for the future and a return to normalcy after the last 8 years. I wish our new President well and the best of luck, but really, I just want him to get to work fixing our country. January can't come quick enough.

Won't Get Fooled Again

The change, it had to come

We knew it all along

We were liberated from the fold, that's all

And the world looks just the same

And history ain't changed

'Cause the banners, they were all flown in the last war...

Meet the new boss

Same as the old boss

The Who, Won't Get Fooled Again, June 1971

"There's a lot of talk about Iraq on our TV screens, and there should be, because we're trying to figure out how best to make the world a peaceful place. There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again. You've got to understand the nature of the regime we're dealing with. This is a man who has delayed, denied, deceived the world. For the sake of liberty and justice for all, the United Nations Security Council must act, must act in way to hold this regime to account, must not be fooled, must be relevant to keep the peace."

President George W. Bush, Remarks by the President on Teaching American History and Civic Education, September 17, 2002

"This nation has suffered through eight years of an ill-prepared and unblinkingly obstinate president. One who didn’t pause to think before he started a disastrous war of choice in Iraq. One who blithely looked the other way as the Taliban and Al Qaeda regrouped in Afghanistan. One who obstinately cut taxes and undercut all efforts at regulation, unleashing today’s profound economic crisis.

In a dangerous world, Americans need a president who knows that real strength requires serious thought and preparation."

Gov. Palin's Worldview, New York Times Editorial, September 12, 2008

"Later, in the spin zones of cable TV, commentators repeatedly made the point that there are probably very few voters — some specifically mentioned “hockey moms” — who could explain the Bush doctrine. But that’s exactly the reason we have such long and intense campaigns. You want to find the individuals who best understand these issues, who will address them in sophisticated and creative ways that enhance the well-being of the nation.

The Bush doctrine, which flung open the doors to the catastrophe in Iraq, was such a fundamental aspect of the administration’s foreign policy that it staggers the imagination that we could have someone no further than a whisper away from the White House who doesn’t even know what it is.

You can’t imagine that John McCain or Barack Obama or Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton or Joe Lieberman would not know what the Bush doctrine is. But Sarah Palin? Absolutely clueless."

She's Not Ready, Robert Herbert, September 12, 2008

"Sarah, who is now so renowned that she is known merely by one name and has a name ID of 90 percent, has to be a Kmart mom who appeals to Kmart moms and dads. She’s already shown that she can shoot the pig, put lipstick on it, bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. Now all she has to do is also prove that she can be the leader of the free world on a moment’s notice, and field dress Putin as adeptly as she can a moose."

My Fair Veep, Maureen Dowd, September 9, 2008

We Can Do Better Than This

"...In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential, than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The Nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the Government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The Government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of Nations has been the victim.

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop.

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off, when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality, we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies."

President George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796

"...defending the United States, the American people, and our interests at home and abroad by identifying and destroying the threat before it reaches our borders. While the United States will constantly strive to enlist the support of the international community, we will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self defense by acting preemptively against such terrorists, to prevent them from doing harm against our people and our country"

President George W. Bush, National Security Strategy, September 2002

"GIBSON: Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?

PALIN: In what respect, Charlie?

GIBSON: Bush -- What do you interpret it to be?

PALIN: His world-view?

GIBSON: Well, the Bush Doctrine, September 2002, before the Iraq war.

PALIN: I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hellbent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though...

GIBSON: The Bush Doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a pre-emptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that?

PALIN: Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against the American people, we have every right to defend our country."

Republican Vice Presidential Nominee, Sara Palin, September 11, 2008

Flipper Freddy’s Polish Pickles

When I was about 5 or 6 my parents packed up their drab green mid-seventies Chevrolet Impala and we set sail along the highways from Arizona to our new home in New York. As my parents arranged to buy our first home in New York, we lived with my Grandparents in Pine Bush, a small farming town about 90 miles outside of New York City.

We ended up living in the farm house my mother grew up for several months. While most of my attention as focused on playing with Matchbox’s cars in a mound of dirt near the driveway, I can remember being intrigued by the dark and steep stairs into the basement, its walls lined with mason jars filled with the bounty of the past summers harvest. It seemed my Grandparents would pickle just about everything they grew, beans, beets, carrots, celery and my favorite to this day, cucumbers.

As I attempt to garden myself and shop our local farmers markets when in season, I have a greater appreciation for the multicolored jars in my grandparents basement. Not only is canning, jarring and pickling a great way to extend a harvest into the fall and winter, it is a tradition that I hope to pass long to my children. The simple act of making pickles forces us to slow down and appreciate where our food comes from, and our relationship to it. Free from chemicals and preservatives, we are taking the best our gardens have to offer and saving a part of it to enjoy later.

With this in mind, this morning at the Tower Grove Farmers Market I came across a basket filled with Kirby cucumbers, each one seemingly as big around as they were long and most likely picked within the past 24 hours. I selected a dozen of the best cucumbers I could find as well as three heads of fresh garlic.

Placing my find on the scale, the farmer running the booth smiled and commented “Pickles”. I grinned and continued my shopping, but in the back of my mind I was thinking not only about the pickles that I would make when I got home, but also of all the possibilities they offered, wingmen to a future sandwich and perhaps a cookout where my pickles rode high on burgers along with fresh tomatoes, onion and lettuce.

Making refrigerator pickles at home is cheap, easy and produces a vastly superior product than what lines the shelves of your local grocery store. Once made, they will keep in your fridge for weeks. That is if you can restrain yourself from frequent visits, fork in hand for a taste a few every time you pass through the kitchen.

What follows is my recipe for Flipper Freddy’s Polish Pickles, in honor of my Grandfather, made in quart sized mason jars. As you make yours, just multiply the measurements below by the number of jars you have.

3 large Kirby cucumbers
1 Tablespoon fresh grated horseradish
Several cloves of fresh garlic, chopped roughly
10 Peppercorns
1 Teaspoon of mustard seed
1/2 Teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
9 Oz. Water
5 Oz. White vinegar

1. Prepare a water bath for your jars, letting the jars and jar collars sit as you prepare your ingredients.

2. In a saucepan, combine water, vinegar, salt and sugar, heat until near boiling and combined. Remove brine from heat.

3. Slice or quarter your cucumbers and set aside.

4. Grate Horseradish and set aside.

5. Peel and chop fresh garlic and set aside.

6. Remove jars from the bath using a set of tongs, letting as much water as possible drain back into the bath, arrange in a conveyor belt fashion near your workspace.

7. Add horseradish, garlic, peppercorns and mustard seeds to your jar, then pack your cucumbers in, leaving a small headspace near the top.

8. Ladle brine over your cucumbers, enough to cover. You may need to shake each jar a little to eliminate any air pockets that may have developed.

9. Cap and hand tighten each collar, set aside on a countertop for several hours to cool.

10. Hand tighten collars again, reserve to fridge.

Your pickles should develop a great, spicy kosher pickle flavor over the next week to 10 days and will keep for weeks. Enjoy.

Chicago 2008

My wife and I recently visited Chicago for our 1st anniversary and to tour the Smart Home at the Museum of Science and Industry.  From an environmental perspective, I’m sure the greenest thing to do would have been to stay home and read about the Smart House online. However, we wanted a chance to see the technology and materials up close so we decided that we would try to travel in the most environmentally friendly way we could - the train.

For the round trip of 602 miles, how did the train stack up against taking a plane or our car:

Airline = .458 Tons or 916 LBS of CO2
Automobile (Avg 25mpg) = .234 Tons or 468 LBS of CO2
Train = .12 Tons or 240 LBS of CO2

Via calculator at Native Energy.

Given that we are Americans and are creatures of speed and convenience, we would have loved to take the hour long flight between St. Louis and Chicago. Taking our car would have been quicker as well given the track work that delayed us on both legs of our trip. However, we saved hundreds of dollars by not flying, as well as avoiding the hassles and delays that come with trips to the airport. With gas and parking in downtown Chicago for the long weekend it’s realistic that we would have spent around $200 for transportation. Instead on the train we traveled business class to Chicago and home in a private sleeper room with a meal for the same $200. We also had time to talk and relax, watch a movie, read several magazines and enjoy the rolling Illinois countryside.

Chicago is a great city and my list of places to see and more importantly eat at was as long as our weekend was short. We walked where we could and utilized the train system to cover our adventures from Lincoln Square to Hyde Park. Highlights included the Smart House, an architectural river tour, an outstanding meal and bottle of 1999 Marques de Riscal Baron de Chirel Reserva at Café Iberico, and the morning coffee at the W Chicago City Center. A major disappointment was our brunch at Kitsch’n which can be summed up as pretty food that tastes pretty bad and the W Chicago City Center in general. Missed and saved for another day were Superdawg Drive-in, The Frontera Grill, Lou Malnati's Pizzeria and Gene & Georgetti.

Summer 2008 Chicago Trip: A Photo Essay

Inspired by tales of many friends who have traveled around Europe by train, Sara and I packed a light picnic of grapes, crackers and cheese and wine for our trip to Chicago.

Sara and I at the Navy Pier celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary. Interestingly enough, our wedding was recently included in the Missouri/Kansas print edition of The Knot Wedding Magazine.

A thunderstorm rolls across Illinois farmland.

Our return trip included accommodations in a sleeper room as the train was on its way to LA. As part of our ticket, we were invited to a meal in the dining car, which was a pleasant surprise. Sara and I each had a Flat Iron Steak and enjoyed our meal with a nice German man by way of Toronto who travels the rails around the world as a way to enjoy his retirement.

Things Discovered and More Information:

• Birds of Paradise, Price’s Chicken Coop, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Robbs Run House
• NatureMill Automatic Indoor Composter
• Michelle Kaufmann
• Smart Home Exhibit Resource Guide
• Inside the Scandal That Rocked the Formula One Racing World

Timothy John Russert, Jr.

Timothy John Russert, Jr. (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American journalist who hosted NBC's Meet the Press. He was NBC News' Washington Bureau Chief and hosted a weekly interview program on MSNBC. He was a frequent correspondent and guest on NBC's The Today Show and Hardball. He co-hosted the network's presidential Election Night coverage and presented the polling results of the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on the NBC Nightly News. Russert, a diabetic, collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack at his office in Washington on June 13, 2008.

I've been a habitual watcher of Meet the Press for as long as I can remember. Over the past year or so, I even got my wife to patter out of bed on Sunday mornings to see what real news, real questions and real reporting looked and sounded like. Our Sunday mornings mean a lot to me, and I'm not sure they will be the same.

I've been known to send emails to Mr. Russert after a particularly good show, smattering my letters with references to Buffalo in the attempt to get a response. I guess this is my last one.

I am very sad this afternoon. NBC has a very large and important seat to fill.

• New York Times Politics Blog - Tim Russert