I took about a 2 hour detour driving back from my sister’s wedding in Montana to go to Helena and then waited an additional hour for the Suds Hut to open to I could order their Jo-Jos. A core memory food from childhood–anytime my family passed through Helena I think we stopped.
These are the best Jo-Jos you could ever have in your life… very long russet potatos quartered length-wise and then pressure cooked? Amazing.
For craving something from home, last year my wife used a service called Goldbelly to have Langers Deli meals sent from LA to Washington State for my birthday. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that much more expensive than if we had been in the restaurant. It was great.
We also got Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles which just wasn’t the same.
This summer I am going to be passing by Jumpin’ Jacks in the Albany region and will try to get some fried food from them. I haven’t had them in a few years since when I am up there they are rarely open since they are an outdoor seating only place. In my case, Jumpin’ Jacks will be on my line of travel but I will nonetheless need to make sure to arrive when they will be open.
Having lived in upstate New York (Rochester and Binghamrton), I have every now and then had an urge for stuff from there. I used to get Smitty’s sauce until he went out of business. Now I can order Boss Sauce online for pretty much the same thing. It makes a great additive to Sloppy Joes.
I’ve also gotten Spiedie Sauce from Binghamton, along with the skewers so I can mak authentic spiedies.
But the thing I miss most is the upstte New York Labrusca wine. I used to be able to get Widmer’s Lake Niagara down in New Jersey and in the Boston area, but you can’t anymore. You can get a couple of varieites of Bully Hill wine, but nothing like the full range you can buy in New York state. The last time we went to Buffalo we picked up a bunch of bottles. There are some wine companies I did not know that make Labrusca wines, which I can find if I go to a huge wine store. Otherwise, I have to go to New York for it.
The best and furthesdt, though, wasn’t a case of me sending for it – it was someone else. They were having an international festival in Lincoln Park in Salt Lake City, and someone said they were having bagels. I was unimpressed – I’ve had what passes for a bagel in Salt Lake City. Despite a large Jewish community, the bagels are basically white bread in the shape of a ring. (Things might have changed since I moved away, I admit).
“Salt Lake Bagels,” I said, “So what?”
“No – you don’t understand. They airlifted these in from New York City.”
I rushed over – the bagels were The Real Thing. Worth fighting for a place in line for.
last year I ordered turtle soup from Commander’s Palace in NOLA to be shipped to me via Goldbelly. Worth the cost, as I don’t know anybody else that still makes it
It’s been over 30 years since I was stationed in Germany and I get nostalgic for good German food, specially jaeger schnitzel. Unfortunately German restaurants are hard to find. I’ve driven 2 hours to try one and have usually been disappointed. I’ve made it at home but it’s never quite as good as I had it there.
I think most Slav cultures have something similar. A friend of mine whose family comes from Hungary says they have their own version, too, but I can’t think what they call them.
Re: fish restaurants I watched video on YT about why the fish fast food went away. It turns out that the cost of frozen fish has inflated to about 4 times what chicken is. People clip coupons for their fast food binge and chicken always wins out on value
I was a big fan of Monte Cristo sandwiches (served with a bit of raspberry jam on the side) at a certain chain restaurant for many years. They were deep fried in oil, not simply browned on each side in a skillet.
While it didn’t seem at first that it would be a big production to make them, it was. In addition to getting enough oil to deep fry them, I had to experiment with the type of bread, the right consistency for the batter, and methods to hold them together during frying. I don’t normally deep fry anything, so I ended up with a deep fryer of oil just to make a few sandwiches. Overall, it cost me about $40 and hours of work to make two pretty good sandwiches and a lot of really bad ones.
Was it Bennigan’s? That’s where I used to get my Monte Cristo sandwiches, so I was saddened when they shut down. It’s hard to find a place that makes them in my neck of the woods, but I actually found a place two weeks ago. Instead of raspberry jam they served it with some sort of strawberry concoction which paired with the sandwich better than I would have thought.
There’s a restaurant called Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, that exists mostly in the south and southeast, I think. They make a great Monte Cristo, and it’s definitely deep fried. If you live near one, I highly recommend it.
Back in the 90s, LJS used to have these wraps that were filled with rice, crispy batter bits and your choice of sauce and chicken, fish or shrimp. My go-to in those days was a shrimp wrap with salsa. Haven’t had one in literal decades, but still dream of it.
Anyway, the last time I had LJS was about five years ago when I was driving through Ohio. The two pieces of fish I ordered were stuck together and the batter in between was still goopy. As this was still during the pandemic lockdowns, I took the food with me to go and didn’t discover it until I was a good distance away, far enough that it wasn’t worth turning back. I was pretty disappointed.
I have a fondness for chocolate stars. They’re a comfort food for me going back 60 years. The only place to get good ones these days is Fleet Farm, the big box farm store only in the midwest. I usually buy a bag when I am back, but in between years, my childhood friend sends me a bag. One year we waited too long, and it was AZ summer, and I got a bag of chocolate soup.
The other trip one is Taco John’s. I plan my trip routes so I can stop at TJ. I can’t get enough. On the last trip, I thought I had left the range of TJ, but I saw one on the freeway.
I was driving wasn’t thinking to straight
I was doing 80 when I slammed on the brakes
Saw the sign had to pull to the side
Ate some tacos in the middle of the drive
It was Tacos! wo wo wo wo
From Taco John’s! wo wo wo wo
Not me, but a former co-worker had a brother-in-law who lived and worked in Hong Kong. He would return to the US every couple of years to visit family - ISTR he was one of eight siblings. He’d stay a week or so, and all the sibs would gather in the home in which they grew up long after the parents had died and even though none of them actually lived there, and I think only one of them still lived in the same town. The only thing he actually planned on every one of his trips was at least one visit to H. Salt Esq. Fish & Chips. The closest one is about an hour’s drive from the family home, so not that far. Add in the distance from Hong Kong, however, and that’s quite a journey.
