My View of Life on the Dock
I heard Abbey Lincoln singing “Up Jumped Spring” on the radio while driving to Passports this morning to meet my friends for brunch–the lyrics couldn’t have been more perfect! Up jumped spring time – so Hello my friends!
Joey and Susan -Fujifilm x100 photo
Susan and Paul -Fujifilm x100 photo
Ed and Rick -iPhone 4S photo
Donna and Greg -iPhone 4S photo
Greg and Joey -iPhone 4S photo
Right Next To Topside Grille
Video Coming Later
Today on March 23 the seawater temperature is a balmy 48F and not the nippy 42F from a year ago. Summer is here and with it the openings of restaurants on Cape Ann.
Saturday, March 31, Top Dog of Rockport opens. A clam roll at a picnic table outside. That is my official start of the season. Might be chilly so go for a Hot Chihuahua Dog with Chili Cheese Fries.
Thursday, April 12, Lobsta Land Restaurant opens. Just say “Lobsta Land!” out loud three times. I feel better already. Check out the Lobsta Countdown on their website.
Thursday, April 12, Captain Carlo’s opens.
Thursday, April 19 The Rudder opens. The way the weather is going the new heaters on the deck won’t be needed.
Note to Restauratuers of Cape Ann: Do you want patrons when you open your doors this season? Then update your web page!! Update your facebook page!! I got these dates from updated pages. Too many places still had, “We’re closing this week for the winter, come back in the spring.” Not good. Update and make a comment on this post and I will add your restaurant.
Zina’s Cassata cake was out of this world. Note Felicia’s arms and elbows covered with filling, lol.
But this is not one of them.
You saw the photo. You read the rant. (If you weren’t paying attention click here.) Well here’s the video.
Notice Ed in the foreground eating half of Joey’s fries. Don’t you think Joey & Ed make a cute couple?
Gina Briguglio writes-
Hello Community Gardeners!
Spring is upon us! March 20th marks the official first day of the 2012 spring season and I am sure you are as excited as I am about our 2nd year out at Burnham’s Field. All this sunshine and 70+ degree weather should have you pondering your planting plan 🙂
I need to review my notes from the last meeting but I do believe we have one, possibly 2 plots, open in the garden. In fairness to the many folks who are currently interested, we will hold a ‘lottery’ to determine who will be joining our current gardeners. If you or someone you know is interested please email or message me the name and contact details so I can toss any new names into the ‘hat.’ My personal email is ginabeantown@gmail.com. Deadline of April 1st on submissions.
If you haven’t turned in your dues for the new season ($25 per plot) please mail or drop a check by 57 Prospect Street, Apt 2, Gloucester MA 01930. Checks should be made out to "Burnham’s Field Community Garden." If you have submitted a check that has yet to be cashed…I will be opening a BFCG checking account at Cape Ann Savings Bank this week – sorry for the delay.
Thanks so much and looking forward to seeing all of your smiling faces very soon!
Gina Briguglio
2012 Garden Manager
Burnham’s Field Community Garden
For all past GMG Coverage of The Burnham’s Field Community Garden click here
There are more than a couple of joints in town that can cook a great burger but there are only one or two that cook an exceptional burger and then pair it with exceptional french fries for under $10. The two that come to mind are Minglewood Tavern and Passports.
The key to exceptional fries IMO are their crispness on the outside and soft fluffiness on the inside. If you go to Passports ask for the “Joey Fries” They aren’t on the menu but they are hand cut done well and are killer diller just like the ones at Minglewood.
For other great french fries in town go to Leonardos. They have it down. Even if you get them to go they package them properly so when you get to where you going they still retain that crispness.
There isn’t much more disappointing in the french fry world than a soggy fry. So if you are running a restaurant locally ask yourself “Are my fries soggy?’ If the answer is yes, then take whatever measures necessary to figure that shit out. Your sales will increase and the people who patronize your joint will no longer say, yeah, the burgers are really good but the fries are soggy and limp.
If you have any questions as to the quality of the french fries you serve your patrons here’s what you do.
Hold the french fry from one end.
If the fry has any sag to it that is a fail.
Heat the goddamn oil up. Use a different kind of oil. I dunno, I’m no chef, I’m not getting paid to figure this stuff out. All I’m trying to do is make your food better so you can increase your sales.
If the chef you pay inst willing to figure it out, get a new chef.
So to sum up this post- Soggy Limp Fries are unacceptable.
Fix this. Please. Thank you.
Minglewood Tavern Burger Below-
That’s some french fry excellence right there boy!
Preparations are full underway at the Ciaramitaro-Mohan’s–just a preview of the wonderful San Giuseppe feast dishes we will be highlighting in our upcoming videos!
Oranges for the sweetness in life, lemons for the bitterness, and bread is the staff of life
San Giuseppe bread
here’s the mrs’ corned beef and cabbage which I just consumed.
and it was fantastic.
and by fantastic I mean it was a 7, the highest rating corned beef and cabbage is capable of earning.
please excuse the lack of caps as our keyboard is on the fritz and my tech guru tim blakeley from www.gloucesterbytes.com is ordering the replacement laptop keyboard to get us back on track.
in any case, back to the matter at hand, corned beef and cabbage.
let me first state for the record that there may be no more jealous italian on the planet of the irish on st paddy’s day than this guy.
in the top ten days of my life after my marriage, birth or my girls and every night of fiesta at least half of those top ten are filled with st paddy’s days. either in southie with my boys , down in deep ellum texas with my boy dk or at the rhumb line, st paddy’s day is the greatest excuse to get completely annihilated and sing awesome songs at the trop of your lungs while swaying back and forth arms around your best friends, ever.
that being said, while corned beef and cabbage can be good, it in my opinion can never ever be considered great. to have that at the top of your food pecking order as a nationality is kind of an embarrassment only better than what my jewish buddys eat for their holidays.
I should also insert here that I’m no fan of st joseph’s pasta as cao contributor mya was quick to remind me of in a private message this afternoon but I think most would readily admit that if you put the top ten italian dishes up against the top ten irish dishes you’re probably gonna win at least 9 rounds of that competition.
there are other foods that people rave about to which I usually scratch my head saying, really insert question mark here as I have no ability to make an upper case charachter .
take corned beef and cabbage first. the very best corned beef and cabbage you’ve ever eaten in my book is only worthy of a top score of 7 on a scale from 1-10.
you stack the best corned beef and cabbage and stack it up against a perfectly prepared mrs lobster roll and there’s no way on god’s green earth you could score that corned beef a 10.
I feel the same about reuben sandwiches. my mil and fil rave about this deli in nyc. my fil talks about how this deli serves the most incredible reuben sandwiches. I feel the same way about a reuben. like the very best reuben you’d ever eat couldn’t possibly ever score a 10 on a scale from 1-10.
10’s are reserved for delectable sushi or lobster or steaks or scallops wrapped in bacon. in my book there’s no way in hell a reuben ever earns some kind of praise that merits mentioning. I have had some heavenly cheesecake at some delis down in miami beach so I guess they have that going for them.
what types of food falls into your 10 on a scale from 1-10 range and what type of food do you hear people rave about that you would never consider anything out-of-this-world insert question mark here
Photos From Sista Felicia
Bisteca Plate
Roasted Pork Taco Salad
Check out the Tacos Lupita Website Here
The food. As Joey is fond of saying, Cape Ann is blessed with great restaurants and it keeps on getting better. I have been trying out Tacos Lupita and will have a full review once I make it back up the right side of the menu after already eating my way down the left.
(Click image for menu). From the start I can see why Joey has been ecstatic about this place. The mirror shiny ceramic tables to the open kitchen showing fresh ingredients being chopped up. You can tell just by walking in it’s going to be good.
OK, I have had the Mulita (wow, homemade corn tortillas bursting with cheese and in my case I tried pork sausage), huaraches, burritos, tacos, and the Mexican Bistec Plate. All great I’ll just point out two. The lowly taco and the bistec plate. I’ve been to Mexico five times, once for two months back in 1973. I am always looking for that non-Americanized Mexican food without having to go to Mexico. Lupita serves authentic versions of the taco and bistec. The fresh onions and other stuff in the taco and the seasoning of the bistec (a very decent portion of thin grilled steak) are killer. I don’t need to go to Cuernavaca again. I can stay on the island.
Before I write a full review I have to have the fish taco (this being Gloucester and all), as well as the Tortilla soup. The last time I was in Cuernavaca I had tortilla soup every afternoon for ten days straight. It was an addiction. A good one. Post a comment if you have had it because dang, although open 11AM to 9PM daily they are not open on Sunday. I’ll have to wait.
Fun Fact: Lupita is a girl’s name. The shortened form of Guadalupe which refers to the Virgin Mary as she miraculously appeared to a peasant boy in Guadalupe, Mexico.
Since I ate everything before I was able to photograph it, just click on the screaming Homie and Rubber Duck for photos on the Tacos Lupita website.
One last tip: Try the Fanta Orange soda in the bottle. It is made with real sugar and not high fructose corn syrup. Sodas tasted better when we were kids. They still sell them but you have to read the side of the bottle.
[edit] One more very last tip. The salsa verde. Make sure to get the red and green salsa on the side and that green one, (that would be salsa verde in español), is the real deal. The red is too but as in Mexico, it is the green one that will sneak up on you.
Ann Writes-
Hi Joey. In case you have a slow news day–unlikely, I realize. Here are a week’s worth of reasons to get back to Cape Ann asap. While Kansas City is a fabulous restaurant town, there are some things that must be eaten only on Cape Ann! I know you’ll recognize the food from your terrific local eateries.
How many of the dishes can you recognize where they were served?
The snow we got last Wednesday was just enough to make things look pretty on Main Street:
Alchemy’s already cool sign is made even cooler by the snowflakes and snowy branches around it, which make it look warm and inviting. I’ve only eaten there once so far, but it was on a cold winter evening, and it really was cozy inside – and the food was great too.
Go get yourself an incredibly tasty breakfast at Fort Square Café and if you are in need of a birthday present or gift you can pick up one of my DVD’s.
Heidi was in the process of making three different types of cheesecakes that looked RE DIC U LOUS!!!! And look, we even good Ellen in a picture.
Cheese cakes ready for the oven!
Good Morning Gloucester 