Cedar Sanderson has a post aver at her blog entitled "Food Anthropology: From the Beginning." I think it is worth checking out.
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Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Monday, March 27, 2017
Sunday, December 18, 2016
The Pizza Corridor and the BBQ Corridor
In the Cincinnati area, it seems like the restaurants serving different types of cuisines are not distributed very evenly. There is clustering of sorts going on. For example, take BBQ and New York style pizza.
BBQ seems to be concentrated in a corridor along Hamilton Avenue, stretching from Mount Healthy in the south to Fairfield in the north. There's Goodies (which I've yet to visit) and Pit-to-Plate in Mount Healthy, Big Art's about a mile west, and the Butt Shack at the north end.
New York style pizzerias seem to be concentrated along the Montgomery Road corridor, with a jog northwest to Mason. There's Aponte's in Mason (technically a New Jersey style place), then the Flying Pizza at Fields Ertel and Montgomery in Symmes Township, and Brooklyn Pizza and Pasta in on Montgomery Road in Montgomery. Add to that the pizzerias that serve a somewhat similar style in that area, and it gets even more concentrated. There's Pomodori's in Montgomery, a block east of Montgomery Road, and two locations of Cincinnati-based chain Dewey's Pizza, in Symmes Township and in Kenwood. Then there's the four chains of fast casual pizzerias that seem to offer pizza in a semi-NY style, all of which presently seem concentrated along Montgomery Road or Mason-Montgomery Road: one Blaze Pizza, two Pizzeria Locales, two Rapid Fired Pizzas, and a Cucinova. There's even an interesting place called Pizza Tower. Most of the pizzeria's that aren't big national chain pizzerias or a Cincinnati-style* pizzeria like LaRosa's seems concentrated in that corridor
This is not to say that there aren't other BBQ places or New York style pizzerias - but there does seem to be some sort of odd clustering going on. There's a much smaller secondary cluster of pizzerias near the campus of the University of Cincinnati, and the Five Burroughs pizzeria is far from both. The most famous BBQ joint in the Cincinnati area is the Montgomery Inn, in Montgomery, not the small mom-and-pop places on or near Hamilton Avenue. But there definitely seems to be clustering. No clue why. Population density doesn't seem to be it. Maybe cultural factors? Just a random musing.
* Cincinnati-style pizza seems to be in the style of LaRosa's, a 60+ year old local chain. The crust tends to be thicker and firmer than New York style, and it is topped with provolone rather than mozzarella.
BBQ seems to be concentrated in a corridor along Hamilton Avenue, stretching from Mount Healthy in the south to Fairfield in the north. There's Goodies (which I've yet to visit) and Pit-to-Plate in Mount Healthy, Big Art's about a mile west, and the Butt Shack at the north end.
New York style pizzerias seem to be concentrated along the Montgomery Road corridor, with a jog northwest to Mason. There's Aponte's in Mason (technically a New Jersey style place), then the Flying Pizza at Fields Ertel and Montgomery in Symmes Township, and Brooklyn Pizza and Pasta in on Montgomery Road in Montgomery. Add to that the pizzerias that serve a somewhat similar style in that area, and it gets even more concentrated. There's Pomodori's in Montgomery, a block east of Montgomery Road, and two locations of Cincinnati-based chain Dewey's Pizza, in Symmes Township and in Kenwood. Then there's the four chains of fast casual pizzerias that seem to offer pizza in a semi-NY style, all of which presently seem concentrated along Montgomery Road or Mason-Montgomery Road: one Blaze Pizza, two Pizzeria Locales, two Rapid Fired Pizzas, and a Cucinova. There's even an interesting place called Pizza Tower. Most of the pizzeria's that aren't big national chain pizzerias or a Cincinnati-style* pizzeria like LaRosa's seems concentrated in that corridor
This is not to say that there aren't other BBQ places or New York style pizzerias - but there does seem to be some sort of odd clustering going on. There's a much smaller secondary cluster of pizzerias near the campus of the University of Cincinnati, and the Five Burroughs pizzeria is far from both. The most famous BBQ joint in the Cincinnati area is the Montgomery Inn, in Montgomery, not the small mom-and-pop places on or near Hamilton Avenue. But there definitely seems to be clustering. No clue why. Population density doesn't seem to be it. Maybe cultural factors? Just a random musing.
* Cincinnati-style pizza seems to be in the style of LaRosa's, a 60+ year old local chain. The crust tends to be thicker and firmer than New York style, and it is topped with provolone rather than mozzarella.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Well That's Different
According to articles online, a Dutch food truck is serving up horse burgers. I have no objections in principle to this, but I do think placing them on the menu as the My Little Pony Burger is a bit... mind-warping. That'd be like serving Soylent Green patties up as Barbie Burgers. I just hope they don't have a plastic taste.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
BBQ at Last!
On Monday, I mentioned that the local BBQ joints were all closed on Mondays. In fact, most were also closed today, Tuesday, but luckily one was not. Alas, it took me a while to find the Butt Shack BBQ restaurant, which recently relocated from Greenhills, Ohio (one of the Depression-era greenbelt towns) to Fairfield, OH. It is located in the former location of Symmes Tavern on the Green. Why did it take me a while to find it?
First, Google Maps has the location for that address off by about 1500 feet. Second, the old Symmes Tavern on the Green signs are still up on the facade. Third, the only signage for the Butt Shack is a banner, tied to a low fence - a few feet in front of which was a bench - and just beyond that were parked cars. Not trying to make it easy to find, were they?
In any event, after I finally found it, I was quite pleased. The same tasty menu was being served as at the old location. Service was a bit chaotic - I think this was the start of their first full week of operation. The food did arrive in a reasonable time frame - slower than at the old location, but reasonable enough. However, I'd barely had time to take my second bite from the side salad when the beef brisket and cole slaw arrived. The brisket was juicy and flavorful, and the spicy BBQ sauce complemented it well. The cole slaw was decent but not spectacular. All in all, it was a good meal, and I enjoyed it. I suspect that as the staff gets a bit more experience the service will be less chaotic.
The new location is larger and full of natural light, but does take an extra five minutes to reach from work (assuming traffic lights cooperate), or 15 minutes from home. This makes Pit-to-Plate BBQ in Mount Healthy a better choice when I'm craving BBQ and at home. The Butt Shack is the only nearby BBQ place open on Tuesday, and is just as close to work, so I'm likely to visit both places.
Given the prevalence of chain restaurants, it's nice to be able to find a few good, local places that aren't chains. I just know not to seek food at such places on Mondays.
First, Google Maps has the location for that address off by about 1500 feet. Second, the old Symmes Tavern on the Green signs are still up on the facade. Third, the only signage for the Butt Shack is a banner, tied to a low fence - a few feet in front of which was a bench - and just beyond that were parked cars. Not trying to make it easy to find, were they?
In any event, after I finally found it, I was quite pleased. The same tasty menu was being served as at the old location. Service was a bit chaotic - I think this was the start of their first full week of operation. The food did arrive in a reasonable time frame - slower than at the old location, but reasonable enough. However, I'd barely had time to take my second bite from the side salad when the beef brisket and cole slaw arrived. The brisket was juicy and flavorful, and the spicy BBQ sauce complemented it well. The cole slaw was decent but not spectacular. All in all, it was a good meal, and I enjoyed it. I suspect that as the staff gets a bit more experience the service will be less chaotic.
The new location is larger and full of natural light, but does take an extra five minutes to reach from work (assuming traffic lights cooperate), or 15 minutes from home. This makes Pit-to-Plate BBQ in Mount Healthy a better choice when I'm craving BBQ and at home. The Butt Shack is the only nearby BBQ place open on Tuesday, and is just as close to work, so I'm likely to visit both places.
Given the prevalence of chain restaurants, it's nice to be able to find a few good, local places that aren't chains. I just know not to seek food at such places on Mondays.
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