Roadfood: Revised Edition - Softcover

JANE and MICHAEL STERN are the authors of more than thirty books about America. Their “Roadfood” column for Gourmet has won three James Beard awards, and their interactive website, www.roadfood.com, has been named as a Top Site by PC Magazine and has been named Best of the Web by Forbes.com. They contribute a weekly “Two for the Road” segment to Public Radio’s “The Splendid Table” and frequent reviews to The New York Times Book Review. When not eating their way around the country, the Sterns live in West Redding, Connecticut.

CONNECTICUT

Abbott’s Lobster In the Rough
117 Pearl St.
Noank, CT
860—536—7719
LD May—Labor Day, then weekends
through mid-October | $$

Abbott’s is renowned for chowder and lobsters, both of which have defined seafood excellence in eastern Connecticut for decades. The chowder is a style unique to southern New England shores: steel-gray, briny, full of clam flavor, plenty of clam meat, and a handful of potatoes; and the lobsters are steamed to perfection. But beyond these glories, Abbott’s posted menu suggests a whole range of other fine seafood items: steamers, mussels, clams and/or oysters on the half shell, hot lobster rolls that are nothing but buttered pink meat on a bun, lobster salad rolls (cool, bound with mayonnaise), crab rolls (hot or cold), and shrimp salad rolls. There is even broiled chicken for the lost soul who finds himself at this great seafood restaurant craving poultry.

Abbott’s is a very pretty place to dine al fresco. Seating is at bare wooden tables (although civilized sorts bring their own tablecloths as well as their own wine); the air is filled with the salt smell of shore breezes, and background music is provided by gulls screeching in the sky (but kept away from the tables by invisible netting).

Big Dipper Ice Cream Factory
91 Waterbury Rd.
Prospect, CT
203—758—3200
$

Here is irrefutable evidence that ice cream makes you happy. The girls behind the counter, no matter how fast they scoop on a busy summer night when the line for cones and cups goes clear out the door, are delighted to be Big Dipper folk. Many of them are high school girls, some are older women who started here in high school but enjoy coming back during vacations because they consider themselves part of the Big Dipper family. You will understand their bliss when first you taste the amazing toasted almond ice cream, which the boss says was originally inspired by a vintage Good Humor bar, but which we say transcends it.

If this particular flavor is not your idea of heaven on earth, don’t worry. The Big Dipper has a few dozen others, ranging from silly (cotton candy) to swank (café Vienna, which is coffee and cinnamon) to serious (espresso). All are rich in butterfat (16 percent), but not so rich that they cloy. These are ice creams we can easily eat double and triple dips of, several times a week. The repertoire changes daily, but you always can count on toasted almond.

Blackie’s
2200 Waterbury Rd.
Cheshire, CT
203—699—1819
LD (closed Fridays) | $

Blackie’s just may serve the best hot dog in Connecticut, a state with some of the highest hot dog consciousness in the nation. While there are a couple of other items on the menu (hamburgers, cheeseburgers), hot dogs are so entirely the specialty of the house that most regular customers sit down at the counter and simply call out a number, indicating how many they want.

The dogs are pink Hummel-brand plumpies that are boiled in oil to the point that they literally blossom with flavor as their outside surface bursts apart. They are served plain in basic buns, and it is up to each customer to spoon out mustard and relish from condiment trays that are set out all along the counter. That’s the really good part about dining at Blackie’s: dressing the dogs. The mustard is excellent, and we recommend a modest bed of it applied to the top of each wiener, all the better for the relish to cling to. The relish is transcendent: thick, luxurious, dark green, and pepper-hot enough that your lips will glow after lunch. Blackie’s–and its customers–are so devoted to this formula for frankfurter perfection that the kitchen doesn’t even bother to offer sauerkraut or chili.

Blackie’s is a charming destination dog house, especially in good weather when the long counter offers semi—al fresco seating. Service is nearly instantaneous, so if your preference is hot hot dogs, it is entirely practical to order them one by one until you can’t eat any more.

La Borinqueña
992 Bank St.
New London, CT
860—437—0408
LD | $

“La Borinqueña” is the title of the anthem of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, but a lot of regular customers know this cute little eat-shop by the name on the sign outside: Roast Pork Café.

It’s an apt name when you consider the magnificent pork sandwich that is the signature dish. It is made of pork shoulder, roasted all night until the skin is as crisp as bacon and the inside is velvet soft. The meat is cut with a scissors into variegated shreds, chunks, and strips that are piled inside a long hero roll, preferably with a layer of Swiss cheese and some mayonnaise, then toasted in a sandwich press that converts the potentially fall-apart sandwich into a tidy tube. The pork packs an amazing flavor punch; it is salty, redolent of spice, and dripping juice. While it is possible to have a “Cuban” sandwich, to which ham is added, and even a tripletas (pork, ham, and steak), we love the simplicity and intensity of pork, cheese, and bread.

In addition to magnificent sandwiches, the Colón family offers fried chicken, roasted chicken, and such fascinating side dishes as yucca patties, green banana patties, and meat-stuffed potato balls. There is a lunch special every day, including fried pork chops and breaded steak on Monday, with a choice of white or yellow rice on the side.

The restaurant’s interior isn’t much more than a tiny kitchen and order counter. Seating is outdoors at picnic tables, and all meals are available to go.

Carminuccio’s
76 South Main St. (Route 25)
Newtown, CT
203—364—1133
LD | $

One of the lesser-known culinary gold mines in Connecticut is Route 25 between Monroe and Newtown. A garish, congested patch of two-lane with more than its fair share of uninteresting places of business, it happens to be home of at least two superb hot dogs (at the Botsford DriveIn and Mr. Mac’s Canteen), nice Italian sandwiches (at Panino’s), plus a number of promising diners and cafés we have yet to try. One of the reasons we haven’t done a whole lot of homework on this stretch of road is that we are so often drawn to Carminuccio’s. Here in Connecticut, home of America’s most delicious pizzas, this house by the side of the highway serves some of the best.

When you walk in, it isn’t much to look at. The interior consists of an order counter and a small array of bare-topped tables with a glass case in back holding cannoli, stuffed breads, and a few pasta dishes. If you look to the right as you enter, you will see a most appealing sight: pizzas being made to order. Available toppings range from basic cheese to escarole and beans, barbecued chicken, sautéed spinach, and a knockout BLT combo of pesto sauce, bacon, sautéed escarole, and roasted tomatoes. Pepperoni and sausage are generously applied; we especially recommend roasted peppers. These meaty little squiggles are radiant with flavor, and just wonderful on a pizza with nothing other than cheese. As for the crust, it’s Neapolitan style, meaning it is fairly thin with a chewy rim of crust all around the circumference and a brittle undercrust with enough grit from the oven to give it real character.

Beyond the pizza, do pay attention to the stuffed breads. These are fat savory loaves wrapped around such ingredients as ham or capicola, pepperoni and cheese, broccoli and sausage. Served steaming hot, one of these breads is a soulful meal every bit as satisfying as a pizza.

David’s
1647 Route 85
Chesterfield, CT
860—442—7120
LD (summer only) | $

One of our favorite sunny summer day drives is along Route 85 just west of the Thames. There, in Chesterfield, we pay a visit to our favorite rock ’n’ fossil store–Nature’s Art–and go across the road for thick card board plates piled high with excellent whole-bellied fried clams (strips are also available).

The menu at this cheerful drive-in is eat-in-the-rough fare with a Greek twist. The twist can be tasted in the form of spinach pie–a plate of savory, well-spiced spinach-and-feta-and-phyllo served with French fries and cole slaw–but the list of non-Greek items are such Yankee shore standbys as shrimp, scallops, and calamari–each fried to golden goodness, as well as top-drawer fish ’n’ chips.

While the fried food is exemplary, the sleepers on David’s menu are grinders. These are some mighty hero sandwiches; their fillings ranging from demure tuna salad to a spectacular steak bomb, which means the sliced beef is topped with sautéed onions, peppers, mushrooms, and cheese. And, this being a Greek-run kitchen, we recommend paying close attention to the gyro and chicken gyro grinders. They’re immensely satisfying versions of the street-food sandwich, particularly good with a pile of David’s fresh-cut French fries. For dessert: homemade rice pudding.

Chez Lénard
Main St.
Ridgefield, CT
No phone
LD | $

Chez Lénard of Ridgefield has no address and no phone number. It is a sidewalk cart on Main Street with no tables or chairs. Accommodations for dining include sidewalk standing room and Ballard Park across the street. Some car customers pull to the curb, toot their horn, and get their meal delivered to the window without ever leaving the driver’s seat.

Despite the lack of amenities, Chez Lénard is indubitably high tone. When the original “Lénard,” a Manhattan rat-race refugee, parked his cart here in 1978, he established an urbane ambience with a French accent that has thrived under subsequent proprietors’ incumbency. Citizens of Ridgefield have come to treasure the hap...