nicely full
why haven't i been eating more cuban sandwiches? two kinds of pork, cheese, pickles and mustard served hot on a nice crusty roll - could there be a more perfect ingredient list? i'll answer my own rhetorical challenge by saying: there could not be. the one i had for lunch was even light on the pickles and it still caused a head-slapping like questioning of my very gastronomic existence to this point. the main problem is that they're not terribly common, but i will now make it my mission to search them out and find a couple that are worth going back for time and again. i shall also try my hand at making my own. today's offering from Havana Pies on 23rd Street gets a B-.
also i realized today that i haven't had a vanilla coke in a really long time (and still never tried the vanilla pepsi). having been won over by its mysterious hangover-curing properties the first time i had it, it became a staple in the beverage stable for over a year. but it's been losing ground steadily to fruit juice and the sparkling sodas from Mistic. so the main question is whether there will be a renaissance before it gets pulled from shelves completely. since i never see anyone drinking it anymore and you can't get it in restaurants (even fast food places), i can't see it hanging around indefinitely.
lastly, i finally made it to Hinsch in Bay Ridge on Saturday for an old fashioned soda counter experience. my milkshake and the wife's ice cream soda came to $7 and were both highly tasty, though the ole stomach was in a bit of disarray later in the evening.
Comments
i was wondering what ever happened to your vanilla coke obsession. if it does go the way of apple slice and strawberry sunkist, don't you worry. one of our local restaurants still serves it all the time, but not out of a bottle. they make it the old fashioned way with coke and vanilla syrup blended together in a fountain frenzy. delicious.
Posted by: crispin | March 29, 2004 06:50 PM
"Homemade" vanilla coke is a thousand times better than the prepackaged "official" kind...Buy vanilla syrup, like the kind you would use in cappucino or something like that, and throw a shot into your regular coke...SOOO good. and much more vanilla-y than "vanilla coke."
Posted by: The Yoko Stuck in the Woods | March 29, 2004 09:12 PM
Jamie, did you see this article from the Times Sunday Magazine about how brand loyalty doesn't much matter to the makers of Sprite Remix? They plan on changing the flavor every year or so. I guess it's kind of a revolutionary concept as far as soda-marketing is concerned.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/magazine/28CONSUMED.html
Posted by: Matt | March 29, 2004 09:17 PM
What about Vanilla Stoly and Coke? Or for those more uptight, Stoly Vanil (I think that might be its official name).
I've heard tell that El Viejo Yayo has good Cuban sandwiches. And in fact, its name means Ye Olde Pickle Shoppe, so I'm sure their sandwiches are pickle-intense.
On New Year's Day Kaci kept trying to get all or any of us to justify why we never get food from El Viejo Yayo, but no one had an answer. We all said "just because." There's a blog topic for you Jamie: establishments you pass by all the time in your daily life, but for some reason (valid or not) never even think of entering.
I really shouldn't post this comment because it will just give Chris Lawrence another chance to give me shit for not having my own blog. Here's the thing: I'm lazy. Why do a whole blog of my own when I can just interject stupid comments into other people's?
Posted by: Jim | March 29, 2004 09:55 PM
wow. another phenom that's been completely off my radar. i gotta comb the streets of philly for a cuban sandwich. i've been on a pickle binge.
Posted by: shawn | March 30, 2004 01:50 PM
I remember visiting Jamie in NYC and being pleasantly surprised that someone had the same VC obsession as I. However, I still continue to drink one just about every day--tho i have made the switch to diet which is even better, imho.
Posted by: Phil | March 31, 2004 12:04 PM