the tastes of home

there is always a memory from your childhood that triggers a craving; something nostalgic that leaves you wishing you could stop and eat that wonderful memory.  we all have moments like this especially if you no longer live close to home.  darry and i grew up in the new york city area; he's from brooklyn and i am from northern new jersey.  no matter where you go in that area, there is such ethnic diversity that the food options are endless.  

some of the things i long for simply cannot be found here in nashville.  sundays were always a day for coffeecake.  fresh from the neighborhood bakery, a square cake topped with mountains of struesal and drifts of powdered sugar.  another favorite from the bakery was black and whites.  large cakey disks, slightly scented with lemon and decorated with chocolate and vanilla fondant; a classic that is hard to find in new york now as well.  every autumn, my grandfather would round up all of the kids for a trip to the long gone tice's farm.  we would pick out pumpkins and if we behaved, the reward was a cup of fresh pressed apple cider and a cinnamon cake donut.  we could watch them press the apples and fry the donuts.  to this day, i still look for cinnamon cake donuts every fall.  deli's were a world of their own, with one in every shopping center and they all had fresh crusty italian bread with it's thin flaky crust and soft chewy center and let's not forget the kaiser rolls.  they also had a thin, flaky crust, a generous dusting of poppy seeds and a slightly sweet, soft center.  pizza was easy to find, every town had at least one family owned place and the pizza was hand tossed, spread with a light coating of tomato sauce and a generous amount of cheese.  the crust would bubble and brown and when

it was cut, you could fold your slice in half and walk home while eating it.  bagels were chewy and there really weren't many flavors to choose from, plain, sesame, poppy, egg or onion being the most likely ones available.  i get hungry just thinking about all of this, i also long for home and my family.  

every now and then, darry and i take a chance on a place in the hopes that we will find the familiar tastes of home here in nashville.  recently, we visited a few places in the hope of finding a new place to savor the tastes of home.

first up was a trip to noshville, there are a bunch of them in the area and we had never eaten there.  we were skeptical that it could actually be as good as the delis we had visited in new york city and when we found ourselves in cool springs looking for a place to eat, we decided to take a chance.  i ordered a reuban and darry went for the monte cristo.  let's just say this, the deli's of new york will never have to worry about this place putting them under.  my sandwich was a complete disappointment.  the corned beef was sliced a little to thick, it was tough and chewy and to top it all off, the cooks fried it in grease before putting it on the sandwich.  the sandwich came to me with the thousand island dressing on the side?? and dripping of grease.  the first few attempts at taking a bite were more like a tug of war.  the sandwich was so greasy that the barely browned bread fell apart.  definitely not a good experience.  darry didn't say much about his monte cristo, it was lack luster in flavor and if he wasn't hungry, i doubt he would have eaten it.  i gave up after eating half of my sandwich and we left the restaurant feeling more than a little disappointed.  most likely, we will not go back as it didn't satisfy any of our cravings for home.

for years we had heard about pizza perfect on granny white pike in nashville.  we never ventured over there and i can't figure out why.  everyone who had told us about the place had only good things to say.  so off we went on a friday night date, just the two of us.  we ordered salads and a vegetarian pizza.  the salads were refreshing, lots of lettuce and olives with some pizza cheese and vinaigrette.  the pizza required waiting, they hand toss them to order.  when it finally arrived, we dove in.  the crust was thin and crispy and chewy;  just the way we like it.  while it still wasn't exactly like the pizzas of nyc, it was some of the best pizza i have eaten here.  it was loaded with peppers, onions, spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms and the cheese was nicely browned.  we ordered a medium and nearly ate the whole thing between us.  we will go back even if darry wasn't pleased with the $30+ bill that came for two drinks, two salads and one pizza.  pizza is supposed to be a cheap meal.  you should also note, this is a family oriented place complete with a game room and a noisy one at that.  be prepared to find yourself among hyper kids running from table to table to the game room and back again.

when we had our bakery, we would buy our bagels from star bagels.  we were in the area, and drove over to murphy road in sylvan park to buy a dozen to bring home.  they are chewy and so much better than anything you can get at the supermarket and even in most of the other chains around.
before we moved here, we were in the san francisco bay area for 7 years.  it was there that we acquired our taste for dark roasted coffees, something that was not readily available when we moved here.  while that has changed with the influx of the big green coffee giant, there are a few good roasters in town and we make it a point to stop by portland brew whenever we are near 12th ave south.  brandon roasts great dark beans and they always have a fresh pot of a full bodied dark roast coffee.  this last trip we sampled the sumatra and it was worth the trip.

who knows where our longings will take us next, maybe back for more pizza or some ethnic adventure.  stay tuned, we will have another date night soon and much to his dismay, i will take pictures and post it here!