Writing update, Friday One

[pseydtonne]

Anthony (the one from Medford, not Buffalo) and I have been trying to sort out some plot and character ideas for the Skeer project. He's wicked good making plot lines solid. We've been fleshing out the antagonist. Once I have my breakthrough on him (or her -- nah, the bad guy needs to be a guy in this story -- oh wait...), y'all will have an update.

I don't want to do the Friday Five, but I'd love to see some comments. Thus I present the Friday One: Describe one cheap meal you've had that blew your mind. This can go in the bad direction, but I'd love to see some positive answers.

Quick example: one day in 1998 I had spent ten hours on trains and buses, trying to get from Utica to Northampton. This trip by car would've taken less than three hours (this was one of the trips that led me to buy a car). One and a half of those hours had been spent pacing a side street in downtown Springfield waiting for a ride that never happened. I'd just been staring at the flow of traffic heading up I-91 during Springfield's rush hour, seeing a river of lights flowing in both directions.

When I got off the bus and found my location, I was famished. I dropped my gear with some new friends standing in front of the club and ran across the street to a pizza joint. I was scared to cross the street -- cars were zooming way too fast to respect a crosswalk. I figured I was toast. So I started walking. An express bus came barreling around the corner. I could tell it was an express bus because I could read the sign as it slammed to a stop in front of me. They took these crosswalks seriously.

I walked into the pizza joint. I saw these amazing slices -- artichoke hearts, chourizo, and so many other flavors I'd never heard of in Utica. I ordered one plain slice and one with grilled chicken and mushrooms.

I ate the plain slice first, because I knew I'd devour it. I then had time to luxuriate on this second slice. The mushrooms were entire caps, each larger than the sizable chunks of chicken. The spices (rosemary, oregano, garlic) moved with the food to keep me trapped on the joy of this slice.

I think the place was called Pinocchio's. I should go back sometime.

-your turn, Dante

Comments

[epanastatis.livejournal.com]

I have several, of course:

1. Thessaloniki, gyro and a Heineken, sitting on the walls of the kastra above the city. Remarkable less for the taste--though it was the best gyro I've ever had--than for the setting. Total cost, 600 drachma, i.e., less than $2.
2. There's a hole-in-the-wall Chinese place in the Lower East Side called "Fried Dumpling". For $1, you can get six dense, meaty, juicy dumplings. Yummy.
3. Two brain tacos from a street vendor in Los Angeles. The look on the face of the vegetarian I was with was worth the $3 alone, but the taste was pure sloppy fatty goodness.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

The cheap meal that consistently blows my mind:

El Pollo Rico, in Arlington, VA. It's rotisserie chicken and fries for $3.36. I've never eaten anyplace that comes even close. The chicken is extraordinary and the fries are the best I've ever had. I went there every week for years when I lived in Virginia, and now when DJ and I go to DC, we eat there at least once every trip.

[graciana.livejournal.com]

1. In Manhattan, there's this place called Mama Uhns (sp?). Their felafel sandwich with hummus and tdzeke (sp? Otherwise known as "white yogurt sauce") - $3.00 for a BIG sandwich and a soda
2. Pete's in Binghamton (now closed) - you know, that place that sold the AMAZING meatball subs for a $1 (w/ or w/o the Parm.) GOOD stuff. Also, the look on Kevin's face when I told him about the place at 2AM and encouraged him to get him a sub - "Damn good eating" was his response.
3. Also in Binghamton - that little diner that used to be near the bus stop (also now closed). So small, the place barely had a bathroom. Went in there with a friend and sat and talked to the truckers there. Had the BEST fried egg sandwich on white toast bread EVER - only $1.19. Tried to duplicate said sandwhich, yet I never got the buttery goodness as on the money as I did there.
4. Any place that sells those "Tower Isles" Jamaican beef patties - each one under $2.00. Good stuff. I used to know a place in LI that sold them HOMEMADE for under a $1. The place has since gone out of business.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

I have to second (3), where I ended up after a miscommunication between myself and the taxi company led me to have something like 2 hours to burn before my bus came in.

Jamaican meat pies -- this old guy used to sell them from his little cart on the corner near CCNY, up in the heart of Harlem. Every few days I'd head down there instead of getting lunch from the (incredibly diverse) school cafeteria...

[epanastatis.livejournal.com]

Jamaican meat pies -- this old guy used to sell them from his little cart on the corner near CCNY, up in the heart of Harlem.

If it's the corner of 140th Street and Convent Avenue, then the guy is still there, with a younger business partner, the cart is much larger, and the beef patties taste like a spicier version of my great-grandmother's kreplach.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

yep, that's the corner...

You at CCNY now or something?

Dude...

[graciana.livejournal.com]

I think I know who you are now. I hope you don't mind, but I'm friending you accordingly. If you are who I THINK you are, I remember you always having something insightful to say.

[nisus-faustian.livejournal.com]

Hey, are there ANY good pizza joints in Utica? We here at IT are getting *intensely* sick of the cafeteria food- occasionally quite literaly.

~Kattie

Golly yeah, there are!

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

Okay, here's a list based on proximity to the Marcy campus:

1. Four Seasons, on old route 49 in Marcy near Discount Beverages (that drive-thru liquor store): okay pizza (pan pizza), but huge honkin' meatball subs.
2. The other Four Seasons in North Utica off Coventry (near the onramp to the Thruway) -- much better, for some reason.
3. Palermo Pizza on Genesee Street in Oneida Square (across from the Burger King): this is a place where they feed the goldfish sausage, so they get huge. It's brightly-lit but kinda creepy (people try to fence VCRs to get crack money). However, the slices are amazing! Live well, eat at Palermo's.
4. Parkway Pizza, on the far end of the Parkway near Albany Street. Weird hours, but it's the only drive-through pizza slice around. A couple days a week they also sell really good arancine ("ah-ron-CHEEN"; it's like a shepherd's pie wrapped in a giant rice ball with a golden crust).
5. Oscugnizz's, which used to be on Bleecker but I think it's only on upper Oneida Street near the Washington Mills exit off route 8 south. This is wet pizza -- cheese underneath, sauce on top. It sounds weird but tastes fabulous. Also, they've got decent sodas in bottles.
6. Franco's, Kellogg Rd same eixt or closer by at Genesee Street next to the Uptown Theater. Great meatball subs!

I hope that helps a little. Lemme know if you need better directions. Utica is great for Italian food, especially desserts.

-I miss tomato pie, Dante

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Around Boston, I'd have to say Cindarella's, in Cambridge, is my favorite on the price-to-taste ratio. They make some truly excellent Italian dishes, including a wonderful Chicken Carciofi and a very nice Bolognese. It used to be a steal at $7.99, but now I think they're trying to be a real dinner "restaurant" instead of a hole in the wall, and prices are more like $12-14.