The Everyday Joe

Found some really good sandwiches this week, reviews of which I'll be posting... soon.

The nature of my travel has left me with little time to stop into any local diners or out of the way local ethnic food, which I hope to rectify soon.

Additional news - I'm inviting a few friends to join the site soon, and hope to add more voices to this page over the next few months to make up for my sporadic updates.

It's been a long, what, month plus or so of not posting here. The reasons/excuses are wide ranging and all true. Very little overnight travel, so a lot of meals in the car as I run to meetings and then back home. Plus, I got really, really sick and lost my appetite for a while, along with about 20 pounds.

But what I'm really trying to say is that now those challenges are behind me, some major projects and rehabilitation are off my plate, and that plate is on the lookout for some really good food.

So starting next week I'll begin posting again. The focus is probably going to be more healthy/quick-bite oriented, mainly because nature gave me a 20 lb headstart on a much needed diet.

But that doesn't mean that's all we'll find here, because we are officially now looking for new blood. That's right - I want some other voices to add their opinions to the site.

If you are interested, send me an email and I'll send a quick description of the focus of the site and how the deal will work.

If you have any suggested stops you want to throw into your emails, I cover New York to Maine and will be looking for bites everywhere, so feel free to send me a note.

I know we promised to have some more posts soon, but soon is a relative term and I'm just spinning now.

The fact is, life has been crazy for the last month and it won't get better anytime soon. There are some updates in waiting, but likely this space will be a bit slow until after the 1st of the year as some administrative work is undertaken and new, high priority projects get finished.

A bit of a lapse

We're working on some upgrades to the project, and various personal crises, which has kept things a bit quiet over here.

The changes will be in effect by the end of the year, and will continue as long as this site does.  In the meantime, please feel free to write in with any suggested destinations.

Sandwiches and sides: Roma Italian Deli and Catering, 39 Mill Plain Rd, Danbury CT

In an old worn out shopping center, next to a local favorite bagel shop, is a classic delicatessen with a wide variety of Italian goodies.  Fresh made sausages, imported cookies and crackers, stuffed cherry peppers and salads, and of course, sandwiches.  Big, fresh sandwiches.

Pizza on Central Ave: EuroItalia Pizzeria, 2229 Central Park Ave, Yonkers NY

My wife is from the Bronx, and like most New Yorkers she is very particular about pizza.  I'm from the other coast, and have a much broader view of what pizza can be.  So when I give a recommendation to a pizza place and we both agree that it's awesome, it means that you've got two very different tastes agreeing on one great pizza.  And that pizza can be found at EuroItalia Pizzeria.

Italian in vast quantities: Sunshine Restaurant, 152 Route 202 (Lincolndale Plaza), Lincolndale NY

A couple of quick additions this morning to catch up.  First up, Sunshine Restaurant.

Tucked into a shopping center that looks like it would house a dentist, insurance office, and VFW hall, the Sunshine Restaurant is easy to miss.  But I was hungry and on the lookout, and am very, very glad it caught my eye.

Argentinean Hot Grilled Happiness: Ernesto's Grill, 3717 Crompond Rd. (Rte 202), Yorktown, NY

Just west of the Taconic Parkway is a building that looks like a an old dutch windmill.  It's blue.  Outside of that windmill is a big green sign for Ernesto's Grill, a new restaurant run by an old man with a great sandwich.

His menu is basic, and doesn't even include the awesome rice and beans he gave me a plate to try while I waited.  

Classic Country Diner: Full Bellies, 241 Main St., Bennington VT

The last meal before heading home, the wife and I stopped in Bennington to check out the Bennington Battle Memorial (an ancestor of mine is the featured hero of that Revolutionary war battle), and decided to try a little place just outside of the main intersection of Routes 7 and 9.

Full Bellies is a very basic diner, with a menu that has some very Vermont offerings (Spicy Black Bean Burger, anyone?), but is otherwise seems inspired by my grandmother's specialties.  

Bar B Que and Picnic tables: Top of the Hill Grill, 632 Putney Rd., Brattleboro, VT

If you drive by at traditional lunch or dinner times, it's hard to miss the Top of the Hill Grill, a roadside shack and collection of picnic tables overlooking an algae covered pond.  When is the last time you saw 30 people waiting patiently in line to order off a menu that it drawn up on paper plates, stapled to the wall of a wooden shed?