pre-convention visitors

[ellen_datlow]

An influx of visitors from Australia and the UK are starting to arrive in NYC in advance of the WFC in Saratoga. Last night I had dinner with Kaaron Warren and her family at Miracle Grill.
Kaaron describes her experience--we discussed "meat" at dinner--you can read her point of view
here

I too, had two delicious blood orange margharitas but mine were frozen. If I'd had another I would have staggered home and gotten even less work done than I did last night.

Jack Dann's coming to town for a few days but because both our schedules are so tight we're not going to be able to see each other before the convention (except at the Australian Embassy Party Tuesday evening).

Comments

[zhai.livejournal.com]

I'm a sucker for anything blood orange or honey tangerine, too. Would you mind divulging the name of this mysterious restaurant? :) I might be down in the city in a couple of weeks, if I can get ahold of this tattoo artist down there...

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Sure. It's Miracle Grill and it's at the end of Bleecker Street (right off 8th avenue). They've got very good hamburgers and home made potato chips (you have to ask for the chips with the hamburger, otherwise you get boring french fries).
If you get tired of the liquor drinks they have grapefruit soda which is also very good.

And their fried calamari appetizer with chipotle sauce is terrific too. We shared it last night.

[kaaronwarren.livejournal.com]

That calamari was about the best I've had. If we'd had longer there, I would have been eating and drinking for hours.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

You'll just have to come back! So has anyone claimed to know if "loose meat" is a real expression?

[kaaronwarren.livejournal.com]

I've had no takers for 'loose meat'. I can't quite bring myself to google it...

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Chicken! I just googled it and apparently it's a midwest term and is a specialty from Iowa (there's even a mention of Rosanne's recipe). It sounds as if it's made exactly like hamburger, so I have no idea why it doesn't hold together and is "loose"--a mystery.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

It's not formed like hamburger, just in clumps.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

ohhhh. I get it. It's what I would occasionally do to my hamburgers when I was a kid and wasn't eating them on a bun. Chop them up with a fork and mix the pieces up with ketchup. I'd never think of calling something like that "loose" meat though...

[kaaronwarren.livejournal.com]

Thank you! You've hit the nail on the head: why is it called 'loose' when it should in theory all hold together??? I will try to ask my midwestern friend to see if she knows.

[kaaronwarren.livejournal.com]

Sorry, didn't read the 'clump' entry before posting. Ew, clumps?

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Just think chopped up hamburger, much more appetizing :-)

[kaaronwarren.livejournal.com]

Chopped up hamburger, chopped up hamburger...it's not working.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Well, do you ever cook a pound of raw hamburger in a skillet? You stir it and as you stir it, it forms clumps. Not big clumps because they will take longer to cook through so you use the spoon to divide them, but small clumps. That's what this is.

[zhai.livejournal.com]

Very cool, thanks very much. I'm originally from San Diego, and living on the east coast it's maddening trying to find good Mexican food. I will drag pantlessjohnny down there next time I am in the city.

I have to say, despite its frightening name, pulled pork is very delicious.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

It's not exactly Mexican and certainly not traditional Mexican but more southwestern. You can find the menu here:
http://tinyurl.com/2d9kwt

[zhai.livejournal.com]

Honestly, all you needed to say was 'blood orange margarita' and I was sold, but the menu looks great, too, especially the barbecued pork empanadas and tilapia tacos. Often these avant garde sorts of places have kind of a California feel to them, I've found... and they probably run a distinctly lower chance of making you sick than some of the super traditional down-home places in SD anyway. ;) At this point I'd do harm for a freakin' El Torito.

There is, bizarrely, an avant garde Mexican place in Troy, NY, about half an hour south of Saratoga if you have the inclination during WFC, though I'd recommend apple picking or something instead -- but it's the only Irish-Mexican restaurant I've ever been to, and is called Jose Malones. The corned beef quesadilla is actually exceptionally good.

Thanks again for the rec. :)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Now "The corned beef quesadilla" sounds weird...I doubt I'll have much of a chance to get out of Saratoga during the con although I'm signing in Albany Sunday evening (which will be very weird, as I haven't been back there for about 30 years).

I can't guarantee they'll have the blood orange margarita when you get here but they should have some good ones in any case (or you could all in advance to make sure ;-) )

[kaaronwarren.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'll be brave enough to try it next time. Is it slow-cooked pork?

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

It's barbequed pork that, instead of being served in slabs, is pulled into sort of meat strings (http://z.about.com/d/bbq/1/0/k/L/pulled_pork_sandwich.jpg). More room for hot sauce! And here in Virginia, sometimes you are also offered North Carolina-style pulled pork with coleslaw on top. I like that a lot.

[kaaronwarren.livejournal.com]

See, when you describe it like that it sounds delish! I like slow cooked beef and chicken which is so tender you can pull it into strings with the fork. What sort of hot sauce would you serve with it?

I like the coleslaw option, too. I had my first New York hot dog, and of course I had sauerkraut. It was very good.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Kaaron,
Where'd you have the hotdog? If you didn't go to Gray's Papaya on 8th street and 6th avenue, you must--when you go to Porto Rico trading company for tea you can have hot dogs at Gray's Papaya,-crunchy outside with mustard and sauerkraut and coconut champagne or papaya juice...

[kaaronwarren.livejournal.com]

I didn't go there! We bought one from the first stand we saw. Gray's Papaya sounds like an absolute must. After WFC?

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can take you to both Porto Rico Trading and Gray's Papaya!

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Most restaurants have some range of hot sauces and I always use the most hot. I have a high tolerance to all kinds of hot sauce so while I can almost always use something hotter than they have, a lot of the really hot ones have no flavor. I prefer something that is hot but also adds to the flavor.

The coleslaw adds crunchiness plus a sort of vinegar tang and I like that.

[zhai.livejournal.com]

Yep, a very slow hickory barbecue technique. :) Very tender.