Robert of Cross Keys eats better than I do, and I'm the restaurant critic. Here's RoCK with a Free Market Friday guest post that's making me hungry. EL

This week the wife had a business lunch in Harbor East.  She decided to bring me along. I was already off for Veteran’s Day, and a downtown lunch beat my original plans for the day of watching reruns of The Golden Girls on Lifetime.

My normal weekday lunch routine is going to the American Legion in the burbs. (I should say that American Legions are great places to go for lunch.  Where else can you get soup, sandwich and a beer for $4?)  On this day, however, I went to Roy’s, where I got some Hawaiian with a touch of the Philippines and even a little bit of Baltimore.

One of the things I like about Roy’s is that there is some discretion over the menu that allows for the chef to add some unique items to be mixed in with the standard menu items.  At Roy’s Baltimore, the chef is from the Philippines; and you can see some of the culture in the menu....

Continue reading "Robert goes Hawaiian" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Free Market Fridays
        

I'm worried about Robert of Cross Keys. I'm afraid that associating with all the degenerate characters on this blog, including its writer, may be getting to him. Here's Robert and today's excellent Free Market Friday. EL

Right now I’m sitting in Red Emma’s -- yes, Red Emma’s.   I’m trying to write my Free Market Fridays, or Fascist Fridays as my wife calls it, but it is hard to focus in here.  I feel like the Jewish mother in “Fiddler in the Roof” when she goes into the Orthodox church looking for her daughter.  As I sit here in my Brooks Brothers shirt and sushi tie, I truly know the feeling of being a stranger in a strange place. ...

Continue reading "Almost seduced by the dark side" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
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Robert of Cross Keys has made my day, maybe my week, with this fine guest post. My Pikesville source, a guy who tells my husband about restaurants to pass on to me, has been going on for a couple of years about a fabulous Chinese restaurant called the Wigwam. Chinese, not American Indian, which is a little weird. Every time I'm in Pikesville, I look for it but have never found it; and it's not listed in the phone book. Now I know how to find it. Thanks, RoCK! EL

My wife had some projects this week in the suburbs that required my driving out there, so that's where my dining out took place. I visited the Diamondback Tavern in Ellicott City and the Wing Wah in Pikesville. ...

Continue reading "Comfort food in the burbs" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: Free Market Fridays
        

Here's part two of guest poster Robert of Cross Key's eating adventures on his recent road trip. His photo and descriptions are making me hungry. EL

Detroit is not a food desert.
 
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the demise of Detroit has been greatly exaggerated.

Don’t get me wrong, I saw a lot of hurt in the city.  There are many vacant and boarded-up homes.  There are a lot barren fields that seem out of place in an urban environment.  There are numerous abandoned factories.

I went into Detroit, however, expecting to see much worse.  I wasn’t expecting to see crowded museums, or rush hour traffic in a city with such high unemployment, or restaurants of all types filled with diners. Nevertheless, that's what I saw. ...

Continue reading "Who knew Detroit was a food mecca?" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Free Market Fridays
        

And to think I once worried that Robert of Cross Keys' guest posts wouldn't have enough food in them. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, wait till you get to the third paragraph. I'm expecting next week's guest post to be on the South Beach Diet. Plus, it has high drama. Here's RoCK with an excellent Free Market Friday. EL

Ohio Amish, Hungarian-Canadians, and Jamie Farr
 
This past week I went on a vacation to Detroit. Yes, Detroit.   Now I’ll get into what I actually did in the Motor City next week.  For now, I’ll touch on some of the places I found on my way out there. ...

Continue reading "Of Hungarian food, homemade ice cream and more" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Free Market Fridays
        

I have to say this excellent guest post by Robert of Cross Keys gave me a pang of guilt. My poor abandoned husband is probably having a Nathan's hot dog with a stale potato roll for dinner tonight. Here's RoCK. EL

Last week my wife went to New York to share a few meals with her friend and noted food writer David Rosengarten, which she wrote about in her blog.

Not to be outdone, I set out to create my own New York experience. I stayed home with Mr. Jefferson, and we ate Nathan’s hot dogs.  The hot dogs were not bad.  The same could not be said for the potato rolls I pulled out of the back of my freezer. ...

Continue reading "Thanks be to cod" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
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Robert of Cross Keys is back, with a new guest post, a new category for his posts (you can now go back and read his earlier posts by clicking on "Free Market Fridays" under the categories to the right) and best of all, with ruminations on, well, you'll see. Here's Robert. EL

Over the past few weeks I have been trying to excise the demons from my trip to Jacksonville, meaning I’ve been trying to get the rail gin and fried conch fritters out of my system.

I started my rehab at Boordy’s Vineyard, where I went to a late summer, outdoor happy hour that features their wines along with local foods. ...
 

Continue reading "Rehabbing with bison, truffles and trout" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: Free Market Fridays
        

The only thing missing from this excellent guest post by Robert of Cross Keys is the recipe for the dish he's taking to his pool party. Here's Robert. EL

Last week my wife let it be known that I live in the public eye.  And like many other elected office holders, I am getting ready for the big political event that takes place this week.  

Yes, I do serve.  I’m on my condo’s board of directors.  And this week, of course, is the annual Cross Keys pool party.

As perhaps the only Republican office holder in all of Baltimore City, I realize that I am vulnerable, even in Cross Keys. It is imperative that I bring my A game to this event, and by that I mean I have to impress with my covered dish. ...

Continue reading "Kicking it Old School" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)
Categories: Free Market Fridays
        

Actually, today's fine guest post by Robert of Cross Keys is about what Republicans and Democrats eat, but that was a little long-winded for a headline. I couldn't talk him into a photo of himself and his wife in their partisan outfits to illustrate it, by the way. So instead of a photo of a wine-and-cheese-loving Republican, we have to make do with just the cheese (puffs) and wine. Here's RoCK. EL

This week I went down to the farmers market under the JFX.  As I walked around I was offered a socialist newspaper.  I said no thanks, I’m a Republican. 

The activist seemed a little surprised. Not so much at my terseness, but probably by the fact my appearance belied my ideology.  See, I had an eco-friendly canvas bag, a two-day shave, a pair of olive drab shorts and a t-shirt listing the top 10 insults from Shakespeare. (It is a great shirt for the venue on account of the No. 1 insult: “Sell when you can, you are not for all markets.”)  ...

Continue reading "What Republicans eat" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (82)
Categories: Free Market Fridays
        

I was thrilled when Robert of Cross Keys said he wanted to write a guest post for us. I was even more thrilled when he asked what the rules are. No one ever asked me that before. I love rules (which is why my guest posters tend to migrate to Midnight Sun).

I told him there were only two rules: Only Owl Meat can be weird, and he has to have more food in his posts than Bucky did.

Well, one out of two ain't bad. You always get one free pass when you're new. Here's RoCK. EL

This week took me back to Aberdeen, my boyhood home, to see the Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Bob Dylan concert.  A one word review: disappointing. I only got to listen to two songs from Willie, and I had to listen to Dylan’s entire set plus his encore.

When it comes to the short Willie set, I have myself, my wife and falling barometric pressure to blame. ...

Continue reading "Missing Willie Nelson and McDonald's" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (60)
Categories: Free Market Fridays