Sunday, May 29, 2011

Talkeetna, Alaska: Climbing the Peaks of Deliciousness

This weekend we went to the town of Talkeetna. Talkeetna is a small historic town on the Susitna River north of Anchorage, and is the base for flying to Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. In May, you can see a lot of sunburned mountain climbers speaking German and Japanese, and all summer there are helicopters to take you on sightseeing tours of the McKinley and nearby glaciers. There is also great fishing, and you can go on your own or take a guided boat trip. The town has really taken advantage of the tourists, and it gets really busy in the summer. Like Virginia City, Nevada or Julian, California, it is a small historic town that is close enough to the city to be a popular day trip. The year round population is less than a thousand, but there are a couple dozen gift shops and art galleries, and several restaurants that survive on a combination of Anchorage visitors and cruise ship tourists. There is a small Historical Society Museum which is worth a trip to learn about the local history, and to pick up a walking guide to the town's many historic buildings, several of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On a sunny day like our visit, you can find an enthusiastic crowd watching a baseball game at the local ball field, and lots of people splashing around in the shallow parts of the Susitna River off the end of the historic airstrip. This last part was the highlight of our dog's trip to Talkeetna, for sure.

My husband and I have been to Talkeetna before, so we know some places that we like. We drove up in the morning and got there just in time for lunch at the West Rib, named for one of the routes to the top of Mt. McKinley. There is a patio which is great during the summer. It was warm and sunny today, but there are big umbrellas on the outside tables, which make it great even when it's raining (which happened to us last summer). This place is always busy, and it was featured on the Alaska episode of Man vs. Food, so it's well known. The menu item featured on that show was the "Seward's Folly" burger, which was an old nickname for the Territory of Alaska when it was first purchased by the United States. People thought the purchase was a bad decision, but then they found out that we had gold and copper and oil and salmon, and that shut them up. Anyway, the Seward's Folly is over four pounds, and has three layers of sourdough bread, two one-pound caribou meat patties, ham, bacon, Swiss cheese, American cheese, a concoction called "fat ass sauce" (which I think they make on the Man v. Food episode if you feel the need to learn more), and one pound of French fries.

Such a thing is waaaay too much for me, so we stuck with slightly more reasonable portions. I tend to get seafood there, since they make a point of getting fresh Alaskan fish and crab, and they also serve caribou. We got potato skins to start, and there were only three little skins, but they pack a lot into them, and we knew there was tons more coming, so it wasn't disappointing. The skins had caribou chili, cheese, and a black bean and corn salsa on them, and were delicious. I got the halibut chunks and chips as my main course, and they were fabulous. They make them with a beer batter, and the halibut was perfectly cooked and flaky, with a thin, crispy batter. These are honestly some of the best halibut fish and chips around. They came with garlic parmesan fries, which are totally just frozen shoestring fries, but surprisingly good gussied up with herbs, parmesan, and garlic. My halibut also came with a great coleslaw, which was topped with cashews for a nice crunch. Morgan got the black and blue burger, which had sauteed onions and bleu cheese, and also had the parmesan fries as an option. The only thing was that the cook seems to go a little rare, so you might want to ask for your burger darker than normal.

Other things on the menu that looked great but that we haven't had a chance to try are the caribou chili, seafood chowder, smoked salmon pate, and nachos topped with the caribou chili. They have lots of other seafood menu items, including a crab cake sandwich, and the Homer Split, which I got last time I was here- it has both salmon and halibut, for those of us who can't decide which they want. They also have tons of Alaskan microbrew beers, from breweries in Fox (near Fairbanks), Anchorage, Juneau, Kenai, and Soldotna. And if you picked someplace else for lunch, you can always stop by from 4-6 pm, when appetizers are half price. They're not the most environmentally friendly place, I'm sad to say, since they serve practically everything in plastic cups and with plastic silverware, but I'm willing to forgive them that since they make a point of only having fresh Alaskan, sustainable seafood that is in season, so you could say it cancels out.

The West Rib Cafe. The main entrance is on the right, but you can also go in through Nagley's Store.

We also usually stop by the Wake and Shake ice cream stand. They only ever have a few flavors, but they're always homemade. This time, Morgan got strawberry and I got apple pie, which is seriously like they took a small slice of apple pie and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and mashed it all up and served it to you. Yum.

The Wake and Shake ice cream stand. The chalkboard is being updated with today's freshly made flavors.

Now I have to discuss the Talkteetna Roadhouse. This place has been around since the 1910s, and is fantastic. If you are staying overnight in Talkeetna, even if you don't actually stay in the Roadhouse or one of their cabins, you have to eat breakfast there. Now, if you somehow don't know about sourdough, it is a type of starter, or leavening for bread, that miners brought with them to Alaska and the Klondike. You can feed it and cultivate it, and each batch takes on unique characteristics. The Roadhouse has been using a batch that was first brought to Alaska in 1902 and has been used since the Roadhouse first opened. You can buy freshly baked sourdough bread that is fantastic, or get either sourdough toast or sourdough hotcakes with your breakfast, served from 7 am to 2 pm. The main breakfast is the "Standard," which comes with scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and homefries, and endless coffee. You can also get sourdough hotcakes, as I said, or biscuits and reindeer sausage gravy. I would highly recommend getting the half breakfast, which is still too much to finish, rather than gorging yourself on the full. You need to pace yourself in this town. They also have a menu called "Not Breakfast," which is served until 8 pm, and includes soups and sandwiches and things. I've never had anything off this menu, but if it's as good as the breakfast, it's worth a try. Their bakery is also worth a visit to pick up things to take home, because while there are lots of great smells coming out of the place, you're probably still stuffed from breakfast or lunch. You need to pick up some sourdough bread, but while you're there you can also get a slice of carrot cake or red velvet cake or chocolate cream pie, or one of three kinds of cinnamon rolls, or a couple of kinds of quiche, or some lasagna or mac and cheese. They also have cookies, brownies, bread pudding, and homemade peanut butter cups. We got a couple of cinnamon rolls to eat for breakfast the next morning. Oh, and did I mention they make their own pasties? They have a couple of more traditional ones, as well as a salmon one, all of which are really great. Of the things I just mentioned, I have eaten and can highly recommend the sourdough and honey wheat breads, the quiches, pasties, mac and cheese, bread pudding, and peanut butter cups. And as of this morning I can recommend the cinnamon rolls.

The Talkeetna Roadhouse. The older part of the Roadhouse is on the right. The one story addition on the left expanded the kitchen and bakery and added a few more seats.

As I said, there are several other restaurants in town to choose from, as well as a hot dog stand and a stand selling nothing but dumplings and smoothies. Seriously. A couple of the popular restaurants I haven't been to yet are the Wildflower Cafe and Mountain High Pizza Pie. Last summer we went to the Twister Creek Restaurant, which is also home to the Denali Brewing Company. It was good, but not our favorite, but as you can tell, there's a lot of competition for such a small town. If you're from Anchorage, or up here visiting, I really hope you'll go up to Talkeetna for a visit.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Chocolate: The Never Ending Story

I thought I had better do an introductory post for something that will be a recurring theme in my blog: chocolate. Everyone who knows me knows I loooooove chocolate, and it is very rare for me to pick a non-chocolate dessert when there is a chocolate option on the menu. My mom tried to convince me that a person does not need chocolate every day, but that lesson didn’t really stick. When I was a little kid, I would order a chocolate milkshake in any restaurant at which it was an option; I told my parents I was searching for the best one in the world. Milkshakes are a double whammy, because I also desperately love ice cream.

Anchorage has a wide and diverse array of chocolate options to satisfy anyone. To continue with the chocolate milkshakes, lately my favorite has been at the Lucky Wishbone, and probably the Arctic Roadrunner has the second place ribbon. My favorite used to be at the White Spot, but I haven’t had one since the new owners took over, so I really shouldn’t rank it. For ice cream, I was crushed that Hot Licks, Fairbanks’ hometown ice cream makers, couldn’t survive next to Title Wave here in Anchorage, but I have hopes for the gelato at Café del Mundo, that I will get to one of these days.

The unquestioned champion in both the truffle and hot chocolate category belongs to Modern Dwellers; they will get their own dedicated post in a week or so. They are innovators and artists in the truest sense.

For the chocolate cake category, the fancy downtown restaurants get that prize for Sak’s flourless chocolate gateau, and for Simon and Seafort’s chocolate indulgence cake. Last time I was at Sak’s I didn’t even get a courtesy taste of my mom’s slice! It was Mother’s Day, though, so she gets a pass- I would have gotten her two if she’d wanted. And I had a fabulous chocolate pot de crème of my own, so it’s not like I was deprived.

Other honorable mentions include New Sagaya City Market for having a deadly chocolate checkout aisle, tempting you with gourmet chocolate impulse buys, and the Bear Tooth Grill for their rich chocolate mousse. Try it, but plan on taking at least half of it home, because the portion is huge. Fire Island Bakery also has several chocolate options, as does the Café Paris; both will be the subject of their own posts. I still haven’t found a brownie that rivals my own homemade ones, but the one at the Moose’s Tooth is very good. Another honorable mention for Alaskans is the Chocolate Dilettante in Seattle. Their main store and ice cream parlor is on Broadway down there, but they now also have a stand in the food court at SeaTac airport; any chocolate lover absolutely must pick up an ephemere hot chocolate on their way Outside, and a box of truffles or a bottle of hot fudge to take home.

I am always looking for new chocolate desserts, so the title of this post will repeat, I hope frequently, as I find new ones to try. I will also try to provide more detail on the desserts I mentioned here as I do reviews of the restaurants where the desserts are found. My search for chocolate really is a neverending story. Finally, if you have a particular chocolate dessert in Anchorage that you love that I have not mentioned, let me know and I will give it a shot.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

All Hail the Falafel King!

On Thursday my husband and I finally succeeded in going to the Falafel King when it was actually open! Located on Gambell Street just south of 15th (as it leaves downtown and turns into the Seward Highway), the Falafel King is housed in an old burger stand. It is teensy-tiny, and run by a family of Israelis. I think they're from Haifa, judging by the soccer banners hanging above the soda case. The family is pretty much the only staff, which explains why their hours can be erratic, especially in the slow winter months. Because they're Jewish, they're often closed on Saturdays, but in the summer they try to be open 7 days a week. The matriarch of the family told me she was in Israel visiting family, so with just the husband running the place, that apparently explains why our previous attempts, on both Saturdays and Sundays, were to no avail.

Now, to the falafel. For those who do not know, falafel (also called (ta'amia) consists of balls of beans, spices, onion, and herbs fried in oil. Most falafel in the US is made from chickpeas/garbanzo beans, but Egyptians make them using fava beans, and people from Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan use a mixture of the two. Coptic Christians in Egypt claim to have invented it, as something to eat during Lent and other festivals when they couldn't eat meat. Claudia Roden's "New Book of Middle Eastern Food" (the source of the last two sentences) is an amazing source for Middle Eastern recipes, and provides a lot of information on the culture and history behind different foods, if you want to learn more about Middle Eastern food. She herself is from Egypt, so that tends to be the focus, but she tries to provide recipes for popular foods from all over the region.

The Falafel King basically has three things on the menu: falafel, schwarma, and schnitzel. Falafel I explained already, schwarma is sort of like gyros- thin strips of cooked lamb, and schnitzel is what it sounds like, pounded flat, breaded chicken, like you get at Oktoberfest. I've had the falafel and schwarma, but not the schnitzel. All three come either in pita sandwiches (again, think of a gyro if you've never had one), or as a platter. The pitas come with lettuce, onions, kosher pickles, tomatoes, and liberal amounts of tahini and hummus. Both the falafel and schwarma pitas are delicious and cooked fresh. They are also hugely filling, and you could totally split one, or take some home for lunch tomorrow. This coincidentally helps you to save room for homemade baklava, which is also very rich and delicious. Two people can expect to pay $20-$30 for a meal- $8.99 for the falafel, $10.99 for the schwarma, $2.50 for a slice of baklava, plus drinks (bottled and canned drinks from a case, or coffee) and a tip.

So, as you can tell, there's a reason that my husband and I kept driving by the Falafel King, hoping to find it open. Long may they reign as the monarchs of Israeli food in Anchorage!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog about food in Alaska!

First of all, I would like to be very clear about something: I am not a food critic. This will not be a blog in which I criticize and nitpick the restaurants and other places that I visit. I am starting this blog because Anchorage has an amazing diversity of restaurants, markets, festivals, and other opportunities for great food, and I want to share the great things I find with other people. I love food, and I love learning about the history of foods, of foods' influence on our culture and our politics. Along with not being a food critic, I would also like to stress that I am not a food snob. I appreciate good food and drinks in all their forms, and I definitely do not turn up my nose at a street vendor or a cheap burger, as long as it is delicious. Because I want to share my love of food with everyone, I will try and highlight places where two people can get a delicious dinner for $30 or less, but I will also be talking about the great food that you might only get on special occasions, because dinner there will set you back closer to $100 for two.

This blog will include restaurants I visit, mainly in Anchorage but also in other towns around southcentral Alaska that I visit, like Palmer, Talkeetna, Seward, and Homer. It will also include great food stores that I find, because people should know about all the great bakeries, wine stores, cheese stores, and other food specialty stores we have here. When talking about a particular place, I will also try and point out those that have vegetarian or vegan items, as well as those that use local meat, seafood, and produce, because eating locally and sustainably in Alaska has a huge impact. I also may write occasional reviews of food writing, and I may share cookbooks or recipes with you if I find something particularly new and exciting.

So, there you are. I hope that this blog will be interesting to you, and helpful if you live in Alaska or are thinking of visiting. Send me an email if you are interested in a particular food genre (dessert! Thai food!) or have another question or comment you think I should post about.