01.11.07
Saveur
I’ve finally returned from my west coast swing, and I picked up a Saveur Magazine at the news stand on 6th Avenue and West 3rd Street. I had no idea the Saveur 100 covers the entire planet, so now I am even more honored to have been included.
(click here for a bigger image in my fun-filled “Dave in the Press” page on FamousFatDave.Com)
I also had no idea what Zankou Chicken was while I was out there. Apparently, it’s Lebanese garlic rotisserie chicken in the LA area (all things that I love including, after this trip, the LA area), and it’s blurb number thirteen in the Saveur 100. Had I bought my Saveur before I got back, I would have made a bee line straight for it.
I did, however, manage to make it to Roscoe’s House Of Chicken And Waffles during my stay in LA. I’d scoured Harlem in search of great fried chicken and waffles for many years without finding anything worth writing home about. Finally, I discovered Londel’s, and it has become my new favorite. And finding great fried chicken alone is not a problem in New York. But that didn’t make me any less eager to try Roscoe’s. I’ve heard so many good things about it, my mouth was watering the moment I woke up on the day we planned to go.
My cousin Jeremy (respected resident of LA, big shot Hollywood editor), my girlfriend Melissa (Khmer-style Thai chef, international lover of me and fried chicken), and I planned to hit the Roscoe’s location in Oakland on our roadtrip because Jeremy had heard it was more “authentic.” We made it up to the Bay Area on our roadtrip only to find that Roscoe’s had closed. So we had to wait until we made it back to LA.
On New Year’s Day, we woke up at 3pm to face 2007 fresh. We devoted the rest of the day to Roscoe’s. What better way to kick off a new year than with food that will kill you as soon as look at you?
The experience began with a half hour wait on the bench outside which was quite memorable. First because the weather on the 1st of January was 75 degrees and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky which was shocking to me as an east coaster (although it was almost as nice in New York that day I heard, it’s just that in LA that kind of weather on the first of the year doesn’t signal the end of the world as we know it as it does in the east).
Secondly, the wait was memorable because a gold-toothed, wife-beater clad, bandanna-wearing rapper in a nice car rolled into the parking lot, blasted his beat from the stereo, and rapped into everyone’s face on line to try to sell his cds at $10 each. The part that was really surprising was when he left his car in the lot for ten minutes with the door ajar and the keys in the ignition and the beat still blasting to go inside Roscoe’s to rap at each and every table. I almost stole his car just to teach him a lesson.
Then we waited another half an hour because the waitress forgot about us in the corner of the restaurant, a wait a little less memorable because we all grew delirious from hunger. So I was really anxious to eat by 5pm when the food finally arrived. I’d been smelling it for more than an hour, I hadn’t eaten a thing all day, and I’d been wanting to go to Roscoe’s for more years than I could recall. The fix was on. There was no way I wasn’t going to love it.
And I loved it. I orderd the Carol C. Special: “succulent breast, one delicious waffle.” The fried chicken was perfect- crispy, juicy, tender, flavorful, felt like I was committing a crime by putting in my mouth. The waffle, full of butter and syrup (the syrup was my doing, the butter showed up on the waffle in the form of a great, white, melting ball), really was “delicious.” Although they are much fluffier at Londel’s in Harlem I must say, these waffles actually went with the chicken even better. It was as much of a delight to take a bite of waffle and then tear off a piece of fried chicken as it was to synchronize the two in one bite.
(the self-timer function on my camera was a constant during the trip)
The sides – rice, mac n’ cheese, candied yams, and potatoes in gravy – were all amazing, although I couldn’t eat much of them because when I haven’t eaten until 5pm, my stomach is too tight to do much gorging. The corn bread, as it can be even at the best soul food spot, was a little too dry for my taste, even after a healthy application of butter. The biscuits, however, were so doughy and flaky and moist and buttery all at the same time that I almost ordered another even after I was stuffed, but I thought better of it because I figured it’d take another painful half an hour. Even the Arnold Palmer (which Roscoe’s calls “Lisa’s Delight”), half lemonade and half iced tea, was tastier than I’ve had it at most places in the deepest of the deep south.
(That’s my cousin Jeremy who made himself the first member of the 911 Nanny Army)
My wild expectations had been met, surpassed in some cases, by the LA institution. We all spent the last few hours of the first day of 2007 either laying flat on hour backs trying to digest our Roscoe’s feast or playing Guitar Heroes II. Next time I make it out to LA, I’m going to make sure I go to Zankou, but I’ll also be hitting up Roscoe’s again. Maybe twice. I’ve got a feeling 2007 is going to be a very good year.
Visit Famous Fat Dave . Com For Five Borough Eating Tours Back East
Meleesa said,
January 11, 2007 at 2:35 am
I’m TRYIN to watch the LOST BOYS!
Can we go back? the trip was deeericious in every way. Hmmf
Big Mama said,
January 11, 2007 at 4:13 am
Funny, I don’t remember getting you guitar lessons.
Kristi in Portland said,
January 11, 2007 at 5:33 pm
I’m glad that you’re back, if missed reading your posts. Next time you’re on the West Coast try to come to Portland, we have some fabulous food here and I’d love to show you and Melissa around, plus Seattle isn’t far. I’m hoping to make it to NYC again this year and I will definitely be booking another tour, hopefully it won’t be raining!
Mmmm, chicken and waffles. I’ve never had them and I sure want to!
Kristi in Portland said,
January 11, 2007 at 5:34 pm
I forgot to add, congratulations on the Saveur top 100!
rod yoder said,
January 12, 2007 at 6:28 am
We had chicken and waffles in Oakland in December. There’s a place right across the street from Jack London Square. It was wonderful and the grits were the best I’ve ever tasted. My wife took a picture (but I don’t know how to post it).
Jeremy said,
January 12, 2007 at 6:37 am
Ya, that’s the beauty of Guitar Heroes. It’s like My First Sony Guitar or that game Simon. And you end up playing enough where if you spent that time practicing guitar instead, you’d actually learn to play.
p.s. i’m not a huge fan of Zankou. I have this bad emotional taste left over from all the places we used to order from when I worked on Nanny though so I guess it’s worth another try.
Administrator said,
January 12, 2007 at 6:52 am
Dear Rod,
Jeremy said there is still a place in Oakland called Chicken and Waffles. But not of Roscoe’s House Of Chicken N Waffles. Maybe that’s where you ate? I wish there was a way to post a picture on a comment. I bet you there is but the man isn’t letting the people use the technology.
Dear Jeremy,
I believe Mike spoke the truth when he said, “I feel like playing the actual guitar isn’t as hard as playing this game.”
~THC
Jeremy said,
January 12, 2007 at 6:55 am
Hey Rod,
I think I know the place you’re talking about. We were thinking about going there but the Roscoe’s brand really carried the currency our hearts.
Use this code to post your picture:
<img src=”http://www.(location of your picture)”>
Jeremy said,
January 12, 2007 at 6:57 am
Dave that’s funny cause when I took my friend Tyler to the range in Burbank he said, “Why is Duck Hunt harder than shooting a actual gun?”
Smeck! said,
January 12, 2007 at 3:45 pm
its interesting how new years day in LA rivals new years day here on the east coast, temperature wise.. i don’t know what i love more, the quote ‘i almost stole his car to teach him a lesson’ or the fact that melissa already quoted it. can’t wait for this weekend. or hours from now, really… and to keep up with the other comments, why is Tony Hawk so much harder than actually skateboarding?
Melissa said,
January 12, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Also those boxing arcade games like Punch-out are harder than actually punching people in the face.
The Acid Queen said,
January 13, 2007 at 7:15 am
Damn, dude–maybe I should start bloggin’ about food instead of hockey, because getting in Saveur’s Top 100 beats the pants out of being in the ESPN 100 any day of the week!
Glad you enjoyed your trip to Cali, man. Next time you come on back down here to NC, gimme a shout and I’ll take you to Big Ed’s for one of the most amazing country breakfasts you’ve ever had.
AQ
BonzoGal said,
January 16, 2007 at 11:50 pm
The Chicken & Waffles in Oakland used to be a Roscoe’s, then they split from the Roscoe family and re-opened as plain ol’ House of Chicken and Waffles. They’re plenty good, some of the best fried chicken in the bay area, if you don’t count the sadly lamented Mozell’s of San Francisco.
So how many burritos did you manage to cram down while you were out here?
Keith said,
January 23, 2007 at 12:08 am
Dave, can’t believe you were in my neck of the woods (San Francisco) and I didn’t know it…I have a few places–some famous, some not so much–that would have even blown your mind/palate. Let me know next time you’re in the vicinity.
Administrator said,
January 24, 2007 at 11:28 am
Keith,
Is this the Keith who went on the eating tour with Vicky and Rick?!?! I wish I could have swung by, but I had long lost family and friends to see.
~Dave
The Hungry Cabbie: The Eating Adventures of a NYC Yellow Cabbie » Sacramento Boulevard!!! said,
January 25, 2007 at 7:59 am
[...] Sadly, the roadtrip had to come to an end. But once we returned to LA, the good eats just kept on coming. Our meal at Roscoe’s House of Chicken N Waffles was all I ever dreamt it would be and more. We were overwhelmed with our choice of high quality fast food burger joints, any of which would be the best of its kind back east. And we eagerly wolfed as many as we could. [...]