Foodeurope takes the family for a great American road trip and discovers you can find some darn good cooking across the Atlantic.
First stop: New York City. We fly in to JFK and like good Europeans get dirty looks for under tipping the cab driver and the bell hop at the Roosevelt Hotel, a grand Midtown landmark named after President Teddy that opened in 1924 and features in movies like "French Connection" and "Maid in Manhattan" (Jenifer Lopez making up rooms!). http://www.theroosevelthotel.com
Jetlagged but in need of food we wander east down 45th Street and find Menchanko-Tei amid a row of Asian eateries. It offers ramen noodles, roast pork and oden to visiting salarymen. Oden is a broth filled with a rich mix of mysterious ingredients. Mine had daikan radish, an octopus leg, grilled tofu, bits of crab, sausage and more rubbery things that I couldn’t quite identify. The kids take Hakata raman _ noodles in a thick milky broth from the city of Fukuoka topped with sliced pork, red ginger and shitake mushroom. With a bottle of beer and water it came to just $29 for three. http://www.menchankotei.com
Breakfast was in Bryant Park, once a junkie haven, now an island of greenery surrounded by art deco gems.
We grab cinnamon bagels, blueberry muffins, orange juice and coffee from the great Turkish deli on 40th Street. By lunchtime, a downpour forces us into Macy’s where we plunder the basement salad bar _ aubergine with saffron, baked tofu, cracked bulgur, bok choi with sesame.
Fairway Market at 2127 Broadway, offers great gourmet shopping for inhabitants of this cool Upper West Side neighbourhood, and the food is available for sampling in upstairs steakhouse. They serve tangy Brooklyn Ale, there’s a wood burning oven fired up for pizza and a great sizzling grill for the renowned burgers and steaks. On our visit, dishes of the day included pasta bake, shrimp and garlic salad and a seared salmon with green beans and cherry tomatoes. http://www.fairwaymarket.com. We skip dessert to head round the corner to the Café Lalo to wait beneath the pavement fairy lights for a table at the place where Tom Hanks met Meg Ryan in “You’ve Got Mail.” Inside this French-style cafe serves up a baffling variety of pastries. Head straight to the triple chocolate truffle. You won’t be disappointed. http://www.cafelalo.com
Although city folk flock here at weekends, the scale of the place means getting away from all is no problem. Our home was a fabulous wood cabin close to Go Home Lake _ where trappers once gathered at the end of the season before heading homeward. We stayed at our friends' place, but private cottages can be rented across Muskoka, check out www.discovermuskoka.ca.
Nature of course has its downside. That became clear when we first stepped out of the car to be assailed by storm of carnivorous insects as we rushed to carry our luggage to the cabin. We soon learned to avoid the early morning and dusk rush hours for mosquitoes, deer flies and other man-eating bugs. Fortunately we saw no sign of the rattlesnakes we’d been alerted to, but the sound of something large crashing through the undergrowth one night and a pile of steaming poo on the drive next morning proved the “watch-out-for-the-bear” warnings were more than scare-mongering.
Although there are restaurants a-plenty in the pretty little lakeland townships like Bracebridge, Bala or Gravenhurst, we were living off the land, or at least the stock of Canadian products we brought up from Toronto, supplemented with occasional trips into town.
The pace of life soon slows down. Breakfast on porridge or pancakes with local maple syrup and dried cranberries from the nearby Wahta Mohawk community. Then a swim or kayak ride on the lake, dodging the snapping turtles _ they are big, scary and curious, coming up close to get a good look at sunbathers, but we were assured they don’t bite unless really provoked.
There’s not much too but relax, watch the wildlife, wander the woods or read a good book (Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace is a dark tale of murder in an isolated Ontario farm _ if that does not freak you out too much on a dark and stormy night in your lonely lakeside cabin).
The farmer’s market in Bala provided smoked trout, fresh corn on the cob, maple-pumpkin butter, and nutty Oka cheese made by monks in Quebec. The Chelsea buns from Don’s bakery are justly renowned in the little town build around the rapids where two branches of Lake Muskoka run together. The variety and quality of Canadian beer was a revelation, from Montreal’s St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout or Moosehead from New Brunswick to Ontario ales like Burlington’s Nickle Brook ale or Confederation from down the road in Barrie, just the thing for watching the sun go down on the deck (just make sure you’re behind the mosquito netting).
First stop: New York City. We fly in to JFK and like good Europeans get dirty looks for under tipping the cab driver and the bell hop at the Roosevelt Hotel, a grand Midtown landmark named after President Teddy that opened in 1924 and features in movies like "French Connection" and "Maid in Manhattan" (Jenifer Lopez making up rooms!). http://www.theroosevelthotel.com Jetlagged but in need of food we wander east down 45th Street and find Menchanko-Tei amid a row of Asian eateries. It offers ramen noodles, roast pork and oden to visiting salarymen. Oden is a broth filled with a rich mix of mysterious ingredients. Mine had daikan radish, an octopus leg, grilled tofu, bits of crab, sausage and more rubbery things that I couldn’t quite identify. The kids take Hakata raman _ noodles in a thick milky broth from the city of Fukuoka topped with sliced pork, red ginger and shitake mushroom. With a bottle of beer and water it came to just $29 for three. http://www.menchankotei.com
Breakfast was in Bryant Park, once a junkie haven, now an island of greenery surrounded by art deco gems.
We grab cinnamon bagels, blueberry muffins, orange juice and coffee from the great Turkish deli on 40th Street. By lunchtime, a downpour forces us into Macy’s where we plunder the basement salad bar _ aubergine with saffron, baked tofu, cracked bulgur, bok choi with sesame. An old favorite for dinner, Cabana, serving nueva latina cuisine with wonderful views over Brooklyn and the towers of Wall Street from the pier at South Street Seaport. Set up originally as a Cuban joint in Queens, this is now a mini chain with three outposts in NYC and more in Florida. It’s bright and brassy, with singing waiters, a salsa soundtrack and spicy Caribbean food. Mojitos and virgin mango daquiris get us in the mood. Fried plantain chips with garlic dip and shrimp in coconut sauce lead the way into a great mariscada of fresh, firm scallops, prawns, clams, crayfish in a spicy tomato broth, served with black beans and saffron rice. The pollo jamaiquina was juicy, barbeque blackened and blasted with jerk sauce; the pollo al ajillo, was tender and lightly spiced. It’s a fab place, with a couple of glasses of Californian chardonnay, dinner came to $40 a head. http://www.cabanarestaurant.com
Next night we cross the Caribbean to Mama Mexico on E 49th Street to be serenaded by mariachis, as we suck on Tecate beer and frozen margaritas. There’s also a vast range of tequila. The décor is technicolour, the atmosphere fun and friendly, the menu an encyclopedic array of Mexican classics. 
The enchiladas de Mole Poblano, dripping with savoury chocolate sauce, were perfect. The enchiladas suizas with salsa verde and burrito relleno defeated the most voracious adolescent appetite. Great coffee, $140 for three a bit steep, but perhaps worth it for La Bamba from the guys with the moustaches and sombreros. http://mamamexico.com
The enchiladas de Mole Poblano, dripping with savoury chocolate sauce, were perfect. The enchiladas suizas with salsa verde and burrito relleno defeated the most voracious adolescent appetite. Great coffee, $140 for three a bit steep, but perhaps worth it for La Bamba from the guys with the moustaches and sombreros. http://mamamexico.comAfter a morning at MOMA, it was time for a NYC classic, a picnic in Central Park provided by the Carnegie Deli on 7th Avenue. Waiting in line at the takeaway bar you can admire the photos of former customers like Halle Berry, George W. or Sylvester Stallone.
The pastrami sandwich is about 6 inches thick, not easy to get your choppers round but more than worth the effort. http://www.carnegiedeli.com
The pastrami sandwich is about 6 inches thick, not easy to get your choppers round but more than worth the effort. http://www.carnegiedeli.comFairway Market at 2127 Broadway, offers great gourmet shopping for inhabitants of this cool Upper West Side neighbourhood, and the food is available for sampling in upstairs steakhouse. They serve tangy Brooklyn Ale, there’s a wood burning oven fired up for pizza and a great sizzling grill for the renowned burgers and steaks. On our visit, dishes of the day included pasta bake, shrimp and garlic salad and a seared salmon with green beans and cherry tomatoes. http://www.fairwaymarket.com. We skip dessert to head round the corner to the Café Lalo to wait beneath the pavement fairy lights for a table at the place where Tom Hanks met Meg Ryan in “You’ve Got Mail.” Inside this French-style cafe serves up a baffling variety of pastries. Head straight to the triple chocolate truffle. You won’t be disappointed. http://www.cafelalo.com
Stop two: Washington DC. Amtrak down the east coast to a steamy July capital. We’re staying out in leafy Reno Road among the squirrels and songbirds, but it’s still 85 F in the shade. When we head out for an evening at Dupont Circle. Everybody’s eating al fresco, but we manage to grab a terrace table at Raku, a pan-Asian diner filled with after work media and diplomatic types seeking some spice. We feast on pad sew – Thai squid and shrimp in black bean sauce with noodles and stir fried veg, grilled beef and chilli salad, crab ravioli and Hunan chicken salad with ginger and sesame noodles. For afters we head to Kramerbooks & Afterwards café, a late night bookshop that serves a mean ice-cream. http://www.kramers.com. We grab some cones and sit beside the fountains watching crowds dancing away to a souped up New Orleans Jazz band on Connecticut Avenue. 
Summer on the Potomac is hot and humid, so we seek refuge amid the air-conditioned delights in the world’s grandest collection of museums. Among the marvels along the Mall we see Judy Garland’s ruby slippers, fly jet fighter simulators, gaze on Monnet facades and snack on Navajo cookies.
Summer on the Potomac is hot and humid, so we seek refuge amid the air-conditioned delights in the world’s grandest collection of museums. Among the marvels along the Mall we see Judy Garland’s ruby slippers, fly jet fighter simulators, gaze on Monnet facades and snack on Navajo cookies.
Since 1856, the Old Ebbitt Grill has been welcoming Washington insiders to partake of steak, oysters and other American classics. Just a few steps from the White House, this was once a favorite of Presidents Grand and Cleveland. The walrus head looking out from one wall was reputedly bagged by Teddy Roosevelt. The crab cakes are justly famous and the cheese burgers drew rave reviews from the kids. Fresh summer ingredients made the salads a winner and the lamb kebab with garlic, yoghurt and baba ganoush was perfect hotwave eating. http://www.ebbitt.com.
In the happy suburb of Bethesda, Maryland. It was kids’ choice, and we headed to Uncle Julio’s Rio Grande Café. Part of a Tex-Mex mini chain that began life in Dallas in the 1980’s, it’s vast, noisy, and chummy, a fake hacienda serving up huge portions of fajitas, tacos and frijoles while you drink Dos Equis and coke from the bottle and watch football (the real thing Chelsea were playing) on big screens. http://www.unclejulios.com
Stop three: Wellsboro, PA. Drive north in our rented Mitsubishi Gallant along the mighty Susquehanna river we pass big, wooden farmhouses, gleaming grain silos and the occasional Amish buggy as the road takes us deeper into rural Pennsylvania. 
The aim was to discover a typical all-American small town for the night and the choice was Wellsboro, pop. 3,300 in Tioga County. It was perfect, with a colonnaded court house, pastel-painted weatherboard homes built by 19th-century timber tycoons, a neon-lit 1950s’ movie theatre and a nearby natural wonder in the Pine Creek Canyon _ a forest-covered valley 1,000 feet deep where you can watch Turkey vultures gliding the thermals.
The Penn Wells Hotel is a solid, turn-of-the-century main street hotel which may have seen better days, but is justly proud of its US flag made from Christmas tree decorations that graced the cover of Time in 1940s, and reminds us that Wellsboro was once the Christmas decoration capital of the world. Although the rooms could do with a bit of fleshing up, the fine old Art Deco restaurant is a favorite with locals. Friday was fish night, a thick and tasty clam chowder, followed by Atlantic haddock fried with chips or grilled with baked sweet potatoes and ratatouille.
They have the local Yeungling lager on tap, root beer for the kids and chocolate-peanut butter cream to finish up, like a big, sticky spoonful of America. For four this was a snip at $70. http://www.pennwells.com. Before leaving, you must take breakfast at the Wellsboro Diner, an authentic 1930’s rail car serving eggs over easy, crispy bacon, French toast, hot cakes and home fries. http://wellsborodiner.com.
The aim was to discover a typical all-American small town for the night and the choice was Wellsboro, pop. 3,300 in Tioga County. It was perfect, with a colonnaded court house, pastel-painted weatherboard homes built by 19th-century timber tycoons, a neon-lit 1950s’ movie theatre and a nearby natural wonder in the Pine Creek Canyon _ a forest-covered valley 1,000 feet deep where you can watch Turkey vultures gliding the thermals.The Penn Wells Hotel is a solid, turn-of-the-century main street hotel which may have seen better days, but is justly proud of its US flag made from Christmas tree decorations that graced the cover of Time in 1940s, and reminds us that Wellsboro was once the Christmas decoration capital of the world. Although the rooms could do with a bit of fleshing up, the fine old Art Deco restaurant is a favorite with locals. Friday was fish night, a thick and tasty clam chowder, followed by Atlantic haddock fried with chips or grilled with baked sweet potatoes and ratatouille.
They have the local Yeungling lager on tap, root beer for the kids and chocolate-peanut butter cream to finish up, like a big, sticky spoonful of America. For four this was a snip at $70. http://www.pennwells.com. Before leaving, you must take breakfast at the Wellsboro Diner, an authentic 1930’s rail car serving eggs over easy, crispy bacon, French toast, hot cakes and home fries. http://wellsborodiner.com.Stop 4: Niagara. Through the wooded hills of northern Pennsylvania and over the border into Canada. The city of Niagara Falls is kitschville, filled with stores selling chocolate “moose droppings,” and droll tee-shirts featuring Mounties and beavers. None of this can detract however from the sheer power of the falls, roaring away in the chasm below. 
The walkways take you surprisingly close to the thunderous Horseshoe Falls, but to get really intimate with the one-million-bathtubs-a-minute torrent, get drenched on the Maid of the Mist trips which is awe-inspiring and a lot of fun. Dinner took us to Edgewaters Tap and Grill overlooking the falls in Victoria Park. This was apparently the place where Princess Di took her kids on a visit to the Falls some years ago. It’s a fairly standard burger and ribs place, but offers great views and is a reliable family option in a town not overflowing with gourmet choices. Canada has some great beers and this has a good choice including Creemore Springs lager and Rickards Honey Brown ale _ a wiser choice perhaps than the Wayne Gretzky merlot, even for diehard ice hockey fans. http://www.niagaraparks.com/dining/edgewaters.php
The walkways take you surprisingly close to the thunderous Horseshoe Falls, but to get really intimate with the one-million-bathtubs-a-minute torrent, get drenched on the Maid of the Mist trips which is awe-inspiring and a lot of fun. Dinner took us to Edgewaters Tap and Grill overlooking the falls in Victoria Park. This was apparently the place where Princess Di took her kids on a visit to the Falls some years ago. It’s a fairly standard burger and ribs place, but offers great views and is a reliable family option in a town not overflowing with gourmet choices. Canada has some great beers and this has a good choice including Creemore Springs lager and Rickards Honey Brown ale _ a wiser choice perhaps than the Wayne Gretzky merlot, even for diehard ice hockey fans. http://www.niagaraparks.com/dining/edgewaters.phpIf Niagara Falls is a little too tacky for your tastes, head down river to Niagara-on-the-Lake a prim little Victorian town of craft shops and tea rooms sitting on the edge of Lake Ontario across from the 17th century French-built fort on the U.S. shore. The drive down along the Niagara River is a delight trip through orchards and vineyards. There are lots of roadside stores laden with ripe local peaches, apricots and cherries and tasting visits are available at the elegant wineries responsible for Ontario’s growing reputation for table wines as well as the renowned, sweet ice wines.
Stage 5: Muskoka. Highway 400 north from Toronto cuts through rich, rolling farmland that eventually gives way to the rugged granite outcrops and towering pines of the Muskoka lake region. 
This is 2,500 square miles of lake and forest where Torontonians come to get back to nature. There are 1,600 lakes spread between the wild coast of Georgian Bay and the vast wilderness of Algonquin Park.
This is 2,500 square miles of lake and forest where Torontonians come to get back to nature. There are 1,600 lakes spread between the wild coast of Georgian Bay and the vast wilderness of Algonquin Park. Although city folk flock here at weekends, the scale of the place means getting away from all is no problem. Our home was a fabulous wood cabin close to Go Home Lake _ where trappers once gathered at the end of the season before heading homeward. We stayed at our friends' place, but private cottages can be rented across Muskoka, check out www.discovermuskoka.ca.
This is every overcrowded European’s dream of an North American hideaway, perched over the bottle green waters, miles from the nearest neighbor, surrounded by forest, a big stone fireplace, a porch overlooking the lake where ruby-throated humming birds hovered, chipmunks and blue jays disputed crumbs, and raccoons showed up to root around for nocturnal leftovers.
Nature of course has its downside. That became clear when we first stepped out of the car to be assailed by storm of carnivorous insects as we rushed to carry our luggage to the cabin. We soon learned to avoid the early morning and dusk rush hours for mosquitoes, deer flies and other man-eating bugs. Fortunately we saw no sign of the rattlesnakes we’d been alerted to, but the sound of something large crashing through the undergrowth one night and a pile of steaming poo on the drive next morning proved the “watch-out-for-the-bear” warnings were more than scare-mongering.
Although there are restaurants a-plenty in the pretty little lakeland townships like Bracebridge, Bala or Gravenhurst, we were living off the land, or at least the stock of Canadian products we brought up from Toronto, supplemented with occasional trips into town.
The pace of life soon slows down. Breakfast on porridge or pancakes with local maple syrup and dried cranberries from the nearby Wahta Mohawk community. Then a swim or kayak ride on the lake, dodging the snapping turtles _ they are big, scary and curious, coming up close to get a good look at sunbathers, but we were assured they don’t bite unless really provoked.
There’s not much too but relax, watch the wildlife, wander the woods or read a good book (Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace is a dark tale of murder in an isolated Ontario farm _ if that does not freak you out too much on a dark and stormy night in your lonely lakeside cabin).The farmer’s market in Bala provided smoked trout, fresh corn on the cob, maple-pumpkin butter, and nutty Oka cheese made by monks in Quebec. The Chelsea buns from Don’s bakery are justly renowned in the little town build around the rapids where two branches of Lake Muskoka run together. The variety and quality of Canadian beer was a revelation, from Montreal’s St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout or Moosehead from New Brunswick to Ontario ales like Burlington’s Nickle Brook ale or Confederation from down the road in Barrie, just the thing for watching the sun go down on the deck (just make sure you’re behind the mosquito netting).
To be continued …
