Food Network Magazine Recognizes Six New England Breakfast Restaurants

Congratulations to the six New England  restaurants that were chosen by Food Network Magazine for their great breakfasts!


The July/August 2010 Food Network Magazine edition features an appetizing article entitled "50 States, Fifty Breakfasts" with one breakfast place in each state getting a hearty mention --including a specialty dish.  Honors in Connecticut go to Kitchen Little, 135 Greenmanville Ave., in the lively seaport town of Mystic, for its "Portuguese Fisherman" dish -- scrambled eggs with ground chourico and linguica sausages and cheese accompanied by a "soft toasted and buttered Portuguese muffin." The best Maine breakfast goes to Boynton-McKay Food Co.,  at 30 Main St., in the idyllic mid-Maine coastal town of Camden, for fresh buttermilk pancakes. In Massachusetts, Craigie on Main Street at 853 Main St. in the academic city of Cambridge, (Harvard University, MIT) gets the notch for "airy cake doughnuts" (only made on Sundays). Top New Hampshire breakfast centers on the fantastic Littleton Diner in the heart of thriving downtown Littleton (145 Main St.), for the "Littleton Buckwheat Pancakes." The little state of Rhode Island comes up with a big breakfast winner at Jigger's Diner at 145 Main St. in posh and leafy East Greenwich, for its Johnnycakes. Last but not least is Vermont's Penny Cluse Cafe at 169 Cherry St. in the wonderful small city of Burlington (a college town beautifully situated on Lake Champlain), for its "Penny Cluse" -- biscuits enhanced by a herb creamy gravy of spinach, basil and parsley, and accompanied with two eggs any style and home fries.


Enough to make you hungry? Please go check out these places, and let us know what you think.  Additionally, we would like to also recommend the "10 Favorite Breakfast Places in New England" article at our New England Vacations Facebook Fan Page . We love breakfast while traveling New England, and are confident that you'll find "no egg" on this feature story!


In closing, we highly recommend picking up a copy of the July/August Food Network publication. In addition to its wonderful, aforementioned breakfast article, this edition is packed with some amazing-looking summer recipes. We'll be attempting to make the "crunchy lemonade chicken drumsticks" as soon as possible - yum!

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Lobster in September!

Article and photo by Eric H.


Just got word from our friends at George's of Galilee, in Narragansett R.I., that September is "Lobsterfest" month at this southern Rhode Island seaside restaurant.

George's will be offering lobster in traditional, creative and offbeat forms -- steamed, baked stuffed, grilled, "Galilee Style," lobster boils, lobster and steak combos, lobster alfredo, lobster sauté, lobster rolls, lobster clubs, lobster thermidor, lobster casserole, lobster cocktail, and even lobster ale! They are even offering lobster ice cream -- not sure how this would work but we'll let you know in a future post!

The great thing is that during this tough economy, George's is keeping the prices down with, at this writing, lobsters like twins for $25 or triples for $39. Additionally, George's location couldn't be better, situated by George's Beach and Salty Brine State Beach. This time in September actually might bring you some of the warmest waters of the years,

This is further proof that lobster and going to the beach are just not relegated to summer vacation in New England!

We recommend George's as a terrific coastal New England seafood restaurant; we have been here several times and love the fresh-caught fish (the fishing piers are within view) and ocean side atmosphere. We would recommend calling ahead to George's at (401) 783-2306 for more information on its September Lobsterfest.


George's of Galilee
250 Sand Hill Cove Rd.
Narragansett, R.I.
Tel. : (401) 783-2306

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Traditional New England Dining at the Salem Cross Inn

Article and photos by Eric H.

If you're looking for a traditional New England restaurant with wonderful Yankee-style food and Colonial ambiance, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better place than the Salem Cross Inn in West Brookfield, MA.

This charming central Massachusetts landmark, with its original building dating back to 1816, features some delicious, classic New England fare, including Yankee pot roast, chicken pot pie, apple raspberry roasted duck, Indian pudding, butternut squash, pumpkins muffins, homemade breads, New England clam chowder and homemade pecan and apple pies. With the post-and-beam ceilings, dimly-lit Colonial atmosphere featuring a roaring fireplace and polite and personable waitresses dressed in Colonial apparel, the Salem Cross Inn looks like the kind of place George Washington would have frequented for a hearty meal and beer.

To add to the trip-back-in-time ambiance, the Salem Cross Inn features a brick beehive oven, restored from 1639, that turns out some wonderful baked goods. The nation's only-known roasting jack, from 1700, employs an intricate system of weights, cogs, and pulleys for turning a spit -- a good thing for those who love beef, game and fowl from the hearth. Seasonal events create a community meeting place, not only for the West Brookfield residents, but also New Englanders who know the Salem Cross Inn as a revered regional dining gem. The Fireplace Feast is one such event offering a 1700s style feast, with prime rib prepared on the roasting jack over the open hearth of a spectacular field stone fireplace. The Feast also features pie making, mulling and chowder demonstrations and a sleigh or hay ride across the beautiful countryside!

Out of all the great restaurants in New England, the Salem Cross Inn is at the top of our favorites, each and every time. It's a special destination that will make you feel good all over, courtesy of that wonderful, traditional New England ambiance and some of the best food, of any genre, that you'll ever taste. After happily leaving the Salem Cross Inn after a more-than-satisfying meal and overall "New England" experience, we can hardly wait to return again to one of our most beloved dining spots in New England.

We highly recommend you exploring the Salem Cross Inn Web Site for seasonal hours, events, menus and detailed historical information.

The Salem Cross Inn | Route 9 | 260 West Main Street, West Brookfield, MA 01585 | Tel: 508-867-2345

More Salem Cross Inn photos:

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The Local Yokel New England Dining Guide

Article and photo (1761 Old Mill restaurant, Westminster, MA) by Eric H.

Our readers at VisitingNewEngland.com had more of a hunger for an enhanced dining reviews pages, so we recently upgraded with a more navigation-friendly restaurant section called the Local Yokel New England Dining Guide. We think you'll like the new look with a featured restaurant (currently Don's Diner, of Plainville, MA) near the top of the page, all the personal restaurant review links intact and a nice variety of restaurant and food-related ads on the right -- including one of our favorite restaurants, Vello's, of Westwood, MA.

We hope you find this updated page appetizing, and try one of the restaurants mentioned -- places that make New England so special in regards to its dining.

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New England's Hearty Appetite for the Phantom Gourmet

Article and photo (Salem Cross Inn, West Brookfield, MA) by Eric H.

For those of you with a hearty appetite and who are constantly searching for the best New England restaurants, we recommend visiting the Phantom Gourmet, watching its show on Channel 38 Boston (Saturdays 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Sundays 11 a.m.) and listening on WTKK 96.9 FM Boston radio on Saturday from 4-7 p.m. (it's amazing how they can be in two places at the same time!). With hungry businessmen and food critics Andelman brothers Dave and Dan running the show with a mysterious, unknown restaurant reviewer named the "Phantom Gourmet," this well-known dining review business is best known for its lively, brutally frank and humorous television descriptions of local restaurants in the best Boston accents or "I'll try my best not to have a Boston accent" voices. The Andelman brothers, sons of local legendary sports talk show host Eddie Andelman, really love their junk food, but still manage to have the "Phantom Gourmet" review all types of restaurants. In addition, with food and beer fests gracing Boston, selling a Phantom Gourmet "Boston's Best Restaurants" book, and promoting their dining review business, the Phantom Gourmet has really become household names in the Boston area.

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A Travel Idea for a New England Fall Sunday Afternoon

Article and photos by Eric H.

Bird Park, in Walpole, MA, offers 89 acres of walking paths, trails and granite bridges, ponds, streams, tree groves and rolling meadows. It's easily one of eastern Massachusetts' most beautiful parks, courtesy of its dedicated, prideful owners, The Trustees of Reservations.

This well-maintained, special East Walpole destination also features a nice playground for the kids, as well as tennis and basketball courts. Fall time at Bird Park enhances this great travel destination even more with its brilliant red, yellow, orange and gold leaves. There are pockets of beautiful foliage now, but the next few weeks should bring even more.

After an afternoon in the park, take a short walk to 204 Washington St. (Tel. 508 660-1400, open at 4:30 p.m., and bordering Bird Park), a friendly, spacious, family-oriented neighborhood restaurant and bar, known mostly by only Walpole residents. It's a nice place for a good steak, roast turkey dinner (Sunday special), Italian-American veal and chicken dishes, some berry cobbler and a nice mug of beer or perhaps in my case, hot chocolate.

A walk in the park and a nice Sunday restaurant meal is indeed a nice way to spend a simple, informal fall day in the Boston suburbs!

Bird Park is located on Washington Street in Walpole, MA. Tel. (508) 669-6136.

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Remembering the Smiling Blue Whale Neon Sign at Yoken's Restaurant

Article by Eric H.
Sometimes, we affectionately remember restaurants that weren't all that great. Not that Yoken's "Thar She Blows" restaurant in Danvers, MA, was bad, but if it were in business today, we'd regard it as a New England tourist trap with too much fried food and dining rooms that looked like any other restaurant dining room. It was basically Howard Johnson's with a sea captain's hat.

Yoken's was hugely popular at its Danvers and Portsmouth, NH, locations for its affordable and decent seafood dishes, friendly service and family-friendly environment. Perhaps it was most popular, however, for its attention-getting smiling blue whale neon sign. Yokens' perfectly tapped into a pathetic, universally acknowledged human weakness: who doesn't love a smiling, blue whale?

Perhaps Yoken's greatest appeal was its innocence. You just don't see signs like the smiling blue whale in our society anymore. Today, we see signs with fancy fonts, gold flourishes and generally a cold and clinical look. Maybe it's just a "sign" of the times, where the middle class is slowly eroding and the world is becoming more serious. Perhaps if the current bailout plans truly works, we'll see more happy restaurants signs, thus reflecting more happy times. We look forward to this happier world someday by driving by happy restaurant signs like Yoken's. We just won't necessarily eat there.

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