One Question, Five Chefs: Favorite diner meals
Written by Melissa Pasanen
Even chefs appreciate a good, solid diner meal every once in a while ? or maybe a little more often than that.
Michael Clauss, executive chef, Bluebird Tavern, Burlington
I love going to diners. My wife and I are big Henry’s fans. We live right around the corner and we go and sit at the counter and split a Hungry Henry. That’s their big breakfast with eggs, home fries, pancakes, toast and sausage. I’ve always been a huge diner fan. Growing up in New Jersey, I went to all those Greek diners. I remember the pastry cases, always filled with huge cakes and pastries. I was fascinated by them. I think it was one of the first places I really fell in love with food. I wanted my mom and grandma to take me all the time. Mostly my grandmother took me when I was a kid and we’d go for lunch. I would usually get something I couldn’t normally get, like a huge sandwich platter with those really tall sandwiches and fries. That’s the kind of food I like to eat.
Robert Fuller, partner and formerly chef, Leunig’s Bistro, Burlington
I grew up on a 40-acre dairy farm in western Massachusetts. We ate the same stuff over and over and we seldom ate out. I remember clearly my first diner meal when I arrived in New Haven, Conn. in 1969 to go to CIA (Culinary Institute of America, which was founded there before moving to Hyde Park, N.Y.). I went with a culinary school classmate to the big diner there. I can’t remember its name but it was famous. They had a huge menu and we’re looking and looking and my classmate finally says, ‘I’m going to have lasagna.’ And I said, ‘What’s that?’ He was incredulous that I didn’t know what lasagna was, but I had barely eaten off the farm. I don’t remember what I had, probably a cheeseburger. I don’t go to diners much now being vegan, but when I did, I always liked macaroni and cheese, or anything with mashed potatoes.
William Wisell, chef-owner, Cucina Antica, Shelburne
For my favorite diner meal of all-time, I’d have to go with meatloaf and gravy fries. I’ll eat it any time. The last time I got it, we were waiting at the airport in Manchester, New Hampshire. The diner’s right there at the airport. It was 4:30 in the morning. And then when we got back from our trip to Florida at 8 in the morning I had it again. After all that expensive Disney food, it was great to have a solid $9 meatloaf plate — and it was good meatloaf. It’s got to be nice and moist, not dried out, and the gravy has to be good: not out of a can with that platinum taste.
Michael Witzel, food and beverage manager/chef, The Lodge at Mad River Glen, Fayston
By far my favorite diner meal is breakfast: eggs over easy with bacon, wheat toast, crispy home fries (they have to be crispy) and Tabasco. That’s what I go to a diner for. I order that any time of day through lunchtime and I’d also have it for a late night meal. I’ve always gone to diners. Where I grew up in Rochester [N.Y.], there was a mini chain called Perkins. Another place called the Lima Diner was close to my house and when I was a kid and finished my job stocking supermarket shelves overnight, I’d go there for breakfast. For under $5 you could get a cup of coffee and breakfast. It was affordable, delicious and always done right. Breakfast at diners is just one of those things.
Ray Wood, executive chef/manager of the Capitol Food Court, Montpelier
“At diners, I always look for a really good meatloaf. If you don’t know how to make a good meat loaf, you don’t know how to cook. I worked at the Wayside (Restaurant in Berlin) for 11 years. We made 80 pounds of meatloaf a day. It shouldn’t be greasy; it shouldn’t be dry. It’s not that hard, but you’ve got to care about cooking to make a good meatloaf.”
Copyright: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120330/NEWS02/120329016/One-Question-Five-Chefs-Favorite-diner-meals
Michael Clauss, executive chef, Bluebird Tavern, Burlington
I love going to diners. My wife and I are big Henry’s fans. We live right around the corner and we go and sit at the counter and split a Hungry Henry. That’s their big breakfast with eggs, home fries, pancakes, toast and sausage. I’ve always been a huge diner fan. Growing up in New Jersey, I went to all those Greek diners. I remember the pastry cases, always filled with huge cakes and pastries. I was fascinated by them. I think it was one of the first places I really fell in love with food. I wanted my mom and grandma to take me all the time. Mostly my grandmother took me when I was a kid and we’d go for lunch. I would usually get something I couldn’t normally get, like a huge sandwich platter with those really tall sandwiches and fries. That’s the kind of food I like to eat.
Robert Fuller, partner and formerly chef, Leunig’s Bistro, Burlington
I grew up on a 40-acre dairy farm in western Massachusetts. We ate the same stuff over and over and we seldom ate out. I remember clearly my first diner meal when I arrived in New Haven, Conn. in 1969 to go to CIA (Culinary Institute of America, which was founded there before moving to Hyde Park, N.Y.). I went with a culinary school classmate to the big diner there. I can’t remember its name but it was famous. They had a huge menu and we’re looking and looking and my classmate finally says, ‘I’m going to have lasagna.’ And I said, ‘What’s that?’ He was incredulous that I didn’t know what lasagna was, but I had barely eaten off the farm. I don’t remember what I had, probably a cheeseburger. I don’t go to diners much now being vegan, but when I did, I always liked macaroni and cheese, or anything with mashed potatoes.
William Wisell, chef-owner, Cucina Antica, Shelburne
For my favorite diner meal of all-time, I’d have to go with meatloaf and gravy fries. I’ll eat it any time. The last time I got it, we were waiting at the airport in Manchester, New Hampshire. The diner’s right there at the airport. It was 4:30 in the morning. And then when we got back from our trip to Florida at 8 in the morning I had it again. After all that expensive Disney food, it was great to have a solid $9 meatloaf plate — and it was good meatloaf. It’s got to be nice and moist, not dried out, and the gravy has to be good: not out of a can with that platinum taste.
Michael Witzel, food and beverage manager/chef, The Lodge at Mad River Glen, Fayston
By far my favorite diner meal is breakfast: eggs over easy with bacon, wheat toast, crispy home fries (they have to be crispy) and Tabasco. That’s what I go to a diner for. I order that any time of day through lunchtime and I’d also have it for a late night meal. I’ve always gone to diners. Where I grew up in Rochester [N.Y.], there was a mini chain called Perkins. Another place called the Lima Diner was close to my house and when I was a kid and finished my job stocking supermarket shelves overnight, I’d go there for breakfast. For under $5 you could get a cup of coffee and breakfast. It was affordable, delicious and always done right. Breakfast at diners is just one of those things.
Ray Wood, executive chef/manager of the Capitol Food Court, Montpelier
“At diners, I always look for a really good meatloaf. If you don’t know how to make a good meat loaf, you don’t know how to cook. I worked at the Wayside (Restaurant in Berlin) for 11 years. We made 80 pounds of meatloaf a day. It shouldn’t be greasy; it shouldn’t be dry. It’s not that hard, but you’ve got to care about cooking to make a good meatloaf.”
Copyright: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120330/NEWS02/120329016/One-Question-Five-Chefs-Favorite-diner-meals
