Jeff's Top 20 Meals Of 2013

I love doing this list every year - work takes me all over the country to meet with restaurant clients and do food research; eating takes up a good amount of my time, and it's fun to look back at all the great places where I was lucky enough to eat. These aren't ranked, but rather are in chronological order:

Tombstone BBQ - Park City, Utah
The 'Dr. Pepper Short Rib' - if I recall correctly, it was braised for a while in Dr. Pepper, then finished on the smoker.

Smitty's BBQ - Lockhart, Texas
If there's a better beef sausage, I haven't found it.

Faidley Seafood - Baltimore, Maryland
World's greatest crab cake. Stand at the bar and pair it with some fried clams.

Hut's Hamburgers - Austin, Texas
Nothing fancy, just a classic burger.

Grand Central Oyster Bar - New York, New York
One of my absolute favorite places in the city...oyster pan roast! (And fried clams)

Nightingale 9 - Brooklyn, New York
Amazing Vietnamese food from our friends just down the street at Seersucker.

Porky's Pit - Manchester, Tennessee
Very excited that we discovered this BBQ hut to break up our regular drives between Atlanta and Nashville.

Franklin Barbecue - Austin, Texas by way of New York, New York
This year, we found a great way around the hours-long line at Austin's Franklin Barbecue - just hang out with Aaron Franklin when he's cooking for an Event at Hill Country BBQ in New York.

Keen's Steakhouse - New York, NY
Stone-cold classic steakhouse atmosphere, with perfect steaks to match.

Barbuzzo - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
My favorite pizza this year - asparagus & truffled farm egg.

Swan Oyster Depot - San Francisco, California
There's no better setting to have oysters for breakfast.

Pizzeria Toro - Durham, North Carolina
Clam pie!

Taqueria Chapala Jalisco - San Antonio, Texas
One of my favorite cheese enchiladas anywhere. Add a barbacoa taco and a big bowl of refried beans, and your total bill comes to less than five dollars.

Pok Pok - Portland, Oregon
The Fish Sauce Chicken Wings deserve all the hype they get.

B&G Oysters - Boston, Massachusetts
One of my all-time favorite restaurants. Always our first stop straight off the plane when in Boston.

Hog & Hominy - Memphis, Tennessee
Our usual plan here is to let Chefs Andy and Mikey just keep sending plates out. Here's our first course.

Steve's Lunch - Cleveland, Ohio
Old-school Cleveland lunch counter with top-notch chili dogs.

Alder - New York, NY
wd-50's more casual sibling, it's made its way into our must-visit New York restaurants. Below: foie gras and watermelon on Ritz crackers.

Neptune Oyster - Boston, Massachusetts
One of our hardest decisions when eating here is whether to have the lobster roll dressed with butter or mayo. Butter won out:

Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen - Memphis, Tennessee
It's hard to beat a seven-course meal from the guys who also run Hog & Hominy. Pastas are as good as anywhere:

Logo & Website Design - Zeal Restaurant, Atlanta, GA

We recently designed the logo & website, and shot the food for the newly-opened Zeal restaurant in Atlanta:

Website Design - Heirloom Kitchen, Old Bridge, NJ

We just launched the website for Heirloom Kitchen - check it out:

Mahall's - Cleveland, Ohio

Whenever possible, stop in for a drink at Midwestern bowling alleys. You might come across stuff like this:

Federal Donuts - Philadelphia, PA

Why don't we see this combo more often - fried chicken and donuts? We have a new can't-miss when in Philadelphia. 

 

 

San Antonio Food Signage

We recently spotted some nice food-related artwork in San Antonio:

 

 

Eating In Portland

Jeff recently spoke at Typecon in Portland about vintage record label design:

We spent the rest of our time eating. A few of the highlights:

Blueberry, bourbon & basil doughnut from Blue Star:

Cocktails at Gruner:

Carbonara pasta at Grassa:

Drinks at Clyde Common at The Ace Hotel:

Oysters at Woodsman Tavern:

Wings at Pok Pok:

Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium 2013 - Oxford, MS

Just a few of the fantastic things we ate at this year's SFA Symposium...

The Friday night catfish fry at Taylor Grocery, in Taylor, MS:

A meal from Asha Gomez blending Southern India with the American South:

A big skillet full of fried chicken from the legendary Prince's Hot Chicken:

Delaney Barbecue - New York, NY

Thanks to the good people at Delaney Barbecue for opening Smokeline, their new outpost on Mahnattan's High Line park. Top notch brisket:

October 17 - Southern C Summit

Come join us in Nashville on October 17 - we'll be talking about Green Olive's first 15 years...

Fox Bros Bar-B-Q Gig With Widespread Panic

2013 Tunes For Tots

Widespread Panic’s 2013 Tunes For Tots benefit concert December 30th @ Atlanta Symphony Hall, Atlanta, GA. On-sale September 28 - 10am EST (limit 2) online only TicketMaster
VIP Cocktail party with Widespread Panic and Concert: tickets $500. A Private VIP Cocktail Party with the Band will be held before the Tunes For Tots concert at the ASO from 5 – 6:30 pm.
The party includes: Complimentary premium cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres buffet provided by Fox Brothers from 5- 6:30p. Early entry to the Venue for the concert at 6:30pm and A 2013 Tunes for Tots poster autographed by the band
General Admission: tickets are $150 doors 7pm, Showtime 8pm.
Important information: This is a Ticketless Entry Event. You must bring your photo ID and the Credit Card used to purchase the ticket for entry. The tickets are non-transferable and require the purchaser to swipe their credit card at the venue's doors to gain entry.
Widespread Panic believes that art education, and in particular music education, is integral to the overall education and advancement of children. Art allows for personal expression, appreciation of ideas, celebration of cultural awareness, sharing emotions, and gives purpose to life. Widespread Panic agrees with research findings that art education supports more traditional academic subjects as well as being a worthy pursuit in its own right.
For more information visit  Tunes For Tots 

July 14 - Atlanta SFA Dinner Featuring Chef Roderick Bailey of The Silly Goose and Chef Josh Habiger of Catbird Seat in Nashville hosted by Chef Eddie Hernandez of Taqueria del Sol