Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

On the east coast, in just about every small and large town you can find a great diner. In many cases, you do this simply by looking for the shiny aluminum building that looks like an old rail car. In fact, when I was a kid I thought they WERE old rail cars that had been re-purposed into diners. Here in the wild, wild west it is a little harder to determine what’s a diner and what isn’t without going inside and looking a the menu.

The appearance of diners has changed as we all have, and as I have moved around the world, my view of what makes an appropriate diner has changed. I remember as a kid walking into diners and salivating at the rotating case full of desserts. When I was younger they always seemed HUGE and tasted just as good as they looked. As an adult they still seem HUGE and frequently taste as good as they look, especially the pie. When we lived in Maine and I was pregnant, I would drive an hour in each direction to a small town, Houlton and the Elm Tree Diner – they had a chalk board with more than 20 different pies every day, no case ever built has been large enough to hold their daily offerings. I went specifically for the raspberry, most often times taking a whole one home after eating a slice with my lunch. It is seriously the best pie I have ever eaten, hands down!

Also in Maine, in Presque Isle, there is a small family owned joint that we enjoyed nearly weekly when we lived there, the Riverside Inn. Of course there weren’t too many eateries when we lived there (1991 – 94) and this place was family owned, clean and made the BEST bread. The first time we went there, the waitress asked if we wanted “home made toast”. I thought to myself, “All toast is home made,” and ordered whole wheat. BIG mistake – the “home made toast” is their house made white bread, thick sliced. griddled, and slathered in butter!

When traveling, I love to hit a good diner for breakfast before starting the day’s drive or before the day’s events. In Escondido, CA, there is the Centre City Cafe – I think it is an old Denny’s building. They have the best of everything, including chipper waitresses and great breakfast. While there this past weekend, I was nearly GIDDY with my eggs as they were perfectly cooked – whites solid, yolks runny!!

On Long Island, there is a GREAT diner on Merrick Rd in Seaford – the Seaford Palace Diner – with a line out the door most days. Of course Mom took me there. They specialize in fish of all things and their daily special is FANTASTIC!!! It’s a complete meal from soup to nuts for about $15, and it is enough to feed 2 people, no joke! They don’t take reservations and you have to sign in to get a table. Plan on waiting! The problem with diners on Long Island is there are SO many, it’s hard to decide where to start first. It seems like all my favorite diners in NY, both upstate and on “the Island” are all shiny metal boxcars.

Here in Vegas the closest thing I have found to a diner is Blueberry Hill. They are open 24 hours a day and have all the basics you expect and some even have a lounge with cocktails (go figure – it’s Vegas!). Alas, none of them is the shiny aluminum “rail car” of my youth. While the breakfast at The Original Pancake House is great, they aren’t open 24 hours, so they don’t qualify as a “diner” in my book. (Moment of truth – I love the corned beef hash at The Original Pancake House on Charleston).

A true diner has reasonable prices, a VAST menu and decent food and is open 24 hours a day. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just properly prepared, good, working class basics. To my mind a great diner has to have a few things on the menu and they all have to be made really well:
• Breakfast – 24 hours a day – with eggs cooked correctly
• Soup of the day, made from scratch – I prefer Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Chicken
• The perfect Club Sandwich and/or a great BLT
• A “Blue Plate” Special – usually comes with drink and dessert too.
Click here for a little info on the origins of The Blue Plate Special – thanks Fred Harvey!

As I continue to write and publish this blog, I am trying to find my own voice and style. I love the movie references, how about you? Apparently several people didn’t realize to read the entire article with the previous format that you had to click on the title or pic. So…back to the drawing board on format. How do you like this one? Your thoughts?

This week’s Food Memories include a fun dinner at Stone Brewing with the San Diego family, fried chicken fingers at Three Square Bingo while dressed as Zorro, and quiet meals with my main squeeze at home.

Diner – Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke, and Kevin Bacon

Enjoy this week’s pics.

Me and Lynn Moonen dressed up for Bingo – yes that is me as Zorro!

The San Diego Contingent met us in Escondido for some fine fare at Stone Brewing