P I C N I C

My sister snapped this photo in Brooklyn today. This is outside The Smoke Joint, at Fulton and Lafayette. My question is: aromatherapy or actual cooking?

I flew out to Minnesota this last weekend to hang out with my sister and cousins. We drove up north and spent the weekend at their cabin. In Cloquet we stopped for lunch at Gordy’s High Hat, a wonderful old school burger joint that makes very clean and fresh food. Crisp and fluffy fries, delectable burgers on airy white bread buns, perfectly battered fish and cheese curds, and blackberry milkshakes. All of it like a dream of 50′s Americana.

And speaking of Americana, I finally got over to the Grilled Cheese Grill. Somehow I’d always assumed it was a joke, like the dutch taco’s, but in fact it’s a very satisfying lunch. I had a mushroom swiss cheese sandwich with tomato soup. They thicken the soup with a little roux, and it’s just terrific.

Found these at the bottom of a digital pile. Meal notes when I was at Fin, a few months ago.

I’ve been meeting Elle at Lovejoy Bakers every once in a while since they opened several months ago. They have decent bread and good sandwiches. Elle has buttery grilled cheese. I had a cilantro, cabbage, mayonaise, tender stewed beef sandwich on a chibatta bun.