Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [12]
We wound up paying our own way, with pleasure. This little joint is a treasure, and not only for sandwiches. Since visiting the first time, we have returned for excellent fresh salads, top-notch diner breakfasts, and serious Yankee chili. It is strictly a breakfast-and-lunch operation, closing midafternoon six days a week, and at mealtimes, the counter and scattering of tables tend to be mobbed. Since so many people who know about Shiek’s are regulars, it’s not at all uncommon for conversations to take place table to table, table to counter, in front of and behind the counter, and all across the cozy dining area.
The ringmaster of the whole affair is Gary Arnold, who manages to carry on at least a couple of conversations at the same time as he works the grill, builds sandwiches, and packs lunches to go for the takeout trade. One day we were seated at the counter with a mother and her adult son who explained that whenever the son returns home to Torrington, this is where they go, not only to eat but also to feel very much a part of the community that is theirs.
Charles Cramer said the sandwich to eat at Shiek’s is “hot” roast beef, which means slices are cut to order from the roast and tossed on the grill to heat, then sandwiched in a grinder roll with provolone, romaine lettuce, roasted green peppers, grilled onions, and mayonnaise and/or mustard. Delicious!
The other specialité de la maison is hot dogs. They are big plump ones available with all the usual condiments, plus a hot relish that is nearly as addictive as that served at Blackie’s in Cheshire (Connecticut). There’s a good meaty chili available as a topping, too.
Super Duper Weenie
306 Black Rock Turnpike
203–334–DOGS
Fairfield, CT
LD | $
A former dog wagon, now a stationary restaurant with indoor seating, Super Duper Weenie is without peer. Its hot dog is a firm-fleshed, locally made sausage that is split and cooked on the grill until its outside gets a little crusty but the inside stays moist. It is sandwiched in a lovely fresh-baked roll and adorned with utterly amazing condiments—homemade condiments, including relish made from pickles that Chef Gary Zamola has himself made from cucumbers! The sauerkraut, the hot relish, the meat chili, the onion sauce are all made from scratch.
You can get whatever you like on a hot dog, but Super Duper Weenie makes it easy (and fast) by offering certain basic configurations. These include the New Englander, which Gary devised based on his own fond memories of the superior franks served at Jimmie’s of Savin Rock in West Haven and at Rawley’s in Fairfield: it’s a dog topped with sauerkraut, bacon, mustard, sweet relish, and raw onion. The New Yorker, Gary says, was inspired by what is served from Gotham’s street-corner carts (but we dare say it is 1000 percent better than any dirty water weenie we’ve eaten in Manhattan): sauerkraut, onion sauce, mustard, and hot relish. There is a Chicagoan topped with lettuce, tomato, mustard, celery salt, relish, and a pickle spear; a dynamite Dixie dog that is topped with hot meaty chili and rests atop a bed of sweet homemade coleslaw (inspired by a North Carolina hot dog Gary likes); and there is a Georgia red hot, which is a spicy sausage with the works.
Whatever you order, you must have French fries. These are beautiful, fresh-cut twigs of potato that are served fresh from the fry-basket and made extra-delicious by a perfect sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Sycamore Drive-In
282 Greenwood Ave.
203–748–2716
Bethel, CT
BLD | $
Hamburgers at the Sycamore Drive-In are made in an unusual way known as French-style. What that means here in Bethel, Connecticut, is that the grill man slaps a thick circle of beef onto the grill then uses his spatula to flatten it out so far that the edges are nearly paper thin. As the burger cooks, the middle gets juicy while the circumference turns into a crusty web of beef. You can get it plain, doubled, or topped with all sorts of ingredients, but the connoisseur