Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [40]
302–239–9847
Hockessin, DE
$ (closed in winter)
Rebekah Denn, now of Seattle but formerly of Delaware, tipped us off to this ice cream bonanza out in cow country at Stuyvesant Hills Park. It is a working farm open to the public daily from early April through late October, and while schoolkids may come to it as a place to learn about how a dairy operates, about conservation of woodlands and pasture, and about raising sheep for wool, serious eaters, young and old, think of it as home of the Hog Trough Sundae. That’s five flavors of ice cream—two scoops of each—topped with three different toppings, a fresh banana, whipped cream, and a cherry.
Ice cream is made the really old-fashioned way, by taking high-butterfat milk from Jersey cows and turning it into sweet cream. The sweet cream is mixed with fruit, flavorings, and nuts and frozen in small batches to be sold at the farm’s stand. Jim Mitchell, whose family settled here in 1796, likes to tell visitors, “Two weeks ago, our ice cream was grass.”
The flavors range from chocolate and coffee to pumpkin pecan and butter brickle toffee, all available in quarts and pints as well as cones, cups, and sundaes. It is wonderful normal ice cream, by which we mean it is not sickeningly butterfatty or cloying with too many mix-ins. The ingenuous true-farm flavor is especially welcome in varieties made with fresh fruit: peach, strawberry, black raspberry, and black cherry. Turtle ice cream is choco-caramel-cream ecstasy. African vanilla is vanilla squared.
District of Columbia
Ben’s Chili Bowl
1213 U St. NW
202–667–0909
Washington, DC
LD | $
“Mustard and onions?” is the question you will be asked when you order a half-smoke at Ben’s Chili Bowl. The correct answer is yes. The snappy-skinned, slightly smoke-flavored tube steak that is unique to the DC area benefits beyond measure from both condiments.
This is Ben’s Chili Bowl, and so a chili smoke is another essential thing to eat. That is a half-smoke smothered with Ben’s dark, lively chili sauce. You can also get the chili atop French fries, which in our opinion is a bad decision. Ben’s fries are especially crisp and a great companion for half-smokes and chili smokes. Good as the chili tastes, it mitigates the fries’ crispness.
Half-smokes, chili smokes, and French fries are familiar elements of Ben’s exalted reputation among Roadfooders. Less famous, but well worth knowing about, are Ben’s soulful cakes and pies. The last time we visited, the menu included both sweet potato cake and sweet potato pie, the former a spicy layer cake encased in luxurious cream cheese frosting, the latter creamy and not too sweet—true essence of sweet potato.
Big as its reputation is, Ben’s remains a relaxed and easygoing diner, part of the neighborhood since 1958, surviving urban unrest and economic ups and downs. In 2001, its founders, Ben and Virginia Ali, were inducted into the Washington, DC, Hall of Fame. Today the restaurant is run by their sons.
Florida Avenue Grill
1100 Florida Ave.
202–265–1586
Washington, DC
BLD | $
Aside from its good eats, we love the Florida Avenue Grill because it never changes. Open now for fifty years, and on our Roadfood map for about half that time, the only things we’ve seen change are the celebrity photos and endorsements on the wall. A lot of retired representatives and members of White House staffs have been supplanted by current office-holders. Curiously, though, the big name sports stars never seem to go out of style and their images remain long past their glory days.
If by our preceding description of its famous clientele, you’ve gotten the notion that the Florida Avenue Grill is highfalutin or high priced, please reconsider. It is anything but. A humble diner with a counter and booths, it serves meals that generally cost well under $10, some under $5. And, as for being fancy, you’ll see taxicab drivers and blue-collar workers here shoulder to shoulder with the capital’s power players. Good meals like these aren’t the privilege of any one class.
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