Gustavo Porto Mrs. Hoagland April 30, 2013 Culinary Blog 5 Restaurant Food Critic Weekends These past two weekends have been fun in terms of food. This weekend we went to a burger joint called 5 Napkin in NYC and last weekend, we went to an Italian restaurant in Long Island called Ragazzi. Both restaurants had amazing food and we had a great food and we had a great time eating there The first restaurant we went to was the Italian Ragazzi. Ragazzi is a small/medium sized Italian restaurant in Long Island, Ney York. What impressed me the most about this restaurant was the décor. They had great decorations and the bar they had was also very fancy with a great amount of drinks. The tables were all set up nicely and the service provided from the workers was great as well. The only thing that didn’t impress me was the menu they had. The menu had your stereotypical Italian food; nothing like you haven’t seen before. And there also weren’t many choices to pick from. The menu had only about 7 things to choose from. That could’ve been because it was prepaid from the party but still not very impressive. I feel that a fancy Italian restaurant should have more, and better choices to choose from when you go. But overall, the restaurant was a great place to eat and the food and service was great. I recommend going to Ragazzi when visiting Long Island to have some great food. This weekend, we went to NYC with a few friends and we stopped at a burger joint called 5 Napkin. 5 Napkin is a lot like the restaurant 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. The restaurant was mostly based off of burgers than anything else but they also had other dishes that were great as well. They had a bar in it too which made it even more interesting and their menu was amazing. They had a wide spread of options of burgers and many other dishes. They had so many choices it was hard to pick one! Their desserts and beverages were amazing too. I had a brownie lava cake and it was amazing. All of the food there was great. I highly recommend stopping by for lunch when visiting NYC. Probably one of the best burger joints I’ve been to. Both the restaurants were great and had great foods. I recommend any reader reading this to consider eating at one of these two places for a great time. You will not be disappointed. -G.P.

ever since I was little my dad has been bringing home all delicious kinds of BBQ foods all from the same restaurant; that is The Dinosaur BBQ restaurant. as i got older I began to see the restaurant all on different magazines and on TV. i always wanted to go and get the whole experience being there. I found out they had a location in Harlem, NY and in Syracuse, NY. finally i got my opportunity to go because my family and i were headed to syracuse to visit the college. the first thing we did when we arrived is we went to the restaurant. the restaurant itself was very small and it had all the name carvings in the tables and walls on who has been there also it was covered in old fashioned rock bands and signs. once the food came out it was amazing. i got the pulled pork platter. it came with corn bread,brisket, pulled pork, coleslaw, and corn. it was amazing and the restaurant lived up to what it was hyped to be. -jack c.

I really liked how the grilled pizza we did in class was different from your typical baked pizza, and wanted to do at home. Even more importantly, my parents haven't had in recent memory any freshly made pesto. Nothing about that sentence was right. I made it a must to make some to try, and we might as well make some pizza to go with it. The dough was made quickly enough, though we bought the sauce. Sue me. We also picked up some fresh mushrooms to top it with, which added some nice meatyness (No, I don't know if that's a word. No, I'm not going to check). We used a gas bbq grill, which made putting the stretchy, thin, freshly oiled dough a little tricky to work with. Small pizzas, we found, are a lot easier when thin. Once those were one, the pesto was proccessed quickly, maybethrowing in a little salt here, cheese there. Easy. Off came the dough, on went toppings, grill it a bit more to melt it all. It was delicious with each piece topped with a healthy smattering of pesto, and everyone assured me so. My favorite thing about it was how simple and quick it was. There was no fussing, nothing to figure out, just assemble and do. I think we're going to make pizza again together for a while to come. Drew Szarke

Sadly I have not had too many fun experiences with food in the past couple weeks, but good news! I AM STARTING A DIET. Now don't give me the typical, "Oh, you don't need to lose weight." This is not a diet to lose weight but to manage what foods and drinks I intake on a daily basis. I noticed that I drink a lot of chocolate milk and soda, and eat a lot of chocolate, sugar-filled foods, and Five Guys burgers AND fries. That's just not cutting it. I realized that I needed to incorporate more fruits, vegetables, healthier meat, and juices. To start off this new diet I packed an entire lunch for the next day of school. It consisted of 3 different drinks. 1: Water to flush out any toxins from previous junk food. 2: Apple juice to provide healthy sugars and nutrition for my body. 3: Cranberry-Grape juice to also provide healthy sugars and nutrition for my body. For food I packed a banana for potassium and nutrition, an apple because "An apple a day keeps the doctor away", strawberries for vitamin c, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for carbs, and a poptart in the morning because I'm addicted. I also put together a salad consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, turkey, and cheese. I may have also eaten some chocolate during the day...IT WAS SO TEMPTING.

-Alex Hassinger

Matt Villamana 4/29/13 Culinary blog post Wedge University Wedge university is located on 14 Ives Street in Danbury ct I got to say I was really impressed with the food. The food you get are these massive sandwiches for a very good price. I believe I spent like 8.75$ for my sandwich. The sandwiches or wedges themselves are massive, they come with so much food all in one. I got the “Fat Smoking Blunt” which was spicy chicken, blue cheese, lettuce, tomato, fries and some more stuff all on one sandwich. Another great thing is that when you eat one of these things, that’s enough food for the afternoon, the thing really fills you up. The staff there is also very friendly I think the guy who owns it was the one who served us real nice guy. You walk in and it has a Deli like atmosphere but the guy comes right up to you, sits you down asks you if you know how it works like how they make the food, and takes your order. Then they serve you one of the best sandwiches of all time. Over all I would highly recommend it to any one who wants a good sandwich for a cheap price.

The end of the year is coming, and we only have a few weeks left to finish our culinary class. Me, and the rest of the class are still very excited to make sushi in class. We have been creating some of the best pretzels, dough, and calzones that I have ever tried in my entire life. I really do not want this year to end, especially this class. The fact that I am moving to a place where there is no culinary program in the schools district is not making it anything better, but I still have a lot to enjoy till the end of my sophomore year. On the other hand, I went to a wedding for the first time in my life, I honestly thought that there would be a little better food there, than there actually was, I was disappointed at the fact that our culinary experience could have made better food than the chefs cooking at the wedding, but overall I had a great time there. I am very happy I was able to attend this wonderful class this year. I hope I will be able to spread my culinary knowledge to others, especially my brother, who dropped culinary. Sinclair. S

When I went to Vermont over spring break my family went up to the Van Trapps. When I was finished with my dinner I had, an amazing Chocolate Brulee for desert. When it came to our table it looked delicious. Drizzled on the side of the plate was a vanilla sauce. The sauce had a hint of raspberry mixed in. The chocolate brulee was made of Bailey truffle. I think that if something could be changed to this dish I would add a little more vanilla sauce on the side. I think that it really compliments the flavor of the brulee. When I was eating the chocolate brulee I would get a little bit of the sauce with it, it added a nice touch.

Jessica L.

For my culinary blog, I decided to do a meal with lobster. Previously, I didn't have any lobster on a regular basis, but I loved the taste, being different from shrimp and fish, the usual seafood I have normally. The texture can be chewy, but not extremely so and the preparation and cooking of the meat, really regardless of the recipe, didn't seem to be complicated. My mom got two lobster tails, and immediately I could tell they were going to be delicious. I didn't have specific instructions, so I simply sliced the center of them so the meat was exposed, and then added lemon and butter. The baking was relatively short, and after a 10 minutes, they were cooked. The shell was difficult to peal, but I was soon enjoying a tasty, healthy lobster meal.
Eamon P.

On Satuday, May 31st, I went with my family to Archie Moore's Bar and Grill. I was starving at the time, but I managed to have not such a large appetite. I looked at the menu and seeing how diverse the prices and different foods were, I realized that this restaurant was high quality. I saw a delicious steak and potatoes being eaten by the family at the table next to mine, but for an odd reason, I did not want steak. The New York strip (what I normally get when having steak) was $24.00. I immediaty flipped the page and saw exactly what I wanted, mozzarella sticks. They seemed so good tasting and filling at the time, even though they were an appetizer. After about 15 minutes of cooking time I had my mozzarella sticks and they were delicous and very filling. I highly suggest going to Archie Moore's after my great experience there. I overall rate Archie Moore's a 7 out of 10.  -David B.

Tate Schwab March Culinary Blog One food that I don’t like is avocados. My mom really likes them though. She puts them on her salads and she really likes guacamole. Avocados have just never appealed to me. I don’t really like their texture and they have a very odd taste that I don’t like. If I’m in the mood for it sometimes I like really salty guacamole buy most of the time I just don’t even bother. Avocado’s one of those foods that puts a weird feeling in my throat. I don’t know if it’s a common thing but certain foods put a really weird feeling in my throat, especially if I don’t like them. It’s this weird, itchy, slightly constricted feeling. I get it with apples. I can drink apple juice and eat any kind of cooked apple but when I eat regular raw apple it always makes me throat really itchy, kind of a shame cause I like apples. But anyways, avocado’s one of those foods that just make my throat feel weird and that’s one of the few reasons that I don’t like them. One food that I really do like is tomatoes. Tomatoes are just so delicious; I really like putting them on my sandwiches. A lot of people I know just don’t like tomatoes which I just can’t understand, I’ve always had a love for tomatoes. I like just biting into them like and eating them like an apple, or slicing them up and eating them with some salt. Tomatoes are a very versatile food. There’s just so much you can do with them in regards to making different food. You can make them into salsa or throw them in a salad. I also really like tomato soup. Tomato soup and grilled cheese is one of my favorite meals. The combination of the toasty bread and melty cheese dipped in some hot, thick tomato soup is just fantastic. All of the flavors come together with great synergy. Tomato pizza is really good too. The taste of the dried tomatoes on top of delicious pizza is just great. It’s one of the few things I actually like in the school cafeteria. Lay’s makes these chips that are sun dried tomato and basil flavored and they’re some of the best chips around, I always get them wherever I can. In short, ever since I first tried avocados I’ve never liked them, but tomatoes are one of my favorite foods.

Sinclair S

            In Culinary 2, we have progressed greatly by making the various dishes, with new and tasty ingredients, including some different kinds of grains, vegetables, and dressings. Using the skills we learned from the last semester, we are able to accomplish many tasks that we never thought we would be doing. We have made some of the best tasting dishes ever. My all around favorite course in this semester so far was the grain kasha, which was used to make a pasta sauce. I would say that this is my favorite unit, or ingredient that we have used so far. I think that I am doing very well in Culinary 2 so far, and I hope that I will stay that way so I can make good food, and learn a lot of new skills.