The Bagelry

Oh, The Bagelry! In the heart of downtown Potsdam, NY at 9 Market Street, this choice little specialty sandwich shop is near and dear to my heart. Back in my youth, eh hem, of college in the mid to late 80's, The Bagelry was a shining beacon of gastronomic desire. Alas, it still is. It is worthy of a food pilgrimage across a continent to indulge in a type of food that is simply not available in the USA properly west of the Mississippi River. At least not in my experience, and I have lived and traveled across the continental United States to Hawaii. You simply CANNOT get a properly made bagel outside of the northeast except in a few very rare places, which I did not live in and have only heard about from possibly suspect sources.

When I lived in Wyoming for years, I once had my visiting mother-in-law from the Potsdam area bring me garlic bagels from The Bagelry on the airplane. Though quadruple bagged, the garlic fumes of her carry-on baggage turned heads on the plane. I was sooo grateful for her sacrifice. Even three day old bagels from the Bagelry are a Godsend in the wasteland of Wyoming, where we bought bready "bagels"at the grocery store to serve as hamburger buns.

A perfect, delicate crispness to the exterior coupled with a softly dense interior is just pure culinary artistic mastery. Though I now miss many types of regional cuisine from my travels, there was nothing I missed more than being away from a proper bagel for the last twenty plus years. And now, I am back! And The Bagelry is more than just dear to my heart, it is NEAR again.

As readers of this blog know, I lost my camera. I had planned to take a picture of the lovely bins of seasoned and other variety bagels to post with this. (Edit: my friend took a picture recently and I have now added it, YAY!) There are plain, wheat, sesame, onion, garlic, cinnamon raisin, italian, salt, poppy seed, everything, oh... Then, of course, you have the toppings or sandwich selections to be made. All sorts of tuna melt, breakfast egg, Gobble (deli turkey), Nova Lox (with cream cheese, onion and capers), Fresser (piles of different deli meats with cheese), Reuben, ham-n-cheese, etc. That list is huge and I can't possibly remember them all.

Back in town, we come here often now, almost always just to get a half or baker's dozen to bring home to make up ourselves. This day in early June, Julie and I decided to have breakfast here before school as a treat. Julie had never tried the lox spread (lox mixed with cream cheese) and I had a feeling she would like it, fond as she is of cream cheese and also has a taste for fishy stuff, as do I. We were picking up a half dozen to go (wheat, cin-raisin, garlic) and then got a prepared toasted garlic bagel with lox spread to eat in, split between us. I got onion and tomato on my half and we each got a pickle slice. Nice breakfast... I sent her to school with garlic, salmon and pickle on her breath!

We sat at the outdoor tables on the sidewalk of old downtown. It was a beautiful morning, still cool at the street corner by the Raquette River. There was a light breeze and long shadows of the morning to escape into, but you could tell it was going to get hot this day. When we were finished, I sent Julie to school on her bicycle from there. It is nice to be back in Potsdam!

Foxy Roxy

Foxy Roxy is a little diner open for breakfast and lunch at 124 Market St, Potsdam, NY. It was early June, school was still in session winding down Julie's last year in elementary (4th grade) and she had a science exam to take. Her teacher had told the students to eat a good, high protein breakfast to prepare their brains best for the test. So, we decided to knock this place off the list and make test preparation a little more fun at the same time.

Its a cozy, clean, little place with small booths in addition to the tables. The decor is hunting and fishing theme with outdoor scene pictures on the walls. The menu is typical breakfast and lunch diner fare. I noted something called "stuffed french toast" that didn't describe what it was, and also blueberry bagels that sounded good. I'm very particular about my bagels and we have a bagel restaurant in town (coming up next blog), so I am wary of the quality of this particular item since The Bagelry doesn't make blueberry bagels. I would be sadly disappointed if it was of the "Lender's" style mass produced drudgery. I will ask first before I decide to try this in the future. Should ask about the stuffed french toast, too. I also noted grilled cheese and bacon as well as the Foxy Roxy Sandwich: a grilled swiss, bacon and turkey. Mmmmmm... bacon.

We both got the special, 3 eggs, home fries, choice of meat, toast and coffee. I ordered my meal with bacon, eggs poached hard, and hold the toast. I always order my eggs cooked hard to be sure that the white is thoroughly cooked and not because I don't like soft yolks. I just hate it when the white is still runny. These eggs had a slightly soft yolk, which was just fine. The home fries are large size potato chunks. Julie ordered hers with sausage patties, scrambled, and hold the coffee! She got a glass of orange juice to go with her meal and I got a glass of water for thirst quenching purposes.

It was a big breakfast and Julie couldn't finish hers, so we put the remains in a box and I brought it back home to her Dad, who doesn't eat meat (I finished her sausage) but has an insatiable desire for fried potatoes.

We did our ongoing lessons of percentages to figure out the tip. I make Julie do it, having showed her how easy it is to calculate ten percent then add another half of that to get fifteen or double it to get twenty. We usually always leave twenty and never leave only ten percent. Part of the tip lesson is the reality of waiting tables as a very low-paying job premised on the expectation of tips. Food is life and so is making a living serving it. The gratuity is all about the gratitude we have for our blessings.

Billy's Deli

Billy's Deli isn't actually in the North Country This Week Spring Restaurant Guide that is the basis for this blog. It just opened after the guide was published, but this is a "no rules" blog, so we decided to include it in our little adventure anyway. I had planned on us going to the grand opening on May 1st, but I completely spaced it. These things happen. We lose cameras and forget dates of events we wanted to attend. But we can't give up. We just have to keep moving on through life.

It was May 28th when I dropped off MJ and Julie at the Roxy Theater in downtown Potsdam, NY to see "Kung Fu Panda II" while I went to Ton's Sports Bar (a future destination for this blog) to catch some Wimbledon tennis action instead of seeing the movie. MJ and I texted each other at the end of the movie so I would know exactly when to pick them up. They had a small ice cream at the little stand next to the theater that bought me some time to see the end of a match.

When I parked in the lot across the street to pick them up, however, they declared they were hungry and wanted to go to Billy's Deli, which was just a couple doors down from the theater at 2 Main Street. Oh well, wanted to check it out some time and I was hungry for a cold sandwich. I love deli sandwiches.

Boar's Head meats and quality breads from a local bakery are billed for this deli and so it was. We all ordered 8" subs. MJ got cooked salami with pickles and swiss cheese. Julie got the "Pastrami-rama" with swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato, hold the mayo. Actually there is some confusion as to whether she said to hold the tomato as well as the mayo because when it came out with diced tomato on it, she picked it all off. I couldn't remember if she had said that or not so I'll withhold judgement on who's error it was. I ate her tomato along with my sub, cajun turkey (which was very well-spiced and yummy) with horseradish cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, cherry pepper rings and mayo. You can tell who is the most adventurous of our little trio here! I used to work in a deli many moons ago and have a great appreciation for specialty meats and lots of additions and dressing.

We shared a small bag of Block and Barrel brand BBQ potato chips and MJ and Julie got raspberry ice teas while I drank water. I ended up spilling my water all over the table, but managed to miss anything that might've been damaged, including my notebook we were taking notes in. I actually got Julie to write down some of the notes for "our" blog this time. I was busy with my laptop on the window sill, getting my e-mail because I could get an internet hit there. We were still in transition between houses at this time. Julie couldn't finish all of her sandwich so I took it home and ate the rest the next day. I knew the ice cream before the meal was a bad idea. Oh well, no harm done. The sandwich saved well with no mayo or tomato on it.

Mom's Schoolhouse Diner

Happy birthday to me! Well, back in May it was my birthday and that is when I visited "Mom's" with my kids for the Julie/Mom Project because I had never been there and, well, it was my birthday! We were in transition from one house to another and temporarily staying in West Potsdam, where Mom's Schoolhouse Diner is located at a rural crossroads next to the volunteer fire fighter's station... "The Minutemen".

It was a Saturday and "Mom" has a constant ad in the North Country This Week that says "sing-along-with-Mom" on Saturdays. I figured we could catch some old time style fun and might get a favorite north country treat I always loved and had been telling my kids about... french fries with gravy.

As we walked into the the quaint little diner, I spied the old piano in the corner... just what I had imagined "sing-along-with-Mom" would involve. It's a pretty small place with 1950's theme decor, old 45 records, old pictures, old advertisements and some Norman Rockwells.

Unfortunately we were immediately informed that "Mom's" daughter was getting married tomorrow and she was too busy with preparations to play the piano tonight. Also, the usual Saturday special of Shepherd's Pie was not available due to wedding prep. The soup du jour was sold out (we went in late to catch the hour of sing-along). Also, the frier was broken, so no french fries! On the bright side, I told them it was my birthday and I got 15% off my dinner, or a free small Sundae. I went with the 15% as I am not a big dessert fan.

Julie ordered the basil and lemon chicken breast platter with her two sides being applesauce and cottage cheese (because no soup). I got the breaded cod fillet with red potato salad and cole slaw. Actually, it may have been a sole fillet... its hard to tell and fish is routinely served under false species ID. Cod is fairly rare these days thanks to the overfishing in the Atlantic, but the reason I speculate isn't because I'm a great expert, its because the waitress wasn't sure what it was. Well, it was fish and I liked it, so that's all that matters. MJ enjoyed a healthy meal of a vanilla frappe (thick local style milkshake) and plain cheeseburger. "Plain Maryjane" is what she is with her cheeseburgers... nothing else but pickle is allowed. Apparently sesame seed buns are now acceptable, though that was an annoying issue for years. Once again, that's why this is the Julie/Mom Project and not the MJ/Mom Project.

The main portions are not huge, sort of bare looking on the large oval platter with the side orders in little, fancy, clear plastic cups. Simple fare as is to be expected from such a remote little corner place. Julie ordered a chocolate frappe for dessert while I finished the last 1/8 of MJ's burger.

I noted the place seemed to serve as a tiny grocery store, as well. There is a four door cooler with milk, OJ and whipped cream (which the diner probably uses) and a shelf area with a few cans of SPAM, Campbell's soup, chips, ketchup, bread, loose candy jars, and stuffed animals(?).

We need to come back when Mom is singin'.

Dunkin' Donuts

"Time to make the donuts..." OK. Thank God that's not me, but time to EAT the donuts is just about any time for most people. I can only do morning time with my black coffee, but my husband is well known for stopping by for a dozen... Yes, he brings them back for the rest of us and the kids don't get theirs until after school.

I had to drop off Julie's sister at school this morning and had an hour wait before Julie needed to go, so we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts. Their coffee is actually quite good as most coffee drinkers know, and Julie loves hot chocolate. The server added a bit of milk and cream to her hot chocolate to help cool it down as it was very hot. She usually eats the whipped cream off the top, but the lid on the travel cup didn't allow for this and she commented how good it tasted when you get a bit of the whipped cream with the sip you are taking. Genius kid figures it out. Like, this is why the whipped cream isn't served as a side, right? I usually take my coffee black, but when I get it out I like half and half, so I got that. Julie and I both got a Boston Kreme filled "donut" with chocolate frosting, she with sprinkles, mine without. Mmmmmmmmm!

The modern Dunkin Donuts is diversified from the old days. Not an extensive menu beyond the great selection of donuts, but now you can get breakfast egg sandwiches and wraps, hashbrowns, muffins, bagel twists and individual apple pie pastries. A poster advertised a limited time blueberry waffle sandwich with maple sausage that wasn't on the menu. They serve latte and cappuccino and flavored coffee, iced coffee, iced tea, "Coolata" frozen blended drinks in strawberry, coffee or "Tropicana" orange flavors. They even do lunch items in the form of pepperoni or cheese stuffed breadsticks or ham and swiss, turkey cheddar and bacon flat bread sandwiches.

I stick with the main theme... it all sounds good, but coffee/hot chocolate and donuts is why we go there and what I know they do well. Bags of their now famous quality coffee beans are sold from a shelf in the front along with plastic "to go" mugs. "Congrats GRADS" covers were on some bags as it was still around the time of Clarkson College and SUNY Potsdam's graduation weekend.

Eben's Hearth

Mother's Day! Julie's sister and father went to grandma's house for the afternoon and evening and I had already been waiting the opportunity to go to Eben's Hearth for the Julie/Mom Project. I spied their Mother's Day Special advertisement in the North Country This Week that offered half off mom's dinner with a family member. I also planned that Julie and I should ride our bikes, as the restaurant at 115 Maple Street, is only about a mile away from our home in Potsdam, NY. I figured this would be our way of "paying off" the caloric price of what was certian to be a great meal. Since it is uphill to the restaurant and downhill back, we paid most off in advance.

Eben's Hearth used to be my favorite place to order chicken wings back in the old college days when they delivered and I have revisited several times over the past couple decades since then when I was visiting. My kid Julie doesn't remember, but I have brought her here at least once before when she was a little younger. They have a couple of fish tanks and one of them has just two BIG fish in them. I took a picture, but regular readers of this blog will know why there is none to post with this. The fish are Pacu, related to Piranha and they are older than my daughter!

Julie likes chicken wings and so we ordered an appetizer of 6 to split between us. Though she can handle a certain amount of spice, we got them mild. I generally order wings as hot as possible, but I do draw the line at certain sauces that require use of capsaicin extract. The heat is certainly unbearable but the worst part of such sauces is the taste is terrible. A whole pepper flavor from a super spicy habanero is wonderful, but the extract stuff is just yucky medicinal. Bleu cheese and celery with the wings were perfect traditional yumminess and we enjoyed them very much.

Julie got the half rack of BBQ pork ribs with her choice side of rice pilaf and salad. I got the locally raised, black angus filet mignon, medium well with burgundy mushrooms and my choice of thick french fries and salad. Vegetable side with our entrees was cooked baby carrots and yellow and green string beans. The salad was unexceptional with too much head lettuce, but we picked around and ate most of it, consuming all the darker greens as well as the cucumber, bell pepper, and red onion chunks. Julie drank ice tea and I drank Yeungling lager on tap. Julie and I traded a few bites of our entrees. Both were excellently done. Happy Mom's Day to me!

As a footnote to this since I wrote it so late after the fact, I want to mention how cool Eben's Hearth has been as a place for me to catch certain sporting events when I am without a television at home. I have used it to watch football games while visiting years ago. So, this past weekend when I realized the French Open women's tennis final was on at 9 am before any bars were open, I called them to ask if they would put it on for me. Even though the bar area wasn't officially "open" with a bartender on duty, they let me sit there and watch the match on their nice tv. Breakfast muffin egg sandwich with very crispy home fries of small potato chunks were quite good. The bloody mary needed more worcestershire sauce. And no, Julie was not with me. This part was just a Mom Project :)

Village Diner

Ah, yummy family breakfast Saturday late morning at an all American style diner. Perfect. Another place in the North Country This Week's Spring Restaurant Guide that I had never been to gets knocked off the blog list.

The whole family went to look at a house we are now going to buy and we decided to celebrate by walking the short distance to downtown Potsdam's Market Square Mall for breakfast. This is a true mall with an indoor common space through which the entrances of the businesses are accessed. At 22 Depot Street it is quite small with only a few businesses including our dentist... and the Village Diner. The diner is only open for breakfast and lunch until 2 pm.

It is very pleasant and homey with a friendly and efficient wait staff. It was quite busy with a capacity crowd, but our orders were taken and served very timely. The girls (MJ and Julie) ordered the same meal from the kid's menu: 3 pancakes with a side of bacon and a side of mandarin oranges. My husband ordered the veggie omelette, so I balanced that by ordering the carnivore omelette! Sides of roasted potatoes with the omelettes were as delicious as the classic three egg concoctions. Very satisfying.

And, of course, I took pictures of our food and a shot of Julie with her scooter outside the door to the diner and never downloaded them before I lost my camera a couple of weeks ago. Life and eating goes on, hold the photodocumentation.