The Food Awards

Unless you have been living and eating under a rock, you are well aware that the pandemic has threatened the restaurant industry. Restaurant owners have had to rethink, retool, and rebuild throughout the Covid-19 culinary crisis. In honor of all the restaurants still making food and making it work, I give you my favorite dishes of these times. They have helped fill my soul and my Dad body. In no particular order and without further ado:

NyKo's Love Roll

Before falling in love with the woman who would become my wife and the love roll (in that order), I did not eat raw fish. She introduced me to sushi during our courtship. I had limited knowledge of sushi as a Neanderthal bachelor. My chopsticking was as raw as the fish. I would pay the price when I used too much wasabi in the soy sauce. The more I ate sushi, the more I developed a joy for rolled up sea creatures. Chopsticks became mighty extensions of my phalanges. The love roll melted into my heart and bones. 

2020 marked my highest consumption of NyKo's love roll. Our world needed more love in general so I filled my world with this crab based romance that dances with avocado, cucumber, tuna, salmon, and mysterious sauces. The crab is what really captures my Dad buds (taste buds of a Dad). Whenever I eat a love roll, I instantly become more empathetic and passionate. 

Santo's Chicken Parm Sandwich

In my lifetime, our family has spent a preposterous amount of money on Santo's pizza. Every penny and piece of pizza has been worth it. Yet, it is the chicken parm sandwich that lifted me to new heights in 2020. Imagine a man standing on the top of a mountain eating a chicken parm sandwich. The cheese is melting, flowing down the mountain, trailed by a red sauce river of goodness. The man roars. The echo breathes in that glorious chicken and welcoming bread. 

I am that man. 

Clark's Corner Store Breakfast Pizza

On the morning of my wedding, I carbo loaded on Clark's breakfast pizza. It was going to be a hot June day and I needed a base of egg and bacon in the shape of pizza. It was a brilliant breakfast that has fueled my marriage since Day 1. We returned to the breakfast pizza this Christmas Eve morning. While leaving out cookies and milk for Santa is a moon lit tradition, there is no doubt in my mind that Santa eats breakfast pizza at sunrise before delivering toys to all the girls and boys. How do you think he grows that hearty beard?

By the way, most of my Christmas gifts were related to my beard. Washes, oils, balms, combs, and more. Needless to say, I'm not shaving any time soon. 2021, the groom boom. 

Balance Crusted Lamb

On New Year's Day, our family did a lot of exercise - Zoom yoga, Youtube dance workouts, and I completed a 2-mile trek into the icy abyss of Stackhouse Park. We championed all that is cardiovascular to earn a midday Balance extravaganza, a mouth watering bombardment of meat and vegetables. I was a sophisticated caveman with my cavewomen tearing into ribs, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and beets. My beard grew exponentially as barbecue sauce soaked into thy hair follicles.  

The most scrumptious part of the feast was the crusted lamb, a memorable loin to begin 2021. It sat on a sweet potato puree. It was a tender, flavored cut of baby sheep. My wife and I did not speak much during the eating. There were some savage affirmations and unanswered questions from our children. 

Shortly after, we all counted sheep and crashed. We balanced the recliner and drifted off into a naptime for the ages. 

Boulevard Grill Nashville Hot Wings

Back when you could travel without shame or outcry, my wife and I experienced Nashville, a community of history, music, and Southern fare. The hot wings are iconic Nashville grub. Boulevard Grill has paid homage to the spice and adventure that are Nashville hot wings. Add pickles to the punch, you get a flamethrower of a meal. And, it is not that hot you get sweaty and delirious. The perfect amount of heat that needs tamed by a cold drink. I could close my eyes and travel back to Nashville honky-tonks. Thousands of people flooding the streets. The sound of guitars and drums. Shouts of joy and admiration. The experience that is eating. 

Thank you Boulevard for taking me back to Music City. 

Ryan's Artisan Goods Everything Bagel

The everything bagel is one of the most audacious foods. It claims "everything" and struts around the other bagels like the majestic bagel that it is. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be a plain bagel? Whoever named bagels did not hold back. "You guys are plain. You guys are everything. Sorry, look at you. Life's not fair".

Ryan's Artisan Goods just opened up a new store front in Cambria City. When dining makes a triumphant comeback, you can watch the world go by out of a giant windows overlooking Broad Street. I coated a Ryan's everything bagel with cream cheese, like snowfall on a ridgetop. I had everything all over and in my beard. Plain bagels cursed me as I spoke highly of the fanciest damn bagel the world has ever known. 

Support local restaurants. The six establishments above are well-established in our family. Some date back to my childhood. Others have been a part of the childhoods of my girls. All of them have brought good tidings and good food. 

To all restaurant owners, chefs, waiters, waitresses, and bartenders: hang in there. Keep those doors open. Keep those creative juices flowing. Cook with love. 

We will love you back.

2021, Johnstown. Make it a year to celebrate community!