The French Coffee Shop

On the advice of several good friends, I decided to check out what apparently is a Cuyahoga Falls institution, The French Coffee Shop. From the limited research I did before going to the restaurant, they have easily been around for forty years and have had several locations and several owners. Apparently the succession of owners has not lessened the quality of the food as one might suspect. While my friends hadn't gone in a while, my online searching yielded comments from a number of people on various forums, all of which was recent and positive. The one universal sentiment that nearly every single person mentioned, including my friends, was the requirement to have the French onion soup gratinee.

With camera in hand, I pulled into the parking lot for The French Coffee Shop. Here is the sign as you see it from Bailey Road:


I arrived at 12:35 PM today for lunch only to find the parking lot almost entirely filled. Figuring that a forty-year-old restaurant that can still pull in this kind of crowd for a mid-week lunch was probably a very good thing, I finally found a parking spot close to the road and approached the exterior of the restaurant (which is part of a long strip mall type of building). Here is a picture of the front of the restaurant:


While almost all of the reviews praised the French onion soup, there were also quite a few negative comments about the decor, calling it old and outdated. The interior is decorated simply with a few framed photographs of Parisian landmarks hanging on some of the walls. Other walls have been decorated with simple frescos painted to give an almost impressionistic feeling:


After noticing the interior decor, I fixed my gaze on the daily dessert specials, detailed on an erasable chalk board:


While it was busy, there were still a number of open tables and it didn't take long for my server to seat me and hand me a menu. Here is a shot of the front of the menu:


Note the address, phone number, and hours of operation are all listed on the front of the menu. Alas, no website is available on the Internet. While helpful, and certainly not the only menu where I have seen this information listed, if I am already sitting in the restaurant waiting to place my order, why list that information here? But, I digress.

Since there is almost no information on the web about the contents of the menu, I took photographs of the various panels. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a shot of the back panel which lists beverages. Here is a succession of panel shots:





A couple of things to note. First, The French Coffee Shop has a very limited beer and wine selection, but they do serve it during the day. A gentleman seated at the table next to me had a bottle of Budweiser with his lunch. Second, soft drinks are limited to one free refill. After that, they are extra. Third, several items on the menu are listed as homemade; the French bread, the French mayonnaise, and the French onion soup. Determined to try all three, I started scanning the menu for my best option.

While most of the items on the menu are roughly $4-$6, making them an excellent value, the Creamed Chicken Crepe Gratinee was $7.75 and came with the bread, the soup, and the entree which contained one of their crepes. Score! Unfortunately, the entree I ordered didn't normally come with the French mayonnaise that was being advertised on the menu (probably a better bet to get this would be to order a sandwich). Fortunately, for an extra $0.45, I could add a side of the mayonnaise to my order.

First up, the French onion soup gratinee:


The odd thing about this cup of soup is that it is served almost immediately after ordering it. If you look closely at the menu where the soup is listed, ordering a bowl instead of a cup can result in up to a twenty minute delay. After some questions were answered by my server, it seems that they go through so much of the cups of this soup at service that they are just constantly in the process of making these, whether there is an actual order for it in or not. When a bowl of soup is ordered, they have to start the entire process from scratch. To be honest, gentle reader, I can't imagine it taking twenty minutes to portion out an already prepared and held onion soup, place an already toasted crouton (we'll get to that more in a minute) on top of the soup, add a handful of Swiss cheese and run it under the Salamander. But, ok, whatever.

The soup itself was nice. It had a gentle onion flavor and wasn't too heavy like some beef stock versions tend to be. The cheese was nicely melted and caramelized in spots on the top. The only real downer for me was the "crouton". To me, a crouton is bread that has been toasted, usually day old bread. Which is really what you need to stand up to all of that liquid. Sadly, all of the immersed bread had been completely water-logged and was a soggy mess. I'm going to venture a guess and say that either the bread was very lightly toasted or not toasted at all. As I continued to eat my soup, I noticed small black flecks in the soup, bigger than ground pepper, almost similar in size to poppy seeds. Curious as to what these were, I asked my server about this and here was the conversation we had:

"May I ask you a question about the soup? What are the small black flecks?"
"It's celery seed. But that's supposed to be a secret."

Well, I guess it was a secret. Isn't it amazing what people will tell you when you simply ask them? I tasted the last bit of soup in my bowl again, this time making sure I had a number of the seeds on the spoon. I don't think I would've guessed the mystery ingredient on taste alone as the flavor was quite subtle. However, the same celery seeds showed up in the homemade mayonnaise and were much more pronounced:


As a favor, my server brought me a small handful of the DanDee potato chips that they serve with the sandwiches. She said that people like to dip their chips in the mayonnaise. When I first saw that they were serving "French Mayonnaise," I had to ask what differentiated the "French" from the regular. Thinking it might be an aioli of some kind, my server responded that it was homemade mayonnaise that had mustard in it. She was right, it definitely had mustard in it. In fact, it tasted much like the creamy base for a mustard potato salad one might find at the local supermarket. The appearance of the small black flecks was the second time that the celery seeds made an appearance. This time around they added a decidedly celery-esque flavor. While the mayonnaise was flavorful and would make an excellent spread on any of their sandwiches, as a dip, it was a bit too lumpy. The cook who prepared this had added so much oil during the emulsification stage that the mayonnaise went from smooth and creamy to lumpy and gelatinous. The mouth feel was creamy and smooth, however.

Shortly after finishing up my soup (and no, I didn't eat that entire cup of mayonnaise), my entree arrived:


The menu said that the gratineed cheese was only Swiss, but having had the same cheese on the soup, I think there might have been something else in this mix, too, like Parmesan. At the right end of the platter, a pool of oil collected. At first I thought it might be butter, but upon tasting it with a bit of bread, it lacked the heady richness of butter:


The strange thing about the cheese in this dish was that it was crispy, almost like the layer of caramelized sugar of a good creme brulee. The caramelized cheese on the soup was wholly different. Plus, the crispy cheese had a slightly different flavor to it as well. After eating and peeling back some of the cheese layer, the creamed chicken made its appearance:


The chicken breast was quite good. It was clear that it had been cooked ahead of time, seared on a flattop or in a pan until it was cooked all the way through. It was then sliced and shingled amongst a too generous portion of bechamel sauce on top of the savory crepe, covered with a lot of cheese and gratineed under the Salamander (think professional broiler). The chicken had a nice flavor, but was just slightly dry, even with all of the bechamel sauce available. The crepe however, was simply marvelous. Completely tender and cooked perfectly, I would honestly say that it was the star of the dish. While overall I thought that the dish did work, the next time I return to the restaurant, it will be to get something else with one of these wonderful crepes in it.

Finally, accompanying the platter was a slice of their homemade French bread:


And a shot of the crust:


I believe this was homemade. In fact, I'll even give them the benefit of the doubt that not only was it homemade, but it wasn't made from a pre-bought mix. That being said, the flavor of this bread was completely unremarkable. The pale crust added no flavor or complexity to the bread's taste. The interior, while fresh and soft, had little elasticity to the crumb. This was nothing like what a good French bread should taste like. This bread was made to pander to the masses of untrained American palates. Perhaps this recipe was handed down from owner to owner, but this was one tradition that should be revised if for no other reason than because they are billing it on the menu with some fanfare.

Overall, I enjoyed my visit today to The French Coffee Shop. While I had a few items on the menu that gave me pause, the majority of the flavors were good to excellent. I think on my next visit, I'm going to focus on crepes, savory and sweet.

Discovering City Chicken At Fred's Diner

I have written about my ongoing conversation with my online friend TheFoodTutor from eGullet in the past, but today serendipity would be in full force as I descended upon another Akron favorite, Fred's Diner. In a sort of odd twist, I remember seeing Fred's Diner well before knowing it was such a well-respected dining establishment. In fact, I honestly thought the place was closed down. When I read a blurb recently in the Akron Beacon Journal that not only was it not closed, but that it was a valued Akron culinary treasure and quite still open, I was compelled to give it a try.

Fred's Diner is located at 930 Home Avenue, Akron, OH 44310 and can be reached at 330-535-3733. They are open seven days a week from 6 AM until 3 PM. They must have only taken cash before, because a sign out in front of the restaurant today indicated that they now take VISA and Mastercard. Parking was in front and on the side of the building as well as across the street in a dirt lot.

Here was a shot of the sign visible from the road:


Short, sweet, and to the point, no? From the front of the building, if it weren't for the fact that there were a ton of cars parked out front, you might understand why I thought the place might not even be in business anymore. It has that kind of "locked down" look to it:


I got here today at 1:30 PM for a late lunch thinking I would be avoiding the crowds. While it wasn't all that crowded when I arrived, when I left around 2:10 PM or so, there were actually more people in the restaurant than when I got there. The inside was quite cozy with seating for about 25-30 people. Ten of those are barstools where you can sit right up at the counter and watch all of the machinations in the kitchen. From my barstool, I snapped this photo of the board listing the daily specials:


When I asked what today's special was, my server promptly informed me that it was City Chicken. Not sure if I had heard her correctly, I asked her to repeat it once again. I then chuckled as I realized that the last food conversation that TheFoodTutor and I had on eGullet was over City Chicken! Even though we are roughly the same age and both from Akron originally, she had grown up eating this Ohio/Pennsylvania delicacy. I, on the other hand, had never even heard of it. While I had perused Fred's on-line menu before coming to lunch today and had been prepared to order one of their sandwiches, after hearing the daily special, I knew exactly what I would be ordering for my lunch today.

With my lunch came my choice of potato and side. I went for the French fries and the homemade chicken dumpling soup, a dish about which I had read so many positive things. After placing my order, my cup of soup promptly came out:


This was a nice cup of chicken soup. It was seasoned well and had a nice chicken depth of flavor. The dumplings were good, but I suspect that they had been held at the proper temperature for some time because some of the dumplings had started to dissolve into the soup. Nevertheless, this was an excellent cup of soup and something I would definitely order again.

After what seemed to be only a few minutes, my lunch arrived on a large plate:


From noon moving clockwise we have a mixed vegetable medley, the City Chicken, the French fries, and a roll with butter. The only thing I really didn't care for on this plate was the mixed vegetable medley. It was the same horrible one from my childhood that consisted of carrots, corn, green beans, and lima beans. I tried it just to be sure and wouldn't 'ya know it, it had the same gag inducing flavor as I remembered from when my mother used to force us to eat it. The roll was fresh and was served with Sumner butter pats (another local Akron product). The French fries were nice and crispy and seasoned well, although these were clearly fried from frozen.

Now let's talk about the City Chicken. In this case, it turned out to be rather large pieces of pork tenderloin that had been skewered and then coated with a seasoned bread crumb mix, deep fried to help set the outside crust and then finished off in a slower oven. Here was a shot of just the City Chicken:


The pork was seasoned well and was tender on the inside with the crispy coating acting as a nice contrast to the juicy interior. After cutting one of these cubes in half, I attempted to capture how juicy they really were:


There was no sauce served with this, and to be honest, with how moist they were, no sauce was really required. After talking a bit with my server, I learned that there are actually quite a few "recipes" for City Chicken, but they basically all have the same format:

* Cubed meat: pork, beef, or veal (almost never chicken, although some people I've talked to insist that it can ONLY be pork)
* Skewered
* Coated in either seasoned or unseasoned bread crumbs or flour
* Drizzled in butter
* Baked or Pan-Seared and then baked

The waitresses behind the counter were speculating as to why it was called City Chicken, but based on the Wikipedia article I linked to earlier, I think that this was popular in urban areas because chicken was both uncommon and expensive. Thus, using a different meat that would be equally as tender became a common occurrence instead.

It turns out that after I finished up my meal at Fred's and starting doing some investigative work by polling friends and relatives who might remember eating this delicacy, many people remember eating this growing up, although few of them actually eat it now. What surprised me the most was that it was almost universally loved by those I asked about it. Well, except for my mother. As it turns out, the reason I had never heard of City Chicken growing up was that my mother absolutely hated the dish and never made it for us when we were children. Which it too bad, because from my sampling today, Fred's version was quite tasty. Having nothing to compare it to from my past, I can definitely recommend it even if I have never had any other versions.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Fred's Diner today and definitely plan to return again soon. I suggest if you are up for a more authentic diner experience, give Fred's Diner a try. I'd advise you to go during non-peak hours, but given that the house was almost full when I left just after 2 PM, I'm not exactly sure when that would be.

  

Checking In On Prime at Anthe's

The last time I visited Prime at Anthe's, I was absolutely stunned at the difference between that visit and previous visits, when the restaurant was under different ownership. The new owners had revamped the menu and the food so that it was fresh, tasty, and honestly, much more financially accessible to the average diner. I decided that I would return to Prime at Anthe's today for lunch, a mere seven months later, to check in and see if they've been able to keep the momentum alive.

I had tried to preview their lunch menu by downloading it off of their website before I went in order to check out what would be in store for me. Unfortunately, I think their webserver might have been under strain because the website took forever to load and once it did, the rather large PDF file containing the menu just pooped out after only about 4% had downloaded. I guess I was going to have to go into this one blind.

After being seated at a small table for two by the window in the bar area, I quickly began examining the menus that the hostess had left. First, a shot of the Early Bird menu, which was also available during lunch hours:


Here was a shot of the front of the lunch menu:


And the back:


I noticed that many of the available dinner entrees from which I had to choose the last time I ate at Prime were available as lunch-sized portions at a reduced price. It occurred to me that if you are on a budget but still want to try the food, you might just consider coming for lunch instead.

As with all meals at Prime at Anthe's, the bean salad


and the basket of warm sourdough dinner rolls


are both obligatory and complimentary. I noted that the dressing for the bean salad was a little thinner in consistency this time versus last. Before I served myself a portion, I had to "refresh" the beans a bit by scooping them from the bottom of the dish onto the top to redistribute the creamy dressing. I talked about both the rolls and the bean salad in my last post, so I won't belabor you with another description. Suffice it to say that they were both very good.

After hearing my server describe the soups du jour, I decided to try one and went with a cup of the homemade chicken and rice soup:


While I don't normally comment on the crackers that go along with the soup, today they were noteworthy:


Wondering what "All Natural" meant when applied to oyster crackers, I flipped the package over and discovered that the ingredients consisted of unbleached wheat flour, water, canola oil, evaporated cane juice, salt, yeast, and baking soda. I guess that's about as all natural as you can get. I appreciated this small touch to my meal.

The soup itself was brought to the table piping hot and was quite good. Studded with chunks of shredded white and dark meat chicken, carrots, onion, celery and rice, this was a filling soup. I didn't realize how full I was until I finished the entire cup. Had I not been eager to try a sandwich off the lunch menu, I probably could've been happy with my rolls, bean salad, and cup of soup.

That being said, I was overwhelmed when my fried perch poboy platter came out:


Two thoughts popped into my head when my server sat this down on the table in front of me. First, how on earth was I going to be able to eat all that? Second, oh - my - god - the - smell - of - fresh- rosemary - coming - off - those - fries - was - amazing. Despite the Pavlovian response to dig straight into the pile of French Fries, I managed to contain myself and take a few photos first.

A close-up of the perch sandwich:


And a close-up shot of the multitude of layers comprising my quite substantial sandwich:


There was some homemade tartar sauce supplied in a small cup,


but given how moist and juicy the sandwich was already, I didn't even bother with it. I did, however, taste it on its own and the sweetness from the pickles really complimented the flavor of the tartar sauce. Had my sandwich not already come sauced with what appeared to be a chipotle aioli, I would definitely have gone to the trouble to use it.

The sandwich was excellent. It was a bit challenging to get my mouth around it, but once I did, I got juicy, creamy, crispy, tangy, and crunchy all in one bite. The Asian slaw advertised on the menu was of a vinegar, sugar, and salt variety and had more of a sweet than tangy flavor. Everything just worked so well together. I was really bummed that I could only eat half. Had my stomach not already been hurting from the sheer volume of food I had already consumed, I think my brain could've convinced me to take another bite or two.

Not to be outdone, the French Fries tossed in fresh rosemary dust and kosher salt were also outstanding:


As someone who loves ketchup with his fries, especially good fries, the thought never entered my mind even once to touch the bottle my server brought me when she dropped off my lunch. In my mind that would've been like putting A1 brand steak sauce on a perfectly cooked filet mignon. Like I mentioned earlier, I won't go on and on about the flavor of these magnificent potato gems since I already talked about them in my other post. Needless to say, they were absolutely fantastic and continue to be one of my all-time favorite preparations.

After boxing up the remaining half of my sandwich and fries, I asked for my check. Something that caught me by surprise was the inclusion of these post-meal morsels:


This was a throwback to the days of The Brown Derby from my youth. A sweet, chocolate minty way to finish the meal and freshen your breath all at the same time. I'm sure there are plenty of restaurants that still do this, but I'm still tickled when it happens to me.

Finally, I wanted to comment on a cardboard flyer that was on every table that talk about some of Prime at Anthe's ongoing specials:


The one that I think most of my gentle readers out there would be likely to take advantage of would be the "2 for $40" special on Tuesday through Thursday. From my previous post I know that this means you split an appetizer, you each get your own entree and dessert all for only $40. That sounds like a great date night to me.

I am very happy to see that even more than a half a year since my last visit, the bar remains high at Prime at Anthe's. It bothers me when a faithful reader approaches me after I've recommended a restaurant and says that their experience wasn't as good as mine. Given that on two random days six months apart I was served excellent food that also didn't completely empty my wallet, I think it is safe to say that Prime at Anthe's is still highly recommended, now for both lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, the only service I still have to check out is their Sunday brunch. Given my attendance record though, that will be another six months from now before I get back.

Extra Helpings: Jane Snow Cooks

[Ed. Note: While I consider myself to be a relatively recent friend of Jane Snow, I bought my own copy of her new book, Jane Snow Cooks. Neither Jane nor her publishing company have asked me to talk about her new book here on the blog.]

Jane Snow, food editor for the Akron Beacon Journal for twenty-eight years and two-time James Beard award winner for food writing, recently undertook a project that has occupied her for the better part of 2009. She spent the first several months of this year combing over the enormous number of articles that she wrote and even more numerous recipes submitted to her during her tenure at the Beacon selecting recipes and anecdotes to include in her newly released book, Jane Snow Cooks.

Tonight I had the chance to attend a talk and book signing at the Akron Public Library. After a brief introduction, Jane took the stage and kept the audience captivated for nearly an hour, regaling us with stories, both funny and serious, that she was fortunate enough to experience during her career. She started out the talk by reading us the short essay she wrote to introduce the fifth chapter of the book, On The Road.


After the short reading, Jane took a somewhat structured approach to the remainder of her talk, but veered off every now and again to talk about some of the crazier antics she was privy to over the years. One of my favorite stories was about her experience winning her first James Beard award. It seems that her work regarding salmonella tainted raspberries from South America was worthy enough to get her not only nominated, but also included in the group of three finalists who were flown to New York City for the announcement of the winner. Of course, before they announced the winner, a lavishly thrown dinner with the creme de la creme of the New York Food Illuminati was held in honor of the finalists. Not thinking she had actually won, Jane fully took advantage of the free-flowing champagne.

When the announcement was finally made, a wholly-unprepared Jane Snow was introduced and essentially thrust onto the stage to make some witty remarks. With that deer-in-headlights look, she looked over the crowd, opened her mouth, and quipped, "Food poisoning has been very good to me." Fortunately, this opening line tickled the crowd and relieved the palpable tension in the room.

Ironically, when Jane was attending the reception for her second James Beard award, she happened to be casually talking with someone connected with the James Beard association and in a more serious tone asked what one should say in their acceptance speech. The woman replied that while most acceptance speeches were pretty forgettable, the most memorable speech she could remember happened several years ago. Apparently the winner had gotten up onto the podium and thanked food poisoning for her win, clearly unaware of the irony of her answer.

After the bulk of Jane's talk concluded, she did a brief Q & A session with members of the audience. We then all adjourned to the hallway outside the auditorium where a table was set up to sell copies of her new book:


Having already picked one up earlier in the day, I simply got in line to have my copy signed. While I stood in line, bite-sized samples of Lou & Hy's cheesecake (or at least, cheesecake made from the Lou & Hy's recipe) were passed out:


Samples were either plain or topped with cherries or pineapple. A quintessential New York style cheesecake, these were every bit as good as I remember from the original Akron deli. I tried both the cherry (which I've had before) and the pineapple (which I hadn't). I have to say that the candied pineapple version was quite delicious.

My copy now signed, I hopped back into my car and drove home, eager to devour the contents of her new book. Here was a shot of the cover:


I think what I like the most about this book, and Jane alluded to this in her talk, is that the contents represent a specific time and a specific location, essentially Akron over the last thirty-plus years. Many of the recipes you'll find inside her book detail flavors and experiences you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the country. While all of the recipes come from Jane's impressive nearly three decades as food writer and editor at the Beacon, they form a very diverse culinary tapestry of local traditions, local cooks, non-local cooks and a bit of kitchen wizardry Jane herself threw together in her own kitchen.

Each chapter opens with a witty essay detailing what you will find in the following pages. The first three chapters focus mainly on local traditions and cooks: Local Favorites, Ten Most Wanted, and Winners. After that, the remainder of the book is broken down into various categories of food: Appetizers, Soups & Salads, Vegetables, Entrees, and Desserts. In addition to two chapters devoted to her all-time favorite personal recipes and the recipes of chefs and home cooks outside of Akron, she also thoughtfully included a final chapter called "How To . . .", detailing steps required to roast the perfect turkey or cook the perfect chicken breast.

With over one hundred fifty recipes covering local, regional, national and international cuisines, you are certain to find many tasty dishes in Jane Snow Cooks that will please you, your family and impress your friends. Personally, as a food writer living in Akron, I am happy to use the book as a epicurean guidepost in helping me to demystify and properly evaluate the food traditions I find when I eat out in Akron restaurants. That it is chock full of tried-and-tested recipes simply makes it that much better. If you enjoyed the work that Jane Snow did during her tenure at the Akron Beacon Journal, then I am sure you will enjoy this book, too.

Jane Snow Cooks: Spirited Recipes & Stories
Written by Jane Snow
Published by Ringtaw Books
ISBN: 978-1-931968-65-2
List price is $19.95

The book is available locally (I purchased mine at the Barnes and Noble in Montrose, Ohio) or on-line at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.