"The Best Fish Tacos You've Ever Had" - Pagosa Springs, CO

Sorry for the absence. I've been on the tour de America (actually, there was no biking involved but I have been traveling to Colorado, Boston/Lakes region, NH, and Austin). I will attempt to post on some of my favorite food finds from the past ventures.

To start off, I want to disclose that I have found the best fish tacos... ever. No joke, folks.

Situated in front of a humble Shell station, there is a firetruck red mobile kitchen known as Degelman's Red Wagon. The Red Wagon is a local lunchtime favorite and in typical Colorado fashion, hours of operation are posted but loosely obeyed. Word to the wise: show up around noon any weekday during the summer and prepare for some fried goodness.

Step up and order a fish taco ($3.00) and fries ($1.75). Chef "Degs" will probably exclaim that you are about to enjoy "the best fish tacos you've ever had". And he is right. Both the white flaky fish and fresh cut fries are beer-tempura battered and perfectly flash fried. The fish taco, 1 comes to an order, is wrapped in a corn tortilla, just fried- yes, frying is a reoccurring theme here. Enveloped with crispy red and green cabbage slaw, fresh avocado slices, chipotle cayenne crema, and a bottom layer of shredded queso oaxaca-just slightly melted from the heat of the fresh fried shell. In my opinion, the queso oaxaca is the key ingredient and most unexpected element of the composition. Its mild, just slightly salty and the creaminess is a perfect foil to the crunchy beer-tempura batter of the adjacent fish. Traditional baja style fish tacos are cheese-less. But to a tried-true Texan, cheese + tortilla = love. The fries, albeit not my typical order, are exceptional. I have heard rumors (from Mom and Austin) of wonderful breakfast tacos, offered inside the Shell station, and state fair-worthy fried Twinkies.Moral of the story- next time you are passing through Pagosa Springs on 160, a stop at Degelman's Red Wagon is a must.

If you know Chef "Degs" or have tried any of his other delicacies, share your thoughts!

Degelman's Red Wagon
Corner of 160 and North Pagosa Road
970-946-1927

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Lunch in the Black Forest - 08.06.09

Henk's Chicken Pesto Sandwich

Another Thursday lunch with Heather, this time we ventured to Henk's European Deli & Black Forest Bakery. Tucked away behind the massive Half Price Books on Northwest Highway, this charming deli serves up authentic German American breakfasts and lunches everyday (dinner is served on Friday and Saturday evenings only). The store is part restaurant, part bar, part bakery, part market and all kitsch. If you arrive at noon or shortly after, it will be crowded and you may have to wait. This will give you the perfect opportunity to wander the market aisles where you will find an eclectic mix of wine, authentic Manner wafers and - my personal favorite - a revolving tower of Dutch black licorice! The east side of the store is devoted to its bakery and deli counters, each a display of beautiful, European delights.

Service and seating is simple: seat yourself, menus are on the table and you pay the cashier before you leave. For lunch, I questioned the server about the "broodje/brotchen" sandwiches on fresh baked hard rolls. After all, we were at a German deli, shouldn't I order something that at least sounds German? She quickly pointed us to the grilled sandwiches, as "they come with cheese". Was it that obvious? Did we just scream "turophiles*"? Alas, we both succumbed to the grilled sandwiches, I to the Chicken Pesto and Heather to the Hot Amsterdam (gotta love that name). Soon thereafter, the sandwiches arrived with a side of classic Ruffles and a sour pickle. The bread was perfectly toasted and golden, the color which can only come from a smear of real butter just before its being pan fried. Inside, there was moist chicken breast sliced deli thin, just a few roasted red peppers and an appropriate amount of basil pesto, all sandwiched between these aforementioned bookends of fresh white bread. Now I must tell you the best part about this sandwich was indeed the cheese. My Chicken Pesto came with Swiss cheese, not just your typical one slice of melted, stringy Kraft Swiss. No, there lay two deli-thin slices of Jarlsberg, with enough thickness to be the creamy counter of the sweet peppers and salty pesto and enough melt to glue the whole sandwich together.

Please, I beg of you, try Henk's. You may be forced to wait and wander the market aisles, but time (and money spent impulse shopping for stroopwaffles) is well worth every penny. Besides, you can afford to waste a few pennies when the sandwich, enough food for two days lunches, is only $6.50.

*Turophile- a lover of cheese, derived from the Greek word for cheese "tyro"

Henk's European Deli & Black Forest Bakery

5811 Blackwell

Dallas, Texas 75231

214.987.9090

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Lunchtime- 7.17.09

Kosher Dill potato chips are one of the many varieties offered at The Great Outdoors. These,in particular, evoked a favorite memory of my dining partner's childhood.

For $0.55 more (than your five-dollar foot long), you can have an exponentially better sub sandwich and enjoy your surroundings at The Great Outdoors. Inside the walls are donned with murals of trees, tree trunk columns lining the queue, comfortable green banquets- everything evoking the feel of “great outdoors”, indoors. The only downside to this earthy, predecessor of Subway is the line; it moves pretty slowly, probably due to its drive thru operations. But it is well worth the wait.

The history lesson (because I love everything that has a story): The Great Outdoors first opened in downtown Dallas in 1973, by New Jersey native Jerry Oliverie. His mission was “to fill the authentic eastern style submarine sandwich void”. Today, there are 8 locations of The Great Outdoors around DFW and they have begun to franchise.

In a nutshell, everything tastes and looks fresh. The best part of the prep line is that you can actually see the source of all their deli meats, cheeses, and vegetables. It’s not fancy, just straightforward. The subs come three ways: Regular, Double Meat or Chef Salad. I had the Turkey, Cheese (house cheese is Provolone) on Wheat, toasted. I added lettuce, tomatoes – which were the freshest, red beefsteaks I’ve ever seen in a sandwich shop, black olives, alfalfa sprouts (Toto, I don’t think we’re in Dallas anymore, Austin maybe?) and honey mustard. They offer pickles in three ways, too: ¼, ½ and whole. I had ½ pickle and drink. The total was $8.34, not too bad for two days worth of lunch; I could only finish half.

The menu is full of many more great offerings including: “great awakenings” which are breakfast subs, some of the largest croissants I’ve ever seen, housemade cookies and brownies, and Henry’s Homemade Ice Cream, hand dipped.

These are Great Outdoors, indeed.

The Great Outdoors
6918 Greenville Avenue
Dallas, Texas
214.739.1928


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