My sleuthing strategy of engaging folks who work in restaurants in conversation about the food they serve – and often about stuff they don’t – has led to some great discoveries.
While staying at a resort in Barbados some years ago, I quizzed statuesque and smiling grill chef Heather about that country’s national dish: puddin’ ‘n’ souse. Impressed that I knew about this unusual salad made from weird and wonderful parts of the pig’s head, she told me to meet her the following morning at the resort’s entrance. An hour or so later, we were on the other side of the island at a place called Neville’s chowing down on the famed Bajan porcine delicacy at this eatery-cum-pig farm frequented only by locals.
At Kingston’s Pilot House, the tip we gleaned from waitress Kristi was not as exotic but no less of a find. Hearing that we were leaving the next day for Montreal’s jazz fest, she insisted we go to Pullman: a newish spot already known to cognoscenti located in the heart of that city’s downtown where she recommended the green bean salad and charcuterie plate. Read more…