Good Junk Food

One of my hobbies is running long-distance races. I do it partly because of the experience and partly for the food I eat afterward. I have done several of these races, and dozens of training runs along the way and have experimented with the recovery food I eat afterward. Most often it's pizza, sometimes a salad (blah) and other times it's pasta--like a reverse carbo-load. This past weekend I ran a race in Ocala, FL, and on our way out of town we were deciding what to eat. We landed at Five Guys.

At this point, I must insert that although I do love food and enjoy fine dining, I don't think all good food has to have a veil of pretention or be expensive to be delicious. I can find beauty in a foot-long all-beef hot dog at the ball park. Relish, please!

And this brings us to the burger place. Whenever I go to a Five Guys, it's crowded. I think that's a good thing. They must be doing something right. And this weekend was no exception. The place was packed with people dying to eat a fresh, customized burger. You can order a big (two 1/4 pound patties) or a little (one 1/4 pound patty) and you can choose from a whole host of yummy toppings at no extra charge. I ordered the little bacon cheeseburger with mayo, mustard, lettuce, pickles and grilled onions. Perfection. This is not diet food, people. Be prepared to run extra after eating this burger.

And a word about fries: they are the freshest around, straight from Idaho. They cut the potatoes right there in front of you and fry them to perfection. Malt vinegar on the side is a bonus.

If you're looking for good, inexpensive food fast, Five Guys is your place.

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Old Favorite, New Dish

My (relatively) new husband and I were stumped about where to eat dinner last Friday night. We often find ourselves in a rut and end up at the same restaurants weekend after weekend. That night, however, we went to Gypsy Cab Company, an old favorite that we used to frequent quite a lot when we were dating. The owner is an acquaintance and the food is always reliably good.

Surprisingly, we walked right in at 7:15 on Friday night and got a table. The restauarant was near-full and buzzing with people and the warmth of the indoors on a cool evening. No appetizers, as we tend to regret eating so much food. I asked for a recommedation because I couldn't decide between that night's shrimp preparation and the coconut crusted tofu. The server, delightfully efficient, recommended the shrimp...with light bread crumbs served with navy beans and sausage.

I had the salad with Gypsy house dressing. If you have never had it, you must try it. It was delicious as ever. When dinner came out, it all looked great; when I took the first bite, however, I was overcome. The navy beans had a rich and soft texture that blended with the robust sauce and the shrimp were pan fried to perfection. According to our server, everyone that ordered it loved it. Scott ordered the linguine with white clam sauce. He's had it before. Gypsy is not shy with their clams and the sauce was light and delicious.

Gypsy will never have to win me over. It is a family favorite that never disappoints.

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