Best non-burgers of the past year

I do eat foods other than burgers, sometimes anyway, so here are a few of my favorite things.

Appetizer-

1. Fried Blue Cheese from Front Street Brewery in Wilmington, NC. Better than a mozzarella stick because it has real flavor.

2. Fried pickles. I first tried these at Goose Island in Chicago.

Chinese-

Fish and Chips-

1. Iron Hill Brewery, West Chester PA.

2. Sweeny's, Walden, NY.

Gyros-

1. Yannis in New Paltz, the hands down winner.

2. The Neptune Diner in Astoria Queens.

Ice Cream-

1. Boombalttis in Wilmington, NC.

2. Twin Cones, Bloomingburgh, NY

Seafood-

1. Shrimp Pappardelle from the Crescent City Brewhouse in New Orleans, which is jumbo shrimp over noodles with bacon, peas and mushrooms in a creamy sauce of fresh basil and Parmesan cheese.

2. Penne Positano, pasta in a creamy pesto sauce with mussels and shrimp, from Terrazzo Trattoria in Wilmington, NC.

3. La Pescatore from Nu-Cavu in Wallkill, NY. Get it fra diablo style.

Best Brews of the past year

Here is my informal list of my favorite brews of the past year. I may add to the list as time goes on. You will note that I am a fan of IPA and Stout.

Brew Pubs-

1. Port City IPA, Front Street Brewery, Wilmington, NC.

2. Uncle Teddy's Bitters, Victory, Downingtown, PA

3. Scotch Ale, Front Street Brewery.

4. Ryesing, Iron Hill Brewery, West Chester, PA. A nice American Rye IPA

Small commercial breweries-

1. Saranac Pale Ale. This is a nice English style ale, not to be confused with an IPA.

2. Goose Island India Pale Ale. One of the best IPAs I've ever had. Nice and hoppy, without being overdone.

3. Magic Hat #9

Imports-

1. Boddington's Pub Ale

2. Fullers ESB

3. Guinness Stout (I had a pint at the brewery in Dublin, and no Guinness has matched that yet, but it's still good whenever)

Big American Breweries-

1. American Ale, Anheiser Busch. Ever since the Europeans bought them, they started to make some good products.

Terrazzo Trattoria

With apologies to my Southern friends, about twenty-five years ago I remember getting a pizza in the South and thinking the box it came out of tasted better than the pizza. All that has changed over the years as good food has made its way south of the Mason-Dixon line. In the larger cities you can get some darn good pizza and Italian food, plus the grocery stores are stocked with better selections. Its gotten much more cosmopolitan over the years.

If you are in Wilmington, NC you definitely have to check out Terrazzo Trattoria at 1319 Military Cutoff Rd. It is a nice Italian restaurant with good food at reasonable prices, and good service. We went there with seven adults and four children (one of whom is only four months old, so he didn't eat) and the bill was about $133.00. Not bad.

I had the Penne Positano, a nice penne pasta in a creamy pesto sauce with mussels and shrimp for $17 and added a side salad for .99. The pesto sauce had a nice garlic taste, without being overpowering and the pasta was cooked just right. There was plenty of shrimp and mussels in it too. We shared calamari and chicken tenders, and the some of the other dishes my party had were: Chicken and Penne Naxos, Chicken Satlimboca, and Eggplant Parmigiana. All were good.

Now back to that pizza. We ordered a pizza, half cheese, half pepperoni, for the kids and I tried a piece. It had a nice crispy crust, good flavor, and wasn't greasy. A cold piece later that night was just as good.

Terrazzo Trattoria is family owned and they are nice people. They are closed Sundays, and are only open for dinner on Saturday. They have lunch and dinner during the week. For more information, check out their website. Better yet, check out the restaurant some time. You won't be disappointed.