Better than Woodstock, Oregon I guess!
Supply Chain Woes?
When my fianceéic Gaetana returns from a few days away and my daughter Buck Wheat finds her way back from camping with her summer-boy, it will be my job to keep the supply chain at Casa Lipton running efficiently.
A consultant’s easy schedule making me the obvious choice to keep the pantry, fridge and wine rack full!
While still leaving myself enough time for a run to the dispensary, and tobacconist.
Celebrate Independents!
I’ve gained more than 20-pounds since I moved in proximity to Beldotti’s Bakery more than four years ago. The locally-owned Beldotti’s has locations in Stamford and Port Chester, New York and is known for their fresh baked breads, donuts and desserts.
And while I don’t blame Beldotti’s for the weight gain, they do share some culpability. The bartender cuts you off when you’ve had one too many. Doesn’t the baker owe the same responsibility?
For pork there’s Scaglio’s Marketplace in my former hometown Katonah, New York. The bacon, ribs and chops sold at “Scag’s” are cut from Berkshire pigs, among the oldest breed of hogs. Prized for their tender and well marbled meat, the Berkshire pig was brought to the United Stated from England in the years following the American Revolution.
With chops cut from the bone-in rack at the time of purchase, the butchers at Scag’s ask each customer who shows a preference exactly how they want their chops cut. With varieties of bacons, tenderloins, roasts and butts all sliced with the same precision.
The trimmings from the fine butchering going on to become Scag’s best in class Italian sausages.
For beef, it’s steaks from whole animal butcher Custom Meats in nearby Fairfield, Connecticut.
With meats purveyed from farms within 70-miles of their shop, the steaks available at Custom Meats taste as fresh as it seems they should, considering the short commute from pasture to table.
The quality and variety of the cuts at Custom are unmatched by the supermarkets serving the 130,000 residents of Stamford, Connecticut. Though you wouldn’t know it by the price. Custom’s ultra-short supply chain keeps the costs of their premium meats in-line with the price of steak at the nationally branded supermarkets.
Guy’s son Chris was recently the beneficiary of a Custom Meats run. The square-ish cut of the hard-to-find Denver steak perfectly designed for searing in the cast iron skillet.
For produce and fish there's Maruichi’s, a Connecticut-based retailer with locations in Stamford and West Hartford. Maruichi’s offers seafood fresh enough to meet the standards of their mostly Japanese clientele. A clientele who consume an average of three ounces of fish daily.
In addition to the fresh and frozen fish, Maruichi’s offers a variety of fresh vegetables which are generally unavailable in the area's conventional markets.
The assortment of roots, fungi and leafed vegetables all impeccably cleaned before they’re put on display using a minimal amount of packaging.
Maruichi’s freezers are stocked with a well-sourced selection of frozen foods imported from Japan. On the nights Guy and I can’t make time to cook it’s the gyozas, buns and shumai from Maruichi’s freezers which get thrown in the microwave to be fed to a lazy house.
Independent’s Day
When John Hancock became the first man to sign THE Declaration of Independence 246-years ago today, he used a quill and inkwell to pen his oversized signature. Drawn boldly and in the center of the parchment, the Continental Congress president is credited with saying, “There! King George will be able to read that!” as he completed his autograph.
Nearly 250-years later "give me your John Hancock" remains a slang expression most Americans understand to mean “give me your signature.”
But before “John Hancock” became synonymous with a signature, the name meant retail. In pre-revolutionary Boston, John Hancock earned his fortune and status as a merchant with stores and warehouses spread across the city’s wharfs and streets.
So today as America celebrates its independence, let’s not forget our independents!
