I was reunited with a long lost friend this week. Name is Pip Squeak, perhaps you've met?
After recent reminiscing about Angela's Pizza brought up comparisons to The Anchor, a one-time Kanawha City hotspot known for its addictive pizzas and sandwiches, former West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland reached out to make sure folks know they can still enjoy The Anchor's solid food lineup.
"As I'm sure folks have already told you by now, The Anchor still makes pizza in the area at a place now called the Admiral's Anchor on Route 60 just east of town," she said. "Same delicious pizza, especially Bill Arthur's tomato pies."
I'm not sure what makes it different from a pizza, but The Anchor's "Tomato Pie" - featuring fresh dough with a garlic and olive oil glaze, five secret spices, fresh diced tomatoes, basil and a bed of mozzarella and parmesan cheese - has a cult-like following among longtime Charlestonians.
I've known about the Admiral's Anchor (sometimes called The Riverside Anchor) for years, but am embarrassed to say I've never stopped in to check it out since it moved from Kanawha City years ago.
Which is crazy, when I think about it, because they still serve The Anchor's top-selling signature "Pip Squeak" - a sandwich I once declared one of the top 10 in the entire state. Not unlike a Gino's "Pubwich," it features a crazy-good combination of ham, turkey and bacon baked inside fresh dough with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and mozzarella cheese.
I haven't sunk my teeth into one of those babies in years, Betty. I'm going down to change that this week!
The Riverside Anchor is located at 3315 Kanawha Blvd. East in Charleston, past Daniel Boone Park on the way to Campbell's Creek. For more information, call 304-925-9902 or visit www.theriversideanchor.com.
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The folks who brought you last year's inaugural "Hops & Heat" craft beer and chili festival on Charleston's East End are adding another culinary event to their fall lineup, this time pairing wines with desserts.
The East End Bazaar's "Sips & Sweets" wine tasting and bake-off challenge will feature five local bakeries and more than 30 wines from 10 regional wineries Sept. 24 at the bazaar's market on Washington Street East. Live music, local market vendors and additional food vendors (including Paterno's at the Park, Bricks & Barrels and Nona's Wood-Fired Pizza) are also on tap.
General admission tickets cost $25 and include wine samples, two wine tickets and a special tasting glass. VIP tickets costing $50 give you two additional wine tickets, a 12-ounce Blenko wine glass and one-hour early access.
Stay tuned for more details, including a complete lineup of the wines and desserts that will be offered. Looks like an awesome event.
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When reader Jo Proops recently enjoyed an Alaskan cruise, she was pleasantly surprised by how good the food was on board the ship. Even more so once she learned who had prepared some of it.
"We just returned from a trip that included a cruise with a company called Alaskan Dream Cruises" she said. "The boat was small (about 70 passengers) but the food was outstanding, local, fresh and creative."
And she said the desserts were "to die for."
"Turns out the dessert chef, Lamech Smith, was from Huntington! He made chocolate croissants one morning that literally melted in your mouth (passengers were hoarding them) and he put on a dessert buffet the last night that should have been the start of the meal instead of the end," she said.
"He told me he was up until 3 a.m. preparing the buffet items that day. He really did Huntington and West Virginia proud!"
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The fine folks at Tamarack have rolled out a new culinary program that will feature two special pairing dinners over the coming months.
This Friday, Tamarack chefs are teaming up with Bloomery SweetShine, an award-winning flavored spirits distiller in Charles Town, to present a four-course meal paired with custom cocktails. On Sept. 10, a "Jazz Feast" seafood boil will pair live music with a meal of crab, shrimp, crawfish and all the fixins'.
The new dinner series kicked off last month with a beer pairing dinner showcasing West Virginia brewers Dobra Zupas, Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company and Bridge Brew Works.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call 888-262-7225 or visit www.tama rackwv.com.
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Finally, in more local restaurant news, Adelphia Sports Bar & Grille downtown is making plans to start offering a new brunch menu on Sunday mornings. Owner Deno Stanley says he's working on a special lineup of Greek-influenced dishes and drinks, which he hopes to roll out at the Capitol Street restaurant in the near future.
The nation's fastest-growing pizza franchise, Marco's, is inching closer to Charleston with its first restaurant in St. Albans at 313 6th Ave. (Other West Virginia locations are in Teays Valley and Huntington.) Touting itself as the country's only pizza chain founded by a native Italian, Marco's pies feature fresh dough made daily in each store, an exclusive blend of fresh (never frozen) cheeses and a "secret" sauce created by the founder himself.
Steven Keith writes a weekly food column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and an occasional food blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/foodguy/. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or by email at wvfoodguy@aol.com. You can also follow him on Facebook as "WV Food Guy" and on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest as "WVFoodGuy."