Chicken

Surprisingly, perhaps the best fried chicken I've had, anywhere, is from the Waldbaum's in Riverhead. I was in Riverhead this morning, and when I saw the Waldbaum's, remembered how good their fried chicken was and decided to grab some for lunch on my way out of town.

It's not only tasty but quite tender. I don't know what they do. I suspect they cook it at a low temp, maybe 325 or even lower, and the long, slow cooking breaks down the muscle fibers like a braise(?) Who knows. It is fairly greasy, after all--usually an indicator that the item was cooked below 350.

Uncle Giuseppe's

This is a great new-ish grocery store (mostly food, keep in mind) on Route 111 in Smithtown. It's been around for a few months, but I was only recently able to get over there. They have lots of fresh produce (except for mushrooms) and a great selection of different meats, including prime cuts at not too outrageous prices. They even have fresh rabbit. We got a couple last week.

The only bad thing so far is that, at least lately, on Saturday's they have some annoying singer belting out songs from the 40's or some damn time. And it is LOUD! Really LOUD!

On their bags they list a website at http://www.unclegiuseppes.com, but I can't open it.