Food. Philosophy.

Left to right: Patchway Ale, Stone Mason Stout, and Pumpkin Ale

Fried Zucchini

Crab Dip

Bruschetta

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

A few friends of mine decided to go to out Marzoni's. Its a restaurant that boasts it's brick oven fired pizza and beer that's brewed in house.

First off, we started with a round of beers, before the beers even got there though, I have to note that we were immediately greeted with a basket of hot bread sticks. But back to the beer, we each decided to try something different, one friend went with the Patchway Ale, which was a light, hoppy beer. I went with the Stone Mason Stout which is a dark, thick beer that has a slight coffee flavoring to it. I absolutely loved this beer, it had a deep strong coffee flavor and I would definitely recommend. My other friend grabbed seasonal Pumpkin Ale that they’re running right now; it comes with a cinnamon sugar rim. I later got my own Pumpkin Ale, I liked it, it had a good pumpkin flavor and the sugared rim was a nice touch. The added bonus to the beers was that we were there during their half off drafts night, so our beers were only $1.88 apiece. Monday nights from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., is for sure the time to get a beer. However the normal $3.75 per 12 ounce draft is a great price for beer that you know what brewed in house.  

The beer is not the only reason to go though. Their food is excellent; it is a little more expensive, almost 9 dollars for the pizza (we got a small, four decent sized slices), 12 for the crab dip, and around 8 dollars for the zucchini and the bruschetta, which isn’t bad because you are paying for quality, but something to keep in mind. The fried zucchini was good, crunchy outside and soft in the middle. The bruschetta was also good, it came out warm with a nice balsamic glaze over it, which is how I believe bruschetta should be. There was a little more basil on it then I would have liked, but I just picked around it.  The crab dip was by far the best appetizer that we got, it came out in a hot bread bowl and it was full of flavor and had chucks of crab meat in it. It had a great seafood flavor to it that was delicious, but not over powering or too salty. Then there was the pizza. They’re known for their brick oven which is visible in the restaurant. We got a mild buffalo chicken pizza (you can also get it in hot), with wheat crust (which that choice alone is awesome). The pizza came out hot and had lots of chicken cheese and chucks of blue cheese melted on it. It was so great, the crust was crispy and had just enough chew to it and the buffalo sauce was not too hot and mixed very well with their choice of cheeses. It’s a great pizza that I’ve had many times before and it never lets me down.  I’ve had other food here and the kitchen consistently delivers great meals. It is definitely a spot to check out.

I recently went to Vito's in Cresson for the first time under the recommendation of a friend. It's a small pizza shop just off the rail road tracks in Cresson. Upon walking in the door I was greeted with all the familiar smells of a pizza shop' peppers and onions cooking and the smell of dough baking--a good first impression. It looks like a pizza shop inside, nothing too fancy about it. Its seat yourself, a waitress was with us in plenty of time and got us menus.

I tried the cheese steak on the recommendation of a friend and on the advertisement they had on the menu that they bake their bread in house. Which is a HUGE plus in my book. The wait wasn't long, my cheese steak was good. I won't say it was the best cheese steak I ever had but I would eat it again. The bread was definitely a highlight of the sandwich, it was fresh and soft and the sandwich was nice and big. I could only eat half of it and I got to save some for later. Mike got pizza, I snagged a few bites, the sauce had a sweetness too it which I loved, it made me want to get one of their Sicilian pizzas with the thick crust and I would like to go back and do so. Other than that it was...pizza nothing crazy, but was of good quality and the price was right, less than 3 bucks for 2 slices, can't beat that. The cheese steak came in a 5 bucks, so its not over priced.

Mike modeling his giant pancake--the picture doesn't do it justice.

If you are a student at Saint Francis University and you have not had breakfast at Route 53 Diner in Cresson, what are you waiting for? Route 53 is one of the best places to eat in the Cresson/Ebensburg area. The food is good, the prices are good, and the service is good. Also, who doesn't love good breakfast food?

The craziest thing about this place is the pancakes (as shown above) these things are giant! The pancakes are basically the size of manhole covers, you most likely do not need more than one to fill you up. They come in at least than 2 bucks a pop, so anyone, even the broke college kids can afford to eat here. I opted for something a little less sweet for my break fast and I got the SOS (chipped beef gravy) if you're a fan of chipped beef this stuff is fantastic. A little more expensive than the pancakes (Just under 5 bucks) but worth it. I will say the decor is a little funky, its like they're remodeling on the inside but its been like that for months so I'm not sure about whats going on there.

There is not a whole lot to say about this place other than its got good breakfast, good coffee, decent prices, and it's close to campus. You can't ask for much more than that. Monday to Wednesday they're open until 2 p.m. so even if you're a late riser, you can make it for breakfast. On Thursday and Friday they're open until 8 p.m. and until 3p.m. on the weekends. They have a lunch and dinner menu but I've never gotten anything but breakfast. They're breakfast is just that good. I would also recommend the French toast and the "Monster Bagel" --the Monster Bagel is a large bagel with breakfast meat, an egg, and tons of cheese on top. Its bad for your heart but good for your soul.

Crepes, the delicious thin French pancake. I have come to find as an amateur cook that the crepe can be a frightening endeavor. From what I can understand from talking to others, I am not the only one who was intimidated by the crepe. However, I am intimidated no more! I've been making them for the past several months and I'm going to tell you, why you should be making them too. But back to the bit about fear, as an amateur cook I thought crepes, French, French is fancy, I can't do fancy. One day on a whim (and a MASSIVE) crepe craving I decided to try it. I was nervous and was relatively confident that I would not be able to master the art of crepe making, but I was proved wrong. Making crepes comes with a learning curve, but if you take your time and follow a few steps making them can be a breeze. However, before I tell you how to make them I'm going to tell you the important WHY to make them. The reason you should make them is because in my opinion they are one of the most versatile foods you will ever come into contact with, they are delicious, and they seem fancy so you can trick people into believing you are a talented chef (I may exaggerate a little here).

Truly though, the crepe is so versatile! If you take a simple plain crepe batter and add other ingredients to it you can transform crepes into just about any thing you need to fit the occasion. For instance, if I want sweet crepes I add two teaspoons of sugar and a dash of vanilla to the recipe below to enhance the sweetness. You can just put syrup on them and eat them like a regular pancake, that's a bit over simplified to me but it works. I like to put Nutella and fresh strawberries in my sweet crepes, super simple, very good. You can also whip a little cream cheese and powdered sugar (to taste) together and spread that on your crepe with your favorite fresh fruit, drizzle with chocolate syrup (as shown below). You can fill it wil yogurt, peanut butter, hot fudge; if you think it will go together with the crepe it probably will!

Or you could take it in the total opposite direction and add a little finely chopped rosemary to compliment a savory dish. Put scrambled eggs and cheese inside for breakfast! The possibilities are endless! Crepes also make one of the best left over delivery devices ever. I must confess, I have an awful habit of never eating left overs, it's true I just find that food that was already cooked has lost its flare the second time around. However, the crepe offers us new options with leftovers. Take the time of infinite leftovers, the holidays. You will at some point in your life have so much turkey that you have run out of ways to prepare it (how many times can you have turkey and waffles really?). You can use a crepe to do spice it up. Take the crepe mixture below, add some of that chopped rosemary that I suggested, and follow the directions to make the crepes. Add some cranberry sauce to the bottom, fill it with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, whatever you have left in the fridge, roll the crepe up and drizzle some leftover gravy over top and viola! You just turned leftover holiday food into holiday crepes, not too tough, but puts a new spin on what you're used to. I've also found that crepes, if wrapper up in plastic wrap freeze rather well, I keep them on hand and pop it in the microwave and for a quick snack.

The recipe I've found to be the best is

2 eggs

3/4 cup of milk

1/3 cup of water

1 cup of flour (I often end up adding another tablespoon because I like a drier crepe)

2 tablespoons of butter

non-stick spray

Make sure you combine you wet ingredients, then add the dry, whisk this (by hand or electric mixer) until its smooth. Add any extra at this point, vanilla, spices, etc. You definitely need the non stick spray, butter also works well for coating the pan. But its is so important because the crepes are fragile and if they stick they will most likely tear. So, coat your pan, get it hot (if water sizzles on top its ready) on about medium heat pour the batter in and rotate the pan in circles to spread the better around, once the batter has dried on top, check about every thirty seconds, when you see golden brown spots on the bottom (gently!!) take a spatula and flip the crepe (this will be the hardest part), and in about 2 minutes on medium heat (this varies a lot depends on the type of stove) the crepe will be done.

Things I have learned while making crepes:

It is harder to flip if you let the batter run up the sides of the pan, so try to keep it relatively flat. If you can get a big pan and make the crepe smaller than the pan this is even better, it gives your spatula some room. Also, the bigger the crepe, the harder to flip.

While its cooking, if you gently run your spatula around and under the outside edges this can help prevent tears.

DO NOT EVER THINK THAT YOU CAN WALK AWAY FROM IT. I have learned that if you're making crepes you should be watching, if you walk away for any real span of time, you will likely burn them. Badly.

Biggest piece of advice is just make them! You will learn as you go and you might have a couple bumps along the way but the time invested will be worth it.

Starting with an Altoona classic, I went to Tom and Joe’s diner. I’ve long been a fan of Tom and Joe’s; it has very informal atmosphere, walk in, seat yourself and someone will be with you quickly. It's got a really interesting history behind it, it is one of the oldest eateries in Altoona and it has a history of waitresses that are not the nicest. I assure you that its (mostly) an act and its part of the experience, the waitresses may tease you, but the service is by no means not quality. However, wwhat really shines about this diner is the food. Its quality food that is cooked right in front of you. You know its fresh and not frozen or precooked as with many restaurants today.

If you sit at the bar, you can watch George, the grill cook make all of the eggs, home fries, and other orders right in front of you. He will also most likely yell orders very loudly across the restaurant, again part of the experience. This is one of the best parts of it, in my opinion. There’s no hiding what they’re doing to your food, you can see (and hear) it all if you wish.

Additionally, the food is fantastic. I went simple, the #2 combo, just eggs, toast, and home fries. If you get home fries, you have to add onions and cheese. I was talked into it by a friend during one of my first visits and I have never went back. The onions and cheese are the perfect compliment to the home fries, the onions are always done perfectly, with just a little crunch that is full of flavor. Add the onions and cheese, just do it. I promise. It's worth it. My mom got the special omelet which is advertised to have two eggs in it and I was told that there was no way that was two eggs, there was way too  much food there. The food was all hot and delicious as I have come to expect from them. Then the best part. The cost. The #2, two eggs, home fries, and toast comes in under 4 dollars, add the onions and cheese it's under 5, omelet with added cheese and onions was under 6 bucks. Add in coffees and a tip and the bill was a few dollars below 20 bucks, which for the amount of food is perfectly fine with me.