Gene's New Orlean's Style Poboys and Deli

1209 East 11th Street
Austin, Texas 78702
512-477-6600



I was walking my new dog around my new neighborhood in my new city when I came across Gene's Poboys (okay, so the dog is my roommate's but when he's at work I pretend Sparks is all mine). It's a tiny spot and I was immediately enticed by the thought of a poboy, a type of New Orlean's style hoagie sandwich often stuffed with shrimp or roast beef and laid out fat on crusty French bread. Having enjoyed only one poboy in my life, I was intrigued, and declared to Sparks that I would visit Gene's the next day for lunch.

Yoga was excruciating the next morning as I fantasized about my impending lunch at Gene's. While everyone else om-ed and said their blessings to a new day, I sat there with one single thought: fried shrimp on bread. I ran home, showered, and rushed over to Gene's.

The ambiance was nice--down home, checkered tablecloths, yet, seemingly no air conditioning. There was a cluster of hipster boys in a corner. The man at the counter told me to sit and soon I would be waited on. I waited and waited and waited (of course this waiting was only made worse by my dire need for a poboy sandwich). Finally a young cute boy came over to take my order: shrimp poboy, diet coke, and a side of fries. My poboy was $7 and the fries just $.99. I perused the menu and made a mental note to return on Thursday for their daily special: smothered pork chops, collard greens, sweet potatoes, and corn bread (oh yummy).

The food came out relatively fast and the sandwich was just as tasty as I imagined. Two big baguettes filled with fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, and special sauce (tasted like mayo to me). The fries were so-so and I didn't finish them but even though I was so full half-way through, the poboy was so delicious I ate every last bite.

It's both dangerous and amazing that this joint is just mere minutes from my new residence.

DeMore's Fish Den

(Ohio's Seafood)
1400 E Perry St (HWY 163)
Port Clinton, OH 43452

I was heading towards Cleveland along Highway 163, the coast of Lake Erie to my left, when my traveling partner decides he needs food ASAP in Port Clinton. We pass a Wendy's and a Burger King, and I refuse to stop determined to find some sort of home grown Ohio Cuisine. We spot a sign with a blue fish, letters below spelling out "1 POUND PERCH DINNER...$8.99". Perch! Fried Perch. I hadn't had perch in years. I convinced my partner (someone who'd grown up in San Fransisco, never hearing of "a perch" before) that perch is basically the lobster of the Great Lakes, he must not miss the opportunity to try it. We pull in.

The parking lot was empty, so was the restaurant. At the register two Indian women, a mother and daughter greeted us by explaining the lunch special was over, but we could still have it because they had forgotten to wipe it off the chalk board. We explained we didn't want a whole pound, or a half a pound of perch, but maybe just like a fourth a pound. They suggested we order a perch sandwich meal $4.99, and they would take off the bun. Agreed.

This is the type of restaurant that would close it's doors immediately if the world took away freezers and plastic. Absolutely nothing was fresh, even the lemon was in plastic packages. The fish was terrible. Frozen, not fresh, tough, and the "breading" was a soggy case the fish had been stuck into. This was not the perch I remembered from my childhood. Perhaps DeMore had collected the dead perch washed up on shore of Lake Erie across the street from the Restaurant?

While dousing the fish with tarter sauce, preserved lemon juice, and malt vinegar to kill the taste, I told tales of my dad fishing in the lakes of northern Wisconsin, catching fresh perch, gutting it, and then pan frying it with his secret spices(salt and black pepper), flour, and milk. The breading would stick to the fish. The fish itself would be light and flaky, falling off the bone.

We threw half the meal away and walked over to the shore. The smell of goose poop had us running to the car before the perch came back up. We took off back down 163 and about 2 minutes down the road were a cluster of perch restaurants, each with packed parking lots.

Road Rule #1 Don't stop at a restaurant in an unknown area unless there are at least three vehicles or bikes in the parking lot.

Melissa's SOBA NOODLES WITH BOK CHOY

Filled with enzymes.

Ingredients:

6 oz. Buck Wheat Soba Noodles
1 large head of Bok Choy, or 2 small heads
1 medium sized carrot
2 medium garlic cloves
1 small chunk of ginger, about 2 table spoons (I never really measure, I usually go by my feeling towards ginger that day)
2 tablespoons olive oil (seasame is good too)
2 tablespoons Bragg's Liquid Aminos (available at any health food store)
2-3 tablespoons dry white wine, or rice wine
1.5 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 small lemon
dash of soy sauce
1 potato peeler

Boil the Soba Noodles for 5 minutes, drain and set aside.

Take a potato peeler and peel the ginger into thin slices. Peel the carrot with the potato peeler, then when you have a pile of thin strips of carrots chop them once or twice with a knife just to make the strips a little shorter. Chop, don't crush, the garlic into chunks. Put the oil in a wide cooking pan, and bring to a medium-high heat. Toss the garlic in for a minute, just to get the garlic cooked a little. Add water, wine, liquid amino's, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and carrot. Cook for 4 minutes. Add the bok choy. The bok choy cooks fast, about 3 minutes, don't overcook-just until it begins to wilt. Throw in the cooked soba noodles and stir over a medium heat. Squeeze the lemon over everything, and toss some more. Make sure to get everything mixed up good, then taste. Does it need more vinegar, soy sauce, lemon etc. ?Make it to your taste.

Serve in a nice big bowl. Feeds two. You can also add a nice chunk of ginger marinated tofu on the side....

This dish was inspired by Katie.