CITY DAILY PHOTO MARCH THEME - COMFORT FOOD

This will be meaningful only to people who live in certain American cities. White Castle is the original fast food restaurant, founded in 1921. It is known for its tiny square hamburgers, about 2.5 inches / 6 or 7 cm on a side, often referred to as sliders - you could almost slide it down your throat. They are cooked on a griddle with water and referred to as steam grilled, then served with a bit of chopped onion and dill pickle. Nothing like it.

There are only 377 of them in the US, less than one-tenth the number of McDonald's, concentrated in the Midwest, upper South and the NY-NJ metro area. There was one in the neighborhood in Queens, New York, where I grew up, and I became hooked. There are several in St. Louis. It's where I go when I need some soothing.                   

 

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.

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Abandon all hope, ye who enter here, the inscription over the gates of hell in The Inferno, the first part of Dante Alighieri's fourteenth-century epic poem Divine Comedy. Some people with their noses in the air feel that way about White Castle, a fast food joint in some American metropolitan areas, insisting that it is truly culinary hell. I contend that sliders, as the diminutive, steam-grilled hamburgers are often called, reflect a cultivated taste. They won fame among the international stoner set in the classic film Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. They must permeate your soul, or at least your arterial walls, from childhood to be understood. There was one in the neighborhood in New York City where I grew up. My whole body knows how delicious they are. Therefore, I enter with the expectation of paradise.

By the way, you can calculate which circle of hell to which you will be consigned by taking a simple test. Most White Castle patrons would end up in the Third Circle with the gluttons but your results may vary. Click here.

May The Angels In This Storm Guide President Bush

A lunch counter at the corner of 18th and Olive on the edge of downtown. Surprisingly, the management has a fundamental grasp of contemporary British politics, not to mention a World War II sense of allegiance and a wacky talent for prose style. Click the picture to see the details. The left window pane says MAY GOD SAVE THE QUEEN AND CONTINUE TO BLESS AMERICA AND ITS ALLIES. The right says MAY THE ANGELS IN THIS STORM GUIDE PRESIDENT BUSH AND PRIME MINISTER BROWN IN HISTORY'S FINEST HOUR REMEMBERED.

Say what? I hope Tony Blair and David Cameron don't stop by for a bite and begin asking questions.

BONUS FACTOID: devoted movie fans may remember the film White Palace, in which a young Jewish advertising copywriter from St. Louis falls is love with a middle-aged, red-neck White Castle waitress played by Susan Sarandon. They couldn't use the actual name White Castle so they called it White Palace. They couldn't shoot it in an actual White Castle restaurant (Sarandon's character was supposed to work at the White Castle at Grand and Gravois, as blue collar as it got at that time) so the producers took this beat-up old diner and transformed it into the movie set. The movie was based on the wonderful novel by the late Glenn Savan. I was Savan's lawyer at one time, and a more intelligent, literate and tragically ill client I may never see again.

TOMORROW: Asian women eating frozen desserts.

CDPB Theme Day - Typical Breakfast (Then and Now)

Breakfast of Champions!

How age changes us. The subject of the first photo was a very special Sunday morning breakfast when I was in college. 3 or 4 AM Sunday morning, after a night of partying.

White Castle is something special to me. (See also here.) I have a previous post about it. A few years ago they had an ad campaign with the theme, "Hamburgers for breakfast? Why Not?" Hors d'oeuvre-ish, square little burgers, about 2.5 inches (6 1/3 cm) on a side, slightly greasy, full of onion flavor, moist (grilled with steam, if you can imagine that), nutritionally worthless and absolutely deeelishus. Their trademarked slogan is "What You Crave" and, by God, I still do. Back in my reckless youth, they were particularly appreciated in the small hours, washed down by the last brewski of the night (except they didn't have light beer back then and we couldn't afford Budweiser. The can in the picture is for illustration purposes only.) Now they are a rare treat when there is an exceptional need to reward myself.

But today? Booorrriing! Whole grain cereal with sliced banana and strawberries in non-fat milk, eaten at my desk at eight in the morning. Everyone now, especially people around my age, is nutrition conscious, fat content conscious, vitamin conscious, roughage conscious and lucky to be conscious. What happened to my youthful joie de vivre?

CDPB BLOGGERS ALL AROUND THE WORLD ARE UPLOADING BREAKFAST PHOTOS TODAY. IF YOU'VE GOT THE MUNCHIES REALLY BAD AND WANT TO FIND OUT HOW THEY START THE DAY IN MUMBAI, MOSCOW OR MEXICO, CHECK OUT THESE SITES:

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TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series