In March, we (Well, some of us...) celebrated March 14 as Pi Day (3/14 is the date; the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter is about 3.14). It was celebrated with pies...pizza, apple, Key lime, and more. Since I really like pi and pie, I have decided to unilaterally declare April Pi/Pie Month. Let’s dig in and see what I dug up.
Spring is here, and so is Easter. What foods could I feature for The Great Food Search? I thought about it, and the first thing that came to mind was an Easter Ham. The second thing I thought of was the Easter Egg. Then in a flash of insight, BAM! Sandwiches! There are sandwiches with ham, and there are sandwiches with egg. Of course, the path to figuring out the theme of this GFS was a bit more torturous than that, but “On with the Show!”
Valentine’s Day is over, but echoes of romance remain, so The Great Food Search is here to share a pair of places that reach the heart by way of the stomach. What could be more romantic than a dinner for two?
2023 was quite a year for The Great Food Search, reviewing 34 different eateries. Here’s a top five.
You know how sometimes you have really good food, but you don’t finish it, so you have a refrigerator full of leftovers? Food reviewers can have a version of that. Maybe you come across a great restaurant, but it doesn’t fit the theme you had planned for that month, so the pictures sit in your phone until you can’t quite remember what you ate or where it was. That happened to me this year, so I present—LEFTOVERS 2023!
Sometimes, I hanker for a rare steak. Other days, I long for salmon. In the summer, a salad sounds like a really good idea. Yes, summers are My Salad Days.
It happened in 1904: Latrobe, Pennsylvania. “Doc” Strickler, an optometrist, cut a banana lengthwise, added three different scoops of ice cream, topped it with strawberries, raspberries, crushed pineapple, marshmallow syrup, chopped nuts, and pitted black cherries. That was the first Banana Split. It was a hit, and Strickler eventually bought the pharmacy/soda fountain downstairs from his office.
The Great Food Search will go just about anywhere in search of food providers to share with a salivating public. Once more, we scoured the Valley for food trucks with good eats, looking for food trucks parked at Gazebo Gardens, the Tower District Farmers Market, Simonian Farms, Reedley College Farmers Market, and Sanger High School.
Usually, The Great Food Search seeks out unique dishes and eating establishments in the San Joaquin Valley, but this installment is a little different. I focused on chain restaurants. I dragged my wife (All right, sometimes she dragged me) to places in Clovis, Fresno, and Kingsburg. We discovered Spring menus and new offerings at well-known restaurants ... and they were good! Follow us on another Great Food Search to see what’s new in some of the Old Reliables.
In September 2022, The Great Food Search brought you Fresno Street Eats. In January 2023, The Great Food Search brought you Return of Fresno Street Eats. NOW—The Great Food Search brings you Return of the Return of Fresno Street Eats.
