Chasing Away the Winter Blahs: New Haven

As most of you know, its been a nasty winter in the East this year (as well as most of the rest of the country), with the snow piled high, the temperature on most days below freezing, and difficult travel conditions because of all the snow and inevitable ice. Yesterday was a bit different because the temperature rose to about 35, so we had a nasty rainy day. Because my wife and I had a strong case of cabin fever, we decided to take a road trip to New Haven, 45 minutes away, to see if we could chase away the winter blahs.

As a knowledgeable foodie with an addiction to the Food and Travel Channels, I’ve wanted to go to Louis’ Lunch, http://www.louislunch.com, for many years to eat a burger at the institution that claims to have invented the hamburger in 1900 (5 years after it opened), and is know to have one of the top burgers in the East. We arrived just after opening time at noon (the luncheonette is open until 2 am, no doubt for hungry Yalie’s), with only a small line in front of us.

You place your order at the counter and then find a seat, if possible, in the small, historic dining area that consists of a couple of communal tables, about 10 to 12 counter stools, and two pairs of seats reminiscent of old school desks.

Ordering at Louis is very straightforward:

1. Determine the number of burgers you want.
2. Decide which toppings you want on the burgers: “cheese, tomato, and onion are the only acceptable garnish—no true connoisseur would consider corrupting the classic taste with mustard or ketchup.” There are no other options!
3. Order potato salad, chips or soft drinks if you want. Slices of pie are available for dessert.

We ordered two burgers with the works, two potato salads and some birch beer as a chaser.

We were fortunate to snag a pair of desk chairs when someone else left, and sat down to wait for our name to be called. While waiting we checked out some of the historical pistols and guns on the walls, as well as the original cast iron grills which are still used to vertically broil the burgers. These ovens are very cool; I’ve never seen anything like them (check out the photo).

After a bit of a wait (there are only the three ovens you see in the picture), our name was called. We picked up our fully topped burgers which are sandwiched between two pieces of white toast (almost forgot to mention this—and yes, this is your bun option), and returned to our desk.

The Food:

• Potato salad: potatoes, eggs, and mayo. A bit more egg that we prefer, but decent.
• Burgers: properly cooked to medium/ medium rare. Very tasty, minimal grease (runs off because of the vertical broiling). You really get to taste the meat due to the limited condiments, but I typically like more of everything (e.g. extra cheese, maybe some bacon and mushrooms, ketchup and spicy mustard, pickles…), and not sure how I feel about the “have it our way” approach.

Overall, I’d rate this burger a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, but have recently had a better burger, The Squealer, at Plan B Burger Bar in Simsbury, http://www.planbburger.com. The Squealer is a combination beef / pork burger with bacon, lettuce, pickles, cheese, tomato, mustard and mayo. And, if I want to remove or add condiments, they are more than happy to oblige. That said, Louis’ Luncheonette is a foodie institution, a historic, fun place to visit and eat for folks visiting the New Haven area, and many feel strongly that Louis’ is the Best Burger in the East.

(Note: of course, if you’re not in the mood for a burger, there is excellent pizza in New Haven at Sally’s or Pepe’s, but that will be the subject of a future blog.)

Well sated, we dodged the rain and proceeded to check out a couple of the Yale Museums less than a block away, starting at the Yale Center for British Art. It’s a beautifully designed, four story museum that houses the most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. In addition to the many portraits of British royalty and war generals, there are some terrific landscape paintings of London and the countryside. There is also a current exhibition of drawings, woodblock prints, and sculptures by Rebecca Salter who uses ancient Japanese woodblock printing techniques. We really enjoyed this exhibit; the art is both simple and elegant.

Next, we crossed the street and stepped into the Yale Art Museum, an eclectic collection of art that ranges from the Ancient Chinese BC Dynasties, to the Modern Art of Warhol, Rothko, Pollock, and Lichtenstein. There’s also a smattering of Impressionist works by Degas, Van Gogh, and Monet, and a fairly large collection of Renaissance and African Art. So, there’s something for all. The four gallery floors are very accessible, and the vibe is quite relaxed with students sitting yoga style in front of the art while writing art papers on their iMacs. Both museums are free and also offer visitors free tours and headsets. We covered both museums in about three hours and really enjoyed ourselves.

After a hit of coffee across the street at Atticus Café, we drove home in the continuing rain, haven shaken a bit of the Winter Blah’s. We can only hope that Punxsutawney Phil is correct, and that we have less than 6 weeks to go!