Top all-American dishes in "500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late"

U.S. Cultural Insights from the Wall Street Journal

At a time when big restaurant chains seem more ubiquitous than ever, "Roadfood" authors Jane and Michael Stern continue to focus on the quirky all-American food haunts. In their latest guide, "500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late," their advice ranges from the best hot fried chicken (Keaton's Barbecue in Cleveland, N.C.) to whoopee pies (Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster in Freeport, Maine).

America's Top 15 Food Stops

Mr. Stern picks his favorite dishes across America.

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The Sterns began charting America's regional eateries in 1978 with the publication of their first book, "Roadfood." They now write a column for Gourmet magazine, manage the Web site Roadfood.com and have authored more than 40 books. The couple divorced in 2008, but that has not prevented them from working together.

The title "500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late" is something of a space grab, since it resembles in spirit Patricia Schultz's successful travel book "1,000 Places to See Before You Die," published by Workman in 2003. "Of course we were thinking about that," says Mr. Stern. "But people are always want to know where is the best, and we wanted to answer that question." Mr. Stern, 62 years old, was interviewed by telephone.

The Wall Street Journal: The words "too late" in the title are ominous. Are you referring to the death of the small eatery, or the reader's impending doom from eating too much fried chicken, French fries and fried fish?

Michael Stern: I'm referring to the impending onslaught of the nutrition police who will make all of this stuff illegal one of these days.

WSJ: Can you talk about the methodology for this book?

Mr. Stern: We traveled and ate as much as we could. Then we decided what were the "must eats" if readers were going to New Mexico or southern California. What is the most important thing to eat in that location? There are a lot of things we would have liked to include, things we forgot or that are deserving. We had to make choices.

WSJ: Do you feel you personally have to sample everything in the book, or do you use trusted researchers?

Mr. Stern: We learned long ago not to use trusted researchers. We've eaten everything in this book. There are a lot of people whose opinions we value, people whose tips we know will be great. But we have to taste it to put our names on it.

WSJ: There are so many Web sites these days that have moved in on your turf. How do you distinguish what you do from the competition?

Mr. Stern: I think what distinguishes Roadfood.com is that it has an anthropological point of view. By that, I mean our interests -- and the interests of many who participate in our Web site -- is not to find the most delicious meal in a vacuum, but to find food that is part of a whole culture. In that sense, we love a fabulous Jell-O bar in a Midwest cafeteria even if I wouldn't suggest Jell-O is a food everyone has to eat. We don't need to find a pure food that goes from farm to table. That doesn't describe a lot of what Americans really eat.

WSJ: It doesn't seem like America has lost any variety, despite the presence of national food chains. True or not?

Mr. Stern: There are two forces working against each other. We have lost some variety and some local specialties that once were easy to find and are now hard or impossible to find due to chain restaurants. On the other hand, Americans have become more conscious about regional food. When Jane and I started, people thought the only regional food was fried chicken and hot dogs. Now we're aware of a lot of regional traditions, and this helps sustain them. There has been a rebirth of interest in regional food that parallels its diminution because of franchises.

WSJ: Is there a specific food you wished you had included?

Mr. Stern: Yes, the Korean taco. It's a big deal in L.A. now. As the name suggests, it's a dish that is a great example of America as a culinary melting pot and as a country happy to hyphenate its food. The kimchi [a pickled Korean dish] is what makes it different.

WSJ: How do these recommendations differ from recommendations from your earlier books, including last year's "Roadfood: The Coast-to-Coast Guide to 700 of the Best Barbecue Joints, Lobster Shacks, Ice Cream Parlors, Highway Diners, and Much, Much More"?

Mr. Stern: There's obviously an overlap. But what sets this book apart is its focus on the dish. In "Roadfood: The Coast-to-Coast Guide," we focused on a lot of great restaurants.

Jane and Michael Stern

WSJ: Why the emphasis on huge portions? You laud Iowa pork chops "thick as a cylinder of filet mignon, but broader by a factor of four," and you note that the huevos rancheros at Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis is "a dish so formidable that you might want to consider a trowel rather than a fork as the suitable eating tool."

Mr. Stern: I will shift responsibility to say that it's not we as writers emphasizing huge portions but the places that serve them. One characteristic of the kind of American food we love is exuberance. And in many cases that's expressed in huge portions.

WSJ: Any concerns about your recommendations from a health point of view? You've got hot dogs "piled high with mayo" at Flo's in Cape Neddick, Maine; French fries covered in gravy at Murphy's Steak House in Bartlesville, Okla.; and chicken-fried steak at Hoover's Cooking in Austin.

Mr. Stern: This isn't a book for sick people. This is a book for people fundamentally healthy. I don't recommend eating hot dogs at Flo's seven days a week, but a vast majority of the food that is unique and beloved by Americans is nutritionally incorrect.

WSJ: If you had only $20 in your wallet, and you were absolutely starved, where would you go and why?

Mr. Stern: I'd go to Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis. They serve three meals a day, and they are all spectacular.

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