Flat Stanley joined the Chowder Family this week, courtesy of our cousin/nephew in Northern California. So we decided to take him on a Chowder Journey to help him tell a story about New England.

First Stop: Newport, Rhode Island

We brought him to the Five 33 Lounge on Goat Island, home of one of our all time favorite chowders.

Aquidneck Clam Chowder

ChowderBoy ordered a cheese plate. Flat Stanley was not interested. But ChowderCheeseBoy thinks it is amazing. Most of it. Some of it ended up in our mini-fridge.

Rubbing his hands in anticipation...

ChowderGirl ordered the Aquidneck Clam Chowder.

Flat Stanley! Don't bogart the chowder!

ChowderMom ordered a Coddington beer of some kind!

Stanley! You are too young for this!

Stanley Says: These couches are the most comfortable couches ever! If we lived here, we would be the happiest people in the world! And they have the Bruins on! It’s like heaven!

Stanley Says...

The chowder was outstanding. Unlike many chowders we’ve tasted before, it was unusual. Extra buttery, red potatoes with the skins on, the perfect amount of dill and seasonings and holy clams, Batman.

ChowderBoy and Flat Stanley were so happy with the chowder that they ordered more from room service.

Room Service!

You jerks! But hey, thanks for the extra beer!

Tomorrow – Black Pearl!

The first day of February Vacation started with a bang. We decided to go chowdering in the city for the day. ChowderDad and I always like to add a bit of history and interest to the chowdering so we picked Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan.

Bar menu!

I’ve never been there – I am so glad we finally went! The food was ridiculously good and it wasn’t a tourist trap at all.

We decided to eat in the bar, and instantly zoned in on 3 dishes: Smoked Haddock Chowder, Irish Cheese Plate, and Garlic Shrimp with Grilled Bread.

Big Thumbs Up For Fraunces!

Then ChowderParents hit a major stumbling block. What to drink? They had so many whiskeys and draft beers, we struggled to find the right drinks. In the end, it was like a George Thoroughgood song.

One bourbon, one bloody, three beers.

Slurp.

Whack fol the daddy-o, there’s chowder in this bar!

OMG. Look at this!

Let us all just say that Fraunces Tavern’s smoked haddock chowder is so good, we were almost weeping.

ChowderGirl, “It needs salt. All chowder needs salt.”

ChowderGirl

We spent our time fighting each other for the next bite. It was amazing. Perfectly cooked potatoes, fantastic haddock, great smoky taste – just perfect perfection.

By The Time It Circled Back To Mom...

ChowderBoy = ChowderCheeseBoy

Won't someone please cut his hair?

“WOAH!!! HEY DAD!!! !TRY SOME CHEESE!!!! The cheese is really good! ESPECIALLY the orange one. We will have to go get this cheese it is so good. Ask them where the orange cheese is from. I need to eat this at home!”

It's apparently Lancaster cheddar. And other stuff.

ChowderGirl had garlic shrimp with grilled bread and got offended and crankypants when she was forced to share her meal.

Livin’ La Vida Loca

Finally, I’ve been interested in trying a properly made Sazerac and this place seemed like just the right balance of hipsters and tourists and whiskey. Unfortunately, I may not actually like Sazeracs.

This'll be the day that I die...

Overall: We cannot say enough wonderful things about Fraunces Tavern. Perfect way to kick off the day and prepare for the insanity of midtown on a holiday weekend.

Very baconey. Very thin. If it was thick, we would have LOVED it.

No chowder picture...

This was our last grab. And it was great but we were just so very very done with writing or thinking about chowder, we couldn’t really make a fair assessment.

We hit the wall. This was the taste that brought us to our Chowder Knees.

We’ve been there for dinner before, loved the dining experience, and we will have to go back just to try the chowder properly. It’s not their fault we ate too much chowder.

On to the review.

Southport Brewing Company: Clams Casino

The biggest thing about this soup was that none of us could figure out why it is considered Clams Casino.

• “What makes it Clams Casino anyway?”
• “It is a great tasting soup but I don’t understand what makes it Clams Casino? I need a bigger bacon flavor, among other things.”

Interesting...

The biggest question was…WHERE IS THE DEAD PIG?

Clams Casino Chowder

We liked it very much. But not knowing why it is called Clams Casino Chowder…we were confused. And saddened.

Southport Brewing Company: Sausage, Egg & Cheese

Once again, the ChowderFamily asks “Where is the dead pig?” If it is supposed to be sausage-inclusive, why don’t we taste any sausage?

Where's the dead pig?

It has a bit of a weird taste.

We liked it in theory more than in practice.

ChowderBoy? Liked everything about it and had 3 cups.

Nice booth set up though! We liked the visual

We still love you SBC!

Possibly the best quote of the day came from this sampling. “There’s a secret stash of bacon in here but it only came in mine.”

New England Crab Chowder

It was very floury and ChowderDad said “I liked it to start but it went real bad, real fast.”

ChowderMom really enjoyed it and thinks ChowderDad was imaging things.

Crab Shell NY Giant Lobster Bisque

ChowderBoy thinks it is disgusting. But then, we have established that he does not like lobster bisque at all.

but not the Giants.”]So it’s up to ChowderMom. Here’s the deal. “I loved it. I did. It was, by far, the best bisque of the day. But I could not vote for it because they named it after the Giants. And booooooo.”

Darn, that's good!

I would go back there a thousand times for their bisque. It was THAT good.

The soul of Ireland in the heart of SoNo. I cannot believe we have lived in the area for almost 7 years and we have never been to O’Neill’s. Especially because we’re relatively proud Irish Americanish kinds of people. (How’s that for a half explanation?)

New Irish Chowder

So we were very excited to see them on the ChowdaFest list.

So the chowder. Well, it was rich and tasty but no one could figure out what made it Irish. And that really disappointed us – because we were counting on something WOO! It tasted good – but it tasted like New England Clam Chowder.

We were looking for something else. Maybe some secret stash of salmon would be included…along with infinite wisdom and knowledge.

Isn't This McCool?

But it was really good. We really did enjoy it and now, now we think we must go there for a Happy Hour or Sunday Brunch.

Such a hardship, really, for us to be forced to go to a classic Irish pub. I hear they make a great bloody mary. But we all have trials and tribulations…

Reblogged from OmNomCT:

One of the best parts about being food bloggers is that we get to meet lots of other awesome foodies. And while we love each of our fellow foodies in their own unique way, none are quite as irresistibly  adorable and super cool as the “ChowderFamily”! Who’s the ChowderFamily you ask? Psh, only the owners of Chowderkids, the most chowderific blog in Fairfield County (and the world) devoted to the love of all things chowder (well, New England style that is – but more on that later)! We first came across …

The @ChowderKids are famous! Thanks to our friends@OmNomCT!

Which is your favorite ChowderKids tag cloud?

Funny thing they all have in common…CHOWDER. Maybe we ought to start reviewing cheese.

Ash Creek Saloon:

I have to admit that we may be pretty biased here. We really desperately want to love this place. It just never happens.

Sorry, Guys!

However much we enjoy dead pig in this house (and we do love dead pig), everyone felt it was overpowering in some way.

• It starts better than it finishes.
• It tastes like burnt ham.
• Maybe there is too much dead pig in it?

Rowayton’s Lobster Bisque:

Lesson learned. The children hate lobster bisque. Because this was pretty okay and they both freaked out and refused to finish it.

That said, the lobster didn’t taste fresh. It tasted a bit gummy. The overall flavor was fantastic though!

Restaurant at Rowayton

Nicholas Roberts’ Oyster & Pork Belly:

The line made it nearly impossible to get through and even taste it. It looks great, the individual serving seemed to be a priority for them (fresh breadcrumbs or something) and we heard from Random Chowder Lady that it was very very good. Maybe we will have to take a trip there to try it.

Wahhhh! We want pork belly!

Do you know of any Chowder Festivals we simply need to attend? Any dead pig festivals? Hunger Games feasts?

We’re getting ready for Newport but maybe you’ve got a favorite even we need to attend beforehand!

So today, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I want to break away from sharing opinions on chowder and tell a story. The most important chowder story our family has.

The Engagement Story

In a few months, ChowderDad and I will celebrate 20 years together. We met in college, we are still VERY YOUNG. In fact, we were very young when we packed up from the east coast and moved to Tucson, Arizona so he could finish his degree. We were very young and I swear, if either of these kids pulls something like this, I will smack them upside the head.

Tanque Verde Falls, 1993

We moved 2,500 miles away, bought a house, and at some point, I decided we should get married. For largely practical reasons including free tuition – reasons which supported my general desire to marry him.

I gave him a deadline which wasn’t actually an ultimatum, more like a technical fact. If we wanted to get married in 1995, he needed to ask my by some random date. And I really would have been JUST FINE with 1996. I just didn’t want to have a long engagement. I’m not much of a wedding type, really.

So his side of this goes something like “Once I decided to ask her, I had trouble finding the right time. Either I would freak out and decide not to do it right then, not being ready to do it at that second. Or I would get up the courage to do it and she’d fallen asleep or would belch or something. It just never seemed like the right time.”

One day, I was in the kitchen, making us some chowder. Yes, in Tucson. 96 degrees in the shade and I’m making chowder. Apparently, overwhelmed with desire to have me make chowder for him for the rest of our lives, he came in, asked me to put down the spoon and asked me to marry him.

Reader, I said yes. And I didn’t even burn the chowder.

Eight Months Later….

We were married in my parents backyard on the Cape. We had a raw bar and passed appetizers before the inevitable.

You got it. We had chowder. Coffee mugs of chowder all around.

Chowder. Making All Good Things Possible

Unfortunately, there is not a single picture of the chowder from that day. But trust me, it was there, and it was GREAT.

Happy Valentine’s Day. May the chowder always be in your flavor.