Offbeat Eats

Coming back home to New Hampshire from Cleveland requires a rather lengthy drive across New York State, with two options: the Thruway, or the slightly longer route taking the Southern Tier. Due to some rather heavy snow coming off of the lake, we opted for the Southern Tier route, which resulted in us passing through Corning, NY around lunch time. We decided to stop there, since the location was convenient, and I’ve got a soft spot for Corning since I was born there. Like most of our visits there, we ended up on Market Street downtown, this time giving Atlas Brick Oven Pizzeria a try.

I recently had a family-related trip to Corning, NY (where I was born), and found myself craving dinner in downtown Corning (Market Street, a.k.a. The Gaffer’s District). While this part of town has quite a few restaurants (including one I’ve already reviewed), most of the places are pubs, Italian places, or pizza joints, none of which were really appealing to me. I was craving something a little more upscale, and a quick web search led me to Three Birds. Nestled in at the eastern end of Market Street, Three Birds is in a doubled-up storefront having a rather ornate bar on one side, and dinner tables on the other. Being a solo diner this time, and somewhat light on my appetite, I decided to sit at the bar, which also allowed me to peruse both their normal dinner menu, as well as the lighter bar menu.

I’m always a bit amazed by regional names for things. In most areas, a hot dog with chili is simply a “chili dog”. In Detroit or Worcestor, MA, it’s a “coney dog.” In Northeast New York State, it’s a “dog with Michigan sauce.” And, in southwestern NY, it’s a “Texas Hot.” (Yeah, yeah, purists will explain to me the difference between coney sauce and chili, but the point remains that’s it’s essentially the same thing.) In any case, I stumbled on one of the better examples of a New York “Texas Hot” hot dog stand in Corning, NY…