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B.A.
Nilsson
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Extreme
Dinery
By
B.A. Nilsson
Uncle
Milty’s Diner
Route
9W, Glenmont, 434-3761.
Serving Tue-Sun 7 AM-2 PM.
Cash and personal checks.
Food:
***½ Service: Bustling
Ambience:
Classic diner
We
arrived at Uncle Milty’s on the heels of a party of six that
clogged the entryway. Just ahead of them was a party of five,
sitting at the counter. Servers bustled by us, arms laden
with breakfast goodies. Most of the tables looked crowded.
It seemed hopeless.
The crowd shifted slightly. A table bobbed by us, carried
by a server who used it to fashion room for six at a booth
for four. And suddenly we were beckoned to a booth.
That we were placed between the party of six and the party
of five was of little consequence. As I contemplated the menu,
I didn’t succumb to the urge to reach behind me and grab the
cell phone out of the numbskull’s hand (you’re dining with
five others and you need to shout into a phone to somebody
else?). Nor did I slap the child with the party of five who
erupted into tears from time to time, impervious to his mom’s
halfhearted there-theres. I was in too good of a mood.
Besides: It’s a diner. It’s Sunday. It’s slack-cutting time.
Uncle Milty’s has been serving the Glenmont area, in one form
or another, since 1939. Until nine years ago, it was the Miss
Glenmont Diner; now it’s run by Milty Pappas and sisters Fifi
and Frederica Fotiu, with Milty helming the stoves and the
Fotius running the floor.
Once we were seated and coffee and tea started to flow, life
seemed better still. We contemplated the offerings, and studied
the plates being served around us, to come up with an order.
It’s a simple menu, livened by specials. Smoked-salmon eggs
Benedict with asparagus spears ($8) is popular one—popular
enough that it was sold out by the time we arrived. Cheese
blintzes ($7), potato pancakes with apple sauce and sour cream
($6) and a variety of waffles are also big brunch movers.
Otherwise, you’ve always got eggs for ($3 to $6) with various
sides (bacon, hash, sausage, you know the drill), and omelettes
($4.55 to $6), all served with potatoes and toast. Pancakes
and French toast and an array of baked goods also are available.
And that’s just the breakfast end of things. Soups and salads
and the house special chili are available; over two dozen
sandwiches cover hot to cold, with the usual variety of fillings
as well as clubs, grilled monstrosities, meatloaf and even
a sirloin steak sandwich.
Uncle Milty’s burgers have won renown; those, too, come in
a wide variety that includes a vegetarian filling.
As I noted last week, the origins of eggs Benedict have retreated
into the mist of time, but it’s generally thought that a Wall
Street broker named Lemuel Benedict sought to soothe a hangover
back in 1894 while breakfasting at the Waldorf Hotel, and
asked for an assembly of toast, bacon, eggs and Hollandaise
sauce—a formula that was changed slightly to include an English
muffin and a slice of ham or Canadian bacon.
It’s a dish that lives or dies on the strength of its sauce.
Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of egg yolks, lemon juice
(or vinegar) and butter, with appropriate seasonings, prepared
hot (mayonnaise is a cold version, using oil instead of butter).
It’s therefore a fat-rich sauce, which means it coats your
palate in such a way that flavors seem to linger forever.
That’s what makes it appealingly tasty.
The Uncle Milty’s version (which includes Canadian bacon)
gives you a straight-ahead style that will certainly cheer
the palate, and Susan’s order was completed with a serving
of standard home fries.
Our daughter is a waffle fan, and those weekends when I’m
persuaded to make them she’s right there helping, measuring
flour, adding leavening, even helping to separate eggs. But
we use a conventional iron, so she was unprepared for the
sight of the Belgian waffle that headed her way ($5.75), with
its puffier-than-expected surface. Not that much of it could
be glimpsed beneath the strawberries and whipped cream that
rendered it Alpine looking.
It was as if the gods of breakfast had answered her most secret
prayer. Whipped cream! For the main course! Right in front
of her parents! No going wrong with this dish.
I ordered a bacon burger deluxe platter with cheese ($6.55),
the deluxe features of which were a side of fries and some
salad fixings. I’m most partial to burgers that clearly originate
from scratch; this was a bit too symmetrical to be hand-shaped,
but it was good-sized and cooked to my specification (medium-rare:
I live dangerously in this era of awful meat-packing). So
I’d rate this one of the better burger bargains in the area.
The crowd thinned as closing time approached—“but you can
come in at 2 o’clock and still get served,” Milty later assured
me. We were well taken care of, and wish only that this diner
were closer to our house.
Breakfast for three, with tax and tip and beverages, was $28.
TABLE
SCRAPS
Lake
George’s Armand C. VanderStigchel will sign copies of his
book Adirondack Cuisine at the Open Door Bookstore
(128 Jay St., Schenectady) from 1 to 2:30 PM Saturday (May
11), while offering a selection of tasting samples to demonstrate
the wide range of cookery just to the north of us. The influence
of German, Dutch, French, Italian and Irish tourists and immigrants
is reflected in a varied style of cooking that also includes
fresh ingredients native to the area. Call 346-2719 for more
info. . . . Miki Japanese Restaurant (236 Washington Ave.,
Saratoga Springs) is offering a traditional tea ceremony with
a five-course dinner Sunday evenings from May 26 through June
31. Tea begins the meal, followed by clear soup, an entrée
of lobster or chicken, sashimi, tempura and more. Vegetarian
options also are available. It’s $25 per person; make reservations
by calling 583-9175. . . . Remember to pass your scraps to
Metroland.
—B.A.N.
(Please
fax info to 922-7090)
Metroland
restaurant reviews are based on one unannounced visit;
your experience may differ.
Food Rating Key: *****
An exciting, fulfilling experience; the food and service are
everything they set out to be. Brillat-Savarin would be proud.
****
Way up there with really good food, definitely worth your
dining dollar. Julia Child would be proud. ***
Average, with hints of excitement. Your mother would be pleased.
**
A dining-out bogey; food probably isn’t the first priority.
Colonel Sanders would be disappointed. *
K-rations posing as comestibles. Your dog would be disgusted.
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