Eating in New England

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. My travels up and down the Northeast corridor, first through New Jersey, and now in Connecticut, have curtailed my blogging. On the other hand, driving to New England has allowed me to reflect on the state of diners in America. On Interstate 95 past Stamford, I saw a welcoming sign for a 24-hour diner. Directly below that sign was another that read "and vegetarian enclave." Diners are famously known for their vast array of entrees, some with meat and some without. Do vegetarians really need an "enclave" to protect them from those insufferable carnivores?

On the other hand, if you ever find yourself in bucolic Essex, I highly recommend a stopover at the Revolutionary War-era Griswold Inn, with its 15th-century firearms and original Currier-and-Ives prints adorning the walls. And what better to have at the "Gris" than a warm crock of French onion gratinée and the Inn's trademark "1776 Sausages" with sauerkraut and warmed potatoes on the side, all the while swigging pints of John Courage. I hear they're remodeling the Steamboat Room and turning it into a winebar. But still no word on a vegetarian enclave.