Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Kissin Cuzzins - St. Petersburg, Florida a 2013 Revisit
KissinCuzzins
2013
Jeri’s sandwich had an attractive plating, the light rye bread toasted to a “pretty as a picture’ golden brown. It was a large sandwich with the corned beef spilling out over the sides of the bread. It came with a dill pickle spear and a small bowl of coleslaw. She said the sandwich was excellent, very tasty. The preparation was well practiced, not too much dressing to make it wet nor too little and make it dry; just right. The bread was crispy toasted on the outside, soft, tender and hot bread spreading a wonderful rye smell. The meat was tender and tasty. In spite of being a large sandwich, she managed to finish her meal. The slaw was of green cabbage, fresh and crisp with a mild, favorable dressing. A thoroughly filling and enjoyable meal.
My Philly
sub was a plateful. With that kind of sandwich I suppose it is hard to be
artistic in plating. However, all the good filling in the sandwiches and the
pile of French fries with a dill spear garnish looked very food to me. “The
proof…” they say, “is in the eating.” The crinkle cut fries were done to a nice
golden brown, fresh out of the fryer, hot and crispy. With a sprinkle of salt,
they were excellent. I ate the pickle, it was crisp, but I don’t remember much
about it as I was very much preoccupied with the sandwich. First off, when you make a sandwich like this,
cutting through and leaving a bit of crust for a hinge, the bread has to be
fresh. If the bread is not fresh it will fall apart on the first bite spilling
the contents onto the plate or your lap. In this instance the bread was very
fresh, the crust a nice elastic; slightly chewy. The bread folded over the
ample filling making a nice easy to eat bundle. There was lots of beef, grilled
onions, mushrooms and peppers all slathered with stringy melted Mozzarella
cheese. What’s not to like? It was indeed an excellent sandwich and made for a
filling meal. I will, in all probability, order the Philly sub if ever I make it back to Kissin Cuzzins
again.
KissinCuzzins
2013
951 34th St N
St Petersburg, FL 33733
Neighborhood: Tyrone
St Petersburg, FL 33733
Neighborhood: Tyrone
(727) 323-3915
Mon-Fri 7a – 2p Sat-Sun 7a – 3p
On the very first journey to Florida to
meet the soon to be in-laws, they just had to take me to one of their favorite
places to go for a breakfast out. As they grew older, mother and father in-law
cooked and ate in less and ate out more often; often enough that they were
known by the serving staff on a first name basis. Back then there were three
Kissin Cuzzins, long established casual family eateries. Over the years the
neighborhood demographics changed and more and more fast food servers moved
into the neighborhood. One family restaurant,
all brand new with shiny chrome, set up shop only two blocks down the street. Such
intense competition had severe consequences for Kissin Cuzzins. The two other
stores closed some years ago and only the 34th St store, the
flagship store, remained open. In a well thought out move, Cuzzins went lean
and mean paring down hours, closing in the midafternoon, concentrating on their
forte, breakfast and lunch. Cuzzins has survived and is still here as well as
the fast food emporiums that abound all along 34th Street. However,
the upstart that opened just two blocks down the street closed a year or so ago,
fenced off and looking forlorn, weeds poking up through the parking lot, it has
long been up for sale.
The in-laws have passed on. But in their
tradition, that visitors to the Jones house must partake of a breakfast at the
Kissin Cuzzins, lives on. After a morning of busy sightseeing activity, I took our
California house guest, Jeri, to lunch. The Cuzzins was moderately busy and we
had to park in the overflow lot. However, we got immediate seating in a booth
on the north side. As is usual for the Cuzzins, the hostess and the servers we
quick and courteous.
Sipping on our already arrived beverages,
we studied the menu. Jeri chose The Rueben ($7.49 Corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss on
grilled rye). I was about to go with my usual standby, the cheeseburger, when
the Philly-Style Hoagie ($7.99 Thinly sliced beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms and
Mozzarella cheese on a toasted sun roll) caught my eye. I had recently had a
Philly sub from another restaurant and on impulse I decided to compare the two.
Jeri’s sandwich had an attractive plating, the light rye bread toasted to a “pretty as a picture’ golden brown. It was a large sandwich with the corned beef spilling out over the sides of the bread. It came with a dill pickle spear and a small bowl of coleslaw. She said the sandwich was excellent, very tasty. The preparation was well practiced, not too much dressing to make it wet nor too little and make it dry; just right. The bread was crispy toasted on the outside, soft, tender and hot bread spreading a wonderful rye smell. The meat was tender and tasty. In spite of being a large sandwich, she managed to finish her meal. The slaw was of green cabbage, fresh and crisp with a mild, favorable dressing. A thoroughly filling and enjoyable meal.
My Philly
sub was a plateful. With that kind of sandwich I suppose it is hard to be
artistic in plating. However, all the good filling in the sandwiches and the
pile of French fries with a dill spear garnish looked very food to me. “The
proof…” they say, “is in the eating.” The crinkle cut fries were done to a nice
golden brown, fresh out of the fryer, hot and crispy. With a sprinkle of salt,
they were excellent. I ate the pickle, it was crisp, but I don’t remember much
about it as I was very much preoccupied with the sandwich. First off, when you make a sandwich like this,
cutting through and leaving a bit of crust for a hinge, the bread has to be
fresh. If the bread is not fresh it will fall apart on the first bite spilling
the contents onto the plate or your lap. In this instance the bread was very
fresh, the crust a nice elastic; slightly chewy. The bread folded over the
ample filling making a nice easy to eat bundle. There was lots of beef, grilled
onions, mushrooms and peppers all slathered with stringy melted Mozzarella
cheese. What’s not to like? It was indeed an excellent sandwich and made for a
filling meal. I will, in all probability, order the Philly sub if ever I make it back to Kissin Cuzzins
again.Labels: beef, coleslaw, corned beef, Cuzzins, dill pickle, Florida, French fries, Kissin, mushrooms, onions, peppers, Philly cheesesteak, Reuben, St Petersburg
¶ 11:21 AM
