Historical September–October 2013 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Well, your Clueless Culinarians did it again.
We went to a restaurant without a liquor license.
But it was okay this time, because we were forewarned. Anne Marie Lodholz, of the 57XX block of DeGiverville, told us that this particular establishment does not serve alcohol, but that you can bring your own.
They even supply the glasses. Brilliant! For anyone who has not yet been to Fork + Stix, it is on Rosedale, between Delmar and Washington.
It occupies a onestory building on the west side of the street.
On the night we went, the McGroarty kitchen featured an accidental two-course meal of waffles and chocolate chip cookies.
We are such gourmets that date night for mom and dad means waffles for the kids.
The catcher for Sean was that on this night there were chocolate chip cookies that were intended for a friend but that Cristina had not hidden fast enough and were quickly becoming the second course of said date night meal for children. Cristina is embarrassed that this meal of meals is now being published for all of the neighborhood to judge. Sean is still not quite sure what was wrong with that arrangement. Needless to say duty called so off we went to honor our promise to review one of our favorite eating establishments for the Times. Sean swiped a cookie (wrestled it from that hands of one of the older boys actually) on the DL, we stepped out and headed north. Fork + Stix features Thai food, specifically from the northern regions of Thailand. Apparently, this differs somewhat from the other Thai restaurants in our neighborhood, which feature cuisine from the southern regions of the country.
The thing to keep in mind about all of this is that my knowledge of Thai food is completely contained in the previous two sentences. And I don’t even know that, it’s just what someone told me once. Perhaps inspired by our children wolfing down waffles as we left home, we ordered two deep fried appetizers.
The Crispy Spring Rolls are appropriately titled: cabbage and carrot wrapped in an egg roll, deep fried, and served with a Thai sweet chili sauce.
The Thai Stix remind you of Crab Rangoon: cream cheese and crab wrapped in an egg roll and deep fried, also served with a sweet chili sauce. Both appetizers were fantastic, even making Sean forget about the waffles at home.
The beauty of said appetizers is that while they are indeed fried they are not enormous nor are they gross and dripping in grease.
I don’t know how they do it but this ain’t your grandma’s fry daddy Nary a drop of oil was seen on the little white butcher paper the Thai stix were served on nor were our hands so greasy that the bottle of wine that we brought with us and enjoyed immensely, slipped out of our hands.
They are little nuggets of deliciousness that you must try.
The first time we tried Fork and Stix we experienced the Chicken Sateh appetizer which is really just heaven on stix. Pun intended.
If you are looking for a light meallook no further. Chicken sateh and you are set.
A little something more to get over the dream of waffles for dinner then order an appetizer. Fork and Stix is versatile as well as fresh and delicious!
The entrees required a little more thought. That is, we couldn’t just select the dishes that were deep fried, because there were not any. Cristina ordered the Green Curry Chicken, which features bamboo shoots, green peas, bell peppers, coconut milk and Queen of Siam basil. Sean ordered the Pad Ka Prao chicken, which is a classic Thai stir-fry dish, with soy sauce, Thai chili paste, Queen of Siam basil, and onion, served on a bed of rice.
The waitress asked what level of heat I (Sean) wanted with the Pad Ka Prao.
I replied medium, thinking that would give a moderate kick to the dish. Holy Smokes. Cristina said that her dish was just spicy enough to feel it on her lips.
I replied that the spices on my dish must have knocked out the lesser heat sensors, because I could not feel my lips at all.
It was so good that, once again, I tried to lick the plate clean. Luckily, Cristina stopped me. That could have been kinda awkward.
On the sweat meter Sean’s meal was a medium. Three glssses of water and a whole lot of sweating medium. That being said Sean is a “sweater”.
I (Cristina) took a picture of his glistening forehead for this article but alas the shine was so bright it was deemed not fit for our article. Sorry. You’re welcome.
The lovely ladies of Fork and Stix will happily advise you honestly about each dish and it’s spiciness factor. Not a fan of spicy food-fear not!
These ladies will not steer you wrong. Just ask.
With appetizers in the range of $7 and entrees not much more than that our total for date night was a whopping $26.00 Gotta love the BYOB aspect as well as the delicious food. At the end of our evening, the only downside was timing. Because they served our food so efficiently and we ate it so quickly, we faced the distinct possibility of arriving home before our younger three children were in bed.
This is indeed a BIG downfall for us but luckily an unseasonably lovely evening in late August helped draw our evening out a little bit longer.
In summary, if you have not tried Fork + Stix, go now.
I mean right now. Take the Times with you; they won’t care. And if you have no need to clear your sinuses, just order your entrée without extra hot sauce.
Original photograph caption
Photograph accompanying Fork + Stix review. Person not separately captioned.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, September–October 2013.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Printed glssses retained.
Original source: SD_Times2013_09.pdf, printed page(s) 5; PDF page(s) 5.
