For brunch, we went off to the Salem Diner, which really looks like a classic diner. It has not been restored - look for faded boomerang-print formica in the backgrounds of the food photos.
Lori had the blueberry pancakes, which were fine, even good, but not exceptional.
I ordered the turkey hash and the loukaniko sausage. I had never heard of loukaniko before, and I am the sort of person who consults Wikipedia while reading a menu; it may therefore match my dining experience to quote from Wikipedia:
Loukaniko (λουκάνικο) or locanico is the normal Greek word for pork sausage, usually somewhat dried.
There is a variety of sausages in Greek cooking, but perhaps the best-known is flavored with fennel seeds and orange peel, sometimes smoked; another popular flavoring is greens, especially leeks.
This was the fennel and orange peel style, and it tasted unlike other sausage of my experience. I could taste the orange peel and the fennel if I focused on those flavors, but they melded together into something broad and exotic. The texture was familiar, like a hot link or a dry kielbasa, but the flavor was very unusual to me.
The turkey hash was very mild in texture and in flavor. It was very homogenous, much more finely textured than I usually get in corned beef hash.
Up next: The House of Seven Gables
