Growing up in Taipei, my family visited the Grand Hotel Members Club monthly. The restaurants were not exceptional, but I always looked forward to one dish: baked clams casino (baked clams on the half shell topped with bacon bits, bread crumbs and butter). To this day, I have not found clams casino as tasty as the ones I grew up on. Ironic, since the dish is an American creation, as I learned in the Winter 2009 issue of Gastronomica. An article by Lynne M. Olver, “The Truth about Clams Casino,” traces its history and the possible influences that brought about the dish. It brought me back to my childhood and reminded me that I need to find some good clams casino in the City. Do you know of any?
