Readers come through in muffin search

Taste of the Town has fielded some pretty offbeat requests from readers over the years, and this one ranked right up there: Anne McConnell e-mailed in search of English muffins that are not fork-split -- that she has to cut herself -- and have a dense texture without so many nooks and crannies. And lo and behold, readers delivered:

Jean Sider and Shae Wilhite both recommended the house brand at Fresh & Easy (which has numerous locations in the valley), with Sider adding, "We split 'em ourselves and find practically zero nooks and crannies." Wilhite noted, "Leave it to a U.K. chain to have good English muffins!" And Amy Pippins recommended Wolferman's English muffins, available at www.wolfermans.com (or call 800-798-6241). ...

Here's another question that I never thought would bring a response -- but again, readers surprised me. For Diana Adair, who's looking for a restaurant that serves a crispy chicken salad similar to that served at the long-closed Chin's at the Fashion Show mall, they responded: Amlee Gourmet, 3827 E. Sunset Road. Mariann Clemens e-mailed that Steven Lee, "one of the original chefs at Chin's when it was at Desert Inn and Eastern," is operating Amlee, which also was recommended by Lexi Jablonski. ...

For Tammy Moorman, who's looking for Oscar Mayer Braunschweiger, Beverly Lynch e-mailed that after a long search, she found it at the Kmart Super Center at 10405 S. Eastern Ave. in Henderson. ...

For Bob Miller, who's looking for a restaurant that serves kidney pie, Aleta Dupree e-mailed to recommend the steak and kidney pie at the Crown & Anchor at 1350 E. Tropicana Ave.; there's another Crown & Anchor at 4755 Spring Mountain Road. ...

For Harry Schmidt, who's looking for Celentano frozen pasta, Lynn Callahan e-mailed that some varieties are available at Vons at 2667 Windmill Parkway in Henderson. ...

More (the last!) on Italian beef: Tara Klimek recommended Bono's at 310 E. Warm Springs Road, and Vincent Serritella suggested Vinny Boy's Italian Marketplace, 3620 W. Sahara Ave. ...

Reader requests: Jennifer Esposito is looking for Casper's Hot Dogs, which she used to get at Costco, and a source for good Italian pastries. ...

Kathy Noetzel is looking for 1-gallon containers of Original Flavor Open Pit Barbecue Sauce, which she used to get at the Smart & Final in Henderson. ...

Don Cooley is looking for a local store that sells fresh-roasted nuts, as Sears did many moons ago. ...

Robert Quinlan is looking for Grassland Butter and Torrediluna Pinot Grigio wine. ...

Mary Beam is looking for Roman Meal cereal. ...

Dean B. Pomerantz is looking for long, thin, battered and fried zucchini. ...

Jean Lappin is looking for Grapples, apples that taste like grapes. ...

Hank Thropp is looking for New Orleans Style Seafood Baste (not base). ...

And Doug Kay -- and lots of other readers -- is looking for frozen rhubarb.

Readers?

Submit information to Heidi Knapp Rinella, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070. You also can send faxes to 383-4676 or e-mail her at hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Include your first and last names and, if e-mailing, put "Taste of the Town" in the subject line. Because of the volume of mail received, we can't respond to each request.