By any name, in any part of the country, there's good cheap food to be had in the most unassuming places. At the time, food trends were heading toward either haute or health cuisine, so the Sterns' excitement over such all-American fare was understandable.
Road food has as much to offer the casual diner now as it did then.
They won't even look at you sideways. To this day the Sterns remain unparalleled reporters on road food. Their enthusiastic bulletins from around the United States can be seen at the Epicurious web site and, of all places, in Gourmet . But strangely, in all their travels, the Sterns have spent no ink at all on Sonoma County. I want to know.