New York Press - Best of 2002

I Feel My Temperature Risin'!

It's not uncommon these days to find restaurants leaving a bottle of hot sauce on the table, much the same way they'd leave a bottle of ketchup. Most simply stick with good ol' traditional Tabasco, and there's nothing wrong with that. Some (like Radio Mexico) offer a staggering array of independently produced hot sauces with funny names and labels. It takes a few visits and some experimenting to find the right one.

For our money (and what's left of our taste buds), none of them can touch the Waterfront Ale House home brand, SAM'S FAMOUS Waterfront has always been a goldmine, condiment-wise, offering both commercial and homemade ketchups as well as a windowsill full of mustard choices. But that hot sauce of theirs-mercy.

Using what tastes like Habanero peppers as a base, SAM'S achieves the near impossible balance of being both quite flavorful while still boasting a heat that'll blow through the roof of your skull. It'll make your eyes water, your nose run, your throat close up. You'll bang your fists on the table and gasp desperately for air. And once the pain subsides, you'll reach for the bottle again.

As a friend of ours succinctly put it, "It's so friggin' good." Fortunately, beer does a fine job of cooling thins down.