Local flavor
October 1st, 2008
I never really noticed but I wonder if Stop & Shop puts Fanny’s and Ken’snext to each other on the shelves because they’re both representing Framingham restaurants?
Somehow Fanny’s never tastes quite the same as when you get it at La Cantina but it is very good and it’s our “house dressing” we keep at home. I used to love Ken’s Thousand Island (or as I’d call it, thousand calorie) but have laid of it in recent years.  Occasionally when I’m in the mood,  I’ll get a bottle of their ranch dressing which is really good too.
I’ve never noticed Fanny’s in the market and didn’t know it was local. I’ll have to give it a try. I wonder what other local goodies I’m missing in the aisles of Stop & Shop!
Comment by susan — October 2, 2008 @ 9:30 am
I call the La Cantina dressing “Fat Fannies” since it is also pretty calorie laden, but delicious! They have the new lite version with the swimsuit label, sadly, it’s just not the same as the original.
Comment by Lisa — October 2, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
Both Ken’s Italian and Fanny’s Italian are OUTSTANDING dressings! I think I like Ken’s slightly better. I don’t know if Ken’s is nationwide, but when I was visiting my daughter in Springfield, Missouri last year, a newspaper supermarket circular was advertising Ken’s dressings with photos of the bottles, etc. I showed it to my daughter and asked, “I wonder if ANYBODY here knows the restaurant on the bottles is a real place in Framingham, Massachusetts?!” Finally, MANY years ago, I had lunch at Ken’s with a friend who had just moved in from Florida. “You mean the restaurant on the salad dressing bottle is A REAL PLACE?!” he asked. Yes, Michelle, VERY appropriate posting and another thing that makes Framingham special!
Comment by Rev. Bob Baril — October 2, 2008 @ 8:53 pm
Fanny’s Lite dressing is an unusually good low-calorie dressing…it doesn’t have that guar gum mouth feel or that artificial flavor taste that most “lite” salad dressings do. It seems like they cut the calories by perhaps upping the water-to-oil ratio, but the dressing still has plenty of flavor.
Comment by Laura G. — October 2, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
So I check this blog for updates about my new hometown and find your insight, well…insightful. That being said, I was wondering if you had any scoop on what is going on with the green tea 2, I’ve driven by all week and it’s been dark. I hate to imagine losing such a yummy chinese food restaurant..say it isn’t so.
Comment by Andrea — October 4, 2008 @ 12:23 pm
Hey Andrea,
Yeah, I noticed that too, I’m really hoping they were on vacation or something, I know last week was a Chinese holiday of some sort so…maybe?? I really hoe that haven’t bit the dust. I’ll see if I can find out anything.
Comment by michelle — October 4, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
La Cantina was always a regular dining destination for my family when I was growing up in Framingham. It’s not quite as good as it used to be but it’s still pretty good. I love that I can now enjoy their dressing at home. It’s not 100% the same as in the restaurant but still really delicious. I lived in Rhode Island for a couple of years and was really excited to find Fanny’s dressing in a local Shaw’s supermarket there.
Ken’s dressing is pretty good too. It’s one of my wife’s favorites and sits right next to the Fanny’s in our fridge. Read this GREAT article in the Globe from a few years back about the dressing:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/24/steak_house_dressing_maker_settle_name_spat/
It’s interesting to find that the dressing co. and restaurant are seperate entities. Although, I believe that it is mentioned that there is an actual restaurant somewhere on the label.
Comment by Michael — October 4, 2008 @ 6:04 pm
I don’t know about nationally, but Ken’s is also available in suburban Chicago.
Comment by Marie — October 4, 2008 @ 6:22 pm
Marie
Ken’s is indeed national. I’ve yet to go anywhere in the US and not see it in a major grocery store.
Comment by brian — October 4, 2008 @ 6:57 pm
According to the article I put a link to above in 2005 Ken’s was the 5th largest salad dressing company in the USA. So, I would imagine based on that they distribute to almost all of the USA.
Comment by Michael — October 4, 2008 @ 11:28 pm
Ken’s has manufacturing plants in Atlanta, and Las Vegas as well as Mass. The restaurant and the dressing are not related. Major conflict between the two…
Comment by s — October 5, 2008 @ 4:46 pm
I read on chowhound that green tea two closed last week.beth
Comment by BETh — October 5, 2008 @ 6:08 pm
Regarding Ken’s salad dressings and the steak house, I disagree with the comment saying “The restaurant and the dressing are not related.” It IS true they are different companies. I’m not sure if there have been legal tensions between them. However, the genesis of Ken’s Foods is Ken’s Steak House and I do think that makes them “related”. Check out-
http://www.kensfoods.com/kf/news/kensHeritage.servlet
Comment by Rev. Bob Baril — October 5, 2008 @ 10:10 pm
Bob,
Clearly the origins of the dressing company are intimately tied to the restaurant. Simply based on the fact that there is a picture of the actual restaurant on the dressing bottle’s label those origins should be obvious to anyone who has ever driven by Ken’s. My comment about them “not being related” was simply meant to imply that they are seperate businesses run by seperate parties. In fact, the article I sited earlier also relays the origins of the dressing company and it’s relation to the restaurant.
Comment by Michael — October 7, 2008 @ 12:32 am
I’ve used Ken’s Italian for years when I make chicken and am wondering if Fanny’s would be just as good. I boil the chicken (usually wings but it works for all parts), drain the water and pour the dressing over the hot chicken. Stick it in the refrigerator for a day or two and then grill or broil to heat it up and crisp the outside. It’s great.
Comment by Susie — October 7, 2008 @ 8:10 am
I buy Ken’s salad dressings here in Savannah, GA. It’s nice to have a little bit of home. A couple of years ago I took my husband to Ken’s for our anniversary, which we were celebrating with a trip to New England. It was much as I remembered it from my youth. Nice to know some things don’t change.
Comment by Catherine R. — October 13, 2008 @ 11:08 pm