Not so Open Kitchen

A few weeks ago, Shelly and I went to the Open Kitchen on Morehead Street. This restaurant claims to be the first in Charlotte to serve pizza so it's been around awhile.  It was pretty easy to get there since it was right off of 277. Shelly and I got a table and waited for Anna to arrive and we were served bread in a basket while we looked over the menu. Here was the first disappointment. The bread was basically the kind of bread you could pick up at Walmart as a loaf and serve to friends at your house. It wasn't heated or served with any fun oils or spreads, just butter. They did have a few other options like those little hard breadsticks and crackers but for a really old Italian restaurant, it just didn't quite cut it.

The second disappointment? No mixed drinks. I'm not a wine or a beer person. In fact, I barely drink alcohol at all, but I certainly like a little something when I'm having a nice dinner. There was nothing available. I guess this isn't so weird because there have been a few other restaurants like that (Mert's Heart and Soul, you know I'm talking about you)...but I still don't like it. For dinner, Shelly and I each ordered the Chicken Parmigiana (the Top 100 dish). Anna got fettucine and added chicken. Here was the third disappointment. She asked if something green could be added - broccoli, etc. They had NONE. Who doesn't have broccoli in a restaurant? She ended up getting mushrooms on it instead. I also ordered the antipasto platter while Shelly and Anna got a Greek salad. Anna ordered the dressing on the side, but it came tossed in despite her wishes. The waitress also asked both of them if they wanted beets, which they did not, but didn't think to ask me...so I ended up with beets on my antipasto platter (which wasn't listed on the menu as one of the ingredients), necessitating me scraping them off before I could even enjoy the platter...and I was HUNGRY!

Our dinners came out and smelled delicious, renewing my hope for the evening. Anna's plate had a HUGE number of mushrooms on it, but it still looked good. Shelly's and mine looked good as well.


Chicken Parmigiana

Here was the next disappointment - the dish really wasn't that great. The chicken was pretty tough, the spaghetti on the side uninspired, and the sauce was only so-so. The best part was the cheese. They could've sent out a plate of the cheese and little bit of sauce and it would have been much better than what we were served.

The next disappointment: our check was not split into individuals and the man in charge seemed very angry with the waitress for not doing that. He looked at us like idiots when we started to list what our dishes were and made the waitress come up and figure it out. THEN, to our horror, he begin saying nasty things about a woman sitting near where we were. I guess she was having trouble deciding what to order and he said (very loudly) "Well, I'll make it easy. The kitchen is closed" and started muttering about her not making up her mind and wasting time.

All in all, I doubt a perfect plate of food would have made this experience better given the attitude of the man in charge and the things missing (fresh veggies, nice bread). I don't know if it was an off night, but I can assure you I will not be returning there to find out.

Give a little bit of heart and soul

Last night, I went uptown with Shelly and Anna to Mert's Heart and Soul for the veggie plate. A lot of the dishes left on my list are in uptown, which presents a problem. I HATE going uptown! If I knew where I was going or where to park, it would be awesome, but I always get lost. Last night was no exception. Shelly told me they had parked in this parking garage, which I thought I went to, but I actually parked in one a few blocks away, causing me to have to walk around uptown at night by myself. That's difficult for a girl who lives in Rock Hill!

Anyway, I made it to the restaurant unscathed and we all settled in for a delicious dinner. The veggie plate was the goal and we were super excited about all the veggies listed on the chalkboards. Unfortunately, they only had the whole selection at lunch. Dinner was a small (but also delicious) selection. So now it's time to confess. I didn't get the veggie plate! No judgment! My dinner was served with 2 veggies, which I thought was plenty. I would really like to go back one day for lunch and eat the veggie plate because they had some pretty awesome ones listed.

I had the salmon cakes with green beans and macaroni and cheese. Anna and Shelly got the fried chicken with 2 sides. The macaroni was delicious - all nice and creamy. The green beans were FABULOUS. They were actually a little sweet - so good! The salmon cakes were made differently than I've had them - they had some peppers and onions in them - but they were still good (not the best I've had but still really flavorful).

The epitome of comfort food

Anna and Shelly were underwhelmed by the fried chicken. However, when you've been to Savannah and had Paula Deen's and Mrs. Wilkinson's Boarding House chicken, it's hard to top that.

On to dessert! I had the strawberry cake, Shelly got caramel cake, and Anna got the peach cobbler. Everyone was a fan of my strawberry cake:

Strawberries never looked so good

Anna's cobbler was really good as well. Shelly was underwhelmed by her caramel cake but it looked tasty! Best of all, there were leftovers! Even better of all, the meal came with little cornbreads that were soooo good - nice and sweet like I like them! All in all, a very good dinner, but I would really suggest going for lunch so you can have all the side options.

Oh, and PS - if you want to do something fun, look up the YouTube video of the song "Heart and Soul" by T'pau - I love the 80's!!

I'm sorry...WHAT kind of pizza??

So it's been a SUPER long time since I blogged, which I'm sure you are all broken up about. Come on, be honest!

Several weeks ago, I traveled to Brixx Pizza in Dilworth to eat with two of my favorite vets, Ali and Andi. The Top 100 Dish at Brixx is the Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza. Let's start at the beginning. I ordered a nice fruity margarita drink that came to me tasting very much like salt. I asked for another one, which was just as bad. Andi had the same drink but hers tasted much better. She actually ended up switching with me, which was super nice of her. However, by that time, the salty taste had inundated my taste buds and that's all I could taste. The manager came by and I ended up drinking a very delicious Cosmopolitan. Lesson learned - ask for NO SALT on all margaritas. I feel bad for Andi because I'm pretty sure her drink wasn't so great after we switched (you know it's true! I owe you one!).

After the drink debacle, we moved onto dinner. We ordered our pizzas and they came out super fast!


When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie....



I really liked this pizza. I was pretty hesitant given the description, but all the flavors worked together really well. The pizza had a nice thin crispy crust, the cheese was deeeeeelicious, and the pears added that nice sweetness to contrast with the saltiness of the cheese. There were toasted walnuts on top and those added a contrasting texture. There were also sweet onions - I ate a few, but not a lot. The pizza was a really nice size - I ended up only eating a little bit and taking the rest home. The pizza wasn't AS good reheated, but still pretty awesome.

Now, of course, given this is an "Italian" restaurant (Italian in quotes only because it's really just pizza and stuff like that), they had tiramisu on the menu. Obviously, I had to try it. Ok, so no one twisted my arm, but I'm on a quest!



That's amore...



This tiramisu was one of my favorites. The more I thought about it, the less like Mike's I thought it was, but it was still pretty awesome. I think the key to this tiramisu is all that chocolate you see (my friend Nicole would LOVE it). I think a huge part of Mike's tiramisu is the fluffy ladyfingers layer, which this one was really close to. However, Mike's also has the huge layers of creamy goodness on top and bottom of the lady fingers. Brixx is different, but still really good, possibly one of the better ones I've had.

My friend, the chickpea

This past week, I visited the Kabob Grill in Stonecrest for some hummus (or as they say on their menu, hommos). I am a big fan of hummus and have tried many different varieties. There is a restaurant in Knoxville called King Tut's and they do a huge Mediterranean sampler...delicious! I had never heard of Kabob Grill, which of course is one of the reasons I'm doing this list!

I had to call the restaurant to find them in the ginormous shopping center. I'm pretty sure I would build a house smack dab in the middle of this shopping center and never have to leave it. There's a vet office, Target, Ulta, Dean and Deluca, Chick-fil-A, Smashburger, Firebirds, a movie theater, and Tasty-Yo is just a few seconds away. However, if you're trying to find a specific store you've never been to before, this place is like a maze. Kabob Grill is tucked away on the side. I wasn't too surprised to see only one other person in the restaurant when I went, but I did go at kind of a weird time. By the time I left, the place had filled up. I ordered the Chicken Kabob, which comes with "two delightful side items" (seriously, that's what the menu says).

Don't I look amazing?!

I chose the hummus and baba ghannouj as my side items. The meal was $15 but, as you can see, the portion size was great. I had a meeting to go to, so I only got to eat about 1/3 (can we say lunch the next day??). The chicken was seasoned so well, the vegetables were almost pickled but really good, and the dips? Oh my, the hummus was so creamy and delicious. The baba ghannouj had a wonderful flavor and texture. The only complaint I would have was that the baba ghannouj had a TON of parsley on it and that was a little weird. The description of the hummus in Charlotte magazine talks about eating it with a spoon and, believe me, you are tempted to. They serve everything with little packets of pitas (I got extra when I left), and it makes it so easy to eat. In fact, I took my leftovers to work the next day and just ate it cold - fabulous! This restaurant has several locations in the Charlotte area (http://www.kabobgrill.com/) and I would definitely recommend trying one!

Anyone want some of my mother's brisket?

Anytime I hear the word brisket, I automatically think of The Big Bang Theory and Howard always talking about his mom's. As much as I'd heard of it, I don't think I've ever actually had it unless it's in BBQ. Harper's brisket is on the Top 100 list, and I decided to go get takeout one day when I traveled to the Pineville mall.

The Texas beef brisket comes with two side items. The menu says macaroni and cheese and twice baked beans, but I got the cheesy corn bake instead of the beans. The macaroni and cheese is a "pimento" mac and cheese.

I have to say I'm honestly quite confused by the brisket. It was served with BBQ sauce that was kind of sweet and smoky, but the beef itself was fairly salty and had a different type of sauce on it. I wasn't sure what it was really supposed to be - it's beef, but it's not hamburger. It's thin and in strips but it's not really steak. It's BBQ, but it's not pork....what is it? I mean, it was good, but the BBQ sauce almost clashed with it. However, on its own, it didn't have enough dimensions of flavor. The mac and cheese was good as I was worried since I don't like pimento. The cheesy corn bake was a little strange. I guess I'm pretty used to sweet corn and this was not sweet. I think it had a couple of different kinds of cheese in it and then a crust of some sort. Once again, things kind of clashed together. It's not like I didn't enjoy the meal, but not enough to really ever eat it again. If only they'd had tiramisu so I could compare that....=0)

Caramelized Goodness

Anna's family was in town after their vacation so what better to do in Charlotte than eat?? We traveled uptown to Aria (complimentary valet, woo-hoo!). I had been working and then cleaning cat kennels where I volunteer, so I stopped at Target to make myself more presentable. I missed the appetizers and ordering but was there for the rest of the meal. However, my dinner buddies were kind enough to order me my top 100 dish, Caramelized Gnocchi.

For those of you who don't watch Top Chef obsessively like I do, gnocchi are thick little dumplings made from a variety of ingredients. I think most of the ones I see on TV are potato. At Aria, the appetizer gnocchi is served with prosciutto di parma, pear, gorgonzola, and truffle oil. The portion is pretty small but honestly OK for an appetizer...although maybe not for the price. The gnocchi were honestly like nothing I've ever had before. The first bite was really kind of sweet with the pear and the caramelized crunch, but then if you get the cheese underneath, it made it savory, almost like macaroni and cheese. I really enjoyed them, although I would have enjoyed them more if they were less expensive!




Little puffy clouds of goodness

 For dinner, I chose the penne a la vodka, which was the Top 100 dish at Mama Ricotta's. It was very good, but not nearly as good as Mama Ricotta's (which I guess is why that one is on the list...). For dessert, of course I had the tiramisu.

The tiramisu was really good, possibly one of my favorites in Charlotte (better than Blu Basil for sure), but nowhere near as good as Mike's. The pictures on Aria's website looks like it could have come close, but it was not representative of the actual tiramisu.

Although it may sound like I'm not giving this place a good review, the food was really great and I had a fabulous time with my dinner companions. However, one of the downsides of the list is that some of the restaurants are really similar. This is the 3rd (maybe more?) Italian restaurant I've eaten in and now it's like they really have to make a great impression to blow me away...Sorry Aria!

Pizza, Pizza!

Today I visited Luisa's Brick Oven Pizza for Pizza a la Carte. Luisa's has been around for awhile and they have a ton of choices for toppings, so I was pretty excited. I picked kind of a weird time to eat because I was off today, so I (of course!) slept in. I say a weird time, because I seemed to be one of only 3 people in the restaurant.

For my pizza, I picked ham, black olives, and mushroom.

The pizza was really good. I love thin crust pizza - this was so thin I honestly had to eat it with a fork and knife. The cheese was soooo cheesy and the sauce was great. I LOVE olives, especially black olives, but I did feel like they detracted from the taste of everything because they were essentially all I tasted. I don't really even remember tasting mushrooms. Next time, maybe some different toppings, but all in all great!

Now onto another subject. In addition to continuing to eat the Top 100 dishes, I have taken it upon myself to find tiramisu in Charlotte that is the closest to that in Boston at Mike's Pastry Shop. So far, I've tried Mama Ricotta's, Vivace, and Dolce Ristorante. All of these were good, but not THAT good. Today, I tried Blu Basil. I saw this restaurant near the Cotswold Banfield and thought it was Thai food. Sadly, it was Italian, but of course Italian means tiramisu! I stopped in today after lunch (WAY after lunch) and tried their tiramisu. Honestly, I liked it more than Dolce Ristorante, which was the tiramisu on the Top 100 list.

I know you WANT me to taste like Mike's

I liked it more, as in it was closer to Mike's. I think it has to do with the wider layers of ladyfingers. This tiramisu, however, had more creamy layers instead of coffee-like layers AND the middle layer was practically frozen. It tasted like tiramisu ice cream...which was delightful, but not like Mike's. The search continues....

The Best of the Rest

Charlotte Magazine has done a (mostly) great job picking the Top 100 dishes in Charlotte. I don't have a magazine, but I do have a blog and some honorable mentions from my 3 years in this area, in no specific order.


1. Viet-Thai Noodle House on Pineville Matthews Road in Charlotte, NC. If you know me at least a little bit and have heard me talk about food, you know that I love Thai food and completely miss Taste of Thai in Knoxville, TN (shedding a tear as I type). I haven't found a restaurant since moving that equals TOT but this place comes very close. It's in a shopping center, tucked away like the best restaurants are.

2. Asian Roll and Grill in Tega Cay, SC. This little place popped up on my drive home from work and I had to try it. It's actually mentioned in the magazine with the Top 100 as a favorite of some restaurant owners. I have had the Pho, a beef dish with rice and fish sauce, vietnamese egg rolls, and sushi here - all good (although not all at the same time!). I first had Vietnamese food in elementary school in Washington DC when visiting my cousin and I loved it. I didn't have it again until I went to NYC on vacation and my best friend's sister, Heather, and I stumbled into a little restaurant on a cold night. That was my first Pho...and it was delicious. This Pho is just as good. When you get it to-go, they separate all the ingredients so the noodles don't get slimy and soft, which makes for some interesting creative mixing, but it has been fabulous every time I've had it.


3. Bleu Cheese Chicken Salad at The Wine Shop in Rivergate (Charlotte, NC). Dr. Goodson, a former coworker, told me about this dish. I was skeptical because I'm not a huge bleu cheese fan, but this is awesome! You can get the chicken salad on a bed of greens with balsamic or on a pita with delicious fries! I crave this at least weekly and have to exert some self control not to eat it all the time!


4. My Chinese and Mexican picks - Whenever I moved somewhere, I try to find a good local Mexican and Chinese place. In Rock Hill, I have Tequila Mexican Restaurant (super cheap lunch specials and chorizo cheese dip - mmmmm) and China near a Food Lion close to my house. China has great crab rangoon and egg foo young but I've honestly never had anything bad there. I do give them more time to make my to-go food because it usually isn't done when they say it will be...but it's worth the wait!


5. PW's Ice Cream in Rock Hill, SC - This place has the best ice cream in RH, hands down. They make a "concrete" (which is basically a blizzard) and they have a ton of flavors. My favorites have been the Heath Bar and the Peanut Butter Oreo. Best of all? They have a drive-thru!

So far, these are my go-to restaurants. Somehow I don't see this list changing other than possibly expanding....

Holy Guacamole!

Ok, so this was forever ago, but Dr. Clinton, Dr. Smith, and I went to Cantina 1511 for dinner one night and it was delicious. The Top 100 dish is the tableside guacamole. Now listen, I'm not a big fan of guacamole, but not enough to pass up on the list! This is one of Dr. Smith's favorite restaurants and I can see why. I got a Cantina Chimichanga, which was filled with chicken, pico de gallo, black beans, rice, and cheese. THEN, it's covered with ranchero and chile con queso sauce. It was wonderful and HUGE. I only ate half of it and saved the other half for lunch the next day.


Object larger than it appears

 But before the entrees, we had our guacamole. They bring all the ingredients out and prepare it at your table, mixing the avocado with the pico, etc. etc. We got it NOT spicy because we're not crazy. It was very good! I'm still a bigger fan of cheese dip but this guac was worth it.

Prepared just for us

Charlotte Restaurant Week!!

There are many things I miss about living in Tennessee, but when Charlotte Restaurant Week comes around, I forget all about them! Charlotte restaurant week is actually more than a week but who's counting? Many area restaurants make up a fixed menu with at least 3 courses for only $30. Some restaurants offer more than 3 courses or even offer glasses of wine, etc. for the dinner. Some restaurants offer their specialties for an upcharge so you're still eating some REALLY nice food but for a lower price. I feel like the key to restaurant week (even though this was my first) is eating some place you normally wouldn't eat because it's too expensive, has really fancy food, etc. because it's only $30! Now obviously this could get pricey, so I also learned that I need to put some money away and NOT go to a national vet convention during the "Queen's Feast" so I can go to multiple restaurants!

My first restaurant was Omaha Steakhouse. This falls in the category of a place I wouldn't normally eat b/c it's expensive. I had the field green salad to start (balsamic = good, over-abundance of tomatoes and cucumbers = bad), and then the salmon as my entree. When I read the menu, I read "salmon with white wine lobster sauce". This was a bit of a typo because it should have said salmon with lobster in a white wine sauce...hey, they didn't even spell prosciutto right on their menu (I moonlight as a spelling correcter). Why the concern? Well, if it had been written correctly, I would have realized I was actually eating salmon AND lobster! Obviously, when my dish came out, I was pleasantly surprised and my $30 seemed to stretch out way more than I thought it would! The salmon was grilled and topped with a ton of sweet lobster. This was resting on some really creamy mashed potatoes! There was a white wine sauce that paired very nicely with the dish. All in all, VERY good. The best part? I had enough for leftovers!


The picture doesn't do me justice


For dessert, I was intrigued by the "mango pie." I was imagining an actual pie with slices of mango. When the waitress told me it was actually like a key lime pie but with mango, I was sold. This pie was so incredible. I LOVE key lime pie, but the mango pie is giving it a run for its money!













Last night, I went with Anna, Anna's mom, and Shelly to Fran's Filling Station. Now Fran's, if you remember, is the home of the bacon-wrapped tater tots. Fran's doesn't really fall into either of my categories for the Queen's Feast, but hey, it's Fran's and it's delicious!

For my first course, I had the "Best in Charlotte Fries," which are served with herbs and blue cheese crumbles.

I'm good for you! Ok, maybe not, but I'm delicious!

I was slightly confused because I have been reading the Top 100 Dishes list like it's my job and these are not mentioned in the list. They are, however, very good (not, unfortunately, better than the pesto and brie fries from the Crepe Cellar). Anna had the marinated goat cheese, slow-roasted tomatoes, and sweet garlic with grilled country bread. Shelly picked the tater tot combo, and Anna's mom had the fries like me. For our second course, Anna, myself, and Anna's mom all picked the Latin Wedge Salad, served with roasted peppers, corn, cheddar cheese, avocado, and creamy sherry vinaigrette. This was my least exciting course because the choices weren't so great. I don't feel like I'm TOO picky of an eater, but I don't like peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, or mussels and all of those were included in the 3 choices. I'm sorry Fran!!

For my entree, I had the Maryland-style crab cake trio with spicy remoulade. I have been wanting to eat this since my first visit to Fran's and it did not disappoint. The crab was plentiful and the breading was so light and crispy - yum! There was only a bit of remoulade and it was perfect! Shelly had the Lamb Ragu (lamb killer!), Anna or her mom had the Eggplant Parmesan and the other had something else (aaah! I forgot! I was so entranced by my crab cakes!).

Trio of delicious-ness

And now, onto dessert. I have to warn you - this is not for the faint of heart. If you are hungry, get something to fill up on before reading this and looking at the picture. Shelly, Anna, and I all picked the bread pudding. Anna's mom chose the coconut cake, which she was very happy with. However, NOTHING in the world could be better than the bread pudding. I don't want to sound sacrilegious at all but I believe now that Heaven is an endless buffet of Fran's bread pudding. Look at this:



This picture REALLY doesn't do me justice

 Ok, now as I look up the description, I am seeing it says "Metropolitan Bakery's Bread Pudding." Fran, what does this mean? Where is this bakery? Even if you didn't make it, I still love you. Ok, I just realized that Fran actually opened the bakery as well, so as you were.

The bread pudding was so soft but crispy where the edges were. It was served with whipped cream, buttermilk ice cream, caramel, and strawberries. I just had shivers down my spine thinking about it.

I had such delicious food and good times during  Charlotte Restaurant Week. One of the things that makes me the happiest is that Fran's isn't SO fancy and expensive and I can eat there anytime!! Now, please excuse me while I start saving up for the next Queen's Feast in January!

That's amore (parte due)

Vivace, you were too good to resist! My friend Nicole was in town for the weekend a couple of weeks ago and she INSISTED we eat at Vivace. Obviously, this suggestion was not met with much resistance. Shelly, Anna, Nicole, and I traveled to Metropolitan Avenue for another scrumptious meal.

For an appetizer, we had the calamari served with a spicy tomato aioli. The calamari wasn't the best I've ever had but it was very good. I had a hard time eating the little octopus (octopi??) that were in their full form. I am not a vegetarian by any means, but directly seeing the animals I'm eating makes it a little hard to continue. We also had some more of their delicious bread with white bean spread.

For the entrees, I had the chili capellini with lump crab, Nicole had the veal saltimbocca, Anna had the scallop risotto, and Shelly had one of the night's specials, the halibut.

My capellini was SO GOOD! I was a little hesitant because the description included "melted tomatoes" but when the waitress described the dish, I knew I could handle it. The pasta was made with actual chili in it so the pasta itself was spicy. The sauce was just a mild broth and the crab was added to the top. This dish is not for the faint of heart. I love some spicy food, but this was pushing my spice meter pretty far up there!

This dish is hot, hot, hot!

Nicole's veal came with fresh mozzarella ravioli and a porcini butter sauce. Anna's scallop risotto was a risotto that Tom Collichio would be proud of, and Shelly's dish was wonderful as well.

Halibut special - so pretty!

Scallop risotto

Veal Saltimbocca

For dessert, Anna and I both got the bittersweet chocolate molten cake although she got the vanilla gelato with hers and I had coffee gelato with mine. Shelly and Nicole got the peach crostata and the tiramisu and both ate half of each (a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself). The tiramisu was tasty but, as always, not as wondeful as Mike's Pastry Shop (why oh why can't you come to Charlotte??). All in all, another fabulous dinner at a wonderful restaurant with great friends. However, considering I have stuffed myself twice to the point of almost bursting at this place, I won't be going back for awhile. When I do, moderation is the theme (if that's even possible)!

That's amore!

Ahh, Italia...how I miss you. Since flying back out to Rome would be WAY too expensive, I will enjoy the cuisine here in Charlotte for a lot less money! Anna, Audrey, and I traveled to Vivace on Metropolitan Ave. last night and had a delicious meal.  I really loved the decor in this restaurant. It was fancy without being snobby or stuffy, and I felt comfortable wearing my scrubs since I went there after work. I LOVED the lights in the dining room but was apparently not smart enough to take a picture of them since I don't have one....

The Top 100 dish was the Pappardelle alla Bolognese, which I had WAY too hard of a time pronouncing. But, before we get to that, we split (well, Anna and I split and Audrey ate a little bit of) a seasonal salad. The salad had mixed greens, fresh peaches, goat cheese, crispy prosciutto, hazelnuts, and a lemon honey vinaigrette. It was wonderful - so light and fresh. I don't think I've ever had peaches OR hazelnuts in a salad and, let me tell you, they were delicioso!

Look at how pretty I am!

For our meal, I had the Pappardelle and Audrey and Anna had the Roasted Vegetable Tortellini.

Roasted Vegetable Tortellini

Pappardelle alla Bolognese

Everything was SO wonderful! The pappardelle came in either an "appetizer" portion or a dinner portion. I got the smaller size since there was no way I was skipping out on dessert! The pasta was homemade and I could've eaten a whole bowl of just that. The sauce had a "goat cheese crema" and a piave vecchio, which is apparently a type of cheese. The portion size was perfect and the bread they gave us (with a white bean spread) was perfect for sopping up the extra sauce.

The tortellini dish was very tasty. The tortellini were huge and filled with ricotta and veggies. The sauce was a piave brodo, or cheese broth. We all thought it would be heavy but it wasn't. The vegetables had a little crisp to them so everything tasted so fresh.

Of course, then we got the dessert menu. Let me tell you, we asked the waiter about the desserts when we were telling him our main dish orders...or maybe even the salad order...we were that excited. I chose the Peach Crostata, served with a warm blueberry sauce and a sweet corn gelato. Anna chose chocolate and vanilla gelato, and Audrey got the Warm Bittersweet Chocolate Cake. The cake was served with cherry vanilla gelato and a cherry reduction.  Mmmmm...I sigh just thinking about them.

Homemade gelato

Peach Crostata



Bittersweet Chocolate Cake



 I asked the waiter if I should get the tiramisu or the peach crostata. He suggested the crostata, which I was a little hesitant about given the sweet corn gelato. He assured me that the gelato wasn't overpowering if you eat everything together. He was right (and of course no tiramisu could live up to Mike's Pastry Shop), although I did even like the gelato by itself. The pastry was so perfect, crispy and soft at the same time, sweet but not too sweet. The blueberries added a little something to the dish, and the corn gelato helped even out the sweetness of the peaches and the blueberries.

Anna had rave reviews about her gelato and even proclaimed the vanilla better than the chocolate, which she assures us she never does (I tend to agree with her on that). Audrey loved the cake (it had a warm molten center) but wasn't too much of a fan of the gelato.

All in all, I ate way too much, but it was such a delicious meal. The ONLY complaint I would have was that the menu was hard to read since it was in Italian. However, our waiter was so nice and really explained everything well (his name was Joe so if you go, ask for him). AND, to make the night even better, Anna and Audrey assured me that I would be back in time to catch some of Charlotte Restaurant Week. Color me relieved!

Grazie for reading!

Beer, Bikes, and BBQ, oh my! (AKA requiem for a pig)

Sadly for those of you interested in seeing if I tried something new, I only partook of one of the items in the title - the BBQ. I went to Mac's Speed Shop (multiple locations in the Charlotte area) on South Blvd. for the Big Pig Sandwich. Their BBQ sandwich comes in 3 sizes, the Lil' Pig, the Big Pig, and The Mac Daddy. For some reason, the one listed in the Charlotte Magazine was the Big Pig, probably because it's big enough to fill you up but not SO big you wouldn't want dessert. The BBQ is hand-pulled pork and served on a bun with cole slaw on top and a choice of "sidecar". I chose the green bean casserole for my side.

I was afraid of the pickle!

The food came out SUPER fast and was very good. The BBQ places that I really like are those that give you a variety of sauces to choose from so you're not stuck with whatever they put on it. They had a choice of a red sauce, SC mustard sauce, vinegar sauce, and one more that I can't remember (!). My favorites were the mustard and vinegar sauces, which I think means I really have moved to SC and am not in TN anymore. I really liked how you didn't have to use cole slaw as one of your sides because who eats BBQ WITHOUT cole slaw? Weirdoes, that's who. I ALMOST asked if there were pickles on it because that seems to be a recent theme but I gambled and lost. Thankfully I was able to wipe the pickle juice off the top of the bun. Whew...Crisis averted! 

The sandwich was really good. Would I say it's the BEST in Charlotte? I don't know. I haven't eaten at too many BBQ places in Charlotte, so only time will tell. The green bean casserole was good but was very different than what I'm used to. They added cheese, which was really nice, but the green beans were (I think) French green beans, which left a little less "bean-y" taste. Overall a very nice meal and a great experience. This was a Tuesday night and the place was PACKED! Maybe next time I'll ride my hog in and down a brew during dinner.....or maybe not....we shall see.

Twice in one night??

My mom visited me this weekend and was kind enough to indulge me in furthering my Top 100 goal. We went to Lebowski's Grill and Pub in Dilworth. I had a rough day at work so I begged my mom to drive so I could have a drink. I'm very literal about the whole thing - no drinking and driving. I don't drink very often so I worry about even having one drink and driving. My mom was kind enough to acquiesce so we set off toward the pub. The thing I love about this list (if I haven't mentioned it before) is getting to know Charlotte and driving near places I've been before, like, "Oh yeah, that's where Andi and I ate the bacon-wrapped tater tots" and "Oh, this is close to Elizabeth Creamery".

Dilworth is a really cool area because there are tons of places to eat. Lebowski's itself shares a building with an oyster place (that my mom tried to go into before I stopped her saying that wasn't where we were actually eating). Lebowski's is pretty small but there were quite a few people there. Here is an example of how much I don't drink. I had no idea what to order but did manage to get out "margarita?" When the waitress asked me what kind of tequila I liked, I had no answer for her. She was very kind and took care of me and this is what I got:

My day suddenly got better

Onto the food! Maude's Meatloaf:

Home-cooked goodness

The meatloaf was almost like meat cakes but that sounds pretty unappetizing so I'm glad they stuck with what works. It was served with mixed veggies, mashed potatoes, 2 onion rings, and some pita wedges, along with gravy. This stuff was DELICIOUS! From my first bite, I was in love. The meatloaf is more gravy-y and not so tomato-y which was nice. The veggies were cooked perfectly and had a nice seasoning to them. The potatoes had chunks of potato in them and were so tasty. The pita wedges? Wonderful! They had some garlic and what seemed like coarse salt to make them extra tasty. This was a pretty big plate so I ended up taking about half of it home, making it dinner for the following night. It was equally as delicious the second day.

When my mom and I were leaving, we were going to go to a yogurt place until we happened to see Dolce Ristorante. I remembered they had something on the list and lo and behold, it was tiramisu. Who wants dessert? Um...we do! We went in for just dessert, which I was pretty sure disappointed our waiter on a Saturday, but we couldn't handle another meal! The food in there looked great though. I'd love to go back for dinner. I had the tiramisu and my mom got the lemoncello cake.


I'm better than you!

 I am sad to say that I have been forever ruined by Mike's Pastry Shop in Boston. No tiramisu will ever come close. Dolce's was VERY good and, if I hadn't had Mike's, I may even say one of the top ones I've ever eaten, but Mike's beat it by a mile. My mom's lemoncello cake was really good, tart and tangy, perfect for a summer night. I would recommend both of the restaurants and all the food I ate tonight. Good job, Charlotte Magazine!

No I am!!



Isn't gluttony a deadly sin?

Ahhh, Fran, how you have tempted me and I have fallen. Are you sure you weren't in the Garden of Eden with an apple? Your menu is so delicious it makes me feel like I need to repent!

All right, back to reality....

Andi was kind enough to join me for dinner last night at Fran's Filling Station (hey, wouldn't it be nice if I put the websites in? Sure! http://fransfillingstation.com/) OMG, this place was AMAZING. My dish from the list was the bacon-wrapped tater tots. Oh yes, you heard me correctly. These little suckers were wonderful!


Presentation? A+!


 The description: Bacon-wrapped tater tots with maple rosemary black pepper glaze. They also have jalapeno-wrapped sweet potato tots with a Tabasco honey glaze. I am not a fan of sweet potatoes, so I went with the original. If you think about breakfast when you have some leftover maple syrup that kind of washes over your bacon and hashbrowns, that's what these tasted like...but better. They were so warm and the bacon was, of course, delicious; the tots were perfectly fried....amazing! I would only have one TINY complaint that on a few of the tots, the bacon was a bit fatty and slightly soft. I like my bacon almost black and burnt so that was a little disconcerting. I ate them anyway because, heck, they were good!

I made a mistake though. Andi and I were so intrigued by the specials that we had ordered and had our food delivered before I remembered that I was supposed to order the tots! Here's why. The special that night was a BBQ sandwich on a potato roll with homemade slaw, served with a jalapeno creamy mac and cheese, baked with a cracker crust...or at least that's most of it....I fainted when she started talking about it so I forget some of it. This meal was so delicious. We each ate some tots and then could only eat half of our meal. The upside? Leftovers for lunch the next day! The downside? No room for dessert! =0(  The waitress started talking about some sort of peanut butter dessert and I had to tune out because I knew I would be won over and they'd have to just roll me home, I'd be so round!

I will definitely be returning to this restaurant to try some of the other items. Let me just give you a taste of what's on the menu (although not literally because obviously that's impossible) - pan-fried sweet corn nuggets with goat cheese ranch; reuben-style fried chicken sandwich with pastrami spice, russian dressing, and slaw; maryland style crab cake trio with spicy remoulade........
.........
.........
Ok, I'm back. I just fainted again. Dinner anyone???

This ain't your grandma's chicken salad

Firebirds Woodfired Grill, an interesting (if not redundant) name. This is the restaurant I traveled to on Monday night for the next item on my Top 100 list. I elected to do take-out as I had no desire to sit after work in a restaurant by myself. I'm glad I made that decision too, because the place was HOPPING! I mean, is Monday the new Friday? Come on!

I had the Colorado Chicken Salad. The description says a it's a mixed green salad with sugar roasted pecans, grilled chicken, bleu cheese crumbles, dried cranberries, green apples, and a raspberry chipotle vinaigrette.


Garden of yumminess


I had my reservations about this salad because I'm a big fan of the apple pecan chicken salad from Wendy's and I thought, "Why am I paying $11 for a salad when I can get one at Wendy's?" Well, they certainly showed me. It was like I was on auto-pilot eating that thing. I didn't stop until it was all gone. I honestly think my favorite part was the dressing. I knew it had a little kick to it but wasn't sure where it was coming from until I re-read the description. I could have had a FEW more bleu cheese crumbles because that creaminess goes really well with the tart apples and cranberries, but this was a SUPER good salad and definitely a meal in and of itself. The best part? They gave me a whole thing of bread that I suppose maybe was for sharing? But no, it's just me and the kitties and they're not getting it. The bread was great and a perfect finish to the meal. Good job Firebirds!

Beantown

Last week, I traveled to Boston, Mass for my vacation. Little did I know that I was traveling to the site of the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the US. That is definitely blog-worthy, yes? My trip was fantastic (other than the rain that fell every single day) and I had some GREAT food. Here is a little morsel (I'm so clever!):

Union Oyster House, established 1826 - When I heard this was the oldest restaurant, I knew I had to visit it. What better meal to put in my blog? Their prices were a little high, so I went during lunch. I had the clam chowder (or chowda if you're a native) as my appetizer and the crab cake as my entree. The chowder was very good, worthy of a picture:


A little cup of history

The crab cake was slightly disappointing. As a southerner who has had probably hundreds of crab cakes in my lifetime, I was underwhelmed. This cake had a lot of extra stuff in it, overpowering the crab. It was also served with coleslaw that basically tasted like cabbage in mayonnaise. I was happily surprised that the cornbread served with the meal was sweet. Overall, the lunch was good but not anything memorable, other than the history of the restaurant.

I ate A LOT while I was in Boston, including 2 Thai restaurants, some Greek food, Soup from Zoup (we totally need those here), and two different servings of the best tiramisu I've ever had.



Heaven on a plate. I'm not kidding

If you think of the BEST tiramisu you've ever eaten, and then multiply it times 10, this is what you will get - tiramisu from Mike's Pastry Shop in Boston. I went there on a tip from my friend Nicole and now I owe her BIG time. It's in the North End, which made me not want to go there at night or else I probably would have eaten it every day. It's a huge piece but I could've eaten about 5 more pieces each time. This stuff is indescribably good. If you are ever anywhere near Boston, GO HERE!

Next, I took pictures of my meal in the North End before my 2nd serving of Tiramisu. I had been to the Old North Church and was starving. This little place looked good so I went in. I can't even remember the name but I got a salad and calamari. The salad dressing was balsamic and they had some shaved cheese on it - fantastic! The calamari wasn't the best I've ever had but it was pretty darn good. Not bad for a spur of the moment lunch decision!

Yummy in my tummy!

Lunch, tentacles included

Lastly, I would like to mention King and I, a Thai restaurant on Charles Street. This was one of the Thai places I visited while on vacation and definitely the best. I had my old standby, Pad See Ew with chicken, and it was fabulous. No one has been able to beat Taste of Thai in Knoxville, but this one came pretty darn close. That is high praise, King and I! I didn't get a picture of my meal (very dim lights) but here is the front of the restaurant:

Ahh, Pad See Ew, how I love you

Thank you Boston for a lovely time and some lovely food! I have dedicated this blog entirely to you and have even put it in Red Sox colors!

Back to the Future

I have been very lax in my blogging, mainly because I was on vacation (that blog is coming soon!) but here's another dish I ate before I left town for some R & R. I went to Big View Diner and had the Diner Deluxe Burger. Big View Diner is on this stretch of road that I have recently become more familiar with. I have no idea about its geography but it takes me kind of a back way from Rock Hill to the Ballantyne area. The Big View Diner is in this random shopping center and looks very futuristic...or do I mean retro?:

The diner was described in the magazine as a place where waitresses call you "hon" and retro stools line the counter. That wasn't really my experience, but I really did like the restaurant. They have a TON of choices there, including a nice selection of baked goods. In fact, walking in the first double doors, you're in an entryway into the restaurant where you can smell all the baked goodies - it's like a sweet-tooth heaven. The Diner Deluxe Burger was very good:

Good enough to eat

You get your choice of cheese and toppings and you can have the standard fries or jazz it up a bit by choosing sweet potato fries or another side. I went with swiss, lettuce, and mustard on my hamburger (which luckily was topped with a sweet pickle or else I would have had to send it back) and the standard fries. I pretty much cleaned my plate. This was a delicious juicy burger and the fries were perfectly crispy and potato-y (that's totally a word, you know). I didn't even have room for a milkshake, which was extremely disappointing. I will definitely be going back to try some other items on the menu, including the rugelach in the bakery (Zabar's got me hooked!). The Top 100 list has several versions of hamburgers on it, so I'll be interested to see how the other stacked up. All in all, a great meal!

Paco, Taco, Rulie, and Dulie

This past weekend, my sister, nephew, and brother-in-law came to visit me. The only logical thing to do was to force them to join me in my Top 100 mania. My sister chose Paco's Tacos and Tequila on Morrison Blvd. This restaurant is in a little shopping center that's so cute! I had seen almost all the stores advertised in some Charlotte magazine (maybe THE Charlotte magazine) and so it was fun to see them in real life. Our mission? Paco's Tacos (original). This was not hard to complete. The tacos are made with slow-roasted beef brisket, caramelized onions, and crumbled white cheese. You get your choice of tortilla, hard or soft, white or wheat. There are also several other taco choices. I went with the Paco's Taco and the shrimp taco. My sister got the Paco's taco and beef taco; my brother in law got the steak taco and Paco's...and maybe another one.....The tacos came with beans and rice. We also got queso and chips for our appetizer. My nephew ate avocado for his lunch:


Yummy!!!

The lunch was delicious! I had been burned by Cabo Fish Taco but this place lived up to its name!


You are getting hungry, very hungry

 
The Paco's Taco was so flavorful, kind of sweet and salty, mild and spicy, all at the same time. All the ingredients just really worked together to make a wonderful dish. The shrimp taco was pretty good, but it had a ton of sauce on it, kind of overwhelming the shrimp. I tasted my sister's beef taco and that was very flavorful. My brother-in-law really liked the steak taco, but then declared the shrimp taco his favorite after tasting mine. The beans and rice were good but I think all of us were full after the queso and our tacos. They also give you 2 different kinds of salsa and they were both fabulous - I love me some cilantro!! Honestly, if I wasn't so full, I could've eaten 10 of the Paco's Tacos. This was a great lunch and I will definitely be visiting them again.

Oh, and the title of my post? I had 4 imaginary friends when I was little (a sure sign of an intelligent kid, right??) and those were their names. Apparently Paco has gotten into the Taco business and I think it's a great choice!!

Happy Birthday Anna!

Last night, I went out with Anna, Meredith, Audrey, and Anna's sister Alison. We headed uptown again (every time I go, I sing "Uptown Girl" in my head) to Dandelion Market. Anna's b-day was Tuesday so this was her b-day dinner. Dandelion Market has a menu similar to some others I've seen on the list comprised of "small plates". Anna and I experienced this at Rooster's as well. The menu is made up of a bunch of little entrees, not your typical entree + side items, etc. We chose several entrees for the table and then waited to see if we wanted more, as instructed by our waitress who, to me, resembled Kristin Bell (maybe watching TOO much Veronica Mars).

Anyway, we chose the prosciutto crostini (from my Top 100 list), macaroni and cheese, aged cheddar fondue, baked potato croquettes, and the calamari to start. I didn't take pictures of all the dishes because they disappeared quickly, but here's a pic of mine:

We ended up getting seconds on the calamari and the mac and cheese. Let's go dish by dish - the calamari was lightly fried and served with a lemon aioli. It was FABULOUS. That was probably my favorite dish. The macaroni and cheese was very warm and hearty and quite good. However, I'm still partial to the mac and cheese at Rooster's. The potato croquettes were a little bland - nothing special. The fondue was quite good. The crostini? Definitely a Top 100 dish. The only bad thing about it was that there were only 4 on the plate. The crostini bread was warm and not too crispy. It's spread with fig preserves, then topped with goat cheese and prosciutto. You get that sweetness of the preserves, the creamy cheese, and then that salty prosciutto - wonderful!! I think everyone was impressed. I guess there were caramelized onions on the top, which I was a little worried about, but you didn't really taste them. Everything blended together nicely.

We did order the mozzerella flatbread and the roasted red pepper and artichoke dip as well. The mozzerella flatbread was nothing really special, but the dip was really good. As with the fondue, you get some little herbed bread squares, but the dip also came with crispy bread triangles - now, THOSE were good!

All in all, a delicious and exciting meal at the Dandelion Market. The only really disappointing thing was that they only had 3 choices for dessert and they weren't too spectacular-sounding. Maybe plan on stopping somewhere else for dessert if you go there for dinner if you're in a larger group. If it's just 2, you could probably just share one of them.

Onto the next!