U.S. Adventures: Detroit

A few weeks ago I took my daughter and her boyfriend to Detroit to see Ben Platt perform—who they are both obsessed with. Anyhow, I was excited to take the opportunity to check out some restaurants in Detroit, since I have never been there other than in the airport. 

The first day we grabbed a slice of pizza from Supino Pizzeria. There was over an hour wait so we grabbed a slice to go instead and sort of ate it on the fly. They only offer a couple of choices by the slice to go, but we were all happy—they had a slice of cheese each ($2.75) and I had the special slice of the day with artichokes, pancetta, onions and feta ($3.75). These are huge foldable slices with crispy crust, but just soft enough to be able to fold it. I really liked the crust here and the toppings for the day’s special were perfect for me—being someone who appreciates mostly veggies on my pizza. I would certainly be frequenting this place if I were from Detroit. And it raises the question about why good NY style pizza is such a challenge in central Indianapolis. Anyway, let’s move on.

Before the concert, we had dinner at Shewolf. We had not been able to get a reservation a few weeks in advance but were advised they have a large bar that is walk in and that’s what we did. We arrived right when they were opening and were seated right away (it got crowded really fast though). This is “modern Roman” restaurant and seems to be hugely popular. They make several types of pasta in house. My daughter’s boyfriend sort of let us order everything and we all shared. We started with a little freebie amuse bouche of a homemade cracker with a fairly light cheese spread. These were great. Next, we ordered the Lombardia focaccia ($6) and the carpaccio ($14). The focaccia was really good.  It had a whipped gorgonzola spread on the side, that had just a kick of blue cheese, but wasn’t too overwhelming for people who don’t love blue cheese (as I do). The focaccia had potato and rosemary on it. It was very well done and we all wished we had more. We also had the carpaccio, which I was torn on flavor-wise. The beef was really tender and good, but there was almost too much going on for me. There was hazelnuts, capers and Parmigiano, as well as a Nebbiolo dressing (a light red wine vinaigrette). I think the nuts may have been the set me over the top. I liked it, but it was almost too busy.

For dinner we split several items. The favorites were the rabbit roulade on polenta and the halibut with herbed breadcrumbs and artichokes. My daughter’s boyfriend had never had rabbit and described it as tasting like “chicken, but really good!” Both of these dishes were extremely well prepared and were seasoned with fun interesting flavors. The one let down I thought was the Roman pasta carbonara ($18). I was surprised at the shape of the pasta—large rings. They were a little al dente for me, and the “sauce” was more like a dollop of cream. I just didn’t feel the carbonara aspect of the sauce—it was too gloopy for me. And the bits of black pepper were too large and dominated the flavor. The desserts were great—they had little fried Italian doughnuts (zeppole) ($9) and this giant dish of dark chocolate gelato ($9). Both great but even better together. The doughnuts were ricotta based and covered in salted caramel sauce. So good. All in all this was a fun restaurant and had some great flavor combos for sure. I would love to try some other menu items.  

On our way out of town, we just had time for a brunch and we checked out Selden Standard. They serve lunch and dinner every day, but brunch on the weekend. The kids wanted the morning pastries ($5 each)—one was a chocolate cherry pastry and one was a blood orange cake. The kids really liked the cake. The chocolate pastry was good as well—very rich and chocolatey with some large chunks of cherries in it. I had their version of chilaquiles ($12), which were good, but I wished the chips were a little more integrated into the dish. The flavors were good—I liked the dark almost mole like sauce—it just all felt like it sat on top of the chips rather than being a part of the dish, which is my preference. The kids shared yet another sweet dish—the lemon poppy seed French toast ($12) which was actually really good. And I liked the way the chunks of rhubarb on top added a tartness. It also had lavender cream and almond. All in all, this was a really interesting menu (that changes frequently) and they do a nice job. Again, another place I would be interested in trying multiple times and check out seasonal menu items.

Have you guys ever spent time in Detroit? Eaten anywhere good?

U.S. Adventures: Austin

A few weeks ago, we made a super quick trip to Austin to see some good friends and see a concert. Of course there was food mixed in, and here’s where we went (yes, that’s right, there is no barbecue in this post, get over it). 

We ate dinner at a hip place called the Odd Duck. It’s a shared plate/tapas type place with a very energetic atmosphere and a super eclectic menu. Probably my favorite dish of the night was the redfish ceviche ($14). It had a great lime flavor and had cilantro, olives (yum!) and carrot curry. Very interesting flavors—lots of acid. They recommended we just mix it all together, including the chips and we did. It was delicious. Oh, and you gotta love the Paloma drink here ($10). The drink itself was super good with tequila, aperol, grapefruit, tarragon and ginger—but the coolest thing was instead of a salt rim, they put a salt foam on top. You got a little bit with each sip, but it was a soft texture instead of the crunhy salt—it was much milder and softer taste too. It was really good. 

Next we had the seeded homemade pretzel sticks stuck into broccoli queso ($8). Also, totally delicious. Think of a really good soft pretzel in a really thick rich broccoli cheddar soup. Really a kind of genius idea if you think about it. So much better than the generic nacho cheese and more interesting than beer cheese.

We also had the antelope tataki ($12) with leek aioli, cabbage, sesame and rosemary crackers. Also really good—I am pretty sure I have never had antelope tataki before and it was tender and flavorful. The aioli added a nice brightness to the dish.  The basic bread plate ($7) here was also really tasty—local sourdough bread with cultured butter and flaky sea salt. It was simple, but really good as well. And a nice addition to dishes that weren’t particularly carb heavy.

We had some Asian style goat nuggets that were on special as well. They had a great, slightly spicy, slightly sweet flavor. The texture of the meat varied, some pieces a bit chewy—but when you got a good one, it was pretty tasty. Even if one of our friends seemed disturbed about eating goat. There was also a pasta dish ($19) that has a goat chili on it as well as goat feta, cilantro and radish. The noodles were thick and eggy and the toppings gave a unique flavor for a pasta dish. Lots of goat on this menu.

Dessert was tasty too—it was like a deconstructed chocolate cake—hunks of cake with sweet potato caramel pudding and orange marmalade. The chunks of torn cake were really good—super fudgy tasting. And I ended up liking the sweet potato with it more than I thought. Especially the crisp chips on top. Overall, I think I prefer sweet potato in a dessert it seems.

Odd Duck is a unique place—really trendy and lots of good bites and flavors. Certainly some better than others, but worth checking out. 

At my insistence, we also went back to Home Slice Pizza. Last time we waited nearly 2 hours to get seated so we went early, not knowing what to expect. It turns out on Easter (the day we were there), it is not crowded at all. We sat outside and ordered some knots ($4.50 for 4) (a lot of them actually because our friends’ kids love them). They are good, but they are not the reason I go—to me they are just pizza dough in a knot served with marinara. Not much luring me in here—give me some garlic butter any day.

The pizza though, the pizza is amazing (around $20-25 for a large depending on toppings). It’s New York style and is really, really good. Super thin but with just the right amount of toppings so it doesn’t fall apart when you are eating it. And they literally put the perfect amount of toppings on it in my opinion and sauce—not so much that it makes the crust mushy. Love this pizza and wish we had one near us. Brozinni is our closest place serving great New York style pizza for me, and it’s nearly in Greenwood, which is a pretty long trek for me.

All in all, it was s super quick trip, but as always, we ate well (and don’t worry hubby was there longer than me and had some barbecue too).

Odd Duck

1201 S. Lamar Blvd

Austin, TX 78704

512/433-6521

www.oddduckaustin.com

Home Slice Pizza

501 E. 53^rd Street

Austin, TX 78751

512/707-7437

www.homeslicepizza.com 

U.S. Adventures: One Flew South, Atlanta Airport

So I know a lot of you all travel, and if you travel from Indy, you’re bound to go through Atlanta at some point. And if you do, do yourself a favor and go eat at One Flew South. It’s not just good for airport food, it’s just good. If it existed in Indy, I would eat there all the time. I am now considering planning long layovers in Atlanta when I travel. Seriously,

Anyhow, there was a bunch of us, and I got to try a bunch of things. One of my favorite things were the poke tacos ($16). I am sure this comes as no surprise to those of you who regularly read my blog. But these things were so good and seasoned just right. There was lots of fresh avocado, daikon sprouts, a slightly spicy salsa and sea salt. So, so good. We ended up ordering about 4 orders for the table (there are three per order) because they were so popular. We also ordered some Cajun shrimp toast, which was interesting. The sauce was a spicy creole type sauce, but it also had a slightly Asian flair with sesame on it. The shrimp were pretty spectacular because they were cooked so perfectly. The bread had onion and bacon in it. 

We had a sushi roll to share as well, and it was really, really good as well. It was the kamikaze roll ($16), which had tuna, salmon, and nigiri inside, and was served on top of a spicy mayo and wrapped in this interesting white soy paper. Simple, but just enough of a spicy sauce to make it shine.

I ordered the salmon hot pot ($24) for my main dish which had this really tasty and sticky unagi fried rice that was topped with some tofu, shitake mushrooms, some greens, and a miso broth. Oh yeah, and that beautiful hunk of seared salmon. Delicious. The flavors were deep and so good.

My daughter had the duck confit croquettes ($14). These were little balls of grits and peas with duck confit and topped with citrus, fennel slaw and yuzu vinaigrette. She liked them ok but didn’t think they were as good as everything else. She would pass on this next time.

My son had the specialty burger, the “Seoul Burger ($18),” which had bacon, kimchi, white American cheese and a special sauce. He had the sauce on the side. It came with fries and it was also delicious. Juicy burger, Brioche bun and nice crispy fries. But with an Asian flair. Totally worth getting.

We even had this wonderful yuzu tart for dessert, which hit the spot after a lot of rich and salty food. And having a nice dinner after a leg of traveling is a welcome break. Seriously, if you find yourself in Atlanta at the airport with some time to kill, check it out. 

One Flew South

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

6000 North Terminal Parkway

Terminal E

Atlanta, GA 30320

404/209-8209

www.oneflewsouthatl.com

Road Trip: Blackberry Farm--Walland, TN

Wow, I recently had the opportunity to go to Blackberry Farm with a bunch of girl friends. It is one of those bucket list foodie type places. It’s located near Knoxville, Tennessee just adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. If you have some extra cash burning a hole in your pocket, and you love food and the outdoors, you should add it to your bucket list.

I’m not going to go course by course through every meal, as it will only remind me how decadent I was for the three days we were there, but suffice it to say, you really need to bring your stretchy pants. And while the accommodations are expensive, the food is all included (not alcohol) and they are very generous. For instance, at one breakfast, I had decided to go with a slightly healthy option, but when I just casually mentioned to a friend that I would love to try the biscuits and gravy, there was a plate in front of us to share as well in minutes as our ordered breakfast.

Anyway, speaking of breakfast, they do it right. The menu changes slightly every day so you don’t get bored with the same stuff (you can always get the B&G though if you ask). Everything I had was very good, with the strange exception that the kitchen did not seem to be able to poach an egg with a runny middle. But if you got an over easy or sunny egg, you were fine. A star is the grits with pimento cheese and bacon on top (and this was just a side dish). I would say the other favorite was the simple, but comforting B&G. But you can see, we tried several items and they were happy to bring you as many things on the side as you wanted as well. The lemon scones were amazing.

We never had the totally traditional lunch, because we arrived back from a hike late one day and they just laid out a giant picnic table with a ton of different things including barbecued chicken and ribs, and a plethora of salads and sides. The favorites here were the mustard and Bourbon beans and the strawberry, rhubarb, and beet salad. There was so much food though. Wow. Oh yeah, and a whole plate of desserts as well—a favorite here were the berry hand pies. The second lunch we had was part of a cooking demonstration with their Farmstead Manager, Dustin Busby. It was awesome. He showed us how to make homemade ricotta, homemade pasta filled with cheese and herbs, smoked onion jam dressing for our salad, which contained roasted beets and cauliflower, and individual almond financiers. Every single thing was great, and it was really fun to see how easy it was to make it all. We are already planning a party to make all of the items again. Honestly, it might have been one of my favorite meals.

You can eat dinner at The Barn or The Dogwood. The Barn is the more formal restaurant, and is just stunning inside. The Dogwood is the slightly more casual restaurant that is set in the original farmhouse (they call it the main house). Originally we were going to do the Barn twice and the Dogwood once, but ended up switching it around after eating in both. To be frank, the service in the Barn was pretty off the night we were there, and the service at the Dogwood was brilliant. I also enjoyed the slightly more rustic dishes on the Dogwood menu. The flavors just spoke to me more. The highlight at the Barn for me was their beef tartare, which was so good—pretty sure there were some truffles in there as well as roasted mushrooms. It had such a good earthy and well-seasoned flavor. A table favorite was also the potato salad, which was lightly creamy and topped with trout roe and sliced fried potato chips. They also had amazing desserts—several had a key lime pie that was amazing and I ordered a rhubarb sorbet with a cake that was also delicious.

At the Dogwood, one of my favorite dishes was a clam dish that had beer, butter, garlic, fennel and mustard that was recommended by our hiking guide. I ordered this one twice (one of the few things offered both times we were there). I actually got the recipe and was surprised at how little cream and butter was in it. It felt extremely decadent and delicious when I was eating it and now I can’t wait to make it myself. Add some lightly charred grilled bread and this dish was perfect. The salads they make are wonderful—they always have a nice texture variation and plenty of acid (often with something like pickled red onion). One night I also had an egg dish as a starter that was also rich and delicious. I like that the servings aren’t ridiculous since you get four courses every time. The desserts at the Dogwood were also less fancy, but also delicious. One night I had chocolate sea salt sandies and one night a large slice of chocolate cake and vanilla icing.

All in all, it was a really fun trip with a lot of really good food. There are also a lot of fun outdoor activities as well if you like that sort of thing. If not, there’s also a spa, pool, and of course, the cooking lessons. If you have the chance, I say add it to your list. Just start saving now. 

Blackberry Farm

1471 West Millers Cove Road

Walland, TN 37886

865/984-8166

www.blackberryfarm.com 

U.S. Adventures: Washington D.C.

Recently, we had a whirlwind trip to D.C., where my daughter was participating in National History Day. She had summer school as well, so she could only miss one day of class, and was presenting on a Monday, so we took the opportunity to fly out early Saturday morning and do some sightseeing and eating. The boys flew in on Sunday, because of baseball conflicts.

The first meal was just me and my daughter, and we headed to the Eastern Market, which is sort of like our City Market, but with more meat and seafood counters, and fewer prepared food places. The one main restaurant type place had a line out the door, and I had read favorable places about it, and since she is more patient than son and hubby, we queued up and waited the hour or so it took to get through the line. It was totally worth it. Even though they were technically serving a brunch menu, I asked if they would make me soft shell crab from the weekday lunch menu and the owner/cashier was more than happy to. In fact, he insisted I get the sandwich, because he thinks it’s one of the best things on the menu. He was right.  This was the best soft shell I have had in ages. Lightly fried, and the crab was super meaty and tender, with just the right amount of crunch from the soft shell. There was slaw on it, and I added a little hot sauce, and it was perfection. My daughter ordered their crab cake benedict and it was very good as well. The crab cake had a lot of flavor and wasn’t overly bready. Perfectly poached egg and all was well. The owner was quite upset when she ordered the fried potatoes instead of grits and insisted we try the grits as well, and sent us a side of their spicy version on the house. They were very tasty, with green chilies, and more spice than heat. He also said it was required that we order one of their buckwheat blueberry pancakes, because they are known for them (and pretty much everyone there had at least one on the side). I am not a big sweets as my meal person, but this one was very good—it wasn’t overly sweet and had nice blueberry flavor. Yes, it was way too much food, and yes we didn’t finish everything (that soft shell crab was totally gone though), but it was fun to try everything. And I’d go back in a heartbeat. On Saturdays they have a big farmer’s market outside as well as artists selling their art, and even a few booths of a flea market. It was a fun place to spend a few hours (and delicious).

For dinner that night the daughter and I hit Momofuku ccdc. She has developed a taste for ramen, and I thought it would be fun. We started with the biscuit bites ($6) because my daughter is a bread fiend, and the soft shell crab buns ($19), because, well, as you know, I am a soft shell crab fiend. They were in season and we were on the east coast and I was going to order them everywhere I saw them. The biscuit bites were actually pretty large oblong biscuits that had chives cooked into them—they were pretty standard biscuits—good but not amazing—but we really enjoyed the Szechwan honey butter. One is certainly enough for each person, even for my daughter. The soft shell crab buns were so good. We each had one, and both thought they were great. They were steamed buns, ½ a lightly fried crab, Old Bay seasoning, remoulade sauce and shaved lettuce.

We both got a bowl of ramen for dinner. I went with the classic pork ramen with pork belly, pork shoulder and a poached egg ($17) and she went with the vegetarian hozon ramen with scallions, kale and fried chickpeas ($16) and added a poached egg ($2). My pork version was very classic, and very tasty. The broth was nice and rich, and there were nice greens, scallions and bean sprouts in there as well. My daughter’s was also very good—and a bit more unique, but also lighter. I loved the addition of the crunchy fried chickpeas for texture and also for a bit of protein. The broth had an herby aromatic flavor and was a nice change of pace. We shared a couple of milkbar desserts, but I have to say, they were the most disappointing parts of the meal—the cookie we had was extremely dry and the cake pops so dense, they weren’t that appealing.

Once hubby and my son got there, we met up with them for more sightseeing. We had an opportunity to go to the National Museum of African American History and Culture as well as the Holocaust museum. Both were great experiences. We grabbed a quick lunch at Old Ebbit’s Grill, just because we hadn’t made plans for lunch and the concierge could get us in. It was so hot the weekend we were there, the air conditioning was a welcome respite. The food here is fine, not amazing, but it’s an old historical restaurant, so it’s kind of a cool place to take the kids.  Hubby and I split a fried oysters dinner and we all shared some crab and artichoke dip ($11.59), which was quite tasty. The kids had trout parmesan ($18.99) and a burger. Both were fine. We all shared a piece of key lime pie, which was not good. It had no tartness. 

For dinner that night, after the welcoming ceremony for my daughter’s event, we went to Zaytinya, which is a hip Mediterranean tapas place. We all love small plates because we can get a million things, and we all get to choose a few. And we were excited for the cuisine after our trip to Greece last summer. I can’t even begin to tell you everything we had because there was a lot, but some of the highlights were the hommus ($7), the pita (free), the bronzino ($12), the lamb kleftico ($14), and the crispy eggplant dish ($8.50). The pita was like a balloon-filled up with air and super light. It was extremely addicting and so good with the hommus. My daughter, who often ignores hommus, gobbled this one up. The bronzino had a nice acidic kick and interesting flavors from fennel and raki (an anise-flavored alcohol). The lamb kleftico was really interesting—patties made with lamb and phyllo and sitting on top of feta, dill and oil. It was crunchy and rich and the cheese added just the right freshness. The hunks of super crispy eggplant were one of my favorites, although the rest of the family doesn’t like eggplant as much as I do. It was served with a roasted garlic yogurt sauce. Perfect combo of crispy veg and acidic sauce. There were many other courses, but these were the standouts. The olives were a nice thing to eat with everything as well. The soft shell crab was my least favorite of the trip because it was kind of over fried. Several other dishes were just ok. It was a very enjoyable meal, with several really good things, but we all agreed it wasn’t a place we would rush back to. The service was a little weird as well. The waiter sort of ignored my son, and ended up not bringing him one of the dishes he ordered. So my son’s advice was to only bring one kid here at a time. 

The last day, after my daughter did her presentation, we had just barely enough time to get lunch somewhere before heading back to the airport. A couple of different people I know and trust for food had recommended Rasika, so we got a quick reservation and headed there. It’s an upscale Indian restaurant with a couple of locations. We talked to our waiter about recommendations and were told we absolutely should order the palak chaat ($12). Boy was he right. This is one of the best dishes I’ve had in recent memory. My family and I have already started searching the Internet for copycat recipes. So it is spinach, but it’s fried so each leaf is nice and crispy. The whole thing is then topped with this yogurt sauce with tamarind and dates. Then there were diced tomatoes and cilantro on top. Oh my, this was so good. Next time, there will likely be multiple orders. I know, it doesn’t sound that interesting, but it was. As another appetizer, we also shared the tuna chutneywala ($14). This was a very interesting and tasty dish as well (and also recommended) and was seared tuna stacked with a coconut cilantro flavored sauce. It was light, and the coconut added an interesting flavor dimension. Between us we also tried the chicken tikka masala ($19), the tandoori chicken ($18), the dal dhungaree ($7 for half) and the salmon tandoori ($22). All of these were good, but none were as interesting as the appetizers. I’d be tempted to just go with a bunch of apps next time. The dal dhungaree was interesting though—smoked lentils with garlic, tomatoes and fenugreek. All in all, this was a fun place and like nothing we have in Indy, so it was a good place to try. And I’d go back just for the spinach.

All in all, a very satisfying, but quick trip to D.C. We got to try a lot of variation in food, and all of it was good.

U.S. Adventures: Austin, Texas

For spring break this year, the family and I headed back to Austin to see our good friends who moved there a couple years ago. If you’re a regular reader, you will know our last trip last May didn’t go too well—hubby broke his arm and I didn’t get to go to my number one choice of restaurant because we headed home early. 

That restaurant was Uchiko, and it was fabulous. One of the best meals I have had in awhile for sure. I love the small plates concept because you can try even more things. And we certainly did. They do sushi, but a ton of other Japanese options as well. Probably one of my favorite dishes of the evening was the take nabe ($18). It was like a soft porridge with dashi and lots of different mushrooms and a runny egg. I loved the intensity of the flavor of this one. Loved the hama chili as well, which was sashimi of yellowtail with orange, thai chili and ponzu ($18.50). Hubby thought it was a bit bland, but if you ate it with the pieces of orange, it was fabulous. Delicate, but really good. The table all loved the fried caramelized Brussels sprouts with fish sauce, lemon and chili. I don’t think I have ever tasted Brussels sprouts that tasted so rich. And they remained crispy despite everything going on. And wagyu on a hot rock with ponzu ($17)? You can’t really go wrong. You barely sear it and then eat it. The special nigiri was great as well. One of the sushi rolls was tasty, while one was weird and my least favorite thing. The “shag” tempura roll ($14) with salmon, avocado, sundried tomato and sumiso was great. The ham and egg roll ($10) with pork belly and egg custard was not so good. It fell flat. The tempura grouper that was a special was fine, although just didn’t stick out. The desserts on the other hand were as tasty as they were beautiful ($8-$9 each). We really didn’t need three of them, but we ordered them anyway. Just look at them. They were great. I want to go back tomorrow.

The next meal we had was at Home Slice. Why oh why can’t we have pizza like this is Indy (outside of Brozinni, which is awesome, but so far away from me)? It was a great place to take the kids, even though we ended up eating lunch at like 3:00 p.m. because that’s how long it takes to get in EVERYWHERE in Austin. This city is clearly over-peopled. Anyhow, my daughter wanted an antipasti platter ($14.75) and the kids pretty well devoured it. Like I said, it was like 3:00, so it was a good call, because it came out fast. A nice mix of Italian meats, cheeses and my favorite, olives and artichoke hearts. Oh yeah, and those garlic knots. The platter came with a couple and then we got a bunch more (4 for $4.50). They are soft and garlicky and delicious. They come with marinara, which although I prefer Bromine’s garlic butter, was very tasty. The pizza though? The pizza was awesome. The best part was the mushroom and red onion (which was my choice). Just the right amount of each ingredient, and that crust was awesome. It might even be better than Brozinni. The kids ordered a clam pizza ($21.50), and while it was good (you gotta squeeze the lemon on top), it was very, very clammy—those are all chopped clams. I think about half as many would have made it better. It had a white olive oil type sauce instead and lots of garlic and herbs.

For lunch we ate at Top Notch. I mean look at that sign and tell me it doesn’t make you want to eat there? It was cool, a drive-in from way back. The inside was all wood paneled. Their sign advertised fried chicken, so who am I to say no? It was fine chicken, but honestly the burgers the kids ordered were better. The onion rings were quite tasty too and the milkshakes were handmade and delicious. And check out the canned wine. Fancy.

Our last meal was also really good. Still waiting on an Italian place like this in Indy. The restaurant is called Red Ash. It was one of those really hip, popular and LOUD restaurants, but the food more than made up for any noise discomfort. The bread service ($2 pp) alone is delicious. And you have to pay for it, but after that they will bring you free refills. This was garlic and cheese bread and the bread itself was delicious too. We also got an app of roasted clams ($16) and they were the smallest I have ever seen in the US. They were delicious. My family was fighting over them—they were cooked in white wine, herbs, garlic and topped with breadcrumbs. We also ordered beef carpaccio ($14), which was prepared wonderfully as far as the meat was concerned, but it was covered with a lot of horseradish, which isn’t really my thing. You couldn’t really taste the meat anymore. We also had a wonderful fresh halibut crudo ($16) that was seasoned perfectly and it was as beautiful as it was tasty. It ad avocado and lemon, radish and celery. So bright and fresh.  This place definitely excelled the most at apps though I think. Our entrées were good, but the risotto with bone marrow ($36) hubby and I split with hubby was so over the top rich, it was hard to finish. My daughter’s gnocchi ($15 for the small portion) with gorgonzola cream, speck, and fresh cream and was my favorite of the entrées. It was light and creamy and had some nice fresh herbs in it as well. The desserts we all shared (there were 9 of us) were very tasty as well. Dulce du leche ice cream, tiramisu and filled doughnuts with chocolate and blackberry jam (all $9). 

All in all, this trip went much better than the last one that’s for sure. We kayaked and the kids all rock climbed and we ate really, really well (there was some BBQ in there too, don’t worry but I wrote about the place we went (Rudy’s) last time, so I am not covering it again). Austin is a great city, but seriously, it is a bit overpopulated. The traffic was insane and the waits for restaurants were as well. But the food (and the company of course) made it worth it. And hey, if you  have recommendations for other places I am sure we will get back there one of these days.

U.S. Adventures: Miami Beach, FL

A few months ago some friends from Texas convinced hubby and I to meet them in Miami for a long weekend (ok, it was February, it wasn’t hard). Here’s a little run down of where we ate.

Watr at the 1 Rooftop (it’s at the top of the 1 Hotel on South Beach). We had all just gotten in and didn’t have specific lunch plans, so we took our concierge’s advice and hit up one of the few rooftop/beachside restaurants on South Beach, and we could walk from our hotel. It was beautiful and the weather was superb. The menu is kind of eclectic, with a lot of small plates, but I really enjoyed everything. Here’s a sample of what we had: assorted dim sum ($16). Only four dumplings, and they were all different, but delicious. I could happily eat this on my own. Sweet and sour wings with tamarind glaze ($19). Meaty and I loved the tanginess of the tamarind. They had a bit of heat. Kimchi tuna ($19). I loved this dish and wished I had it all to myself. Lots of chunks of tuna in a creamy sauce, with kimchi and garlic chips, set on top of quinoa. I want to eat this now. We had a couple of sushi rolls as well, the salmon roll ($16), with asparagus, salmon, avocado and black sesame, and the shrimp tempura roll ($16) with shrimp, avocado, cucumber and spicy mayo. Both just perfect. Finally the beef bulgogi lettuce wraps, with pickled cucumber and cashews ($19). Very good. Things were pricy, and a bit on the small side, but delicious. Very nice cocktails as well. And a great view of the beach as well as the Miami skyline.

Next we headed to dinner at Yardbird, based on a friend’s recommendation. We all loved this choice, even though one of my friends mocked me for choosing a fried chicken place. We started with the deviled eggs ($11 I think), which I really enjoyed because they had lots of dill and chives and tasted sort of pickly to me…my friends didn’t like them as much though for the same reason. We also had the little fried green tomato BLT appetizer ($14). This was the biggest letdown of the night. It sounded good—a fried green tomato with pimento cheese and bacon, but the tomato was way too thick and everything just slid off. It just came across and really dry and hard to eat. Skip this one. The fried chicken ($26), which they are known for, was very good. And man, the mac and cheese ($10)? Yes. Five kinds of cheese and herby topping. We also had some biscuit sliders and the shrimp and grits that were both pretty tasty, but overall the chicken is the star. Oh, and those little beignet type doughnuts. Delicious.

Randomly, the next morning, an old high school friend had replied to one of my facebook posts that he was also in Miami, and was eating pretzels at the Hofbrau Haus. Once I knew that existed, we had to go have a beer and pretzels as an appetizer before our next lunch. The pretzels weren’t as good as the ones in Munich, but it was fun anyway. And giant steins of beer always provide good photo ops. After that, we kind of wandered down the street until we just decided to grab a slightly healthier second course at Sushisamba. We had lots of little things. The tuna tataki ($15) was my favorite with the asparagus, hearts of palm and avocado and a fresh citrus soy. They had their own version of basically a bang bang shrimp, which was tempura rock shrimp ($17) with a spicy mayo and some black truffle vinaigrette. Strangely addictive. The samba dromo roll ($19) (lobster, mango, tomato, chive, crispy rice and peanut curry) was a miss. But it was a nice light lunch to follow our giant pretzels with cheese.

So our next night, my friend absolutely insisted on going to Joe’s Stone Crab. He absolutely loves this place. They don’t take reservations, and I will spare you the amount of complaints I have about this fact, but we waited over 2 hours for our reservation and I got progressively crankier. Luckily we found a table outside and had drinks and ordered some appetizers—they have a special bar menu you can only get out there. The popcorn lobster bites ($16.95) were quite delicious actually. Strangely there were actual pieces of popcorn mixed in, but regardless, the lobster was yummy and I liked the mustard sauce. We also got a jumbo crab cake with green tomato remoulade ($14). This was a miss. A giant fried ball of something that supposedly contained crab. Into the second hour, we added the crab and onion dip ($12.95) and this stuff was fabulous. It was cold, which sort of deterred me at first, but man, it was good. They served it with homemade potato chips, which were also delicious.

When we were finally seated at like 10:00 or something, I was barely in the mood to eat, but we had to get the signature items. I will have to say, as grumpy as I was, this was good food. The stone crab bisque ($9.95) was really tasty—really rich and decadent. I was glad I split a bowl with hubby though because it was soooo rich, I couldn’t have eaten it all. Then the stone crab claws. They were certainly the best I have ever had—I have never honestly had any that I thought were worth the price. These were (and they are expensive for sure, market pricing depending on size) and I enjoyed them with the creamy mustard sauce.  The key lime pie ($8.95) was also delicious, even though I think I was about to fall asleep on my plate by this time. The place was still heaving with people though.

Our last meal was at Larios on the beach, which is an upscale Cuban place owned by the Estafan family. I don’t even want to go on about this place. Nothing we had was good. It just was very bland and forgettable. And quite possibly the worst desserts I have ever tried. That’s all I am going to say about that (I did add the pics though). I just don’t have the energy. I think this place has seem better days for sure.

So that’s Miami in a nutshell. It was fast and we had some tasty things. Some day I would like to go back to Joe’s with a better attitude. Maybe on a Tuesday at 4:30 or something.

Road Trip: Chicago--Schwa

This is from ages and ages ago, but I have a little time right now so I am trying to play catch up. Schwa had been on my bucket list since we moved back to the Midwest. It’s quite difficult to make a reservation—the reservations are taken by whoever answers the phone, if anyone answers the phone, and often it’s the chef. Sometimes they will tell you to call back later. Often you get an answering machine and find a full mailbox. I’ve tried multiple times to get reservations…and even talked to someone once, only to be told to call back in a week or two.

So what it took to get a reservation was one of my friends having a friend who knew the staff. But hey, I’ll take it. The place is in a tiny storefront and there is like 10 tables. It‘s a pretty simple black and white minimalist décor—and of course the dripping air conditioner on the wall over my friends’ heads. There is a cool window into the kitchen though where you can see the staff feverishly working on the courses. There is very loud music playing at all times. On the night we were there it was Jurassic Five, which quickly became a favorite of hubby. It’s a BYOB place, and they whisk your bottles (or cans or whatever) away and pair them for you throughout the meal. They do a really good job with this. We really didn’t know what we were going to eat so we brought a lot of different wine, white, rose, reds…they paired them just right. Also, it’s advisable to bring something for the kitchen to drink as well.

The food is much more sophisticated than you might imagine and is really, really delicious. A very cool experience. The first “course” was actually the “bourbon olfactory journey” which was three types of bourbon paired with homemade air fresheners that smelled like different bourbon cocktail accompaniments. You were supposed to sip the bourbon whilst you smelled the different scents to feel like you were getting different drinks. A cool idea, but I am not a brown liquor person.

But there were many, many food courses (about 13 or so), and lots of wine, and a lot of time has passed since we ate there, so it’s hard to remember everything, but here’s some food highlights. 

The first food course was potato & Leek with yogurt, charred potato chips and salmon roe. Inside the charred leeks, there was roe and on top, little crispy potato chips. So tasty.

Um, raviolo with truffle and buffalo ricotta? You know I was going to like that one. It was definitely one of my favorites.

I also really liked the bone Marrow brulee with grapefruit marmalade and Osetra Caviar—it had a great texture variation as well as a nice salty and acidic kick. Or how about the ouster set in a gelee egg of 7 up?

One course was Pig face fried and topped with crispy chicharrones with bacon dressing, gooseberries, dried and not cherry tomatoes. We also got a little pretzel roll with bacon butter. Delicious. Another was lamb belly and lamb loin. 

There was “laundry soap,” a molecular gastronomy take on a drink—you mixed some crystals into a liquid and ended up with a blueberry lemonade type drink. It was tart and a nice palate cleanser.

A Humboldt fog cheesecake?  Yes please. My ideal dessert. A cheese with some blue cheese notes and a bit of a crust added. There was also an artsy sweet dessert.

Anyway, you get the idea. I could write a book if I described every nuance. There is lots of cool stuff going on here. The food is expertly and beautifully prepared and tasted really, really good. I hope that I can manage another reservation some day. And if you have the opportunity, do it. It’s a great food experience and just an all around good time.

Schwa

1466 N. Ashland Ave.

Chicago, IL 60622

773-552-1466

www.schwarestaurant.com