And it's a Wrap

I just looked back at my blog now that the holiday rush is over and I cringed. No posts since October? Has my life been that uneventful since October there's nothing of noteworthy interest?

Mostly, yes. But not entirely.

In early December my husband and I went with a couple of friends to see the Christmas decorations at Opryland Hotel and take a weekend off during the holidays. As it has been in past years, they spare no expense at decorating on a grand scale with giant Christmas trees several stories tall, immense wreaths and ribbons. Throughout the garden areas numerous variations of poinsettias added perfect color to the lush green.

However, I think it may be our last trip to spend the night there. At one point, I was standing in fifth floor hotel hallway with my ear to a house phone, luggage piled around me a full five hours after my arrival at the hotel, feeling a bizarre blend of shock, humor and exhaustion. The front desk clerk was offering me a small hotel room with the only bed being a pull-out sofa bed, a stark contrast to the premium balcony suite with a king size bed I'd reserved. That was the last straw. Despite making reservations months in advance, the hotel completely bungled things up. The room we ended up with wasn't at all what we reserved, and out of the many trips we've made there, I think a trip we made there last summer is the first and only one I can recall where the rooms were actually correct right from the start. How a resort can do so much otherwise right but fail so miserably on the reservations is unbelievable and really inexcusable.

We did discover that there's a few restaurants on the property well worth a return visit. Actually there are three, but one isn't so much a restaurant as a dose of chocolate delight. The Godiva shop sells a concoction called a Chocolixir. One sip and its additive properties take over the taste buds. We discovered these sweet-tooth taunting drinks last summer and made it a point to go back for seconds (well, thirds as we went for two rounds last summer!)

Moving on to the true restaurants. (Chocolate is good but for some reason my body does require real substance once in a while.) The famed Old Hickory Steakhouse isn't bad, but it is definitely over-hyped. We went there for dinner one night and the best course by far was the cheese course. The steaks and side dishes were mediocre at best, and the quality for the cost wasn't what I would expect. The Italian restaurant Volare was quite the contrary, it was excellent! It may have been in part due to our exhaustion, after all, we'd been struggling that first night to get simply checked into correct rooms and were all frustrated and hungry, but the starting with the salads the food was quite tasty and that has to be some of the best fried mozzarella I've ever tasted. Everything at dinner that night was exceptionally good, from the pasta and seafood entrees to the spectacular sampler desert. Our favorite of the deserts was the Ravioli al Marscapone; I'd go back just to have this tasty and unusual delight. In an effort to make up for the lousy experience we had getting our room, one of the managers also provided us with vouchers for breakfast for four at Water's Edge Marketplace Buffet. Ordinarily I'm not a fan of buffets and certainly wouldn't wait forty-five minutes to get a seat but given our lack of choices at the time, we waited. As Alton Brown says "your patience will be rewarded" and in this case, it was. The eggnog bread pudding was definitely something to write home about and for a buffet, the food quality was noteworthy.

I wouldn't however spend the night on a sofa bed to get any of the restaurants mentioned here. I am just now getting over the shock, horror and bodily aches of hauling around luggage for five hours. Maybe the manager should have thrown in a long massage, that might have eased my misery at the time a bit more.

We made one other restaurant stop but it wasn't on the Gaylord Opryland property. On our way out of town, we went to The Cheesecake Factory for Sunday brunch. Thankfully, this one is about as close as they get to my home or I'd be there way more often than I should. I know it's a chain, and while I usually express a bit of chain snobbery, I see why they have enormous profitability per store, in fact is the largest of the chain restaurants in the US. They manage an impressively huge menu and the day we went it was all fresh and fantastic.

It was a worthwhile trip and the decorations are something of a spectacle, especially to those who've never been to the hotel. To really take in the hotel, I recommend going during a different time of year; to get a little taste of the holidays (including getting indoctrinated to the crowds) it's not a bad visit. Just be really, really sure of your reservations and presume they'll be treated as merely a suggestion of what you'd like in a room when you get there.

Basil Gelato and an Improved Hotel Experience

Nothing like being sick on a weekend, especially a long holiday weekend to keep me sitting around bored. The only upside is I can get in a lot of reading. Sometimes even updating my blog!

I have this habit of finding a really fun event, then if I find I like it, making it a yearly occurrence. There are a number of places I've visited that while they were good, they weren't quite the "lets come back next year" type of destination. Alton Brown's seminar at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville is one of those events worth going back each year and this year was no exception.

Last year I gave the hotel some poor marks as it seemed a bit less kept at tip-top shape than it had in the past. Thankfully I can report that this year they've gone back to the quality I'd come to expect. The rooms have all been renovated, and with a 4th floor Delta room, we had a fantastic view. For the first time I can recall, we got the exact type of room we requested, down to every detail; located in the Delta section, near the exhibit halls, a king-size bed, located nearby our friends traveling with us and most importantly, a balcony. Big kudos to the staff that made that happen! For those who've not been to the resort, it's comparable in size to the behemoths in Las Vegas. A room nearby the places you want to go can save you from coming home needing a vacation to recover from your vacation.

The first night we attended a private cocktail reception and dinner for us and 40 of our "closest friends" with Alton Brown. Surprisingly, it was so well done that it didn't seem quite like there were 40 of us. Just getting to stand around and chat a bit with Alton was great, not at all like the typical hurried rush of a book-signing. While we had our dinner at the Old Hickory restaurant, he mingled about the tables talking about just whatever topic came up. Speaking of the dinner, it was one of the more interesting meals I've had in a while. Without covering every course in detail, although I probably should given the rather sizable cost of the meal, it was definitely not a menu of items I'd have ordered, but I was glad to have the opportunity to try them all. The steak was an unusual cut of beef, and to me tasted great. Then there was desert, which included a pretty scoop of gelato, which my husband dove into enthusiastically. That is, until he tasted the first bite and realized it was basil gelato. After turning about eight shades of basil green, he swallowed and decided he was done with the desert after all. (In photo at left, the scoop on the right side. See? Looks harmless enough.) Suffice it to say that after spending that much for a meal that ended with basil gelato, I am confident I will get occasional reminders of it for a long time. (Which I did, just yesterday.)

Alton's seminar the next day was informative and fun as always. Every year I learn something either about cooking or food in general and come away with at least one new recipe. This year his lesson stemmed from his recent weight loss. Fourty pounds lighter than he started the year, Alton shared with the crowd one big change he made... "less going into the pie hole." In his usual analytic approach, he explained how he looked not just quantities but the types of food he was eating and saw what lead up to the weight he had gained over the years. One big change he made was in the types of fats he was consuming, thus leading into his presentation centered around healthful fish, specifically trout. He prepared trout three ways on stage, all of which looked delicious. Attendees of the event get a copy of all three recipes, and I am looking forward to trying at least a couple of them soon.

What he didn't discuss on stage about his weight loss was the part that isn't of interest to most foodies, the exercise. That he discussed with a couple of us exercise junkies at the previous night's cocktail reception. I always find it reassuring hearing others reiterate what I know to be true for me, which is that eating habit changes will help take off the weight, but exercise is key to keeping it off and being all-around healthier. Alton and I discussed his new-found interest in running and other cross-training; I could relate to his picking up running well past high school. I certainly would have never described myself as athletic, and up until recent years happily did my best to avoid all things athlete. However, "exercise is essential" isn't what those struggling with weight challenges want to hear, but the bottom line is it takes both nutritional balance and exercise for long-term, long-lasting benefits. And now I will step down off my virtual soapbox.

This year the hotel took Alton's seminar and expanded it drastically. It became a weekend-long event called the Southern Food & Wine Festival and included two other speakers, the Dean brothers and the Neelys. Also included was an exhibit hall full of mostly southern vendors offering everything from truffles to trailer-sized gas grills. It was a foodie's fun house with samples in overabundance. We didn't have quite enough time to really stroll through the place like I'd have preferred, but I did give everything at least a cursory glance. Compared to the industry-only food shows I've attended in the past, it was smaller but almost as much fun.

This year we got a bit lazy and decided not to find dinner off property but rather find something at the resort. We wandered into Findley's Irish Pub and found it good for a couple of things, bar food and people watching. Another convention was ending one event and its participants were being gingerly ushered down a red carpet from their exhibit hall area into a night club next to the pub. I'm not sure we ever figured out what the convention was about, but they were dressed in mostly formal attire, with the occasional strange "accent" pieces. It made for good entertainment anyway as we dined. In regards to the food at the pub, the burger served on an english muffin was good as was the cheese sampler plate. Overall though, the parade of conventioneers passing by was probably the highlight of that meal.

As always we made a point to stop by the Godiva store, and after drinking one Chocolixir, I am thankful that the store is miles from my home. That is one addictive concoction that I would drink at every opportunity, and my running legs are grateful that the opportunities are not plentiful or they would pay the price frequently.

One last little tidbit that made our trip exceptional this year was the decision to rent a Segway from Segway of Nashville. The owner was fantastic to work with, and it made easy work of getting from one end of the hotel to the other. Gauging from the responses of the public visiting at the resort, the notion that Segways are viewed as "dorky" seems to be a misconception. People were fascinated by the device, some merely stole second glances, others stopped us to chat and ask questions. I wouldn't have expected to find it easy to maneuver in a tightly crowded exhibit hall, but inching along in a crowd wasn't a challenge. It's simply best described as fun and easy transportation, no question about it.

If they'll stay on this track, I'll be back next year.

Thanks to Warren Lyng for putting together such a fantastic event, as always. Thanks to Kye for the pic of the desert. Man that was seriously good eats!

Sub anyone?

How weird is it that at the beginning of very rainy day of traveling, I stopped in at at sub shop for lunch? I think a sub of the larger kind might have been useful at times today in place of the car while navigating through the torrents of rain that poured down almost endlessly.

Back to the sub shop, Sub Depot is a small place at the end of a strip mall my husband and I stumbled upon while leaving Nashville. The start of any good sandwich begins with good quality bread and these guys have that down. Sampling both the white and cracked wheat, which was more a heavily seeded wheat, both were exceptional. What was on them wasn't half bad either. They also know how to properly cook bacon for a club sandwich; not raw and not solid enough to drive nails, but nicely balanced at that just right spot in-between.

The sheer variety of sandwiches, salads and more available was impressive, and especially amazing was the fairly speedy fashion in which we got our order. Tasty, fresh and made to order from a huge menu, all in maybe 5 minutes? Noteworthy to say the least. Other interesting touches were the free wifi (always nice) and the notepads & pens at every table. That to me was a stroke of brilliance. How many times have I been at lunch discussing something with my husband or a friend and wanted to make a note for myself for later? This is the point at which my husband would remind me that a simple PDA or an iPhone would eliminate the need, but I digress. They provide the means to make those important notes and get some free marketing later as you reference the note on their note paper, pre-printed with their name of course. Not much surprises me in the way of restaurants these days, so I appreciate the creative attention to an overlooked detail.

After a tasty lunch we took off headed East. That's when a more water-based craft version of a sub would have been handy. After a few trips over the years headed east, I don't know it's possible for me to make a trek across I-40 without experiencing some sort of inclement weather. Last time it was snow through the mountains around Asheville, NC. More than once we've met with heavy rain through Nashville. This time it was steady rain from Nashville all the way east to Johnson City, TN. For one brief interval, the sun came out and the rainbow appeared, in all its colorful glory. It wasn't meant to last, and driving that long in the rain gets old in a hurry. At least we had the two of us to swap driving and keep each other motivated. Sing-alongs in the rain at full volume help too.

For some reason, I persist in traveling the highway and enduring what nature dishes out. I guess I'm a glutton for the punishment, that or it's just my sunny outlook because "it's just a part of the adventure."

Back to Nashville

Recently I made my yearly pilgrimage to Nashville to see Alton Brown's seminar. As always, it was well worth the trip and he has a fun and informative talk. I always come away with a case of the "wants" for new toys that he's using on stage. This year was no exception, he used a Thermal Circulating Bath to slowly cook beef spareribs. (See picture at left.) I hope that Alton is right in his theory that we'll be seeing these machines become more consumer level in usability, size and price. I just don't have a deep abiding love of ribs, and so far I've not found a recipe that is so spectacular as to justify lightening my wallet by a few thousand dollars. Get the cost down into the few hundred range and it might get more appealing.

The event was at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, as it has been the last couple of years. It has been renovated which is nice, but the details were skipped somewhat. It seems the quality of maintenance has declined over the last couple of years. The resort has become very much a convention oriented hotel, with I suspect a grand total of about five rooms with king beds in the whole facility. Despite reserving a king bed room three years in a row, I've yet to get one. Apparently the whole Gaylord reservation system is a disaster as I haven't gotten the right type room I've reserved anytime I've been to any Gaylord location. Not once. The hotel overall is still worth visiting just because the immense indoor gardens are a visual treat. They're a shutterbug's idea of a fun house, giving me a chance to hone my mad photography skills.

Within the property is Old Hickory Steakhouse, an upscale restaurant heavily oriented to the carnivore. The atmosphere and presentation are excellent, but the food was a bit disappointing. Previous visits were better but this time didn't impress me all that much, especially for the price. The restaurants overall on the property tend to be overpriced; and while the buffets offer a plentiful variety, they're just moderate in quality and taste.

Saturday morning provided us a chance to meet Alton during a breakfast Meet & Greet. The staff there put together a well run event that morning, with a nice variety of interesting dishes that I wouldn't expect to find on any buffets there. They came with the recipes too, so I've already repeated a couple of them at home. The food at this part of the event served as a clear indicator that while they do have the ability to serve up some quality dishes, the corporate rules don't let them showcase these talents in the restaurants. The presentation was great too; if I could have found a way to get my hands on the "portable flat-top" they used to cook the Turkey Re-Hash, I'd have one right now. Not that I have a clue what I'd use it for, but it's one of those culinary goodies that drives me into finding recipes to justify it's existence in my kitchen. Or garage as would be the case here. This thing is pretty sizable. I appreciate the helpfulness of the chef manning the devise, as he was quite happy to show off that slab of cooking goodness. (See picture at right.)

On Saturday evening we found Macke's, a small and obviously somewhat not well known delicious restaurant. Patrons should be lined up out the door of this place. We had excellent food all around! The shrimp appetizer was phenomenal, as well as the low country boil. I believe the menu changes seasonally, which definitely makes me want to go back more than once. It was quiet and the setting perfect for a relaxing dinner to end a great day of entertainment, education and downright fun.

Sambuca Restaurant - Nashville, Tennessee

Last weekend I had the pleasure of a relaxing dinner with friends at Sambuca. Located in the trendy Gulch area, whatever a "gulch" is, it definitely lives up to the reputation. It surpasses what some of the new hot restaurants tend to be, which is overpriced and overbearing. When I walk into a restaurant and get that instant feeling I am the most dull, uninteresting person there and am merely and impediment to the staff getting to someone who is actually worth serving, the food has to be something pretty spectacular for me to forgive the attitude.

Fortunately this wasn't that type of place. While the atmosphere was trendy and cool, the staff was friendly and the menu quite inventive. I can't say I've had or even heard of Lobster Enchiladas until last weekend. They're tasty and I haven't a clue what I ate exactly. For those who've known me since childhood, this is a huge statement coming from me. I was the pickiest of eaters as a kid and I'm not sure what caused the transformation to make me the culinary guinea pig I am today but I prefer my newfound willingness to my past days of limited range. The variety of tastes available to sample at a place like this is downright fun. From the appetizer list, the Shrimp with Thai sauce was quite good. The Zebra Pasta (at right) is a visually interesting dish with it's zebra patterned pasta sheets, plus the person at my table eating it seemed to have no trouble making the dish disappear. The Chevre Macaroni and Cheese with Prosciutto was probably my favorite dish of the evening. The sauces on just about every pasta I tasted were generous with the heavy cream, so this is not exactly a dieter's domain. It does make for some really great gourmet mac and cheese though.

Then there was the Wedding Cake Martini. The name alone was tempting, then after reading the ingredients list of vanilla vodka, tuaca, pineapple juice and cranberry juice I couldn't resist. Any drink that can smell perfectly like a beautiful white cake can't be all bad. It tasted just as good as it smelled, but the flavor struck me as Dump Cake. It's that cake where a bunch of fruit is dumped in the bottom of a pan, then a mixture of cake mix and a few other ingredients is dumped onto that. It's baked and it all blends together to make a moist, fruity white cake. Despite the name, it's pretty tasty stuff. This reminded me of that flavor instantly. In short, it's really, really good.

Something noteworthy about the atmosphere is the live music. The night we were there it was good, and surprisingly not so loud you couldn't hear the conversation. No shouting was necessary and we were seated nearby the stage. So many restaurants cover up their food with loud music and very low lighting. At Sambuca the balance was perfect.

Overall rating: 4 stars
Pros: Atmosphere is relaxing yet fun, the variety of selections is good and the wine list is extensive. The Wedding Cake Martini is definitely something to write home about, or at least make it to my blog. It didn't last long enough for a picture.
Cons: The food quality was good, but I'm not sure I liked the almost overuse of heavy cream in so many dishes. Portions were adequate to me, but some who are used to the indulgent sizes of most restaurants may find themselves wanting a bit more. The heavy sauces did fill me up so I wasn't able to finish my dinner.

The Big Nashville Post, Part 2

So the food was good and the hotel overall was quite nice. The rooms were a little lacking but I wasn't there to see the hotel room. I wasn't really there just for the food. The whole reason for this outting was to see a man whom I hold at least partially responsible for my gaining any confidence to experiment with my cooking and the results be edible, Alton Brown. I was willing to spring for the VIP tickets, which gave me great seats to his afternoon cooking demonstration, a signed copy of his newest cookbook, plus a VIP "Meet & Greet" reception later that day. Was it worth it? You bet.

The contraption pictured in my previous post was a part of his demonstration on how to properly deep fry a turkey with a bit of a comical yet effective approach to safety. A series of pullies and rope allowed him to lower the turkey (raw, on stage) into a hot pot of peanut oil. While he talked, the turkey cooked to perfection in just over 30 minutes. Out of about 650 people there, a friend at the table with me was picked out of the crowd to sample the turkey. Being a generous guy and all, my friend gave the rest of us a small taste too. (Yes, it really was good.) Alton took questions from the audience at the end and answered everything with his usual enthusiasm.

The hotel had left a note to those with VIP tickets that since the promised cookbook was not ready for this weekend, Alton would be signing stickers to place inside the book, which would be mailed to our homes. Since they knew this would be a disappointment, they would provide a professional photographer to take pictures with Alton for free. Nice! At the reception, they had a variety of hors devours, both sweet & savory; recipes for some were distributed at the afternoon demonstration. After moving through a relatively quick line, I got the opportunity to meet Alton. This wasn't my first time to meet him at this type of event, and I can say he seems like a genuinely nice guy every time. The fact he shares my enjoyment of both cooking and motorcycles doesn't hurt either. If you like traveling and finding those not-chain restaurants, you should check out Alton's special airing on Food Network now, it's called "Feasting on Asphalt." He & his crew find some great family diners in the south, and he takes a deep breath before biting into a brain sandwich. (A little disturbing if you ask me, he's clearly more brave than I am.)

The cooking demonstration left me in tears I was laughing so hard, and that wasn't an isolated instance. My face hurt from smiling so much, it was that entertaining. The reception was well thought out, well put together and I have a great photo of my husband and I with one of the few famous folks I've ever met. Add to all that good food in the company of friends and it makes for one very nice weekend out of town.

The Big Nashville Post, Part 1

Some trips are all about getting to the final destination and for some trips the journey is the destination. The stopover at night is merely a place to close your eyes and recall the day while looking forward to the next one.
This trip was all about the stopping point, Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. This wasn't my first visit to the hotel; last December I stayed there to check out the Christmas decorations. It's well worth the drive to see such a display of color and the over-the-top extent to which they carry the whole theme. During the summer, the indoor gardens are full of lush plants everywhere you turn. The hotel has an open-air feel, leaving you feeling like you're walking outdoors. The temperature is comfortable, you even feel a nice light breeze once in a while. Pretty amazing stuff when you think of all that's going on here to create this artificial outdoors. Rooms are fortunately in the process of being renovated. I discovered on this visit that my room last time must have been one of those that was recently updated, as the room this time was in dire need of work. If you're staying there, be sure to ask that you get one of the renovated rooms or you'll be disappointed for the price. The few extra dollars to get an atrium view are worth it, although I'd likely decline if it's on the first floor. (You may want to open the picture, I purposely left it a larger size so you can get an idea of how open and airy the place really is.)

The food. Woah.
We started off with a new restaurant that was well worth finding, Park Cafe. Some of the dishes that got rave reviews: Sauteed Shrimp appetizer, Duck Breast laquered with Pomegranate and Honey, Baked Pasta Rounds, Double Cup Pork Chop and the Green Chile Macaroni-n-cheese. Save room for the deserts, as the Creme Brulee and Molten Chocolate Cake are worth the calories. The restaurant is dark yet classy, with small rooms that keep the sound level low and environment more intimate. I wish I'd brought a camera to dinner, as the presentation was as great as the food itself.

That wasn't the only meal of the trip, but the Park Cafe stood out as the most spectacular. Lunch on Saturday came from the food court at Opry Mills Mall, located adjacent to the hotel. "The Best Chicken..." place had good popcorn chicken. Saturday evening I capped off a fantastic day with dinner at Ruth's Chris. I've gone on record here several times about how great Ruth's Chris is, and while it was still very good, it wasn't quite up to the exceptional standards I have set for them. I attribute it to being a very busy Saturday night, as waiters were bustling around at warp speed. It served as a good reminder that the best time to visit a restaurant of this type is most often a weeknight.

To be continued... including an explanation of the guy and his ladder.