A Sweet Day

Any day that starts with a scrumptious cupcake as a prelude to lunch can't be all bad. Sure enough, the rest of the day lived up to my high expectations.

The day I speak of was last Saturday. I went on a day trip to Memphis with my husband and friends. Our goal for the day was to eat our way through the city with some shopping interspersed to reduce the likely onset of guilt and gluttony.

First stop was the cupcake shop, Gigi's. (Photo above is the display case. I'm fighting the urge to lick my screen right now.) I'm definitely an ardent fan of the treats from Cupcakes on Kavanaugh in Little Rock, and it will always be a little extra special to me because it was where I first tasted a truly "gourmet" cupcake. It was a eye-opening moment to take in the mountain of rich icing atop a moist gem of cake goodness. I would list Gigi's as a solid runner-up in the gourmet cupcake category if I were making such lists. Just like Cupcakes on Kavanaugh, the cake part itself lacks a little in the homemade flavor and texture, but the icing makes up for it in both quantity and quality. It's superb. Thanks to friends with a willingness to share (and cupcakes giant enough to make sharing possible) I was able to sample Chocolate Malt, Milk Chocolate, Wedding Cake and Scarlett's Velvet. While they were all good and the Malt would please any malt fan, Scarlett's Velvet was my favorite. It was the most moist and the icing atop wasn't quite as starkly sweet. That said, there wasn't a bad bite in the bunch as you can see from the photo of the aftermath. (Photo at right.)

We made a few shopping stops (I highly recommend Fleet Feet on Poplar to the runners/walkers out there) and headed out to The Avenue at Carriage Crossing in Collierville. Memphis is a city that has very defined areas where it's safe to be after dark. Just driving across the city, we saw a number of runners out soaking up the sunny spring day. Some probably could run with no more distraction than a neighbor's puppy wanting to play; others made me wonder how comfortable it would be running while packing heat. Either way, I could appreciate the beautiful weather and I'm even more appreciative of living in a reasonably safe enough town to step out my door and go for a run without having to dress like Laura Croft.

Anyway, The Avenue is an open-air shopping district that is made for beautiful spring days like this one. We stopped for lunch at Crescent City, a cajun cafe. Overall, the service was a mix of disinterested waitresses and one waiter hustling back & forth from the kitchen. The decor and atmosphere was relaxed and the location easily accessible. Of the items we ordered, the one standout was the Crawfish Dip, with excellent fresh tortilla chips. All the dishes had a spicy hot kick that was good but not overpowering. We also had an obligation to sample the Beignets as part of our eating across the city mission and were satisfied with them enough to push through more shopping afterward.

Our last food stop of the day was at Firebirds Rocky Mountain Grill. I've visited the restaurant before but my friends had not and were eager to try something new. While the food isn't what I'd call absolutely superb, it's a good bit better than the average casual dining fare. Since I've been on a bit of a seafood kick lately, I really enjoyed the grilled grouper I ordered. And the absolute last dish on the menu I'd have ordered, the Buffalo Meatloaf, turned out to be edible! It was good enough that I recall thinking "if meatloaf tasted like this, I'd actually eat it, and maybe even go so far as to make it myself." So yes, it was some pretty spectacular meatloaf to make me reconsider my dislike of it from childhood. Throwing the warm, rustic atmosphere into the mix, dinner at Firebirds made for a excellent way to relax at the end of a hard day of eating, shopping and strolling around on a gorgeous spring afternoon.

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.

BBQ Lunches

For some reason, it seems I've been chowing on the BBQ lately. I know I take food cravings in cycles, as I recently went to Blue Coast Burrito three days in a row. The tacos are really good, but three consecutive days? Maybe we are creatures of habit.

I while I do like BBQ, admittedly I am not a connoisseur of all things BBQ. Just the term "BBQ" has a vague definition, making reaching a pinnacle of experience appear unattainable. What is BBQ exactly? It depends on who I ask. It could be any number of smoked portions of a critter, or some food item(s) cooked on a grill, or simply a meat drowning in a BBQ sauce. There's that elusive term again, BBQ. Presuming we could even narrow down that BBQ is a cooking methodology that employs a slow, low heat source and smoke from a type of wood, there's then a whole debate on what makes a good sauce. Sweet? Spicy? Slippery thin? Molasses Thick?

Fortunately, none of this matters to me. Put the cooked critter on a plate and give me a fork already. Sweet, savory, vinegar-based, molasses based, I'll take it all. About the only BBQ that I will skip uses a mustard based sauce. I've actually seen my husband get an indescribable expression on his face and excuse himself from the table to rid himself of bbq with mustard-based sauce. I don't quite have that strong an aversion to it, but why waste the calories and fat on something that's not to my liking? If it requires running an extra mile that day, I'm going to make it something truly tasty.

Anyway, I've had the good fortune of finding good BBQ in my path as of late. Searching for something local open on a Sunday, which in itself is a challenge, my husband and I found Woody's BBQ at the end of a strip mall in Elizabethton, Tennessee. I wouldn't expect a BBQ chain centered around Florida to have BBQ that Tennesseans find acceptable. When it comes down to it, people are pretty picky about their BBQ, we southerners most especially. So a BBQ joint that has a fairly full parking lot is as good an indicator as I could find that day. It was a good call too, as their sampler of pork, chicken and turkey were very good. The turkey was served as a section instead of pulled and in conjunction with some great chili cheese fries, made for a good lunch stop.

Another good BBQ experience I've enjoyed twice now at Famous Daves in Little Rock, AR. They are a chain out of Minnesota, and to this southerner's surprise, there IS good BBQ to come from north of Kentucky! (I have a short list of food rules and this breaks one of them, more on that later.) Their BBQ chicken is truly exceptional! Also seeing that they're based out of the North explains their sweet cornbread muffins, as any southern cook will tell you that cornbread isn't supposed to be sweet. I take issue with that, and I like it both ways; I say that doesn't make me un-southern but that I have a more flexible palette! I have it on good word (my mom) that their bread pudding is also fantastic, but both times I've been I filled up on too much BBQ chicken to give it a try. There's always next time, and with chicken that good, there will definitely be a next time.

So regardless of what it's called, the deliciously cooked meats and their accompaniments I consumed at two "BBQ" restaurants recently were worth the calories. I do like my BBQ, in most any form. I think that qualifies me as southern enough.

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."

A Friendly Recommendation

"We're going to insert city name here, got any recommendations?"
Being a frequent traveler, I hear that question fairly often and do my best to provide ideas of worthwhile stops. Most often it goes right, but there are instances where something goes awry.

For example, after I posed this same question to a friend in Little Rock, Arkansas, my husband and I went to a cool place called Imagine a Restaurant. They had good sandwiches and very good fresh made chips. Within a few months time, I had friends going to Little Rock that would be in that area of the city, so I suggested the place for lunch. They arrived to find it had closed. Just a few doors down was Crew, a restaurant I'd also tried and found it to be pretty mediocre at best. I wish I knew what caused the good restaurant to fail and mediocrity to live on; I can only assume it was either under-funded or poorly managed, either of which will take places with the best food down in a hurry.

Then there's that time you make a suggestion and it falls flat. I've recommended both hotels and restaurants that were in my book worth return trips that for various reasons didn't pan out. The Crowne Plaza in Little Rock, Arkansas is a prime example; I encouraged my parents to stay there and their experience was far from good. The room was noisy and didn't have proper working curtains so bright spotlights beamed in like pointed lasers all night. I've stayed there on several occasions and have yet to have a room anything like their description, but during my last visit I discovered the difference. Rooms facing into the atrium area would hear all the music and sounds of the bar drifting up, plus the high-placed spotlights would be blinding to the eyes at 3am without the curtains pulled tight. So I stand behind my recommendation for the hotel, but know that guests must ask for the right room placement.

Another issue is level of tolerance. How much of a "dive" looking place will someone take? I've had some amazing bbq at a place in Memphis, Tennessee, but I can assure you I'd never go there after dark. I don't think the bars on the windows are just ornamental. For the sake of some good eats, I'm willing to accept the rough edges that may come with the package. There is one I won't tolerate though, and that's smoking. Nothing will make me do an about face and promptly leave as quickly as a cloud of smoke hanging over the tables, waiting to irritate my desensitized nostrils.

As of late, I've gone three for three. Brave New Restaurant, Cupcakes on Kavanaugh (both in Little Rock) and The Green Tomato Cafe (in Pocahontas, AR) all are places I've mentioned on here. Recently I've had friends give a thumbs-up review to all three, so not only are they still in business, they're approved by other trusted foodies.

Now I just need to get out and find more places to recommend. Despite those occasional bumps in the road, I'll keep on making my suggestions and take the chance. It's a worthwhile risk.

And the trip goes on...

After a long day on the road, we finally arrived at the Crowne Plaza in Greenville, South Carolina. Our experience with the Crowne Plaza and reasonable reviews on Trip Advisor led us to stay there. Chatting with some of the hotel staff we found that the hotel was very recently renovated and used to be some other variant in the Holiday Inn family. It had two things going for it that I highly prize in a hotel: a comfortable bed and nearly non-existent noise level. They took the philosophy adopted by the Crowne Plaza chain with a sense of humor; at the lobby of the top floor, a simple sign greeted guests explaining that this floor was a Quiet Zone and no families with rambunctious kids, marching bands or otherwise noisy crowds would be permitted to stay there. The coordinating Do Not Disturb door tags even asked that guests keep the show tunes in the shower to a hum instead of stage-ready levels. Overall, the fact it was quiet and comfortable made for a winner. I don't think the hotel is quite as spacious and plush as other locations, but the price reflected that.

Then there was the other reason to stay there, and I would have tolerated a lot just for this one thing. Attached to the hotel was Ruth's Chris Steak House, and they just opened a week before we arrived. A quiet, comfy bed merely steps away from the best steak I've found yet, that might be a pinnacle of travel goodness. Suffice it to say that the Ruth's Chris in Greenville is well worth a stop and the new crew there are doing a great job keeping up the well-earned reputation of the best steak, period.

I think I'd describe Greenville as a comfortable city. It's one of those places that as soon as I got there, I felt at ease and could see why it's residents like it. The downtown area is what my hometown aspires to be someday, yet it still hasn't quite reached its full potential yet. Catchy shops and cafes fill most of the spaces along the tree-lined main street. It was notably clean, and the folks strolling along seemed to truly care about keeping it that way. Downtown there's a park with an usual suspension pedestrian bridge that overlooks a small waterfall. The park overall provides a place to relax for both tourists and area residents alike; locals were out playing frisbee and walking their dogs. With the downtown area just steps away, it's a balanced blend for small city life.

Downtown includes a variety of restaurants, leaving us plenty of good choices to just randomly pick from, including where we stopped in for lunch at Trio. We hadn't planned on a casual dining Italian restaurant, but we were glad we did. Ordinarily I'd have ordered a cup of soup and a small pizza to share, but my husband and I opted for the Pepperoni & Mozzarella Calzone. Again, we couldn't have chosen better. It was probably the best calzone I have ever tasted, with a perfect ratio of crust to fillings, all of which were delicious. I also tasted the roasted chicken, which in an Italian cafe whose emphasis is more on pizza & pasta, was surprisingly very good. With some warmer weather, I'd love to return to the downtown area, take a nice slow stroll through the shops and despite the variety of restaurants to tempt my taste buds, it would be difficult to turn down a return trip to Trio.

When I head out for a good road trip, I try to do a little research online for what is good local, and when it comes to BBQ, Henry's comes well recommended on sites like Chow. (No recommendations for chain restaurants on this site, unless they're really something extraordinary.) This was one of the few times I think our group disagreed with the recommendation. The only way to describe it is that it was some of the wettest BBQ I've seen anywhere. It wasn't bad, but only half our group thought it was good, the rest were unimpressed.

After a couple of days exploring Greenville, it was time to head home. With me, the adventure doesn't end until I'm back in my own living room, so as we approached Knoxville at lunchtime, I got out the laptop for some quick on-the-go research. Creamery Park Grille kept coming up as a local favorite, just a couple of miles away from the interstate. One exit and a short drive later and we were walking in the door. It's a very small but quaint restaurant. Patrons write their names and number in their party on a chalkboard near the entrance, and are then seated as available. Everything we ordered was definitely fresh-made and top quality. I had a ham & cheddar melt, but it arrived with a sugar glaze dip that made it go from good to Wow in one bite. The triple grilled cheese ranked highly, up in the range of my own home cooked favorite. Served with lunch were small scones, which didn't last long with my mother & I devouring them. During the summer I usually make at least one pass through Knoxville, and I'm putting this on my list of places well worth seeking out again.

(Be aware the grille is located in a two-story building, with no accessibility to the top floor beyond a pretty long staircase. Those with bad knees or trouble climbing stairs will want to request street level seating.)

Head East, Eventually.

A couple of weeks ago I attended the International Motorcycle Show in Greenville, South Carolina with my husband and my parents. Each winter, Cycle World puts on a series of events in about a dozen major cities across the US and every year we pick a location to attend. We've been to places like the Georgia World Congress Center, and after hiking what seemed to be literally miles of mazes to just find the show, we promptly vowed to never return. There there are others like the Carolina First Center which was probably one of the best show locations I've seen yet.

Being February and still cold by southern standards anyway, we decided to all load up in one car and drive. We have a limited stable of larger cars in our family and rather than buy a tank to drive year-round, we rent one for the once-a-year time we need it. If the trip had any downfall, this was it. We reserved a car (or rather a "class" as they say in the rental car industry) for the trip and called that week to verify the reservation. "You'll have your pick of the lot" I was reassured by the friendly agent on the phone. He failed to complete the thought with the rest of his sentence, "... as long as your pick is the smallest Kia SUV we could find." So my reserved tank-class vehicle was presented as a minimal at best increase in space to my own small four-door car. Suffice it to say, we were highly frustrated. Frustration led however to a moment of creative thinking and we loaded up in the car we had, heading east. Since our planned route took us through Memphis and right by the airport... ah ha! Of course National at the airport had exactly what we were looking for, a clean big SUV ready for 10 hours of rolling down the highway. One swipe of the credit card and a bit of bag shuffling and we were finally on the way, properly outfitted for the trip.

I'd like to report we found some amazing stop on the way to Greenville, but with the delays leaving and stopping to rent an SUV, we just barreled through Tennessee, covering the length of the state at a steady pace. We did spot an interestingly named restaurant when we stopped for dinner, Petro's Chili and Chips, but at nearly 10pm and 3 more hours of travel to go, we decided it might not be a wise stop. Next time I'm in Knoxville, Tennessee though, I may just have to look up Petro's for a stop. I can't pass up a chance to try chicken tortilla soup, especially one described as "homemade."

Next stop, Greenville, South Carolina at a good hotel with a comfy bed. More on that later...

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.

Tea Time

The Little Tea Shop in downtown Memphis got my attention when it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Its always nice to find some new good food not so far away that only other hard core crazy food junkies can imagine driving (or flying) that far just to eat.

While I would not put The Little Tea Shop on the places-worth-driving-thousands-of-miles-to list, it is worth finding parking in downtown Memphis to get there. Each patron gets a copy of the paper menu with a pencil. Despite the "tea room" name, this meat-and-three diner has menu of daily choices followed by other classic dishes and deserts. My favorite portion of the meal was the cornbread sticks. I know true cornbread aficionados would cringe that it's not made in the traditional round cast-iron skillet but these are really good. Besides, in stick form you get more of the outside crusty goodness that gets consumed first anyway. The daily special fried catfish was quite good, as well as the chicken breast and the corned beef & cabbage.

From the outside, this isn't a place I'd likely have spotted from the street, much less stopped. The atmosphere is relaxed, and clearly this is the place to see and be seen among the locals, but not in an arrogant sort of way. The few non-regulars that day included myself and my group, plus those brave souls who'd ventured away from their revelry at Graceland during an event known locally as Dead Elvis Week. The service was friendly but the clearly small wait staff struggled to keep up. I've watch just enough of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives to tell when the host Guy Fieri is really into a place, and he seemed to really enjoy this stop. I guess if I ever meet him I owe him a meal for pointing out a few local gems that I might not have found otherwise.

Not what I'd call a "folly" at all

About two weeks ago we made the short trip to Memphis for a little shopping and a celebration dinner with friends. After an afternoon of roaming around Wild Oats Marketplace, Fresh Market and Penzey's, staring and sometimes drooling over all the food options dinnertime couldn't arrive soon enough.

For a number of years I've heard that Folks Folly in Memphis is an excellent steakhouse. I'd heard a few mixed reviews of the atmosphere, but looking back at the sources for those reviews I think I can disregard those as coming from those uninitiated into the foodie world. Despite that, I had high hopes for a delicious meal as I'd heard many good things recently about the food from more reliable sources. Situated in what was once a simple home that has been clearly expanded on numerous times, the restaurant has a relaxed, yet clearly upscale setting. Some areas are divided into smaller rooms thus reducing the noisy background that can occur in open floor-plan restaurants. The toile walls can be a bit nauseating, but soon that vision fades because the food arrives.

The food. I think a summary of "Outstanding" would be an understatement. Everything I tasted that evening was superb, nothing failed to meet my expectations, even set as high as they were. For those who like cheese, the Blue Cheese Mountain will provide a full serving of the day's dairy requirements. The Garlic Parmesan bread as well as all other appetizers we sampled were delicious and in generous portions, so there was plenty to share. Moving to the main course (who eats a salad at a place like this) I had a steak that ranks on par with only one other I've found, and that's at Ruth's Chris. For years I've used the filet at Ruth's as my standard by which all other steaks are judged, and finally found one that ranks in quality and taste. Despite being a steakhouse in name, I would gladly return and sample other dishes outside the beef family. The potato dishes were also in portions that encourage sharing, and were equally good. Desert choices were classic southern, including my always preferred creme brulee, which of course by now it's obvious I'll say, "Yes it was really really good." I only wish I'd saved more room to sample more deserts!

I have to say Mr. Folk and the generations that followed have brought a great taste to the table that didn't cause the restaurant to live up to it's namesake of "Folly." One visit made it clear to me why it's ranked both locally as the #1 steakhouse in Memphis many times over, as well as nationally known and respected. No doubt about it, I'll be back.

On the Road Finding "Real Food"

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I took a trip out to Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Heading east through the very fringes of the Tennessee after leaving our hotel in Knoxville (Country Inns & Suites Knoxville West, and I do recommend it for a nice quiet place to stay) the hunger set in. A quick search on Trip Advisor and we'd decided that a place called "Pal's Sudden Service" sounded interesting, and it was in the top 10 for nearby Johnson City. We plugged it in the GPS, took the interstate exit and spent the next fifteen minutes hunting for this mystery location. A phone call later and we found out it was in the food court of the nearby mall. Food court food on vacation? No, that simply will not do. Another check of the GPS and Trip Advisor and we decided any place named Cootie Brown's couldn't be all bad.

Cootie Brown's "Real Food" didn't disappoint either. Homemade hot tamales, spiral sliced chips and tasty sandwiches made for a very pleasant lunch. The whole place has real character, the kind you only find from a restaurant filled with faded yellow painted chairs, booths made from old carnival rides and a low outdoor barrier wall made from old coffee cans, concrete and liberal amounts of blue paint. The tamales were excellent, and I don't think I could go there without eating the chips. It was so good in fact, we stopped there again on the way home just to have more of those delicious chips and take in the quirky atmosphere. Despite the diverse menu we still gravitated toward those chips, but the pizza and burritos didn't go back to the kitchen. It's the kind of place I wish was closer to home and truly lives up to the name "Real Food."

I ate the Whole Hog

Every once in a while a friend comes along with a great idea. This time the great idea was "let's to go Memphis on Saturday... we can stop by Fresh Market and go try Whole Hog Cafe." Yes! So I spent the remainder of the week avoiding any other bbq and looking forward to the short trip.

I didn't quite eat the whole pig but as good as the bbq was, I could have. This time I got to Whole Hog Cafe well before closing time and it was definitely worth the stop. I sampled the pulled pork, which being a proper Southern gal, is what bbq is all about. The variety of 6 sauces at the table
makes it tough to decide which is best. I tasted all but the Mustard based type, which I still can't figure out why someone had the thought "man that smoked meat is good, let's put some MUSTARD on it" and actually decided it was good. Not that I dislike mustard, it just doesn't fit in the world of bbq in my world. Sweet, spicy, tomato, molasses, vinegar... I'm not otherwise biased, I can appreciate them all for their own goodness.

I also tasted the bbq nachos, which like the rest of the items weren't skimpy on the portions. Getting to sample the grub with friends has it's benefits, as I have it on reliable word that the bbq beef sandwich and the bbq pork topped baked potato are also both good choices. I was definitely right a couple of posts back, I'm very glad I'll have a location nearby soon so I won't have to drive so far to get their delicious bbq.

Greetings for 2008

It's about time I finally ate or went somewhere noteworthy! The holidays didn't provide me with a lot of blog fodder, but a short trip to a small town in Tennessee visiting relatives did give me one cozy little restaurant to mention. The Elms Restaurant in Selmer, Tennessee has that southern style service that's missing in many places today. The waitresses know the patrons, they call them and everyone "honey" and sincerely care if the diners are happy. Between the warm sincere service and some simple, tasty food it's a welcome stop for lunch or dinner. Of note in my book were the fried cheese sticks since they were battered instead of breaded, which is my personal favorite.

Last week my husband and I were in Little Rock for one night, and after making a pass by Whole Hog Cafe and feeling too much sympathy for the employees to go in at 20 minutes to closing and order dinner, we ended up at Julie's. The restaurant had come with good recommendations from reliable sources. While I think it had the potential to be a good restaurant, it failed to deliver. The chef must have been quite paranoid about under cooking the shrimp as despite the good flavors I can imagine the bottom of my running shoes would be less rubbery in texture. The other items we had were merely ok at best, and the baked potato was baked and past its prime long before we arrived.

So for desert, my husband & I skipped out on the offerings at Julie's and opted for Krispy Kreme. I know it's just a donut chain but in this case it's worth mentioning. Yes, the donuts are good. Really good. It's the service that gets my attention. At this location the service has been fantastic every single time. While I haven't been in that often, it's been consistently good each time, good enough for it to stand out against the crowd of mediocrity.

I have plenty of trips planned for this year, including a Caribbean cruise I just booked this week. As I like to call it, "blog fodder" will be plentiful this year I hope. As always, I've resolved to take a little more time to enjoy my hobby of cooking this year, but I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for roads and eats along the way too.

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.

Hotel Review: Country Inns & Suites, Knoxville East

My Rating: 4 Stars
A simply quiet, comfortable hotel and a reasonable room rate. When it's a one-night stop along the way, it's hard to beat the combination. With a clean indoor swimming pool, maybe too clean as that much chlorine does burn a bit and a simple but free breakfast it's a good choice. The location is close to a few food choices, including Puleo's Grille I recently mentioned and near I-40.
Pros: Quiet, reasonable price and good sized rooms. Indoor pool and whirlpool are good for relaxing.
Cons: The single worst blow dryer I've ever used. Whoever cleans the pool is the person I want cleaning it, It might be clean but that much chlorine can't be healthy either.

Lunch at the Sandwich House in Greeneville, Tennessee

Sandwich House in Greeneville, Tennessee

My rating: 3 Stars

Finally a place that knows how to properly cook tater tots! Crispy & brown outside and potato goodness inside. It's nothing like the blonde mush passed off as tots by places like Sonic. Or the dry potato shells that once had potential.
The burgers and turkey sandwich were good diner style fare, and watching the patrons it's clear they do a healthy take out & drive through business. Located in 6reeneville, Tennessee less than a mile from hwy 11E, its a nice break from the chains.

Pros: varied menu, something for everyone. Great tots.
Cons: mostly fried foods, not 100 percent homeade. Traffic on the bypass in Greeneville is filled with suicidal crazies. Drive careful!

Review: Puleo's Grille in Knoxville

Listed as a "best of the best" local restaurant, Puleo's Grille lived up to its reputation, providing this tired traveler with a very good dinner. The Chicken and Things dish featuring grilled chicken breast topped with black forest ham and fontina cheese was good but more than I could eat. The chicken tortilla soup was good, but had a bit lengthy list of ingredients. The spaghetti was good, the sauce had a very strong tomato flavor. Finishing off with the Chocolate Lasagna was a great finish.

Service was exceptional, and the atmosphere relaxed.

Spam & Steak

I went on a short trip for the day to Memphis. I had tickets to see Spamalot at the Orpheum this afternoon. For a Monty Python fan, it's fantastic fun; for others not so much. Maybe it would be fun to the Python unacquainted, but I've been keen on their work for so long I can't recall what it's like to not laugh at their antics. It's not a musical for the whole family if your family includes kids. This one is for the adults with a slightly off sense of humor. Anyway, if an opportunity to see it comes along, I highly recommend the show. It's time well spent.

Afterward I went to dinner at Texas de Brazil. It's a smaller chain that is made with the carnivore in mind. Vegetarians might want to skip this meat-lovers palace. It's a Churrascaria, also known as a Steakhouse. There isn't a menu. Huh? Really, there is no menu. Forget buffets, this puts any other "buffet" to shame. For starters, there's a salad bar with a range of tastes that is far from what you'd expect to find on a mere "salad bar." I sampled the cheeses they offered and the grilled provolone was an interesting, tasty idea. The lobster bisque was quite good as well. After nibbling my way through what I'd call more of a sampler bar, the meats arrived. They bring out huge metal skewers of various cooked meats including leg of lamb, bbq pork ribs, bacon wrapped chicken and beef filets, sirloin, flank steak and more than I can possibly recall. The meats arrive one at a time, giving you time to sample each one before the next appears tableside. For sides, they bring to the table garlic mashed potatoes, sweet fried bananas, polenta cakes and Brazilian cheese bread; all of which are very good. Desert selections are scrumptious, and the tropical creme brulee had a touch of lime and tropical hints that made for a nice change of pace. I could go there for that and the chocolate cake. I even liked the Coconut pie; this coming from someone who doesn't like coconut speaks volumes. Overall, the food quality and atmosphere is nothing like the $19.95 all-u-can-eat buffets found throughout the south, and while the prices do reflect that difference, it's well worth the extra change. While it isn't on my personal Top 5 restaurants list, it's definitely a good place for an interesting dining experience. If anyone does leave hungry, the restaurant is hardly at fault. Maybe vegetarians will heed my advise and seek out other dining options.

Embassy Suites in Memphis, TN

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery. Last Saturday afternoon, my husband and I decided that was what we needed and headed out of town for the night. We ended up in Memphis, Tennessee for dinner and checked in at the Embassy Suites just off Poplar on Shady Grove Road.

We did not have reservations, we just decided to surprise ourselves when we got there. After discussion over dinner at The American Cafe, we decided to check out a nearby Hilton. The Hilton was once the Adam's Mark, and before that the Omni Hotel. It's a round building, a unique architecture to the area. After staying there several years ago, at the time under the Adam's Mark name, I wasn't too impressed. It was in need of updating and just overall not that nice. I stepped into the lobby and my view was immediately changed. It clearly has been remodeled, at least in the front entrance areas. After searching for parking within a reasonable distance given the cold wind that night, we gave up and went just a short distance away to the Embassy Suites. The lobby is standard fare for the class of hotel, with an open atrium that all rooms overlook. In the atrium are walkways connecting various areas of the hotel, lined in plants. It's a nice touch compared to others of similar class, but I think the atrium aims to be in a Gaylord hotel when it grows up. I think I've come to the conclusion that all hotels with rooms that open to an atrium have both an upside and a definite drawback. On the upside is the wonderful view, especially in the layout such as found with the Gaylord properties. Their balcony rooms are well worth the extra few dollars to have a birds-eye view of the goregous gardens below. The downside? Noise. It seemed worse in the Embassy Suites, I presume due to a blend of architectural elements and their subsequent acoustical effects. Also I think being a more "family friendly" hotel, we saw several taking advantage of a trend: parents take the kids to a nice suite hotel and get a room for the kids to have their pajama party. Just make sure you request the room not next door to the 13 year old girl's birthday celebration. The design of the suites helps significantly, as the bedroom is at the back of the space and once you close the door, the sound all but disappears.

The included hot breakfast is better than the average hotel continental service. It's nice that it's not an additional cost. Admittedly, unless I'm staying someplace swanky, I look for the hotels that have a good breakfast included. I guess that makes me cheap, but when the basic Holiday Inn Express rates run in excess of $100 regularly, I like to know at least a glass of juice awaits my groggy head in the morning.

I'd rank this Embassy Suites as a reasonable value for the dollar. It includes a good hot breakfast with a larger than average selection of foods, a larger suite than in many hotels and with adequate parking. For families, it would be a suitable choice; for those seeking a quiet, relaxing space, I would look elsewhere.

I think my next trip I'll give the Hilton a try as the first impression did get my attention.

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.