foodbaby

Kids in the Kitchen

2018-03-19T12:35:00.000-05:00

I grew up in the 90s with working parents, so eating for me was usually just whatever we could grab. I loved Poptarts, frozen & canned vegetables, and I usually had one of those frozen peanut butter & jelly Uncrustable sandwiches in my purse. We always had a ton of cereal & pop on the shelves in the basement of our suburban Pittsburgh home, and I enjoyed that as a well-balanced breakfast or dinner. For lunch, I ate whatever the school cafeteria offered, and it was questionably edible (at best) on most days. The wildest part was that we thought we were eating well, like fruit snacks actually contained more than trace amounts of fruit.

I get frustrated about the whole 'millennials ruin everything' argument, because I seriously don't understand the need for paper napkins when I have so many random pieces of fabric. In the 90s, we were raised to not be wasteful, but also to be as fleeting with our desires and attention as possible. As a parent now, I'm trying to raise a person who isn't wasteful and doesn't have to rely on cold corn Chex topped with soda for dinner if I'm not home to cook.

So my 10 year old son has his own knife, and it's a sharp one. He's especially fortunate because I went to school and learned a lot about food while he was in utero, and he's been raised by two people who both feel strongly about the food we eat.

Now, admittedly, I'm a millennial. I was a freshman in high school when Will Smith sampled Prince and rang in the New Year, all of us partying like, "It's 19- 90- Hold up, it is!"

Now that we're the parents, I think most of my generation is trying to do things differently than our parents did. I don't want to be over-protective, but the values I want to instill include healthy food and proper nutrition.

I try to eat a lot of locally produced foods. By belonging to a CSA I can visit the farm where I get a lot of our greens, and I go to the Palafox Market where farmers set up tables covered in squash, okra, and eggs.

This Christmas, I got a gift certificate to one of those meal delivery services. We got three boxes containing recipes & everything we needed to make dinner, all measured and everything.

We did not, for the most part, completely follow the instructions.

We did have a great time turning meals designed for 2 into enough for 3. Most had some leftovers too.

This one was almost solely made by my boy. He washed & chopped all the produce, selected the additional pasta shape to subsidize the box, and did most of the cooking with minimal assistance. It included chopping broccoli & garlic, slicing carrots & bell pepper, sauteing sausage, and making a pan sauce.

Although the broccoli ended up being a little overdone, the meal was a total success. I love that he enjoyed making it. He especially seemed to like following the recipe.

I wouldn't have sought out one of these companies myself, and to be completely honest, I thought it had a lot of waste involved in the packaging and that it was something that I basically do anyway, so the service was unnecessary for me. On the other hand, I liked having meals that I didn't have to think about; it was easy to expand on the recipes with stuff I had on hand, so I managed to use all the groceries I bought; and they sent me recipes that were unique, for example, frying chicken in corn starch or making individual quiches for dinner. The biggest impact, for me, was remembering techniques that are super easy and yet I don't do very often, such as making a simple pan sauce. It seemed like I had begun to rely on roasting or sauteing everything I made for dinner, but these recipes had lots of cooking techniques, and my whole family really liked that.

I don't think I would go back to using one of these services, but it was certainly fun to try out. I'm glad we did it.

Sweet Pea Vegan Restaurant, Tallahassee

2018-03-11T15:50:00.000-05:00

This was the first time I've been to Tallahassee, and the circumstances that surrounded my trip were unusual, but I'm hopeful they'll become more commonplace for me.

You see, I went to support environmentalists who oppose opening coastal waters for offshore drilling. I moved to the Gulf Coast in 2010, only 2 months before news of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. That summer, crude oil washed up on our beaches, the air on the beach caused you to cough & eyes to burn, and if you went in the water, you emerged with a greasy sheen. We were advised to stay out of the water and use caution walking on the sand. If you stepped on the oily droplets encrusted with sand, the oil would leave a sticky stain that refused to be scrubbed off. Collected shells were brown with thick sludge. It was a strong message to the folks who frequented the beaches.

Deepwater Horizon was located off the coast of Louisiana and caused the ruin of many shrimpers & fisherman from Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. We got only a small impact compared to the destruction wrought in the bayous, where entire ecosystems were devastated for years. The spill is still not entirely cleaned up, with unknown amounts of oil still "dispersed" on the floor of the Gulf and if you dig down in the sand, you can still find clumps, despite the sand that was dredged & added to our coast a couple years ago.

Of course this wasn't supposed to be a post about what I did in Tallahassee, but I'm proud to say, that as a private citizen, I spoke on behalf of other Floridians and Americans who, like me, want to pursue alternative energy sources. I want America to become energy independent & no longer rely on crude oil to power our economy. I had the opportunity to explain who I am: that I own an electric car and before that, vehicles that ran on waste vegetable oil instead of gasoline; that I operate a small business that uses solar to power our equipment; that I love the country I live in & want to see it all in the beautifully unspoiled glory that Teddy Roosevelt envisioned when he created so many of the National Parks.

Our current energy policy is in direct opposition to that, with our sitting president actively rolling back safety regulations on drilling platforms, allowing for pipelines to be laid across the country, and claiming that coal is going to make some sort of comeback. It was refreshing for me to be in a van full of people who agreed that we need to fight for the sovereignty of the land & animals, and their right to be able to exist as well.

In the spirit of the day, we elected as a group to visit a vegan restaurant on the way home for some quick grub (it would be a long ride in the van back home to Pensacola).

So, finally, here's what I thought about Sweet Pea, a cute and quirky little roadside cafe. It was in a low-slung building next to, of all things, a butcher shop. The cafe serves a vegan menu that is supplied by local farms, getting the bulk of their offerings from Full Earth Farm, Ripe City Urban Farm, Play of Sunlight Mushrooms, and Best Little Greens. It's truly farm-to-plate. I strongly believe in this philosophy of eating myself, so I seek out restaurants like this normally. I was really excited to see what they had to offer.

It was a little early for dinner, just before 5 pm, when 11 eco-warriors tumbled out of the Chevy rental van and meandered into the cozy cafe. Deciding what to eat seemed to take an unusually long time, and a few of us were already eating when ordering was finished. I was last, and on the advise of the staff, I decided to order the Tempeh Reuben. Overall, the flavors of this sandwich were right on and delicious. The kraut was brightly flavored and provided a beautifully colorful counterpoint to the otherwise bland colors It was disappointing that the cook didn't clean the griddle between orders, because I had burnt bits on mine that marred the flavor. The sauce was very flavorful and my favorite part of the sandwich, providing flavor & moisture. The sweet potato fries were delicious as well. None of those in my group had anything bad to say about their meal. We had a variety of eaters, including a couple carnivores, and while they admitted it was different than what they're used to, none were left hungry or disappointed. Most everyone raved on the way home about our dinner.

If I were on another trip to Tallahassee, I'd certainly stop by again and try another of their offerings. They have breakfast & brunch options and even roast their own coffee beans, so it sounds like a great early morning or weekend spot. Plus there's lots of outside seating to enjoy the Florida sunshine.

Tacos Mexicanos: Local Food Truck

2018-02-27T00:30:00.000-06:00

There's a taco truck on 12th Ave. in Pensacola, and I will tell you, I love their tacos!

I mean, in general, there have been few tacos that I haven't enjoyed in life. My family seeks them out when we go on a road trip or visit other cities because it's my opinion that you can learn a lot about a new place based on the tacos available.

The tacos at Tacos Mexicanos tell me that there are Latin folks in Pensacola who love their heritage & want to share some delicious food with other locals. I for one, appreciate what they're doing.

All the offerings at Tacos Mexicanos are deliciously authentic, with 6 meat fillings to choose from: carne asada (marinated & grilled meat), chicken tinga (smokey pulled chicken), al-pastor (pork that's generally rotisserie grilled), and barbacoa (which means barbecue, but more often refers to braised or another low & slow cooking method), plus fish or shrimp. They're all topped with chopped onion & cilantro and served with lime. They have some other options, like burritos & quesadillas, but the huarache barbacoa is unique & amazing! Definitely a favorite of mine.

For this Taco Tuesday feast, we got a variety of all the available meats, stuffed into soft corn tortillas. They double them up for added support, and it's just the right amount of tortilla to meat ratio.

I personally love cilantro, but it's one of those foods that some people just can't stand. If you're in this group with the extra enzyme that causes cilantro to taste like soap, just let them know, and they're good about leaving it off.

When you order, they also offer complimentary sides of grilled pineapple or jalapenos, and we LOVE those, just ask for them to be added & they come on the side. I tuck a slice of pineapple into my tacos & finish them with a generous squeeze of lime. They're well balanced, flavorful, and just plain delicious.

While you can request a big order and bring home a whole pan of tacos for dinner, like we did, you can also eat right outside the truck. Adjacent to the window where you order is a silver cooler with a variety glass-bottled beverages, and if you've never had a Jarritos soda, I'd recommend trying the lime or tamarind (if you're adventurous & they've got any in stock - great stuff!).

Go on, get you some authentic tacos from the Tacos Mexicanos truck on 12th Ave! While you're in the neighborhood, take a selfie at the Pensacola sign at BrewHaHa, get a locally made gift at Angel's, and enjoy one of the awesome neighborhood parks in East Hill. Pensacola is a great place to live!!

Valentine's Day Dinner

2018-02-16T22:43:00.001-06:00

I'm a very lucky lady because my husband is a romantic. Every holiday, he talks about how he's not going to do anything, no celebrating. He convinces me, seriously, multiple times a year, that he's not interested in having anything special or going any place for holidays.

We had our regular agreement for this Valentine's Day.

As normally, I had no idea that there were any special plans in store. So when he walked in the door on Wednesday afternoon loaded up like a holiday shopper from a classic 1950's era Miracle of 34th Street extra, I really felt like I might have dropped the ball this year.

All I planned for Valentine's Day was a party for our son's class, and I really didn't even do that much. I brought them a platter of fruits & veggies. It actually went better than I could have expected, with oranges & grapes being the preferred offering, but the celery & carrots not far behind. A couple kids tried their first bell pepper & mushroom. It was an exciting day.

Back to all those parcels...

A large cardboard box & paper bag were from Blue Jay's Bakery, which has just opened in downtown Pensacola. We frequented her booth at the Farmer's Market for years, and are very excited to support this new brick & mortar shop she's embarked upon.

This giant shortbread cookie was topped with pastry cream & lemon curd, and finished with candied lemon & rose petals. It smelled divine as we enjoyed dinner. Raspberry dark chocolates & lots of macaroons were in the paper bag.

But there were also other bags, including a big one of charcoal. The first thing he did was head out to light the grill. Peaking through the remaining two grocery bags, I found tall tenderloin steaks, cold water lobster tail, fresh green beans, and golden potatoes.

We got the potatoes quartered & boiling, while onions, garlic, and mushrooms caramelized in a skillet. The beans & bell pepper were added to the skillet of sauteeing vegetables & steamed under a lid with some stock when the steaks came inside the house.

For mashed potatoes, we usually throw something together based on what's in the fridge, but basically with as much dairy as we can get in there. Whole milk, sour cream, yogurt, cheese, it all goes in to make the potatoes creamy. Tonight, we only had milk in the fridge, but with a healthy sprinkle of salt & about twice as much pepper, the potatoes came out deliciously.

When the charcoal was hot & ready, the steaks were as well. First, they were rubbed in vegetable oil & sprinkled with salt & pepper. They were laid on the hottest spot on the grill to get a good char on the edges. I should have greased the grates just before the steaks went on to get better grill marks on them, but there's always a next time. They spent about 4 total minutes on the grill before being removed to a tray & going into the toaster oven. This is where I ruined our steaks.

I'm a perfectionist. Other people call me 'Type-A.' I like to be in control of situations, and I am often eager to be involved. In fact, my over-eagerness is sometimes a drawback, and I over-share or over-express myself to my own detriment. I put these steaks into our toaster oven at 350F. This really wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't remained in there for 20-30 minutes. You may be thinking about the timer most toaster ovens are conveniently equipped with, and I do have one. I just twisted really far. Then I got lost in a Facebook conversation about gun control. I read about 167 comments from various opinions & exploring the topic quite fully before I realized the lobster had to be cooked.

If I'm being totally honest, I don't usually like lobster. I find the texture to often be either mushy or rubbery, and I really dislike those adjectives in my food. Our son, on the other hand, eats crab & lobster at any opportunity. I think this was purchased with him in mind. The lobster was very fresh & firm, and we simply cut the tails in half, brushed them with a touch of olive oil, and laid them on the hottest part of the grill for only about 2-3 minutes before turning them over to finish for about another minute. Sprinkle salt when you turn them; the natural juices coming up with help it stick & flavor the meat. Using a dry cooking method, as opposed to steaming or boiling, makes it easier to tell when they're done, and therefore prevents overcooking & rubberiness. They came off the grill & we pulled the meat out of the shells in the kitchen.

Our house was smelling amazing! With the richness of all the competing smells, everyone was eager to taste it all. While the meat was completely cooked all the way though, it was never squeezed or smashed while it was cooking, so it had maintained a lot of the natural juices, and I took it out of the oven & allowed it to rest when I realized I'd overcooked it, which helped as well. It was a great dinner, finished with a lovely dessert that just sang with bright citrus & soft floral flavors. I'm a really lucky girl.

Creamy Escarole with Garlic & Mushrooms

2018-01-26T21:55:00.000-06:00

When I used to do this blog all the time a few years back, I created a lot of dishes. I wrote about them & how I created them, but never created formal recipes with how much of anything that I used. Going forward, I'm still going to be creating a lot of dishes, but I'm going to post them with a recipe now. So here is the first one.

I'm home alone for the first time in about 12 years tonight. My husband is at a trade show and my son was invited to a sleepover, so here I sit. I didn't want a lot for dinner, and I don't usually eat meat, so this was all I had tonight, but it was delicious. I would suggest it as a side dish to a nice steak dinner, because with the creamy sauce, it's fairly rich.

Two weeks ago, we joined the local community garden, and for January & the middle of winter, we've been getting a pretty good haul so far. They're called From the Ground Up, and are a co-op made up of locals who spend some time gardening and donate for the year & reap the benefits of the harvest every week. This week, one of the regular customers canceled their box, so we happened to be in the right place at the right time (or more specifically late to pick up), and received a double portion!

You'll Need:
2 large bunches of escarole (other greens could be substituted) - wash, dry, and chop roughly
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, white only, chopped
6 small button mushrooms, sliced
1 T butter
1 T flour
1/2 c chicken stock
1/4 c grated Parmesan

Start by melting half the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped garlic & onion. Saute for about 2 minutes until fragrant.
Add the rest of the butter to the pan, turn up the heat a touch & add the sliced mushrooms. Season with salt & pepper. Allow everything to brown by just leaving the pan alone awhile.
Meanwhile, so your not tempted to jiggle the pan, rinse & chop the escarole.
After everything has lost a bit of that excited sizzle & knows each other pretty well, shake the pan and check out how it looks in there. Possibly turn down the heat. We're not trying to burn anything, we just want some caramelization.
Sift the flour onto the hot, buttery vegetables & give them a nice stir for about 60-90 seconds, just to cook the raw flavor out of the flour.
Add the escarole to wilt, about 2 minutes. Season with a small pinch of salt & fold into the other veggies, which should have a sort of paste on them from the flour.
When the greens are bright & soft, add the stock & stir until it thickens. The stock has to boil before the flour will bloom & thicken the it, don't rush this step. Once thickened, remove from heat and add the cheese. Give it a good stir and plate. You can garnish with a sprinkle of extra cheese if desired.

Try it out & let me know what you think!

IRON

2018-01-22T15:21:00.000-06:00

I make no denials or excuses: I'm a food snob. It isn't that I'm a picky eater, I just don't like to eat shit.

I often find myself disappointed in the food offerings here in Pensacola.

One place that hadn't disappointed me, however, is Restaurant IRON, located at 22 N Palafox St. The unassuming store front is overshadowed by the bold Rex Theater, so it's easy to drive right past without noticing you've missed it. Seating only a narrow dining room of guests and bar patrons, IRON isn't the type of place you can get lost in, but it is earning a place up there with the local staples.

With a high ceiling & exposed brick work from the 1800's, the inside is clean & simple. The wall facing the road is softly illuminated, giving the impression of daytime & warming the atmosphere.

The open kitchen and bar area are housed in the main dining room, which initially seems to stretch on & on. The bottle options are extensive, and the mixology team is on point. I've had several of the house beverages, but Who Says & IRON Goddess are my favorites. If you're not into tequila, the Scotch, bourbon, and wine lists are all substantial & the bartenders have helped me find something I liked & that paired well with my meal before. We didn't get drinks this trip, but it's worth sitting over there because the guys have the best beards in town: downright Paul Bunyun meeting Ron Swanson in the most delightful way.

After ordering, your palate is amused with a small bite to start you off, which changes seasonally, ranging from local watermelon to this squash with pumpkin seeds. There's always a fun twist to how it was prepared, and I find the amuse bouche a great way to start off any dining experience.

It also serves as a hint that these dishes may not be what you're expecting, or at least certainly not what you'll get at the Olive Garden. Techniques ranging from sous vide to pickling add consistency & contrast to all the dishes, and unique concepts combined with familiar ingredients make for unexpected surprises on their dishes. The chicken pot pie was a past favorite which was anything but expected.

This particular trip, just before Christmas, we enjoyed a venison chili with the perfect amount of layered heat and hearty bite, as well as a stone fruit salad with berries. They make a strong case about not serving dishes if the ingredients are not up to par, and I wish the salad had fallen into that category. I've certainly been served worse, but the plum was a bit hard & flavorless and the greens weren't the freshest. The overall effect muddied a salad that I'd had in October with a much better result. What was crisp & juicy then was just not this time. I know I just said they're consistent; this salad would have done better being removed from the menu when the season for the components ended.

The freshness of this salad brings me to a point about restaurants & how I want to eat in general. I want to eat local produce wherever possible. This salad featured blackberries, which I love. But it's December, and blackberries have no place on a menu unless you've got some preserves & are adding it to some rich roast or a dessert. If they came from south Florida, I would certainly eat these words. I would print this & eat this paragraph. But I'm comfortable saying, at least for now, that aiming for local produce shouldn't include intentionally using ingredients that will be challenging to source. Did I purposefully order a salad that I knew would fall short of my expectations? I wondered this even while I sat at the bar and watched the guys, dutiful & diligent, as they prepared for the coming dishes called, checked their mise en place, and wiped down their stations.

I really like this restaurant. I like that I sit in the kitchen & see all the clean stainless. I like that I hear the the orders called to the line & I see the immersion blender create the foam that made the fish seem straight out of the waves. I like that other food-centric people sit at the bar and chat with the chefs & each other. What I want is for the passion in some dishes to be in all of them. That might mean the cooks need to step up and help create unique dishes, and that means going to a farm, learning about the growing seasons in NW Florida, and utilizing unique ingredients that highlight the region instead of plastic packs of blackberries. I'm only this passionate because I care.

My husband ate most of this fish, as I really preferred the Osso Bucco. Normally, I'm very much opposed to truffle oil, but the pungent aroma accented the rich meat & creamy risotto beautifully. I was afraid it would be over used, but it was perfect. The fried onions on top were fresh & crispy, completing the lovely dish. ((Side note: toward the end of eating, a table ordered 4 of them. It was delicious until the oil wafted a bit, bwahaha.))

When the air cleared, I was still interested in dessert. There are some gorgeous photos of desserts on the website, and in the past I've had some lovely plated desserts at IRON, but this chocolate bread pudding wouldn't win any pageant awards. In my not-so-humble opinion (for I've used this in many jobs), the chocolate bottle of sauce shouldn't be used for anything. It was also under the bark on the plate of holiday finger desserts, which was messy.

Presentation aside, the pudding was soft & maybe just a touch under done, but had a nice flavor. The spicy chocolate ice cream quenelle that accompanied it was sublime. Silky smooth & fine texture was full of rich chocolate without a hint of heat until the finish, which was peppery & warm. It reminded me of those habaneros that have no heat, but dipped in chocolate.

The little dessert bites in the back were primarily to take home to our son (along with the bone from the osso bucco (mmm)). He really enjoyed the white chocolate almond bark, and we loved the cardamom truffles & the buckeyes were smooth & delicate.

I plan to keep going to IRON because there's nothing in Pensacola that compares. I feel bittersweet about this experience because I've had so many really great ones. The first time I went in, just a month or so after they opened, I cried with joy (seriously). I took my best friend from culinary school and we gushed about every bite (and ordered 5 entrees, plus a selection of appetizers & desserts). I deliciously celebrated holidays & birthdays. This trip let me down in a couple places, but that's part of supporting a local restaurant who's making these efforts in sustainable food. I don't have to like everything, and that's fine. What I want is to not have California berries & cliche desserts. I want the menu to change as needed. If I'm disappointed that you took something I loved off the menu because it went out of season, I'm going to find something else & survive. I'm also going to appreciate you looking out for my best interest while keeping your house fresh.

I'll be in soon to check out the new offerings.

Love

2018-01-18T13:57:00.001-06:00

Some folks who love me have encouraged me to restart this blog. I think it's really nice. I'm going to put effort into it & see what happens from here.

If you didn't know this from reading my blog (cause you'd pretty much have to read the whole thing), I started my relationship with food at an early age & just wanted to learn absolutely everything possible about it. I started culinary classes in high school, and continued my passion at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte. I moved to the Gulf Coast because I love the beach & seafood, but after some rough times, I'm only now starting to get back out there. The support from people who have taken an interest in my life has meant everything, and I couldn't be more appreciative! Thank you!

Warming Up at Mary Mahoney's in Biloxi

2017-01-19T13:23:00.000-06:00

I've been staunchly against returning to this blog. The more time that has passed, the easier it's been to not think about it and go about eating in a restaurant without my camera in my lap. My husband & son now relish in starting to eat as soon as the waiter has left the table & (can you imagine) while the food is still hot.

If I'm being really honest, I miss it. I don't think I'd tell my husband that, but I think he gets that impression when I comment on the presentation of a particularly lack-luster entree or the beauty of an exceptional dessert. And when things are really special, I still take a picture (albeit with my phone).

When we visited Biloxi this summer for our anniversary, I took very few pictures. They frown on cameras in the casinos. After gambling at slot machines for a couple hours, I was frowning at the casinos.

We decided to get away from the blinking and flashing and ringing and general seizure-inducing atmosphere of the casino's floor and walk around outside. This is apparently strange & borders on completely crazy. When I asked at the desk if Mary Mahoney's was close, I was told it was a very short drive. I didn't want to drive, I wanted to walk. And I did. It was really close and the walk took us through something of an open expanse of sparse grass that we couldn't decide if it was a parking lot or park. I was wearing nice sandals and vividly remember wishing there was a pathway. At least I remembered to bring the camera to lunch with me.

The exterior of Mary Mahoney's Old French House is a charmingly authentic southern blend of pretentiously old money and years of careful neglect. The freshly whitewashed exterior walls are covered in mountains of ivy, the building is nearly lost in the molding shadowy courtyard, and then you realize it's more a series of buildings; there are various doors, passages, and alleyways. It's an exciting combination of mystery and confusion. I'm certain some of the rooms are kept as they've been for decades with only a cursory dusting every other year, while others are brightly papered in lovely patterns and walls of windows allow the light to gleam off the polished silver & stemware, taking your eye away from the underwhelming drop-tile ceilings. They take a page straight from Commander's Palace (or did they write this book?), with smartly dressed waitstaff and traditionally prepared cuisine served simply and exactly as you expect if you eat at this sort of place often. To me, this style of food is underwhelming & sloppy compared to the grandiosity of the atmosphere and staff. However, this is also comfort food; staples of French, Creole, and Spanish cuisine tested by time to be the epitome of deep Southern food and affordable to the pretentious class of individuals who seek out this sort of place.

As a self-described yet completely legitimate food snob, I fit into this class only on the periphery. I'm like the waitstaff, I can come off as chic, but I'm really a hippie. I've been a chef, so I get where Mary's coming from and I understand the desire to give the people what they want. The gumbo was what the people want; no wonder it's 'world famous.' The thick, well spiced & seasoned broth is loaded with seafood. So much seafood, I wondered if it was added separately to ensure each cup got the treasure of lump crab & shrimp that mine had. My husband & I enjoyed it.

If you're new to my food baby, you may not know how we eat. I like to taste new things, especially things that I've had before and doubly so if it is sold as being better than the rest. The gumbo, with its plethora of spice & seafood, didn't disappoint. The crabcakes did. They were very creamy inside & while they weren't full of breadcrumbs, they were also lacking in the star component. This was a unique take on crabcakes for sure. At $18, I'd assumed they'd come with a side. The menu does not specify a side because there isn't one. Unless you count chilled sauce and parsley as a sidedish. The deep-fried cakes are served in a puddle of creamy sauce, so the bottoms are a bit soggy.

I scoured the menu for something that I figured would be unique and different. I did not want fried (insert protein here) with fries. In fairness, only 4 lunch entrees are offered this way. No, that's a lot. Why are there fries on an adult menu in a fine dining restaurant? I don't want to pay $20 for fries, Frenchly prepared or otherwise.

I chose snapper stuffed with shrimp & crab sauce, accompanied by pasta with etouffee. This was a really good portion of food, and I was certainly full by the end. The etouffee had a lovely depth of flavor and was more crawfish than filler. I'd never heard of serving it over a bed of box spaghetti, and while unique, it was also underwhelming. My first bite of the snapper reminded me of when my parents would get those ready-to-cook stuffed flounder meals in Costco. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it was unexpected.

At the end of the day, I enjoy dining at this sort of place. I like being plunged into the lifestyle which people who consider themselves better than others experience. I take a perverse joy in noticing the little cracks in the facade, the fallacy in the pomp. I think I opted to write about this using a scornful tone because it seems that the wealth has become corroded in our country, and places like this are the sort that are desperately trying to reclaim a lost legacy, gambled away by the obnoxious eldest brother who wanted so badly to be like daddy, but only the fun parts and leaving the work to folks who were underpaid yet hopeful of being propelled into notoriety.

Restaurants often attract the pirates, the free souls, those who require flexible hours yet can work holidays. The staff become a family, with every sort of personality and attitude represented. Mary Mahoney's says it in the title - this place is old. So old, the history is oozing out of the brick work. They've weathered the storms, as is literally signified by the various signs showing off the high water line from Katrina. Just because they know their patrons and realize what sells well, doesn't necessarily make them as posh or pompous as I've called them out to be (nor that the businessmen at the neighboring table would like to believe). I doubt I'd go back, but I do think it was a nice luncheon and would make a glorious way for a fellow traveler to break up the monotony of gambling, or a fellow gambler to spend his winnings.

NOLA New Year's - Chocolate & Rum

2017-01-19T10:09:00.003-06:00

Hello, my name is Erin and I am an addict.

Before I went to kindergarten, I stayed at my grandma's house during the day, where I dined on jelly crackers for lunch and starbright peppermints for dessert. She kept bowls of caramels & hard candy throughout her house. It was a magical place.

When I was in elementary school, I mixed a box of angel food cake mix, put it into a big container with a lid, and hid it in my closet. I would sit in there and eat it with my fingers. I often vomited Halloween night, but I rarely had candy through November.

When I was in middle school, I would ride my bike to the corner store and spend pilfered change (as much as I could scrounge) on any and every candy available. I would take it home and organize it carefully, and then I would unwrap it & make edible sculptures by using Neco wafers as flat bases & Starbursts as glue.

In high school, I kept granola bars, gushers, and fruit-by-the-foot in my purse. I had a spork in case the ice cream man drove by. I hoarded all sorts of sweets in my bedroom, still carefully organized and maintained.

I'm an adult now, with a child of my own, so I realize the extreme unhealthiness of such behavior. Yet I still hoard Halloween candy in my room (at least it lasts awhile now). I also enjoy splurging on delicious sweets. I see the value in a $3 cookie. I'm unsure if it's the addiction talking, but I cannot go to New Orleans without going to Sucre & spending too much on chocolates & macarons.

I have prepared this post as a feast for your eyes mostly. Pictured are a variety of their chocolates. I used the descriptions from the website to describe them. I have no idea what the chocolate in the center is, and it is therefore left out.

Wedding Cake - toasted almond white chocolate ganache in white chocolate

Hazelnut Cream - semisweet ganache with ground piedmontese hazelnuts

Avery - caramel dark chocolate ganache in dark chocolate topped with salt

Madagascar 64 - 64% ganache, vanilla, dark chocolate, cocoa nibs (the nibs fell off)

Peanut Butter & Jelly - peanut butter ganache & strawberry jam in dark chocolate

Meuniere - brown butter folded into white chocolate ganache in dark chocolate

Bolivian - Bolivian bittersweet chocolate ganache in dark chocolate

And you can't forget the cookies!! Macarons are most definitely a favorite of mine, and although I consider myself something of an accomplished baker, I prefer purchasing these fickle little delicacies. And Sucre has a great variety to choose from. The photo has chocolate, strawberry, and pistachio, but the banana foster, almond, and salted caramel are my favorites. Like I mentioned, I've got some control issues when it comes to the sweets.

Of course with my refined tastes as an adult, preferring such strong flavors as dark chocolate & pistachio, I need something strong to wash it down.

I don't know if you've heard, but rum is now being made in New Orleans. The distillery is known as Old New Orleans, and they offer tours to see how rum is made. It's all very scientific. They also offer samples, you know, for science.

The tour is $15, and a shuttle will take you to & from the French Quarter so you don't have to find a car if you're in from out of town. The tour takes about 45 minutes and you learn how rum is made, aged, bottled, and labeled for sale. They normally have three varieties of rum (when I was there, they also had limited quantities of a forth, longer aged rum) and they'd rolled out a bright & sharp ginger beer, Gingeroo. All varieties are available for purchase at the end of the tour.

The tour takes you through the facility, explaining all the various aspects of converting molasses or sugarcane juice into spirit.

This huge cauldron beside our guide was used to boil cane juice down into a syrup. They were often found on sugar plantations and a were common source of maiming people, as boiling sugar is intensely hot and sticks to everything. In the event of an accident, the syrup was akin to napalm, sticking to everything it touched. This one was sourced to be shown on the tour, but they aren't used anymore and we were told it was pretty difficult to track this one down.

Once the cane is processed, you have molasses and crystallized sugar. It's the molasses that is fermented to create rum. Fermentation is process of getting yeast to consume sugar and produce alcohol. It's all very technical and scientific. Don't want anyone going blind.

So there's already a lot of sugar in the molasses, and yeast is added to consume the sugar. Timing is important because you don't want to ferment the yeast too long or not enough. Testing is done at various stages of fermentation to ensure things are working well in there. While this glass jar has fermenting molasses, the real fermentation is done on a much greater scale. Huge tanks are filled with a carefully mixed combination of yeast and molasses. Valves allow for the created CO2 to escape. At the end of each batch, someone has to crawl into the empty tank & scrub the whole thing clean. There's a small door at the base of the far tank for this job.

The now fermented molasses isn't nearly ready for consumption. It must be distilled to remove the spirit from the molasses and it also has to be filtered so the bits of yeast and burnt sugar aren't floating around in the finished product.

The process results in the first variety of rum that is sold by Old New Orleans Rum Distillery. Crystal rum is strong & sharp. While crystal rum makes a great mixer, it's often considered too harsh to sip over ice on its own. Therefore, most crystal rum is aged.

Barrels are used to age the crystal rum into amber. Some of the barrels have a blend of cajun spices added as well, resulting in a smooth rum with spicy notes that has a mellow burn. It's a pleasant sipping rum and our favorite variety.

Most of the rum is aged 3 years, but they have a 10 year variety in limited quantity, and a 20th anniversary bottle was rolled out recently, recommended neat.

I may be wrong on this point, but I believe the barrels were once wine barrels, upcycled to be whiskey aging barrels, and salvaged again to age the rum. Once they've mellowed out and acquired the hints spice, they're ready to bottle. ONO has a room dedicated to bottling & labeling their bottles. They have a different color label for each variety they produce.

On the way out, you're offered cajun tea and gingeroo again, both of which are really delicious. We loved the Gingeroo and brought home a few bottles as gifts. We made an awesome dark & stormy by combining it simply with a little rum. It would make a wonderful aperitif or digestif, as well as being used as a mixer.

We also purchased a couple bottles of the cajun rum, which was good sipped neat or used to add a new dimension to traditional rum cocktails. The rum has become popular all over the gulf coast and can frequently be found in the many bars in the French Quarter, where mixologists are using it to create new and instant classics.

Whether you prefer your sugar high confected or distilled, you'll be able to satisfy your sweet tooth in NOLA.

Delicious!

2015-04-14T17:06:00.001-05:00

I've just finished reading Ruth Reichl's novel, Delicious! It touched me, and I can't imagine it not speaking to other people in similar situations. You may have noticed, albeit unlikely, that I've stopped posting to this blog. I say it's unlikely because I'm of the impression that no one read it in the first place and the 100 or so views from Google are more likely electronic impressions (like a computer ghost) rather than individuals. It never did get any comments.

In the two year since I've written it, I haven't done anything. No really. I almost never bring my camera to dinner, although that used to be a necessity. I haven't been creating new recipes. I have, seriously, barely cooked for my own family. I like to say that I taught my husband everything he knows about cooking and therefore have absconded the duty to him, which is true, but really I've lost my passion.

I wonder what the catalyst would be to regain it? I feel like I need a push.

Woodchuck Reserve Hard Cider

2014-11-22T12:14:00.000-06:00

I found a favorite beverage for fall! This Thanksgiving, I'm gonna find a bunch of these & serve them up to my friends & family.

Woodchuck makes a good hard cider anyway, and I've been a fan of the apple-y beverage for years now. They raised the bar with this reserve line though.

Sweet with a touch of dryness, well rounded and full of flavor, this is something that I'm looking forward to finding more of and enjoying for the remainder of fall.

HomeGrown: Stuffed Peppers

2014-11-16T19:40:00.000-06:00

After 4 years in Florida, I've finally figured out how to grow things. You see, the problem for me was that I was trying to grow stuff in the ground. Silly girl, plants don't grow in the ground.

We started using vertical planters and aquaponics last year, but this year it was really successful with the peppers we grew in a vertical planter. They basically turned into a tree!

I had two kinds of peppers in abundance. Habaneros, which we thought would be the only kind, and something like a small poblano (although spicier for the most part), which blossomed in spades. Turns out that only one of the plants is a habanero and the rest are these little poblanos. I also learned that the habaneros most likely caused the poblanos to become so spicy because of their shared environment & water.

We mostly added them to dishes for a little kick. My husband is fond of eating either kind simply chopped up as a garnish. The ones that my husband didn't eat raw, I decided to stuff since I was getting bored of chopping them up and adding them to other random meals.

When you stuff peppers, you want to do your best to keep the bell in tact. Clean them well first, and then use a paring knife to cut as closely around the stem as possible.

Pull out the stem. Most of the seeds will come with it, and a tap will get most of the other ones, but you may want to use the knife or your fingers to get out most of the remaining ribs & seeds. Wear gloves if you're working with spicy peppers. I didn't actually realize how spicy these were until my fingertips were on fire, especially around my nail beds. Ouch.

Now for the stuffing: I've got a combination of ground pork & beef (about 70:30 ratio) with corn, cilantro, salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, lime zest & juice, Worcestershire sauce, sauteed onion & garlic, breadcrumbs, and egg. I was going for something on the southwestern side. Always remember, when making a sausage or other forcemeat mixture, to make a test patty and try it out before you get to the finished product. You don't want to find out that you completely forgot salt once you've served it.

Check the seasoning and flavor to ensure you like it, then get to stuffing.

You want to amply fill each of the peppers and finish them with a little cap of meat. The meat is going to shrink as it cooks, so ensure the peppers are filled at the base and in the fold at the top.

Arrange the full peppers in a casserole dish. I topped mine with enchilada sauce first, which is a thin tomato sauce flavored with cumin. I then topped that with a cheddar sauce.

Pop those bad boys into the oven at 350 for about an hour, or until they're all bubbly and a meat thermometer reads 160 in the center of the largest pepper.

They'll most likely have let off some juices while cooking. That's a good thing cause you'll have a lot of sauce left.

I wish I'd heated up some of the enchilada sauce on the stove to serve with them for the color contrast. Instead, I put a big lump of rice on each plate and topped it with either one large or a few small peppers. This was topped with the cheese sauce, and the dish was finished with some chopped avocado & a slice of lime.

Filling for southwest stuffed peppers:
12 oz ground pork
4 oz ground beef
1 small onion, sauteed
3 cloves garlic, crushed & sauteed
1/2 c breadcrumbs
2 ea eggs
1/3 c fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 bunch chopped cilantro (save a bit for garnish)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 ea. lime (zest & juice)
1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Pappy's Breakfast

2014-11-14T13:20:00.000-06:00

Breakfast at Pappy's can be summed up with just a few words: simple, ample, well-priced & well worth it.

We drove past the airport twice while looking for Pappy's, so don't be put off by the presence of planes. We sat among old southern regulars, groups of 6 & 8 folks with stained plaid and lovely church hats, beside a sunny window where we could watch the little single engine planes landing. The airport was charming.

We were headed to Legoland for the final time and we wanted a lighter meal so that we wouldn't be sleepy, but something that would stick with us for most of the day. We would be doing a lot of walking.

I'm glad I read some reviews, all of which said they give really large portions. That's accurate.

We sat, ordering coffee & juice while we read through the cute names for simple dishes. The coffee was extra good, and kept steaming hot by the attentive service.

My family ordered with the intent of sharing. We got the Loony, yogurt & granola & fresh fruit, and sausage biscuits with over easy eggs.

There was a ton of yogurt, too much really. But it was tangy and good, a wonderful balance to the crunchy granola and sweet fruit. Our favorite was the banana and we could have done without the thawed blueberries, but overall a good addition to our meal.

The sausage biscuits were phenomenal. They were crazy good! There was a big bright flavor, lots of bits of meat, and the sauce was smoothly creamy. The biscuits themselves were soft and buttery without being doughy. I didn't think we were going to be able to finish this one, but all of us loved it and we ate all of it.

Alongside were two over-easy eggs that were perfectly cooked and Ben & I enjoyed dipping our biscuits into the runny yolk.

The food was prepared quickly and brought out to us piping hot. We were in there for a total of about 40 minutes, some of which included my son & I wondering the airport in search of the bathrooms, which turned into browsing the art gallery they had inside.

A stop that was very much worth it, I would totally recommend Pappy's to anyone who's in the area, whether a traveler like myself or a local.

Brick & Spoon Brunch

2014-11-13T17:21:00.000-06:00

Well this was an experience. And unfortunately, I don't mean that in a good way. I don't think anything else could have gone wrong, and there were a few times that I really wanted to just get up and leave. For me, that's saying a lot; I'm normally a very understanding and patient diner. I wouldn't return to Brick & Spoon again though.

The whole thing started off pretty average. It was a cold morning and my husband dropped my son & me at the door while he parked the car. We strolled into the restaurant and were impressed with the lovely colors and relaxed vibe. Immediately we were seated by a server who said someone would be with us shortly. I know she was a server because she took great care of her tables, the four surrounding ours. We were in one of the half-circle booths in the center of the dining room, facing a few stand alone tables and a long banquette on the other wall. This wall-length bench seemed odd to me; I sure wouldn't want to eat when the restaurant is super busy and the banquette's full of hungry people waiting for a table. It would make a relaxing, private experience impossible for me. Luckily, we were perhaps the second table there and no one was waiting.

My 7 year old & I had only just removed our coats when the manager rushed up. Right here is where things started to be less awesome for me. He asked to get us drinks and I said I wasn't sure yet & let's wait on my husband, but my son eagerly asked for hot tea. I was surprised by the request and asked if he was sure while the manager stared at us. He asked if I wanted a drink again. I said something like, "I guess I'll have a Bloody Maria," explaining it was the same drink but substituting tequila. He rushed off to answer the phone. I know because he returned only a couple minutes later and apologized for his call distracting him, asking to try this whole thing again. By some ill twist of fate, my husband had still not arrived, but I was ready with my drink order. I asked for two Maria's & the hot tea. Just as he turned to leave, my husband appeared and the men smiled at each other in passing. After he sat, Ben wanted to know why the manager was at the table. I said, "I think he's going to be our server," but wasn't sure. "I'd ordered Bloody Maria's."

This was no good. "Did they give you the menu?" he wanted to know. Of course I have a menu. Wrong menu; he wanted to build his own beverage. As we discussed how communication works then discussed the decor and then discussed the unusually cold weather, the manager came back with our drinks. Ben immediately let him know what he'd been expecting and his request was obliged. Of course, the manager took one of the drinks away, but I was feeling like a pain in his ass (although he was becoming a pain in mine), so I kept mine. Ben ordered a really awesome drink that was much larger than mine, albeit wrong. After all this, we didn't mention that he'd marked down adding jalapenos; he just drank it. This guy was uber frazzled anyway and the dining room was filling up.

A moment to gush about the options on their Bloody Mary menu. This is a half sheet of paper with every bloody option that you can imagine, including adding various meats, cheeses, and even deviled egg. There's a list of veggies, herbs, spices, and you pick your heat level. They've got about a dozen vodka choices. Ben ordered his bricked (really spicy) with tequila and added blue cheese stuffed olives & jalapenos with a peppered rim.

For how spectacular his add-ins were, mine were about that underwhelming. I enjoyed a bite or two of my pickled green beans, but the unstuffed green olives in the standard drink that I got was a total let down. And next time you run across an olive that looks like it was already bitten, just put that into the tapenade pile for later. Make a muffaletta, but don't serve it as garnish.

We didn't see anyone but the server who sat us for awhile. She'd gotten pretty busy with all the tables surrounding us. Since we had already decided what we wanted to eat, we relaxed and watched the goings-on. She was really attentive and stopped with reason at her tables, sometimes just looking over and not interrupting. I was jealous of the other tables.

After we'd sat again for a bit, things started happening quickly and a lot of people visited our table in the next 30 minutes. It became comical, with all the "How ya'll doin?" and "Everyone ok? Cool. Be right back" going on. During one of these stops by the manager, I asked for an order of the Bananas in Pajamas. Smiling at the order, he thanked us and walked away.

After a few minutes, a food runner appeared with a plate for us. Three fried pillows were clouded with powdered sugar. The boys quickly went for them, dipping into the berry compote, a deliciously chunky sauce of raspberry & blackberry, alongside. I stopped Nate & started to cut his up because he was making a mess of himself and simultaneously choking on inhaled sugar. While I cut, Ben said that he was more than halfway though and still hadn't found a banana... maybe they're mashed into the batter, he went on thinking out loud. I finally got to take a bite, and they were not only heavy for beignets but certainly didn't contain banana, in the batter or otherwise.

It was about this time that the manager returned and began to ask how we were (for the fiftieth time), but was interrupted by a woman who'd just come in through the back looking a bit disheveled. You could tell that she was late for work and he introduced her to us, went over what drinks & appetizer we'd ordered, and he left us. She excused herself to get Ben's drink for us.

I realized at this point the reason for the quick stops but never actually offering to take our order: he didn't want to be our server. He wasn't our server. I was crazy annoyed & I really felt like leaving, but the drink was bloody good so we stayed hoping the food would be good.

So the drink was dropped and I asked if the dish in front of us was the banana in pajamas. It was not. I guess everyone gets beignets? I don't know. But she remembered that the manager had mentioned that during the 20 seconds he spent introducing her to us and ensured us it would be ready shortly.

We ordered.

The Bananas in Pajamas were one of my favorite shows as a kid, I really enjoy cooked banana, and these were a yummy starter to me, something I knew I'd enjoy. The wonton wrappers were nice and crispy and the banana was soft, but still held some texture. I was glad that it starts with a rather firmly ripe banana. The Foster sauce was a little thinner than I realized it would be, but had a nice flavor although not very rummy. Nate didn't care for it as much as that berry compote and asked for a ramekin of that to go with his wontons.

We were reaching that point where we felt like it was time to leave simply because we were tired of being here when the food was delivered. During the intermittent time I got a second drink & Ben was well more than half through his big beverage.

Both meals were good but sorely lacking in seasoning. Once we'd added salt & pepper to them, they were much improved. The cooking was passable with the exception of the crab cake, which was burnt on one side, and the truffle oil fries, which were cold and didn't taste like truffle even slightly.

The fries were placed at the edge of the table so the server would ask about them, but when she stopped she either didn't notice them or felt too busy to ask because they were ignored. I did order another drink during this stop.

Ben had the farmer's market Benedict. Simply an English muffin topped with a poached egg & Hollandaise sauce, served with sauteed vegetables. He added the crab cake because aside from wanting some protein, he loves them & tries to get one from as many places as possible.

The Benedict was acceptable, the egg well poached with a firm white and a buttery (although not balanced) sauce. The squash, zucchini & carrot were cut too thin & soft. Without the crab cake, it surely wouldn't have been enough food. The cake itself was dense and unmemorable.

I had crepes that were filled with a boring mixture of creamed lump crab meat, corn, bell peppers & onions. It was cooked well but with poor seasoning fell flat. After adding salt & pepper (although the strength & tang of white pepper is what this dish needed), the previously boring dish absolutely sang. The crepes were light & delicate so as not to distract from the creamy crustacean and my veggies were still a bit firm, adding texture.

As we bit into our food, our server dropped off the drink and left again, considerate of us not speaking through our full mouths. I took a first sip of this drink and made a face. Ben took a sip and agreed, placing it alongside the fries at the edge of the table. She returned a few minutes later, once the food was seasoned to our liking, and asked about the collection of stuff at the edge of the table here. The fries were removed and a new drink was delivered, one that was left on the table after only one or two swigs.

I didn't like much about this experience, and I wouldn't be likely to return to Brick & Spoon in the future. More than any of the other issues I had, I hate having to season food at the table. Taste it in the kitchen. If these cooks are tasting the food and think this is good, they need a new profession. The concept is well done and this is a nice restaurant, so hopefully they'll address all of these issues and see this as opportunities to improve themselves. Otherwise, there are dozens of new places to go try in Destin.

Crab-Stuffed Artichokes

2014-11-05T11:56:00.000-06:00

Whelp, my kid loves artichokes. I almost regret turning him on to the flavorful flowers because they're so expensive. No, on second thought, I don't.

Artichokes are tough to prepare, especially the larger ones like this one. I find all the trouble to be completely worth it, but it's both time consuming and potentially dangerous. You see artichokes are thistles, meaning the flowers have spikes at the tips of the leaves (you'll want to cut those off) and they really have a choke (the interior has more tough, spiny petals inside, and beyond that are hair-like fibers that don't break down in cooking and are hard & fibrous). Once you get beyond these challenges (and you have to get there somewhat quickly because they also oxidize and begin to turn brown), you're basically home free.

Whomever decided we could eat these things is completely beyond me.

The easiest way to serve is to simply poach the flower in olive oil and to tear off the leaves, dipping them into the oil and scraping the flesh off with your teeth.

Once you've cleaned them though, stuffing them is pretty easy. I make my favorite crab cake recipe & work it down between all the leaves. Then I pop the stuffed flowers into the oven with a bit of wine and a drizzle of oil. They bake for about an hour before being served, usually with some melted butter.

Modesto

2014-11-03T23:02:00.000-06:00

As our visit to North Carolina was ending, and our walking tour of Asheville concluded, my family & I were left with the choice of getting right onto the road to head back to Florida or eating where we were.

The decision was made through the hostess at Modesto calling out to us and offering field-to-plate dishes including pizza. There's a lot in this statement, and parts were appealing to all of us. My husband was the easiest to convince, glad to put off driving for another hour. Our 7 year old was suddenly famished at the offer of pizza, forgetting the plates we'd shared during the long day, and my interest was piqued by the thought of more local food. The street sign mentioned pumpkin gnocchi, and suddenly the deal was signed. We took a table outside were the dog could dine alongside.

Our server came out with glasses of water and talked to us about the kitchen and menu. He was very knowledgeable, but we didn't know what we wanted. It took us a long time to decide because we all wanted to eat but didn't want any leftovers so there were a lot of questions to ensure we'd end up with food that all of us enjoyed.

While we talked, pesto olive oil & very thinly sliced bread were brought to the table. The oil was deliciously infused with garlic and herb flavoring from the pesto, but the greens were actually very fibrous, making scoops of the dip not to enjoyable.

We knew what we wanted by the time our server returned. My heart was set on the pumpkin gnocchi on their specials sign, and I championed for it until my boys were both willing to try some. There was a huge variety of hearth cooked vegetables, all with a nice smokey flavor and a bit of char on them. Really, a couple pieces were close to outright burnt, but my husband loves that flavor so it worked out well for the dish. Pumpkin, butternut & other hearty squash were just a couple of the vegetables in the dish. The sauce was light and buttery, allowing the pumpkin flavor in the potato dumplings to shine through. The gnocchi were very well done, dense yet light and tender. The dish was temperature hot, but it was also warm with a cozy, homey feeling. The pasta & veggies were topped with freshly chopped basil & Parmesan cheese. While delicious, I'm glad we shared because it was far too much food for me.

The boys decided to share one of the wood fired pizzas. My son has become quite adventurous in his tastes, with mushrooms a long standing favorite food. He's more recently decided he likes artichokes, and when both were offered on a pie, that was the one selected. The chewy crust is on the thick side and is well caramelized on the bottom. Salty goat cheese rounded out the other earthy flavors on the pie, punctuated by a fresh arugula salad. We all liked the pie and the chewy crust, but we wished there were more mushrooms. The arugula wasn't as tender and nutty as younger leaves, but they still added a nice crunch and flavor. Overall, the pizza was good but not great.

The experience didn't cost as much as we expected, probably because we didn't have any alcohol. Overall, the service was good & we enjoyed the flavors of everything. This may not have been exactly Italian, but it was certainly inspired by the rustic freshness of Italy. And it was just what we were looking for before starting our journey back south.

Packs Tavern

2014-10-30T08:40:00.001-05:00

My family visited Asheville from Pensacola, FL. We mostly came up for the apple picking in Hendersonville and to see the autumn leaves changing. This was our second trip like this, and we will certainly be coming back to visit again next year.

I've never felt so at home in a place like I do in Asheville. Everyone that we met, be it walking down the street, perusing local artists' wares, or sitting in a restaurant, wore friendly smiles and had some bit of nice conversation with us. Our dog, Lucy, was even welcome into many of these establishments that we visited, and all the restaurants were quick with a bowl and some water for her.

After packing our first day full of activities like apple picking, gem mining, and driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway to see waterfalls (and go down Sliding Rock), we weren't completely sure what we wanted to do with our second day.

Strayboots is a website that offers walking tours of various cities. The cool thing about it is that you get to use your phone for all the stops. So you get a clue, you figure out the answer, then if you're right you learn a few short facts. There isn't anyone walking with you though, giving you the luxury of stopping and relaxing or grabbing a bite to eat wherever you see fit.

We never would have ventured past Pack's Tavern, let alone went inside (they've got a horrible rating), if it weren't for Strayboots. They've got a super cool old car outside that has an old whiskey barrel in the bed, and that was the first thing we noticed. We thought this would be a good place to grab a drink from that, but we also needed to figure out what illegal activity went on here in the past (for the phone tour) so in we went.

I guess I should say we went around; with Lucy by our side, we found a place out on their patio to eat. We were lucky that it was really warm that day cause there was a definite chill to the breeze, but it was mostly warm & sunny.

We sat down and our server came out to greet us. She was really nice and knowledgeable about the menu, but didn't know the answer to our riddle. After recommending a couple drinks, she left to let us decide, returning a few moments later with water & a bowl for Lu-Dog. I'm so impressed by how dog friendly everyplace in Asheville is, which I know I'm saying a lot, but I really want to stress it; even all the (dozens of) other people walking dogs are uber friendly.

We started with a slew of drinks. My son got a root beer float & sucked most of it down within a couple seconds of it being in front of him. Being from North Florida, were very familiar with Abita and he's a big fan of their root beer, found on draft here at Pack's - the best way to indulge.

This neon yellow number right here is made with Tang, like the orange drink for astronauts. I had some reservations about trying it, but it turned out to be really good. My favorite of all the drinks.

We also ordered a glass of Noble's Hard Apple Cider, made locally in Asheville. They make the Village Tart with cherries, and it's fantastic. Not very sweet, but very apple-y! There aren't artificial colors or flavors, and the cider is gluten free, all of which is cool. This was the ideal drink for the time of year and the weather, I thought. It wasn't really sweet like the frozen Tang drink, but it was very satisfying and went with the food we chose better.

The final drink we tried was their Mint Julep. Neither my husband nor I are big whiskey/Bourbon fans, let alone aficionados. As I'm so fond of saying, we live in Florida for a reason, and that's to be closer to the islands. The Julep at Pack's is strong and the mint flavor is bright. It wasn't excessively liquory tasting, but you got all the flavors of the whiskey.

The drinks came out after a few minutes and we were relaxing, looking over the courtyard where a group was doing yoga, some children were playing, and a couple were walking their gaggle of wiener dogs. We weren't very hungry when we sat down, but as we worked on all these drinks, our appetites were whetted.

Still wanting to enjoy the mountain trout before we went home, we decided to share an entree between us all. The Nantahala River runs through Western North Carolina and it's tributaries provide some of the best trout fishing in the country. Pack's has a Parmesan crusted trout from these waters, which they top with caper-butter sauce. They serve it with sauteed mixed veggies and herbed jasmine rice. It was delicious. The trout was perfectly done, either baked or broiled to tender, flaky, juicy perfection. The veggies were also really good, cooked enough to have caramelized a bit and well seasoned.

We also enjoyed a side of sweet potato fries while we were sitting outside. I love sweet potato fries, and they arrived steaming hot and crispy. They were very good, but standard and could have used a pinch of salt or a dusting of cinnamon sugar to make them a bit more special.

After we finished eating, the manager came out and said hello, asking how we liked everything. He said the server had mentioned that we were doing a scavenger hunt and that we had a question about the building's history.

Turns out that Pack's is a pretty interesting place. The building has existed for decades, redesigned various times throughout it's history.

In the 1920's, the building (which is situated across the street from the fire & police stations) was used as a lumber distributor. But it was also something more.

You see, Asheville has a long history as a haven for the financially elite. It also has a network of tunnels built underground, some say by the Illuminati for their secret meetings, held under the obilisk in the center of town.

Regardless how the tunnels got there, this lumber distributor has a doorway in the basement (which goes way deeper than I expected it to) that opens to a tiny vestibule. There's a door behind the first door. The second door opens to a pantry-type room which is lined with shelves. The back wall is fake, the lower portion comes away to reveal a dark, dank tunnel beyond.

In the 20's, our guide and the restaurant's manager explains, this door was used to smuggle liquor from the fire station, right under the police, into the lumber distributor. They were one of the largest distributors of illegal liquor in western NC during prohibition. Chances are that the police were also in on the criminal activity going on beneath their feet, but they couldn't be outright involved. When raids occurred, all the doors were sealed up. So a cop would go to the basement and order the outer door opened, to which the owner would oblige. There was then, of course, the inner door. This was locked from the other side, so chances were that the coppers would just leave... nothing to see here. But they could ram the door open, in which case they would find an empty storage room.

You may be thinking that someone had to be in there to have locked the door from that side, right? That person would have had to empty the pantry into the tunnel and board himself in during the raid. I can't imagine that would be a fun job.

On top of a really good meal with delicious drinks and a considerate server (she stayed outside with Lucy while we went exploring the basement), we got a super cool adventure. I'm very glad that we happened upon Pack's and that we gave it a chance. Overall, it was a really good experience.

Double D's & Chestnut

2014-10-29T08:51:00.000-05:00

Double D's was squarely on my list of places to try on our last visit to Asheville. We made it up to the gate only to be informed that they only take cash by the guy sitting just outside asking for change.

He must keep a good watch on that spot because he was only a couple feet from where he was a year ago this time. He knows the people going in and out of that gate have some cash.

I was one of them this year. I sauntered into the little bus and was enchanted. It really is an enchanting space. Downstairs is all business, with the aroma of coffee and sugar filling the air.

Tis the season for pumpkin flavored everything, so I got a large pumpkin latte & a small hot chocolate. We looked around and read the signs and whatnot as the girl behind the counter quickly and happily made my coffee, cleaned off the machine, and served me. She was certainly efficient. And she seemed to not only like the job, but also every one that it gave her the opportunity to meet. She was really nice.

When the beverages were ready, we wanted to explore upstairs. This is the really enchanting part of the bus, decorated with the prettiest shade of blue, the chandelier echoing the colors of the walls and leaves beyond magically. We grabbed the seat in the very front of the bus, gazing out over the busy street below & enjoying the view for a moment, warming our hands on our hot cups. After trying both drinks, my child determined the coffee was much better. Thankfully, it was still too hot for him to drink much.

As we came down the stairs and exited the bus, we saw my husband make his way across the street. He was headed to the Chestnut.

I only mention this because he bought me the tastiest rum I've ever had in my life. It was so smooth and rich, you could hardly tell you were drinking liquor. I would love to know what it was so that I could try to find it again.

The restaurant is beautiful, and if we hadn't just bought drinks at DD we would've gotten an appetizer to share. As it was, we had a walking tour to complete & Chestnut was part of the next riddle, which is what brought him to cross the street so abruptly.

Wasabi

2014-10-28T09:16:00.000-05:00

As we wondered the streets on our walking tour of Asheville, we passed a Japanese restaurant that was just getting ready to close up shop for the day. There were two tables sitting on the patio that hadn't ordered yet, so we didn't realize how late we were getting there. When a seven year old says he really wants to try sushi and not just the California rolls he's used to, you jump to it.

Having our dog with us, we got a table in the corner of the patio. We still thought they were open and more patrons could come and sit down. A very nice young lady came and greeted us. She brought out waters as we looked over the menu.

We didn't know what we wanted yet, and the server went back inside. She came out only a few seconds later, although we were pretty sure we knew what we wanted. She explained the kitchen would be closing momentarily and that we really needed to order.

My boy & I were thinking about a special they had on the board, as long as they could make the spicy tuna without the spicy part. She said she wasn't sure about it, and I said I don't mind if they still chop up the tuna, just ask not to add the mayo. She was hesitant. Ben ordered the jalapenos amazingness up there. Her eyes widened; she explained that she was really certain that couldn't be made un-spicy. We chuckled; Ben loves spicy stuff.

The sushi roll did come out sans the spicy mayo in the tuna, and it was perfect. The flavor was delicate and intricate, just the way sushi is supposed to be. Inside was crispy krab & avocado, and it was topped with chopped tuna, crispy shrimp, tobikko, green onion & eel sauce. We both loved it, with him devouring most of the roll.

Although I don't like spicy things as much as my husband, we both enjoyed this appetizer. Fresh jalapenos were stuffed with cream cheese, spicy tuna & krab before being dipped in tempura & fried. They're topped with more tobikko, eel sauce & sweet chili sauce. The cream cheese controlled the heat, so I really enjoyed these. The peppers didn't get very cooked, so they were bright & crunchy, providing a great textural contrast to the soft cheese and fish. The batter and eggs also had a little crunch, and everything really played well of each other.

We were glad they allowed us to eat before the kitchen closed because we loved our food.

Chocolate Fetish

2014-10-27T19:17:00.001-05:00

On our second day in Asheville, we did the Stray Boots walking tour. We did a couple of these in New Orleans and NYC & really enjoyed them, so we were totally elated to see that they have two tours for Asheville. Since we had our 7 year old son, we didn't want to do the food & brew tour and opted for the general one. It took us throughout downtown Asheville, allowing us to see things we never would have noticed and to learn all sorts of facts about the city.

There were two chocolatiers that we were led to on the tour: the Chocolate Fetish & Chocolate Gems. I didn't realize that we would get another chocolatier to stop at later, otherwise I wouldn't have bought so many goodies at Fetish. So this is mostly a review of that one.

Regardless, we got a nice little selection of goodies. We all prefer dark chocolate, we love fruit & spices, and so these seasonal spiced apple slices dipped in chocolate seemed perfect. And they were almost as good as the little raspberries drizzled in dark chocolate.

Both pale in comparison to the chocolates we enjoyed. I only bought three: the top is a spicy chocolate with some heat, then is a milk chocolate with pumpkin spice, and the last is citrus. They all have an amazing creamy smooth texture. It was hard to share. Each of us had a favorite, which we knew going into our choices.

Now, if you happen to be in the neighborhood of Chocolate Gems, they have a spicy little fire cracker that isn't as creamy as these truffles were, but it is well worth the stop to try it. It really does sparkle in your mouth. I can't tell you what is in it to make it do that, cause that would give away the tour answer, but it was delightful.

Nine Mile Restaurant ~ On the Road Again

2014-10-24T12:10:00.000-05:00

Nine Mile Restaurant was a stop I was thoroughly looking forward to during our annual Asheville road trip. For one thing, I love reggae music; after all, I live in Florida for a reason. I called hoping to get put on the list, but they don't do any form of reservations. When we got there, we waited for about 45 minutes for a table outside. It wasn't too cold, but it was a bit chilly. Fall was most certainly in the air. The interior of the restaurant is tight and warm, but all the tables are small, so this actually worked out really well for us. The neighborhood is very charming. The clientele is uber hipster. Like, disturbingly so. Seriously, I'm a mess and I don't usually match and I've even been referred to as a hipster, but these people were... I don't even know how to explain it... 'too cool for school,' is the phrase that pops into my head.

Our server was really sweet and quick with all our needs. The food took awhile, but everything else was there just as we wanted it. She maintained a really nice pace for our experience. We started with drinks, and I really enjoyed the pinot noir they have.

All our entrees came with salads and nappy bread. They have four different dressings to try, and all of them were thoroughly enjoyed, with each member of our party getting a different one. Mine was mango vinaigrette, and I loved the sweet & tangy balance over the mixed greens, red cabbage & carrot salad.

The first thing said about the bread was that it was really garlicky. After the second nibble, the bite of the garlic mellowed out and other flavors began to shine through and it became something addicting. I wish we'd asked for more, but we didn't want to spoil our dinners and end up with leftovers. I really, severely, wanted to have dessert at the end of this.

It was hard to order, as all of us were between two or three things. My son was exhausted by this time, so I decided to get the spaghetti with veggies in the end so that he could eat some of it when he woke up from napping in the car. The bowl of pasta was huge, like way more than I ever could have eaten alone. When he awoke, he was famished so this turned out to be a good option for us. The sauce was good & zesty, and the addition of a ton of veggies made it awesome! And all of them were very well cooked, with zucchini, cauliflower, squash, onion, peppers, cabbage, and broccoli among them.

My mother-in-law got the pesto chicken with jerk seasoning (Irie Ites). I thought the jerk seasoning could have been a little spicier, but that aside, the sauce was spectacular and even this dish managed to have a bunch of squash & zucchini in it. The pesto was unnaturally creamy for not containing dairy and had a wonderful flavor, with garlic and pine nut undertones to the brightness of the basil.

Everyone in our family likes tofu. It's one of the things we tend to eat a lot and we even prepare it at home. My father-in-law selected the More Fyah! entree: Grilled tofu with bell peppers, fire roasted tomatoes, squash, & zucchini; sauteed with white wine & butter and served over basmati rice. Sadly, he didn't particularly care for this entree, noting that the tofu was over cooked & dried out, there wasn't enough spice, and it got cold very quickly because we were outside & he wanted his wife to have her entree before he started to eat his own.

My favorite dish at the table was the trout. Marley's Magic is jerked NC trout with veggies in a creamy coconut sauce and basmati rice. The jerk really wasn't as intense as I was afraid it would be, so I loved the sauce, but the trout was slightly overcooked, much to my husband's disappointment. The curried vegetables were fabulous, perfectly cooked and seasoned, and the sauce was delicious. There was extra spicy sauce on the side of this, which I think my husband asked for so that I could enjoy the fish. He enjoyed that sauce much more; so the spice is variable and you can get everything really hot if that's how you like it. I don't think my father-in-law realized that.

Now, I came for the spliff cake, and I was SO HAPPY I TRIED IT! Seriously, get yourself some of this. I want the recipe. Even my husband, who is staunchly anti-sweet stuff, enjoyed the peppery spice with the deep decadent flavor of this dessert. The chocolate and sweetness hit your tongue first, and after you swallow, the heat starts to creep in and warms your throat. Then there is some sort of creamy center in there as well. Really, the whole thing is phenomenal. Even if you're stuffed, get one to-go.

We also tried the seasonal apple cake. We didn't care for it nearly as much. If it weren't as cold, it may have been better; it would have gained a lot from 30 seconds in the oven. The cake itself was dry and crumbly without much apple flavor, and the icing was dense and thick.

Overall, this was a great stop. For the most part, everyone enjoyed their food a lot and we left with very full bellies. I don't really know if this is especially Caribbean food, and the jerk is far milder than could be served in Kingston, beside the fact that cavatappi & pesto is decidedly not islandy. Regardless of these things, it's good that they've got options to appeal to the less adventurous eater. More than just Caribbean, I'd say there are influences of Indian & Italian in the entrees we enjoyed, and there's nothing wrong with fusion cuisine. The staff is friendly and the atmosphere is comfortable. It's a place I would happily go to again.

Kin's Kitchen ~ On the Road Again

2014-10-23T14:07:00.000-05:00

The mountains of North Carolina hold a lot of treasures. After visiting two apple farms (I'm really looking for an organic apple farm up here; if you know of one, please comment or message it to me. I'd love that.), we traveled back toward downtown Hendersonville. There were a few places on our list that I wanted to try for lunch, and in the end the consensus was for Kin's Kitchen and Chinese food.

Kin's is nestled in a little unassuming strip mall. They have some tables inside, but most of the people who came in just picked up food and left so we mostly ate alone. The guy at the counter was nice but rushed and got part of our order wrong, but he was quick to fix it.

The interior is decorated in the stereotypical fashion of a Chinese restaurant: There were those moving landscape pictures, intricate birds made of mother of pearl, a parasol, waving cats, and bead curtains.

The food was equally authentic. We ordered four entrees and basically just shared all of them between the five of us. The top photo is the bourbon chicken special, which I got with noodles instead of rice. Their lo mein is really yummy, better than I expected. I was hoping for some veggies, but I only got broccoli. Regardless, the meat was very tender and the sauce was great. I also enjoyed my egg roll, although it was pretty standard.

The shrimp in lobster sauce was just ok to me. It was only 6 shrimp in a sauce that reminded me of really thick egg drop soup. It was smooth and creamy, but the flavor was very mild (I suppose that's how the lobster sauce is supposed to be). The fried rice was really hot and yummy and well seasoned.

The general's tofu was a good dish. I thought the sauce had a good flavor, but the spicier people in my group were disappointed. It had a peppery taste and was spicy with those little peppers, but it wasn't the burning, overpowering feeling my husband wanted. All the better, because everyone was sharing and we all got to enjoy it. The tofu was well cooked, chewy on the outside with a creamy and soft interior. I was also happy that there were so many vegetables on this plate, with green beans, carrot, mushroom, peppers, onion, cabbage, & broccoli.

The chicken & mushrooms was also surprisingly filled with vegetables. This sauce was a touch saltier than I liked, but it was my son's favorite dish. There was white rice with this one and it soaked up a lot of the sauce and made it work better for me. The whole dish was really good, with crunchy green beans and tender carrot, celery, mushrooms and chicken.

Overall, this was an inexpensive lunch, which is what we were hoping for, and there was plenty of food. We tried to force ourselves to finish it, but still ended up throwing a little bit away. Every dish that came out of the kitchen was steaming hot and quick, so we didn't end up wasting any more time. We were already running behind schedule, and we had to get to Sliding Rock so the boys could ride the falls. I was worried that it would be too cold for them, but this stop was quick enough that it wasn't too late in the day for them (something I appreciated). The food is quite honestly only a little better than average, but it's still better than the average Chinese take-out. I'm glad we stopped.

Jongo Java ~ On the Road Again

2014-10-22T10:37:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed how much my family enjoys spending time together in the car. A road trip is a great way to hang out and have a bunch of fun! We're some road warriors though... we don't just take a short drive; we're serious about it.

This autumn, we did the same basic thing we did last year: went to the mountains of North Carolina in an attempt to see the trees in their beautiful, gilded splendor. We left at midnight on Saturday, October 11 so that we would arrive at 9 for coffee and some organic baked awesomeness at Jango Java. We were not disappointed.

Jango Java is adorable! It's a great spot to sit and hang out with friends or do some work. They've got wonderful sitting areas with little tables that can accommodate various size groups, and they also have big tables and single desks in the back if you need to study, whether alone or in a group. They were decked out for Halloween with spooky webs and witches adorning the front window, and inside is like a gallery with local art adorning the walls.

The front room, when you walk in, is certainly the brightest part, with the feeling getting cozier the deeper in you go. Right in that front room, when you walk in, you're greeted with baked delights in a glass case and the aroma of coffee envelopes you. It's a sensory delight, just what we all needed after 8 hours in the car (plus one lost in the time zones).

We planned this as the place to stop for a couple reasons: Firstly, it's right in the heart of Hendersonville, which is a downright adorable town with tons of old fashion charm in the architecture, & they have bears wearing all sorts of crazy outfits. Second, they're organic. Next, they make for a good place to meet people and we were supposed to be meeting my in-laws on our way to go apple picking.

Most importantly, they have really yummy coffee and breakfast foods that are light. My little one loved indulging in the hot chocolate & blueberry scone. He kept picking up his plate and going to another group of tables and testing out the chairs then returning to the big sofa we were all gathered on. He didn't love the scone because he thought it was dry, but I thought it was good and buttery and the blueberries themselves were big & juicy. I bet it's better in the spring.

I got the pumpkin scone without seeing it first, and when I did I thought it should be renamed the Halloween candy scone. It has chocolate chips, marshmallow that's toasted into caramel, and only a hint of pumpkin flavor. It was good, but a little crunchy and dry. My pumpkin latte was amazing, with all the delightful spicy notes that I love about pumpkin flavored stuff.

My husband had a much fuller breakfast of an everything bagel with hummus and the black bean soup accompanying black coffee. He enjoyed his coffee & we all liked the fettuccine noodle that was inserted for a stirrer; I thought it was a pretty revolutionary idea.

The bagel was soft & the hummus creamy and generous. I liked the flavors a lot, and they even went really well with the black bean soup, which wasn't spicy at all but had a really nice flavor. Now we got there really early, but the soup wasn't quite hot yet when we were served it. I think it was supposed to be for lunch. Regardless, it tasted good, and I thought serving it in a coffee mug was a cute idea. I wish my latte had been in one.

Overall, a great stop. It was relaxing, we got to stretch our legs & enjoy some local art, and we had a really nice breakfast with some really nice, sweet people. The barista was all nervous when we first walked up, and when my husband (who isn't even 30 yet) walked back up to get our food, he was asked if he was Tony Alva. As in the skateboarder. It was pretty funny.

Jaco's

2014-10-15T09:57:00.000-05:00

Nestled on the water at the farthest end of Palafox St. in Pensacola, Jaco's sits ambiguously. It's a small building, and if you aren't aware what's going on here, you might pass it right by. In all truth, by the time you reach this far edge of the city, looking over the bay, you most likely planned coming so far for a meal.

The first time I ate here was a Sunday brunch. The sun glistened and danced on the rippling water, disturbed only by the serene breeze following the bay from the gulf. Sipping coffee and bloody Marys while enjoying the stuffed French toast, it couldn't have been more relaxing. We lounged out on the patio in the back, completely apart from the rest of the city while squarely in it's midst. There is parking down here, but walking is one of my favorite things, and we left the car up near Main St. The stroll back takes you past old buildings, lovely architecture & a fountain.

Not finding ourselves in the area often, it was some time before we returned to Jaco's, albeit this time for dinner. This was a very different experience. Firstly, we weren't seated outside this time, but in the crowded dining room. Men laughed as glasses tinkled together and the feeling was joyous if a touch raucous. Although they were busy when we arrived, it must have been the end of the rush; there was no one waiting & we were seated immediately.

It could have been that it was later in the evening and things were generally slowing down, but everything seemed to take quite some time. We ordered drinks when we sat down, and while the server waited for them to be prepared returned for our meal orders. After placing the orders, I think she got busy cashing out other tables, perhaps... it was a long time before the wine arrived. I felt like we were a bit forgotten. While we waited, we discussed getting an appetizer, talked ourselves out of it, finished our wine & got really hungry, talked ourselves back into it, and flagged down our server. She was very quick with our wine refills, but the salsa and guac appetizer wasn't particularly to my liking. I'm not a fan of spicy stuff, but this needed something for some flavor. We picked at the chips while my son was devouring the crushed tomatoes and avocado before him.

There was still salsa left, though we'd finished nibbling, by the time our food was brought out from the kitchen. My son got a flatbread with basil and mushrooms. He ate it by smooshing the triangles together & stated that this was a quesadilla, not pizza. Truly, it was on a tortilla, so he had a point. I wouldn't get a flatbread next time. He did, even after all those chips, finish the entire thing.

The other entrees arrived looking very yummy to my hungry eyes. My husband added a crabcake to the southwestern salad & it looked amazing. As he stirred it up, he noticed that there wasn't much dressing on there, and also that the corn & black bean part of the toppings seemed to be scarce. I think he got 8-10 niblets. When the server returned, he was most concerned with his crabcake, which was cool to the touch. She took it back, got the other side broiled, briskly returned it to him without asking about my dish, and was gone. He wanted more dressing, but was mostly just annoyed and pushed the salad away.

I was glad for the nutty & peppery salad atop my vegetable lasagna, it added a complex touch to what was otherwise a bland dish with overcooked noodles. With six vegetables, I didn't really see the need for noodles at all. Seriously yummy arugula though & it saved what was otherwise a very messy presentation. I was only a couple bites in when my husband declined his salad. This left me in the situation of either wasting food or saving the lasagna and adding it to something else (like pasta primavera) at home. So I ate the salad, wishing I could taste the tang of the cilantro-lime dressing.

This wasn't the experience that I was hoping to get. I hear a lot of really good things about Jaco's from everyone, and I really did enjoy my brunch experience, so I'm hoping this was a fluke. I actually plan to go back at some point and try again, but I couldn't possibly say when. With so many options popping up in downtown Pensacola these days, it could take awhile to decide to make the walk to the end of the pier again. Regardless, I'm hoping there's salt & pepper on the table next time.

Cactus Cantina

2014-10-09T07:05:00.000-05:00

I'm really pleased to be able to say that it I enjoyed Cactus Cantina, the new Mexican spot on 12th Ave, directly across the street from the airport.

It's huge inside. I never had a opportunity to dine there when it was Cuban style, but I imagine that not a little of the interior is leftover. It makes for a charming cantina. All three of my family went, and we were seated at a high-top in the bar area. My 7 year old thought this was awesome, but the table quickly shrank with the addition of plates and glasses. I wasn't sure the bar was totally appropriate for a child, but they had other kids at tables in the area, and it was a slow between-service time.

Our server was really nice. She had a great personality. She provided a nice pace for our meal. She didn't have the best grasp on the menu yet. I get that, as it's still new and things, I'm sure, are changing all the time as the kinks are worked out. When she greeted us, we really didn't know what we wanted. She said she'd tried a couple of the margaritas and the first one she mentioned was the one I was considering: the Twisted Margarita ($9), a combination of sangria and lime margarita. My husband indulged his liver in the Knockout ($12), although it didn't taste as strong as the menu warned. We both got mediums and they were quite large. I loved mine, and it did pack a surprise punch. Our server didn't inquire about salt & sugar rims when she took the order, and the bartender didn't make the drinks without this information, thereby causing them to take awhile. I'd have been fine with no rim, which is what I should have done. I got regular white sugar instead, which I was a touch surprised by; it wasn't even the fat turbinado sugar granules that I normally expect to melt down the sides of my beverage. That aside, we were very happy to enjoy the drinks while we stared at our cheese dip.

Ok, this was the strangest thing that's happened to me in a restaurant in SO long. Seriously strange. Server offers queso dip (not the strange part, wait for it), and my two male companions gaze at me with huge eyes. My kid loves queso, so my husband orders the large with beans ($7). It comes out very quickly and is clearly hot, as the food runner is handling it with a towel. He sits it in the middle of our table and begins to walk away. Now, the server is still there talking to us about our order and she notices that there are no beans. He looks at it and, so shocked, sweeps it off the table. He returns seconds later with the same bowl, now with a curl of light brown amidst with creaminess. He looks at me and says, 'oh, you'll need a spoon to mix the beans in and get them off the bottom,' and again vanishes with the cheese, reappearing, again within seconds and just after the server has left, now with a spoon in the bowl. He sets it down, smiling, and tells me to enjoy. I asked if I should just lick it off my fingers? How do I enjoy it? He's genuinely confused about this, and I cannot understand why. He's been to the table 3 times to perfect this queso dip for me (although could have saved himself one trip by just stirring it in the back, I really don't need a spoon nor do I want you to tell me your lazy), but never in all this has he noticed that we don't have any chips. He went to the hostess stand and sent one of the girls off to get the chips. The strangest moments were in the looks that were exchanged between us; I don't know how sassy this runner is, or if running is really his job, but I feel like you need to know your menu and what goes with each dish & how to finish them before you should be taking food from the window. If he hadn't been so comical, I would have ended up angry at him, particularly when he went to the hostess stand and all the girls there turned to stare at us.

So that weirdness aside because I don't actually know what to make of something like that, the food arrived right as we were thinking about it and nearing half-way through our beverages. And, wow, there was a lot of food.

My son & I shared the spinach & mushroom quesadilla ($7.49), which came with lettuce, tomato & sour cream. It was a fat item, with a lot of filling, especially the spinach which was lumped in big pockets. Nate didn't care for the big balls of spinach within, but otherwise we both really liked it. They also cut the whole thing differently than I'm accustom to. Instead of being cut like a pie into wedges, it had two parallel cuts creating one triangle, something like a strip in the middle, and a really big, messy final piece. I don't care how messy it was, it was yummy.

To accompany my half of the quesadilla, I ordered a side chili relleno ($3) filled with melty queso & topped with a cooked tomato sauce similar to enchilada sauce. I've eaten so many rellenos now that I consider myself something of a connoisseur. This was well done, nicely roasted without any random skin and only a few seeds remaining on the inside. It was melty, gooey, and a little greasy, although not swimming in fat as they sometimes are. Draining the relleno is key to ensuring it won't be surrounded by a puddle of grease, but there really isn't a way to get it all. The tomato sauce on top was thicker than I was expecting, but tasted really good.

My husband's meal was so extensive that we had to pull another chair up to our small high-top and put the salt & pepper caddy on it along with the chip basket to make room for everything. His vegetable fajitas looked and smelled awesome! There is a serious variety of veg on this plate, with the expected green & red bell peppers and onion accompanied by mushroom, broccoli, zucchini, tomato & spinach. It was lightly seasoned with a really nice flavor, and while I can't recall any sizzling, I hate that liquid smoke crap that most places use for that effect anyway. The hot skillet was flanked with a plate of three steamed tortilla shells and another plate with lettuce, tomato, guacamole and sour cream.

Everything we ate at Cactus Cantina tasted good, the pace of the meal was good and everything came out hot from the kitchen. I think it may have been a cook that dropped the food off, but I'd rather that than have it dying in the window.

Every new restaurant has growing pains. There's a lot that goes into opening a restaurant and personalities tend to chafe with the stress involved. I also understand that it's difficult to teach people a menu that is also going to evolve with the restaurant, especially in the first weeks of opening. Service hiccups are expected. This early in a restaurant, if the food is really quality and if they can manage to make it consistently (meaning the items are the same every time), they're going to do just fine.

Anyone who reads this, please be aware that servers are paid below minimum wage. By going out, you're entering into a contract with your server. Please tip well: 25% for amazing service, 15% for poor service. Always tip.