World's Worst Blogger.

I haven't cooked in months, which makes maintaining a food blog pretty hard.

In lieu of cooking, my diet has consisted of:

andand occasionally (woopsie)

and an embarrassing amount of

and some

and definitely not enough

or

That  being said, its [almost] time for me to stop being the world's worst blogger. Notice I said almost? Well, I'll be traveling (for work and play) for the next two weeks, and I don't see myself being too enthusiastic about cooking during that time...but maybe I'll surprise myself?

Either way, its time for me to set some goals and share them with my readers (which at this point might only be my mom...thanks mom!) to be held accountable! So here they are:

1. Stop being so lazy and cook!


2. Step outside of my comfort zone and don't just try things that seem easy


3. Post on my awesome-totally-only-read-by-my-mom blog at least once a week!!

And there you have it. I'll be back in a few weeks ready to cook and blog! K, byeee!

Tyler's Tap Room.

Tyler's Tap Room is a mecca for bar food lovers. They make all typical bar food, only they make it better.

Last time I went, we got the Carolina Nachos - house smoked pulled pork piled on tortilla chips, smothered with beer queso dip, and topped with green onions, bbq spice and North Carolina's own Durn Good hot sauce. They were delectable!!

Tyler's Tap Room has an amazing selection of beer (as I'm sure you could guess from their name). They sell flights of beer, so you can try four different beers in one order. It perfect if you're indecisive like me. There are locations in Apex, Carborro, Durham, and Raleigh, North Carolina -  check it out if you're in the area. Also, be sure to check-in on foursquare when you go and you'll get free garlic fries! K, byeeee.

The Roast Grill.

On Man v Food, Adam Richmond tried to eat 17 hot dogs (including 17 buns, half a pint of mustard, and one pint of chili sauce) to complete the Hot Dogger Eating Challenge at The Roast Grill. Adam crushed the challenge in about 30 minutes, and as the winner, re-named it the "Man v. Food Hot Dog Challenge".



Why am I telling you this? Because I live about a block from this fine establishment. The Roast Grill was opened in 1940 (by the current owner's grandparents) and is noted for refusing to serve ketchup.



It is a very small place that seats 16 (mostly on stools at the counter + two small tables for two) and only takes cash.



The only options for the hotdogs are mustard, onions, chili, and slaw. The coolest part (or maybe its gross, I'm not sure) is that the hotdogs have been cooked on the same small grill since 1940!



We got our hotdogs with all four toppings and they were really yummy.



I'm not sure I'd say they were the best hot dog I've ever had....but they were good enough for me to want to go back.



Did I mention that the Roast Grill was on TV? Haha because I think that's a good enough reason to give it a try. K, byeee!

Beasley's Chicken + Honey.

Beasley's Chicken + Honey is owned by an amazing chef and restauranter, Ashley Christensen. In 2011 she threw down on Iron Chef with Bobby Flay, and in the same year opened three new restaurants in downtown Raleigh (in addition to one that was already open). GQ Magazine recently called Christensen's collection of restaurants the Mini-Empire of the Year.  Beasely's has special meaning to Christensen, combining both her mom's Memphis upbringing and her dad's amateur beekeeping background; fried chicken + honey = yum.



Christensen prides herself on showcasing fresh, local produce and other offerings in the area, Beasley's is no different - simple food paired with simple urban-chic design. The space offers lots of natural light, a chalkboard menu from floor to ceiling, red top tables with screw lift stools, one large communal table in the middle of the restaurant, and [of course] a nice sized bar with plenty of seating. The last thing to note is that Christensen is environmentally conscious - there are no cans/bottles of soda or beer severed in her restaurant. Eveyrthing is served on tap, including root beer (and they come in mason and jelly jars, who wouldn't love that?!)

Beasley's has a concise menu of three entrees and an array of southern sides and desserts. The food pretty much speaks for itself: upscale, no-nonsense, southern.

Bloody? Roasted Tomato Bloody Mary Mix + Vodka (Gin or Tequila are options too!)

The Bloody Mary was made with so many vegetables and you could taste them all. I got mine with vodka and it was the prefect start to Sunday brunch.

Fried Chicken Waffles + Honey

The Fried Chicken Waffles + Honey are only available late night or for brunch on Sundays. The chicken is a juicy, crunchy, spicy-sweet, southern masterpiece. The waffles are equally amazing.

Chicken Biscuit with Pickled Green Tomatoe, Dijon + Honey and a side of Hook's 3-YR Cheddar Pimento Pimento Mac-N-Cheese Custard

I couldn't say enough good things about this plate if I tried. Wedding bells are going to ring in your mouth when you eat this, it's that good. Trust me its going to get romantic real fast, just enjoy it because its fleeting. I was both stuffed and heartbroken when it was gone.

The Kennedy Biscuits w/ Butter + Honey

Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Almond + Carmel Sauce

I will be visiting [and then writing about] all of Ashley Christensen's Raleigh restaurants, so look out for those in the future! K, byeeeee.

Pasta Mia.

Pasta Mia is located in Adams Morgan in DC and is the place to go for homemade pasta - in fact, that's all they serve. It is a small venue, with just 44 seats, where patrons will line up outside the door before the first-come, first-served operation opens every evening.  The ubiquitous line outside is the clearest testament to the quality of the feast you can expect once you sit down at Pasta Mia's checkered tablecloths. Their dishes are very inexpensive, the portions are huge, and the wine is cheap - 1 liter carafe for $16…yes please.

Service is slow and methodical, but to me, this should be excepted. The restaurant is small, there is always a line, and everyone is seated at essentially the same time. Where in this equation does fast service fit? It doesn't. I have read a ton of reviews where people complain about the service, and I really just can't help but laugh at these people. What were they expecting? If they wanted speedy service, they should have probably gone to Olive Garden. Pasta Mia is a place to go for the experience - it is perfect for date nights, but not for big groups.

Now after reading all of that, would you believe I've never actually been to Pasta Mia? Haha quite the opinion for not having experienced it myself, but I have a few friends whose opinions I trust. And these friends of mine, Sara and Jon, have been to Pasta Mia twice, raved about it both times, and even sent me pictures of their food… which gave me more than enough material for this post!

I’m sure you want to experience Pasta Mia for yourself, so there are a few things you should know for when you go. First, get the caesar salad - it is praised by most everyone that goes there, so you don’t want to miss out! The salad is huge though, so plan to share it.

Sara and Jon did the smart thing this time around and decided to share a Cesar salad, but she told me she was so sad when her pasta finally came. When I asked her why, she said it was because she was so full off of the salad and bread that she hardly had room for the pasta. Which brings me to my last bit of advice…you must go prepared to eat like a total fatty.

Okay on to the fun part…food pics!

Sara had the Gnocchi al Gorgonzola.  The light texture of the gnocchi is perfect with the rich, but not overbearing, Gorgonzola sauce. More specifically, her exact words were "Nommzzzzzzz. I'm in heaven right now."



Jon had the Linguine with Clams. That pasta was perfectly cooked and the red sauce had a hint of heat, but was very well-balanced.



So, I think it’s safe to say I will be trying Pasta Mia the first chance I get....and you should too! K, byeee.

N'awlins Grub.

I made my first trip to New Orleans, Louisiana in January and I ate myself silly during the visit. We had so much amazing food on the trip, it's hard to pick a favorite.

We ate po' boys at Mother's Restaurant.

We had beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

And we ate our share of  jambalaya and seafood gumbo at Coop's Place.

But of all these awesome places, my visit to Cochon Butcher is probably the one meal I'd pay stupid amounts of money to enjoy again. It's a butcher shop, a sandwich counter and a wine bar. Its casual atmosphere and fresh offerings made it a place I felt right at home.



While standing in line I changed my mind about what I was going to order approximately seven times. Everything sounded so good!



Something that I thought was really cool was that it wasn't uncommon for people waiting in line to ask the people sitting down about what they ordered. "That looks amazing, which sandwich is that?" I myself even asked a stranger what he was eating (because it was literally making my mouth water). We ended up ordering quite a few things.



For starters, the stuffed pretzel. It was served with a side of deli mustard, but it was so delicious that it didn't need to be dipped in anything.



Next up was the Pancetta Mac-n-Cheese. I don't think I really need to say how amazing this was...just look at it!! However, I would have tolerated the portion being about five times this size.



This first sandwich decided upon was the Cubano, with roasted pork, ham and swiss cheese. Needless to say,  I'm drooling a little just by looking at this picture.



Lastly, we had the jalapeno stuffed sausage with cabbage and cilantro. This picture doesn't even come close to doing the sandwich justice...my bad I was WAY too excited about eating it to worry about getting a better picture. (Sidebar, you can see me nomming on this little guy on my Meet the Eater page.)

Anyway, if you ever find yourself in NOLA, you should try to find time to eat at Cochon Butcher. K, byeeee.

Restaurant Week.

Restaurant Week is a weeklong dining extravaganza showcasing the culinary talent in your city. Participating restaurants will usually offer a variety of three-course prix fixe dinners for $20-$35 per person, depending on the venue. I went to Piedmont during Durham's restaurant week. They describe their cuisine as "Contemporary American, seasonally focused and ingredient driven." It was good, but extremely overpriced for restaurant week.

Peter Piper - gin, pickled hot peppers, black salt rim.

We started out with some beverages, the average cost of each being around $10. Which is ridiculous. I got the Peter Piper, and it was basically a dirty gin martini with hot papers instead of olives. I wouldn't recommend it purely based on the price, but I really did enjoy it.

Charcuterie - Pork rillette, chicken liver pate, smoked fish-cream cheese spread, ginger-apple mustard, pickled vegetables, toast.

Next up were the appetizers. The firs plate, Charcuterie, offered an interesting variety of...spreads? Dips? Fixins'? I'm not sure what to call this hodge-podge. There is a good chance they actually served us mud instead of Pate (at least that's what it tasted like). So to sum up the plate, they were just trying too hard.

Fritters - NC hoop cheeses-cornmeal fritters, toasted paprika-tomatoe sauce.

The star of the first course was definitely the Fritters. To be honest, I'd probably just describe them as "fancy fried cheese balls" but I'm sure that would piss off chefs everywhere...so I won't say that. Either way, concept and exception were both on point.

 



Eggs - Deviled eggs, potato salad, pork cracklings.

Some people might find it weird that eggs are on the menu at a nice restaurant, but it is very common in NC. No complaints here, I love deviled eggs and these were delicious. The pork cracklings (fancy bacon) were probably the crunchiest thing I've ever eaten.

Bread - Our bread, local butter-herbs-Coon Rock Farm raw honey.

At this extremely over-priced restaurant, I'm sure it would really break the bank to give their guests free bread...so they charge $2 per order. Of course we caved and got it. The bread was nothing special, but the butter was whipped, so I guess that counts for something?

Sausage - Our bratwurst, roasted radishes, their greens, potatoes, stone ground mustard cream.

The main course had its shining moments, but it also had its flaws. This first dish, aptly named Sausage, was interesting. The appearance of some of the vegetables was alarming - they looked as if they were taken straight from the ground to the plate - which isn't exactly appetizing since I eat with my eyes first. Beyond the appearance, they had little flavor and didn't take away from the taste of the meat....which may have been the point?

Pork - Fall spice roasted pork loin, honey glazed sweet potatoes, garlicky Chinese cabbage, gingered molasses.

The pork dish was a let down. Did they taste the dish before they served it? Probably not. The meat looks blackened...but its just burnt, the cabbage was way too salty, and the sweet potatoes tasted like carrots.

Chicken - Blackened spice rubbed cast iron chicken, braised collard greens, Carolina Gold rice-chicken liver croquette.

The blackened chicken was ahhhhhhmazing. The meat was so tender and juicy, it basically melted in your mouth. The collard greens and liver croquette (uhhh?) were good too, but had they given me a plate with just the chicken, I can't say I would've been mad.

 



Fish - Mahi Mahi, herbed mashed potato cake, tat soi, Old Bay fish broth.

The fish was cooked perfectly and the broth added a lot. However, the potato cake tasted more like an uncooked biscuit than mashed potatoes. The mystery greens were good too.

The restaurant week menu included beignets for dessert, but when we were ready for dessert, they had run out! They gave us the choice of having chocolate pudding or paying extra to substitute for a different dessert. Who goes to a restaurant for chocolate pudding? Not me.

 



Butterscotch pot de creme, sweet creme fraiche, caramel, sea salt

The butterscotch dish was sweet, but it had just enough salt to balance it out. I would definitely eat this again.

Lemon-vanilla panna cotta, ginger shortbread cookie

The panna cotta was creamy and delicious, but it would have been better served with more cookies (fatty).

Flourless chocolate cake, cocoa buttercream, chocolate-mint ice cream.

The dense flourless chocolate cake paired well with the lightness of the mint ice cream.

Lime meringue tart, traminette syrup, spiced cookie.

The lime meringue tart was excellent....errr minus the fact that they left the bottom of the baking dish on the plate. When the server saw that part of the pan was one the plate she asked, "Was that on there?" I wish we had said "no, we brought it with us."

Conclusions: Restaurant Week is hit or miss. The Piedmont is overpriced. I love food. K, byeee.

That's Nacho Cheese.

The worst part, or rather, the only bad thing I've discovered about North Carolina is that there are no happy hours. Something about it being against the law? Apparently it encourages binge drinking? Total crap if you ask me. Anyway, happy hours don't exist at home, so once I enter the wonderful Commonwealth of Virginia, I'm basically required to enjoy a solid happy hour to two. 

Mister Days in Clarendon (Arlington, VA) has one of my favorite happy hours in the area. They call it Wacky Wednesday, I call it wednesDAYS. They have a $3 food menu and all of their draft beers are $2. (For the record, the food used to be $2 as well but those jerks increased the price. Rude.)

                

I have tried all of the food on the happy hour menu (of course), and for the most part, its pretty standard bar food. However, talk about delectable, their nachos are my favorite. Just look at them...



They do not skimp on the cheese, and whose favorite part about nachos isn't cheese? Between that, sour cream, guacamole and deep fried chips, you should probably consider getting the salad with hearts of palm to balance out the veggies to grease ratio.

 In my months of frequenting wednesDAYS, I have discovered the secret to the perfect plate of nachos...get the chili on the side!! The chips never get soggy and it's definitely a life-changing move.



 If you ever find yourself in Arlington on a Wednesday evening, you should probably go to Mister Days and enjoy a little $3 food and a lot of $2 beer.



K, byeeeee.