Zeemanb

Shatto Root Beer milk! Oh that's some good stuff...... The pork just went on the smoker, and I am very, very curious to taste the difference between the two different types. The fat cap and texture of the Berkshire is vastly different than the grocery store pork. I put the Berkshire on the lower rack with a remote thermometer in it so that it can cook a little lower and slower, and I won't have to lift the lid too often for inspection. Will see how its looking in about 13 hours or so..... Ironically, I'll be at Lidia's tonight for my dad's bday.......glad you all had a great time!

I think Kim will jump in here with some photos, so I won't go too in-depth... I'm a creature of habit when I visit Richmond these days, give me some meatball and whatever veggie pizza from Frank's Ristorante (followed by Slurpees and Utz's Crab Chips) and I'm happy, but we have a couple of new things to add... Chicken Fiesta- great, cheap rotisserie chicken and assorted goodies. Counter service, one of the cleanest and fairly priced local chain "fast food" joints I've visited in a while. Run, don't walk.....fried yucca, ribs, chicken, awesome tres leches cake, FRIENDLY and efficient service. Edo's Squid- we were going to eat at Cous Cous because according to their website they are open on Sunday, so we got a surprise when we showed up yesterday..... No big deal, we went down the block to Edo's Squid. Kim probably has some pics she'll include here, but as far as price point and service, this is one fantastic restaurant. Yeah, it's loud, but they have the best fried oysters I have ever eaten, the most tender scungilli I've ever tasted, they do the white bean and grilled squid salad proper, and the chalk board specials give no details so it is like Christmas when you order the "lamb sausage" and it comes to you accompanied with a rich wedge of fried polenta and a side of rich, fatty, pork laden beans. The pasta dishes are wonderful, and can easily be shared. Sure, my wife is moving to Kansas City, but Edo's Squid will bring me back to Richmond......oh, and of course the in-laws and assorted friends....but in reality it will be those oysters.

Just got back from our wedding in Whitefield Square a couple of days ago, and I wanted to make time to report on our Savannah meals.... First of all, this was our first trip to Savannah, and I have to say that I really did love that town. It was definitely one of the friendliest places I've visited....almost off-putting for a jaded guy like me, but the locals and 99% of the hotel and restaurant staff were just stellar. We got into town on Tuesday afternoon, and we would have been there earlier if we hadn't stopped at the greatest place on earth.....South of the Border. If David Lynch and Jim Jarmusch ever shoot a movie together, it will HAVE to be on location at South of the Border.....but I digress. Our first meal in Savannah was at Fiddler's Crab House. I can't say how thankful I am that they were so rude and abrupt when I called last month about a group reservation for the night before our wedding.....the view from the deck was great, but other than that, overcooked oysters, room temperature fries, indifferent service until it's time for you to pay the bill. No need to elaborate, I'm guessing on River Street there are a ton of touristy "turn and burn" restaurants. That was the first and last iffy meal we ate during our trip. Tuesday night we just wanted to have a quiet "date night" before everyone got into town for the wedding, so I made reservations and we walked across the historic district to Cha' Bella. We couldn't have been happier...their dedication to local, seasonal, fresh ingredients is exactly the type of thing we look for. We started with the Slow Roasted Pork Belly small plate. The slow cooked belly was fantastic, but the baby mustard greens and oyster mushrooms almost stole the show. The risotto that accompanied it was perfect, but we could have just gone for more of those greens and mushrooms. We shared some soup and salad....the soup that night was a fresh tomato gazpacho (humongous bowl...we couldn't finish it), and the salad we chose was the "Grilled, Organic Local Harvest Eggplant & Oven Warmed Plum Tomatoes with Farm Fresh Sweet Basil". The salad may have been our favorite dish of the evening....the grilled eggplant was some of the best I've had, and the fresh lightly dressed salad that was sandwiched between the eggplant and goat cheese cut through the richness. The breaded and fried Sweet Grass Dairy goat cheese was phenomenal.....I'm not usually a huge fan of a big hunk of goat cheese, but this had a good light flavor and was similar to a smooth ricotta after the heat was applied to it. After that we shared a main of pan seared black grouper with a sweet corn succotash. Once again, the meat, while delicious, was almost superfluous compared to the veggies....I could have just eaten a plate of that and been perfectly happy. Overall, great ambience, fantastic service.....our favorite meal of the trip. Wednesday night was our first group meal. Thirteen people total, varying preferences and tastes....never an easy thing to deal with. We'd called a bunch of different casual places on River and Bay Streets to try and keep it close to our hotels, but neither of us got a warm and fuzzy with any of them. My then fiance (now wife!) happened to call Toucan Cafe last month to inquire about a group reservation, and when the owner called her back he was so great to deal with we just said the heck with it......everybody can take a cab or drive, we're going. Long story short, FANTASTIC service and great food. Between all of us, I think we just about ordered everything on the menu. My wife got a Moroccan Salmon over cous cous special, and I thought that was the best dish on the table. Most importantly, even the least adventurous diners in our group LOVED it. No complaints from anyone. So it was worth getting out of the tourist corridor, no question. Getting thirteen plates to the table within about sixty seconds of each other, and still have them all good and hot, was impressive. Judging by our experience at Vic's on the River Thursday afternoon after our wedding, I can only assume that many of the nicer restaurants along River Street are worth a visit. I called them last month about a group reservation for lunch, and they were great to deal with. Again, with a group of this size, we probably got at least one of everything on the lunch menu. Possibly the best Oysters Rockefeller I've had....mainly because they didn't use those mega-huge Blue Points...these were small to medium sized and very sweet. The pan fried chicken livers with country ham, caramelized onions and demi glace pan gravy were extremely addictive, and my flounder po' boy had the perfect amount of breading without being greasy. Again, everyone was genuinely happy with their meal, and my only regret is that I didn't go for the shrimp and grits.....I'm from the midwest and am no aficionado, but the Vic's version may be the best I've tasted thus far. Bonus points...they let us bring in our own small wedding cake and provided us with all of the hardware. Lastly, for the life of me I can't remember my mother or myself massively over-tipping a bartender like the one at Vic's. It would have normally been a slow Thursday afternoon, so this poor girl was working the bar, the service bar and all of the tables in the lounge. I'm low maintenance.....hand me a Knob Creek Manhattan on the rocks and I'm good, but Vic's has a wonderful specialty drink menu. So of COURSE half the people in our group wanted pear martinis and mojitos......and they make "real" mojitos, so what a major pain in the ass with all of the muddling and running downstairs to find more mint. She was a trooper though, one of the most patient and efficient bartenders I have met in quite some time. Some other things worth mentioning....the ice cream and pralines at the Savannah Candy Kitchen. Also, breakfast at Belford's, which was literally across the street from the Hilton where we were staying. We didn't see a ton of breakfast options near the hotel, and my dad is a fiend for the most important meal of the day. The omelettes, daily quiche and eggs benedict are winners, and the sausage egg and cheese croissants may be the most obscenely large examples on the planet. Oh, and for a more tranquil and relaxing drink and smoke right on Bay Street, next to the screaming throngs at Moon River...we had some good luck at Churchill's. Too many options, too little time, but I think we did okay for our first visit. From start to finish, everything went off without a hitch. I look forward to coming back.

I appreciated the fact that the chefs all seemed to have the attitude that "okay, we're on teevee", and were total professionals. I wanted to have many drinks with all of them, and that is my personal litmus test.

Not a "closing", but a telltale sign that things are not looking good.....just got a coupon book from Tuileries Plaza up on 45 Hwy, and Em Chamas has started "Stimulus Pricing" with full rodizio service for $24.99 every night (no coupon needed for that). That is quite a cut from their usual $36.99. I don't know how it compares to the other all you can eat meat parlors in town, but I've been a few times and while it's not really my thing anymore, the quality of the food is good. If you live in the area or are just curious about these Rodizio joints that have been mulitplying over the past few years, the new pricing really is a deal.

As a backyard bbq guy, at the very least I will vow that this summer I'll do a side-by-side comparison between some of the "good" pork I get from Paradise Meats up the road and your run of the mill Price Chopper 99 cents/lb pork. If nothing else, I'm extremely curious to taste the difference between the two.....because when going low and slow for 12 to 14 hours I'm wondering if there really is a difference in the flavor. More importantly for me, I'm wondering about texture, because THAT is the main difference I find in cheapo vs. premium meats that come out of the smoker. But I already know that a Campo Lindo beer can chicken runs headless circles around the factory farmed stuff......

Just to throw something out here....... maybe at some point we'll begin seeing sustainable/cruelty-free bbq popping up....I only bring it up to include the origins of modern American bbq in the discussion. It was created out of necessity by poor people using some of the tougher, cheapest cuts of meat. I don't have an answer to the main question by any stretch of the imagination, because on one hand I would LOVE to taste some pulled Berkshire pork butt at Oklahoma Joe's, or Go Chicken Go made with Campo Lindo chickens, livers and gizzards. On the other hand, when they passed the higher cost onto their customers, the majority of them would never come back. Plus, when it comes to the sheer amount of product needed to stock their smokers and fryers, could any small producers keep up with the demand? Until now I really hadn't even thought of this dichotomy.... I don't eat nearly as much as I used to, so now I can afford to buy better ingredients (realistic meal size and portion control being its own subject). And I'm reminded of many discussions I've had with very legalistic organic/sustainable-only Whole Foods fundamentalists where I ask them......how can your logic be applied to the masses of people who are A) WAY too poor to live up to those lofty standards and would have to depend on our non-existent KC public transit to make it to the organic grocer twenty miles from their home, or B) would need a lot of basic cooking/nutrition/healthy portion education to realize that they COULD afford to get onboard if done correctly. This is the midwest, and the gap between the ever-growing sustainable crowd and the majority of people who will always beleve that low cost + huge portions = best value is a chasm that would require the "Billy Graham" of food to build that bridge. So..... do those of us on the forefront of all things food related give the big bbq and chicken joints a pass? I have no idea....I'm still too pissed about the yuppies driving up the prices of things like oxtails and shortribs to think about it....

Oh man, great question. For me personally, I'm definitely guilty of buying the best/local/sustainable stuff when cooking for myself or a few people, but when I do bbq for a bunch of people I go with whichever store has the best sale on ribs, pork, brisket etc. due to the cost. Excellent topic though.....reminds me of the conundrum I bring up with many of my extremely conservative friends and family who are "Biblical literalists" who rant about how you can't be gay, but will discuss the topic over giant vats of food and conveniently forget about what the Bible says about gluttony... Back on topic.....trying to figure out what I can make for the gathering in the midst of all this radical job drama and soon to be newlywed madness...... will continue to ponder the "lazy yet tasty" possibilities.....

Definitely a side here in the midwest, unless you're in college and feeling too rich for Ramen and add some sliced hot dogs to your box of Kraft. OR if it's about 2am and you happen to remember you have a bunch of your tried and true homemade baked mac n' cheese left in the fridge.....then it's not only a main dish, it's a twelve course Chef's Tour!

Wow....after calling around the Bay/River Street area to inquire about reservations for a group of 15, many of the "River Street TOURIST ABYSS" reviews I've read are ringing true...... disconnected phone numbers, argumentative employees telling me they don't take reservations even though the website clearly states they take them, places just flat out not taking reservations..... No biggie......I did get post-wedding lunch reservations at Vic's on the River, and they were super nice...so here's hoping. Told them we didn't necessarily need a banquet room as long as we could sit together and order off of the regular menu vs. a group/banquet menu. Other than that EVERY MAN OR WOMAN FOR THEMSELVES.....me and the soon to be wife will probably eat at Il Pasticcio, Cha Bella, Jazz'd, possibly Olde Pink House.....but man, the group reservation in a tourist area is something I just can't do. I know we'd probably have good luck within a reasonable driving distance....buuuut then there's the whole caravan coordination thing...

Hi all, topping this thread because I'll be in Savannah next month and wanted to get some recent recommendations/updates..... My fiance and I are getting married on a Thursday, and we have about fifteen people coming in from Richmond and Kansas City, so we're looking for 2 friendly and accomodating restaurants for the group on Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon. Our original plan for Wednesday night was Lady & Sons because they take group reservations, but after finding out that groups of 15 or more HAVE to eat the buffet, one check, etc., we're looking into other options. We're all staying on Bay Street so we'd like to remain in the historic district to make it easy for everyone, and aren't looking for anything too fancy....as a point of reference we're thinking of someplace like Fiddler's Crab House on Thursday after the wedding, definitely keeping it pretty casual. As long as the food is good, it's not too expensive, and would be good for a group, we're pretty flexible. After doing some research on here and a few other sites, would love some feedback on places that are on our list.... Jazz'd, The River House, Huey's, Shrimp Factory, Vic's on the River, B. Matthews, Fiddler's Crab House...... any recommendations are appreciated! Thanks!

And it's the moooost wonderful tiiiime of the yeeeaaarrr... Okay, not better than dilaudid, but definitely more calming and wonderful than Xanax......made my first trip of the year to the Parkville Farmer's Market a few minutes ago. It is small, but it is incredibly awesome.....I am happy, I can scare children at the intersection of 45 and 9 highways singing opera at 8am, and hear them say "mommy, why is that man smiling and saying 'I got a chicken'?". Finally, a normal moment for me.....got some lettuce and asparagus from Crum's, and a chicken and some eggs from the folks at Campo Lindo. Yes, it is early in the season when you can get down there at 8am and there are still any eggs left, much less whole chickens.... So lunch and dinner will be good, very, very good.....

Yep, just googled "Whole Foods Las Vegas" and there are at least three locations.....so this could be a lock! Since that's only real significance to whatever city they choose.....my guess is they'll be shopping at the new location on Las Vegas Blvd.

Sandra Lee still remains near the bottom of my list, but then I thought of something......when does her precious nephew Brycer get HIS own show?

I think I've seen the cheese curds for sale down at the wine shop (don't remember the name right now) down at the end of the market on the Carollo's side, but no idea if they have them all the time or not. Another Shatto sighting at my local Price Chopper..... their ice cream is pretty fantastic.

Ooohhh boy, they will never take the place of the Utz Crab Chips, but I found a gem of a snack down at the local handymart upon my return to Kansas City..... "Sabritones" Chile and Lime puffed wheat snacks brought to me from heaven via Frito Lay.... probably the strongest-flavored chip I have ever encountered, and I already told the handymart dude that I'll be the loyalest of all customers if he can find other flavors..... Oh, these are GOOD...

I do wear a chef's coat at home.....but only on such occasions where I feel the need to kick my own ass.

Folks, I'm not just saying this to be polite.....but Kim knows some super cool people (not counting MYSELF here), and her perverted Fishs Eddys serving dishes are just a bonus.......but yes, you will be fed well and plentiful, and the laughter that you share with your dining companions has the second benefit of settling your food so you can eat MORE..... And I'm only waiting until my fiance gets home to break into the leftover beef goodness because I'm marrying the chick......

Eh, it all tasted okay, but the one thing that salvaged the evening was that Kim went to the trouble of having nurses on-hand to administer Calvados IV's..... a nice touch....

I can't say if she's sold out, but my favorite tattoo artist called me the other day to make sure how to spell "DOLLAR DOLLAR BILL'S Y'ALL!".

We don't have Utz snacks anywhere I shop back home in Kansas City, so when I'm down here in Richmond it's UTZ CRAB CHIPS.....24X7 baby! Found on their website where they sell 3lb bulk bags of chips for mailorder.....so I know at least one low-rent addition to our wedding reception menu in August......

This show is the epitome of the term "guilty pleasure"....... it is not good programming, but hey, I watch Rock of Love Bus, so this is practically Fawlty Towers in comparison..... Marco is so damn serious.... when he was bagging on them last night for their Central Park inspired dishes, I half expected him to go "Those ninjas, over in the corner, were THEY inspired by the park? No?". BAM! KA-POW! Impressive index finger of death on the lurking ninjas..... Then at the end when he's sacking the couple...."I'm going to tell you something that I learned long ago (finger UP)..... when Ivan Doroschuk from Men Without Hats gave me this very same pair of checkered Vans that I'm wearing, he warned me against undercooked squab.....and you know what? He was right.".

Been on kind of a bender with this stuff lately...... latest favorite application is frying up some of those oval hasbrown patties like you get at McDonald's, then cover the top with a verrryy thick layer of Sriracha and top the whole thing with a really soft scrambled egg and some chives. Simple and heavenly....

Agh, I'll be out of town for BOTH of those events....but the good news is that I'll be having dinner at eGulleter Kim Shook's home in Richmond, Virginia. Oh, did I mention that I'm getting married? And it's a product of eG roundaboutly speaking? And UE.....you probably live too close to me to be talking about those morels.....but I'm very forgiving as long as you share.....lol

And Judy, if you mention any friends of yours who have morels growing right outside of their kitchen windows, you are permanently banned from this conversation!