foodiehall
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At sundown, the invasion begins: The great clouds of the birds, each chirping directions at the top of its lungs, fly in and settle upon this one tree. They have dozens---hundreds---of perfectly good trees to choose from, and this is the spot. Literally. They sag the boughs of this 60' tree, as wide as it is tall, and fill the air with chirps, chatter and yukky projectiles to unman the faint of heart.
Then the ammo is broken out.......
hey....is this where those lemons mentioned in your signature come into play?
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Yes fried, yes stewed with tomato, No plain boiled.
Ditto for me.
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Meanwhile I yell at the cats for being so lazy as to allow the birds to enjoy the fruits of my labors (pun intended) and the cats just roll over and expect to be scratched behind the ears. Me thinks there might be a conspiracy here.......
Maybe those cats are getting a kick-back from the birds? Hope those birds stay away from your property when it comes time to relieve themselves after feasting on your berries. We have holly bushes around our house and seems that after the birds have helped themselves to the berries, our cars and sidewalks are more "decorated" than usual.
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whoa, i don't think i can top that, but.....
we thought we'd walk in the door and there would be people who all sort of were like us, but when we got in they were all red necks and lumberjacks and i thought we must be in the wrong state if not the wrong planet, and they were all EATING THE SAME THING!
And that was: thick gloppy white sauced dryish meat--creamed chip beef on toast
Marlena
Ah, yes. SOS. I remember it well.
Jim
good ol SOS!!......hub used to eat a lot of that when he was single and cooking for himself. And that's what he called it: SOS. I'd never seen nor heard of the stuff before I met him (guess I'd lived a sheltered life) and when he offered me a serving, I said Uh....thanks, but no thanks. As far as I know, he hasn't eaten any more of it in the last 22+ years.
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In my dating days, I went out once with a man who, among other things, was lactose intolerant. I don't remember how the conversation came up on a first date, but he mentioned that he had cereal with water for breakfast.
I must've stared at him bug-eyed, and finally asked, "How does it taste?"
"Terrible," he replied.
Right then, I knew there would be no second date.
(Note: This is not meant as a put-down of anyone with food allergies. My sister is allergic to milk -- not just lactose, but milk protein, too. She's a damn fine cook and would never settle for something that tasted "terrible" to avoid setting off her allergy.)
I don't know why this struck me as so funny....but it did. Thanks for a good LOL
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Cheryl, we might just have to let you go crazy with the homemade ice cream and let Brooks leave his industrial sized machine at home. I'll assign dishes to the local folks such as yourself as we get closer to the big day.
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Me? Go crazy?....whatchoo talkin about?
What with the crowd you're expecting, I don't think two ice cream makers would be excessive---especially if the weather is anything like it is now and that's entirely possible early in September. As I said, mine is a standard size. -
Last time, we had about 30 eGulleteers attend. Who's coming this time around????
I'm launching my maiden post as a new eGulleteer to put my name (along with my hub) in the hat to attend this eatathon........ Since I'm so close by, I can easily bring side dishes/salads/desserts, perhaps a freezer of homemade ice cream.
Cheryl
Hub and I are now registered. As indicated above, I can bring any number of (edible) things....whatever you need. Ice cream freezer mentioned above is a White Mountain, standard size, manual crank variety. Alas, my ice cream contains no magical imported ingredients; what I use comes from the local Teeter and the City or Farmers Market.
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Everything here is all in good fun. I'm curious to hear about your supposed favorite place in Durham, foodiehall.
Nana's.... what got me hooked in the beginning was that great bread they kept doling out; as soon as I finished one chunk, here came Breadperson with another one. I've mentioned on another thread that any restaurant will score mucho points with me as long as they serve plenty of great bread and generous portions of salads. In recent years, I've tried to cut back on my bread habit. At first, it seemed that most of the entrees featured some component that wasn't entirely to my liking; as this is no longer the case, maybe my palate has become more sophisticated over the years. And in general, I like the ambience there---some people don't care one way or another about that, but I do. BUT, we were there this past Sat. evening prior to going to an ADF performance and had a waitperson whom I found to be very annoying. It's one thing for a server to exchange pleasantries with the patrons, but going off on tangents, expressing personal opinions not related to the food, practically telling your life story, etc.....I can do without that, especially when it interferes with the service. This guy's voice level was such that he could be heard all over the room. Thanks to his spending so much time "entertaining" his other tables, there was no way we had time for dessert and then he disappeared when we needed the check so we could leave. Suffice it to say, if he's there the next time we go there, I'll see to it that he's not our waitperson.
Slightly off topic....back when I was lurking as a visitor, I recall your laments/complaints, etc. about the quality/quantity of dining options in the Triangle. As a native of Raleigh, I can tell you that this area has come a loooong way since I was your age....and that's been a few(!) years ago. In her book Remembering Bill Neal, Moreton Neal speaks to this in detail.....if you haven't read it, it might be worth your while; you'd probably come away with a greater appreciation of where we are now in the Triangle, culinarily speaking. I'm impressed with your knowledge/appreciation of food, certainly far beyond the level of most people your age (of my acquaintance).
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That's what's fun about this thread, foodie. It's a ridiculous premise to begin with and part of the reason why I called this an experiment. Some people love Magnolia Grill, while others hate it. You'll always have disagreement, so the point of this thread is to discuss what are considered the top restaurants in the Triangle. We'll never get a consensus, but we'll end up with some good conversation and -- who knows -- maybe an idea of the cream of the crop.
(Sigh) OK, Mr. V......I've always had a "problem" with taking some things too literally and this is one of those times. By now, I think those of us who venture out have a pretty good idea as to the cream of the crop around here. I'm always glad to get a heads up on a new place....I can decide to either not waste my time or head on over there. Just for the record, I have previously participated in online food groups (certainly not of scope of this one) where posters would get unbelievably nasty whenever a "best of" debate came up....far be it from eG'ers to do this
PS - I really do need to give MG another try; it's been a long time.
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That's what this thread is all about. I hope others will conduct a similar experiment and report back here. We can then crown an official champion of the Triangle!
Hate to be a nit-picker here, but I don't think any one place can be christened "official champion of the Triangle (or anywhere else, for that matter)". My opinion of "best" isn't going to necessarily coincide with yours/the next person's and vice versa, to state the obvious. There are too many variables at play, IMO---and since I don't have all day here, I'm not going to try to list them. When dining out, I'm going to give more weight to certain things which may not be as important to you and vice versa. I've found that when I go to a place that's been deemed the "best" this or that kind of eatery, I'm usually less than thrilled....probably because my expectations were too high. Case in point: this past weekend, we ate at one of our all-time faves in Durham....everything was great, up to par EXCEPT that our server was an extremely annoying individual. Have never seen him before in this place and I can't imagine he'll be there long. OK, if we'd never been there before and went because we'd been told the place was the "best", I'd surely disagree because of our experience with this particular server---but as I say, he seemed to be a glaring exception to the rule.
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I
Of course, I try to also look at local restaurants from another angle. If you want to go out to a nice dinner in Raleigh, what are your other options?
Vin and Fins are clearly superior in my mind, but more expensive.
I think I prefer Frazier's and Nana's Chophouse.
Bistro 607, Glenwood Grill, Second Empire, BB, etc all seem more or less comparable to me.
I feel compelled to put in a good word for Mo's Diner....maybe not up to your standards of "fine dining" but certainly a fine place at which to have dinner. For those not familiar with downtown Raleigh, Mo's Diner isn't really a diner, rather a nice restaurant located in a (1920's?) bungalow across from one corner of Moore Square, consists of a central hall with several small dining rooms on each side plus porch dining in nice weather. "Mo" (short for his given name) is the chef/owner and his wife Holly manages the place and makes the luscious desserts. Mo's opened about 8 yrs. ago, menu hasn't undergone many changes nor has the well-trained waitstaff. The menu says something like "...simple food prepared with care"; you won't find cutting-edge cuisine here. It's comfort food. With a few exceptions (pasta dishes, seafood stew) entrees consist of meat/poultry/seafood with the same sides: a variety of several vegetables---usually grilled squash, green beans, mashed potatoes or rice, corn, sometimes sauteed spinach---and of course, you can always order just a vegetable plate. Many times, I've overheard satisfied patrons saying "That was the best duck breast/osso bucco/rack of lamb/etc. I've ever had". There are a variety of starters and salads, although not many changes over the years. The entire menu, minus desserts, fits on one page; there are usually one or two entree specials. Bread is not baked in-house; I think it comes from Whole Foods. As I said, Holly makes the desserts: again, nothing cutting-edge, but all scrumptious....cakes, tortes, cobblers, pies, cheesecake, etc, usually 6-7 choices. We eat there often during symphony season (a shuttle will pick up passengers at Mo's, drop-off at BTI Center and do the reverse at the end of the evening---for free, a darned good deal, IMO)---and have always been pleased. And if a guest isn't pleased for whatever reason, Holly and Mo want to know about it and make it right.
We like Frazier's.....only problem is with parking when NCSU is in session.
Nana's Chophouse: the ambience wasn't for us; one visit was enough.
Bistro 607: I'm surprised this place is still in business; we stopped going there a few years back after too many "off" nights. Maybe they've changed chefs/managers since then?
Glenwood Grill: OK, but can get pretty noisy. Maybe it's our age, but seems to us that a constant din in restaurants seems to appeal to younger people whereas we're put off by it.
We've always been pleased with BB; on the other hand, Varmint's opinions re BB are similar to ours re Second Empire. Seems to me that SE has always had more style than substance.
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My mother passed away on July 5th after a long, long illness.
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I still, however, have a craving for pimento spread.
Please accept my condolences. If I could, I'd surely whip up some pimiento cheese and send it your way without delay.
Best Wishes....Cheryl
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the Prix Fixe dinner I had at Gabrielle's was exceptional!
breakfast at Tupelo Honey Cafe which you won't soon forget
Zambra: great meals and exceptional tapas
The Marketplace downtown Asheville
Rezaz for upscale Mediterranean dinners
overview of Asheville dining options
This city is made for marvelous, creative dining .. and my experience at the Grove Park Inn for dinner was awful .. very disappointing ...
Thanks so much for this post. Shortly before this thread was started, hub informed me that he needed to go to Asheville for a couple days in July to attend some meetings and wondered if I'd like to come along...to get to a cooler place if for no other reason. I hemmed and hawed, then saw this thread and decided that Yes, indeed, I'd like to go to Asheville and check out some of these places.
We were last there almost 2 years ago (also for meetings), stayed at the huge Grove Park Inn in a not-so-great room, had a not-so-great dinner in the dining room, then had dinner at the strange (to me, anyway) Flying Frog Cafe---French, German, and Indian: what a combination. Anyhow, this trip we had wonderful dinners at Gabrielle's, the Marketplace, and Rezaz; lunches at Early Girl Eatery and Chelsea's Tea Room. We stayed at Richmond Hill Inn (location of Gabrielle's) where breakfast is included, therefore no restaurant visits for breakfast. Just for the info: breakfast is not served at Gabrielle's nor does the Inn have room service; there is a beautiful breakfast room where Inn guests have a choice of 4-5 entrees plus various juices, sides, etc.
At Rezaz (in the vicinity of Biltmore estate): best paella I've ever had, with shrimp, mussels, tasso, heavy on the duck and chorizo; shared app of pitas with various dips/spreads
at Gabrielle's: ordered from prix fixe menu--"molded" vegetable salad incl. croutons, which were a little soggy; lamb chops with polenta and ragout of mushrooms, tomatoes, and sweet peppers; chocolate roulade with malted ice cream and bourbon fudge sauce
at Marketplace (downtown Asheville): salad with local goat cheese, blueberries, focaccia croutons; wild sockeye salmon w/ assortment of local vegetables w/ avocado coulis (I like avocados, but this was a little too bland; another sauce with more oomph would have been better, IMO); peach cobbler w/ vanilla ice cream---hardly exciting but soo good
A word about downtown Asheville: streets go every which way and traffic is congested so once you find a parking space, leave the car there and walk. Very lively downtown, always seems to be lots going on. If you're a "boomer", you'll feel like you're back in the 60's
Many interesting little shops, cafes, art galleries, etc. Wear good walking shoes/sandals. -
I just wanted to bump up this discussion to see if anyone has been to Vin Rouge lately.
Am late with these comments due to being out of town. Prompted by the positive posts on this thread, hub and I dined at Vin Rouge for the first time a week ago and were suitably impressed. My only regret is that I'd had a late lunch and so my appetite wasn't completely primed for an early dinner (we were going to a performance afterward)...but I managed to clean my plate anyway.
Any restaurant that serves good bread and generous portions of beautiful salad scores lots of points with me right away and VR did that. I had a salad with beets, goat cheese, lardons and toasted walnuts (not finely chopped, but good-sized pieces); sole meuniere, haricots verts, and potato puree; and lemon tart, which I surely didn't need but it was sooo good. Hub had the poached pear salad and whole dorado (sp?) which he thought was excellent (and he's still talking about it), with a melange of sauteed vegetables which were difficult to see since they were under the fish. No dessert for him, but I kindly shared a little of my tart. Servings were generous but not overwhelming. An aside: I hate it when it seems that the kitchen staff has counted out an exact number of, for example, green beans or diced potatoes or pieces of (small) pasta per plate....just a tad pretentious, IMO.
We sat outside under the covered patio, pleasant enough even on a hot day what with the overhead fans. Service left nothing to be desired and I especially appreciated that they had noted that we needed to be out by a certain time. We were in no way rushed but at the same time, there were no long lapses between courses, thus enabling us to leave on time for our destination. As with all Bakatsias restaurants, great attention is given to decor and VR is no exception. It does indeed resemble a French provincial eatery, both inside and out. We definitely plan to return to VR and urge other Triangle eGulleters to give it a try if you haven't already done so.
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That's the beauty of dining -- there will never be consensus. I can't tell you how much I want to like this restaurant. It's close to home and the chef comes up with concepts that are quite creative. It has all the elements I look for when going out for a nice meal, but not once have I walked away satisfied.
That's too bad, although in all fairness, there have been times---back when we were getting dessert with our meals---that I wasn't entirely satisfied and it was the dessert that was the weak component. Now that I'm not getting dessert there....I'm always pleased. Odd, but seems that I generally don't care for the kind of desserts served in "fine dining" establishments....too contrived/gussied up or something?
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Don't get me wrong: Bloomsbury Bistro isn't a bad restaurant and Chef Toler is quite successful and has an impressive following.
Gee....sounds kind of like damning the place with faint praise. As for me, I'm happy to be among Chef Toler's "impressive following". I guess service and ambience carry more weight with me than with you; that said, I'll take BB any day over your favorite restaurant in Durham. Oh, by the way, I really enjoy Toler's food. To each his own.
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i just moved here, I am in the industry and am interested in peoples opinion of the Island and the food scene. .....
We've visited Bermuda every year since 1993 and love being there. For the first few years, there was a direct flight from here (RDU) to BDA....Bermudians loved this too; they came here on shopping sprees....but no more. Altho the flight arrangements are a little convoluted now, we still keep coming. I know there have been debates (not on eGullet) about bringing more nightlife/"activities"/gambling to BDA....we are NOT in favor of this. If someone needs this stuff, they should go elsewhere to vacation. We've met plenty of other visitors over the years who were quite happy to go to a relatively quiet, serene place such as Bermuda. Here's a suggestion for trip souvenirs to take home: take photos of the breath-taking views in BDA, have the pics enlarged, framed or whatever; otherwise, I'd suggest any of the various Outterbridge's sauces which are Bermuda-made. Why get run-of-the-mill souvenirs in BDA when you can pay less for the same stuff in USA?
Finally, as to food: since we stay at a place (Cambridge Beaches, a cottage colony) where breakfast, afternoon tea, and a 5-course dinner are included, we don't eat out much at local establishments so I'm not in a position to offer lots of suggestions. As others have done, I can recommend the Swizzle Inn ("swagger in, stagger out" or something like that) near the airport end of the island and the Village Squire in Somerset Village. This is merely an observation, not a complaint: if you go to a "sit-down" place for lunch, plan to be there a while since Bermudians move at a relaxed pace and apparently assume that you, the vacationer, are in no hurry either. If you need a quick snack/lunch, go to a sandwich shop and pick up something at a counter. Such places are scattered here and there, sometimes in shopping areas, sometimes at roadside stands.
We're set to go back in August....looking forward to it as always.
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I'm in the pastry-cutter camp. That's what I had when I started out making pie crusts and it worked/works for me; maybe I've been too lazy/whatever to try the food processor. Probably don't want to wash the thing any more often than I have to. What makes pie crusts easier for me now is my use of parchment paper instead of wax paper....but that's straying from the original question.
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Being a Yankee and all, I could use some pointers from y'all on how to eat my grits.
This revelation struck me this morning, as I searched in vain for a bowl into which to pour my grits. None was available, so I plopped them on a dinner plate instead. Sacrilege? Let this poor Yankee know.
Confronted with said plate o' grits, I thought to myself, "Dinner plate or not--I eat my grits with a spoon!" Is this correct? Is any particular utensil verboten for the wholesale shoveling down of grits?
As a bona fide GRITS, I'd say you're stretching way too hard to come up with a thread topic. Bowl/plate, fork/spoon....eat the stuff any ol way that suits you.
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Noooooooooooooooooooooo!
I was just informed last night that my husband and I are now set up to go to the Blue Point with my sister-in-law and her husband. I protested greatly, but to no avail.
Fudge.Give us a report.....any improvement over your experience last year?
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But y'know what's a good book for some basic real good user friendly baking??? The old not revised Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook--it's got an old fashioned red cover & it's still available at bookstores--but I have an old old copy from my Mom (nostalgic yes, sniff) but it gives you a heads up on how Granny used to do it y'know??!! Foundational-great reference book.
My first cookbook is one I still use: Betty Crocker's Cookbook, copyright 1969....worn, torn, pages splattered with oil/batter/etc., binding completely shot. It's great for a beginner, very straightforward, teaches you the basics using simple language and easy-to-follow photos. And hey, not a word about microwaving in here
. Start with a cookbook like this and work up to more specialized ones. Although the women in my family could turn out decent biscuits and cornbread, they weren't into yeast breads....so, when I decided I wanted to learn to make yeast bread, this is the book I turned to and it served/still serves me well. Although my cookbook collection has multiplied over the years, I go back to "Betty" pretty often...I really should get it to a bookbinder for some repair work. Some of the recipes are dated, the pics of the test-kitchen ladies with beehive hair are hilarious...but you can't go wrong with something like this to get you started. -
yep....great job...........
for those who haven't met the "varmint family", you are missing out on a beautiful thing..........
Loved those beautiful eyes on snaggle-toothed Benjamin. sigh... And in the beach photo, I thought Varmint and Mrs./Dr. looked kind of like big kids themselves!
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I join the other eGulleteers above in thanking you for this yummy culinary trip of the last week. We just returned from a few days at the beach yesterday and as soon as I sat down at the puter, I went straight to your blog to see what I'd missed. While many of your dishes are the same sort of things I fix here at home, I'm only doing it for myself and hub (most of the time) rather than a family of 6 plus an assortment of friends, other relatives, etc. AND of course, I'm not photographing/writing about it as I go along. As much as anything, I stand in awe of your management/coordination skills and your apparent good humor at going after this task and seeing it through the end of the week. I agree with the earlier poster who said that this vacation will always stand out in the memories of your young Varmints. I could go on with the praise, but I don't want to get too sappy here
; suffice it to say, I've been truly impressed. -
We then headed to Wrightsville Beach to spend a couple of hours playing in the surf. Of course, we don't get there until lunchtime, so we have to stop at the Dockside Restaurant and Marina. This is a institution located on the Intracoastal Waterway, where you can watch the big yachts pass by while eating a greasy lunch.
Am really enjoying all these great photos and captions. The weather at the coast must have been lots better than what we had in Raleigh today...ha, what an understatement! Y'all picked a good day to get out of town....
Review: Bloomsbury Bistro -- Raleigh
in Southeast: Dining
Posted
We were at BB last weekend and while I was pleased with my selections, hub had a problem with the "style execution" of his entree: Portuguese style slow-cooked pork roast (seemed more like a heavy winter meal to me) was tough, perhaps not slow-cooked long enough? And we both agreed that our server, a woman whom we'd never seen before, seemed to be rather "rough around the edges". All in all, not our best trip to BB.