Restaurant Roundup: Bacon Bros Public House, Passerelle Bistro, & Roost Restaurant {Greenville, SC}

imageBacon Bros Public House has been open for less than two years, but many people in town have already declared it one of Greenville’s best restaurants.  Located on Pelham Road, a 15 minute drive from downtown Greenville, the kitchen at this meat mecca is headed up by Chef Anthony Gray (who previously served as the executive chef at High Cotton in Charleston), while the front of the house is the stomping ground for general manager Jason Callaway, who worked with Chef Gray at Coal Fired Bistro (also located on Pelham Road).  As a sommelier and mixologist, Jason is the mastermind behind Bacon Bros’ inventive cocktail list as well as the new reserve wine list offerings.  I met these two fellas during my visit to Greenville with Nichole of Gap Creek Gourmet, and was enamored with this duo of fun-loving jokesters.

The food at Bacon Bros is what I’d call farm-to-table, southern-inspired gastrofare–it’s comforting and hearty, and, sure, they’ve got the southern standards covered, but their urbanized approach has upped the ante.  Pimento cheese?  They serve it up with bacon jam.  Mac and cheese?  Theirs has bacon and chiles.  The burgers?  Made with a house-ground mixture of bacon, brisket, and beef chuck.  Jonesin for some pulled pork?  How bout pulled pork shoulder with cornmeal and country ham waffles (yep, there’s hunks of ham right in the batter), sorghum BBQ sauce, and creamy slaw?  It’s awesome, believe you me, and it was my favorite of all the dishes I devoured at Bacon Bros.

Bacon Bros - Pulled Pork w Waffles

When you’re visiting a place with “bacon” in the name, especially one that cures, smokes, and dries all their meats in house, you’d be remiss to pass on the charcuterie offerings.  The term “in-house” used here is literal–there’s a glass-enclosed curing room near the rear of the restaurant, where you can see the Bacon Bros pride and joy:  all-natural, pasture-raised meats from South Carolina farms, which they pitt smoke with South Carolina peach wood.  They even sell packs of their peach wood smoked bacon to-go for $9.  How’s that for bringing home the bacon?

Bacon Bros -- house-cured meat

There are half a dozen “snacks” (or small plates)  on the menu, including tater tots with smoked pork shoulder, sticky bacon caramel popcorn, and cornmeal fried pickles with smoked ranch.  I imagine most people come to Bacon Bros to eat themselves to the brink of meat sweats (I know I was successful in this mission), but if salad is your thing there are several interesting options, like the frisee topped with a poached farm-fresh egg, kale with grilled fig and lardo (cured meat) vinaigrette, or arugula with lamb ham, apples, and pistachios.

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Caramelized Onion & Sausage Frittata {recipe}

If you’ve checked out my Facebook page, you already know I’ve got a thing for Sunday breakfast.  You’d also know what I cooked this week, and that I sliced half of my thumb off with my mandoline over the weekend.  See what you’re missing?!

But I digress.  Let’s get back to breakfast.

caramelized onion and sausage frittata

 

Six days of the week, I eat plain ole eggs with toast for breakfast, and I’m more than ok with it.  But things change when Sunday rolls around.  That’s when I start to crave something special–maybe a breakfast burrito or home fries or a big fat Belgian waffle.  Despite this urge for decadence, nothing makes me happier than enjoying my lavish breakfast spread from the comfort of my pj’s, in my own house, sipping my own coffee.

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22 hours in New York City

This week, I had the pleasure of spending 22 hours in New York City, 11 of which were dedicated to work, 8 to sleep, and 1 to my morning get-ready rituals, leaving 2 measily hours for exploration.  Luckily, those work hours included a great dinner at ViceVersa, an Italian restaurant on West 51st.  ViceVersa’s menu is fairly mellow, but with hopes of eating something I could only find in New York, I ordered the Casoncelli, a pillowy pasta stuffed with crumbled veal, raisins, and crushed amaretto cookies, of all things, topped with butter and fantastically salty slivers of pancetta.  Let’s not forget the wine and the delicious garlic and herb house bread.

new york city

Even though time was scant, there were three key New York moments during my trip that made me smile like only an out-of-towner can.

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5 Easy Brunch Recipes that use Yogurt

Breakfast is arguably my favorite meal of the day, and lunch, well, I love that too.  Brunch, though?  I just don’t get it.  Seriously, I need to know–is it breakfast or is it lunch?  Do you eat eggs Benedict or do you eat egg salad?  Pancakes or paninis?  Brunch is a big fat grey area, and I don’t like it one bit.  I’m just one of those people.  In fact, I’m morally opposed to breakfast for dinner.

Don’t stone me.

Despite my aversion, this weekend I stepped out of my comfort zone and invited some friends over for a yogurt-inspired brunch.

Take a look at the spread!

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When preparing the brunch menu, my goal was to cook up a variety of tasty nibblets that incorporated Activia yogurt (since I had some Foodbuzz freebies to use).  Heavy emphasis on tasty, of course.

The mainstay of our meal was my Western Sausage Crustless Quiche:

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Sausage, Egg, & Cheese Breakfast Braid

Morning, friends!  I hope you all are lucky enough to have the day off of work like me.  If not, well then I’ll try not to rub it in too much.  I’ve spent a good portion of the new years weekend in the kitchen cooking up a fury.  Ancho chicken tacos, sausage lasagna, and balsamic glazed pork loins, just to name a few.  This Monday morning (did I mention I have the day off of work???) I wanted to make something special.  So I threw together a delicious sausage and egg breakfast braid.

Isn’t it impressive looking?

Sausage Breakfast Braid (1 of 1)-2

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