restaurant review – Page 8

Ladies night out!

August 13, 2011 9 Comments

I haven’t had a girls night out in FOR-EV-ER, but all that is about to change! Tonight, I’m hitting the town to FINALLY see Harry Potter with Jamie and Vanessa. Then, we’re heading to Café Monte, a French bistro style restaurant, for dinner.

Given the occasion, I decided it was time to put one of the 300 dresses I’m hoarding in my closet to good use. While taking a quick inventory, I kept coming back to this orange dress.

It’s orange, not hot pink, I promise.

This dress has been hanging in my closet for nearly a year, clearance tags still attached, all the while wondering what the heck she was doing in a closet for of blacks, purples, and greys.

You see, I bought this dress for three reasons. One: It was on clearance. At Target. AKA $13. TWO: It was my size (not always a requirement when I find a cheap clearance deal). THREE: It was orange. A color that has not graced my skin in my 27 years of existence.

What better excuse to wear a bright orange dress than Harry Potter and French food? I can think of none.

So here I am in my orange dress:

Just kidding… that was the first of many failed attempts at self-photography.

Better… seriously though the dress is ORANGE not pink.

What is this, Prom? Where’s my corsage?

And here’s all my goodies for the show:

That’s a book to read in case I’m early (wishful thinking), Living Social deal for the restaurant (can I get a Boo-ya?), Chocolate covered pecans, chocolate covered blueberries, a chocolate brownie clif bar (sensing a theme here?!), a notepad and pen in case I need to jot down notes at the restaurant, water for hydration, and a sweater in case the old lady gets cold Smile

Me and my ORANGE dress and my BLUE purse. Ready to hit the town!

Here’s hoping there are not any typos in this post, cuz I have go to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Restaurants

Holy crap, that was a lot of food.

July 11, 2011 12 Comments

Have you ever been in conversation with a new person and thrown out the obligatory “so, Bill, what do you do for a living?” and had Bill come back with “well Mary, I’m a psychiatrist”? Confused smile

When a person discovers they’re in the midst of conversation with someone who analyzes people for a living, they are immediately scared. (What the heck have I said in the last five minutes? … Does he think I’m a basket case… Why am I suddenly sweating profusely?!) All of this fear and anxiety is followed by near immediate curiosity.

Oddly enough, that’s a similar reaction to the one I get when I first tell a person I’m a food blogger. People get oddly weirded out, followed almost instantly with excited curiosity. I try to explain that I am not a food critic, but a food enjoyer. I’m not professionally critiquing food, but rather honestly sharing my experiences with the food with friends and fellow foodies.

Isn’t sharing food with others what makes a good meal great, anyway?

Ramblings, Restaurants

It wasn’t THAT good, actually.

July 6, 2011 11 Comments

As a foodie, I’m sure it comes as no surprise to you that my world revolves around food. I spend countless hours each week reading about it, researching it, cooking it, exploring it, talking to strangers about it, sharing it… you get the point. From the 5:30am pre-body pump peanut butter toast to the hot fudge brownie bowls I’d like to cap every night off with, food is the thread that links the pieces and parts of my days together. It’s what brings passion to my eyes during conversation. It’s what brings a smile to my face at the end of a trying week. It’s what intrigues me, and challenges me, and nourishes my body and mind.

Bottom line: food brings me joy.

Of course, with all this love and warm fuzzies there is a dark flip side: the food flop. Nothing is more disheartening than experiencing a food flop. Perhaps it’s a new dish that’s lacking in taste or worse yet a new dish that straight up makes you ralph. Either way, a food flop is like a sharp nail on a chalkboard. It brings a party to a screeching hault in a matter of seconds.

It’s no secret that trying out new restaurants is one of my favorite pastimes. I love the excitement of experiencing something new and the opportunity to have ALL of my senses blown away by a fabulous dining experience. When I try a new restaurant and that restaurant doesn’t rock my socks off, whelp, it’s downright depressing. It feels like a waste—not only a waste of money, but more importantly a waste of time that could have been used to try out a different much more fabulous establishment.

Does anyone else feel this way? Maybe I’m a foodie extremist.

Speaking of trying new places, after my Ladies who Lunch post last week I headed to lunch with a lady (Jamie) at King’s Kitchen uptown. I was thoroughly excited for the opportunity to lunch with a new friend AND to try out a new restaurant that I’d passed so many times but never stepped foot inside.

While perusing the menu, I was pretty pumped when I saw “macaroni and cheese” as a vegetable. That HAD to be a good sign.

Another plus were the free biscuits we were brought:

Then the meal came—grilled chicken with macaroni, broccoli, and collard greens:

And that’s where the plusses stopped.

The chicken was dry – so dry that it was difficult (and awkward) to cut through even with a knife.

And the mac and cheese?

Whelp, it was oily and lacking flavor… As were the collard greens… and the broccoli.

Even with this disappointment, at the end of the lunch I put my hand on my belly and said almost robotically “that was so good!” As soon as the words left my lips, I thought to myself “ummm Mary, no that was NOT good.” But what didn’t come to me until later that day was that it was OK to admit the food wasn’t good. It’s not always rainbows and chocolate ganache. Sometimes it’s dry meat and oily side dishes.

Despite the food flop, Jamie and I had a great time getting to know each other. Some might think it’s crazy that I invite random people I’ve never met to lunch. But if you want to be a Lady who Lunches, sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do 🙂

Restaurants

Bask on Seaboard

May 28, 2011 4 Comments

Last weekend, the BF and I decided to dig into my Living Social / Groupon stash and head to Bask on Seaboard at the NC Music Factory in Charlotte.

Bask’s website touts the restaurant as chic and comfortable – and I’d agree. I also add “swanky” to the description. Partly because it’s perfectly fitting, and party because I love that word Smile

Prior to leaving, I tweeted Bask to let them know I was on my way and soon after got a response:

This is a perfect example of why Twitter is awesome. I know I was late to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, but over the last year I’ve really grown to love it!

After perusing Bask’s menu, we decided to go with the Black Bean and Roasted Garlic Hummus for the appetizer:

The hummus was DELICIOUS.

The pita chips were still hot and were especially yummy dipped in the cool hummus (even though I wasn’t expecting them to be fried).

Of course the BF got a Caesar salad.

If he were to have “signature” dish, I think it’d have to be the Caesar. He gets them everywhere we go. EVERYWHERE.

Mwah haha… Unsuspecting photo shoot subject Shifty

I went with the Spinach Salad with grilled Shrimp for my dinner:

LOVE me some grilled shrimp. The lemon vinaigrette dressing was very good – and I also asked for some of the spicy thai sauce (that comes on their shrimp appetizer) on the side. It was pretty spectacular.

Two thumbs up on the salad, but what REALLY put a smile on my face was the delicious mac and cheese:

Mmmm I’m a sucker for a cheesy noodle.

I stole a (rather large) bite of the BF’s chipotle chicken sandwich too:

He said it was the best chicken sandwich he’s ever had. I’m not gonna lie. It was STELLAR. Pico di gallo, ancho chili, and AVOCADO. Yesssssssssss. This sandwich alone will ensure our return to Bask.

There was a music event going on at the NC Music Factory the night we visited Bask, and since we chose to sit outside we had prime seats for enjoying the live music and people watching.

Last but not least, we decided to grab a dessert.

I REALLY wanted to try the chocolate brioche bread pudding (chocolate and bread both hold VERY special places in my heart), BUT we compromised and got the apple turnovers:

This was tasty (especially the rum ice cream) – but next time, the bread pudding will be making a visit to my belly.

Restaurants

Oh goat cheese.

May 9, 2011 4 Comments

It’s funny—I feel like I’ve been running nonstop the past few weeks, but these feet haven’t seen my tennis shoes in nearly a month. I hate that. I hate that sometimes life scoops you up in a nonstop whirlwind and you just can’t seem to break free–even for a half an hour—to take care of yourself.

Today FINALLY I laced up my sneakers and spent some quality time with the elliptical and the (GASP!) treadmill. The treadmill and I aren’t exactly BFFs, but I’ve found that when I read a book or magazine when warming up and cooling down, the treadmill really does hit the spot.

In other fitness news, I signed up for a Y membership which I’m pretty excited about. I’ve been hearing all about BodyPump, so I’m pretty pumped (wink wink) to try it out myself.

The dinner I made tonight wasn’t very tasty (bummer). So, instead of sharing a plate o’ blah with you, I chose to share the AMAZING dinner I had this past Friday night. After work Friday, the BF told me to pick ANY restaurant I wanted for dinner.

Ummm ANY restaurant?!!

My Urbanspoon Charlotte wish list currently has nearly 60 restaurants on it.. and that’s not even factoring in the small restaurants that aren’t listed on the site! Needless to say, this isn’t the sort of opportunity I take lightly. After much research, I decided on Mama Ricottas!

Mama Ricottas

Pulling up to the restaurant, you might not expect much. It’s situated at the end of a shopping plaza at a slightly awkward nook in the road. They have abundant outdoor seating, but at 6pm on a Friday night we were pleasantly surprised to not have to wait for a table.

First, we were greeted with FREE BREAD! Free bread = happy lady Smile

This bread was served up with olive oil with red pepper flakes. I love spiciness, so I was a BIG FAN.

Even though bruschetta was featured as an appetizer on the menu (and we ALWAYS order bruschetta), we decided to step slightly out of or comfort zone and go with the Warm Goat Cheese and Mascarpone Dip with grilled crostini:

This dip was OUTRAGEOUSLY delicious. Insane. Unfathomable. I wanted to jump in there and curl up in the warm cheesy goodness.

I dare say this dip ALONE is worth the drive from Ohio to North Carolina.

For the entre, we split the individual Penne al a Vodka with grilled chicken. This was half of the individual portion, which was the PERFECT size after having the appetizer.

This too was FANTASTIC! The vodka sauce had a kick to it, which I really enjoyed. Note that the family size portions are HUGE and also a great deal (if you’re in the mood to feast)!

Unfortunately we were too full for dessert, but no worries. WE WILL BE BACK!

Now all I can think about is goat cheese. Oh goat cheese. <3 <3 <3

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