Last evening I went out to dinner with friends to try a new restaurant. First, I must come clean and tell you that this dinner group was comprised entirely of personal chefs. Yes, we are food snobs...just can't help it. We spend most days cooking and honing our craft for the enjoyment of our clients, so we really enjoy going out and having someone else do the cooking and serving.
Sugar Magnolia has a great online menu and I spotted a favorite wine on the wine list, so I was totally prepared with anticipation for a great evening at this new restaurant that touts itself as one of the "Top 10 new restaurants in Charlotte."
The waitress can set the stage from the get-go, and after sitting at the table for 15 minutes, I had to get her attention to come over and take our wine orders. Strike 1. I ordered a glass of the Pighin Friulli Pinot Grigio...., " May I please have a glass of the Pighin ("pigeon")?" She corrected me, "A glass of the "Pig-in." How irritating and unneccessary as she then informed me that they had just run out of the "Pig-in." My ruffled feathers were smoothed, however, when she brought out baskets full of the best cornbread and hushpuppies that I have had in years. I nearly melted with pleasure as I tasted the maple-butter on the cornbread! All was forgiven!!!!
The special for the evening sounded just wonderful, an 8-ounce mackerel steak sauteed with scallops and shrimp in a sauce of fresh cherry tomatoes and vegetables. Yum! The plating was beautiful and I was sorry that I hadn't remembered to bring my camera. (I always take pictures of food.)
My friend sitting next to me ordered the same special and we were ooo-ing and ahhhhh-ing and then we both tasted the sauce. "Hmmm....this needs something," she said. "Something flavorful," I agreed. "Capers and some hot pepper flakes." "Pass me the salt," she said.
First bite of the mackerel....1/4 oz. of fish and 1/4 ounce of big flat fish bones. The waitress happened by and asked how everything was, and I told her that there seemed to be a lot of bones in the mackerel on my plate. "I'm sorry," she looked down the length of her nose,"You must understand that this is a fish steak and not a fillet, so there will be bones and the chef leaves them in there to improve presentation. Try eating around the edges and not the center." Hmmmm. Who begins eating a steak of any kind in the middle?
Three more tries from different areas of the steak and the pile of bones on the edge of my plate threatened to spill onto the tablecloth. I took a tiny fourth mouthful of bones with a morsel of mackerel clinging to them and my stomach lurched and I just pushed my plate away.
I won't bore you with the details of what followed, but the waitress tried to force me to order something else, the manager blamed the waitress for not making it clear there would be bones in the fish, and finally the waitress came back with the check, apologized and told me there had been other complaints. Fine time to start to worry about a tip, honey.
Now, I must tell you that if there is one bad meal served in a hundred, it will surely come to me. It's a curse I've dealt with all my life. A flat fly resting under the slice of pizza when I lift it from my plate, raw ribs hidden under bbq sauce (see last post!), tuna cooked to dry wall consistency...oh...so many disasters. I'm used to it by now, but the consensus of opinion at the table last night was that everything was just so-so. Definitely not a good enough experience for me to either revisit or recommend. Not when there are so many other restaurants for us to try.
Here are some restaurants that I will return to again and again. There are many, but I'm just going to mention a few here. And in the meantime, we'll keep exploring!
Miro's Spanish Grille
Global Restaurant
Ilios-Noche
Firebird's Rocky Mountain Grill
Friday, May 2, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Quick Way to Get Satisfaction
I did some thing this past weekend that I've never done before, and I might just do it again now that I know how truly satisfying it was!
Family went in search of great ribs on St. Simons Island, GA...the St. Louis style...smoked, rubbed, wet, falling-apart...that kind. Gosh, that sounds like something that I should censor.
I'm not going to say the name of the BBQ joint, but there are two locations...one in the village and a take-out location on a main highway. So we go to the village location so we can sit down in the courtyard and Cute Little Very Friendly Southern Waitress brought us our great potato salad and slaw first. Our precious little Mary (age 2 1/2) was having a great time but getting as impatient as the rest of us for her ribs! Of course she had a PB&J samwich coming just IN CASE.
PB&J arrived first and precious Mary was enthralled! Best PB&J samwich she'd ever had and she just dug right in. We didn't hear another word from her. (And she's been known to talk nonstop for 6 hours straight!)
Next came our ribs. "Uh, Mom, " our chef-son brought my attention to the star of the show. "I know that smoked ribs are often pink inside but check these out."
I grabbed two ribs to pull them apart. I wrenched and tugged....finally grabbed my ultra-serrated black plastic super heavy-weight (I'm joking) knife and after 3 good minutes of sawing, was finally able to separate those suckers!
Hmmmm....pink....with bright splotches of red seeping out. Did I hear an "oink" in the distance?
Ok, so we call that Cute Little Wwaitress (CLW) over and show her the FORENSIC EVIDENCE she had just served us for dinner. She grabs a phone and makes a call (to the owner). She stands right there at our table and explains the situation. We cannot hear the exact words, but we CAN hear the gist of his loud expletives that are surely causing her irreparable cochlear damage that will manifest itself one day when she's trying to hear her grandchildren talk to her on the phone.
CLW punches the "OFF" button on the phone and turns to us. "Ok, I'm really sorry, but he tells me to tell you that the pink is normal in smoked pork."
"Ok," I answer, " but what about the blood? I'll be happy to talk with him if you call him back."
"That's ok," my husband says, "Just give us the check and we'll pay for our wine and the PB&J sandwich."
"Oh no," CLW says. "I have to charge you for the ribs, too. You can go to blah blah blah address and try to find the manager and see if he will give you credit for the ribs."
I started to hear ringing in my ears.
"Do you mean that you are going to charge us for ribs that are rare and inedible?" I ask, somewhat....very MUCH incredulously.
"Yes," CLW says.
Hubby says calmly, "I'm not going to pay for these ribs."
Impass. You think?
I look around at the 4 other tables in the courtyard filled with tee-shirt-clad tourists perusing their menus. I can see drops of saliva at the corners of their lips. They are hungry and ready to order from our CLW.
"Excuse me," I say to my hungry audience. "May I have your attention please? I just want you to know that the ribs are being served raw, tough, and completely inedible this afternoon, so don't order them."
OMG
CLW slapped the check down on the table next to hubby's plate, apologized profusely, and said she was only charging us for the wine and the PB&J sandwich.
Our precious Mary never skipped a beat; we wrapped up the remainder of her samwich and went to Shane's Rib Shack and had really GREAT ribs, the St. Louis style...smoked, rubbed, wet, falling-apart...that kind. Mmmmmmmm...satisfaction!
Family went in search of great ribs on St. Simons Island, GA...the St. Louis style...smoked, rubbed, wet, falling-apart...that kind. Gosh, that sounds like something that I should censor.
I'm not going to say the name of the BBQ joint, but there are two locations...one in the village and a take-out location on a main highway. So we go to the village location so we can sit down in the courtyard and Cute Little Very Friendly Southern Waitress brought us our great potato salad and slaw first. Our precious little Mary (age 2 1/2) was having a great time but getting as impatient as the rest of us for her ribs! Of course she had a PB&J samwich coming just IN CASE.
PB&J arrived first and precious Mary was enthralled! Best PB&J samwich she'd ever had and she just dug right in. We didn't hear another word from her. (And she's been known to talk nonstop for 6 hours straight!)
Next came our ribs. "Uh, Mom, " our chef-son brought my attention to the star of the show. "I know that smoked ribs are often pink inside but check these out."
I grabbed two ribs to pull them apart. I wrenched and tugged....finally grabbed my ultra-serrated black plastic super heavy-weight (I'm joking) knife and after 3 good minutes of sawing, was finally able to separate those suckers!
Hmmmm....pink....with bright splotches of red seeping out. Did I hear an "oink" in the distance?
Ok, so we call that Cute Little Wwaitress (CLW) over and show her the FORENSIC EVIDENCE she had just served us for dinner. She grabs a phone and makes a call (to the owner). She stands right there at our table and explains the situation. We cannot hear the exact words, but we CAN hear the gist of his loud expletives that are surely causing her irreparable cochlear damage that will manifest itself one day when she's trying to hear her grandchildren talk to her on the phone.
CLW punches the "OFF" button on the phone and turns to us. "Ok, I'm really sorry, but he tells me to tell you that the pink is normal in smoked pork."
"Ok," I answer, " but what about the blood? I'll be happy to talk with him if you call him back."
"That's ok," my husband says, "Just give us the check and we'll pay for our wine and the PB&J sandwich."
"Oh no," CLW says. "I have to charge you for the ribs, too. You can go to blah blah blah address and try to find the manager and see if he will give you credit for the ribs."
I started to hear ringing in my ears.
"Do you mean that you are going to charge us for ribs that are rare and inedible?" I ask, somewhat....very MUCH incredulously.
"Yes," CLW says.
Hubby says calmly, "I'm not going to pay for these ribs."
Impass. You think?
I look around at the 4 other tables in the courtyard filled with tee-shirt-clad tourists perusing their menus. I can see drops of saliva at the corners of their lips. They are hungry and ready to order from our CLW.
"Excuse me," I say to my hungry audience. "May I have your attention please? I just want you to know that the ribs are being served raw, tough, and completely inedible this afternoon, so don't order them."
OMG
CLW slapped the check down on the table next to hubby's plate, apologized profusely, and said she was only charging us for the wine and the PB&J sandwich.
Our precious Mary never skipped a beat; we wrapped up the remainder of her samwich and went to Shane's Rib Shack and had really GREAT ribs, the St. Louis style...smoked, rubbed, wet, falling-apart...that kind. Mmmmmmmm...satisfaction!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Macadamias & White Chocolate
This has to be a marriage made in heaven! I'm pretty good at staying away from these buttery, crunchy, creamy, crumbly cookies because I know they will beg me to eat the whole batch, but last evening I baked some to have over the holiday weekend and I am lost!.
Now, you KNOW that you simply MUST taste what you bake (just so you know it's ok to offer to neighbors and friends) so I gave myself permission to have just ONE. Oh my goodness....I'm not sure there is any cookie as good as a macadamia nut & white chocolate chunk cookie fresh and warm from the oven!
Of course, it was necessary for me to try just ONE this morning to make sure that it is ok to serve them at room temperature. I might have to try just ONE more in a couple of hours just to make sure they haven't gotten stale. (OK, I confess that I dunked both of those cookies in the photo into that rich coffee and maybe THAT is the only way to improve upon these cookies straight from the oven!)
Macadamia White Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 c. butter, salted, at room temperature
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. real vanilla extract
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 (12-oz.) pkg. white chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. (6 oz.) chopped toasted macadamia nuts
Preheat oven to 350˚. Cream butter and sugars till fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Blend in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia pieces. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking pan. Bake 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool on racks and store in air tight container or zippy bags. Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.
1 c. butter, salted, at room temperature
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. real vanilla extract
3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 (12-oz.) pkg. white chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. (6 oz.) chopped toasted macadamia nuts
Preheat oven to 350˚. Cream butter and sugars till fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Blend in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia pieces. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking pan. Bake 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool on racks and store in air tight container or zippy bags. Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Religion, Politics, and Appetite
I don't know about you, but I've attended many different churches during my life and the messages that were delivered by the pastors were always positive: help your neighbor, live unselfishly, love and respect others, remember the lessons in the gospel, etc., etc., etc. I am sure that if I wanted to receive a message of hate I could have found a church that preached that if I were to search long enough. I don't think most churches embrace that kind of rhetoric.
It makes many people nervous that Barack Obama's father was a Muslim because we have radical Muslims preaching and teaching hate toward our wonderful country and the fear is that Barack may harbor some of these feelings. That is speculation.
It makes me more nervous that Barack Obama has stayed in a church for 20 years that preaches and teaches hate toward our country and remains loyal to its leader. That is fact. His silver tongue attempts to convince us that he has excellent judgment in all things, but if he is raising his own children with this type of religious training, what can we expect that he will promote to America's children if he were to become president?
It is enough to make me lose my appetite.
It makes many people nervous that Barack Obama's father was a Muslim because we have radical Muslims preaching and teaching hate toward our wonderful country and the fear is that Barack may harbor some of these feelings. That is speculation.
It makes me more nervous that Barack Obama has stayed in a church for 20 years that preaches and teaches hate toward our country and remains loyal to its leader. That is fact. His silver tongue attempts to convince us that he has excellent judgment in all things, but if he is raising his own children with this type of religious training, what can we expect that he will promote to America's children if he were to become president?
It is enough to make me lose my appetite.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Yamaguchi Girl
Billy Yamaguchi. In the world of ego-driven-banty rooster male stylists, Billy Yamaguchi is a breath of fresh air. In my view he has no peer, as he stands (humble and kind) head and shoulders above the rest. Of course, he would say that the nail that sticks out above the rest gets hammered, and so he is humble, warm, genuine, and (have I mentioned?) incredibly talented.What a wonderfully delightful experience it was to meet Mr. Yamaguchi (everyone calls him Billy) and spend two hours with him, learning about his feng shui approach to styling hair, and then having him work his magic on mine.
Billy Yamaguchi
Sunday, March 9, 2008
This Personal Chef in Palm Springs
There is nothing I enjoy more about travel than the opportunity to explore the cuisine of the area. You can only imagine the multitude of truly exceptional professional restaurant chefs in a town like Palm Springs! My only regret is that I'm only going to be here for 6 days, and the next two days will be spent eating banquet food. Even that can be inspiring to a personal chef who also does small catered events, because the plating is often creative and beautiful. More on that AFTER the banquet experience!
Last evening we enjoyed the patio at a little establishment called Copley's Palm Springs. The owners set tall heaters among the tables, and so we didn't even notice the chill in the desert air. A broad fountain gurgled in the center of the patio and that was the perfect music to accompany our experience there!
The wonderful creation in this photo is their Warm Beet & Warm Goat Cheese Salad. Every dish we ordered was equally as beautiful and delicious, and we highly recommend this tiny, intimate restaurant to anyone lucky enough to find themselves in Palm Springs.
Know your wine, though, as the well-mannered and attentive server did attempt to pair what he called a "sweet pinot noir" with my Ahi Fish Taco with soy and ginger appetizer. Late wine service with the entree (it was half-finished) was forgiven as it was delivered personally by one of the owners with warmth and charm, and we were having such a wonderful time with our guest and delighting in the food that the evening flowed without flaw. It was the best kind of evening, filled with friends and the joy of experiencing delicious and beautiful creations on our dinner plates.
Friday, February 29, 2008
I'm a Radio Personality Now! Ha!
Hey everybody! I got up way before the sun this morning to make my famous chicken enchiladas, and as soon as they were golden and bubbling I packed them in the cooler and my husband and I fought the Charlotte traffic on I-485 and I-77 for more than an hour. We made it just in time for my big radio debut on WBT Talk Radio 1110!Charles welcomed me and right away asked me to dish out samples of my enchiladas and salsa for the crew. They all dug in and just kept right on going with their show till it was time for me to do my 20 seconds.
That's me in the blue jacket with the cast from the morning show. They were so friendly and professional that I felt right at ease! Charles Jenkin is on the left, and I'll be back on his Saturday afternoon "This Show is Cookin'" program on Saturday, March 29th. Stacey Simms is next to Charles, and Al Gardner is second from the right. Last but not least is Jim Szoke, first on the right. They are as friendly in person as they sound on the radio and I am so grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to chat about Wines for Humanity and The Hungry Fox Personal Chef Service. I can't wait to go back!
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