Saturday Lunch

Hopscotch Lunch at the Raleigh Times. Very disappointing.

Cantina 18

Okay folks, I am rejoining theworld of the social.  Thanks to a new job at Tasu in Cary, I have a discretionary income. In other words, hello cocktails :) Tonight I am at Cantina 18 in Cameron Village and am enjoying a very delightful drink called the Cantina el Guapo.   The Grand Marnier is hardly discernable  over the fresh jalapeno, but I find that to be irrelevant. The salted rim is a bit excessive and at $9 a drink, I have had better. That being said, I am enjoying the drink and have in fact ordered another.

I'm game. Arugula?

It's not basil season but my friends just passed on some extra arugula from their garden. So tonight we have a modified caprese salad with an arugula substitution. It's peppery. It's twangy. It's Spring!

Hello Delicious

First Blackberry pie of spring.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

Not to say that gourmet grilled cheese is something new, but it does seem to have gathered steam recently. An even more recent restauranteur obsession is with pimento cheese. Today I bring you both.

I found a grilled cheese recipe on Pinterest and ended up only sort of using it. Meet the jalapeno pimento cheese with avocado on sourdough sandwich. The trick is to slow cook on not quite medium heat in a flat bottomed saute pan with good (in my case, Irish) butter so the cheese melts perfectly and the bread gets a gorgeous golden crust.

I might suggest eating it with a salad to justify the insane amount of fat involved in this dish. Since I made mine around 10:45 this morning, it was served with a side of bacon.

The one in the picture was made with Arnold wide-pan bread. If you do this, I recommend having someone on hand to share it with. It truly is rich as hell. Even I must admit to being conquered, and ended up saving half of it for later.

When it's all said and done, I think my favorite thing about this is that it was made with what I had on hand. Furthermore, it accomplished my favorite cooking goal ... getting rid of food before it goes bad ... but more on that later :)

Let's Go Somewhere Close

On one hand you wanna grab a beer on your day off. On the other hand the idea of dragging your happy ass any farther than a few stoplights away makes the open beer that's been sitting on your coffee table since last night look just slightly more appealing.

What to do, what to do? If you're in the Cameron Village area, you could always go to the Village Draft House. It's got a menu with a broad range and a tap list with even broader range. But before we talk range of beers, we have to address the most pressing beer issue.

The Draft House meets my first requirement for any go-to bar ... $2 PBR.
I seem to only wander in on days when I’ve been home all day or if I’ve already gotten home from work, but can’t seem to settle in for the night. This means I’m most apt to be bored, restless, exhausted, or hung over, which explains why my overall impression of the place as it might really be is hazy.

This is what I know for certain – people who work there actually dress up for Halloween [last year one girl was Marge Simpson … painted yellow skin and everything], the beer is always cold, the fried pickles converted my friend Kay, and the side salads served with sandwiches are as big as some restaurant's entrée salads.

There are plenty of TVs for anyone who wants to watch a game or get a recap. Fans converge on game days, especially for NC State and Canes games.

Even when if service starts slow, it never stays that way. I may have waited for a first beer a time or two, but I’m never pissed when I leave, which means there is always service redemption.

I feel ridiculous for saying this is never the first place I think of when I want to go somewhere, but I think I just converted myself.

Try the California with chicken instead of as a burger, the fried pickles, the wings, the Milwaukee [medium], and the Cobb salad next time your there. To round out the experience, get a seasonal brew … especially if it’s something local.

Introductions and Handshakes

after a lifetime of eating and half of one selling serving or cooking food, i thought it might be okay to chronicle my gastronomic journey.

this has been done. it is being done. it will be done again. mine is but one tongue and tooth combination.

it was in the midst of a yelp overload that i decided something else needed to be documented regarding foodstuffs in the triangle. too many tongues with too few taste buds. too few f&b professionals in a swarm of too many weekend wet bars.

a friend put it to me ... "if you opened a breakfast joint, what would you name it?" the title was born in fourteen seconds. i think the sunshine grille was the first response ... the second was to throw up in my mouth a little bit. the third was to space out and the fourth was to snap to. my final thought within those seconds was to query ... is it too soon for a cocktail?

does the name have much to do with the topic? i really don't know what the final verdict will be. i haven't written anything yet. i do know this ... when ladies lunch, brunch, or dine ... the first thought is always "should we have a drink?"

it is a corollary to the notion that eating what someone else makes for you is a celebration of some kind ... and celebrations are consummated in alcohol. always.

in the time since this compendium was conceived and the now in which it is being begun i ave dined at several locations. i may return to some for a newer exposé ... others may have already sealed deals.

keep up. there will be some eating.