Diner Time!

Hey there, everybody!  I apologize profusely for not posting anything for the past two months.  I have been very, very busy with my school work (senior year finally caught up with me... oh boy), and I have been unable to do anything that is not related to statistics, US Government, world literature (including Spanish literature), and life sciences since the beginning of November.  However, I am glad to say that I have a couple of posts ready for the lineup that have come from my adventures over the past couple of months.

First, let's take a stop in Mebane, North Carolina so that we can go to the Blue Ribbon Diner.  In November, I trekked back to Winston Salem for a band clinic, and on the way, my father and I stopped at this wonderfully homey diner.

When you get off of the Mebane exit on highway 40 west, you drive off on a road and come to this sign, which points you in the right direction, in case you can't see this:

After taking this, I look back and think that this picture looks a little surreal. 

 Like something you would see in heaven.  Or something like that.

Once you enter this fine establishment, you are met with wonderfully southern folk who promptly seat you and offer you drinks.  Looking around, you see a place that has truly found its niche in the town it resides, as you see pictures of the local high school sports teams and yearbook clippings from high school senior classes of the  past.  As I looked at the menu, I saw that their sweet tea (a southern staple) was "award winning," so I decided to give it a shot.

Please excuse the messy paper in the background.

I took a sip, and it was not noteworthy.  It was sweet, but it had a bit of a bitter aftertaste, so I put some lemon in it, and it made it better.  Overall however, the tea did not live up to the high standards that southern society has set for it.  Although the lemon covered up the bitterness, it was not sweet enough to make a lasting impression.  It actually reminded me of the taste of powdered Lipton tea with sugar in it.  So I ended up just drinking water.

However, what they lacked in tea, they made up for in actual food.  Blue Ribbon is famous for their "AppleJack" chicken marinade, so I decided to indulge in a grilled AppleJack chicken sandwich with french fries.

Mmmmmmm... How yummy!

This was an awesome sandwich.  The chicken was mildly sweet, but mixed with the cheddar, bacon, lettuce, and tomato that were on the sandwich, the mixture of flavors just exploded in my mouth.  I wasn't sure that the cheddar really belonged, but its sharpness really complemented the sweetness of the bacon and the chicken, and really added something to sandwich.

On the side, they served fries with ranch sauce, and they were actually delightful.  It was obvious from the color of the fries themselves that they were originally frozen, but their shape was able to make up for the lack of freshness.  They were shaped like steak fries, but they had ridges in them, which added an interesting texture bonus that helped the fry gather more ranch dressing.  The ranch and the fries went together well, since the fries themselves did not have salt on them.  It's a combination that I don't think I would have come up with, but it works, so I think I will try it in the future.

On a side note:  if, on an off chance, you find yourself at this little establishment in rural North Carolina, don't order the green beans.  They are from a can and just lack any semblance of flavor.  Just take my word for it.

Blue Ribbon Diner has such a homey charm, and the food is good, making it a favorite every time I happen to be driving US 40 Westbound.  If you happen to be in the area, give it a shot.  You will enjoy it for all that it is, not just the food.

El Plátano: An Fresh Take on Latin Staple

When I was a kid, there were two staples to meals in our Cuban household :  rice and plantains.  There were very few exceptions to this rule.  Bread showed up sometimes, if there was any worth eating, and potatoes and pasta were occasionally mixed into our diet to shake things up a little.  However, no matter what the entree was, it was very probable that rice and plantains were to be served with it.  What I will focus on here, though, is the plantain.

Plantains are NOT bananas.  They are similar, but are quite different.  The thing is, you can fry a plantain.  You cannot fry a banana without it turning into a gloopy mess of disgusting proportions.  Yuck.  Fried plantains are the way to go.  They are very popular in many areas of Latin America, and can be fried to make tostones, which are twice fried and smushed plantain chunks; mariquitas, which are plantain chips; and maduros, which are fried chunks of ripened plantains.  The first two varieties result in something similar to fried potatoes in that they are not sweet, while the maduros are sweet (I just got really hungry as I typed this.  Go figure).

Anyways, now with this wonderful knowledge from Three Guys from Miami and Wikipedia, we can get onto what I want to talk about...

What is this?  This, my friends, was a pretty good idea.

This is what the North Raleigh restaurant Tacos and Tequila (I didn't choose the name) calls "El Plátano."  Basically, it is a whole fried ripe plantain sliced down the middle stuffed with pieces of steak, cheese, and a red paste topped with thinly cut lettuce over a bed of pinto beans.  Whew.  Try saying that five times fast.

Tacos and Tequila is a Mexican themed restaurant that is owned by a Colombian immigrant who wanted to bring the tastes of Latin America to North Raleigh, serving Mexican dishes with twists from other Latin American countries.

Overall, the ambience of the place is pretty cool.  There are pictures of famous Latinos (Frida Kalo, Sofía Vergara, Antonio Banderas, etc.) plastered all over the walls, and the salsa music, while out of place at a Mexican themed restaurant, gives the restaurant a nice celebratory vibe.  They make their own salsa, so depending on the day, it can be very spicy or not at all.  And the chips are pretty standard Mexican restaurant corn tortilla chips.

When I saw this dish on the menu, I was curious.  My love for plantains is abundant, but I was unsure as to how something like this would taste.  So I ordered it.  When it got to the table, I felt that it was almost too pretty to eat.  However, I don't have much self control when it comes to eating, so I promptly dug in.

It was pretty good.  Not fantastic, but good.  The plantain was nice and sweet, and with the steak, beans, and everything on top, it gave it an interesting, Tex-Mex flavor.  By themselves, the beans kind of lacked a ton of flavor, and the steak was a little on the chewy side (with told me that the quality of the meat wasn't the best), but the combination of the flavors is what made this dish really stand out to me.

Tacos and Tequila's "El Plátano" brought a vibrant set of flavors together that complemented the sweetness of the plantain quite nicely, and it wasn't that expensive either.  If you are ever in the area, give your taste buds a wake up call and try this out.

If you like Five Guys, You will Love These Burgers

Ah, the hamburger.  The fast food staple that has come to define American cuisine to people around the world.  So greasy, so fatty, yet so delicious that I really can't resist doing another post about it.

This post, however, is going to be a little different from my post about Backyard Bistro.  Today I am going to talk about this wonderful restaurant called BurgerFi.  It is a chain based out of Fort Lauderdale that uses all organic ingredients to make their burgers, fries, onion rings, hot dogs, and frozen custard.  I would describe it as a Five Guys for those who enjoy shopping at Whole Foods and the Fresh Market.  The difference isn't that noticeable, but it's the little things that make BurgerFi a better option for burger lovers like myself.

Excuse the picture's awkward orientation.  Just look at the burger.

Let's start with the burger itself.   It was not an enormous burger; it was about the size of my fist, and I have a pretty small fist, so that's saying something.  Once you bite into it, however, you forget that it's not that big.  The meat was cooked perfectly, and all of the condiments complemented each other quite nicely.  I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with white Cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, pickles, mayo, and ketchup, and it was rather delightful.  The cheddar went well with the burger, moreso than the American cheese, which had the consistency of a Kraft Single (just don't order that.  If you go with anything else, you are good).  The bacon was nice and crunchy, the lettuce and tomato were fresh, and the pickles had a homemade texture that really added something special to the burger.

Now I shall talk about the bun.  The way that they cut it, it functions more as a pocket holding everything together than a bookend for the insides, which makes it easier to eat and pretty darn adorable.  On top of that, they brand the top, which makes it a little steamy, in turn making it soft and fluffy.  It serves its purpose well.

One thing that I will say about this burger is that the grilled onions are a little sweet.  You can see in the picture that they are almost brown, which tells me that they are very caramelized, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your taste buds.  I personally could have done without them, as typically when I grill onions, I make sure to sear them just a little bit so that you get rid of the bitter raw onion taste while still maintaining the actual onion flavor.  Other than that and it's size, it's not a bad deal.  It's also relatively inexpensive, as it cost me about $6.

I have to comment on the fries and the onion rings, because they are far too delicious to ignore.  The fries are remarkable, just crispy enough on the outside and soft enough on the inside to rank them high on the list of the best fries I've eaten.  The inside has a baked potato-like consistency, which may sound a little gross, but is actually really delicious and interesting.  The thick grains of salt also added to the flavor of the fries, just adding the needed zest here and there that the fries themselves lacked.

As for the onion rings, as you can see below, they were thick, and the batter really blew me away.  A slight hint of beer flavor really made this batter, and the firmness also made them easier to eat than other onion rings that I have had in the past.  There isn't much to say about them other than that.

Look at those.  My mouth is watering a little just thinking about them.

Another really interesting thing about this restaurant is that they serve frozen custard and concretes similar to those of the popular local chain called Goodberry's.  I'm not a huge Goodberry's fan, due to the fact that you have to load it with condiments in order to get rid of the custard's odd aftertaste, which can be expensive and undesirable.  In the case of BurgerFi custard, there is no aftertaste, which means that I could get a small serving without having to pay for loads of other stuff to put in it.  Yay!  I ordered a small Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip frozen custard, which was really, really delicious.  It tasted like a creamy pumpkin pie with bits of crust and chocolate chips mixed in.  Needless to say, it was pretty incredible.

BurgerFi gives Five Guys a run for its money, using fresh, organic ingredients that really add to the flavor of everything on the menu.  It's not that expensive, and in my opinion, is better than Five Guys for this reason.  Give this place a try.  You won't regret it.

Wait. Let me get this straight. The Chinese Restaurant's Specialty is Korean Food?

Hey there everyone!  I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while--with classwork and college applications, I barely get time out of my day to write any more.  However, that doesn't mean that I don't have anything coming up in the near future!  I've had some interesting experiences within the past couple of months, some disappointing and some not, and I will be sharing them with you promptly.  So stay tuned!

Ok.  So we shall start out with a bit of an anomaly.  It was a Saturday night, it was raining, and we were hungry, so of course, the logical thing to do is to drive forty minutes out into Durham to have some soup. (I know, "what is a logic?" But I'm getting to it, don't worry)

Like I said, it was raining, and we get to this little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant called China Express at the intersection of highways 55 and 54.  There was an Indian restaurant next door that appeared to be closed, and we ran inside to avoid getting wet.

The place looks, basically, like any other Chinese restaurant.  However, unlike other Chinese restaurants, it has a dark secret.  It specializes in...

Korean Noodle Bowls.

I know what you're thinking.  Really?  A "Chinese" place that specializes in Korean Noodle Bowls?  What is going on here?

Well, we ordered some Chinese appetizers, and after noting that they were mediocre at best, I ordered the Jan Pong, a spicy seafood, meat, and vegetable soup that was well hidden on the menu on the back (just kidding.  It was the first item on the back of the menu.  I plead guilty).  But it was seriously delicious.

You can't really tell from this picture, but this was a LOT of food.  

Don't get me wrong, though, because there was no way I could complain.

Look at that.  Just look.  The vegetables are colorful, the shrimp are perfectly plump, and you can't tell, but the noodles are just the perfect combination of firm and tender, and as long as my arm, at least.  Even though my arms are small, I think that's pretty long for a noodle.  The broth was spicy, yet it was also flavorful, capturing the flavors of the squid, scallops, and shrimp as well as that of the vegetables, creating a wonderful mixture of flavors that just explode in your mouth.

I really don't think they should call this place China Express.  The Chinese food is ok, but Durham is a town that would appreciate a good noodle restaurant.  Despite the fact that North Carolina is not as diverse as some other states, even in the "metropolitan" Triangle, I think that we could all appreciate the ownership of this place opening up a Korean restaurant instead of a Chinese restaurant with a well kept secret.

Despite the false getup, this place is awesome.  I usually refrain from using such a terrible word, but the experience was nothing short of that.  And, as I was looking up in awe over this wonderful Jan Pang, I noticed that the restaurant's ceiling has really cool panelling.  Check it out!

DRAGONS.  DRAGONS EVERYWHERE.

Ok.  I'm not going to pretend that I am not amused by dragons.  As a teenager, I cannot resist a good depiction of a dragon.  It's also so quintessentially Chinese looking, that I feel that people could go to this place and order Chinese food without thinking twice about it.  Which makes me sad.

Moral of the Story:  When you are at an ethnic restaurant, make sure to explore the menu.  You may find something that you wouldn't expect that is incredibly more delicious than everything else, but the trick is to be a little adventurous.

I'd Never Expect to Eat a Great Burger in Raleigh!

Well, I'm back in Raleigh for this post!  And I'm not going to lie, this post really shows you why I named this blog "Pocajama."  I was helping out with a summer camp at my high school a couple of weeks ago and after the camp was over, I went to lunch with a couple of people I volunteered with.  We went to this place called Backyard Bistro, which is right next to the PNC Arena/Carter Finley Stadium in Raleigh, about 10 minutes outside of Downtown.  When you look at this place, you don't imagine that the food you're going to get is anything better than what you'd get at Chili's or Applebees, considering the decor and the way it's designed.  Even the name, Backyard Bistro, is kind of odd in that despite the fact that they throw Bistro in there, the word Backyard makes it seem as if the quality is not going to be top notch.  Little did I know that this place was going to give me a good burger, not to mention one that would knock my socks off.

Now, I know quite a few burger joints in this town.  All of them are good, but they each have their shortcomings.  At some, the fries are good, but the bun is lacking; others have fantastic buns, but the meat isn't great or the fries just aren't anything worth a second pass of the tongue, etc.  But this place... if you like burgers as much as I do, you will enjoy this.

I ordered a Build Your Own Burger with Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Ketchup, Mayo, Pickle Spears, American Cheese, and Bacon, which came with fries.  I wasn't expecting much, based on how I previously described the atmosphere, but boy was I in for a surprise.

Isn't it beautiful?

I would just like to take a moment and take a look at this picture.  Don't you wish you could just reach out and grab that burger?  Well, let me tell you, it was about as delicious as it was pretty.  Just about everything about it was perfect.  The bun was freshly made at a nearby bakery, and was toasted and buttery.  Even the crust was buttery and enticing.  The patty was thick and juicy, with just the right amount of seasoning, and the meat was of very good quality.  The cheese was melted perfectly and tasted just as American should, smooth and mild, and the bacon was as crisp and smokey as bacon should be.  The lettuce, tomato, and onion were all crisp and fresh, and these alongside the pickles and the bacon added a nice crispness to the sandwich.  Ketchup and mayo are ketchup and mayo, but I seriously cannot have a burger without them.  Boy,  was this puppy good.

Even the fries were of excellent quality.  They were home cut and fried, and you could tell by the taste and texture.  They were a tad flimsy, but anyone who has ever made homemade fries will tell you that it is nearly impossible to get a thick potato slice crispy.  It can be done with extreme care, but considering the ambiance of the restaurant, I won't hold it against them.  Besides the slight floppiness, which reminded me of the fries my mother used to make, they had the perfect flavor.  The potato itself was slightly sweet, but with the salt, the balance was kept and the mixture was the absolute prime taste that any fry eater would want.

As I said earlier,  I was not expecting to have an amazing burger when I walked into this place.  I expected to have another mediocre meal in a mediocre restaurant across the street from a major sports arena, much like anyone else would have expected.  It did not appear to be anything special, but the food itself said otherwise.  When I took one bite of this burger, I knew that it was special, and that you can't get another burger like that anywhere in Raleigh.  So, this one is for the burger lovers:  if you want a fantastic burger, go to Backyard Bistro.  You won't be disappointed.

More Delicious Vegan Food! This Time, a Little More Special

As I stated in my last post, my cousin Emma is a vegan chef.  One thing I did not mention is that on Thursday nights at a bar in Brooklyn, Halyard's,  she prepares and serves vegan bar food to the patrons of this fine establishment as they enjoy participating in trivia contests put on by her roommate David.  Of course, since we were in New York, we had to try her amazing food, since we had only ever eaten her food once, and we wanted to see a day in the life of Emma-nemma.

So we went.  And we ate.  And, much to our surprise, she actually named everything on the menu after me and my siblings (including our precious puppy Pepe, who I of course consider as another little brother of mine).  Take a look for yourself:

Yep, that's right.  I'm a burger. No big deal or anything.

So yeah.  We ordered an Allyson (a black bean and broccoli burger with sweet mustard sauce on a sesame seed bun), a Hannah (a bean and cilantro taco with popcorn and other nuts on top on a corn tortilla), and a Pepe (a chocolate cookie with pretzels in it), and they were all delicious.

Don't I look delicious?

I will proceed from now on to address the food by its name, starting with myself.  I must say, I never thought I'd be eating myself, but I was delightful.  I had no problem substituting beef with black beans, because, hey, what Cuban doesn't love black beans?  But outside of that, the sweet mustard sauce really brought the bean and broccoli mixture together quite nicely.  It had a bit of an aftertaste, but nothing unpleasant.

This is what I call good.

Now it's on to the Hannah.  I typically am not a fan of soft corn tortillas, but this has to be my exception.   I usually find the smell of the soft corn tortilla to be kind of overpowering, but in this case, it went nicely with the flavors of everything else.  The innards of the taco, which included beans, tomatoes, spinach, walnut basil pesto, and pop corn, really complemented each other well, bringing out this rich, bean-ey flavor that was really delicious.  I never would have thought that pesto went in a taco, nor popcorn, but the crunchiness of the popcorn, which was slightly seasoned with garlic, really went well with the rest of the taco, and the pesto wasn't overpowering, but let everything else come out and say hello.  This is one of the best tacos I've had, and my sister, Hannah, who is a taco lover, thinks so too.

Just about one of the best cookies ever.  This is now up there with chocolate chip for me.

To top off the meal, we were able to indulge in a rare treat... the Pepe!  Despite the fact that it brought about the horrible imagery of eating my beloved pet, these cookies are the bomb, because they combine my two favorite snacks in the world:  pretzels and chocolate.  As a child, whenever we would have to have a snack or go anyplace, I would always bring a bag of pretzels with me, without fail.  As for chocolate, it is the only candy I will eat besides gummy bears.  The fact that Emma brought these two things together was just incredible.  The pretzel was crunchy, but not too crunchy, and the salt really complemented the sweetness of the chocolate. The cookie itself was soft and chewy, and overall quite delicious.  If I could, I could probably eat a whole pan of these things, but I won't because that is bad for you and I would probably feel terrible about myself afterwards.

Well, now that I've had my cousin's food, I can honestly say that she is an excellent chef.  I recommend her food to anyone who happens to be or live in the NYC area, and I'm not just saying that because she's my cousin, although that helps.  Her food is really delightful.

Vegan Fast Food? WHAAAAT?

So a couple of weeks ago, I was in New York with my sister and my dad, on the occasion of a business trip of his.  Since he would be working, my sister and I were going to have to spend some time alone, so we called up my super cool cousin Emma, who lives in Brooklyn, so that we could hang out for an afternoon.  After an afternoon full of thrift shopping and Brooklyn-ey awesomeness, Emma, who happens to be vegan, took us to dinner.  She had named several places that we could eat, all vegan of course, but the one that stuck us as the most interesting was what she called "this little vegan fast food place."  When she said this, we honestly had no idea what to expect.

First of all, if vegans gave up meat and all animal products, why would they want to imitate the greasy, fatty, grossness of the typical American road trip meal?  Second, what the heck would they make this stuff out of?  Of course, being the adventurous people that we are, we decided that this place, Foodswings, was the best place in Brooklyn to eat.  And we couldn't have been more right.

Just a side note, I thought that the name of this place was kind of hilarious.  Foodswings.  Does that not imply that it will make you want to waver back to the omnivorous lifestyle of most people, or that people eating there have cravings for meat and that it ain't easy being vegan or whatever?  No matter what they're trying to imply, the name Foodswings is kind of funny.  Feel free to make your own judgement.

I knew I could trust Emma, being a vegan chef herself (check out her page at http://emmaeatsplants.com/! She's kind of incredible), to know what was good and what wasn't.  She said that the (fake) chicken was really good, although you really couldn't go wrong with anything.  So, of course, I took her word for it and ordered a Chicken Caesar Club sandwich.  And it was really good.

Can someone please tell me what this stuff is made out of?

Okay.  So I'll be honest.  I have no idea what this stuff is made of.  And I know that this certainly not a club sandwich (where is the slice, or club, in the middle of the sandwich?).  But it was delicious nonetheless.  The "chicken" was perfectly grilled, and it (to my surprise) actually tasted like chicken.  They must have a wizard or some sort in their kitchen, because it was scary how it magically tasted exactly like chicken.  The bread was good, not extremely different from any french loaf, and the condiments were all fresh.  They put tomatoes, black olives, cucumbers, lettuce, and of course, their Caesar dressing concoction, which all did their part in making the sandwich.  The lettuce and the cucumber worked together to make the sandwich crisp, and the black olives mixed with the tomato well to balance each others flavors so that the caesar dressing could come out and make its appearance.  Might I add that it tasted like Caesar dressing, too.  It was weird.

I have no idea how this stuff was made, or how healthy it is for that matter, but it was good.  And that's all that matters, right?

Picture time!  I have to embarrass my sister and my cousin, who both ate some form of "chicken" as well.

Emma acting as ferocious as possible without actually turning into a carnivore

Hannah acting as glamorous as you can when eating fake chicken drumsticks

Winston Salem's Best Kept (Cuban) Secret

So you can't really tell based on things that I've blogged, but I absolutely love Cuban food.  Well, maybe you can gather that from what I wrote about myself.  Growing up in a household where the first thing you tell people when you meet them is that you are Cuban, you cannot escape the decadent flavors of our patria (homeland, fatherland).  From arroz con pollo to bistec empanizado, there is never a meal without the influences of our heritage.  There has to be some sort of semblance of mojo or rice or beans somewhere, or at the very least naranja agria (sour orange juice) or olive oil.  And garlic or onion.  There has to be something somewhere.  If not, we would be terrible Cubans.

That being said, when I was off at Governor's School in Winston Salem this summer, I was severely deprived of the fantastic food that my parents and grandparents have been making me since I can remember.  The food there definitely had room for improvement, although I would rejoice every time they made something with rice in it (hey, what can I say?  Rice is one of the 7 major food groups).  It was an absolute blast, but the food was, well, not so great.

Then, on weekends, my dad would come and take me out to eat lunch.  Oh, how much of a relief that was.  My dad was the one who really got me into the wonder that is great food, so I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed no matter where we went.

Since I had been craving Cuban food so much, we decided on going to this little place called Miami's Cafe.  When we got there, we knew immediately that the food was going to be good, based on the fact that there were actual Cubans eating there.  Yes, actual Cubans!  This doesn't surprise me, because as one of my aunts always says, "Cubans are like dog [insert synonym for fecal matter].  We show up anywhere."  If Cubans show up to a place, then you know that the food is good.

Their menu was basic, serving sandwiches, fries, milkshakes, and a daily special meal, but that didn't mean that we didn't expect the best.  We ordered Cuban Steak Sandwiches, our favorite, and a side order of fries.  Since we weren't exactly in the most metropolitan area, we weren't expecting much, but what we got was incredible.

Our sandwiches were absolutely perfect.  They were made on fresh Cuban bread, with perfectly cut Palomilla steaks, or thinly cut skirt steaks about 1/4 of an inch thick, with sauteed onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and last but most certainly not least, shoestring potatoes.

My dad enjoying his glorious Pan con Bistec.

The bread was perfectly crisp, the fruits of a great flat press, and all of the ingredients were fresh, excluding the shoestring potatoes.  Overall, the sandwich was crisp, as it should be, and rich with the flavors of the tomato and the mojo seasoning of the steak and onions.  Mojo, which is a mixture of garlic, sauteed onions, olive oil, and sour orange juice, is the staple of any Cuban dish, and adds so much flavor to the cuisine.  They put the right amount of pepper to make the steak sing, which contributed to the wonderful experience of this amazing sandwich.  And to top it all off, because we were Cuban and started talking with the other Cubans in the place, including the owner, we all got free cafecito.  Which I will do another general post about in the future, I promise.

This place, even though it didn't look like much from the outside, in a teeny tiny little strip mall in the middle of rural Winston Salem, really made me feel, well, like I was eating in Miami.  If you're ever in Winston and are craving Cuban food, check this place out.  It will do more than enough to satisfy your craving.

N'Awleans' Best: Beignets

Oh boy, it's been a while...  But I can explain!  I've been out of town practically all summer, and I'm finally back at home!  Woohoo!

Anyways, I shall be outlining my culinary adventures here over the next few weeks, starting with my stay in New Orleans.

Ah, New Orleans.  How do I begin to describe your beauty?  Few cities in the US compare to your antiquity, your great architecture, and your unique culture.  Fewer can boast that despite hardship, their resilient spirit has prevailed and their way of life is preserved.

We have friends that live outside of Baton Rouge that we've known for over ten years, and we were very close in our childhood.  I remember visiting them a couple of years before Katrina hit, and noting how wonderful a city it was.  I remember going to the aquarium and looking out from the windows at the Mississippi, how big it looked compared to the sharks and other critters I had just seen.  What I remember most of all were the otters, though.  For whatever reason, I really liked watching them play around in their little tank, swimming so gracefully, and floating on their backs so effortlessly.  It was mesmerizing to me, in a way that I don't really understand any more.  I was so impressed that I had my dad buy me this little rubber otter that was no bigger than my index finger that I kept on my bedside table for years.  When Katrina hit, I thought of two things:  how our friends were, and whether the otters in the aquarium were ok.  Oh the things that children remember...

After that, everyone talked about how New Orleans would never be the same, and how it was so devastating and terrible that it should happen.  It made me sad to think that the otters probably weren't safe, or alive for that matter, so I would ask my parents what New Orleans was like before the hurricane, since the Aquarium was all I really remembered.  They told me about the French Quarter, the Superdome, the crawfish, and most of all, Cafe Du Monde.

The outside of this American culinary Meca

The way they described it sounded glorious: the best beignets and coffee you could ever imagine.  Of course, I had no idea what a beignet was, but whatever it was, in my mind it had to be godly to warrant such praise from my parents.  I grew older and came to learn what a beignet was; it's basically a rectangle of fried dough covered with powdered sugar, and quite delicious, I might add.  Another way to look at it is a Cajun doughnut, kinda like how the Italians have their zeppoles and the hispanics have churros and buñuelos.  And of course, how the American policeman has his beloved doughnut (how could I forget?)

So, naturally, when we went to New Orleans in June, I made sure that we stopped (twice actually...) at the famous coffee counter to have some beignets and some Cafe au Lait (no one I was with minded too terribly much :P).

My mouth waters looking at them now...

These things were freaking glorious.  They lived up to the hype 100%.  They were just fluffy enough, and the mountain of powdered sugar added nice flavor to the mix, although I wish they wouldn't put so much on them... I mean, come on.  No one person should ever consume that much powdered sugar in one sitting.  That's just disgusting.  I shook most of it off, leaving a light veneer of sugar on top, which was absolutely heavenly.  Add Cafe au Lait to the mix, and you'll feel like a Cajun policeman.  Although I have to say that the coffee by itself was a little watery and wasn't much to swoon over.  Cafe con leche wins, in my humble opinion.

So the next time you find yourself in N'Awleans, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you did not go to Cafe du Monde and have some beignets and coffee.  Or any place anywhere that sells beignets .  You won't be disappointed.

Not Your Average Italian Food

Alrighty then.  Sorry about not posting last week... I'm surprised I can find the time to post this week because of Graduation and finals and whatnot.  But nevertheless, I was able to make time to eat delicious food so that I can tell you guys about it.

Ok.  So yesterday, I went to Caffe Luna for the first time with some friends of mine after graduation rehearsal.  I go to downtown Raleigh all the time, and had passed by countless times, but had never actually been inside.  I had been told that it's pretty good, and that the food is "Italian 'with a Tuscan twist," and that it was a little pricey but not excessive, and for the most part, what I had heard was true.  It's pretty nice.  The atmosphere is interesting; the place isn't huge, but I'll stop right there before I get carried away.  Let's get to the food, now shall we?

First, I can't just not talk about the bread that they gave us.  I know that I live in the South and all, but I was surprised to find that they gave us sourdough bread and olive oil to start us off.  That's right.  Sourdough.  Not classic Italian bread, not ciabatta, but sourdough.  It was good bread, and it had a nice fluffiness about it, but I had expected something a little more, err, Italian.

Yummy, but definitely not Italian, bread.

Now I shall talk about my meal.  Whenever I go to Italian restaurants that are do not strictly serve food that has been accepted by the average American as Italian, as in spaghetti with meatballs, fettucini alfredo, chicken marsala, eggplant parmesan, etc., such as this one, I tend to stray from the typical fare as listed above and order something different (I went to a restaurant like this with my dad in Boston and ordered chicken parmesan, while he ordered spinach stuffed chicken with herb roasted potatoes and sauteed vegetables, and wished that I had ordered his dish instead by the end of the night).

So, straying from the chicken parmesan,  I ordered what they called "Filetto di Spalla," or grilled tenderloin shoulder with roast potatoes and a salad, and it came out looking quite lovely.  The steak was cooked perfectly, the inside being the perfect shade of pink, and had a nice texture similar to that of a flank steak, reminding me of an unchopped and grilled vaca frita (here's a recipe and a picture that describes it pretty well).  I am utterly confused as to why they called it tenderloin shoulder, though. It is most certainly not tenderloin, as the meat itself was not to that calibur.  It was just shoulder meat, and nothing more.  I bet that the menu writers just used the word "tenderloin" to capitalize on what people would think was a good cut of meat for a good price.  Those sneaky little boogars.

The salad wasn't much to speak about, but it was good.  It was just lettuce with grape tomatoes with oil and vinegar, but the flavor from the oil and vinegar and the juices from the steak did do wonders for the potatoes.  Once again, the menu did a subpar job of labeling its food, for despite the fact that these claimed to be roasted potatoes, they were without a doubt fried.  How do I know, you ask?  Well, any Cuban that puts chunks of potato in their Picadillo would know.  Whenever we make Picadillo (ground beef hash to the gringos out there, here's a link to the Wikipedia page), we cut the potato into little chunks like the ones in the picture and fry them either in a pan or in a deep fryer until they come out looking like those, and they taste like little french fries.  On top of looking uncannily like Picadillo potatoes, they tasted unequivocally fried to boot.  If anyone from Caffe Luna is reading this, you do not fool me.  I know your secrets.  Even if your food is delicious and left me feeling more satisfied by a meal than I had been in a long time, your menu lies.  Roast potatoes.  Hah!  :P

My costumed, yet still satisfying, meal.

After I happily consumed my delicious and disguised main course, I was in the mood for some coffee.  I was hesitant to order espresso, because I don't trust any non-Cuban to make espresso.  No, not even in an Italian restaurant.  I will gladly make myself my own little cafecito at home, thank you very much.  However, that doesn't mean that I won't enjoy a nice cappuccino every now and then.  And since it was lunch time, I figured it was still early enough for a nice cup of frothy goodness.  So I ordered a cappuccino.  And this is what I was delighted with:

Yes, that is cinnamon on top.  Calm yourself.

After mixing and stirring and taming and adding sugar to that mountain of frothed milk and the hidden coffee that lie under it for some time, I took a sip and was quite impressed.  I didn't need to add much sugar because it was already a little sweet, and the cinnamon added a nice twist to it as well.  It was quite delightful.

Overall, the meal was quite impressive, and it left me more satisfied than I had been by a meal in a long time (really since the last time I had been to Miami, at the beginning of April).  Thank you, Caffe Luna, for a noteworthy meal!  My tummy was quite happy.  It was smiling the whole car ride home, and saying things like, woohoo!  We should do that more often!  Yeahyeahyeahhhh!!!!!  I recommend all of you to try this cut of meat, and the little fried potatoes as such.  They are quite delicious.

Two (or three?) for One: What a Bahgain!

Hooray!  My first legitimate post!  *Cue celebratory music*

Ok.  So I know I said that I would be starting in May, and that the first week of every month would be breakfast, then lunch/dinner, etc., and I'm starting this week, so I decided to do a little bit of both breakfast and lunch, but with a Mother's Day twist.

Since it was Mother's Day, our family tradition is to take my mom out to brunch at this delightful little tapas bar called the Red Room, but unfortunately, they closed this year (RIP Red Room!).  As a result, we didn't know where to make a reservation, but we had heard about this place called Mia Francesca in North Hills, so we decided to give it a try.  And boy am I glad we did.

Exterior of Mia Francesca

They had a lovely spread of food, both breakfast and lunch, with an omelette bar and a carving station. Oh, and dessert, of course!  The restaurant is Italian so there was a nice array of pasta and other delicious Italian delicacies.

However, what I'm going to talk about today is the Prime Rib that they served us.  Now, I'm a firm believer in the fact that most buffet style food, be it a regular buffet or a brunch type spread, is not of the best quality.  But this Prime Rib was absolutely incredible.  It had a succulent pinkish-red color, and just the right meat-to-fat ratio that made it melt in your mouth, and it cut like butter (Coffee Talk with Mike Meyers on SNL, anyone? Maybe?).  They drenched the meat in a sauce that was absolutely delightful, with a nice peppery flavor.  Here's a picture, and ehh, excuse the fact that I already had dug in when I took it (it's still pretty even mutilated in my opinion).

Yay! Meat!

Now I'll move on to the Eggs Benedict.  Eggs Benedict is my dad's favorite breakfast food (that isn't Cuban), and I'd have to say that I'm right there with him.  The Eggs Benedict here were a little different, though; instead of an English Muffin on the bottom, they put a potato pancake.  I'm not one to complain, however, because it was the perfect combination of moist and crispy.  On top of the potato cake was the egg, topped off with hollandaise sauce, and on top was a slice of fresh Prosciutto with chopped basil.  And let me tell you, I love prosciutto, so there were no complaints on my part for there being no ham.  All I have to say was that the combination of the flavors, from the creamy hollandaise to the crunchy potato to the firm egg to the delightful prosciutto just exploded in my mouth to create an awesome experience, and it was a great twist on a breakfast classic.  Kudos to whoever came up with that idea.  Seriously.

Omnomnomnom... Eggs Benedict with an Italian twist.  Me gusta.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the dessert... so... yay!  Three for one!  What a bahgain!  By the time we finished all of the glorious Italian cuisine, the dessert table was pretty much cleaned off.  As in, there was tumbleweed blowing across it.  Think about old western themed cartoons, and you'll know what I mean.  Slightly disappointed, we requested some dessert from our waiter, who apologized for the inconvenience and brought us...

It's... it's... it's beautiful...

This.  Wow, right?  That is an array of chocolate strawberries, chocolate biscotti, mini creme pies, angel food cake, and pound cake.  And let me tell you, it was all incredible.  The strawberries were fresh, and they were covered in the some of the most awe inspiring dark chocolate I've tasted.  The creme pies, on top of being adorable, were very delicious, with the creme being sweet, yet sultry and without a doubt delicious.  The biscotti... dear God... it was great.  Not to hard, not to soft, excellent flavor; it was pretty much amazing.  And the pound cake was really good.  Not too great of a description on that one because I didn't have a whole lot.

Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed my recounting of this great culinary experience, and come back soon to get a whiff of my next adventure.

Stay classy!

Well, here goes nothing...

Here it is!  My first post!  I guess I'll make it a logistical post.  Starting in May, I will be posting reviews every week on dishes from one of four categories, on a day that is to be determined.  The first week of every month will be breakfast week, the second dinner week, the third dessert week, and the fourth beverage week.  Feel free to leave comments with suggestions for any category and maybe we'll see a post on your suggestion in your future!

Until next time,

Allyson