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!