It all comes back to bacon

I was just reading Style's review of the Charles City Tavern (formerly Indian Fields Tavern, recently re-opened by the Cafe Lafayette people). My eye (of course) was drawn to their description of a particular brunch item:

...in addition to traditional midday fare, it boasts innovations such as tavern-style “bacon and eggs,” made with crisp pork belly instead of bacon...

They had me at "belly"!

The Gute Lives On!

After reading in the Sunday paper that Cafe Gutenburg was going to stick it out (due to some eleventh-hour investors), Phil and I met for brunch. Service was traditionally absent-minded, but charming. Coffee delivery was prompt, but it took three requests to get water. Alas, the meal was memorable! And the BOWLS of coffee were laughable.

Honestly, this airy cafe, with its eclectic book selection, groovy poetry readings, and bustling international set, could thrive with a mediocre menu. But they excel in this area too. My shrimp nicoise was perfection.

I know--salad. Surprise! But the shrimp was marinated and grilled, or perhaps charbroiled, with little flecks of crusty yum all over them. Only hearts of palm and romaine lettuce rounded out this salad, but it needed nothing else. Oh wait, except for the insanely delicious dressing-creamy anchovy, caper, lemony, vinaigrette (sp?!) that I can still taste if I close my eyes. Oh my god, I'm going back right now...

In under an hour...

...you can be in Charlottesville, eating at Zocalo! John and I skipped over to C'ville on Saturday just to get up out of here for a little while, and a friend had reommended Zocalo. (He also recommended reservations, which we were psyched about after the hostess quoted the couple in front of us a 2-hour wait at 8:30pm!).

We started with butternut squash soup w/ a big dollop of crab salad in the middle, and a spinach salad with masa-encrusted fried oysters and bacon-cider vinaigrette. Both were amazing, especially the oysters! Followed that with some mussels in spicy tomato broth - perfectly cooked, and we were eating the tomato broth like it was soup. YUM. We're trying to get back in an old habit of splitting a salad, app and entree, so we shared the beef short-rib osso bucco (which was prepped in the traditional osso bucco style, but wasn't veal). It was incredible. We took most of it to go so that we could try a dessert: mexican chocolate bread pudding w/ bailey's creme anglaise. We each had about two bites and then somehow mustered the willpower to send it away, but OHMYGOSH it was delicious. Melty and saucy and ooohhhhh.

Ended up meeting both owners before we left - two nice, young guys who just seem so psyched to be succeeding. We'll definitely be back - let us know if anyone wants to road trip!

"Pittsburg Blue"

I know this has nothing to do with Richmond, but I thought it was interesting and decided to pass it on. I was in Pittsburg last week and went out for a steak and some drinks on the company dime. I like 'em rare - as in, wipe it's ass, knock the horns off, and stick it on a plate, rare. Though I do like a nice char on the outside. Now, I had heard of a 'Chicago blue' steak, which is charred on the outside and rare on the inside, but apparently, that's a misnomer. My waiter informed me that this steak preparation originated in Pittsburg, not Chicago, and should thus be ordered as 'Pittsburg Blue.' He went on to tell me that the steel workers there only got 10 minutes for lunch years ago. So they would bring their steaks in and toss them in the steel blast furnace at amazingly high temps for just a couple of minutes. I ordered it, and while it wasnt cooked in a blast furnace, it was charry and bloody and raw and delicious.

Is it food or friends we hunger?

Phil and I were visited by an old friend this weekend and the itinerary was based around food. Brunch at Cuba Cuba. Afternoon drinks at Can Can. Dinner at Comfort. All of our old rest stops. So, it made me think of another layer to food that is not always so obvious. It's the memories that are made around the table. The conversations, laughs, stories that help us savor the moment. So, cheers to Lizzy and Catherine for creating this blog. Let's get a dinner date on the calendar soon -- especially since I missed Lu Lu's!

Food for Thought

Mark Bittman takes a break this week from posting drool-worthy food porn to bring you the article "Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler". Though it flies in the face of my well-documented love for meat, he has a point. Who knew that the average American eats a half-pound of meat a day? He also gives a shout-out to Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, which is on my to-read list. How can you argue with this wisdom?: "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Anyone read it?

The Helmand, Boston

I may be breaking the rule by posting a review of a restaurant that is far from accessible to Richmond but I feel like I would be doing a disservice by not spreading the word. While in Boston a few weekends ago I had an abundance of dining pleasures -- from authentic Chinese to a gourmet Brunch at the Ritz to a French dinner by candlelight. But of all my eating adventures, my favorite was The Helmand in Cambridge. This is an authentic Afghanistan restaurant. The owner is supposedly the brother of Afghanistan's President and they also have a restaurant in San Francisco. Anyway, the atmosphere was perfect and the food was so flavorful I'm still dreaming about it (read other reviews here)! Since you won't be able to venture to The Helmand, I'll go ahead and give you the recipe for one of their appetizers which was truly to die for. Kaddo: baked pumpkin with a yogurt sauce, topped with a delectable meat sauce. Probably doesn't sound too good but just trust me. If you ever get to Boston or San Fran, look'em up. It's totally worth it. You won't forget the sex that happened in your mouth. (I can't believe I just said that!) I'm now on the lookout for any restaurant in the area that might serve up the same kind of food. Any recommendations?