Dining in the Dash: Mary's Gourmet Dinner

This post is so severely overdue there are fines on it. I can't remember when exactly when ate here but it was before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving! That was a long time ago.

We met Anne and Locke here for brunch on a Sunday. I'm not sure why we came here on a Sunday considering this is their busiest day of the week and both of our husbands are off for 7 days in a row and we could have come aaaaany other day, but here we were on a Sunday, waiting in line for brunch.

That was probably my first tip off that this was going to be a good meal. Waiting in line for brunch is the norm of course… IF that is, you live in New York, Chicago, LA, San Fran, DC or any other city with public transportation and people who don't regularly go to church on Sunday. Waiting for brunch in Winston, sure. Waiting in a LINE twenty people deep? Doesn't happen here.

Fortunately, it was worth the wait. Totally, totally worth it.

There were so many things on the menu I wanted to try that I can't believe we haven't been back eighty times since then. (Matt, we need to go back to Mary's.)

Anne and I both couldn't decide between a savory or a sweet breakfast, so we split the difference. She ordered the French toast special with lemon curd and I ordered the Apple Butter, Baby. Apple Butter, Baby: scrambled eggs, smoked sausage and homemade apple butter on wheat toast.

If you don't have a friend who's willing to go half-sweet, half-savory on brunch with you then I would recommend interviewing everyone in line to find one. Best idea ever.

Our food was great, our service was excellent (responsive without being overbearing), the prices were decent and most important of all to us these days, it was very baby friendly. The husbands both had various omelets and were equally as happy. We have had so many friends recommend this place to us and I completely understand why now. It is a favorite among Winston-Salem residents and we can be counted among them now.

In fact, we liked it so much we went back just two weeks later. This time, on a Wednesday.

A review of our “Dining in the Dash” Project

• Kitchen Roselli
• The Screaming Rooster
• Goat Lady Dairy
• the Taco Truck
• Sweet Potatoes
• Breakfast Of Course
• Bernadin’s (My Review - 12/15/12)
• Meridian
• Old Salem Tavern
• King’s Crab Shack (7/01/12)
• New Town Bistro
• Muddy Creek Café
• Winston-Salem Prime
• Spring House Restaurant (My Review - 5/11/12)
• Lexington BBQ
• Hillbilly Hideaway
• Mooney’s (My Review - 6/11/12)
• Vin205
• MamaZoe Michael’s
• El Maguey
• Chef Dion Sprenkle 

Christmas Progressive Dinner at Bernardin’s {Dining in the Dash review}

In lieu of our usual Christmas tacky party, we went in the complete opposite direction and celebrated the season with our friends with a fancy-dress up progress dinner party. We missed seeing everyone decked out in their finest tacky knitwear, but I must say our friends clean up pretty good.

We started off with appetizers at Anne + Locke’s, progressed to dinner at Bernardin’s and ended with dessert at Chad + Caroline’s.

It was my first time eating at Bernardin’s, despite having heard so many good reviews about it before. I’m going to double this as a “dining in the dash” entry since that was one of the places on our list. I’m not entirely sure when they moved into the Zeverly House location but I loved it – it just such a cozy little spot for a restaurant. The downstairs has a living room like feel to the front room with the bar, and then there’s one dining room downstairs, a main one upstairs and a smaller private room. Because we were a group of fourteen, we were in the small private room upstairs. It felt as cozy as eating in one of our own homes. Except, someone else did the cooking and dishes. Win.

And the cooking! I rarely order steaks when I’m out to eat (not because I don’t like them, but I try to make it a point to order things I don’t cook very well like fish or risotto) but Jamie had told me that they had the best steaks in town. Jamie’s not a big steak eater either, so when she laid down that proclamation I simply had to follow through. Filet mignon with melted goat cheese on top? Done. I don’t even remember what the side was. Was there a side? Don’t know, don’t care. It certainly was the best steak in town. (Okay, in all fairness, I just told you I haven’t really had any of the other steaks in town… but suffice it to say, this was a great one.) My husband, usually the steak eater, ventured on to the wild side of the menu and tried the evening special – kangaroo. Truthfully, when I give him a few bites of my filet, I think he was pretty jealous he went with the roo. (His summary: like a tough pork chop.) My meal was excellent, the service was top notch, the ambience lovely and the company – well that was the best part.

It was a wonderful evening with friends and I felt like it put me in the holiday spirit for the coming two weeks. Or maybe that was a food coma. I’m not sure, but I liked it.

And I definitely owe a special thank you to Matt’s parents who came up for the evening and baby-sat our little munchkin, so we could go out on the town with our friends. That in and of itself is a Christmas present we’ll remember!

Dining in the Dash: Spring House Restaurant

One of the many things I love about living in Winston-Salem is the restaurants.  For a small city, we have so many amazing options for eating out. And as our downtown continues to go through this revitalization process, there seem to be more and more wonderful places to choose from!

So of course that means we end up trying something new every time we go, right?  Of course not.  Like the townies we are, Matt and I had gotten in the habit of going to the same places over and over again.  After discussing this with Anne and finding that she and Locke were doing the same thing, we came up with a plan to make ourselves a list of places that we would try over the next year instead of going back to the same stand-by.  The only criteria was that at least one of us had never been or both of us hadn't been in over a year. And thus, our new project - Dining in the Dash - was born!

Here is the list we came up with:

• Kitchen Roselli
• The Screaming Rooster
• Goat Lady Dairy
• the Taco Truck
• Sweet Potatoes
• Breakfast Of Course
• Bernadin’s
• Meridian
• Old Salem Tavern
• King’s Crab Shack
• New Town Bistro
• Muddy Creek Café
• Winston-Salem Prime
• Spring House Restaurant
• Lexington BBQ
• Hillbilly Hideaway

Of course, Anne has beaten me to the punch with her dining review but I'm going to go ahead and post about it anyways.

The first place we picked was the Spring House.  I had heard about this new place a few months ago via Twitter and then from my friend Teri who raved about their mojitos. I'd read it was a former mansion from the "Millionaire Row" - the downtown 5th street area that was where the turn-of-century big shots had built huge estates - but which was now mostly converted to office spaces.  I love when old spaces are renovated to capture their original charm so I was excited to see what the renovations looked like.

It did not disappoint at all.  The setting is downright charming.  We lucked out with a warm spring night and the front doors of both dining rooms and the library bar were flung open on to a bright green lawn, a patio with more outdoor seating and a small collection of benches around a fountain where I could imagine comfortably waiting for our table with a glass of wine in hand.  (Fortunately we didn't have to wait since we had a reservation.)

The menu was fun and interesting, with lots of creative dishes that provided a twist on what I'd describe as maybe upscale home cooking.  I had the pork tenderloin saltimbocca and Matt had the chicken fried chicken.  (It came with a waffle.  He was pretty smitten.)  My pork dish was delicious and very tender, with an delicious smoky spoonbread for the side.  It didn't knock my socks off so I'd probably try another dish next time I went, but I definitely wasn't disappointed by it either.  I ended with a almond apple crisp that I generously passed around to share with the table, even though I could have easily hogged the whole thing myself!

One of the major features of the menu was their cocktail selections, which of course I didn't partake in, but would easily make me come back for another visit in a few months.  I would have gotten the drink Anne had - the twisted brown trucker.  It looked every bit as pretty as the description sounded and she gave it a thumbs up.  There's a couple different things that would bring me back to try this again: they offer a tasting menu which I think would be a great way to try many of the unique dishes they offer and the first Wednesday of every month has cooking classes.  Both of these are going on my to-do list... but I better wait until I get through our other places to try first.

I thought Anne summarized it well when she said it was on the pricier side if you did appetizers, drinks and dinner but definitely worth it for a nicer meal.  It would also be a great place to come for drinks and appetizers on the patio or the charming library bar.  We'll definitely be back!

Weekend Update

I’m pretty sure it’s karmic revenge that since I was all “la la la, January weekends are soooo lazy and relaxing” that this weekend turned out to be the complete opposite.  It was jam packed – but it was all super fun stuff so it was worth it.  Even though it felt like Sunday was here before Friday even had time to get started.

On Friday, Matt and I took a road trip down to Waxhaw, NC.  If you don’t know where that is, you’re missing out on a bustling metropolis.  Matt had found a golf bag he had been looking for on Craiglist, so we decided to take a road trip down that way.  I was easily bribed with a trip to Trader Joe’s on the way home, and also worked in a visit to see my sister’s classroom since we were only about 15 minutes away.

We stopped in south Charlotte for lunch, and it was a beautiful 60 degree day in January so we ate outside with the Spuds at Dean and Deluca.  He was more than happy to share a few bites of my chicken salad sandwich with me. 

Then we picked up the golf bag, and headed over to Katie’s classroom.  It was after school so she didn’t have any classes left, but she still gave us a run down on how she uses her smartboard.  Then a kid came in the class to ask her a question and I got to see Katie switch into serious teacher mode.  I love it!  There’s something about seeing people in settings that you don’t see them in daily – it gives you a different perspective of their personality.

On our road trip, I finished a book I had started the night before…. it was a page turner.  I literally could not stop reading it, despite Matt’s admonishment to slow down and savor my books!  I want to see the movie now, although I’ve been told it’s not as good.

On Saturday, Matt and I met Anne & Locke for a lunch date at Skippy’s.  Despite the crazy long line and the fact that the restaurant itself is smaller than my kitchen, this is one of Winston’s gems.

After lunch, I had a blog date with Teri.  We came up with the brilliant idea a few months ago to get together and bounce blog ideas off each other, and use some set aside time to get some writing done… and about 10 minutes into our first blog date, we realized we were kidding ourselves if we thought we were going to do anything but tuck ourselves into a cozy couch and chat the afternoon away.  Our blogs might not be updated, but I always walk away feeling uplifted by our conversations and catch up time!  Budster was invited too – I think he had a good time chilling at his Aunt Teri’s. 

Saturday night we had a dinner date with Jamie & Zac and Donna & Matt at Milner’s.  First time I have ever been disappointed by a Milner’s meal – I should have ordered the fried chicken like everyone else did!  (I had gnocchi… it was swimmingly in an oily pesto sauce.  No thanks.)  It was a night out for both sets of parents without their babies… thanks to Anne & Locke volunteering to baby-sit!  I’m still sort of giggling at that. 

Sunday morning, I did some grocery shopping and prepped a dish for Akanksha’s baby shower – my mom’s new go to appetizer, Cuban Toasties.

Then I spent the afternoon at Akanksha’s shower, and wrapped up the day with some Sunday dance trance.  It wasn’t as low key as my other January weekends have been, but it was chock full of good meals, good chats and good friends. 

Twelve Hours, Twelve Miles

We....

Walked around the World Trade Center site, and into the beautiful hushed St Peter's Church.  The last time I was here, there was just a big hole in the ground, so it was amazing to see the new growth.  It's a comforting reminder of what it means to be American: you get knocked down by awful and unfair events, but you never stay down.  And often you get back up and you're stronger and more beautiful when you started.  Yay, America.  Yay, New York.  It really hit me how much this city had been through almost a decade ago (!!).  I was holding back tears walking through the tribute at St Peter's, as the visual images really brought the event back to it's full magnitude for me.

Jamie and I walked outside into the bright sun and just sort of looked at each other and sort of did a little shake... like, wow.  That really happened huh?

And then we...

Attempted to go to Battery Park, only the Subway that was intended to take us there wasn't running so we were waiting in line for a shuttle bus with a million other people in the blazing heat when I said "Hey! How about we go in Starbucks and get some water and reevaluate our plans?"  This went over very well with my tough but still 26 week pregnant friend, so we did.

Our new plan was to take the subway to meet Kathryn at Rockefeller to go to top of the Rock.  WHen we popped out of the subway, we....

Were in Times Square!  Which made us laugh because when we were making our NYC plans Jamie and I kept saying to each other over and over again "But we definitely don't need to go to Times Square. We don't have ANY interest in going to Times Square."  And here we were.  And it was just as busy and crazy and touristy as we had both remembered, so we put our heads down and pushed through the crowds to find Kathryn.  Before we knew it, we...

were staring out at the most amazing views of the city.  Like my airplane post, seeing a world from this high up does weird things to my brain.  I feel like part of a huge world and a tiny world all at once.  I almost have to stop looking after awhile.  We snapped lots of pictures up here.  All 3 of us are nuts about our cameras, and having a playground of a vista like that was heaven to all of us.  The tricky part was finding someone who would take one of the 3 of us. 

After we managed to find someone, we...

refueled at the Wafel Truck.  Matt called me at this point, and asked what we were up to.  “Eating a waffle!” I exclaimed.  “Eating a waffle?” he asked, a bit confused.  (It was, after all, about 3:00 pm.)  If only he had called an hour later, so I could tell him we…

were watching a roller disco in Central Park.  (I have watched this video so many times on my phone and I can never quite decide who is my favorite person in this clip to watch.)  Just so much unbridled happiness in this clip.  Everyone who was there looked like they were pretty much having the best Saturday ever.  From there, we…

wandered our way through Central Park, ending up in Bethesda Terrace.  It had beautiful lighting and gorgeous architectural details.  So, we took a few pictures.  Just a few.  I swear.  It was getting close to evening and time for baby Q to wind down, so Jamie and I were on our own for a bit.  We…

explored the Met for a bit (air-conditioning!) and then recharged our bodies with a little pre-dinner cupcake from Sprinkles.  It was tiny.  I swear.  Jamie and I had just truly hit our sugar buzz, when Kathryn, our amazing tour guide / city hostess, came back to take us back to Soho for dinner.  We…

ate at the quaintest little restaurant called Freeman’s.  It was tucked down a little alleyway off the Bowery, and I never in a million years would have found it on my own but thank heavens Kathryn did because my life needed those shrimp and corn fritters.  (Basically, fancy hush puppies.  But that is not a complaint, not one bit.)  My only complaint about this place was the emo, uber-casual waiter.  “So, like, are we having any drinks tonight?” is not a way to win points for great service.  (His service was actually fine, his attitude was just bizarro.  And the food more than made up for his quirkiness.  It is New York, right?)  Dinner flew by in what felt like a matter of minutes while our conversation ran the gamut of everything from roasting chickens to New York real estate.  (Both topics that make me a teensy bit squeamish feeling.)  The check arrived, we headed out into the night and before we knew it, we were hugging our old/new (Jamie/me) friend good-bye as we got ready to go in different directions at the subway.  Once we got back to our hotel room, I reported to Jamie that we…

walked close to twelve miles in the twelve hours we had been out.  Twelve miles!  We might have only had one had what amounted to barely more than one day in New York City, but I think we did a good job making the most of our time there.  We had a few things left to see on Sunday, but we had packed in some classic NYC sights, some delicious food and some quality time with our friends.  We…

went to NYC.

Fix

Sad to say that I did not have my act together enough to make corned beef & cabbage this year for St. Patrick’s Day.  I don’t think Matt was too disappointed… but I was.  I was en route from picking Buddy up at daycare and meeting girlfriends for a fro yo date, trying to figure out what I could grab for dinner, when I saw Mozelle’s tweet that their feature of the day was corned beef & cabbage.

Done. Deal.

It’s a little sad that this one meal cost about the same as an entire brisket would, but that’s okay.  It brought me great joy.  I’m guessing that this is one of those meals that taste so good because it has nostalgia attached to it – I picture my mom in the kitchen, lading out the potatoes and cooked carrots out of the crockpot.  And when we were really little – serving it with milk dyed green from food dye.  So creative, that Sharebear.

What do you think?  If you didn’t grow up having cb&c as a family meal, does it appeal to you?

La Jolla Kayaks and Old Town Tortillas

When we got back to San Diego on Sunday, we debated a surfing lesson but nixed it due to the potential frigidness of the Pacific this time of year.  Instead, we took to the water in kayaks!  We set off from La Jolla, and paddled around the coast til we got to an area populated with seals.  Seals!

Seals are really, really loud.  Who knew.

Our kayak outing was not particularly strenuous - the water was very placid, the sun was setting and the breeze was light.  I found it almost meditative, especially once I found my rowing rhythm.  Now, all I need is a lake to wake up on every morning and my very own bright green kayak to achieve total bliss.  OHMMMMM.

The highlight of our kayak adventure, though, was when we got home and went to upload the seven or so photos my brother had taken on his roommate's nifty waterproof camera.  I plugged it into my iPad only to see over 200 pictures pop up!  We broke into a fit of giggles when we realized he had set it on "every 5 seconds" and our entire trip was documented from the perspective of my brother's lifejacket.  Lots of awkward pictures of chins and knee caps, but a few neat ones we found in the mix.

After our kayak (and photo) adventure, we set off on another culinary adventure.  Yes I am keenly aware that the only thing that kept me from weighing twice as I do by the end of this trip was all the activity we did!  One of Matt's attendings had told him to visit a specific Mexican restaurant in old town because they had "the best margaritas in town."

Done.

Only apparently, that's like saying "go to the Chinese restaurant in China town."  Old Town IS pretty much all Mexican restaurants and tourist shops!  Fortunately she had provided specific name and address that Matt pulled up on his email, and we were able to find it.  When every other restaurant was empty at 6pm on a Sunday night, this one had people spilling out into the street waiting so we were pretty optimistic.

It was indeed the best margarita I have ever had.  Hands down.  I rarely get margaritas in restaurants because they seem to be all sugar.  This one was the exception.  A 6 count of tequila (which according to former bartender brother is 2 shots), a 3 count of Triple Sec, a squirt of sour mix all into a pre-chilled, pre-salted glass. 

Mmmm.

Oh and the food?  Almost forgot about that.  It was also the best Mexican food I have ever had.  Lo siento Carolina del Norte, you've got nothing on San Diegan Mexican cuisine.  (I assume being about 25 minutes from the border has a little something to do with that....).

Anyways, we enjoyed our Mexi-meal and headed home with our bellies full and happy.  Another day, another adventure, another meal.  We are loving our West Coast vacation. 

Tis the season to be eating... fa la lala ...oooof.

I feel like I have been eating non-stop for 4 days. (A stunning declaration when you consider I've been teaching "Holiday Eating" for the last 2 weeks to 180 frantic, panicked, weight loss participants.) It kicked off with the chowder followed by Christmas Cookies on Saturday - I've never been much for moderation when it comes to iced sugar cookies. Sunday followed it up with the sampling of low-calorie buckeyes I was making, and a late dinner at Putter's.

Monday was our departmental Christmas party at Riverburch. Due to the lay out of the party - food due North, wine and beer at East & West, and my hesitancy to navigate north and risk enforced mingling with medical campus staff I didn't know ("oh! have you met so & so?") I held camp near the wine bar with the rest of the research staff. Staff and faculty mix like oil and water at these events, so my antisocial behavior, while not entirely appropriate, is not unusual for our department. One brave staffer parted the seas and grabbed me a plate of shrimp cocktail, fortunately preventing the wine + empty stomach = no driving home.

Tuesday was our staff luncheon at Village Tavern, capped off by a monthly dinner date with my friend Suzanne at Hutch & Harris. This was my first visit to H&H, but I could no more fit an entree into my belly than could one person squeeze onto a 5 pm metrocar headed to Ballston. So I had a soup and salad, and lovingly packed up an bowl of She-Crab Soup to take home to the hubby. (I failed to look at the serving however, until I arrived home and we noted that a "to go" bowl serving is approximately 2 tablespoons. Thanks, H&H.) PS, Tuesday night is free taco night if you ordered a $5 margarita. What what! I already had my wine order in before I found that out, but note to you, savvy Winston-Salem diner, for future reference.

Wednesday reached an all-time high in the calorie consumption with our participant potluck party. I love watching the different dishes stroll through the door. My "weight loss" participants show up for the first hour, laden with fruit salads, shrimp cocktail and veggie trays. The next hour brings "weight loss + exercise" participants who tend to be a little more liberal, with baked chicken entrees, some low calorie desserts, chips + salsa, soups, roasted veggie dishes and other delectable but healthy treats. The final hour is dedicated to "exercise only" - a group to whom no nutritional information has been given - and this is when the fried chicken, ham biscuits, green bean casserole and coconut cake that covered dish parties in the South are known for all make their appearance. As they arrived, my "combo" folks were packing up and I watched the panic cross their face as they saw many of their former temptations arrive on the buffet.

One of my participants pulled me aside, her voice dripping with concern. "Who brought the Krispy Kremes?" she practically hissed. "An exercise only person," I told her as I patted her arm consolingly. "You should probably go - it's only going to get worse from here," I recommended, as I spied the unmistakable yellow and red of a Bojangles box approaching from the parking lot.

All of our participants loved playing Monica's new toy - the wii Fit. However, it was a little awkward when the wii Fit age proclaimed many of them to be 12-15 years older than their actual age or loudly pronounced "You are OBESE" as the little Mii man blew up to twice his size. Errrm.... well..... *shrugs*

One of our greatest success stories, a woman has maintained a 40 pound lost stepped on the wii to test her fit age. A combination of BMI, posture, balance and agility determines your fitness age. Her elation when the wii declared her THIRTY years younger than her actual age? Unmeasurable. Her celebration was just another reminder of why I love my job.

And today, the final day before our 2 week Christmas vacation, is another reason I love my job. Remember how the day before vacation in school was always a waste of a day? You might watch a video, maybe do a worksheet, and then trade presents with friends and dutifully turn in your present (that your mom picked out - a candle, a bar of soap, a gift card to barnes & nobles) to teacher. That is what my last day of work before a holiday tends to be like.

I had 2 phone call coaching sessions this morning, and in about fifteen minutes I'll head over to our center to mingle with exercising participants. I'll work maybe a half day, I won't teach anything, and I'll give out lots of hugs and reminders to eat healthy and weigh thyself over the holiday. Then around 1:15, as the last of my participants head out the door, I'll briefly consider going into the office to do some data entry before convicning myself that "nah. I'll do some over the break."

Then I'll come home, to my already-vacationing hubby, and our 2-week, much-awaited, it's finally here Christmas Vacation will begin. Merry Christmas!

Dishing It Out

One thing Winston-Salem is well known for is it's tremendous variety of places to get some good grub. However, we keep finding ourselves repeating the same places over and over again - because they're close (Kimonos/El Dorado), they're a good price (Kimonos/any mexican place/east coast wings), or we know they're tasty (Village Tavern, Village Tavern, Village... you get the point.) So the other day, we got a coupon for $10 off at Texas Land and Cattle. I have to say, generally I am not a huuuuge fan of steakhouses. My dad is a whiz on the grill and Matt has deftly picked up where he left off, and it's hard to justify going out and paying for steak when the men in your life can serve it up at home just as good, if not better. But, I'm a coupon-lovin' gal, so we thought we'd give it a try last night. My expectations were low. I was anticipating the environment of Texas Roadhouse (which Jamie loving refers to as the Wal-mart of steakhouses) with the cheesy "meals with alcohol flavors" theme a la Chili's based on their online menu.

I was wrong and I'm happy for it. The atmosphere was way nicer than I thought - just a small step below Riverburch caliber - and the food was delicious. No nutrition information posted online, which is about the only thing that disappointed me. Definitely a new one to add to our rotation.

Better yet, I am thinking of dishing up a new challenge for me and the hubby. Rather than rotate through our standard four (maybe now five), I am thinking that as our time may end here in Winston, we need to step up our dining experiences. I found this list on the WFU student homepage. From my best guess, it looks like there are close to 300 restaurants on there. Think we could knock them all off? We better get hungry...