Grandpa Eddie's for a not so great lunch

Yesterday I went to Grandpa Eddie's with some co-workers for lunch. I have to say - I was disappointed. Maybe I have become spoiled by my husband's oh so good BBQ that he makes ever since he invested into a smoker. I ordered the smoked chicken entree. I asked for collard greens instead of slaw. The platter arrived with a pile of chopped up chicken, a side of fries, and the collard greens. The chicken was dry and the extra bbq sauce they had on the table was just really vinegary and didn't add much to it. I thought the sauce it was cooked in, actually made the chicken a bit bitter. The french fries were fine, but they were french fries! Hard to do them wrong! The collard greens were also disappointing. I like my greens with a bit of a bite and these did not have any bite - even after I added salt and pepper. They were swimming in water too and I think I may have had more water than juice in the container they were served in. The collard greens on the smokehouse table at Whole Foods are great, lot's of red pepper, just a bit of pork, and no water. I prefer those.

So, I don't think I will venture back to Grandpa Eddies. My meal with a soda was $13.64 + tip. Expensive for lunch and not so good.

Short Pump Mall Restaurants - Firebirds and Nordstrom Cafe

This weekend I ate at two different restaurants at Short Pump Mall, Saturday night at Firebirds for dinner, and Sunday the Nordstrom Cafe for lunch.

We arrived at Firebirds at 6:00 pm, my husband, our 5 year old, our relative Kim and her daughter Carly (12 years old). We were given a pager and found 5 seats at the bar. The adults promptly ordered beers - Blue Moon and we ordered Shirley Temples for the kid's. We were told it would be about 45 minutes for our table so we ordered some appetizers for the kids who were starving. We got the Ranch Rings - onion rings with garlic ranch dressing for dipping, and the queso cheese dip. Both were quite good. The onion rings were crispy and the dressing was zipped up with the garlic added to the ranch. The queso dip was served with a boring salsa, but the chips were red, blue and corn chips and the queso had a little kick to it. The bartenders were quite nice and when my daughter fell off of the barstool knocking over her shirley temple they were very nice and promptly made her a fresh one and ignored her wailing!

We were seated about an hour later - and I wish our experience would have been as good as our one at the bar. We were seated right next to the very busy kitchen and it was REALLY loud in the dining room. We ordered drinks (Conundrum White Wine for me -good glass of white) and our food. My husband got the salmon, I got the trout, Kim got the sirloin, Daughter got the kids chicken strips and Carly ordered a BLT. Well Carly's dinner came out as a BLT Salad - not sandwhich. They sent that back - apparently it is on their lunch menu - but not their dinner one. But they did accomodate her and brought her out a sandwhich and fries. Husbands salmon was ok - a bit dry he said. My trout was pecan encrusted, served with a tortilla slaw. The crust was way too sweet and did not cover up the dryness of the trout - if anything it made it dryer. The slaw was more tortilla chip and less cabbage. I have had that side before and usually it is quite good. The peach salsa that was supposed to come with the trout was such a small portion you could barely see it or pick it out from the slaw. Kim enjoyed her steak and baked potato. So one out of three entree's were enjoyed. I guess I just don't see the popularity of this restaurant - to wait an hour to eat here when the food is just ok.....probably won't be back unless it is for drinks and app's at the bar.

Now Nordstrom was a totally different experience. I love the food here. If you have never eaten here - definitely check it out. I went to lunch with daughter, Kim, and Carly again. Kim and I got the Seared Salmon Caesar Salad. It was great. The salmon was done perfectly and the Caesar dressing was fabulous - this was served with a Parmesan Chip that was quite tasty. The girls each got a children's size cheese pizza - which was huge. They both enjoyed and my daughter actually ate almost the whole thing (except for the peice I nabbed)! The pizza was thin with good cheese and great sauce. All in all we all were very happy with our meals! I have eaten there for lunch many times and the salads are too die for. My favorite is a grilled chicken with strawberry salad that has goat cheese, candied nuts, carmelized red onions, and lettuce. They also have a great pear and blue cheese salad. The pizza's, pasta's, and sandwhiches are all great. I used to work with a guy who said their she-crab soup was the best they ever had. I highly recommend you go to Nordstrom Cafe soon for lunch.

Review - Wicked and Acacia Midtown

Wicked and Acacia

Friday night, my friend Barbara and I went to Acacia before going to see Wicked at the Landmark Theater. We got there about 5:45 pm and were happy to see they had a prix fixe menu for $23. After ordering the Cabernet by the glass, we opted to go for this menu for dinner. This gave you an option of soup (parsnip) and a salad with blue cheese, apples, and nuts. I chose the soup and it was perfect for the rainy night and it was creamy and had bits of bacon that added the right amount of saltiness to it.

The entree choices were plentiful for the prix fixe menu: there was a tilapia, a scallop dish, a duck, a chicken, and a steak. I chose the hanger steak with fingerling potatoes with blue cheese, bacon, and a balsamic sauce. There was also a side of sautéed kale. The food was excellent, the steak a perfectly cooked medium rare and the balsamic sauce was a great pairing with it. The potatoes were fresh and the kale perfectly cooked. I am a sucker for any kind of green and my only complaint was that there wasn’t enough of the kale for me!

For dessert, they had a choice of a panna cotta with a coconut sorbet and rum sauce, a parsnip cake with a cream frommage ice cream, and finally a watermelon sorbet with a biscotti. I chose the parsnip cake (figured I might as well stick with the root vegetable trend) and was pleasantly surprised the cake was served warm and the ice cream was a great addition to it. It was similar to a carrot cake or spice cake. Very good.

All in all, a great dinner for a spectacular price. The prix fixe menu is available M-Th 5:00 – 6:00 pm and Fr-Sat from 5:30-6:30 pm.

We were back in our car by 7:15 enough time to drive to the Landmark Theater and park in the parking garage across the street. We took our seats about 10 till 8:00 and the show started soon after. I have to say – I loved it. I had read Wicked by Gregory Maguire when it first came out about 13 years ago, and thought it was a clever, creative take on the Wizard of Oz series of books. Unlike so many movies that the book is way better than the film, this play was better than the book. It took a lot of liberties with the story line, but I loved the happy ending, I loved the idea of a sustained friendship between Glinda and Elphaba. If you haven’t seen Wicked yet, and don’t have tickets yet, run don’t walk to get tickets – it is fabulous!!!

Saturday Night Happy Hour and Dinner

Happy Hour and Dinner

Saturday night our subdivision had their Spring Adult Social at the new Aloft hotel at West Broad Village. The place was very contemporary looking and had a wide open lobby and bar area. There were about 60 people and drinks were free. It was fun socializing with our neighbors after a long winter of hibernating and not seeing everyone out in their yard. I was interested in what the rooms looked like, but didn’t get a chance to check them out. There were people meeting there playing games and pool. But no food – and I can’t do a happy hour with free drinks and not have food – not a good combination for me! They had a very small walk up and order food area that had pizzas and salads. Not what I was in the mood for.

After about an hour and ½ the husband and our friends Barb and Chris and myself decided to make a break and go get some food. I suggested Anokha, the new Indian place on Lauderdale. Everyone agreed and when we arrived the place was packed! We had about a 10 minute wait and all ordered a Kingfisher at the bar. Once seated, we were all starving and ordered papadum, and veggie samosa’s for an appetizer. I absolutely love tamarind chutney!!! I could eat an entire jar of it! So I was happy dipping my Samosa and papadum in it. They also provided cilantro chutney and raita. Both were equally good.

For dinner we ordered four dishes to share: Chicken Tikka Masala, (my fave), Lamb Vindaloo, Palak Paneer (spinach and cheese cubes), and Baighan Bartha (eggplant). We got garlic Nan to go with the dinner. We each ordered another Kingfisher as well – the Indian beer went perfectly with the spicy food. All of the dishes were seasoned perfectly and everyone enjoyed the food immensely! There were no doggie bags for us! The sauce in the chicken tikka masala is to die for and the nan perfect to slop it up with!

The dinner with appetizers, entrees, two beers each, came to about $115 for four. Not bad at all for a fully satisfying Saturday night dinner and free drinks for happy hour!

I highly recommend you trying Anokha! I will be back!

Whole Foods Market's Five after Five

Friday night, after a stressful week, my friend Gretchen and I decided to check out the Five after Five wine/food event held at the Whole Foods Market in Short Pump every week. They had taken the month of February off and returned Friday night. The concept is simple. You pay $10 (used to be $5) and get a wine glass, a ticket, and an arm band. The ticket is for 5 stations throughout the store that have a wine to taste and a food item to try. We got there at about 10 till 5 and there was already a line of about 6 or so people. We got in line and some friendly people who had been there before us suggested that we get a cart and grab some of the drink holders that attach to your cart. This turned out to be a fabulous suggestion, you could put your purse and wine glass down to actually eat your food! We went to the first station in Produce and they had a Gewurztraminer that was good...I am not a huge sweet wine fan, but after the week I had, I drank it and enjoyed it! The food was a Cream of Lettuce Soup, much better than I would have expected. Creamy, and flavorful.

We then moved onto the Seafood station. The wine here was Venegassu Prosecco. I love Prosecco and this was not a disappointment. For $11.99 a bottle - great choice. I also really enjoyed the food. It was a crisp baguette with smoked salmon and a herbed cream cheese. The smoked salmon was perfect with the prosecco. At this station we told them we were enjoying our first time doing this. They informed us that we were lucky - some nights the lines were 60 people back for each station! We basically walked right up to each one throughout the night.

The 3rd station had great wine a Ruffino Chianti Superiore - great price $11.99 on sale, usually $12.99. The food however was disappointing. It was chicken parmesan on a sub roll. It was really dry and tough. Gretchen and I both moseyed away and threw in the trash. Not our favorite. Thought he next station was....it was french onion soup with a bordeaux called Chateau les Arromans for $9.99 a bottle. Also very good. The soup had a great creamy flavor and was served with a cheese melted on a baguette. Our favorite taste of the night.

At this point we decided we wanted to sit down in the little wine bar that is in the middle of Whole Foods. You have to have a pre-paid card here to get the wine. You load it with money and they have about 20 different wines that have an automated pour and you can do 3 oz, 5 oz, or 7 oz. We got a card loaded up with $15 and I went over to a wine that looked interesting and pressed the 5 oz button. My $15 dollars was gone....I had chosen a bottle of wine that retailed for $115. Gretchen, being the good friend that she is had to spend hers just as quickly as I did and got the same one. We loved it. Well worth the $15. I started to write down the name of the wine and then decided not to - I am never going to spend $115 on a bottle of wine!

The last station was dessert. It was dessert wine - a Tinterra Moscato D'asti. Sparkling and sweet. The dessert was lemon cream vanilla cheesecake. The cheesecake was really good - but the lemon cream on top was so so.

I recommend checking this out - it was a great way to check out new wines (we each left with 3 bottles and combined them for checkout to take advantage of the 10% discount when you buy 6 bottles of wine). They also provide recipes for each of the dishes and I am definitely going to make the salmon and the french onion soup.

Starting this week, the Five after Five moves to Thursday nights. I like this night much better and it may start being on my weekly calendar as a standing appointment! Check it out!

Eurasia - Dinner Review

Review – Eurasia

Tuesday night my book club met for dinner at Eurasia. The book this month was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Great book by the way! There were 11 of us at dinner and I was thrilled that they offered to do separate checks for us right off the bat, we were off to a great start!

The wine menu for both red and white was quite extensive and looked promising. It had my favorite wine by the bottle, The Prisoner, by Orrin Swift which always puts me in a favorable frame of mind! We opted to go with wines by the glass due to the separate checks. I ordered a malbec that was smooth and perfect for a snowy night.

The specials sounded very good a lamb steak and duck, but I opted to choose some items from the menu. I got the Goat Cheese salad that I really enjoyed, the goat cheese was a fried croquette. The dressing was good – but the candied nuts didn’t really pair with the rest of the salad. But I picked over them and ate all of the rest of it!

I decided to order an appetizer and some sides as my dinner. I chose the fried shrimp with Asian Slaw, the goat cheese risotto (my husband hates goat cheese – so when I get a chance to have it – I go for it!), and the brocholetti side. The fried shrimp were great – plump and crispy and I really enjoyed the Asian slaw. The risotto was done well, the rice was perfect. The brocholetti was a bit disappointing. For $5 there was a small pile of greens and not a lot of flavor.

Everyone at the table enjoyed their meal. Some ordered the chicken entrée, the clam appetizers, the oyster appetizers, the lobster mac and cheese, the hot and sour soup. Everyone was nodding and happy. We were all too full for dessert.

I would definitely go back and try this place again and go for a full entrée.