Tulsa, Oklahoma

We are here in Tulsa, Oklahoma for purely business, but ya gotta eat. Our stay was at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel & Convention Center. This is our first stay in Oklahoma, and I just wish we had a little more time to explore and look around a little bit more. The hotel is nice, but is out of the main city, bordered by residential areas on three sides, and an expressway on one. But anyway, we were hungry. The Cyprus Grill is here on property, and we ordered a Sous Vide Pork Porterhouse. It has an apple butter sauce, and haricot vert. It is on top of whipped sweet potatoes. The pork is well cooked, just right, and not dry at all. The Chef here knows how to cook his pork. The Apple butter sauce was tasty, but combined with the whipped sweet potatoes, maybe a little too sweet for me.

The dessert was a Candied Bacon Chocolate Torte. Again, nice, but I wish I had a little more Candied Bacon, but that's just me.

Overall, a good eating experience. If you stay at this hotel, try the Cyprus Grill. When we come back, we hope to experience more of what Oklahoma has to offer.

Christmas Dinner, 2013

No matter how great a restaurant eating experience can be, sometimes nothing beats a home cooked meal.  Absolutely no travel for us this Christmas season, so a homemade Christmas meal was in order.

The photo above hardly does justice to this years' feast.  We start with Beef tenderloin, which we purchased locally. Side note, we try to shop locally, when we can.  The food is often fresher (better), and helps your local economy and businesses. The corn was also brought locally and frozen earlier.  Our menu consisted of scalloped potatoes, with lobster tails, poached in butter and white wine.  Rounding out our meal was Pop Overs.  The wine was a Zinfandel we purchased from the Biltmore winery.  Dessert (not shown) was a marvelous Pumpkin Pie.

Many Thanks to Chef Tammy for a fantastic meal and another successful Holiday at home!

We now have some delicious leftovers to enjoy.

Best wishes to everyone, and I hope everyone can have a Fantastic 2014!

A Foodie destination in the Mountains.

Sometimes one needs to get away for a few days. Our vacations don't always correspond to traditional holidays, which in many ways can be a great thing.

We decided a week in December would be a good time for a brief getaway before the Christmas holiday. Our first stop is Asheville, North Carolina. As any well-informed hungry Foodie should know, Asheville is the place to go when one is in this part of the country, looking for things to eat. The choices in Asheville can vary from traditional Carolina Barbecue, to Indian street food, and everything in-between.

I can devote a lot of words describing all the cuisine available in Asheville, but for the sake of brevity, this entry will focus on only one example of unique restaurants in Asheville.

Rezaz is a restaurant specializing in a modern take on Mediterranean cuisine.  The Chef owner, Reza Setayesh, (pictured above) received his culinary training in Asheville, and now owns two restaurants in the area.  Rezaz also boasts a wine bar, but local brews and cocktails are available.

We selected the Bar Menu, and selected items such as Coppa (cured pork shoulder) Cheeses with onion jam, and Small plate selections, such as Scallops crab cake.

Everything was cooked well, and with care towards presentation.  Our server, Frank, was friendly and knowledgeable.  What sealed the deal for us, however, was the presence of an on site pastry chief, with freshly made desserts that were made on site. 

You can elect to eat in the bar area, or choose the main dining room, which we will do when we come back, or as some patrons have done, is have a glass of wine while waiting on your table. I think it will be enjoyable either way.

There are a lot of great places to eat in Asheville, but you should include Rezaz on your list. Check it out yourself at Rezaz.com.  We will certainly do that next time we're here!

San Francisco: Bourbon Steak

My continuing medical education takes me to a lot of places.This time it's San Francisco. It's late June and 68 degrees and sunny, perfect for walking around Union Square. One of the hotel employees remarked that the weather this week is unusually nice. I guess I'll just take his word on that. Staying in San Francisco, of course, provides some interesting dining opportunities. The most notable for me is The Bourbon Steak Restaurant, located in the Westin St. Francis hotel, adjacent to Union Square. This well known restaurant owned by Michael Mina, is a San Francisco landmark.

I elected to try the St. Francis Menu, which is a tasting menu offered to the guests of the hotel. We start with the Spring White Bean Soup.

Tasty, with fresh, crisp vegetables. Next, the main event, an Angus New York Strip, cooked to tender perfection!

We finish with Beignets, with a carmel bourbon dipping sauce.

An Excellent meal, leaving me stuffed! Count on a friendly, attentive staff. However, it ain't cheap! to spend a pretty penny for your dining experience. If you don't mind dropping some coin for a great meal, definitely try The Bourbon Steak Restaurant if you find yourself in San Francisco.

Fox and Parrot British Pub

At the Midpoint of our trip, We wanted something a little different for Dinner. We decided upon the Fox and Parrot British Pub, located in the Arts and Crafts Trail, near Gatlinburg. It has a wide selection of British and Irish Beers, in a pub type atmosphere, complete with a dartboard, with Bennie Hill and Monty Python videos playing in the background. The menu is what you would expect, including Shepard's Pie (pictured). The pub is on the second floor, the building was built by the Owner himself. It's location is a little out of the way, which is good if you're wanting away from the crowds of downtown Gatlinburg. The pub is dog friendly, so you can bring your pet along. If you are wanting something a little different from the hectic downtown area, The Fox and Parrot British Pub is a nice change.

Finally Home and Happy Easter!

After six states and about 10 hours on the road we finally made it home yesterday afternoon.

Today is Easter, and after eating out all week, the last thing we wanted to do was to go out.  Fortunately, we were pretty well stocked, and Tammy and Sarah made homemade noodles to go with Ham, a nice Carrot and raisin salad, and peas. Dessert was homemade Clafoutis (see picture above).  It was excellent homemade comfort food, and we were able to enjoy Easter at home together.

I hope everyone out there were able to do the same!

Well, tomorrow it is back to work, and time to watch the calories. 

Stay tuned.......

Last Night in Savannah

Today was our last full day in Savannah before heading back to Gallia County tomorrow. We spent the day, much as yesterday, touring some historic Savannah homes, and taking in the local history museum.

Lunch was down near the River area, at The Shrimp Factory. Little to no wait, friendly staff, and a tasty local beer call Fat Tire. Awesome crab cakes and shrimp. Then it was off walking once again.

Lunch really stuck with us, and we wanted something less rich for dinner. We decided on some simple Pizza. We went to a place called "Your Pie". While it's a chain, it's unique that they make your pizza and add your toppings in front of you, much like Subway. I had cheese and mushrooms, Tammy had cheese and olives. They also have Gelato, if you want dessert.

Finally, Huey's on the River. We read their reviews on other food sites, and wanted to try the Beignets. We arrived, and were told it was a 20 to 25 minute wait by the rather disinterested hostess. We told her we just wanted Beignets, and were directed to talk to Mike or Joe. (We don't know who they are!) Finally Tammy went to the Bar and ordered for us. We at last received our order and went outside by the river. They were Ok, nothing special...not really worth the wait or aggravation.

Overall, Savannah was interesting, either very good, or very poor, (food wise) A unique place to explore, full of history. We're not sure if or when we'll come back, but there would be more to see that we missed this time around.

Tomorrow, we pack up early, and hit the road back to Ohio. See you there!

Tea and Beer

Today was devoted to walking around the historic district of Savannah. The day was nice and sunny, and the temperatures were a little warmer, less chilling wind. We retraced our trolley tour, but with walking, we could really take our time and take everything in. After much walking, came hunger. Tammy and I decided upon the Gryphon Tea Room. The Gryphon Tea Room specializes in Breakfast/Brunch, Tea, and Baked goods. We loved the book-lined dining area. The wait staff are students from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Our server was a Photography Student. We had a pot of Vanilla Tea, now I'm generally a Coffee drinker, but I really enjoyed sharing a pot of this Vanilla Tea with Tammy. The salad was fresh and tasty, with fresh romaine, raisins, and pears, with a light breaded, fried, goat cheese (see above). This was a totally different lunch experience from yesterday. We decided to finish the day at Molly MacPherson's Scottish Pub, in the City Market district. A nice Scottish Ale, Scottish hard boiled eggs, and a nice burger, filled out our day.

Tomorrow will be our last full day in Savannah. We hope to go out on the water on a dolphin cruise. Maybe some seafood might be appropriate?

A Mixed Bag.......

Our first full day in Savannah was spent touring the city. We brought an all day pass on one of the trolley tours, where we could get on and off at various stops in the historic district.

We started our day at breakfast at the hotel, and the less said about that, the better. The tour had passed by a place called the Pirates House, a restaurant highly praised by the driver of our trolley at that time. It's claim to fame was the historic building, one of the oldest in Savannah. Also at one point in time actual pirates used the place in the 18th Century. Greeting us as we went inside is a bar, and we were led though a maze of rooms to our table. The first sign of trouble was the kids wearing paper pirate hats. We should have bolted right then and there. Our order was a lunch soup, salad, sandwich combo. The She Crab soup was ok, maybe a little salty. The lettuce salad and chicken salad sandwich was strictly cafeteria quality. Unfortunately Tammy's salad contained an inch long black hair. Nausea does not really add much to the dining experience, if you ask me. At that point our lunch was over. They took her plate back and the manager came and apologized, and took her meal off the bill, and we made a quick exit. This was definitely a tourist place, and it showed. We were done with Pirates.

Tammy and I continued our exploration of Savannah. We soon came across Leopold's Ice Cream, on Broughton St. Leopold's had a line outside the door, but we lined up and were treated to a very nice grade of quality ice cream. Quite enjoyable, and a welcome change from hairy pirates.

At the end of our day, We decided we wanted something simple. We decided on Vinnie Van Go-Go's, a pizza place on Bryan street, which is in the City Market area. It was simple, and really close to the hotel. The place had atmosphere, but I'm not sure when it was last inspected by the health department or the fire department. The Pizza, however, was quite good, with a nice thin crust, and not greasy.

Our day done, we retreated to the hotel. Tomorrow were will drive outside downtown Savannah to Tybee Island. I just hope there are no pirates there....

Last Night in Charleston: Circa 1886

Monday was our last night in Charleston, and our 30th wedding anniversary. We really wanted to find someplace special. After a bit of online research, we decided on Circa 1886. We were able to find the menu online

We made our reservations via opentable.com, which is a quick and free way to make reservations online.

We made our way there a little early, which was a good idea, as we had a bit of a problem finding the off site parking area. If you go there, and not familiar with the area, I recommend calling ahead to make sure you can find the parking area.

We told our concierge at our Inn that it was out 30th anniversary, and they apparently let the restaurant know this, and congratulated us when we got there, which was a pleasant surprise!

This restaurant, is what you would expect for fine dining establishment. The service was attentive, the wait staff cheerful and helpful.

We started with Foie Gras as an appetizer, and it was cooked perfectly. Tammy had the Antelope with White Cheddar Grits. While the Antelope was a little tough, it was cooked and seasoned well, and they elevated grits to a new level.

I had the Bison Short ribs, which were tender, with a very deep, rich, meaty flavor. It paired well with the Pinot Noir I choose for my wine.

My dessert was the Butter Pecan Creme Brûlée with Firefly Bourbon Cake. Tammy had Crispy Pear Bread Pudding with Aged Cheddar Ice Cream. The ice cream was a little gritty texture, but delicious and unique flavor

Overall it was a experience worthy of an anniversary dinner, and a good way to finish up our Charleston stay. We would definitely stop there again. The next stop on our journey, Savannah Georgia.

Magnolia's of Charleston, South Carolina

Magnolia's is a staple of the Charleston Culinary scene, and it did not disappoint. The appetizer was a Pimento Cheese spread. It made me rethink the concept of Pimento Cheese, and had no relation to the stuff you buy in a jar. I then had the Seafood and grits. It was cooked perfectly, and the grits were warm, creamy, and complemented the seafood. Tammy had Blue Crab Eggs Benedict, Fantastic. We showed up for Brunch, but you will want to make reservations if you come for dinner. We highly recommend Magnolia's if you want to eat in Charleston.

Resturant reviews. Fair or not?

On a recent episode of ABC,s "The Chew", Co-Hosts Mario Batali, and Guest Chief Josh Capon discussed Restaurant secrets. http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/episodes/March-19-2013

Part of this discussion centered on online restaurant reviews. It was apparent that Mario and Josh were not fans of online review sites, even mocking some of their negative reviews, reading them to music.

So, do they have a point?  Should we ignore online restaurant reviews?  Granted there are trolls out there who love to criticize just to criticize.  But I'm thinking they do have a place.  There have always Restaurant critics, but in today's world we all can be food critics (myself included).

Whenever we go to a new city or location, we scout out common sites such as Urban Spoon  urbanspoon.com  tripadvisor.com, among others. If your checking a place out, try to read as may different reviews on and many different sites as possible.  Everyplace will have a negative review, but as you go through them, you may be able to see common threads, such as service, wait times, and food quality.  If the reviews are consistently bad, then it's time to move on to another restaurant.

We're hoping to leave on a little early spring break, going to Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, and not doubt, we are going to try, what we think, and going to be some great places to eat.  And yes, We _will_ be reviewing them online for your reading pleasure.

Sorry Mario!