Tell Good Stories…..

For Foodies, the wife and I don’t get out much.  When dining with the family, we lean to the inexpensive, family friendly:

• Armadillo Grill
• Jason’s Deli
• Five Guys
• Chick Fil A
• Jersey Mike’s
• Los Tres Vaqueros
• King’s Wok
• Sweet Tomatoes
• Amante Pizza
• Casalinga – not inexpensive, but the best Italian in town.

Wow, that list depresses me, but when you’re feeding 5, including a 12 year old that eats like he’s 16, it really needs to be inexpensive.

We generally try and stay away from “corporate” eating, despite the list above being more chain than small local.  The Rogers family will never darken the door of a Red Lobster or Olive Garden.  EVER.  Not as long as there is a Kemp’s Seafood or any small mom and pop Italian restaurant.

This past weekend, however, clearly shows the paradox being a food snob can present.  Friday night, we made a return to the Magnolia Grill for the wife’s birthday.  I will not do a repeat of that magnificent review from last year’s visit, but suffice it to say that it was a wonderful sacrifice to the culinary gods.  We need to solve the world hunger problem, and then we must figure out how to replace those round, red things in the grocery store with heirloom tomatoes.  Oh my lord!

Then there was our Sunday road trip.  When on the road to anywhere but the beach, we will eat at Cracker Barrel, a clear exception to our chain, corporate restaurant embargo.  I do despise the fact that there is as much gift shop as there is restaurant, but the food isn’t bad.  It’s actually pretty good.  It’s somewhat reassuring that within 5 exits on any interstate, there will be somewhere we can sit down and have a decent “meat and two”.  The Cracker Barrel has found a niche in that it is impossible to know of a mom and pop hole in the wall restaurant everywhere, and that’s why, when going to the beach, we only eat at Wilbur’s, McCalls, and the Meadow Village Restaurant – not Cracker Barrel.

We visited the depths of hell, however, Sunday night for dinner.  This trip was to take the oldest to Camp Cheerio Extreme (“Just 30 minutes past the middle of nowhere!”).  For the 2nd year, we’ve let our middle child choose where we ate dinner, and both years we’ve ended up at Streets of Southpoint, or the home of the corporate restaurant.  Last year it was Maggianos, but their fried cheese was “weird”, so it didn’t make the cut.  He chose the Cheesecake Factory.

What a god-awful attempt at mediocrity.  Their website claims “something for everyone”, which is the whole problem.  The 15-20 page menu has mexican, italian, american, chinese, and thai food.  PICK SOMETHING AND TRY AND DO IT WELL, instead of everything with mediocrity.

I would have been happier if the fish tacos had been bad, but they weren’t.  They were completely tasteless, even when covered in guacamole and salsa. Salt and Pepper didn’t help.  There was no saving them.

Of course, the place was packed the whole time we were there.  At least the cheesecake was good.

In which Jimmy shows the fat boy food geek that he truly is….

So the wife’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and while it wasn’t a total disaster, the fact that her favorit-est restaurant always closes the week of her special day might serve as sort of an indication.

Originally, our reservations were for Heron’s, the new restaurant at The Umstead striving for Five Star status.  It was decided however, that the old favorite (and more reasonable - the entrees would be $10-$15 less) needed a visit - it had been too long.

Having outfitted the Jeep with better armor plating than our soldiers have in Iraq, we ventured to Durham.

 If you’ve never been to this nationally recognized restaurant, it’s not what you would expect.  Outside, it’s located on the fringe of a residential section of Ninth Street, past the commercial part of the street.  If you’re not careful, it is really easy to drive past it.  You park on the street nearby, and you may have to circle the block just to get the best parking space, although the furthest space you’d need to park is not a problem at all.

Inside, it’s small, loud, and the tables are somewhat close together.  This is actually an asset, as it removes any pretense that a restaurant of this calibre may generate.  Our waitress, who we had a great time with over the course of our two hour meal, was a little late, as she was stuck with some Yankee tourists, asking all sorts of questions (”Where’s Duke?”, “What’s this barbecue thing everyone talks about?” and “We’re looking to move to Cary….”)  Her service was great.

As a rule, when Anne and I go to the Magnolia Grill, we sort of collaborate on our ordering - 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts.  We share tastes of each other’s, and have a little competition - “Who ordered best”.  It was kind of sad to see the couples on each side of us, obviously not married, order the same entrees.

For the appetizer course, I won, although it was very very close.  My appetizer:

“Gulfstream Red Snapper Ceviche with Roasted Chile Salsa, Crushed Guacamole, Charred Tomato & Tomatillo Sauces”

Oh. My. Lord.  You know when you were a kid, and it came down to the last day of vacation, and you were sad because it was all over. You might be able to understand how I was feeling at the end of the appetizer. The sauces added a great kick to the fish, and there were some sort of seeds (the wife said pumpkin, but they may have been sunflower) added a slight nutty flavor to it.  It’s going to be hard for the meal to not go downhill for me from here.

The Wife’s appetizer, however, made a solid run at mine:

“Peregrine Farm Heirloom Tomatoes with Basil Coulis, Shaved Romano, Frissee, Marinated Cucumbers & Lemon Basil Vinaigrette”

Harris Teeter - I’m embarrassed for you. State Farmers Market - you should be ashamed of yourself.  Some of the half slices of the 15 different varieties from the Peregrine Farm looked like tomatoes I’ve had before, but apparently, I’ve never tasted a tomato.  Each of the 15 varieties had a different flavor, consistency, or both.  Some were more acidic than others, some more firm - at least that was what Anne told me, as the shared bites were not as forthcoming as I would have liked.

After sopping up every bit of the sauce in the bottom of my appetizer plate (Anne did indicate that she would leave me if I picked the plate up and licked it clean - I did consider the possibility of her walking home, but thought the better of it) the entrees came:

Anne’s: “Grilled Alaskan Halibut “Nicoise” with Brown Butter Tapenade Vinaigrette, Cranberry Potatoes, Local Beans, Sungold Tomatoes, & Pickled Suntanas”

Mine: “BBQ Spice Rubbed Carolina Black Grouper in Gold Tomato Sauce with Orzo, Baby Butterbeans, Roasted Corn & Country Bacon”

This one came down purely to taste - I’m not a big fan of Tapenade, so I liked mine better, but Anne liked hers better.  With the tomato sauce and the country bacon, the dish was mildly acidic and salty. This is absolutely not a bad thing, and the dish was wonderful, but it didn’t sustain its greatness through the very end of the dish, which still came much too soon.  Both of the pieces of fish were perfectly cooked, and both entrees continued a great meal.

Desserts.  Surprisingly, for a fat boy, I’m not a big dessert eater.  There are two people in this world whose desserts I will eat whenever offered, and that is my wife’s and Karen Barker, whose desserts are nationally recognized.  The wife’s should be.

Anne won this one. Her “Lemon Chess Tart with Summer Berries & Whipped Cream” spanked my “Chocolate Chocolate Blackout Cake with Whipped Cream”.  This is not to say that the cake was not spectacular, just that the tart was that much better.

As the meal was over, after the damage had been tallied (3 glasses of wine, 2 beers, 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts), the bill paid (only $150.00, which I thought was extremely reasonable), I made a trip to the restroom prior to our return trip to the Capital City.  Right behind me enters Ben Barker, owner, Chef and James Beard Best Chef In The Southeast winner.

He pooted, and it smelled wonderfully.

Seriously, though, (he really didn’t poot), we are very fortunate here in the Triangle to have such a phenomenal restaurant, and I’m trying to figure out how soon we can head back.

The family and I went out for dinner last night at the new Chipotle Mexican Grill up the street from our house, our first time at this mexican chain restaurant (spun off from McDonalds - the purveyor of all that is wrong in fine dining).

It had two strikes against it before I walked in:

1. It’s not Armadillo Grill. This is my favorite Tex/Mex place in the world, and the restaurant that our family frequents most regularly. It’s inexpensive and feeds the family very well. The Queso is the best I’ve ever eaten. Unfortunately, there isn’t one near our house. It’s near work, and near our church, but if we’re at home, the options are limited.

2. It’s part of a huge chain, albeit one that proclaims it’s freshness and lack of chemicals - IT’S ORGANIC! WOOOO! Any chain, by its very nature, is not going to be as good as the local “mom & pop” or small local chain. That may be a personal bias, but I have never found an exception to this rule.

It did have one thing going for it prior to our arrival.

It’s not Moe’s. We would eat here when the Tex Mex addiction needed a fix, and we weren’t downtown or in Wake Forest.

Never again.

Our first impression was when we weren’t screamed at when we walked in the door “WELCOME TO CHIPOTLE”. Good thing.

The menu is limited. Very limited. Worrisome thing, but we’ll see.

There’s no queso? Uh oh.

We got burritos, the wife and I steak, oldest son, chicken. Surprisingly, they were very good. It’s all about the options - similar to Moe’s - you tell them how you want it (burrito, tacos, etc.) and what you want on it. That’s pretty much it. You buy chips as a side with your choice of 4 salsas or guacamole. The guacamole was very good.

The bottom line is this. It was good. It’s certainly no Armadillo Grill, but it is better than Moe’s, if for no other reason than they don’t well at you as you walk in. I think the meat used as filling may be better than the ‘Dillo’s, but the total package at the Armadillo Grill, with the phenomenal queso and chips, will keep me loyal to my favorite. For a quick fix, convenient to home, Chipotle will do just fine.