Friday, August 28, 2009

Delicious Destination: Savannah, Georgia

Scott and I traveled to Savannah in May to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary. Earlier in the Spring I had read a feature on Savannah in Southern Living . The brief article had everything planned for a romantic weekend getaway. So with Southern Living as our guide I booked our trip. We had a wonderful experience in Savannah and will let Southern Living be my travel guide again in the future. The hotel said we didn't need to rent a car since most things in the historical district are within walking distance and if they aren't then you can travel via trolley, horse drawn carriage, or pedi cab.

We left Houston Friday morning and arrived to Savannah early in the afternoon. We checked into the President’s Quarters and stayed the weekend in the Ronald Reagan suite. The hotel was originally two townhouses which were later converted into the cozy bed and breakfast. We were greeted with sweet Southern accents and told about the morning breakfast on the courtyard and afternoon happy hour. Since we had some time to pass before happy hour, we made our way a few blocks over to River Street.

River Street is your typical tourist trap that every city has...its kind of like The Strand in Galveston. There are tons of souvenir shops, some good people watching, and lots of casual and water themed restaurants. We stopped into the Shrimp Factory for an afternoon snack and to quench our thirst. I had a peach martini* which was divine and some sweet tea. I rarely have Sweet Tea because good sweet tea is usually only found in places like Georgia. For our snacks we had the Seafood Bisque:Creamy Seafood Broth with Crab, Shrimp and Fish, sauteed Onions & Celery and the Shrimp Fan-tail BBQ (Honey-laced Barbecue Sauce). The shrimp was overcooked, so based on that I would not return to Shrimp Factory.

After our stroll down River Street, we returned to our precious Inn to freshen up for Happy Hour and indulge in some savory appetizers and wine. They had a creamy spread made of pecans, peach preserves, cream cheese, and few other tasty items I cannot remember...I just know it was really yummy and my book club would have loved such a treat. After happy hour we freshened up again (thanks to the humidity) and made our way to dinner at the Olde Pink House.

The Olde Pink House does not have a website. I was extremely disappointed in this inconvenience when researching the trip, but once I arrived it was evident they didn't need a website. Several people had recommended we dine at The Olde Pink House so we had to go. We first made our way downstairs into the Tavern to a pre-dinner cocktail. Let me tell you they make a mean Strawberry Mojito*. Then we made our way upstairs for our meal. We started out with a glass of champagne to toast our 3 years of marriage together and then enjoyed the Gary Farrell Pinot Noir* for the remainder of our meal. Due to lack of menu online here is what I remember to the best of my ability. I won't go into too much detail other to say that this place was delicious and I highly recommend you dine here if you ever visit Savannah. At the end of our meal our waiter discovered it was our anniversary and brought out a plate of whipped cream and berries complete with a candle and some chocolate drizzle.

Appetizer: oysters with relishes
Soup: She Crab Soup*
Salad: BLT with fried green tomato*
Entrée: Pork Shank
Entrée: Crispy half duck
Dessert: chocolate torte*



Saturday we began our day with breakfast on the courtyard. It was some sort of croissant french toast stuffed with strawberries and cream cheese. Then we made our way down to River Street to hop on the Old Town Trolley Tours for a tour of Savannah. This is a great quick way to see the sights and learn some history. Also trolley tickets can be purchased with on/off privileges for the whole day so you can get around town without hurting your feet too much. Everyone has asked me why we didn't go to Paula Deen's The Lady & Sons when we were in Savannah--and I have several reasons for not going. 1. All of her recipes are on www.foodnetwork.com so I could make them myself and 2. You have to get there at 9AM the day of to put your name on the list and then wait an hour when you show up for your time. While we were touring on the trolley we noticed Il Pasticcio* and thought all of the sidewalk tables looked cute so we went there for lunch. I had the WARM PROSCUITTO AND GRUYERE CHEESE ON FOCCACIA and Scott the had the SLICED AHI TUNA W/WASABI AIOLI ON CIABATTA, both were delicious. And since were on vacation we each had a glass of the White Haven sauvignon blanc with our sandwiches.

We continued to spend the afternoon walking around the historical district and visiting places we passed on our tour. There were also quite a few antique shops that I browsed in. And I found a Christmas store so I bought an ornament of a crab to remember our trip every year.

The Southern Living article had highly recommended Noble Fare so we dined there on Saturday night. We traveled via Pedi Cab, and our "driver" was a nice young man who is a student at SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) and his girlfriend is from The Woodlands...what a small world. Anyway we had a fabulous dinner and I must say that the scallops were the best scallops I've ever had...they were cooked to perfection (however the ones at The Grove recently are a close second)

cocktail: basil ginger lemonade*
appetizer: soft shell crab
soup: Shrimp Bisque*
salad: baby greens with raspberry dressing candied pecans and goat cheese*
entrée: Swordfish with lobster mashed potatoes
entrée: Scallops with corn mashed potatoes*
dessert: strawberry crème brulee*
wine: Vinium Chenin Blanc Viognier

After dinner we returned to Il Pasticcio for some drinks before calling it a night. Il Pasticcio is part restaurant and part lounge so its a great place for an after dinner drink.

Sunday morning we enjoyed our final brunch of shrimp and grits on the courtyard. Then I spent some time on the balcony of our room reading my book. We had a quick lunch down street at Café Ambrosia and enjoyed a Grilled cheese Panini with Colby jack and a hummus tray complimented by pita, red bell pepper, carrots, celery, mushrooms. Then it was time to go to the airport and head back to reality.

* super delicious would definitely order again


Monday, August 17, 2009

Restaurant Review: The Grove

Scott and I joined some friends for dinner at The Grove on Friday night to participate in Houston Restaurant Week. We decided to use this opportunity to try something new. 3 courses for $35 per person with $10 of those dollars benefiting the Houston Food Bank. Their pre-fix menu had quite a few delicious options for each course. Everything sounded really yummy, but since I have 3 bathing suit trips in the next month I decided to order items that were light and summery. I have outlined several of the menu items our table enjoyed I didn't get to taste everything but what I did taste was excellent. I also enjoyed the openness of the restaurant and the view of Discovery Green. I am hoping to dine at The Grove again in the near future.


Cocktail:
Pomegranate Margarita
My friend Courtney had recommended the pomegranate margarita...this concoction was so delicious I ordered two of them. It had the perfect balance of tart and sweetness to get that yummy sourness without the mouth pucker.

1st Course:
Smoked Texas Quail Skewers
Pineapple Bourbon Dipping Sauce

I don't see quail on menus very often so I decided to indulge in this Texan delicacy and delicious it was.

The Grove Picnic Platter
Artisan Meats + Cheese + Pickles


Scott ordered the Picnic platter and he usually eats all of his food and at least half of mine, but I actually had to help him out there was so much to choose from. So I gladly helped myself to some prosciutto and cheese.

Fresh Fish Ceviche
Tropical Fruits + Chiles + Plantain Chips

Our friend ordered this and it was such a generous serving that I got to sample this too. It was very fresh, light, and had the perfect amount of citrus. I would order this for myself next time.

2nd Course:
Hand Rolled Fettuccine
Baja Scallops + Summer Corn + Basil

This dish reminds of one of my favorite summer recipes from Bon Appetite: Linguine with Summer Succotash. This is just a great balance of fresh and light flavors, a perfect summer dish.

Petit Filet
Grove Mashed Potatoes + Broccolini + Brasserie Butter


Our friend ordered the filet and enjoyed every bite and she said the mashed potatoes were particularly awesome. Had I not been watching my figure I would have been tempted by this dish too.

Colorado Lamb T-Bone
Braised Lamb Tamale + Mole Sauce

Scott ordered the lamb t-bone, most restaurants usually feature rib chops so it was good to see a different chop. He enjoyed every bite. Bobby Flay has a similar recipe in Mesa Grill cookbook that I will have to try at home soon.

3rd Course:
Frozen Lime Mousse
Ginger Snap Crust + Cherry Lime Compote

I love citrus desserts and the lime mouse tart was divine but it was so rich that I barely ate half of it. Maybe if I hadn't eaten so much during the 1st course I could have devoured it.

Chocolate Chess Pie
Whipped Cream + Shaved Chocolate


Everyone else ordered the chocolate chess pie but they also could not clean their plates. I heard it was really yummy but I didn't have any room in my belly for a sample.