A Trip to Italy

A few weeks ago my hubby and I spent two weeks in Italy. Needless to say, a great time. We decided to make our base in Florence (Firenze). A bit unconventional, I'll admit, but we enjoy really exploring an area and it was so much easier to make travel arrangements via Travelocity.

We stayed at the Hotel Monna Lisa which provided a decent room, a fabulous courtyard that sprung out for Spring, and served a buffet breakfast (included). Everyone spoke excellent English and taxis arrived 5 minutes after being summoned. I particularly enjoyed getting a pot of coffee and a pot of steamed milk every morning and making my own lattes.



Entrace from a tiny narrow street called Borgo Pinti




Painted ceiling at the entrace of Hotel Monna Lisa




Breakfast Room




Our room





Courtyard in bloom




Building bordering courtyard (enhanced)




Courtyard and view from our room window



We walked a great deal; climbed numerous stairs; took day trips to Pisa, Siena, and Cinque Terre; ate pizza, pasta, and grilled meats (among other things); and discovered new adult beverages such as Amari and Caffe Corretto.

Over the new few posts, I'll break out the trip by location.

Ciao!

Seasonal Pizza at Tastebuds American Bistro

Last night we walked over to Tastebuds American Bistro for dinner. We arrived early, which was good since we had no reservations and the place filled quickly after we sat down. We chatted with Patty, our favorite waitress about our recent trip to Italy (write up forthcoming). Since we walked, cocktails were ordered - both whiskey-based. Appetizers of duck-leek spring rolls and sweet potato gnocchi with pancetta and apple were consumed with gusto. And the last bottle of Duckhorn Decoy opened at our table.

For the entree, we shared the seasonal pizza special: Prosciutto, Arugula, Pear, Fontina & Riesling Reduction on a thin crust. Very interesting and tasty combination. Salty, bitter, sweet, and cream hit the palate all at once. Hubby said the riesling reduction became too sweet after a while, but I thought the pie held its balance. And once again, it shows the creative talent of the kitchen.

For dessert - espresso ice cream and chocolate ganache cake with Warre's Warrior Port. Mmmm!

An Unusual Treat

Arugula Ice Cream a photo by pjpink on Flickr.

Arugula ice cream. Served as an amuse bouche at Tastebuds American Bistro a few weeks ago. One in our party detested it; another, indifferent; hubby and I thought it was inventive and it did indeed taste like arugula.

A Suicide Mimosa

A Suicide Mimosa a photo by pjpink on Flickr.

Last week we stopped by 821 Bakery Cafe for Suicide Mimosas (Cook's sparkling with a splash of OJ) and subs. Loved the fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, and basil. Great for a Spring-like day in March.

Brunch at Ettamae's Cafe

DSC_0279, originally uploaded by pjpink.

Eggs benedict with country sausage replacing the ham. Yummy! And warm enough to eat outside on the balcony.

At Last

All of you told me I had to try it. I kept promising to go and just never made it. On Friday hubby wanted to go eat somewhere else, and I put my foot down and said "NO! I want to go to Aziza's!" When I am in this mood, he agrees to whatever I say. So, we went to Aziza's on Main.

We arrived fairly earlier and surprisingly, they were not busy. Although the kitchen was at work as we approached and the wood fired brick oven was ablaze.

We experienced friendly service from the entire staff and began with a bottle of Napa Cellars Zinfandel. Very drinkable and a good choice for dinner.

The wine selection offered a reasonable variety at reasonable prices. If we had been in the mood to splurge we would have had a tough time deciding amongst the three high end red choices. While pricey, all were a bargain in the restaurant arena.

The small plates and entrees were tempting, but we needed to try the pizza. Aziza's offers both the red and white variety (10 inches in diameter) with a multitude of combinations or we could build our own. We decided to do a bit of both. We got the pepperoni and roasted red peppers with red sauce and cow mozzarella and added hot sausage. Tasty! And we loved the crust!!

We also ordered white pizza with garlic, fontina, chile, and oregano and added salt packed capers. The crust on this gem was even better, but the capers did make the pie extremely salty.

We munched and imbibed and exclaimed how good everything was and generally stuffed ourselves. We had no room for dessert. But we had drooled over the chocolate toffee cake and the cream puffs while we waited for our meal to arrive. We did what any sensible couple would do; we got dessert to go. And much later in the evening at home, the desserts were delightful accompanied by a glass of port.

Lovely evening, lovely restaurant, lovely wine, lovely pizza. And affordable prices. I should have listened to all of you and dined here sooner.

Yum Yum Good

Last weekend we attended an incredible Chablis tasting at J. Emerson and then jaunted over to Patterson to enjoy Chinese food at Yum Yum Good. This tiny place has been around for years, and continues to serve up decent and inexpensive meals. A few tables were occupied, but most of the traffic came from take out.

We began with Wonton Soup

and a Spring Roll

Both tasty. The soup was very welcome on this chilly, windy evening.

For the main couse we ordered General Tao's Chicken

and an evening special of Chicken and String Beans

The General Tao's was what one would expect, but the breading was crispier than most places around here and a few peppers and baby corn graced the sauce. The special was very good. The string beans were steamed and then fiercely sauteed. A few tree ears were also tossed in. All of the plates had been kept very warm, thus, keeping the food warmer during the meal which I thought was a nice touch.

And our traditional fortune cookie contained a fortune in Spanish!

Nobody knows what he can do until he tries (translation courtesy of iGoogle).

All in all a quiet satisfactory evening.

A February South-er of the James Market

We returned to the winter version of SOJ yesterday to find several vendors including:

Snider Brothers Greenhouse Bus

Alfedo's Honey

Sullivan's Pond Farm featuring goat cheese and eggs

And Pizza Tonight with their mobile brick oven

Something New

At least for me. A couple of weeks ago we went to Acacia and ate at the bar (our favorite spot is the bar). While hubby indulged in a couple of craft cocktails, I was on the wagon this evening. (Sigh...)

Anyway, as I perused the menu, I decided to try something new. Keep in mind, I am not a fish fan and this was an incredibly bold step for me. I ordered the marinated white anchovies with wilted radicchio and romaine. What I had envisioned was a salad. What I received was art.

But a bit overwhelming with the multitude of little fishes. The bitterness of the radicchio with the vinaigrette and the anchovies paired very well together. Afterwards, however, I could really taste the fish. Anyone who likes fish would have drooled over this dish. And I ate every bit of it. But my flirtation with anchovies is over.

For the next course, I stuck to the small plate listing and ordered something that I knew would make me happy: Duck confit with roasted potatoes and butternut squash topped with an egg.

Oh so, so good. While I don't make this at home, I still consider it comfort food.

On this night we splurged on dessert: salted chocolate torte with chocolate ganache, carmelized banana, and brown butter ice cream.

Dreamy and delicious. The tiny addition of the salt made the sweet concoction even better. Hubby enjoyed it with a glass of tawny port.

PQ's BBQ

DSC_0915, originally uploaded by pjpink.

PQ's BBQ located on Midlothian Turnpike next to an antique mall. Not the best barbeque, but not too shabby. A decent place to go after watching my niece play basketball.

Saturday Brunch at Lulu's

After wandering down to Great Shiplock Park, we needed sustenance. We tried to visit Aziza's on Main. Alas, no lunch service on Saturday (one day I will eat at this place!). After looking at a few other places, we decided to head for Lulu's and were extremely pleased that they were serving brunch on Saturday.

We perused the menu and both ordered the same thing: Paco's Barnyard Romance - two chicken tamales, fried eggs, salsa verde. The tamales were nestled amid black beans and the over easy eggs covered fried potatoes.

SO GOOD! The egg yolks added decadent richness and the touch of salsa verde added the zing that put the dish over the top.

Korean Garden

On Friday we found ourselves south of the river and I insisted that we try Korean Garden. The last time I was in this building it was a Red Lobster (yes, I know, I'm showing my age). We arrived early to a nearly empty restaurant, but as the evening progressed more diners entered.

The menu offered Korean specialties as well as traditional Japanese dishes and sushi. But we came for the Korean dishes. Since we had a hard time deciding we ordered some steamed dumplings and hot tea to start. The dumpling wrappers were delicate and filled with beef. Our waitress, dressed in a traditional outfit of red and black, realized we still had problems deciding and suggested that we order Bul Gogi, one beef and one spicy pork. We readily agreed. Both dishes featured thinly sliced seasoned meat. With the Korean BBQ dishes a bevy of traditional side dishes accompany the meal as well as rice and lettuce leaves. To eat the meat, one takes a lettuce leaf, spreads a bit of flavorful paste on the leaf, adds a dollop of rice, and then some of the meat. Wrap the leaf around everything and consume. The lettuce was red leaf and of high quality - no bad spots or blemishes. Very delicious.

The side dishes were small but numerous and featured spicy hot, vinegary/sour, sweet, and salty as well as steamed eggs with a bit of green onion. My favorites were the radish in a sweet/sour vinegar, seaweed, noodles, and kimchi. Hubby liked the bean sprouts, the black beans, and the radish. Anchovy slivers were also served and we tried them, but they were not as appealing to us.

We were clumsy in making our wraps, but enjoyed the food and the different flavors immensely. The wait staff brought more lettuce as we continued to devour our meat. The meat portions were big with the side dishes being small and served family style.

A tasty evening. The little side dishes were the surprise of the evening and gave us a peek into the flavors of this cuisine. In the back of the building is a Korean market with a wide variety of items including big jars of kimchi.

Korean Garden
6827 Midlothian Tnpk
Richmond, VA

804.675.0511

Good Morning!

IMG_0056, originally uploaded by pjpink.

Still Life (detail) Elizabeth V. O. Paxton (American 20th century), The White Coffee Pot. Oil on canvas, from the Maryhill Museum of Art in Washington State, located in the Columbia River Gorge.

Dinner at Chez Foushee

Last Friday we were on the prowl for dinner. We had attended the ArtWorks 4th Friday. It was a bit late. We really wanted to go to Cafe Rustica, but they were packed. We jaunted up a bit further to check out Bistro 27. Closed for a private function (wow! on a Friday). We had recently dined at Tarrant's. As we trudged back to the car, we came across Chez Foushee. I knew this weekday lunch and catering establishment had begun opening for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, but I had no real interest. We had eaten lunch here many years ago and was not enthused. The hype outranked the substance. But tonight, it was cold and we were ready to eat and they had a table available.

First up, a Cava Cocktail: Canton Bamboo - crystallized ginger and cognac ginger liqueur. The ginger added that subtle heat for a cold winter night. So far, so good.

We ordered Pork and Shrimp Pot Stickers with Tonkatsu Sauce to enjoy with our ginger-enhanced cocktail. Great pairing. More pork-like than shrimp-like. I really liked the sauce.

The wine list was short, but reasonable. Nothing over $30 and all of the wine selections were available by the glass. We selected a Ferraton Côtes du Rhône.

For dinner hubby had the Grilled Salmon Steak with potato gnocchi, oregano vinaigrette,  and beet root coulis. Pretty grilled presentation and quite tasty. The potato gnocchi was the absolute bomb.

I, of course, had to order Braised Duck Shank with winter fruit compote and potato gnocchi. Fall off the bone duck with a spiced fruit sauce. I love duck and this dish was perfect for a cold winter evening. If I had been at home I would have picked up the bones and scarfed up all of the delightful meaty morsels that still had the tenacity to cling.

On this night Chez Foushee did not disappoint. I like the dining area with the bi-level dining spaces. Being in a older building also lends charm and character to the experience. They also offer a $25 prix fixe on Friday and Saturday nights.

Pot Rack!

DSC_0272, originally uploaded by pjpink.

In the forever continuing saga of kitchen renovation: pot rack installation. Williams Sonoma was having a sweet sale on this Eclune model.