Archive for the 'Southern' Category

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Fried Chicken Night at Ad Hoc – Yountville

Published by Gastronomer on March 11, 2011 in Napa Valley, New American, Restaurant Review and Southern. 14 Comments

Sometime last December, a brilliant idea came to me while I was procrastinating at work. I didn’t know how the logistics would unfold exactly, but I decided that my 29th birthday had to be celebrated over fried chicken at Ad Hoc. It’s been a dream of mine for quite sometime, and it was high time that it was turned into a reality.

After calling the restaurant and figuring out the schedule (fried chicken is only served for dinner every other Monday), a table was booked for February 21. And thus, my month-long birthday party culminated in Yountville at Ad Hoc’s fried chicken night. Dreams really do come true!

Ad Hoc has been one of my all-time favorite restaurants ever since The Astronomer and I brunched here nearly two years ago. The food, which has a deceptively simple and homey quality about it, is made with the finest ingredients and executed with precision. The restaurant serves a four-course menu five nights a week and a three-course brunch on Sunday. All meals are shared family style.

The Astronomer and I were joined by our friend Scott and his girlfriend Nandita for this hotly anticipated dinner. Scott, who produces wine in nearby St. Helena, was in charge of the evening’s libations. He chose a light and bright white from the Napa Valley—Massican “Annia.”

Fried chicken Monday, which is priced at $52 per person, started off like any other Ad Hoc meal, with bread from nearby Bouchon Bakery served with perfectly spreadable butter.

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Saw’s BBQ – Birmingham

Published by Gastronomer on January 16, 2011 in BBQ, Birmingham, Restaurant Review and Southern. 8 Comments

For our final restaurant outing of 2010, The Astronomer treated me to a meat fest of smoky proportions at Saw’s BBQ, a relative newcomer to the Birmingham barbecue scene. Joining us for the joyous occasion were select members of the Indian Springs School class of 2003.

The man behind Saw’s BBQ is Mike Wilson, a North Carolina native with a diverse culinary background. After graduating from Johnson & Wales University in Colorado, he returned home to work for Dean & Deluca. He found himself in Birmingham a few years later after scoring a cheffing position in the test kitchen of Cooking Light magazine.

Chef Wilson initially began experimenting with making sauces and smoking meat as a hobby. After sharing his North Carolina-inspired creations with coworkers at Cooking Light, word quickly spread throughout the local food community, and demand for his sauce and meats caught fire.

Opened in 2009, Saw’s BBQ is a tribute to the great North Carolina barbecue tradition that the chef grew up eating. By the way, “Saw” is an acronym for “Sorry Ass Wilson,” the chef’s not-so-pleasant high school nickname.

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Hungry Mother – Boston (Cambridge)

Published by Gastronomer on October 10, 2010 in Boston, Restaurant Review and Southern. 6 Comments

Hungry Mother is just about the coolest restaurant name I’ve ever come across. Even though I know it’s in reference to a Virginia state park, a part of me still wishes that it were a shortened expression for “hungry like a mother effer!” Alas, it can only be so in my heart…

I was sent to this Cambridge gem by three trusty sources: my brother, Evelina, and GQ magazine. Opened in March 2008, Hungry Mother serves southern cuisine with an Appalachian bent. Employing local New England ingredients, chef and co-owner Barry Maiden (L’Espalier and Lumière) prepares the homey dishes of his youth using French techniques mastered from years working in fine dining restaurants. The premise of Hungry Mother reminded The Astronomer and me of a less formal and hipper version of Highlands Bar & Grill, our favorite restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama. We were joined for dinner by our friend Matt and sister Rosalind.

We were seated at a table in the bar area because I foolishly made an OpenTable reservation for the week after our trip. The host was incredibly nice about my absent minded move and managed to fit us in even though the restaurant was fully booked. It was really fantastic that he took good care of us even though it was totally my mistake. [By the way, according to Matt, a Boston resident, the service here is heads and shoulders above the rest of the city.]

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Art and Soul – Washington D.C.

Published by Gastronomer on August 24, 2010 in Media Event (this meal was free), Restaurant Review, Southern and Washington D.C.. 12 Comments

Earlier this month, I traveled to our nation’s capital on a culinary press trip courtesy of Destination D.C. and Foodbuzz. Joining me were two other Foodbuzz publishers (Olga of Mango Tomato and Joseph of Gastronomer’s Guide), as well as five veteran food and travel writers from across the country. Our weekend in D.C. took us to some of the city’s most talked about restaurants, and also included a few stops off the beaten path. It was a food tour of a lifetime, and let me tell you, D.C. is delicious. There truly is no better way to explore a city than by breaking bread all across town.

Our excursion began at the Liaison Hotel on Capitol Hill, which served as our group’s swanky home base for the duration of the trip. After checking in and unpacking a bit, it was time to head downstairs to Art and Soul for dinner.

Chef and co-owner Art Smith arrived in D.C. following the success of his restaurant Table Fifty-Two in Chicago and a decade-long stint as Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef. Although he is not a full-time Washingtonian, he spends a few weeks here each month making sure that all is perfect at Art and Soul. We were very fortunate to have him join us for cocktails and dinner.

The restaurant’s menu is a blend of Chef Smith’s Southern cooking heritage and the Atlantic region’s finest ingredients. Before sitting down for a full-on feast, we indulged in a parade of small bites. My favorite of the bunch was the mini smoked salmon hoecakes. According to the menu, hoecakes are “cornmeal flatbreads traditionally cooked after a hard day’s work.” Topped with house-cured salmon, caviar, dill crème fraiche, and caper berries, the hoecakes’ flavors were familiar and immensely satisfying.

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Frank Stitt’s Creamy Grits

Published by Gastronomer on January 7, 2010 in Recipe, Side Dish, Southern, Vegetarian and Vegetarian. 15 Comments

Trips down to Alabama always seem to inspire me to prepare Southern comfort foods upon my return. The last time I traveled to Birmingham, I came home with a killer hankering for old fashioned cornbread. This time around, I had creamy grits on the brain. Fortunately, I received a package of yellow stone-ground grits in my Christmas stocking! McEwen & Sons of Wilsonville manufacture The Astronomer’s mother’s favorite variety; their wares are available for purchase online.

I turned to Frank Stitt’s Southern Table for a proper grits recipe. The grits served at his temple of haute Southern cuisine, Highlands Bar & Grill, are creamy, impeccably seasoned, and pair well everything from shrimp to venison. For me, a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano was all that was required for some serious satisfaction.

4 cups water, preferably spring water
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 cup yellow stone-ground grits
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, or a little more if desired, at room temperature
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese, plus more if desired
Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper
Hot sauce, such as Tabasco or Cholula

In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt, then whisk in the grits in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly to prevent clumps and thoroughly mix in the grits. Bring to a boil whisking, then turn the heat down to low and summer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the grits are thickened and tender.

Add the butter and Parmigiano, stirring to combine, and add the salt, white pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Taste and add more butter, cheese, and/or salt if desired. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.