Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The Path Toward Darkness

Tribeca Tavern is about three miles from our house. I drive by there every day but had never been until my new book club met there last month. I expected a boring bar & grill type place, but the menu was really interesting and everyone's food looked (and, they said, tasted) terrific. So last week I made Ben go there.

Now we are hooked. And it's all the pulled pork nachos' fault.

Last week we were starving so we ordered the small nachos to start.


I got the fried green tomato BLT for my entree but could only eat half. Fortunately Ben finished it off for me.


After he ate his fish & chips.


Okay. That was last Thursday. Then we had to go there again last night for more nachos. This time we ordered the large and then split a salad afterward. (We also sat at a table with much better lighting.)


So the issue now is that we are obsessed with pulled pork nachos, to the point where right now I have pulled pork in the crockpot at my house. You guys!! This is crossing a serious line. I feel sad. But also hungry for nachos.

The only perplexing thing about Tribeca Tavern is that the music is absolutely hideous and very loud. Last week it was 80s power ballads and soft rock a la Michael Bolton and Richard Marx, and last night it was the same sort of songs, except focusing on the mid 90s. It is very, very bad. I might write them a letter. Nevertheless, I'm pretty certain this is going to become our new neighborhood spot since our previous favorite closed last winter. Nachoooooooos!

Friday, September 13, 2013

Babylon

Since for some reason we have both become comfortable with eating whatever we want lately, we've been able to try out a lot more restaurants that have been off limits the last several years due to avoiding animal products. Sorry, animals!  I am trying not too be too hard on myself because I am 36 and have so far gone through 3 extended periods of vegetarianism in my adult life, so I know I'll probably be back there someday. Right now, for whatever reason, I just don't feel like dealing with it.

So last week we went to Babylon. I had been there once with book club but Ben had never been. It's on the northern outskirts of downtown and has an amazing outdoor patio area.

Look at Benjamin's complicated shirt.


He ordered this salad to start with cucumbers and tomatoes and stuff.


I opted to just eat this free bread with herb butter.


For my entree I ordered the bison burger. I have never had bison that I can recall. It tasted pretty much like beef to me (although, it should be said, it's been years since I've had a beef burger so I can't be 100% sure). The bun was pita-esque, and the whole thing was smothered with cumin-scented onions and peppers. It was REALLY good.


Ben is a high roller and ordered the petite filet mignon, which he also very much enjoyed.


Here is the patio after dark.


This is really a great spot and we will be back for sure. It's amazing that it's right off Capital Blvd but really quiet and secluded, and has a huge free parking lot, a definite plus for downtown Raleigh.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Stuff

Nothing too exciting here, but I made Guatita again last week (recipe: Viva Vegan), a peanut butter stew with chickpeas & potatoes, but this time topped it with avocado, cilantro, and pickled red onions. It was a good call.  Pickled red onions are one of my top discoveries of 2013 and they are so easy - I just marinate onions in red wine vinegar and a little sugar and they are ready in an hour but keep for weeks.


Ben and Todd also had a photoshoot at an old school Raleigh restaurant downtown, Mecca, for their band. The whole thing was pretty awesome. This photo makes me wish Ben was on facebook, because this would be a perfect cover photo!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Little Hen

To celebrate our 11th anniversary last weekend, we went out to dinner at Little Hen, a farm-to-table restaurant in Holly Springs that has been getting a lot of attention over the past year. It was an awesome meal!

Ben started with the grilled peach.

and I got the charred beets, which were served with goat cheese, bacon, jalapenos & a chile puree.  It was spicy!  I thought the round ball was a hush puppy but it is actually a perfectly breaded and fried ball of goat cheese.


Ben also insisted on ordering griddle bread with herb butter. I always feel like this sort of thing is kind of lost on me, as I really am not a bread person at all, but this was amazing. Maybe the best part of the meal!


I ordered the gnocchi with beans and tomatoes for my entree. This dish was totally made by the tomatoes, which bear absolutely no resemblance to what you find in a grocery store. They were so flavorful! 


Ben's entree was the hanger steak, which was (surprise!) also amazing. I had a couple of bites and the flavor was just incredible. You can really tell that this place puts a lot of work into choosing the freshest, highest quality products from local sources.


And here is a picture of our desserts - peanut butter cake with banana ice cream for me, peach crisp for Ben.


Little Hen was a great choice for our anniversary dinner! I will be highly recommending this place to a lot of people. It's kind of a hike for us, about 30 minutes away, but definitely worth the drive.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Warm Cabbage Salad with Yuca and Tofu Chicharones

We had a really good experience last week trying a new recipe from Viva Vegan, and as a result I tried to pick a few more from that book for this week's meals.  This one is a salad I've paged past a hundred times, which necessitates a trip to the Mexican grocery for frozen yuca (as the fresh stuff is a huge pain to deal with). However, the Mexican grocery is extremely convenient and there is no reason not to go there. We stopped by this morning and, for our reward, saw a car there in the parking lot with a homemade wooden spoiler, painted the same color as the car but all splintery and peeling. It was pretty awesome.

So anyway!  Here is this salad. The dressing was awesome, a mostly lime juice and olive oil with a touch of paprika.


After dinner Ben said, "Molly, that was SO GOOD."  YES.  It was. That Terry Hope Romero knows her food.