May 26th, we left about 3 hours later than expected, and who knew you could stuff an RV that full of "just in case" stuff! We overnighted at a truck stop in Kentucky, a less-than-restful experience. What they don't tell you in all the RV books is that you are surrounded by the constant, dull roar of idling diesel engines, the harrowing sight of opening a curtain and seeing a truck backing up crookedly into the space next to yours, and stoppng about 8 inches from your head, or how early everyone else's day starts. Our only culinary excursion was into a McDonalds for supper in North Carolina.
We headed for the Creation Museum in the morning and had cold cereal on the run. There is definitely something to be said for bringing your kitchen and dining room with you!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Weekend in Gatlinburg
Mother's Day weekend we went to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, Tn area to take the RV for a mini test vacation. The noteworthy places we ate were: Dixie Stampede, The Apple Barn, and the Bear Creek Grill.
The Dixie Stampede is a great place to take the family for a fun evening. They also have a location near Myrtle Beach, SC now. Where else can you eat with your hands in the dark while horses go thundering past? The best part of the meal in my opinion is the creamy vegetable soup they start with. The flavor is fabulous. A whole chicken, a slice of pork, a slice of roasted potatoe, and corn on the cob followed, with an oversized fresh warm apple turnover to finish. You can choose between sweet tea, Pepsi, or water to drink. Sophia's eyes got as big as saucers when the stage slowly dropped with the "princesses" singing in sparkly dresses. They now sell their soup mix in the gift shop, so we can recreate the most flavorful part of our experience at home. Yum!
The AppleBarn Cider Mill and General Store is an apple orchard on a hill by a river that has grown into two restaurants, a winery, an apple-themed gift shop, a Christmas shop, a homemade candy store, and an ice cream shop. I ordered the farmhouse trio which turned out to be three of their best-selling chicken dishes-fried chicken, chicken pot pie, and chicken and dumplings. Lunch was served with real, creamy mashed potatoes and fresh corn. The best thing on the menu in my opinion are the apple fritters with apple butter that are served as you wait for your entree. The apple butter was spiced with cinnamon and orange zest, which gave it a wonderful depth of flavor.
The Bear Creek Grill was an interesting place we pulled into for dinner on our way out of Gatlinburg. It is an old wooden building on stilts over a creek. Water runs off of the metal roof, creating a cascading waterfall in front of the windows. It used to be the Old Mill Trout Farm, and trout is still their specialty. Joel ordered the crab-stuffed trout, which was delicious. My fried catfish was classic, but not especially noteworthy. The coleslaw was extremely bland, tasting like sawdust flavored with a little onion and vinegar. The hush puppies were dense and heavy. The crunch on the outside was good with just a hint at sweetness. The best part of the meal was their starter salad: fresh mixed greens with green olives, julienned carrots, purple cabbage, cucumber, shredded cheese, a couple of slices of red onion, and cherry tomatoes. The restaurant was an interesting study in contrasts: high end mountain folks, shorts and jeans in a semi-formal setting, good quality service to noisy customer groups. The setting was definitely more memorable than the food.
The Dixie Stampede is a great place to take the family for a fun evening. They also have a location near Myrtle Beach, SC now. Where else can you eat with your hands in the dark while horses go thundering past? The best part of the meal in my opinion is the creamy vegetable soup they start with. The flavor is fabulous. A whole chicken, a slice of pork, a slice of roasted potatoe, and corn on the cob followed, with an oversized fresh warm apple turnover to finish. You can choose between sweet tea, Pepsi, or water to drink. Sophia's eyes got as big as saucers when the stage slowly dropped with the "princesses" singing in sparkly dresses. They now sell their soup mix in the gift shop, so we can recreate the most flavorful part of our experience at home. Yum!
The AppleBarn Cider Mill and General Store is an apple orchard on a hill by a river that has grown into two restaurants, a winery, an apple-themed gift shop, a Christmas shop, a homemade candy store, and an ice cream shop. I ordered the farmhouse trio which turned out to be three of their best-selling chicken dishes-fried chicken, chicken pot pie, and chicken and dumplings. Lunch was served with real, creamy mashed potatoes and fresh corn. The best thing on the menu in my opinion are the apple fritters with apple butter that are served as you wait for your entree. The apple butter was spiced with cinnamon and orange zest, which gave it a wonderful depth of flavor.
The Bear Creek Grill was an interesting place we pulled into for dinner on our way out of Gatlinburg. It is an old wooden building on stilts over a creek. Water runs off of the metal roof, creating a cascading waterfall in front of the windows. It used to be the Old Mill Trout Farm, and trout is still their specialty. Joel ordered the crab-stuffed trout, which was delicious. My fried catfish was classic, but not especially noteworthy. The coleslaw was extremely bland, tasting like sawdust flavored with a little onion and vinegar. The hush puppies were dense and heavy. The crunch on the outside was good with just a hint at sweetness. The best part of the meal was their starter salad: fresh mixed greens with green olives, julienned carrots, purple cabbage, cucumber, shredded cheese, a couple of slices of red onion, and cherry tomatoes. The restaurant was an interesting study in contrasts: high end mountain folks, shorts and jeans in a semi-formal setting, good quality service to noisy customer groups. The setting was definitely more memorable than the food.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Pasta Imperfect
Last week, I visited a new restaurant on 291 headed out toward Cherrydale. There is a new shopping center being finished that includes a Japanese hibachi grill and a "Mex-Mex" place. The eatery I visited is called Brioso Fresh Pasta, with a "next door" wine bar named Brioso Vino. They were surprisingly busy for a Monday evening dinner. They have an interesting system that has a few details to work out as they experience growing pains.
The plan is to order at the counter as you enter, then find your own seat. I waited almost 10 minutes in line to order, some of that time being spent outside and in the open doorway because there is very little waiting area around the front counter. That was fine for the balmy, breezy evening we were enjoying, but definitely won't work in wet, cold, or hot and muggy weather.
The wait time did give me a chance to look over the menu. With their system, you choose a pasta and a sauce from a generous list of each. Their pastas are hand made. Sauce and pasta are priced at $5 each, so a complete dish is $10, with appetizers and desserts priced in the same range.
When I got to the counter, I ordered the day's special ravioli, but they were out. My second choice was spinach Gemelli, a twisty pasta (pronounced jem-elli), with their Aragosta sauce, a lobster/shallot cream sauce. I also ordered a sweet tea and a fresh strawberry crepe for dessert. My total cost before tip was about $17.
When you are done ordering, they give you a fresh pepper grinder to take to your table with you. The atmosphere and decor are very Italian--rustic wood tables with red chairs, warm mustard yellow on the walls, open windows with wooden shutters looking into the wine bar area. A half wall separates the kitchen and dining room. The room does tend to get loud as conversations start humming.
I found a seat, and a waittress quickly brought me a glass of ice water, a basket of rosemary sourdough bread with butter, and a wine bottle, minus the label, full of water. When my tea got to me, it had a peach flavor and was very watered down. I found out later that the unsweet tea has a peach flavor, so either I got unsweetened tea, or they made the sweet tea in the wrong urn. Either way, the tea was very watery.
I waited for about 20 minutes for my meal. When the food arrived, it came in a generous bowl and I could smell the lobster in the steam. I have never before found lobster I liked, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I encountered the small chunks in the sauce, as they were sweet and toothsome. Unfortunately, I searched in vain for shallots, or any other flavor, in the cream sauce. The pasta was as fresh as advertised. (They do have a gluten-free version of the Gemelli.)
The best part of the meal came in the form of a folded crepe stuffed with warm strawberries and topped with creme frache......and, oh, the wonderful warm and oozing surprise when I got a mouthful of melted semisweet chocolate that was hiding behind the strawberries! Hooray for chocolate!!
I am definitely going back to try more combinations, and ravioli is at the top of my list.
Overall: fun atmosphere, family-friendly.
Cost: reasonable to moderately expensive.
Dessert: definitely!
If you go, please share your experience with me.
The plan is to order at the counter as you enter, then find your own seat. I waited almost 10 minutes in line to order, some of that time being spent outside and in the open doorway because there is very little waiting area around the front counter. That was fine for the balmy, breezy evening we were enjoying, but definitely won't work in wet, cold, or hot and muggy weather.
The wait time did give me a chance to look over the menu. With their system, you choose a pasta and a sauce from a generous list of each. Their pastas are hand made. Sauce and pasta are priced at $5 each, so a complete dish is $10, with appetizers and desserts priced in the same range.
When I got to the counter, I ordered the day's special ravioli, but they were out. My second choice was spinach Gemelli, a twisty pasta (pronounced jem-elli), with their Aragosta sauce, a lobster/shallot cream sauce. I also ordered a sweet tea and a fresh strawberry crepe for dessert. My total cost before tip was about $17.
When you are done ordering, they give you a fresh pepper grinder to take to your table with you. The atmosphere and decor are very Italian--rustic wood tables with red chairs, warm mustard yellow on the walls, open windows with wooden shutters looking into the wine bar area. A half wall separates the kitchen and dining room. The room does tend to get loud as conversations start humming.
I found a seat, and a waittress quickly brought me a glass of ice water, a basket of rosemary sourdough bread with butter, and a wine bottle, minus the label, full of water. When my tea got to me, it had a peach flavor and was very watered down. I found out later that the unsweet tea has a peach flavor, so either I got unsweetened tea, or they made the sweet tea in the wrong urn. Either way, the tea was very watery.
I waited for about 20 minutes for my meal. When the food arrived, it came in a generous bowl and I could smell the lobster in the steam. I have never before found lobster I liked, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I encountered the small chunks in the sauce, as they were sweet and toothsome. Unfortunately, I searched in vain for shallots, or any other flavor, in the cream sauce. The pasta was as fresh as advertised. (They do have a gluten-free version of the Gemelli.)
The best part of the meal came in the form of a folded crepe stuffed with warm strawberries and topped with creme frache......and, oh, the wonderful warm and oozing surprise when I got a mouthful of melted semisweet chocolate that was hiding behind the strawberries! Hooray for chocolate!!
I am definitely going back to try more combinations, and ravioli is at the top of my list.
Overall: fun atmosphere, family-friendly.
Cost: reasonable to moderately expensive.
Dessert: definitely!
If you go, please share your experience with me.
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