Crave It? I did!

Tucked into a small corner of our town, with hundreds of cars passing by each day, is the Crave It? Bakery and Cafe. At 2728 Wade Hampton Blvd., at the corner of East Lee and Wade Hampton, a gem of an eatery has appeared. The plain building facade belies the warmth, fun, and charm that greets you as you walk in the door. The decor sets the mood - the crossroads created by a stylish yet funky cupcake boutique and the warm hug of a hometown coffee shop. Several beautifully decorated display cakes add splashes of color.
The meat-and-three menu dishes out home cooking and the set menu offers some great food as well. My first meal there was a bacon cheeseburger with freshly-made sweet potato chips. It was the perfect medium-well burger and had that elusive perfectly charred crunch on the outside with juicy flavored goodness on the inside. We have been several times already, as it is solid food as well as being fairly easy on the budget. One staple on the meat-and-three menu is grandma's secret recipe coconut pie. Oh, man! There is nothing else to say--you have to try this pie!
One of my favorite things about this place is the fact that it is run and staffed by family. Everyone is a mother, daughter, sister, aunt, or cousin, and all are part of the reason it works. I am just waiting for them to adopt me so that I can be let in on the fabulous family secrets that go into their desserts!
These are the desserts of legend, the reason to get up in the morning! Cupcakes that melt in your mouth, buttery coconut pie, smooth, juicy peach dumplings-their take on peach cobbler, and a pumpkin roll that tastes like going home for an old-fashioned Christmas. As I write this, I am at the beach where crystal blue waters meet white sugar sand, and the musical sounds of a Jamaican band drift over me in the cool breeze....or...... it could just be that I have bitten into this week's cupcake, (beach umbrella included), a pina colada delight that makes me want to kick my shoes off and dig my toes into the sand.
This is definitely the place to go for a girl's day out, a business lunch with a sweet finish, or just a way to relax at the end of a long day. So, for whatever you crave that is made with love, this is the place!

It is an unseasonably warm evening and my friend and I are headed out for our annual birthday celebration together. Our restaurant of choice this year? Stella's Southern Bistro in Simpsonville. Since we had a reservation, we were taken directly to our table when we arrived at 7PM.
The decor is reminiscent of a coastal cottage. Soft blues on the wall with white trim, large mirrors reflecting light and space, and tastefully placed gold stars. Small blue glass lamps on the table set a relaxing mood.
As quickly as we sat down, a waiter arrived and filled our glasses with ice water. A simple, straightforward menu with a small daily special menu was the recipient of instant attention on our part. A warm roll wrapped in a small wicker basket kept us company as we deliberated over our choices. Our server was patient and well-informed and very likeable.
My friend ordered the daily special salad, a spring asparagus and pickled shrimp salad. Her entree was the special du jour flounder topped with crab and accompanied by baby green beans and rice.
My first choice was a Charleston crab soup, the Stella's sampler plate, and for my entree, since I couldn't decide, I asked the waittress to have the chef send out whatever he wanted to. That is my idea of adventure, and I must say, it turned out very well.
To avoid repeating "her" and "she" too much, I shall refer to my friend as "Susie" until I am sure she is OK with me blogging about her in such a public forum.
Susie's salad was a feast for the eyes. On a bed of locally grown baby bibb and romaine lettuces, were tender spears of asparagus, the first of the season. Perched on that was a pile of pickled shrimp, chopped egg, and over all was drizzled a sherry viniagrette. Now I know that pickled shrimp sounds wierd, but you really should try it. It has absolutely no relation to any jar marked "pickle" that you have ever picked up in the grocery store. The recipe is one from the "Charleston Receipts" book and, according to our knowledgable server, the oldest cookbook in the United States.
My soup and sampler platter arrived looking delicious. Now I admit that I am not really a fan of tomato-based crab soups, but the combination of sherry broth, cream, and blue crab meat kept me coming back to very unexpected flavors. It is a "must try" dish. The sampler platter was arranged simply with crab dip, pimiento cheese, fried green tomatoes, pickled okra and garlic toasts. The toast was a real star with a delicious smoky grilled flavor that played well against the creaminess of the crab dip. The fried green tomatoes seemed to have taken a bath in salty brine which, accompanied by a crunchy crust, led to tender tomato perfection. If you like okra, which is not my favorite, you will absolutely love the spicy pickled okra on this plate. The flavor was great, and even I enjoyed my quick foray into a truly southern food. The absolute star of the show was the pimiento cheese. A thick homemade creamy distraction, it started with a sweet note of cream cheese and ended with a sharper note of cheddar, all with a hint of the fresh pimiento peppers scattered throughout. You have never had pimiento cheese like this, and that alone was worth the trip.
Susie's flounder arrived looking fresh and juicy. It was cooked perfectly, with a pile of fresh crab crowning it. Underneath were baby green beans and rice. It takes real skill to cook fish that perfectly, and she cleaned her plate.
My culinary adventure arrived in the form of a pork chop that looked to be a mile thick. The accompaniments were BBQ red peas, fried okra, Adluh Mills baked cheese grits topped with scallions and a smear of preserves, and ham hock au jus. The pork chop was Chef Scholz's proof of passion for food. It was rubbed with a dry BBQ rub and perfectly charred for flavor and texture on the outside and perfect tenderness on the inside. He has the ability to combine flavor and balance in every dish. I have never experienced both of those so consistently through a meal before. These baked cheese grits are worth whatever he chooses to ask for them. (Which, by the way, is not an unreasonable price at all). I have never seen such creamy goodness associated with the grit family before. Definitely a Top Ten dish for anyone's culinary adventure. The BBQ red peas brought the perfect balance of vinegar and spice to prevent the grits from being cloying or the pork from being overly rich.
Now, no dinner is complete without dessert. I am pretty sure that is a law somwehere. If it isn't, it should be! For dessert, Susie had the pineapple upsidedown cake with vanilla bean ice cream. The cake was unbelievably light and delicious, and I am still puzzling over the flavors I couldn't quite pinpoint.
I chose the banana pudding brulee, and it is exactly that--banana pudding topped with a creamy pudding custard bruleed to perfection. My only negative comment is that I wish there had been fewer bananas, because my favorite part of both banana pudding and creme brulee is the creamy custard, but that is a totally subjective taste. Now, it didn't seem right not to share some of the delicious goodness I was experiencing with my family so, in the interest of being surrounded by happy people and for the sake of sacrificing for the blog, I ordered a piece of their grasshopper cheesecake and the peanut butter pie. The grasshopper cheesecake is a confection of cheesecake, chocolate mousse, and mint cream. The peanut butter pie is topped with all kinds of peanutty chocolaty goodness. Tomorrow after lunch I shall throw caution to the wind and eat them for the sake of my readers who have a right to know whether or not they should have some too.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience. Time with friends and good food is never wasted, and I couldn't have found a better way to spend my Friday night. As the night wore on, it did get rather noisy as patrons began filling the restaurant in groups, but it was a small price to pay for a culinary journey that just got better and better. I would definitely recommend this for anyone. It is a good night out, as you could both eat well and still pay less than $100. Great for date nights or celebrations.

Table 301 Culinary Tour

On the cold, blustery evening of December 14, 2010, a group of strangers, led by their ringleader, John Nolan of greenvillehistorytours.com, descended on a small restaurant in downtown Greenville, SC. Our demands were simple--feed and educate us and eventually we will leave happy. As students of the Culinary Institute of the Carolinas, my friend Mallory and I were excited to go behind the scenes in some of the most interesting restaurants in Greenville and meet the chefs who make our town delicious. Our first stop on this culinary tour was Soby's on the Side - a side street restaurant that takes sandwiches and deli food to a new level. Chef Ken is an inspiring example of how life should be about doing what you love. He was very good at expressing the philosophies of Table 301--love for good food, educating others, having fun, and teamwork. Our food adventure started with the best little hummus bites I have ever put in my mouth. The hummus was served on a crispy pita round, topped with a sliver of kalamata olive. The steak appetizers with roasted red pepper were also a delicious mouthful. His specialty drink was a vodka sweet tea. One thing I truly appreciated about each stop was that both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks were offered so that no one was left out of the experience. Isn't that what hospitality is all about?

On top of the two appetizers he offered, Chef Ken made a Lowcountry Shrimp dish that was out of this world. The basic recipe is in the Soby's New South Cuisine Cookbook, which I would highly recommend for a good cookbook collection. The original recipe calls for country ham and kiwifruit, but he replaced those with bacon and split red grapes. The chardonnay cream sauce just did me in. He served the dish over cheesy, creamy grits. It was southern love in a bowl.
Reluctantly, we left the warm, down to earth environs of Chef Ken and headed just a few feet up the hill to Soby's. The namesake restaurant was a lively bustling place that even on a cold Tuesday evening was full with the chatter of patrons and clatter of plates being served. As a group, we were seated in the bar area and served a delicious fruity guava drink containing triple sec, among other ingredients. Very delicious. They also served a refreshing non-alcoholic pink limeade.

Our culinary trip began with their trademark cheddar biscuits. These were concocted on the fly on the very first night they opened when it was brought to the chef's attention that there was no bread to serve the guests. They received such good reviews that they are a staple item to this day. Who knew biscuits could be definite proof that a good chef must be both flexible and creative.
Sous Chef Joey brought us their signature crabcake over maque choux (pronounced "mock shoo") with haricot vert (snooty French words meaning "green beans").
Personally, I thought the crab cake was too mushy inside and a little bland, but I have never seen a crab cake so stuffed with fat, juicy, delicious pieces of crab, and the crust on the outside was perfect. I do give them credit for speed, however. Our original order had been given to another table, but we did not have to wait very long for the next order. Both the crab cake and the maque choux recipes are in the Soby's cookbook.
I had never before met a maque choux, but I must say that now it is one of my favorite ways to eat corn. Hhhmmmmm. I wonder how the Soby's maque choux and the Devereaux's lobster bisque would be together......I would probably die of complete and utter gastronomic happiness.
From the bright lights of the Soby's bar, we were led through the dining room proper, traipsed through the hallowed halls of the kitchen, were handed goblets of Mexican hot chocolate to deter the cold, led outside and down an clanging metal stairway, around a corner, and through a weathered, nondescript door into the old basement. A couple of turns later, and we were standing in the darkened wine cellar below Soby's.

Surrounded by the fruit of many vintner's labor, I saw very large bottles, very expensive bottles, house wines, and everything in between. The sommelier graciously explained the wines we were experiencing and their origin. After our very educational visit, we set off for The Lazy Goat.
Down Main Street, past the Peace Center, and across the river lies the Lazy Goat, known for its fusion cuisine and fresh ingredients. We gathered upstairs in the large reserved party area after our brisk, chilly walk and were offered a holiday-inspired cranberry and orange cocktail.
How wonderfully refreshing to meet a female chef who has succeeded where others of us dream of being. Chef Vicky is a shy but personable chef who is very knowledgeable about her cuisines and the fusions thereof. Our most memorable offering was the goat cheese balls. They are deep fried and then drizzled with honey for a delicious balance of sweet and tangy. The decor is a modern twist on comfort, with an expansive view of the river and city lights at night out of the upstairs windows. After a quick peek at the dining room downstairs, as well as the unusual restroom setup, we donned gloves, scarves, and hats to battle the invigorating chill back up the hill to Devereaux's.
Walking into Devereaux's, which is across the street from where we started at Soby's on the Side, we were met by a friendly hostess who led us over near the open kitchen area past the bar. We were greeted by a very knowledgeable, friendly, and proper front of the house manager named Andrew. (I have some vague misgivings that I may not be remembering his name correctly. If so, I sincerely apologize and please feel free to correct me).
After seeing the layout and being educated about the coveted chef's table, we adjourned to the even more exclusive Vintage Room. Chef Spencer is an affable, accomplished young man who is very good at what he does and, more importantly, loves it. His dessert consisted of two parts: on one side, a petite portion of bleu cheese with red onion relish, and on the other, a delicious, creamy, to-die-for chocolate creme brulee with a handmade marshmallow that was softer and creamier than any marshmallow has ever been. It was the Rolls Royce, the Rolex, the Beluga caviar of marshmallows. Laugh all you want to, but just wait until you try it. We wound up our evening with companionable chatter and contented appetites.
I would recommend this culinary tour to anyone who eats. The variety and scope of the experience is sure to change with every tour. My only disappointment was that we did not get to encounter the culture of Soby's Loft as part of this adventure, but there is always tomorrow.....
I should mention that our guide and host, John Nolan, is extremely well-versed in the history and back stories of Greenville. We learned all kinds of interesting facts on the walks between restaurants. I intend to take one of his walking history tours when the weather warms up a little. Check out his book: "A Guide to Historic Greenville South Carolina".
I cannot think of a better way to spend $39 than to spend it with friends old and new, tasting the passion that Greenville's chefs have put on the plate for our enrichment. I certainly intend to enjoy this city's culinary creativity on a regular basis. Won't you join me?

An Evening at Devereaux's

It was a cold and windy night and high time to reconnect with the man who is the father of my children. The children were left with the sitter, I donned a little black dress and sexy heels, he came out smelling like the guy on the commercial, and off we went.
Our first stop was at the theater to see the new Narnia movie, a fun addition to the Narnia saga by C.S.Lewis. I am going to put those books back on my "to read" list so I can recall the author's intent.
A friend who had previously dined at Devereaux's recommended the restaurant to us for an incredible night out. Not being one to turn down a culinary adventure, we made reservations and the rest is history. I had actually been in the restaurant earlier in the week with a fellow student on another culinary adventure. John Nolan of the Greenville History Tours hosted a culinary tour of the Table 301 restaurants. I would highly recommend this tour for those wanting to get a closer view of some of the culinary minds that are making Greenville's dining scene what it is.
The nearly impeccable service and hospitality were a welcome change from the everyday rush outside their doors. We had the choice between an a la carte menu, a 5-course chef tasting menu, or a 10-course chef tasting menu. You could also choose to add a wine flight to your dinner. We decided we were in an adventurous mood and chose the 10-course menu, splitting a wine flight to get the full experience without having to take a cab home. While you could spend an entire blue collar paycheck on dinner, there are several other options, including a very reasonable menu at the bar.
Our waiter, Joe, was a veritable fountain of information. His knowledge of everything from the food to the wines to the glasses the wine was served in was amazing. He was very patient and helpful throughout the entire meal.
Before our meal even started, a complimentary amuse-bouche was brought to our table to tease the palate. It was a tuna tartare with soba noodles and microgreens. It was one of my top two favorite things of the evening, as well as a first for me as I had never before had tuna tartare. It does make a difference when they use top-of-the-line sushi grade fish.
COURSE 1: Beet salad with pickled radish, toasted almonds, and a white truffle viniagrette. It was beautifully presented on a long narrow plate, each of the four different colored beets standing on its own. This course was served with an unoaked Chardonnay and a Pinot Grigio to choose from. We both preferred the Chardonnay.
COURSE 2: Continuing with the Chardonnay, we were served a tuna sashimi over rice with asian petite greens,razor thin slices of radish, roasted cashews, avacado puree and a spicy viniagrette. Kudos to Chef Spencer for not making his spicy things so spicy that it set my hair on fire. The spicy elements were the perfect blend and complement to the dishes they were a part of.
COURSE 3: More is not always better, as we learned when one perfectly seared sea scallop offered itself on a bed of ale-braised fingerling potatoes with roasted red peppers and white miso sauce. Joel seemed to think that the perfect meal would be a dozen or so. Our wine pairing for this course was a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
COURSE 4: A petite piece of flounder arrived on a bed of rice pilaf with spinach and mushrooms. Resting on top of the flounder was a quenelle-shaped salad of lobster and avacado. But the best part, and in my opinion the best dish of the evening, was the lobster bisque that finished the dish. My perfect meal would be a bowl of the lobster bisque with the delicious, earthy goodness of the spinach and mushroom pilaf crumbled into it. Thank you to Chef Spencer-again-for taking something I was not aware of and turning it into a culinary destination I want to come back to over and over again. For our wine, we stayed in New Zealand with a Pinot Noir.
COURSE 5: I have found it! The Holy Grail of perfect, crispy poultry skin, and it belonged to a beautiful little bite of quail confit breast sitting atop a delicious bed of Parmigianno-Reggiano risotto with concassed tomatoes. Now I know what we are truly striving for when Chef Mark, (my Food Production professor at Greenville Tech.), is trying to get through to us when he urges us to make it perfect and right. The quail was paired with an Italian Chianti.
COURSE 6: An off-dry German Reisling was put before us to be enjoyed with foie gras over an almond scone, bananas, and a vanilla coconut broth enhanced with tamarind syrup. May I say to my readers that you should never be afraid to try foie gras, but be advised not to eat it alone. The other ingredients are there for a balance to the richness of the dish.
COURSE 7: A strong Australian Shiraz led a homemade pasta dish they call an "open ravioli" that surrounded sliced veal loin. The offering was garnished with roasted red peppers, pine nuts, and a madeira jus that packed a whole lotta yum.
COURSE 8: To begin winding our adventure down, we were served a simple cheese board with farm fresh cow's milk cheese, a homemade apple butter and crackers. Lovely flavors to mix and enjoy as we slowed down. The Australian Shiraz from the last course took us through to the end of the chef tasting experience.
COURSE 9: A palate-cleansing, mouth-puckering, profound lime sorbet prepared us for the dessert course.
COURSE 10: A chocolate funnel cake, laced with a spice reminiscent of nutmeg or pumpkin pie, was served with homemade vanilla ice cream over a round of nut crumb, similar in texture to a soft brittle. The surprise on the plate was an orange honey that just made the dish for me.
The perfect midnight snack? The aforementioned almond scone drizzled generously with that beautiful orange honey.
When it was time to take our leave and pay the bill, somewhere between the kitchen and the table a wonderful thing happened. When we opened the server's book, out fell an envelope, and in the envelope was a Christmas card wishing us a warm holiday season, but no bill. Do angels work miracles at Devereaux's? Does Santa Clause really exist? Should I throw more pennies and make more wishes when I pass a fountain? Yes, there is a Santa Clause. I know her name, but I'm not telling!
Altogether, it was an experience I would recommend that everyone try at least once. The great thing about the chef tasting menus is that it frequently changes, so that every time you go a whole new culinary adventure awaits.

My Happy Seafood Place

Seafood was on the menu last week. Fabulous, buttery, fresh seafood. My sister and I took our kids to the beach for a vacation-within-a-vacation. Our first stop was Longbeach, WA. May I add that while Hwy 101 from Olympia, Wa to Longbeach looks mild and harmless on the map, it is a sinister plot to do unsuspecting vacationers in! After four small mountains worth of "this must be the last mountain we have to cross to get there", we traverse a road that could only have been laid out by a drunken snake with a twitch. Finally, we got there, with plenty of new gray hairs to accompany the old ones. After passing several postage stamp sized RV parks, we finally found one with pull-through parking and a little elbow room only two blocks from the ocean.
One of our favorite things to do was try the clam chowder everywhere we went. It is amazing to me how many different versions of one thing can come out of each chef's pot. We went to a place called Hungry Harbor for lunch and found stunningly overpriced food on the menu. Their chowder wasn't too bad, but it was more of a rich potato soup with lots of bacon and clams. I am actually OK with that since bacon makes everything better! My mixed seafood platter had the softest, freshest, most buttery scallops I have ever tasted since I finally got the nerve up to try them. It was almost a crime to bury them in breading. I had no idea, either, that clam strips grew that big and fat in the ocean! They are nothing like the puny little rubber question marks on our plates at home. Beware landlubbers! Don't try them at home, come to the ocean for the real deal. I must say we seriously considered staying forever--the bakery was hiring, and there was the cutest little cottage for sale just two blocks from the beach...........
The sweetest thing about Longbeach was this little hole-in-the-wall bakery run by a husband/wife team. Brendon got an M & M cookie the size of a generous salad plate. Jared, Ethan, Kyle, and Sophia got big cupcakes piled high with colorful icing and decorated to the hilt. We had spiders, horses, boats, and smiley faces. Rebecca and I opted to try more sophisticated fare like eclairs covered in homemade chocolate frosting, lemon turnovers oozing enough tart-sweet lemon filling for a small pie, a chocolate almond bar confection that wrapped almond paste filling in decadent chocolate, then covered it with sliced almonds for a fabulous crunch, a cherry moon pie the size of Sophia's face--cherry pie filling and whipped cream stuffed between two giant soft chocolate cookies, then everything going for a bath in chocolate that left a crunchy outer layer, and last, but not least, the confection that made them famous, the Devil Dog. This is an eclair on bakery custard steroids--almost a foot of smooth, creamy custard filling wrapped in just enough flaky, tender pastry to hold it together, then topped of with just enough chocolate to make it impossible to resist. We could hardly get our mouths around it, but of course, for the sake of the blog, we persevered and were victorious. Hooray for the hometown bakery!
Oh, yes, the beach was lovely too, except for crossing the fast lane with vacationers whizzing by in SUVs and trucks only feet from the rolling ocean. Think lovely wide stretch of soft, silky, gray sand, then wet sand, then the Indy 500 with the west's version of redneck watersports, then the freezing cold beautiful rolling tides of a coastal beach. I mean, where else can you mix speeding vehicles and playing children?! I must, however, give most of them credit, since they did slow down the rushing back and forth in our vicinity after we came down to the water.

Thu 5/27 and Fri 5/28 Highlights

If ever you get to the eastern prarie/farming states, (or so I would describe them), you must try a chain burger joint called SmashBurger. I'm not much for chain restaurants, but this one is different. I don't recall seeing any outside of Ohio and Illinois. We had dinner at one in Dayton, Ohio. The burgers were huge, juicy, and dripping with flavor. I was unable to finish mine because it was so big and loaded. The sides were my favorite, however. They served a trio of asparagus, green beans, and carrot sticks--all deep fried. They were not breaded, which I was expecting, but were loaded with somewhat greasy veggie goodness. No child would turn down their vegetables if Mama served them that way! They also served breaded, deep-fried dill pickles. They are good, but I can only take them in small doses.
Ah, about Marie's Candies (mariescandies.com). They make over 80 varieties of candy in an old railroad depot in West Liberty, Ohio. If you want good chocolate without breaking the bank, this is the way to go. We ordered their 3 versions of a "turtle"-chocolate, pecans, and caramel-with pecans, almonds, and cashews for Grandma. Fabulous! Peanut Butter Fancies are a staple for the male population in our family. I went with some nut-covered truffles and chocolate-covered cherries. Heaven! Since it was fresh strawberry season, we also splurged, (for the sake of the blog, of course), on some white-, dark-, and milk-chocolate-covered strawberries. Oh, yum! In case you are wondering, yes they will ship their chocolates to your door!

The Next Chapter

When last I left you, we were in Lexington, KY headed toward the **BANG-THUD-THUD-THUMP**....... Creation Museum minus one tire! We limped into a tire store and got the rear tires on the drivers side replaced, discovering that they were original to the vehicle. God was good in that the rear tires are dually and only one blew out at highway speed, so we never lost control of the RV. The repairs took most of the day, so we only got 2 or 3 hours to enjoy the museum and planetarium. Finally, we were headed out to Auntie Anne's house in Ohio, strategically placed near the fabulous chocolate mecca known as Marie's Candies.