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Friday, February 5, 2010
Smorgasbord / happy hour In pictures: Happy hour at Zink
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 11:47 AM
Happy hour at Zink American Kitchen means $2 select beers, a slider bar from 4 pm to close, and 1/2-price sushi from 5 to 7 pm, Monday through Friday. Here's what it all looks like:
Bar Bites Slider Menu
(available in bar only, Monday - Friday, 4 pm - close)
1 for $2.50
3 for $6.00
5 for $10.00
Daily beer special for just $2 more
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Slider with Pepper Jack cheese, Zink Ranch
American Wagyu Burger with Herb Aioli
Pulled Pork Slider with Carolina slaw
Street Side Tacos: Braised Pork, Beef Short Ribs, Spicy Braised Chicken, or Citrus & Ancho Mahi Mahi
Sushi
(Monday – Friday, 5 pm - 7 pm)
½ price in the bar and patio
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Smorgasbord / Priscilla Tsai / Queen's Feast - Charlotte Restaurant Week Queen's Feast: Bonterra
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 12:57 PM
Housed in an old church in Dilworth, Bonterra Dining and Wine Room always keeps it classy. I can always count on them for impeccable service, delicious food, and special touches like specialty butters and freshly baked bread. Last night they served up three great courses as part of Charlotte Restaurant Week, which was extended at Bonterra to tonight, Feb. 2, due to the inclement weather this past weekend.
If you've got more than $30 to spend, check out their list of wine flights. For $9-20, you can taste a flight of four wines or bubbly (!).
Hurry, I just checked their online reservations via Open Table and they still have reservations available for tonight!
Here's what I enjoyed last night:
Azalea Salad - Chopped Iceberg Lettuce, Sliced Apples, Smoked Bacon Buttermilk Bleu Cheese
Coriander Crusted Pork Tenderloin - Cheddar Polenta, Rapini, Ravigote Sauce
Pecan & Sweet Potato Pie - Vanilla Ice Cream, Bourbon & Caramel Infused Whipped Cream
Monday, February 1, 2010
Smorgasbord / Priscilla Tsai In pictures: BLT Steak's $5 bar menu
Posted By Web Editor on Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 8:10 AM
BLT Steak, located in the Ritz-Carlton Uptown, introduced their $5 bar menu a few weeks ago. You can get $5 small plates at the bar every day from 5 pm to 7 pm. Drinks are pricier than other bars in Charlotte ($5 Bud Light, $7 Stella Artois, $12 martinis, $22 whiskeys), but $5 food makes up for that. So what can you get for $5? Here's a look at the bar scene and food.
The sweet potato fries dish with rosemary and blue cheese was probably the unanimous favorite among my fellow bar diners. Try the popovers (that bread/muffin looking thing in the pic). It's not on the menu, but they'll give it to you. Slather it with butter, eat, repeat.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Smorgasbord Found: Harvest Moon Grille 'food truck'
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 4:27 PM
I found it! It's parked in an inlet off Tryon Street, between 4th and 5th Streets.
Check out these photos of Charlotte's newest food "truck" Harvest Moon Grille. For more info on HMG, read my earlier post.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Smorgasbord / Priscilla Tsai The art of ordering
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 1:36 PM
Some people are game-time decision orderers. Some point to the first item they see. Some are careful readers, poring over every single word on the menu. Call me anal, or maybe obsessed, but I'll admit I am the type to do internet research on a restaurant, read other people's reviews, and then find an online version of the menu and contemplate what I'll order well in advance.
Now that I've made my reservation to stop by The Liberty Gastropub for Charlotte Restaurant Week, it's time to dissect the 3-course menu.
Below in black is The Liberty's menu for Restaurant week. My notes are in red.
First course (choice of one)
Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Cake - Fennel-Mirliton Slaw & Brioche <-- Slightly boring. I can find this anywhere – lots of restaurants offer crab cakes. I want something a little more unique. Hmm...Brioche though... yum.
Savory Lobster Crumble - Winter Vegetables & Ritzy Cracker Topping <-- Yeah! This is what I'm talking about! "lobster" and "crumble"... intriguing. I'm getting this.
Grilled Texas Wild Boar Sausage - Warm Fingerling Potato Salad, Balsamic Onions & Arugula <-- I'm interested in this too. Anything with wild game is sure to be interesting. Make note to have dining companion order this so I can fork some over to my own plate.
Second course (choice of one)
Pan Roasted Gulf Coast Mahi - Low Country Red Rice with Shrimp, Sweet Red Peppers, Tomatoes & House-Made Sausage <-- Mahi low country style? Wow. I think this is a winner.
"Chicken & Dumplings" - Springer Mountain Chicken, Ricotta Gnocchi, Wild Mushrooms, Spicy Cress & Herb Veloute <-- Tried some of this last time I visited. Next.
Grilled Black Angus Hanger Steak - Twice Baked Potato, Apple-Smoked Bacon, Wilted Spinach & Green Peppercorn Butter <-- Steak and potatoes. Not my ideal meal. I want something a little more complicated.
Third course (choice of one) This is a toughie! They all sound good.
Chocolate Bread Pudding - "Shot" of Young's Double-Chocolate Stout <-- I love bread pudding. And a "shot" of beer is included. I do love alcoholic desserts....
Crisp Apple Pie - Cheddar Cheese & Rum Cider Sauce <-- MORE alcoholic desserts! Sweet. I've always wanted to try and apple pie with cheese in it. Maybe I'll get this.
Sticky Cherry Toffee Pudding - Black Cherry Ice Cream <-- Toffee pudding can be too sweet sometimes. But ice cream is usually always good... hm. Wonder if is homemade.
Smorgasbord Follow me on Twitter
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 11:33 AM
Hey, Charlotte foodie friends, are you on Twitter? Join in on my adventures of eating, cooking and everything in between by following me on Twitter. Here's my super secret handle: @priscillatsai. Tweet me!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Smorgasbord What does homemade mean to you?
Posted By Tricia Childress on Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 10:11 AM
Last week I walked into the Starbucks on Trade Street in the Gateway to get a latté when I noticed a large photograph of a bowl of oatmeal dotted with berries suspended above the order counter. The description read: “Perfect Oatmeal.” The day was cold; the Perfect Oatmeal looked warm. I asked the Starbucks employee whether the oatmeal was homemade. “Yes, of course,” she replied. I ordered one.
I watched as she turned her back to the counter, got a small package, ripped off the top, poured the contents into a bowl, added water and stuck it into a microwave. A few minutes later, the homemade oatmeal rested in front of me on the counter. To this employee, homemade or made in-house meant adding water and heating in a microwave.
When a sports bar claims the tortilla chips are homemade, are they? Are they homemade if the chips are merely fried in the kitchen, but the tortillas were bought? If French fries are bought frozen, are they house-made if they are fried in-house?
Or what about this recent discourse at a grocery store's fish counter:
“Is this fish fresh or has it been frozen?”
Clerk: “It was fresh when it was frozen.” Gee, really?
Friday, October 23, 2009
Smorgasbord 7-layer Whopper for Windows 7
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Windows 7 hit stores yesterday, and with it came a whopper of a promotion. Considering how obese Americans are, thankfully, this promotion is in Japan only.
From PCWorld.com:
For the next seven days, Burger King will be a selling a gigantic seven-layer Whopper, which is apparently a gargantuan five-inches thick. The price? Y777, of course -- at least for the first 30 customers each day. If you're customer number 31, you'll be paying Y1450. Given that a double Whopper is loaded with just shy of 1,000 calories, we're guessing that this one's a good few days worth of "nutrition."
Eww. I can just imagine. Watch this video via CheapAssGamer.com:
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Smorgasbord / Priscilla Tsai Cruzan "rum tasting"
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 2:54 PM
Cruzan hosted a "rum tasting" cruise on Lake Norman last night to promote their liquors. Having never attended a rum tasting, I expected something similar to a wine tasting – tables set with multiple glasses for tasting, some light food fare, an education in the production of rum to further guests' rum knowledge... You know, a somewhat structured, elegant affair. Ha. What was I thinking?
This rum tasting wasn't like that at all. What I did get was a two-story party boat complete with leather couches, ATM, Christmas lights, a live steel drum band, chips and dip, fried crab cakes and endless amounts of rum drinks. (I guess I should have had a hint of what was to come after the "shuttle" that was supposed to take us to the marina from Uptown ended up being the Ragin' Uptown party bus.)
After a champagne/Cruzan rum mimosa toast, we were left on our own to party and mingle. The bar served only Cruzan rums and among the flavored ones were Coconut, Black Cherry, and Pineapple. Tired of rum and Cokes? Here are a few new drink recipes I learned last night from the bartenders:
If you want something fruity, but not-so-sweet, try mixing Cruzan Black Cherry rum with a little Sprite and seltzer water.
And for something crisp, try mixing Cruzan rum with ginger ale.
Though the tasting wasn't exactly what I expected, it was definitely fun. Forget wine tastings, I'm all about some boating around and tasting rums now.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Smorgasbord / Priscilla Tsai A Bangalicious dinner
Posted By Priscilla Tsai on Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 1:02 PM
A big thanks to Spencer Walker for taking dinner club duties off my hands this week!
Walker, L.A. native and the author of the blog CookToBang.com - Recipes to get you laid, is coming out with a Cook to Bang book in May 2010. As part of the book promotion, he is being filmed traveling around the nation invading people's homes, apartments, and dorms, and throwing together gourmet meals from whatever he can scrounge up. This week he was in Charlotte.
Since it was my week to host the weekly dinner club with my gal pals, it was the perfect opportunity to shirk off my cooking responsibilities and let this kind sir cook for me and my guests. Walker, with camera man/brother Andrew in tow, stopped by my house last night and created a feast.
First we went through all my food ...
Here are the contents of my fridge and pantry spewed all over the countertops:
The chef was quick in deciding what he was going to cook. He lumped ingredients together based on dish. (See the Golden Grahams with the marshmallows? That's dessert.)
Walker got busy as we drank martinis and relaxed. At one point we felt slightly guilty sitting around watching as he toiled in the kitchen, so we made sure he got a good pour of martini straight from the shaker down his throat. As the dishes came together, Walker brainstormed dirty names for his dishes.
What we ate last night:
- Cambodian Love Rolls (Rice paper rolls filled with stir-fried minced chicken flavored with fish sauce, hoisin and soy sauce, tossed with coconut and walnuts)
- White Trash Buffalo Chicken Dip (This one needs a better name. Ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, cheese, buffalo wing sauce, cream cheese, shredded chicken)
- Pork Your Pasta (Black truffle pasta served with a spicy tomato-based sauce with chopped up rosemary pork)
- Ram That Graham (Golden Grahams baked together with marshmallows and caramel, covered with white and semi-sweet chocolate, toffee bits, and whatever else we could find on my baking shelf)
Everything was delicious and we were all amazed at what he was able to come up with. My favorite line from the night: "Ok, ladies. Have a seat because I'm going to serve you." Music to my ears.
A man in the kitchen cooking up a four-course meal ... I could get used to this! Walker did say that in his experience, women do tend to respond favorably to a home-cooked meal by a man...
Check out more pics on the jump.
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Dish on this: Charlotte-based chefs join ACF Culinary Team USA 2016
As fall approaches, local chefs prepare for a culinary battle in Germany.
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Recipe: Roasted Vegetables with Dijon Béarnaise Sauce
Vegetables. Cheese. Béarnaise. These are things you're going to put in your mouth shortly after reading this.
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What's hoppening at Unknown?
I had to check out the brewery's inaugural Improper Glassware Night.
