Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Stone Turtle

Since it's "small business shopping" time of year, I also love to encourage folks to "eat local" and find those small niche places in your neighborhood. (Stone Turtle is actually located in Dogtown.) It is perfect for a Friday night dinner when you don't want to cook after a long week.

I almost hate to give up this little secret, but Stone Turtle had a lot of nice surprises.

First off, let's talk about the wall of bourbon! All the cocktail people need to check it out! You know Patience started her night off with a smoked bourbon cocktail, while I stuck with my favorite gin.

Smoked Bourbon Cocktail
Second, one of my all time favorite food people, Maz (formerly of Momo's and Flaco's Cocina fame, which the latter will always have a special place in my heart) is a server there! 

We just sat at the bar and had excellent service there. It was already pretty crowded by 6pm, so be sure to make a reservation.

Patience wanted to start off with an order of Garlic Herb Fried Cheese Curds, because...cheese. The bowl was overflowing!

Garlic Herb Fried Cheese Curds
I kept it light, ordering the Mushroom Gnocchi with spinach and goat cheese, along with a side of Sauteed Broccolini.

Mushroom Gnocchi

Sauteed Broccolini
Patience went heavy with the Denver Lamb Ribs, which came with a side of napa slaw and crispy fries.

Denver Lamb Ribs
We were smart and intentionally saved some leftovers so we could finish the night with dessert. One scoop of Serendipity ice cream did the trick. (Chocolate Peanut Butter for me, of course, and Salted Caramel Swirl for Pai.)

Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream

Salted Caramel Swirl
Secret shared. But please save me a spot at the bar.

Resources:


Photos by Patience Scanlon


Original J's

Now I'm a huge Mike Radolph fan (moment of silence for Randolphi's), but it was by accident that we ended up at Original J's a couple of weekends ago. What a great place to fall into!!

I was unsure about TexMex AND BBQ in the same place, but that just means twice as tasty!

We were heading down Forsyth to go to Wine and Cheese Place for boozy gifts (shop local!) and were trying to come up with places to eat that weren't pricey Clayton restaurants. Right as we were about to go under Forest Park Parkway, there was a new place calling to us!

Patience had a hankerin' for Chips and Guac, so total score there. This is some DAMN GOOD Guacamole. There has to be some kind of secret spice in there that makes you want more. It was hard to share.

We had a hell of a time trying to figure out what we wanted to eat. Tacos? Bowls? Or just a big plate of meat!?!?!

We conquered and divided...

I chose the two tacos option since I could get brisket tacos! BBQ + TexMex! (Comes with a slaw on the side.)

Two Brisket tacos
Julia got a meat bowl (brisket as well), which comes with rice and veggies in it. (Sorry about the blurred picture.)

Brisket Bowl
Patience thought about a big meat plate, but then a hamburger special in front of the register caught her eye and I got half! (That's a side of cheesy hominy with chips.) Check out that queso oozing off the burger...

Hamburger Special
The wood paneling and checkered tablecloths, not to mention excellent service, really makes you feel at home too.

I hope we "stumble" accross this place again on purpose again sometime!

Resources:

Original J's = https://www.originaljs.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Monday, December 23, 2019

PW Pizza Old Bakery Beer Dinner 2019

We finished the 2019 PW Pizza Beer Dinner series with local favorite Old Bakery Beer Company. Just like coming home for Thanksgiving, this beer dinner was definitely geared for celebrating the year end holidays.

Instead of a salad, we started with a Green Bean Casserole Crostini. Now I love Green Bean Casserole and I could have eaten a whole bowl of the stuff. But then I wouldn't have had room for pizza! Since this dish is creamy and heavier than the usual salad, the Basil Pale Ale was a good pairing.

Green Bean Casserole Crostini
For the next course, I enjoyed the fruity Digital Native Mango beer, and it made sense with the Honey Glazed Ham Pizza that came with pineapple on top.

Hone Glazed Ham Pizza
As tradition has it, we also had a Smoked Turkey Dinner Pizza, which is always one of my favorite pizzas for the whole year. Peas, mashed potatoes, turkey, and gravy go GREAT altogether on a pizza! The bigger beers lovers enjoyed the Porter as well. Probably the most popular beer of the night.

Smoked Turkey Dinner Pizza
I love the name of the dessert beer, Cat Cafe, although it really is a coffee milk stout...milk...cat...get it? Anyway, the coffee flavor was very strong for this beer, so it's very appropriate for a dessert pairing.

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

Menu
Let me know if you are interested in signing up for next year's pairings. I have the list for next year. See you in January for MORE PW Pizza and Beer pairings!

Resources:

PW Pizza = https://pwpizza.com/

Old Bakery Beer Company = http://www.oldbakerybeer.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon