Perennial on Lockwood

It finally happened...ready or not...we were asked out to dinner...INSIDE a restaurant! <gasp>

All of us fully vaccinated, we took our chances and met up at the new Perennial on Lockwood. One of the many places I couldn't wait to try!

Their patio looks awesome, but after making a reservation, we were seated inside, which is directly behind the new location of Olive + Oak. You can either walk through the patio or walk through Olive + Oak to access the actual restaurant.

I was a little disappointed that even with a reservation, we were seated at the long tables with stools when there were a couple of (distantly spaced) tables open. At least we had a good view of the (very) long bar and TVs. There is a fun, brewery feel to it and there are two private rooms as well.

I bet this will be a great place to hang out after dinner at Olive + Oak or to hang out when there can be more hanging out in groups.

There is not an extensive menu, but there is a full list of drinks and upscale pub food.

While there is a long list of Perrenial beer on draft, there are also cocktails, whiskey, and wine thanks to Olive + Oak next door. I ordered the house spritz, while Pai tried out a couple of Perennial's stouts.

Since we had to wait on our friends, we broke down and split the Farmers' Board. There is never enough cheese for me, but I loved the pickled vegetables, and the charcuterie comes from Bolyard's!

Farmers' Board

I had a craving for Fish & Chips...maybe because it was Friday? I love shoestring fries! It helps that were cooked in beef fat too.

Fish & Chips

Everyone ordered winners too. Claire's Grilled Cheese had two kinds of cheese AND jam! 

Claire's Grilled Cheese

The Patty Melt also included beef from Bolyard's and smothered in raclette!

Patty Melt with a side salad

One of the big splurges there is the Farmstead Bistro Steak, and boy is that worth it. Cooked perfectly.

Farmstead Bistro Steak

This is definitely a winner, especially since Olive + Oak will be hard to get into for a while. 

P.S. We didn't have room for dessert but I wish we had! 

Resources:

Perennial on Lockwood = https://www.exploretock.com/perennialonlockwood/search

Photos by Patience Scanlon

St. Louis Kolache

With so much going on this month, we did a "Take out Tuesday" with the kids. Mostly I was using them as a way to try out the new location of St. Louis Kolache that opened up very close by to me!

What's in the box?!?!?

It was SO easy to order online the night before (they close at 2pm!) and this way you can get all the flavors you want. You can designate your pick up time and I got an email when the kolaches were ready.

Since we were ordering the kolaches for dinner, I ordered all savory items, although Patience wanted one Blueberry one for dessert. You can see it below in the middle since it's not totally enclosed by dough and looks more like a danish.

Kolaches warmed up in the oven for dinner

My favorites were the Pappy's brisket, the Philly Cheesesteak, and the Sloppy Joe....oh wait, and the Gioia's Hot Salami was awesome too! (Note: You'll pay more for the speciality kolaches from Pappy's and Gioia's, but they are well worth it!)

Honestly, I loved them all and I highly recommend cutting them in half so you can mix and match as they fill you up really quickly!

Philly Cheesesetak left and middle, Sloppy Joe on the right

Resources:

St. Louis Kolache - https://stlkolache.com/

The Parkmoor

After a full year of "Take out Fridays", I am encouraged to see some new restaurants opening that I can't wait to try. It's nice to have something to look forward to. I don't remember the original Parkmoor, but wanted to try it out the new version. 

Since I knew I wanted to order the King Burger and a side of cheese fries, I also ordered a side salad to balance it all out.

King Burger and cheese fries

Perfectly sized side salad

Patience ordered the Super Grilled Cheese, which means there were THREE kinds of cheese involved (pimento, swiss, and american), most of which oozed out the sides!

Super Grilled Cheese and onion rings

Speaking of cheese, I also had to try the Mac & Cheese, which I made gooier by dumping the leftover fry cheese onto it! I highly recommend this hack!

Mac & Cheese side option

The inside of the diner had bright colors and lots of families at 6pm, but I'm curious if the bar area will pick up with some late night dining in the future?

Resources:

The Parkmoor = http://theparkmoor.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Where we are quaran-dining in March 2021

March 5th = To kick off March, we ended up having a "Take Out LUNCH" instead as it is tradition the day before St. Baldrick's. Let's just say I didn't need much dinner after eating off of BEAST Butcher & Block's sandwich menu!

I ordered the Pimento Smash Burger, which is two 5 oz patties, white pimento cheese, mayo, shaved onions and their homemade pickles. Of course I had to have the "Fresh Fries" on the side with their special "fry sauce". Think, 1000 Island dressing with a kick!

Other popular and delicious items ordered were the Italian Beef and the Smoked Meatball Sub. Naps were required afterwards, just warning! 

You can check out the menu here: https://togoorder.com/web/4872#/o/2/f/1/m/13632//s/209285/items

Pimento Smash Burger

March 12th = After missing fish fries completely last year, I was happy to get the chance to do "Take out Fish Fry Friday" this year! Epiphany of Our Lord Parish (in our hood) has an excellent organized system and you can order online in advance! 

We always get cod, shrimp, mac & cheese, spaghetti, 3-Bean Salad, green beans, beets (for Patience), and gooey butter cake. And that's only half of their menu!

Epiphany Fish Fry

March 19th = It has been exactly a year since we last ate out at a restaurant, at a neighborhood Mexican place called La Catrina Mexican Restaurant. So they were our pick for this week!

Fish tacos, magaritas, and chips and salad

March 27th = I wanted to give a new restaurant a try after seeing a friend post about The Parkmoor. I got the King Burger and fries with cheese. Patience ordered grilled cheese (OMG - so much cheese!) with onion rings. 

King burger with cheese fries

Grilled Cheese and Onion Rings

A good way to end March for sure!

PW Pizza The Other Wine Dinner

For the second month in a row, we opted for the wine dinner instead of beer from PW Pizza. While there is either a beer or a wine dinner each week, the amount of pizza we were eating started to get out of hand so now we're just picking one a month.

Basically, we look for the best combination of either beer or pizza. For the wine dinners, you only get one pizza for three courses total, whereas the beer dinners are four courses.

The featured wine was the Peirano Estate "The Other" Red Blend. The blend was 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Syrah, which lended to a very tannic wine and unfortunately, we didn't make it through.

The Other - a red blend

I think "The Wolf" pizza is what grabbed Patience's attention as it came piled with toppings: tomato sauce, house-made fennel sausage, pepperoni, bacon, caramelized onion, green peppers, roasted garlic and mozzarella.

The Wolf Pizza

Instead of a salad, the appetizer was Three Cheese Spinach - Artichoke Dip served with pita. Now this could have been a meal by itself and we were only able to eat one piece of pizza each!

Three Cheese Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Of course we saved room for dessert, Gooey Butter Cake with caramel sauce.

Goeey Butter Cake

Next month we'll be doing the Irish beer pairing since St. Patrick's Day falls on a Wednesday!

Resources:

PW Pizza = https://pwpizza.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon