Friday, May 15, 2009
Open Thread Empty Plate: Ready for Takeout, Our Weekly Open Thread
Posted by Jim Ridley on Fri, May 15, 2009 at 7:59 AM
Good cheap vodka, great Bloody Marys, first-rate lamb burgers, the delectable snowballs at Fleur de Lis in the Farmers Market--these sound like ingredients for one hellacious party. Actually, they're just a few of the topics you raised on last week's Bites open thread. Here's Barbara Please enthusing over her trip to the Farmers Market:
After a few hours of elbowing the great unwashed public and wrestlingTell us what's on the agenda this week. And as always, if you have tips, news, gossip or comments you want to pass along in private, email cfox (at) nashvillescene (dot) com.some old biddy for the last witch alder at Gardens of Babylon
yesterday, we meandered into the inside part of the Farmers Market and
got a sno-cone or snowball or whatever the hell that new place is
calling them. They were good and I was happy to see more than one
sugar-free version so the South Beach Diet idiot in my family could
participate. I did laugh though that we spent ten dollars on three
sno-cones.
Comments (30)
Showing 1-30 of 30
I've noticed how you guys sometimes feature local bloggers. I think that's really great. I was wondering, if there could be a sort of blog-roll for Nashville bloggers accessed through Bites? I know of handful of local blogs, and I'm "internet-friends" with two bloggers. But I'd love to be introduced to more local food related blogs, and maybe have a list. The list could include all types of Nashville food bloggers, whether they post recipes, restaurant reviews, or just general food musings. :D
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Erin -- Great idea and one that we're always working on -- please send the names of any local food-related bloggers you'd like us to take a look at. Thanks!
How about restaurants of yore? Just the other day I was thinking about Garden Allegro and their baked potato with vegetables and super delicate cheese sauce. And there used to be this Mexican restaurant on 2nd (I believe), Jose's. I think that was it's name.
going to batter'd and fried tonight and was looking for some recommendations?
Go somewhere else. Seriously, I've never had a good meal there.
Not specifically food related, but I had some leftovers from the Acorn this week and was VERY pleased to see recyclable paper containers. I'm so frustrated by styrofoam or black plastic takeout containers from other restaurants (neither of which can go in my curbside bin). Really glad to see the Acorn doing it right. Also? The food is delicious. Those little puff pastries with pear and brie? YUM.
@jamesela. Funny you should mention Garden Allegro. Remember Jules, the proprietor? She must have googled us up and left a comment on an old thread (Remembrance of Egg Salad Past), updating us. She's in Boulder (!) Colorado now, and runs a place called Laughing Planet.
I loved her food at Laughing Man, Garden Allegro, and Jody's/Jules' in Cummins Station. I'm glad she landed somewhere in the restaurant biz.
I'm in the process of getting my food blog back up and running - http://1001tastes.blogspot.com
Jamesela:
The "Jose" place was on 3rd, it was called "Jose's Taqueria". I think than back in 1990 JT's, along with Es Fernandos in Madison and El Palenque were the only soft-tortilla restaurants in Nashville.
And then in '92 or so Las Palmas opened in Charlotte ave., and the rest is historia.
Hey back to our garden swap -- does anyone have a spare zucchini seedling or seeds?
Word is there is a new Indain buffet opening in Cool Springs today. I'll have more details (name, location, price) after lunch, planning on giving it a try. Cool Springs / Brentwood have a serious lack of good Indian food so I'm really excited about this.
Also, for Battr'd & Fried, the grouper tenders are usually pretty good. Little expensive for what you get, but I've had them a couple times and they haven't made me sick.
This week has been a whirlwind of a food related activity for me. Started off by hitting Trader Joe's on Monday to buy a bunch of fixin's to create the ultimate sandwich for their HiiP recipe showdown (http://www.traderjoes.com/attachments/2ndHiiPRecipeGuidelines.pdf) Have spent the week testing out various concoctions for lunch and probably going to be sick of sandwiches before it's all said and done.
Tuesday- cooking class at Salud with my hero, Deb Paquette. Pulled pork on sweet potato biscuit with peach butter and mole sauce, white chocolate slaw, pistachio salmon...best $35 I've ever spent. Wednesday- finally tried out 1808 Grille in the Hutton Hotel- crispy gnocchi with pulled duck is phenomenal. Thursday- did a mystery shop at Longhorn Steakhouse. Not much to say about that.
Tonight planning to give the newly opened Zumi Sushi a try. Will report back!
so i've been trying and trying to replicate the crispy, caramelized delicious chocolate chip cookies at Portland Brew. tried every recipe and variation, spent too much $$ on butters, sugars, etc that i thought would make a difference. does anyone know either a.) how to get Portland Brew to share the recipe? or b.) a different recipe for a similar cookie?
Jose's was the space that's now 3rd & Lindsley and was the first place I'd ever seen mole. Gee, that was a long time ago.
My favorite Mexican joint of yore was Bienvenidos on 8th, which was later the toy museum for a while and now I think it's the Standard's coffee shop part. Anyway, I used to work in a gallery on 2nd and I'd make the trek up to 8th three times a week to have gorditas at Bienvenidos. I don't know if they were really honest to god gorditas but they were these amazing fried puffy balls stuffed with shredded pork.
Looking for a place to eat tomorrow night. Good food, decent portion sizes, but nothing too expensive. Any suggestions?
@Nicki -- no, i haven't tried that. could help, but Portland's cookie just has choc. chips. it's the actual cookie part that has me baffled...it's thin, flat, crispy and almost toffee-like itself. it's salty/sweet and melts in your mouth. it's perfect, really.
Those Portland Brew cookies are really, really special. I think Jack Silverman asked once about their secret—I think they said it was in the butter. Maybe something imported?
Erin, not to sound like a broken record, but if you haven't been to Las Americas yet, GO. Ha. Also good and budget friendly: Zavos, Pad Thai Kitchen, House of Kabob.
Update on the Indian buffet in Cool Springs. It's called "Bombay Bistro" and doesn't open until dinner tonight. Should be open for lunch buffet soon. It's next to the Spice of India market on Carouthers (sp?) next door to the Walgreens.
Ended up going to Tin Roof for lunch, massive portions and it was pretty busy. Not too impressed by the quality, but was impressed by the clientele. Cute girls all over the place.
Erin: Glad you like the Snack Tray roundup of local/national blogs, which we'll be doing every week. Carrington and I are compiling a list of Nashville food blogs. We have about 20, but I'd love more. If anybody reading this wants to post a "me too" in this thread, I'll take note. Spread the word.
HungryHippo: Agreed about Portland Brew's cookies, which have that great almost-burned outer edge and slivers of chocolate throughout.
Chefs at the Market on Saturday (11 a.m. in the newly renovated Market Hall of the Farmers' Market) will feature chef Arnold Myint of PM and ChaChah, making herb sauces with just-picked herbs from farms in Joelton and Williamson County.
Because of a tagalong freebie opportunity, I spent part of Friday at the hilarious club Fuse at the Opryland Hotel. Do any locals ever go there at all or is it strictly for the hotel-bound?
It was all amusingly over-the-top trendy but also somehow very dated feeling at the same time. A slightly outdated-seeming drink list (all super-sweet, very heavy on vodka-based drinks and one of them had cotton candy in it, which I'm sure makes the bachelorettes squeal in unison).
The little tiny bar foods they fed us surprised me though — prosciutto-wrapped dates, little tiny falafel-filled pita breads, some other stuff. I thought the litle bites were pretty good, given the surroundings There was a little bit of a disconnect between the food and the drink.
hungry hippo
here is the explanation and the process
i make them often
it's the only way to achieve exactly what you're after.
the dough rests in the fridge for 36 hours. period. you'll get exactly what you're looking for. even if you use the toll house recipe although i'd advise using this one.
the explanation:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/09chip.html?ref=dining
the recipe:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html?_r=2&ref=dining
Barbara - Being of the clubbing age (25), I have NEVER went to Fuse, nor have I had the desire to go. I ALSO don't know a single person in Nashville who's ever been. My hometown area isn't too far from here, and often people I know come down to Nashville for Bachelorette parties & birthdays, and I don't even know a single person who's not a Nashvillian, who has been there. When I first heard about the place opening my SO & I laughed and were like "WTF?" But then again my SO & I are definitely not what you'd consider "mainstream".
But, that food does sound interesting... Thanks for the review.
This may have been covered before, but...
Which Nashville area eating places would qualify for "Dives Diners and Drive-Ins?" I love the show and have seen Memphis and Knoxville places featured, but nothing from Nashville. Maybe I missed that episode because I'm a relative newcomer to it. Any ideas? Loveless or Rotiers, maybe? I really can't think of a place, but I don't get out that often.
Help!
Tough to say, because so many of his shows are about cool, wide-open workspaces as much as food. I'd suggest Prince's, but the idea of that dude lumbering around in their tiny kitchen makes me fear for all concerned.
Jimmy Carl's, mos def—that'd be love at first sight. Swett's or Silver Sands, certainly. Arnold's, oh yeah. Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint in Nolensville, definitely. Buster's Place in Murfreesboro, definitely. Loveless would be a natural, but man, talk about low-hanging fruit. Maybe Bobbie's Dairy Dip? Elliston Place Soda Shop? Dee's Q?
Perhaps this is a topic for a stand-alone post....
Was it on the Bites blog that someone mentioned that Prince's had been checked out for inclusion in the Dives/Diners TV series but the producers passed?
I'll pipe up and vote for Bailey & Cato - it's more soul food than traditional meat & three, and they're incredibly charismatic up in there.
