brunchin' for the weekend.

I recently had my best friend in town for the weekend and immediately knew we had to continue our tradition by having brunch over the weekend. It was a no-brainer that I would take her to Tupelo Honey that is situated in the South End area of Charlotte on the second floor of an older warehouse style that has been fixed up yet had that sweet southern comfort to its decor and feel throughout the restaurant. As you walk in, you’re immediately greeted by a wonderful hostess that offers a spot either in the bar area with high top tables or the dining area. Knowing myself and my friend, we opted for the bar area next to the window that overlooks street of South Boulevard.

Obviously we couldn’t start the meal without some brunch cocktails. They offer a variety of craft cocktails, beers and good old fashion Mimosas and Bloody Marys. The Bloody Mary is made with their own mix along with a pickled jalapeno, pimento cheese stuffed olives and bacon to top it off.

(Mega Mimosa & Bloody Mary)

Next we were offered some homemade biscuits and jams which is by far one of the best we have tried in Charlotte. The biscuits were soft and flaky. They are served with their own homemade honey and jam.

(homemade biscuit and jam)

After taking in all of the feels of this restaurant, catching up for a bit along with getting the juices flowing from our drinks, we decided to go ahead and order our main courses for brunch. I had the fried chicken and biscuit and opted for an over easy egg to top it off and my friend had the Southern Shakshuka with some hot sauce added. Let’s go ahead and start breaking down each meal.

Starting with the Fried Chicken and Biscuits, they serve this is a large bowl with two biscuits with milk gravy on top, topped with a perfectly fried and juicy chicken and basil. I’ve always love having some type of egg with my brunch so I asked to have an over easy egg added to allow the yolk cover everything and add that extra flavor. And oh my goodness, this meal did not disappoint at all. It had everything you would want as a comfort brunch meal. It was warm, filling but not too heavy, filled with different textures from the softness of the biscuits to the crispy fried chicken and to the creaminess of the egg and gravy. It had the right amount of spice to it without being overpowering and the basil on top made the meal very fresh and inviting. And talk about the presentation of this! It was so hard to not just jump right on in before taking a picture of it.

(Fried Chicken and Biscuit)

Now, let’s talk about the Southern Shakshuka. I can’t even begin to explain how fantastic this was. It is served in a skillet with goat cheese grits, a couple baked eggs, avocado and creole sauce. Now, normally I’m not a huge grits fan, (I know I’m crazy!) but these were to DIE for and may have possibly change the grits game for me! The goat cheese gave that extra creaminess that it needed along with a little tang that completed the entire flavor of the dish.  The avocado on top was a great fresh add to any bite you had during this meal. The combination of the all the flavors was so satisfying that you couldn’t stop eating until you were overstuffed. You won’t have any regrets trying this.

(Southern Shakshuka)

All in all this was probably the best brunch meal we’ve had in a very long time especially from us originally from Southern California where it is filled with amazing spots for brunch. The hospitality and servers were all so wonderful and so welcoming that we felt as we were part of their family. I definitely know that I will be back soon to try more items from not only their brunch menus but their dinner menu as well.

burgers and beers

Hey y'all! I truly apologize for the lack of posts lately. Between all the birthday celebration, an end of the summer vacation with the boyfriend and other obligations I fell behind more than I wanted to. But I promise that I have multiple blog post coming up! Hope you will all stick around to watch me continue my foodie adventure!

In honor of Labor Day weekend, we decided to venture out yesterday and went to the Plaza Midwood area in Charlotte. Our first stop was at Kickstand Burger where my boyfriend sister is a bartender there so we were bound to get delicious food. The place is a small cozy restaurant next on the corner of Central Ave and Heath Ct.. They have a back porch eating area along with a few cornhole boards and my favorite, the giant Jenga. I mean who doesn't like playing Jenga while kicking back a few brews?! Inside is a large wooden bar with multiple TVs along with about 10 brews on tap. They do rotate fairly often so always check back for new ones!

Since it was a Sunday morning and the brunch bill was passed a few weeks ago, we obviously started off with some Mimosas and Bloody Mary's. Definitely did not disappoint. I'm not a huge fan of Bloody Mary's but this was delicious and had a nice kick of heat on the back end with plenty of vodka to satisfy any Bloody Mary lover.

We also started with an order of the Pimento Cheese Fries which was absolutely mind blowing! The fries were nice and crispy with dollops of pimento cheese and topped with some scallions and served with some ranch dressing on the side. I literally could've eaten multiple orders of that and would've been perfectly happy with that meal. I mean does this not look amazing? I obviously had to take a couple pictures in different angles to try to show you all the goodness it has to offer.

 

For our entree, I ordered the shroom-and-swiss burger with tots and my boyfriend ordered the special of the week which was called the "3am breakfast burger". This was a burger wrapped with bacon and stuff with cheese and ham in the middle. It was topped with a fried egg and hashbrown served with their housemade chipotle ketchup. As you can see in the picture below, it was definitely a special creation made for a serious hangover brunch. While we could've made do with a little less ham in the center, it was an awesome concept for a brunch burger.

After food, we decided to check out a new brewery that just opened on Saturday called Resident Culture which is right down the street from Kickstand. Which has a huge open concept inside space along with some a long covered porch stretching alongside the brewery that leads to an open space in with a grass area, picnic tables and space for games. They actually pour 5 of their beers directly from the barrels to ensure a fresh crisp pour in your hand to enjoy the sunny afternoon. Most of their beers lean towards the IPA side of beers which normally I am not a huge fan of but their beers definitely pleased me especially with the atmosphere of Resident Culture.

 

I hope y'all enjoyed your long Labor Day Weekend. As always, if you have any recommendation for me to check out, please let me know!

sushi is life.

If you know anything about me, you know that I absolutely love sushi and everything about it. I literally live, breathe and bathe in sushi. So, for my birthday dinner this past Friday, there was no where else to go beside Sushi Guru in South Charlotte. This place is a small, cozy, hole-in-the-wall shop across the street from South Park Mall. What makes this place so great is the atmosphere and the homey feel you get when you walk in. Not to mention the staff there are absolutely amazing, especially the head sushi chef Danny.

I personally love sitting at the sushi bar rather than at a table so I can interact with the chefs and watch them make these magical creations. I have been here about four times so far and each time, my expectations have been exceeded. To start off the meal, we had a complimentary tuna nigri that was smoked and topped with a slice of jalapeno for that spicy kick. Along with the "Hamachi Hott" which is slices of Hamachi (yellowtail fish) topped with lemon and a chocolate infused ghost pepper.

Next, we had a few different rolls that were either on their specialty menu or special creations that they were able to make just for us! Such as the Anthony Roll that was created by one of their personal chef that had tuna with jalapeno on the inside topped with more tuna and albacore with even more spicy tuna and some crispy fried tempura. The Guru Roll, which is tuna and lump crab with fried shallots and onions on top. A roll they created after me which is the Ashley Roll that has tuna on the inside topped with yellowtail, lime and special sweet chili sauce. Delicious!

The most amazing roll of the night was the "Oh My Toro". Created with Toro from the belly of tuna that is more fatty and has so much flavor to it. People literally spend thousands of dollars to get theirs hands on some and I would too. The inside of the roll featured, tuna, salmon, avocado and spicy mayo topped with ghost pepper salted Toro with garnishes. I could pretty much go there and just have 5 of these rolls and be completely happy. 

All in all, this was by far one of the most memorable visit I've had at Sushi Guru and I would highly recommend anyone loves sushi as much as I do to go and check it out! What are some of your favorite sushi locations?

brunchin..

I'm trying to get into the rhythm of posting a new blog every Sunday to start off the week but unfortunately I got caught up yesterday and ran out of time. Sorry!

My boyfriend and I had a hectic weekend full of chores, errands, a small hike at Lake Norman and family functions. (Adulting is hard y'all!) Anyways, Saturday before we began our busy weekend, we decided to grab brunch at this cute little place called Cafe 100. Which is literally a mile away from our house and we JUST now made our way over there and it definitely did not disappoint!

It is a cute and quaint older house that has been converted into a restaurant. They have a bar right in the middle of the room and use the separate rooms as the dining areas. Of course I had to start with a mimosa with vodka and cranberry juice added to it because why not?! It was also probably the best mimosa I've ever had.

I decided to order a crab cake sandwich since I'm obsessed with seafood and was craving a sandwich as well. Which was very enjoyable as well. It was full of crab with lots of texture and had that crunchiness on the outside of it that made it worth its while. I ordered pasta salad as my side and it was good but could've use a little more acid to enhance the flavor a tad more. I still ate all of it!

My boyfriend, Ryan decided on a build-your-own breakfast burrito with bacon, sausage, chorizo, ham with eggs. Can you tell he's a meat guy? The burrito turned out absolutely delicious and not overpowering with all the meat. He also ordered yogurt with granola as his side to balance out the heaviness of the burrito.

All in all, we will definitely be back to try some more of their amazing menu. I'm thinking of a panini next time? Or should I go with pancakes since you can never go wrong with that.

What are some of your favorite brunch meals and restaurants?

Hey Y'all!

Hey y'all! I'm backkkkk..

After taking some time off to reconsider and prioritize a few things in my life, I've come to realize how much I miss sharing food with y'all. Whether it's cooking in the kitchen or out trying new restaurants, I think I've finally found my passion in life! (what a great feeling!)

Previously, I was focusing only on trying new restaurants and sharing with you. However, I love trying new recipes and am also working on a healthier lifestyle. So this time, I am going to take a new approach on this. While I will still be sharing new restaurants, I will be mixing in meals that I will be making at home or with my family!

With that being said, here is a quick meal that I made tonight. Mongolian Beef with white rice. Here's how I made this.

First off, the sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic and green onions. Mix and set aside. I picked up a 2 pound pot roast and sliced them up and added it to a large bowl. Add in the sauce and make sure all pieces gets coated. Once mixed, cover and refrigerate. I marinated this overnight but you could easily let it sit for a couple hours if needed.

Take the beef out about 45 to an hour before you start cooking. (this will help bring the meat up closer to room temperature which will help the meat cook more evenly as opposed to "shocking" it.)

Once ready to cook, heat up some oil in a pan. I usually use olive oil but I ran out so I had to use vegetable oil. Make sure the pan is nice and hot before adding the meat. Add the meat and cook thoroughly. Take the meat out and let it rest for a few minutes. Cut the meat into cubes and throw them back in the back just to fry it up a bit and get that little extra crunch! Serve over white rice and voila!

Now, it's your turn to share with my some of your favorite home cooked meals!

beers and food truck

My boyfriend and I started dating almost two years ago and our first date was at Noda Brewery on Davidson street across the street from Amelie's. Back then, I was not a huge fan of craft beer but I went along with it as I was new to the city and obviously try to get on my boyfriend's good side. Well almost two years has gone by and we haven't been back to Noda Brewery! Why didn't we go back sooner? I'm not sure and I have no good excuse.

Anyways, awhile back while scrolling through Instagram, we saw a posting from Noda saying they were releasing two beers call Minty Thin and Samoan Blonde in honor of the girl's scout cookies. We just couldn't pass this up! Also we really wanted to check out their new location on Tryon street. Since we had a free Saturday with no real plans before Superbowl Sunday, we decided to check it out.

Let's just say that the beers did not disappoint at all. The Minty Thin was so spot on I could've sworn was eating a box of Thin Mints. Although it was a dark beer, it was not heavy at all and was just the right balance of chocolate and peppermint. A few other I tried was the Two to Tango, Rambles on Red and the Premium Roast. If you love coffee, you go to go for the Premium Roast. If you like an IPA but not a too heavy one, the Two to Tango would be your best bet!

Obviously while drinking, you most likely will work up an appetite right? Well, we were in luck and they had a food truck there which most breweries around the Charlotte area always have one on site. This food truck was called "The Tin Kitchen". Why does this sound familiar you may ask? That's because it was also on the food network show, "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" (who else watches this show religiously like I do?!). I just couldn't not try something from here. So we decided to order some Cripsy Pork Belly Tacos, a Crab Cake Slider and their Brisket Nachos. Let's just say, I wanted more of everything. It was all so unexpected flavor mixed together along with just the right textures for each bite.

Let's break this down shall we? First up- Pork Belly Tacos.  The taco had some salsa verde, some quick Kimchi and Hoisin sauce (which is an Asian sauce if you are not familiar with the product). Just by reading that some may say, that's just too much on a small taco. However it was probably the most crispy pork belly I've ever had but in the inside just melted in your mouth. and the flavors of the sauces just blended together to give you the right amount of heat to spice it up a little bit. Definitely could've went back and had 10 more of these.

Second thing we had was the crab cake slider. I believe this was just a special they had that particular day and I'm glad I was able to have a bite of it. I've been searching for the perfect crab cake in the city of Charlotte and was unable to find it until now. The slider was small brioche-like bun with some mixed greens and a chipotle aioli to top it off. What I loved about this was the crab cake itself. I hate when people use so much breading to keep the cake together but the Tin Kitchen did not do that all. Just like the Pork Belly Tacos, it was nice and crispy on the outside and and tender on the inside.

And last but not least, their nachos. Usually when you think of nachos, you think of it being drenched in cheese to the point that you literally have to use a fork but this was completely not what I got from them. It was a bowl of tortilla chips topped with salsa verde, a layer of goat cheese, juicy tender sweet brisket and some sriracha sauce to top it off. It was delicious. The goat cheese is not really a melting kind of cheese but balanced out the sweetness of the brisket and the heat from the sriracha. The only thing I would've recommended was to layer it up more so the chips at the bottom could've gotten more of that goodness on them.

All in all, I am definitely tracking down this food truck again and can't wait to get my hands on some more of their delicious food! Again, as always if you have any recommendations please pass them along!

Restaurant Week.

If you haven't heard of restaurant week, you are definitely missing out. Twice a year a bunch of restaurants from Rock Hill, South Carolina up to Hickory, North Carolina offer up an incredible meal for either $30 or $35 per person for a three course meal. It is recommended to make reservations before attending due to the popularity of restaurant week. When you go to the restaurant, they give you a menu specifically for restaurant week and you get to choose which meal you would like for each course.

For this particular restaurant week, we chose to go to Blue in Uptown Charlotte just down the street from the Epicenter. This place is pretty large but quaint at the same time as we had our little private corner. They have specials on drinks and bar menus during the week and a live jazz band on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Not to mention complimentary valet after 6pm.

To start off the meal, I began with the crab and ricotta bruschetta. The bruschetta was absolutely amazing. It had just right amount of the crab and ricotta mixture on top of an airy toasted piece of bread. The sweet and spicy pepper jam on top gave it just the right amount of heat without being overpowering. The only problem was that I wanted more!!

The main course featured a duo of pan seared scallops and pork that just absolutely melted in your mouth. The was probably one the most tender pieces of pork I have ever experienced (and I am pretty picky about my meat). These were rested on a bed of sweet potato puree and braised swiss chard. Now, I'm usually not a huge fan of sweet potatos, however, I devoured this puree as it was the perfect match to the pork and scallops. Only thing I would have done differently is adding just a little bit more of the cider jus that they top the entire meal off with.

And, the finale. Cake Di Chocolate. I'm not sure if I will have enough words to explain how much joy I had eating this warm freshly baked cake filled with molten chocolate in the center with a side of creamy vanilla bean ice cream and some fresh fruits. The cake was just the right amount of sweetness without it being overbearing and enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. I'm usually weary of trying ice cream at restaurants as I usually think they come out more icy than I usually prefer but this was not icy at all. It was the perfect pairing with the chocolate cake. (Excuse the messiness in this picture as I just had to try it and completely forgot to take a picture before I scooped into it.)

 Overall, this restaurant definitely lived up to its reviews and standards that I have read that ultimately led me to trying this out during restaurant week. Does anyone have any recommendations for the next restaurant week in July?