Restaurants

Functional Art on the Terzo Piano Terrace

With an understated elegance and a clean, neutral palette, Terzo Piano gives new meaning to the idea of beautiful dining.  Located in the new modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago,  the restaurant offers upscale cuisine with a stylish twist.   Boasting huge glass picture windows,  chic, geometric chairs and tables accented with subtle shades of  white, taupe and silver, Terzo Piano reflects the style and sophistication of its modern Italian menu.  If its warm enough, a table on  the terrace with a sweeping vista of Millennium Park supplies the ultimate setting for a lovely meal. Read More »

Look! A round chimichanga

It took me less than 24 hours to find the weak spot in iPhone’s GPS app,  Co-Pilot.

Sure, it could tell me there was a Mexican restaurant in Kennesaw, Georgia. It could talk me there turn-by-turn off the interstate. But it couldn’t give me a clue as to whether this was the same-old authentic menu I’m heartily sick of seeing in Mexican restaurants. (Pssst, Uptake: we need an iPhone app!)

So my husband and I cautiously followed Lee’s disembodied voice to Los Reyes Mexican Restaurant and sat in the parking lot a few minutes assessing the situation. We finally agreed it looked more like a steakhouse from the outside, so odds were good we had stumbled on an original instead of an authentic.

We were greeted with a colorful interior complimented by sombreros nailed the wall (ought-oh … sure sign of THAT menu) but with big-screen TVs tuned to ESPN scattered around, and clowns and magicians walking among the tables to entertain the kids. The signboard announced open mic hours, so perhaps we were safe after all.

What the hell. We asked for a table for two.

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Stella's Dining Room

As a food junkie, I can be very particular about the restaurants I frequent and the type of food I order. For example, I never order seafood unless I’m at the beach, I only order pasta at an Italian restaurant and I’ve never ordered a pizza from a convenience store. However, recently I had to compromise on one of my peeves, as I visited a low country seafood restaurant in Upstate South Carolina called Stella’s Southern Bistro. After I continually heard rave reviews about the Charleston-style restaurant, I finally visited the Greenville restaurant for dinner.

Although they serve lunch, Stella’s is most popular for their dinner menu. At dinner, the Greenville restaurant dims their lights to give it a more romantic ambiance. If you’re visiting on a weekday night, you usually won’t have a problem sitting right down, however, you’ll want to make a reservation on Saturday or Sunday night. Once inside, you’ll find a small bar that is great for watching college football and enjoying a drink while you wait for your table. The rest of the restaurant includes the primary dining area that includes both tables and booths and a private dining area, which can be used for corporate events or wedding rehearsals.

Unlike the nature of many restaurants, especially in the United States, Stella’s Southern Bistro focuses on providing unique dining experiences for guests. From the time you’re greeted until the time you walk through the doors, the staff shows special attention to each guest, making it more like a dining experience and less like a quick meal. Although I don’t always start out with an appetizer, I decided that I couldn’t pass up on some of the starter dishes that sounded so good and which weren’t offered at other Greenville local restaurants. The sampler is the best choice, as it offers a small offering of Stella’s favorite appetizers, including pimiento cheese, fried green tomatoes and pickled okra. Read More »

It’s another rainy, gray day in Germany.  It should be expected – in the hills of the Pfalz, Novembers are always cold, wet and dreary.  I should be used to it but sometimes it’s just a little too much.  So today, I’m dreaming of the warm sun and azure waters of Mexico.  But barring an imprompu trip to Puerto Vallarta, I’d take some really good chicken enchiladas.

I could make them myself – I have a great recipe.  An incredible and authentic recipe.  But as it is with anything, making good enchiladas from scratch is a seriously time-intensive activity.  Between the chopping, the layering and the baking, you’re looking at a few hours work.  And to make my favorite enchilada sauce (canned just won’t do)?  Well, once you blend together the cream, lemon and spices, it’s best to let the sauce sit overnight in the fridge and hope that you can stand the wait.

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Sometimes you want to go where everyone knows your name.

One of the best things about Germany is the concept of the gasthaus, or guest house.  These small restaurant/hotels litter the countryside here in Deutschland and I haven’t been in a bad one yet.

The guest house is a little hard to describe.  One probably instantly thinks of something like a small hotel.  But really, gasthaeuser are almost a combination of the common British pub, a small country bed and breakfast and a cafe/restaurant.  The townsfolk usually head to their local for a pint or two of bier after a long day.  Germans afflicted with wanderlust stay in small guest houses as they travel the countryside.  And, of course, if you want a good, hearty German meal, they are a great bet, too.

Guest houses operate under the assumption that the patron is a guest – and whatever needs to be done, a guest should be made to feel at home.

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Zaxby's serves unusual sides

Here’s an odd confession for you: I’ve always wanted to stop at a Zaxby’s. And if I had a self-preserving bone in my body, I’d say it’s because I once interviewed their executives for an article about improving drive-thru times and was impressed with their knowledge and friendliness.

But no. It’s because I am attracted to the name Zaxby. It reminds me of the coolest signature in Congress, Senator Saxby Chambliss. Say it a few times, let it roll off your tongue, try out a few foreign accents with it. Suddenly, you’re in the mood to call up the queen mum for tea and crumpets, aren’t you?

Which has nothing to do with the cartoon rooster logo at this fast-casual chicken chain, but I thought I should try to explain the quirkiness that made me pull the SUV into their parking lot somewhere along I-75 in Lake City, Florida. It’s OK … my husband didn’t quite follow the logic, either.

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Black Angus, wow that’s a blast from the past. We used to go there when I was a kid. We even went there the night I graduated from high-school. Our friends always made fun of us because we called it Stuart Anderson’s like we knew him or something.

The reason we went back this time was for a solid meal after being in the hospital all day at my dad’s bedside. We needed a meal we felt was going to sustain us and this was the place to go.
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Turkey Day!

There are lots of reasons you might not eat a home-cooked Thanksgiving meal. Here are a couple I can think of off the top of my head:
1. You aren’t able to make it home to family
2. You burned your home-cooked meal
3. You hate the idea of cooking for a large group of people
4. You had a traumatic experience with a turkey in your childhood and so hate the Thanksgiving meal

Regardless of your reason, feel fortunate that you live in the Bay Area where plenty of restaurants are remaining open to fix you the traditional feast you are missing at home or to bring you sumptuous fair with nary a bit of turkey, cranberry or stuffing in sight.
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Homemade pasta makes your mouth water

It’s a sad fact of life: My husband will never be as crazy about an escape to Hollywood, Florida, as I am. The second he stepped off the plane, he began sweating — and then he walked outside to meet me pulling up to the curb. He opened the door, threw his bag in the back seat and started right in on the topic nearest and dearest to his heart.

“I forgot about the damn humidity down here.” Hi to you, too, honey.

Pre-vacation he talked about sitting under a beach umbrella with me (as long as he was wearing his t-shirt and slathered in Bullfrog sunscreen, of course), listening to my iPod beach tunes and reading a book. After he arrived, he hung out in the bedroom at the Manta Ray Inn, right underneath the air conditioning unit, with said book. I was shocked when he actually ventured out onto the sand while the sun was still in the sky to bring me a bottle of water from the fridge on the last day.

But at 5 p.m. every night, he did a Jekyll and Hyde turn-around. There’s nothing like dinner to change my man’s attitude for the better — and I’m well-endowed with a list of restaurants to tempt him even further into a good mood.

My most successful recommendation: Mama Mia Italian Ristorante.

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A few weeks ago, I blogged about my street food addiction and what I wouldn’t eat in Sicily.  But passing on that squid has not diminished my love of street food.  I still can’t get enough of eating on the go – adore it, revel in it, live for it, even.  And I thought I’d seen some pretty incredible street food havens – Istanbul and Bangkok both spring to mind.

But then I went to Marrakech.  And I realized I hadn’t seen anything.  In just a few moments, my entire street-food world view changed completely.  And for the better at that.

Wander into the main square in the Medina, Djemaa el Fna, during the day and you’ll find snake charmers, henna artists and orange juice kiosks as far as the eye can see.  The square feels like an extension of the nearby souks (markets) – and it’s carnival-like and a lot of fun.  But come dusk, the square undergoes a powerful metamorphasis.  With the addition of some new vendors and some tables and chairs, Djemaa el Fna becomes street foodie heaven.  You can find all kinds of incredible Moroccan dishes – harira, a tomato and lentil soup; lamb and meat tagines cooked in their ceramic cone-shaped casseroles; and, yes, even sheep brains.

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