http://www.alanascafe.com
1020 Main St
Redwood City, CA 94063
A jewel in old downtown Redwood City!
(Mention YELP to get a 10% discount)
Friendly
staff, yummy food, great setting in a lovely mid-1800's family
home. Enjoyed a great breakfast - fresh fruit and scones tasted
amazing! Ate inside at a window overlooking the garden but should have
eaten in the garden at one of the many tables. Can't wait to go back.
My
friend has limited mobility and had to take the ramp around the back to
get inside. The ramp was too narrow to take her walker, but is a very
gentle slope.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147404-d1046663-Reviews-Gladys_Cafe-St_Thomas_U_S_Virgin_Islands.html
Charlotte-Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI
340-774-6604
GO!!
We
had a one day stop off the cruise ship. After exploring the island for
most of the day, the four of us were hungry, but not famished. We
wanted to have lunch where locals would go. We asked the manager of a
gift shop where SHE would go to have lunch:
"Make a right, go down three alleys and make another right. You'll see it down on the left." Seriously?
In
spite of the sketchy directions, we found it! Locals and Cruisers had
the place about half full at 2:30 in the afternoon. We shared the Jerk
Chicken and the Curried Chicken, and two Piña Coladas. The chicken was
well prepared, juicy. neither dry, nor tough. In spite of our cruise
ship food over-indulgence we were blown away by how good the food was!!
Trying the hot sauces were fun, too.
The place was clean, the
staff friendly, the bathrooms were further down the alley, supervised by
a friendly woman, and shared by several stores patrons.
Go to Gladys' if you are in St. Thomas!
Noms: We give 5 out of 5 -- it was a little pricy -- but not too bad for a resort area
1 pound ground beef (browned & drained)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
half can of milk (use soup can to measure)
1 can diced green chilis
6 oz. cream cheese
4 jalapenos (seeded & chopped)
1 pound bacon (cooked crispy)
2 pounds frozen tater-tots
mix beef, soups, milk, and chilis and cover the bottom of a casserole dish
dot with cream cheese chunks
sprinkle with jalapeno and bacon
cover the top with tater-tots
bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees (til the mixture bubbles)
Dieters need not bother.
This is a work in progress
we are thinking about tossing the mushroom soup and subbing creamy cheddar soup
partially pre-baking the tater-tots for a more crispy tot
french fries instead of tater-tots
shredded chicken?
http://www.facebook.com/SANDWHICH Chapel Hill, NC
http://www.sandwhichnc.com
After a short hike on the Tobacco Trail, Alex and I thought we'd try Sandwhich in Chapel Hill. I was overly ambitious and had the Outrageous Whichburger. There were too many toppings and the flavors were a bit muddled. Alex chose better with the Carolina Burger -- pictured above -- now that was a good burger.
Sandwhich was a bit pricey and a little far from home, so we don't know if we'll go back. If it were closer to home and I were going back, I'd have the Carolina...
We give it 3 noms out of five, mainly for price and the fries were not fabulous.
http://www.ladybedfords.com Pinehurst, NC
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lady-Bedfords-Tea-Parlour-and-Gift-Shoppe/132016440171670
The tea room itself was as you would hope: pastel colors and a Victorian feel. The room filled up as we were there between couples and small parties. The ladies who served us were attentive and sweet. The food came out quickly and was tasty.
Steve got a Tuna Salad sandwich on a croissant with fresh fruit. It tasted how a tuna salad sandwich should taste. There was a good portion of tuna on the sandwich, but he would have liked more fruit.
I got the Tea Plate that came with a bowl of soup, a selection of tea sandwiches, pastries and tea. I chose the Provence Tea with lavender. Although I didn't taste all that much lavender, it was quite nom.
Steve was really disappointed that the $3 lemonade was a mix. With my Tea Plate, I was expecting larger portions or a greater assortment of noms. (I wanted to share more things with Steve). For the price, we expected more food, or more from the food; some thing to elevate it: herbs, finer bread and pastries.
Altogether, it was a lovely experience though, and I am looking forward to bringing my mom back.
We give it 3+ noms out of five, but one goat for the lemonade
(Bad form for a mix)
This post is more about "City" than "Spatula".
Budget
minded, but seeking to see all of Austin metro, I sought out as many
Goodwill stores as I could find. Last time in Austin I went clothes
shopping, but it was haphazard. Since we have been having great success
in Raleigh with consignment stores, I started there.
Steve was
spending the days at the Onion Creek Fields officiating for the Aussie
Rules Football finals. What could I do that would give me an
opportunity to cruise Austin, and not spend too much money, and not eat -
since we had a tight dining schedule? SHOP!
After hitting a few
consignment stores that were too pricey, or uninspiring, I hit on the
chain of Goodwill Stores of Central Texas! (Besides, I found Austin's
first Trader Joe's, and a bunch of new restaurants along the way! - See Verts and P. Terry's)
Score:
1.
All the stores had a similar layout, identical and interesting logo'd
signs marking each area. Reassuring and had a sense of organized
marketing by the whole Goodwill of Central Texas. I walked into each
store and got the lay of the land quickly. Clean, and not cookie-cutter
buildings. Each were unique, but the clean bright stores and signage
UNIFIED all of them. Cool. Very cool.
2. Clothing is sorted
by type and color. Saved so much time! Bless their hearts, we can't
expect them to sort the whole store by size, but by color, yup. And it
looked good, too! (Pretty rainbow colors!!!)
3. Pricing. This was interesting. In the
less desirable neighborhoods, the t-shirt pricing was in the $1-3
range. The nicer parts of town had prices as high as $6. The men's
shirts were a little less, and men's small sizes were considered kids
shirts in half the stores and went for $1!!
I eventually figured
it out: find the men's smalls first, to find shirts for me, Alex, and
Niki. Then go to the women's shirts. It would take maybe one to one
and a half hours to go through each store.
Austin is a capital
city, like Raleigh is. It is a university town, like Raleigh. But,
hey! Austin is weird, right? I found so many interesting and fun
shirts for all of us. I could have spent time looking for purses and
pants, etc., but the "Shirt Safari" was plenty entertaining!
Yet
another "activity" for our next trip to Austin: hitting up more
Goodwill Stores. Yup. Another wonderful first world dilemma!
Five CHA-CHINGS out of five!
http://www.currasgrill.com Austin, TX
https://www.facebook.com/CurrasGrill
The plan:
Find the best barbecue on our way to the
airport so we could fly home bathed in smoke and sauce to savor the
whole flight home.
Reality:
A local told us...
"Oooo. You'll never get in there. They usually sell out by now. They might even be closed."
"So where do we go?"
We
passed Curras many times during the week going to and from the Onion
Creek Field for the Aussie Rule Football finals in Austin, TX. The
place falls in the "hole in the wall" category, based on it's location
and exterior: unassuming. Our Local told us she took ALL her out of
town friends to Curras. Now we know why.
Steve ordered Carnitas
Tacos. I had Chicken Mole. Our young waiter was happy to give us his
opinion. He has Mexican heritage and had worked in several Mexican
restaurants. He emphatically insisted that we would enjoy our food. He
explained the complex preparations of both dishes. The mole had over
27 ingredients! He promised us we would enjoy our meal.
Highlights:
-
Chips and Salsa: crunchy, thick chips, lightly salted. Complex and
gentle heat in the dip. Fresh. No disappointment, but this traditional
appetizer did not stand out from other great places we have enjoyed,
HOWEVER...
- The mole tasted like eating perfume. Seriously.
The flavors were subtle and complex. Light and satisfying. The chicken
was TENDER. Whoa! Whew! Yum! Woo! Wow....
- The Carnitas did not disappoint.
Now,
if you read my review of Hopdoddy this will sound familiar... Is it
Austin? Will we find this at more restaurants here? WHAT is with these
people?! They do not take any part of their menu for granted. For
99.99% restaurants a shell is a shell. Get it out of the bag, serve
your amazing food on the shell and out ya go! Right? Not here. Just
as Hopdoddy serves their amazing food on an amazing bun, Curras serves
their amazing food on an AMAZING corn tortilla.
- Soft Taco
Shells: Scratch-made at the restaurant, these corn tortillas were soft,
tender, flexible, silky. Da BOMB! Steve could not decide whether the
shells were flour or corn. He ordered corn. They smelled like corn.
They felt like flour?! The texture (both to the hand, eye and the
mouth) was CRAZY good! We were eating at a table by a window in the
afternoon with lots of natural light! These shells completely elevated
this dish.
If I sound effusive, I am. Plain and simple, our meal was simply amazing.
So
our flight home was not wrapped in glorious clouds of smoke and BBQ
sauce. Instead we were laughing about judging a "book" by it's cover.
An unassuming restaurant can hold a pearl of delicious dishes, prepared
with love.
Cinco NOMS out of cinco!
I can not wait to get back to Austin to try other dishes from Curras.
http://www.pterrys.com Austin, TX
https://www.facebook.com/pages/P-Terrys/49039729644
Without going into detail, we nearly doubled the cost
of our trip to Austin trying to get off the plane in Dallas to go to
In-N-Out, and then driving on to Austin! DARN that airline!
THEN we found out that In-N-Out had THREE locations in Austin!!!
THEN we discovered that NONE of them were open, yet!!!
The heartache! The sadness! The disappointment!!
With
our heads hung low, we heard that P. Terry's is a pretty good burger
chain in Texas. We expected very little from it (lets face it... It is
not In-N-Out), but thought we would give it a shot. We set aside time in
our eating schedule. While on my far flung Goodwill adventures I found
a P. Terry's on a ridge overlooking Austin in the Hill Country, and
figured the view would be nice in the evening.
Steve was super tired,
but he was game for an adventure. This location had a fun and fabulous
over-the-top mid-century modern (almost Jetson's) design. The city
lights were just coming up and the view is SPEC-tacular.
So much of
what they do is replicated from In-N-Out. Even the way the cooks
dress! Some menu variations, but we were just looking for burgers and
fries. P. Terry's far exceeded our expectations. If we closed our
eyes, we imagined that we could have been eating at In-N-Out. We sat on the
patio, and even though it was chilly, we totally enjoyed the lights of
Austin below.
I have to say, we love Raleigh, but we sure miss the
long-distance views, let alone city views.
We were so happy to quietly
eat our burgers and fries while enjoying the playfulness of the
architecture, and the twinkle of the lights below us.
Happy and sated we headed to the car. We sat as the car warmed up and looked directly out the front window.
"What is THAT?"
"I have NO idea."
"What the...?"
After
a few minutes, we realized we were watching a HUGE Texas moon rise.
HUGE! (We were in Texas, after all...). Within about ten minutes, the
moon was up and we continued to sit and watch in disbelief. If Steve
hadn't been so cold and tired we would have stayed longer ... Lingering
in the post-burger and city lights beauty of the evening.
Five noms out of five, even though it is not In-N-Out.
We will go back to P. Terry's next time, but only to this location with the AMAZING view!
(We'll save In-N-Out for California trips!)
http://www.facebook.com/hopdoddy Austin, TX
http://www.hopdoddy.com
We thought we would hit a steakhouse for dinner in Austin two years
ago. When we realized the prices for said "steak and taters", I
suggested we find a good burger joint, instead. I don't remember what
led us to Hopdoddy, but what a find!!!
We did not understand why
they would not let us in. Bouncers for a restaurant? Nope. The line
to place orders ended just inside the door. We learned that we were
lucky! Other times the line wraps around the outside of the building!
The order counter is in the back of the restaurant. The WAY back! We
waited in line along the busy and friendly bar counter, only to be
zig-zagged to yet another line that continued to the rear of the
restaurant! Clearly Hopdoddy is something special.
Remember,
too: this is Austin. This is a foodie town. These people have many
options for amazing food. For Austin to wait in line for delicious food
is saying something!
Now I will go weird. Austin? Texas? BEEF,
right?! The beef of their burgers is fantastic, but in the 24 months
between my first and second visit, do you know what I remember? The big
jelly-roll pans they serve their food on? The great fries? The kooky
topping combinations? The great service? Yes, there are those to
remember... But what stands out are the amazing hamburger BUNS! Made
on-site, they are at once soft and toothy. The yeasty perfume still
fragrances my memories! Never have I had such a delicious bun.
Now,
a comedic moment. We didn't speak for probably the first 15 minutes
of our dinner once the food arrived at our table! We were entranced.
Transported. Don't get me wrong.... We like our food. We consider
ourselves Foodies. More gourmand than gourmet, but we appreciate food.
We were so taken by the food we forgot to speak! That has never
happened before or since!
What we ate for both our first and
second visits? I don't remember. Seriously. Bad form, I know! I take
that back. I had a goat cheese salad to start this past visit, and it
was beautiful! Oh my. Nuf said. (Sorry, Roy. This was a good goat!)
Hopdoddy
is a permanent fixture on the SpatulaCity.net Austin Restaurant List (yes,
we do have a list) for all future visits. We heard they have other
locations: Dallas and Scottsdale, too! Lucky spuds. Sigh.
Nom-nom-nom-nom-nom!
(Five enthusiastic Noms out of five!!!)
http://www.facebook.com/vertskebap Austin, TX
http://www.vertskebap.com
Steve likes a good gyro. Austin would know a good gyro. I sought out a
good gyro place to surprise him. But as you read, I was looking in
Austin, so the place I found was fun, tasty, and fresh.
I
started with Yelp, and soon found Verts. Bee Cave, TX wasn't too far
away since I was near the Hill Country - scouring Goodwill stores in
Austin (but that is for another post) so...
A very friendly
(we're in the south, y'all) patron in front of me could see me craning
my neck to figure out how to order. He quickly explained the process,
and told me that he ate there at least three to five times a week! I
liken Verts to the gyro version of Chipotle. Clean, fun, fresh gyros,
with a vegan version to boot.
The guys that started Verts are
Germans who went through the MBA program in Austin. With all the great
food and the quantity of Food Trucks around town, they thought they
would serve up food they loved and missed: Berlin-style gyros that are
super popular as street food. They started serving out of a Smartcar,
and have quickly expanded. There are several brick and mortar
locations, and more to come.
Although I am super sensitive to
salt, and Verts can be salty, this is also on my permanent Austin Food
List. We are going to have to make our vacations longer to get in our
favorites AND make new finds. What a delightful First World problem.
Four Noms out of five.
(Sorry... Took off one for the quantity of salt.)
http://www.patrick-janes.com Cary, NC
https://www.facebook.com/PatrickJanesPizzaBar
Attended their Australia Day celebration (Australia Day marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Sydney Cove, New South Wales). Also in attendance were the NC Tigers - your local Australian Rules Football team:
To celebrate, they had a special menu with some traditional Aussie favorites. We ordered a meat pie, but they ran through their first batch so quickly, there were not any ready. We got a sausage roll instead. Here's a picture of our sausage roll:
or, what's left of it... we were told that it wasn't a traditional preparation, but what to we know, it was noms!
Anita got the Goat & Pecan salad:
For the main course, we got a Shakin Bacon pizza:
We finished our meal off with a lamington (a dessert of Australian origin. It consists of squares of sponge cake coated first in a layer of traditionally chocolate sauce, then in coconut) -- no picture -- newbie mistake.
If you are a traditional pizza lover, this may not be your place, but it's fresh, clean, and a different take on pizza.
