Our favorite restaurants in the US
Alexandria Restaurant Week runs from Saturday, August 18 to Monday, August 26, 2012. Selected participating restaurants will be offering three-course prix-fixe dinner or dinner for two at $35. For additional information or to see a full listing of participating restaurants and their menus, click here. -guest contributor
Attended Noise On 9 earlier this month to try to support local New Haven merchants. The event — run by a rude older woman - coddled some local bloggers, feeding and imbibing them with wine hoping they'd tweet about it. Sadly, she had little regard for regular attendees. Not a good thing when promoting a city! Since there was little going on, we ended up having a nibble at Michaels's Downtown in the space that Blue Pearl had occupied on Court Street. The appetizer portions are almost entree size. Filling indeed. We shared their fried (actually sauteed) calamari in a spicy Sicilian marinara sauce, replete with capers and fresh scallions [...]
Dallas-Fort Worth KRLD Restaurant Week presented by Central Market runs from Monday, August 13 to Sunday, August 19, 2012, featuring over 125 participating restaurants offering gourmet prix-fixe dinners at $35. For additional information or to see a full listing of participating restaurants and their menus, click here. -guest contributor
Metro DC Restaurant Week runs from Monday, August 13 to Sunday, August 19, 2012, featuring a selected group of participating restaurants offering gourmet prix-fixe menus for lunches at $20.12 and dinners at $35.12. Prices are per person and do not include beverage, tax, or gratuity. For additional information or to see a full listing of participating restaurants and their menus, click here. -guest contributor
Baltimore County Restaurant Week runs from Friday, August 10 to Sunday, August 19, 2012, featuring a variety of restaurants offering lunches at $10.12 / $15.12 / $20.12 and dinners at $25.12 / $30.12 / $35.12. For additional information or to see a full listing or participating restaurants and their menus, click here. -guest contributor
For the last night of my eating orgy in Park City area, we heading to The Farm in the Canyons Ski Resort. We opted to dine outside on the patio across from the base of Red Pine Gondola, and were accompanied by Caitin Martz, the communications coordinator for The Canyons. This year, the Farm was named the “Best New Restaurant in Utah” by Salt Lake Magazine; their menu focuses on locally sourced ingredients from farms and artisans within 200 miles of Park City. With four of us at the table, we were able to sample lots of the food of executive chef John Murcko, a James Beard Foundation 2012 semi-finalist for [...]
Puesto Mexican Street Food, located at at 1026 Wall Street in coastal La Jolla, opened a modern, build-your-own taco eatery that represents a new wave of healthier Mexican cuisine, using non-gringo ingredients, like corn truffle (huitlacoche), nopales asados (grilled cactus), zucchini flower, tinga (hibiscus, chipotle and onion)and pistachio-habanero salsa. Puesto boasts vivid colors, industrial materials and street graffiti from world-renowned artist, Chor Boogie, giving the restaurant a modern feel worlds away from the Mexican restaurants tourists may be expecting. Ask for “crispy tacos” - as the shredded cheese is melted on the griddle, leaving one side crispy and the other cheesy, and is then wrapped around the guest’s choice of protein. [...]
This time my dining alfresco waterside search landed me on the deck of Nellie Green's in Branford on a Connecticut summer's night. This bistro menu had lots of creative sounding offerings. We started with a whole tender baby octopus ($13) perfectly grilled with organic tomatoes, roasted cauliflower, olives, fresh basil and thyme. The chef actually came out to drizzle some white balsamic over the dish. Perfection, not to be missed. Sadly we didn't get to really experience the grilled wild caught golden sea snapper fish tacos ($18) as our piece had spoiled, recognized by an off odor.. They gladly replaced it with our substitution choice, the trio of lobster sliders with [...]
Indianapolis Restaurant Week runs from Monday, July 30 to Sunday, August 12, 2012. Selected participating restaurants will be offering three-course prix-fixe menus at special prices. For additional information or to see a full listing of participating restaurants and their menus, click here. -guest contributor
A restaurant closes – and another one opens! Wicked Wolf on Temple Street will be closing this weekend. Rumor has it that the new owners also own The Russian Lady in Hartford. Stay tuned for details on their grand opening. Talk on the streets is that the space will have more of a nightclub focus than a food focus…not to say that Wicked Wolf was known for its food versus its old world Irish atmosphere – should be interesting to see if the new owners keep any of the interior décor. Special correspondent Robbin Seipold
San Francisco SF Chefs Restaurant Week runs from Sunday, July 30 to Sunday, August 5, 2012, featuring a selected group of participating restaurants offering 2-course lunches at $20 and 3-course dinners at $35. For additional information or to see a full listing of participating restaurants and their menus, click here. -guest contributor
Gilt Moroccan Restaurant and Lounge, at 265 College Street, is “celebrating” its final weekend. The owners had taken over the space several years ago, and within the past year, closed bespoke and re-opened as Gilt, serving upscale Moroccan fare. While New Haven has many restaurants with patio and sidewalk dining, this is one of the few spaces in town – actually, I believe the only other one is the new Goodfella’s on State Street – that has rooftop dining – one VERY nice summer feature! Their closing weekend features 20 percent off food tonite, Saturday, July 28th, with an open bar with DJ for $30/person from 11pm-1am. Tomorrow Sunday July [...]
When three food writers get together for a meal — and one of them owns the restaurant — you can be sure there will be lots of good eatin'. That's exactly what happened recently when Stephen Fries, Claire Criscuolo and I dined at Basta. Basta, located adjacent to Claire's award-winning vegetarian restaurant Claire's Corner Copia, uses the freshest organic and sustainable ingredients. We started with their arugula bruschetta made with wood-oven-grilled house made ciabatta bread, topped the sliced organic heirloom tomatoes, Liuzzi's locally produced scarmorza cheese, and organic baby arugula that's been tossed in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), fresh squeezed organic lemon juice, Sicilian sea salt and cracked pepper ($12). [...]
In my never-ending search for alfresco water-side dining on a Connecticut summer evening, I ended up at the Lake House in Seymour along Route 34 by Lake Housatonic. We sat outside on the deck whose retractable roof was open so we could enjoy the fresh air. The loaded nachos hit the spot for nibbling as we watched the sun disappear... The chef interspersed beef chili, shredded cheese, sliced black olives and diced fresh tomatoes between layers of chips before heating to melt the cheese so most all chips wee covered. The nachos are served with a side salad plus jalapenos, sour cream and a salsa, just spicy enough to have [...]
Baltimore Restaurant Week runs from Friday, July 27 to Sunday, August 5, 2012, featuring participating restaurants with selected three-course prix-fixe dinner menus at $20.12 / $30.12. Some restaurants are also offering two-course lunch menus at $15.12. Prices are per person and do not include beverage, tax, or gratuity. For additional information or to see a full listing or participating restaurants and their menus, click here. -guest contributor
After entering the Wasatch National Forest, I rechecked the address on my GPS to be sure I had entered the address of Log Haven restaurant. I had. We almost missed the historic log mansion nestled serenely into the mountain side as we were drinking in the spectacular scenery. Although the restaurant is just 20 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City, it's a world away. We sat in the cozy log chairs by the unlit fireplace to enjoy the music of pianist, Ike Egan who we later learned has worked with Donny and Marie. Note to self: return in the winter to enjoy this romantic setting by crackling fire! Listen to [...]
Houston Restaurant Week runs for the entire month of August, starting from Wednesday, August 1 to Friday, August 31, 2012. A variety of participating restaurants will be offering gourmet prix-fixe 3- course dinners at $35 and 2-course lunches at $20. Prices are per person and do not include beverage, tax, or gratuity. For additional information or to see a full listing of participating restaurants and their menus, click here. -guest contributor
I walked by Koji at 182 Temple Street today and there is paper on the windows and all the liquor is cleared out inside. I phoned them but no answer – and no answering machine or recording either. Unfortunately, I don’t think Koji ever found the right fit….they wanted the happy hour and dinner market – but they were more known for the late night club crowd –and just weren’t getting the people in early in the evening. They did try lowering prices, and doing happy hour deals – but I will say from walking down Temple Street regularly that it was rather dark in there – and maybe that was part of it -- too [...]
One more quick meal to end eating orgy at some fabulous a Park City area restaurants. This time I stopped by Easy Street for a quick lunch before heading to the airport to head back east, selecting it for its double-deck outdoor dining area. We started by sharing a smoky grilled baby romaine Caesar salad topped with crispy croutons and shaved Parmesan ($10). Made a note to self: Remember to grill your romaine! I recommend this lightly dressed, refreshing salad highly. Also shared a grilled — as requested (medium-rare) — classic burger topped cheddar cheese crumbles, a fresh ripe tomato and bib lettuce and served with a hearty pile of [...]
Monday night I was meeting some girlfriends to catch up and decided to pop into the newest restaurant on Crown Street, The Naked Oyster Cocktail Eatery. It opened in the space formerly occupied by Nikkita, Press 200 (which moved to State Street) and for a very brief moment, Strada. The restaurant bills itself as French Louisiana cuisine – with an emphasis on vodka and oysters. Happy hour is from 4-7 pm daily, with select martinis $6 (regularly $12), and $1 oysters. We tried the Berry martini with freshly muddled blueberries and blackberry vodka, and the skinny girl martini with cucumbers – called “Summer in your Mouth” that elicited a [...]
