A culinary weekend

I ate a lot this weekend. A lot. The feasting began Friday night when I met my friend Tanya after work and we headed over to Carlyle for dinner. Although I had been there before and remembered the food to be quite good, I forgot how scary the menu was to navigate. Strange food pairings, unknown sauces, it's a little overwhelming. I'm happy to report all ended well despite our menu misgivings. First stop - drinks, a raspberry and lemon cocktail that was tart and zesty. We then ordered tasty housemade chips with a four-cheese dip - yum. For dinner - Tan got halibut with some chorizo, sausage concoction and saffron risotto, I got scallops with a potato and bacon hash. It was fantastic. We were too full for dessert so we agreed to return at a later date as their desserts are, dare I say it, much better than Papa Haydn's. Carlyle, however, recognizes that for many patrons there is a strong desire to satisfy their sweet tooths at the end of a meal and they don't let you leave without presenting you an opportunity to take care of this need. A little plate was delivered to our table shortly after the dessert menus were whisked away. It included four tiny sweet offerings made by the pastry chef at the restaurant - a macadamia and white chocolate morsel, a miniature smores made with smooth dark chocolate and a smashed graham cracker and nut coating, a macaroon, and a truffle. Delicious! Our waiter was supremely bored and tended to us with expediency and care in a semi-silly way that I couldn't figure out if I was happy or annoyed with. It was clear he was bored as we arrived early in the evening before the restaurant filled up with the normal Friday night dinner traffic so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Carlyle has a great atmosphere. Dark, but not too dark with a sound level that is negotiable. The wait staff is attentive and knowledgeable. If you haven't already given this place a try, I recommend you do so.

On Saturday Darr and I met Sara, Josh, and the Noodle (Jesus, what an adorable kid!) for brunch at Gravy on NE Mississippi. This place was packed and while the staff is adept at moving people in and out of the jam-packed dining room, we still had an almost hour long wait before we were seated. The portions are tremendously large and it is clear from the get-go that the chef has a fondness for all things that harden the arteries. Butter, oil, bacon grease - pick your fat. The boys ordered biscuits and gravy, a house specialty. Two huge biscuits covered in gravy loaded with sausage. (For a pic of these babies, click here.) As someone who had never tried biscuits and gravy before, I had to have a bite. It was good. Sweet, which was unexpected, but good. And they got sides of potatoes, bacon, eggs, etc. to split between them, effectively leaving them with two breakfasts per person. We were pretty fungry* after the long wait. Us ladies ordered omelets. Since Sara is on a no-cheese diet, as she is still breast-feeding and pumping and little Alexandra's system is not happy with dairy products, I felt compelled to order an omelet loaded with cheese and bacon to make up for her lack of cheese intake. Don't think because I didn't order the biscuits and gravy I was choosing the non fat-laden option. The omelets came with a side of potatoes, either hashbrowns or house potatoes, and Sara and I ordered opposites so we could split and share as well. The wait staff was efficient with a no nonsense approach to serving. The sound level was close to deafening but nothing that a slightly-raised voice and a little speechreading couldn't conquer. The most disturbing aspect of our experience at Gravy, our waiter had a rat-tail. I kid you not.

And later that evening Darr and I prepared a meal for our guests (i.e., Leah, Dan, Trina, and Ron) who came over for what was supposed to be poker night but ended up being an eat and gab night. Dinner began with a watercress, fennel and orange salad - weird but I figure it must be good as I would eat it again - and was followed with a main course of pork tenderloin with a garlic lemon sauce, smashed potatoes with cream cheese and chives, and pan roasted brussel sprout with pecans and red pepper flakes. There was a concern we were going to kill our guests when Darr cut into the pork and it was bloody but this problem (Darr dubbed as the "near tragedy") was adeptly solved by throwing the meat into a 400-degree oven for several minutes. The meat was tender and not death-inducing, a nice combination if ever there was one. And for dessert, pots de creme, a new recipe I will be posting shortly as it was surprisingly easy to make and tasted great. (Hear that? It's me patting myself on the back for a job well done.) This is a chocolate dessert for die-hard chocoholics for sure, just be sure to take the pots out of the fridge about a half an hour before you want to serve them so they can come to room temperature, and use lots of whipped cream.

*fucking hungry