Knife & Fork - Spruce Pine, NC

Daylily tempura with daylily tubers.

Back in July I finally had the chance to dine at Knife & Fork in Spruce Pine, NC. My mom and stepfather have been raving about this place ever since it opened and it is definitely the closest destination from our mountain cabin for a fine meal. The best part is that it is not that expensive for what you get and the creativity and freshness of the menu would be remarkable even in a big city. The restaurant is located on Spruce Pine's lower street in an airy, comfortable space with a small bar and two small dining rooms. Reservations are highly recommended. The menu changes frequently and can be found both on a large chalkboard inside and on printed sheets. Vegetables are prominent and most if not all are made without meat products. Local produce, meat and fish is used whenever possible. My favorite dishes included the greens with breadcrumbs, the daylily tempura - definitely different and delicious, the sauteed squash and the seared rabbit. The bread they bring out is also excellent and I enjoyed the bread pudding with homemade nectarine ice cream as well. I look forward to returning to Knife & Fork again soon for dinner and also trying the lunch and brunch menus.

Delicious bread and butter.









Delice de Bourgogne, roasted carrots, rosemary.



Slow cooked greens with breadcrumbs.



Sauteed squash with onions and parmagiano.



Mashed Kinnebec potatoes with shiitake gravy.



Red Quinoa with duck confit, baby basil and green onion.



Seared rabbit loin with blueberries, carrots and baby squash.



Grilled NC Tilefish with fingerling potatoes and fairytale eggplant.



Grilled Cinnamon Spice Bread Pudding with nectarine and vanilla ice creams.



Chocolate Pot de Creme.

DISH

Salad, green beans, tomato soup and mac & cheese served with a deviled egg and a biscuit - a great veggie plate.

Dish is a funky spot in Plaza Midwood that turns out great food including wonderful vegetables. Recently my mom and I had lunch here and truly enjoyed going meatless with the wide selection on the veggie menu. I particularly enjoyed the tomato soup and the green beans and the deviled egg and biscuit really added an extra touch. Dish also has plenty of options for carnivores including burgers (veggie available), sandwiches such as fish, grilled eggplant and grilled pimento cheese, entrees like meatloaf, shrimp & grits and chicken & dumplings, a variety of salads and "South of the Border" items like nachos, burritos and quesadillas. Desserts are also offered including a wonderful sounding vanilla bourbon sweet potato pie - yum! I look forward to returning to Dish again soon. In addition to lunch and dinner service, breakfast is also served on Saturday from 10-3. Dish is closed on Sunday.

Fresh fruit, squash, collards, cauliflower casserole with a deviled egg and a biscuit - yum!

Grilling Lamb Chops, Eggplant and Okra - a success!

In honor of July 4 I am posting on a recent meal that my family cooked together - lamb chops from Costco (really meaty and a great deal) plus grilled eggplant and okra. I tossed the okra in olive oil, salt and pepper and threaded them onto skewers (use small okra). I sliced the eggplant fairly thin and put each slice through a combination of olive oil and high quality balsamic vinegar, then finished it off with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Everything came out really delicious! If you do this be sure to watch the okra carefully or it will burn. HAPPY JULY 4th everyone! Hope you have a fun-filled and safe holiday.

Fern, Flavors From the Garden

The Fern Salad.

I recently tried Fern, Flavors from the Garden, a purely vegetarian restaurant on Central Avenue. My mom was very excited to bring my grandmother here since she keeps Kosher and does not eat meat when she goes out. Fern is owned by the Something Classic / Halcyon folks. Halcyon is on my "to-try" list and Something Classic is great for lunch - love their new location on East Blvd. and their awesome take-home products and baked goods. Fern's dining room is fairly small, with plants (including ferns of course!) providing a calming decor. Hanging mason jars add to the homey, farm-inspired ambience.

Our experience with Fern was mixed. We wanted to much to love this place but we ended up leaving feeling disappointed. Of course this is based on one meal and I would like to try more of the menu items offered but first impressions mean a lot. Our party of three tried several things, taking recommendations from our somewhat aloof server.

The highlight for me was the fresh Fern salad with cashews and a delicious herbed vinaigrette. Suggestion: serve some bread on the side. With the addition of avocado and cheese (available to add at additional charge) and some good bread, this would really hit the spot. The roasted cauliflower was my second favorite menu item we tried. The pistachio-pepper brittle added a nice sweet crunch and the squash/sun-dried tomato purees provided additional highlights. You can sense the chef's creativity here, which I appreciate.

The disappointments came with the veggie burger and the eggplant/zucchini parmesan. To me the veggie burger was just not that flavorful. I've had veggie burgers made with nuts that tasted so much better. Also the bun was so huge you could not eat this as a burger. I ended up giving half the bun to my mom (to have with her salad) and cutting the rest with a fork. This could easily be fixed with a smaller bun. The NC Hoop cheddar did add a nice flavor to the burger so if you are not vegan I definitely suggest cheese. The quinoa salad tasted like quinoa with lemon juice to me - the balance of flavors was off.

The eggplant/zucchini parmesan sounded so delicious but there were a couple of problems. First, grandma had a really hard time cutting it up in the bowl it was originally served in. The problem was that the eggplant skin was tough to cut and getting to it in the bowl was difficult. We finally asked the waiter to put the dish on a plate which he hesitated to do because "it would ruin the presentation". Well.... since she could not eat it that way I don't think the presentation really mattered anymore! The dish was also underspiced to me and although there was ample cheese it did not seem well incorporated with the dish - either you got a huge chunk of cheese or veggies with tomato sauce.

There are several other menu items I'd like to try at Fern including the beet tagliatelle and the Tribal tacos as well as the arancini. There is really a wide variety here so hopefully next time we will have better luck with the food. In May a Farmer Dinner was offered which sounds fun as well - perhaps they will offer this again soon.

Ferns!



Roasted Cauliflower.



OM Burger with NC Hoop Cheddar and quinoa salad.



Deconstructed roasted eggplant and zucchini parmesan.

Greek Isles - Charlotte

Arni Psito - roasted leg of lamb with Greek potatoes and green beans.

Greek Isles is a lovely Greek restaurant located in Charlotte's historic South End. Lucky for me this is very close to my office. Last week I had a lunch meeting here and thoroughly enjoyed the above lamb special, offered every day during the week for $10.25. I opted to add a Greek salad also for $1.95 (not pictured), which was very good with high quality feta cheese. The lamb was juicy and covered in tasty tomato/onion gravy. Other lunch specials including braised lamb shank, oven roasted white fish and stuffed tomato and pepper are offered on various days of the week. The full lunch/dinner menu includes all of the traditional dips, the flaming cheese and traditional favorites like mousaka and pastitsio, among many other offerings. I like that this place is not loud and that the booths are roomy - great for actually talking with the person you are with! I look forward to returning to Greek Isles again soon.

Midwood Smokehouse - Charlotte

Carolina Pork Plate with fries and slaw. All plates come with hush puppies and pickled onions.

Midwood Smokehouse is a welcome addition to the Charlotte BBQ scene. Located in the ever burgeoning Plaza-Midwood neighborhood, Midwood delivers on the 'Q while at the same time adding modern flair with dishes like smoked vegetable bruschetta, smoked turkey and sausage and a Cuban sandwich. The pork BBQ was smoky and delicious and I love that they have 4 sauce options to choose from. The mac & cheese was a standout side and the hush puppies were tasty too. I look forward to going back to try the ribs, the pimento cheese fries and the desserts.

Smokehouse Bruschetta made with goat cheese.



Midwood offers decktop, patio and indoor seating and has a full bar.



Special of the day: Fried smoked wings - you can get the smoked wings anytime and on the side, bacon wrapped jalepenos, available as an appetizer or side.




Sauces: Mustard, NC Vinegar, Midwood Signature and Spicy. I liked combining the vinegar sauce with the spicy sauce - yum!



Smoked half chicken Midwood Style with BBQ baked beans and mac & cheese.

Kettlebells, the Paleo Diet and Caramba Cafe

Poblano Verde from Caramba.

For some time I've meant to post on a category very much related to food: exercise and diet. In particular, I want to highlight kettlebell strength training and the Paleo diet. Kettlebells are a great overall exercise - I can personally attest to that! I discovered kettlebells here in Atlanta at Delaine Ross' Gym Condition where Delaine and several other instructors use kettlebell training to provide a great workout including cardio and strength training all in one 45 minute workout. With more than 30 classes per week at various times of morning and evening - plus some special lunch time classes too - there should be no excuse not to try out kettlebells. I actually used a kettlebell routine to prepare for my wedding last April. I attended 3-4 times per week and I noticed a recognizable difference within just a few weeks. Check out Gym Condition's website to learn more. And - don't worry if you are not in great shape or can't lift heavy weights. The bells vary in weight from just a few pounds all the way up to giant weights you can marvel at other people lifting! As you work out using the kettlebells you will be able to increase the amount of weight used.

A typical kettlebell class in progress.

If you can add the diet element in as well, you will see serious results fast! Recently I dined with Delaine to learn more about the Paleo diet, which is considered by some to be the most helpful in slimming down and staying that way. The diet includes vegetables, meats, eggs and small amounts of fruits and nuts. Paleo excludes dairy products (although some schools of Paleo thought allow dairy), sugars and grains and beans. Processed sugars and grains are particularly off-limits. Interestingly, bacon fat and coconut oil are preferred over vegetable or olive oils for cooking. This is because many vegetable based fats break down and interact with your body in a different way. So if you are following a Paleo diet it is better to use that bacon grease to cook your vegetables instead of the olive oil you thought was so good for you! Olive oil is allowed in salads, however. Click here for lots of recipes and Paleo resources and here for Paleo 101 and additional resources. Additional reported benefits of the Paleo diet include better respiratory health (less congestion) and healthier skin.

There are several area restaurants offering Paleo-friendly fare as well. Delaine and I met at Caramba in its new location in the Pencil Factory lofts. Although it was difficult to skip the chips and salsa the above poblano verde was excellent with rich flavor and a tangy sauce. Delaine ordered the special chicken soup which was also delicious. In lieu of chips and salsa we had veggie dippers and salsa - nice to have a substitute so you can snack on something! Urban Pl8 also has Paleo items on its menu. Where else have you tried Paleo-friendly food in Atlanta?

Sopa de Pollo "a la Mia".



Veggie dippers with salsa and hot sauce.

Cakes & Ale - New Location + Bakery

Fabulous fried okra.

After reading several wonderful reviews of the recently relocated Cakes & Ale in Decatur, I decided to try it out with my dad during his visit to Atlanta. We had a lovely dinner with gracious service, delicious food and a wonderful setting. The new space includes a large bar/table area, another large dining room and the attached, quaint cafe/bakery where breads, pastries and coffees as well as lunch are available. Many of the plates are small, sharing plates, which works just fine for me since you get to try more this way. I can't wait to return here to try more - the menu changes daily so there is always more to try!

Vermont burrata cheese with roasted broccoli, arugula and cherry tomatoes in a light dressing. The cheese paired perfectly with the house-made bread.



The delicious bread selection kept coming. You can buy whole loaves in the bakery as well. They also made me a lime/ginger "mocktail", which was delicious.



Squid stuffed with farro, frisee & feta, beet & frisee salad - one of my favorite items.



Gnocchi with rabbit ragu and mustard greens.



Roasted squash with rosemary - delicious and not too strong of a rosemary flavor.



Top: Pecan Tart with Cinnamon Ice Cream; bottom: brioche donuts with squash ice cream & pumpkin seed brittle - really unique. Both were sublime.