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Salute

Salute Wine and Tapas
280 Meeting Street (formerly the Chocolate Bean)
Cary, NC

We were sad to see the The Chocolate Bean go, but at least it's being reborn as a wine and tapas bar. The new Salute has the same owners, so expect the same laid-back atmosphere, friendly service and modern decor of the Chocolate Bean. Only now it's for evening hangouts, not morning.

The boy and I tried several different wines from Salute's by-the-glass wine list... in the interests of reviewing, of course, and really liked what we tried. There's also a nice list of beers for next time!

Salute offers a selection of spicy, salty and mild tapas to eat with your wine. I've mentioned before that the boy and I like appetizers better than meals, and this mixed of flavours and textures in the Mediterrean tapas is why. We received a selection of marinaded mushrooms, thin-sliced spicy Italian meat, olives, and mozzarella balls, enough a large snack or a small meal for two.

The food is great, but don't over order, since Salute still offers the chocolatey desserts we loved at the Chocolate Bean. Overall, the unpretentious but wine-loving atmosphere makes it a great place to stop in for a glass of wine, and let that turn into a second glass... and a bite... and maybe more. I'm a bit sad that I can't stop into the Chocolate Bean for morning coffee anymore, but I can't complain about adding a great wine list to a place we already liked!

Mouthful

Mouthful, the N&O's food blog, mentioned us the other day:

And I wanted to point out this local blog, boyandgirleatout.
This couple, rendered on the blog in stick figure drawings, gives
reviews of restaurants, mainly in Cary. Their stick figure faces
change based on whether their reviews are positive or negative. If you
live in or near Cary, the blog is a good starting point.

Also, the boy wants you all to know that those aren't stick figures, that's what we really look like. Say hi when you see us eating out, ok?

Via Mouthful - The Blogosphere: Varmint Bites, Chef Shirle and more | newsobserver.com blogs

Boudreaux's Louisiana Kitchen

501 E 36th St
Charlotte, NC 28205
www.boudreauxs.com

The boy and I are back in Charlotte. (According to this blog, we were in Raleigh just long enough to eat fair food!) We wanted to try Boudreax's Louisiana Kitchen, which led us to NoDa, a sweet little arts district. NoDa is a couple blocks of coffeeshops, galleries, bars and small eateries just off the major artery of North Tryon Road.

The dining area was simple polished wood tables, with a well-stocked bar on one side, and on the other, a rolling garage-style door to connect the indoor and outdoor seating on warm nights. We visited on a chilly night, so it was closed, but still offered prime people-watching windows.

The day's special was fried fish with a shallot and tasso ham sauce, over grits. Tasso is cajun ham, in case you were going to state blankly at the waitress (like I did), and it comes as tiny, spicy bites of ham in the sauce. I had to try the special, while the boy ordered jambalaya.

Both dinners were spicy, without overpowering all the other layers of flavor, and both portions were way too big to finish.

They also offered a collection of cocktails, including a Hurricane Katrina (a hurricane with extra alcohol from places Katrina stopped on the way to New Orleans, with $2 going to disaster relief), mojitos, beer and a wine list.




Overall, a great night. Boudreaux had good food, and our waiter had time to recommend a string of other NoDa attractions.

State Fair Foods

Deep Fried Cheesecake

Boy and I went to the NC State Fair last night.

Last year was our first visit to the North Carolina State Fair, but I remember fair food from when I was little girl as endless stalls selling amazing, exotic goodies that I'd have to beg my mom to buy for me.

I don't know if I'm older now, or if Cary has such great restaurants that we've been spoiled, but we weren't interested in any of the gyros or kebabs, much as we love them. We wanted to try things we could only get at the fair, which pretty much meant something batter-dipped and deep fried.

I know it's not healthy, but I'm a big fan of deep-fried anything. A chippie near me in the UK offered a fried Mars bars, which is an amazing concoction of melted chocolatey goo and crispy beer batter, but I could only manage a few bites. I figured a deep-fried Ho-Ho or Oreo would have the same effect.

I sampled some buffalo chicken rangoons, which were truly amazing. Crab rangoons are a staple of the food court Chinese food menu, or the combo-plate Chinese delivery, a light dough shell wrapped around (usually mediocre) cream cheese and imitation crabmeat. The egg roll-ish shell is really the best part -- I've used them at home to repackage leftover chicken and veggies as Asian treats. Filled with spicy chicken, they were fantastic. The only improvement would have been ranch or bleu cheese dipping sauce, which would probably also have required napkins and silverware.

We also passed a stand selling chicken gizards and livers, but that was a bit too unique for me.

Boy stopped to eat some chocolate covered bacon, and found it underwhelming. He offered me a bite, as well.

"That was a half-hearted taste," Boy said. "I've seen you eat duck feet with more enthusiasm."

"I just don't know if I'm sadder about the yummy bacon being contaminated with chocolate, or the yummy chocolate being contaminated with bacon." I said. "Also, I was eating the duck feet for international dialogue and cooperation!"

I also remember my childhood caramel apples as being huge, unwieldy messes, guaranteed to leave a sticky residue on, oh, everything. I guess enough parents realized this too because one stand offered apple slices with caramel, a perfect size for splitting, with no caramel mess.

Cooling caramel poured over tart green apple slices was perfect end to an autumn night.