{Go There...Again}: Hog & Hominy.

I wrote about Hog and Hominy over a year ago (here) and since then we have returned several times. Mostly I stay with my original choice of the quattro formaggi pizza, but recently a friend ordered a plate to share first and it was then that I had my first bite of something that will forever change my gastric life -- their biscuit gnocchi.

After that glimpse of heaven, I knew I needed to drag Jake back for more. ((Drag... clearly it was hard - it is so delicious!)). One date night we found ourselves at Target (so fancy) and since we were all the way out East, we thought "what they hay".

Instead of getting a pizza, we decided to split two plates. The servings are small (reasonable, just enough) and it is designed that you get several different plates to share. We knew we wanted dessert so we were fine with two but otherwise would have gotten three.

Obviously, we got the biscuit gnocchi. It is made from buttermilk biscuit, hambone brodo, field peas, spinach, and tomato. The sauce is light, with a hint of lemon. It was just as good as I had remembered.

We also got the short ribs, which came highly recommended. They come with farrow, shiitake, grapefruit, and red onion. It had an Asian hint to it. The short ribs were also beyond amazing. 

 Hog & Hominy has a seasonal menu so both of these items came from their summer menu - they switch things up with each season since their ingredients are always fresh.

We usually sit inside in the main dining area but this time we got taken back to the semi-secret area (you walk through a bookcase-turned-door) called the Holding Pen. It has picnic tables and a great ambiance. Since we were there in the summer, it also was where the oyster bar was running - worth checking out.

As I mentioned, we began with the end in mind, therefore saving room for arguably the best dessert in Memphis (tied with a slice of Muddy's grasshopper cake). The peanut butter pie has a layer of banana (which I love! and I don't even like bananas!) and is topped with fresh whipped cream and crumbled butterfingers.

Hog & Hominy has continued to put Memphis on the culinary map, even being featured in GQ and the New York Times. It is an East Memphis treasure and definitely worth checking out (or returning, in our case). You should go there.

In pizza and pie,

{Life}: Foodie Memphis Spring Break.

This spring break I didn't go anywhere out of town - I'm traveling a lot for work this spring and was looking forward to some down time. So instead of spending money out of town, I decided to dedicate myself to visiting my favorite restaurants around Memphis and chronicling the journey.

We started out the weekend prior to spring break with some patio time at South of Beale:

Monday brought a date to Cafe Eclectic:

Tuesday we hit up the patio at Slider Inn:

Wednesday we lunched at Fino's:

Wednesday dinner meant Central BBQ (Downtown location):

Thursday was a treat. Every Lent my church, Calvary Episcopal, puts on the Lenten Preaching Series and Waffle Shop. My mom and I went to hear Becca Stephens, founder of Magdalene House and Thistle Farms, and ate at the Waffle Shop afterwards.

 At Waffle Shop you sit at community tables, the wait staff are all volunteers, and the recipes have been around for 90+ years. I got the spaghetti, my mom got the chicken salad. Desserts are a must - I got fudge pie, she got Boston cream pie, and my pal Ellen got peppermint ice cream.

As if fudge pie and spaghetti wasn't enough, Thursday night Jake and I went on a little mini Downtown restaurant crawl. We started at Local on their patio for drinks and appetizers.

The bar fries at Local are a must.

We also tried the fried pickles for the first time and I'm officially hooked. I happen to be a fried pickle connoisseur  and these are legit:

For the main course, we walked across the street to Aldo's for a vodka pepperoni pie. It is heavenly.

Friday for lunch we went to Chiwawa where the majority of my meal consisted of these amazing papas fritas (fries with cheese on top and a siracha ketchup). I also got the elote (corn with cheese) but it was so delicious it was gone before I remembered to snap a pic. Also - shout out to Chiwawa for holding my purse at the bar for two hours before I remembered that I left it. Super awesome service there!

Saturday we got our Mexican fix at Las Delicias:

Finally, Saturday night ended our break with our home away from home, Garabaldi's Pizza.

And that's how I ate my way through spring break... Luckily I love Zumba at the Kroc so I was able to counter the food with some aerobic exercise and somehow didn't gain any weight.

So, if you took a gastric tour of Memphis restaurants, where would you go? What did I miss?

In food and fun,

[Go there}: The New (Old) Chinese Sub Shop.

Want a delicious sub (or maybe some sketch Chinese food...), for a cheap price, with the side effect of feeling really hip? Then head to Chinese Sub Shop (I'm not even sure what the real name of the place is called... maybe Super Submarine Sandwich Shop?).

I've been going to Chinese Sub Shop since high school. We'd go after school sometimes or before basketball games. It never changed.. the same people worked behind the counter, you always got asked "hard or soft roll" (the answer is definitely soft), the same off-brand potato chips were on the racks (dill pickle chips are a must). The decor was dim, dirty, and unapologetic but it made the experience.

A bit ago it was announced that the strip of storefronts where Chinese Sub Shop was located (on Highland by the train tracks) was going to be bulldozed and developed. We all feared the worst - no soft roll sandwiches with a delicious oil/italian dressing sauce, no more dill pickle chips, no more wondering if the Chinese food would be a good idea (it isn't).

Luckily Chinese Sub Shop was proactive and moved across town to Summer Avenue (at Holmes, in an old Long John Silver's). It is now closer to me, there are more lights in the dining area, more places to sit, but there's still the same baskets for your sandwiches, still the same styrofoam cups, and they still don't take credit or debit (hit up an ATM!).

You still order at the counter, get a number, and wait for your number to be called. There's daily specials (a rotation of their subs that are discounted). I got my usual - ham. I don't even eat ham sandwiches any more but I still eat them here. Jake got the tuna salad sandwich, which was listed on one of those top things to eat in Memphis.

You can get an 8 or 12 inch sub. I got the 8, Jake the 12. The 12 is a lot of sandwich.

One neat thing - in the dining area there are framed black and whites of their old space, really well done photos. It was cool to see them hanging there.

So.. definitely go there. But take cash.

In sandwiches and nostalgia,

{Go there}: Hog and Hominy.

I'm going to be honest. I delayed trying out Hog and Hominy (the new-er restaurant from the owners of Andrew Michael Kitchen) because I'm not really a foodie. I'm a pretty picky eater and in reading their menu, I didn't think there was much there I could eat.

And yet everyone who went there clamored about it, down even to my students who couldn't get over the peanut butter pie (more on that later...). I had to figure out what I was missing and be in this "in", "hip" crowd going to H&H.

The opportunity presented itself in the form of a goodbye dinner. One of my friends got a fab job and is moving to Nashville (and she requested it be called a "see you later" dinner). We asked her what was still on her list of places to try and she mentioned H&H. So off we went!

H&H is on Brookhaven Circle - a booming little area of good restaurants tucked off Poplar near Mendenhall. The exterior is like a little home (like most of the restaurants in this area, they are situated in homes changed into restaurants) but the inside is very open and urban industrial chic, which is a huge contrast to Andrew Michael Kitchen, which is like eating at your fancy grandmother's house.

The menu is broken into small plates, pizzas, and farmers. The small plates could be little meals or appetizers, or you could have that and share a pizza. The farmers are sides.

Our table was right by the kitchen, which is open to the restaurant:

I liked their choice of tile/grout (same as our kitchen).

They have a fancy drink menu - here's what the future Nashvillian (Nashville-ite?) got:

There were lots of people engaging in post-work bar action. Seemed like a very happening scene.

We ordered three different pizzas and promised to share slices. Anjelica got the Red Eye, which has come highly recommended by several people. It has a fried egg in the center, which you are to smear over the pizza before eating.

I got the Quattro Formaggio, which has four cheeses (obviously), roasted garlic, and a cream sauce. It was for real the best pizza I've ever eaten in my life (OK maybe a tie with the vodka pie at Aldo's).

Sarah got the Sunshine State, which has arugula pesto and bacon.

All three were ridiculously delicious but if I went back (and I will), I'd get the quattro formaggio again.

Now back to that peanut butter pie. Since we were in celebration mode, we went for dessert. I got the peanut butter pie, as did Anjelica, and Sarah got the "Carol's Delightful Smile," which was a chocolate pie. Now it isn't that the delightful smile wasn't good (it was) but the peanut butter pie was just that much better. Like.. favorite dessert status. It has fresh banana as a layer on the bottom (I don't even like bananas and I liked it) and the peanut butter filling is light and fluffy. There are crushed butterfingers on the top.

Another note - the service was first class. Our waiter knew the menu, had great timing, was very polite and funny without being overbearing, and just was generally pleasant. After going to some restaurants lately that lacked in the service area, this was refreshing and a reminder of how a waiter should be. Way to go!

I will definitely return to Hog and Hominy and you should too - they have a great patio and even bocce courts (see, so hip). Parking is a little of an issue (we parked in a salon's parking lot since they were closed for the night) and I hear it can get crowded but I promise it's worth it - even GQ thinks so. They named H&H one of the 12 best restaurants of 2013.

In pizza and peanut butter pie,

{Go There}: Dino's Italian Grill.

I have been eating at Dino's in Midtown since before I could remember. Dino's has been around for 40 years and I have been eating their spaghetti for 27 of those years. And yet I realized I've never properly blogged about my favorite hole-in-the-wall Italian food.

Dino's Grill is on McLean right by Cafe Eclectic, Snowden School, and the mini-mart where we like to stop for snacks to counteract our walks around the neighborhood. What you need to know about Dino's is that this is not fancy Italian. Rather it is what you might expect someone's Italian grandmother to cook at their house for dinner. The decor is World War II themed (and has been the same since I started going there) because the owner Rudy's father (Dino, who started the restaurant), was a war vet. The place isn't exactly clean or kept up, but that is part of the charm. The same people have worked there for forever.

Dino's has beer but not wine so you can bring your own bottle. So we started off our Italian feast with a little Italian wine, courtesy of my dad. 

When it came time to order, we got a toasted ravioli appetizer (they hand make their raviolis and the toasted raviolis have a spinach stuffing) and then I got the chicken alfredo pasta. Know this - their portion sizes are huge. You will have leftovers. I love the chicken alfredo because the grilled chicken on top is so delicious.

Jake got the tamales-three-way. It is a serious dinner with a lot of food.

A lot of times if I am not too hungry, I order a child's portion of spaghetti and even that is a lot of food - an expert tip for you.

And dessert. We had to get dessert. I had never actually tried their tiramisu and I read recently that it is made in house and is wonderful. So we got it and it was. I can't stop thinking about how light and fluffy it was. Everyone agreed.

Another great thing about Dino's is that it is pretty decently priced, especially for the amount of food. They have a lot of great options on their menu. They also do breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays and an all you can eat spaghetti deal on Thursdays.

So next time you're craving comfort food and you're in Midtown, definitely give Dino's a shot.

In pasta and dessert,

{Go There}: Chiwawa, Take Two.

A few weeks ago, Jake and I accidently attended Chiwawa's opening day as a restaurant. We were in Overton Square, saw people there, and decided to check it out. The result was disappointing - chaotic service, missing menu items, splinters from tables, and mixed messages on what came with the dishes.

This past week some of my friends wanted to try out Chiwawa. I decided it had been long enough that I was interested in seeing if they did in fact get their act together. I had seen on twitter that some people were enjoying it and there was less negative buzz. So off we went on a Wednesday night to check it out again.

I sat inside this time (since we were in the middle of winter-in-April) and right away noticed a difference. When I walked in, I was promptly greeted and told to go to the other side of the restaurant to be seated. The bouncer-looking man that was seating people was friendly, funny, and efficient. I got a table quickly, though if I had come 10 minutes later there would have been a line out the door. That's one thing I'll say - Chiwawa seems to be doing great business. It was very crowded from about 6:30 all the way until we left at 8pm.

I also noticed that they got updated menus that reflected their new taco deal. Tacos are $3-4 for one fancy taco but you can get 3 for $9 (a deal if you choose all $4 tacos but not if you choose three $3 ones..). They also took their fun adult sno-cones and paletas off the menu - I'm imaging that they will be back for summer.

We ended up having to wait for our third friend, who was stuck in a meeting that ran over. It turned out to be the perfect excuse to try the chips and dip. We got the queso blanco. It is a little expensive ($7) but you get a lot of dip and chips - unlike some places where you run out of one before the other. The cheese dip was also very unique and delicious - not just something from a jar at the store.

I did notice that as it got more crowded, it got a lot louder. I'm going to totally sound like my mom saying this (hi, mom) but there are a lot of hard surfaces in the design and it isn't conducive to conversation. We were basically shouting at our table by the end of the conversation.

Our waitress was very much on top of things, knew what she was doing, was patient when our friend was late, and was very helpful. A huge change from the clown show that was our waiting experience before. One odd thing - we got a pitcher of margaritas for us all to share so we had, at times, empty glasses but weren't done with them because there was clearly more in the pitcher. This girl that was most likely bussing tables kept coming around and trying to take our empty glass, at one point grabbing it off the table before I said I needed it still. She came no lie about 4 times. I guess they must have been low on glassware that night because she seemed desperate. It was awkward.

Now to the food. Last time I got the juan-tons. I didn't like them because they were too small so the ton-to-filling ratio was off. I saw that they went from 5 juan-tons to 3 so I'm hoping that they are bigger? I should have gotten them to see. Sarah got the three taco deal (she said she liked the chicken the best), AJ got the chiwawa dog (hot dog wrapped in bacon with avocado and salsa topping), and I went the healthy route and got the papas fritas and the elote sides. Really those were the two things I wanted to see if I would like so I just went for it.

My two sides were both ridiculously good. The side of elote comes with 1/2 an ear but the elote appetizer comes with two 1/2 ears. The elote is Mexican street corn, which is corn on the cob with a mayonnaise based coating, cheese, and some serious spices. The corn was so spicy but so good. My pappas fritas were also amazing. Hand cut fries topped with a crumbly white cheese, served with what I tried to determine was maybe a siracha-ketchup dipping sauce (it was a spicy goodness, that's what it was).

I didn't get an exterior shot last time I was there so I also took one of those - you can see that they took an old building that was falling apart and made it into a cool, modern space. There's a huge patio, a giant bar, and a big space downstairs for seating as well.

Other thoughts: all prices include tax, which makes this a very easy place to get food, eat fast, and leave cash on the table if you're getting lunch. Also this one is a strange side note - the next day I was wearing the rain jacket I had worn to Chiwawa the night before and I kept smelling this weird odor and I realized my rain jacket smelled like food - and then I smelled my clothes from the night before and they smelled like food too. So be aware - if you sit inside I guess there isn't good ventilation because my jacket smelled so funky.

I'm so glad I went back to see the polished product as opposed to the opening day chaos of Chiwawa. I think this will be a Midtown hot spot and help progress the Overton Square revitalization. Next Saturday (4/13), when Overton Square has their annual Crawfish Festival, Chiwawa is going to have live music more towards 6pm at the end of the festival so once you're done sucking heads out of little crustaceans, move on down the street and get yourself a taco or dog.

In Midtown being Memphis,

{Go there}: Chiwawa.

For months now Midtown has been teased by rumors of a new hip spot in town - a taco and hot dog bar that was finally going to take over the old Chicago Pizza building that had sat ruined and empty for as long as I could remember. There was lots of buzz building up around the restaurant - articles in the Memphis Flyer and Memphis Business Journal most recently.

So on Friday when it was decidedly patio weather and Jake and I ventured out for lunch, fate stepped in and allowed us to try out this new restaurant - Chiwawa. See, we were going to go to Bosco's but the patio was full so we decided to walk down to another place... maybe Memphis Pizza Cafe or Bayou? But on the way down we noticed a welcoming sign - people on the patio at Chiwawa! And so we decided to give it a go.

First off, we figured out pretty quickly that we had stumbled upon their opening day. And that was important to remember as we went through the lunch. The patio tables were clearly freshly assembled, with wood shavings still on the table, no staining of the table, and needing a sanding in a major way. Seeing as their benches are finished, stained, and sealed, I can imagine that they probably just hadn't gotten there yet.

The menu is really well designed. It is visually pleasing and also represents the brand well- totally hipster cool. The type of food is decidedly eclectic. The chef, Crash of Revival Food Truck fame, definitely put his mark on the offerings, with tacos featuring toppings like pineapple and hot dogs with avocado.

I was very excited to try the elote, which is a mexican street corn that we make at home and love. I ordered that and the Juan Tons, which are a wonton purse with chicken and cream cheese served with a sauce to dip on the plate. Jake went with the Chiwawa Dog, which is an all-beef hot dog wrapped in bacon.

It is worth mentioning at this point that by the time we had ordered we had three different people acting as our waiter. It made for quite the confusion and it did take some time to get our order. We also were told that the taco order came with two tacos but the table next to us was told the taco order was one taco. For $4, that is either a great deal for two tacos or a bad deal for one.

When our food finally came out, we were told that they were out of the corn and that it would be taken off our bill. Totally understandable but they didn't ask if I wanted anything else - I had ordered the Juan tons since I got the corn and by itself it wasn't enough food. I should have asked for a menu and just ordered something because I left hungry.

The Juan Tons:

The Chiwawa Dog:

The food was ridiculously good. Jake loved his dog and my Juan tons, though not much food, were really tasty. I am excited to go back and try other things. A table next to us got the guac and cheese dip and both looked good. One of the things that looked fun were the alcoholic sno-cones and paletas.

Service continued to be majorly a miss throughout the meal. A table two down from us actually waited an hour for their food, one person at their table got his food but no one else, and finally they had to go back to work so they had to leave. It took us a good 30 minutes to get our check and pay (partly because they never took off the corn so we had to get them to fix the bill).

With that being said, like I stated it was their first day. I firmly believe that they will learn from their hiccups and get their system down. Their food is good, the space is fun, Overton Square is hopping, based on the crowds at Local/Boscos lately there is a demand, and once they get their beer license they will have a healthy nightlife.

We'll be going back, but we might give them a few weeks to figure everything out!

In eating local,