Mediterranean in St. Matthews (Majid's)

I had the chance to try Majid's last week, after wanting to go there for so long. I hate when new restaurants open and I don't get around to trying them for what seems like forever. After hearing great reviews I had to try this place.

I will say that while the food I enjoyed was expertly prepared, there were some missteps in the dinner. The filet I had, with sauteed greens, long beans, roasted butternut squash, and really, really good mashed potatoes, was simply delicious. After just being served terrible steak at a "fine dining" steak restaurant a few weeks back, the perfectly-cooked filet was a relief - when people say they want medium rare steak, they mean MEDIUM RARE, not well done and charred. The salmon crostini that I had was also delicious, although, admittedly, harder to mess up.

My sister had the Mediterranean-version of cioppino and it, too, was delicious. The others in our party didn't fare as well. After enjoying great Greek salads, the pair shared a rack of lamb entree, which had been suggested by our waiter as a house specialty. While the seasoning was good, the meat suffered from being a poor cut and it was pocked with fat and gristle. I know these ladies would have liked to have sent the meat back if they weren't so far into the meal and just plain ol' hungry. I know this could certainly just be an anomaly with this particular cut.

Would I go to Majid's again? Absolutely! I want to go back and try their crispy duck and sample some items off the intriguing bar menu. I was happy to see St. Matthews with a finer dining option to balance the pubs and lower-key fare that seems to be on every corner.

Fat-Kid Find in Old Louisville (Amici's)

Thanks to a good friend for an amazing lunch suggestion today. Amici Cafe in Old Louisville (on Ormsby) had gone under-the-radar for me and I'm not quite sure why. This makes me realize that, while I'm aware of some fantastic locations in town, there are obviously some truly great places I'm missing. Amici had a wonderful quaint, romantic European decor and such a lovely outside seating area. Although we ate there during the middle of the day, I could tell by the lighting that the interior would surely come to life at night (code for I'm going back after dark, preferably with a date).

(Artichoke fritti w/ horseradish sauce)

I just hit the tip of the iceberg as far as menu offerings go, trying the artichoke fritti and grilled vegetable panini with parmesan fries; let me tell you, I've had a LOT of fries in my life, and I'd put these at the top any day. Perfectly cooked, a light crispy coating, fluffy on the inside... these were perfectly seasoned potatoes, people! Also, a nice treat was our server, who suggested dipping the complimentary sesame bread sticks in their delicious herbed blue cheese dressing. I could have eaten them all day long.

For those looking to add a really quant, romantic -Italian option to your restaurant repertoire, Amici Cafe is the perfect option. Be sure to check out their Facebook deals for special offers like half-priced wine and pizza and sangria specials.

Bacon, Bacon, Bacon!

"Bacon Love," Mike Geno

I love bacon. I love bacon so much I would eat it on anything. Literally, anything. I was putting bacon in caramel and ice cream sundaes before I ever saw it on the food network or ate it in a restaurant. People thought I was crazy, but bacon makes EVERYTHING better. Cliche, but so true.

My next step in life, call it the "bucket list" of cooking, will be to make my own bacon. I found a great, easy recipe from Saveur to cure my own bacon. Can't wait to try it.

Have you ever tried making bacon before? Tell me how it went!

Mozz now serves lunch... even better.

Everyone knows how much I love Mozz, and I was really disappointed when they opened with a dinner-only service. Not because their dinner wasn't amazing, but because I'd like to take my parents and they eat at, like, 5 PM every day, 6 on the weekends. So, no dice for those two.

But I learned they just opened on July 11th for lunch service. No one had to twist my arm to visit. If you love Mozz for dinner, try it for lunch! The menu is just as amazing, filled with sandwiches, paninis, and subs. They've even tweaked some of their dinner entrees into uber-affordable lunch portions (or in some cases, nearly the same serving size as dinner but at 1/3 the price). I had an insanely delicious grilled chicken panini stuffed with jalepeno/mint pesto, benton's bacon, greens, mozzarella and who really needs to hear more than that??!!


Anyone free for lunch tomorrow?

Burgers, burgers and more burgers

I love burgers and consider myself somewhat of a burger connoisseur. So I got really excited when I read that Bon Appetit will be posting their favorite burgers - one each day until they decide they've named them all - on their Facebook page.

So I guess I have a new fan page to "like." First up? The Onion Burger from Sid's Diner in El Reno, OK. A burger patty with caramelized onions smashed into it, then seared on the flat top. Sounds like a good start to me.

(And where the eff is El Reno? Sounds like a road trip to me.)
(Oh, and in case you wanted another reason to follow Bon Appetit, they are giving away a trip to Paris to one of their Facebook fans. Sounds like a fair trade to me.)

Sometimes I wish I'd taken French, not Spanish (Ghyslain)

I think most of my friends know by now that I'm in love with most of the new restaurants popping up in the Germantown/Butchertown/NULU districts. I tend to lean towards American and Latin comfort food, probably because that's what I love to cook at home, but I do love the more upscale spots as well. I had the opportunity to stop in at Ghyslain on Market for lunch, and let me tell you, while I may not know how to pronounce the name (debatable), Ghyslain offers some seriously good eats.

My sister and I strolled in on a Saturday early afternoon, just beating the late brunch crowd and were stopped by a menu with a fantastic array of options. We'd already known about Ghyslain's fabulous desserts, thanks to our Momma's designer Easter Egg baskets (Ghyslain creates the most extraordinary chocolates, we still have two large hand-painted bunnies that are too pretty to eat). But I had no clue the lunch menu would look so tasty and I had a very hard time choosing.

B.Blaze and I chose to "split" two sandwiches - which really means that we each just get a bite and only continue sharing if we're equally pleased with the other's choice - and we couldn't have chosen a more opposite pairing. I delved in to an espresso BBQ pork sandwich on brioche (duh, favorite) with leak scalloped potatoes. Beth opted for the curry chicken wrap with mint cole slaw. We both were craving beet salad but alas they were all out of beets (that only creates a perfect excuse to make the 2 minute trek back for more food at a later date).

Beth's curry was good, albeit a little sloppy to eat, and the slaw was fresh and bright. My BBQ was topped with melted provolone and caramelized onions, and while I'm used to extra sauce on my BBQ, this didn't need any. The real show stopper was the leek scalloped potatoes. Served nestled in an individual-size baker dish, I had the sudden urge to run to the grocery on the way home and start making potato casseroles. So amazing, perfectly seasoned, and, surprisingly, just as homey and comforting on a 90 degree Summer lunch is it would be on a 40 degree Winter supper.

We finished our meal with a refreshing mango tartlet and a couple handmade Chambord and key lime chocolates. The salads and soups floating by towards other patrons looking equally as delicious as everything we'd tried.

I will be looking for any excuse to go back, and I might just walk away with only beet salad and scalloped potatoes. I'd be just fine with that.

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Ghyslain on Market
FKS Scale (1-10): 9
Pros: leek scalloped potatoes; French inspired BBQ; mint slaw; beautiful desserts and chocolates
Cons: some items may seem pricey, but the flavors are worth it; those itty bitty diet coke bottles for $2.50; wanting to try everything

Love me some southern food (Doc Crows)

One of the biggest perks of my job is that I work closely with food innovation professionals; these are the best people to eat with because they'll try anything and their expense accounts are enormous. $200 lunches for two? Sure. $700 dinners for four? Whatever. It's a pretty sweet gig. I was privileged enough to try Doc Crows with one of my foodie friends and, cumulatively, I think we ordered a third of the menu.

Wilbur Sundae

We tried a little of everything: fried oysters, pork rinds, fried soft-shell crab, brisket tacos, fried chicken, and a hamburger. The hamburger was made with a mixture of three cuts of beef and it was incredibly flavorful - didn't even need ketchup (which says a lot for me as I often order a burger as an excuse to eat ketchup). The brisket tacos were delicious and probably my favorite of the entrees we tried. I'd like to note that they serve many of their sandwiches on brioche, at some times overwhelming the internal components (for instance, hamburger didn't fill the bun), but definitely a delicious choice for those who love the buttery, fluffy texture. Count me in that group. Also, the condiment of choice for nearly everything on the menu is the house-made remoulade, which I loved so much I order a pint to take home (charged me $2, best deal ever). I literally could eat it on anything.

The highlight of the meal (in addition to the tasty pork rinds) was the Wilbur sundae. This rich confection was comprised of praline ice cream, bourbon caramel, cinnamon sprinkled pork rinds and candied bacon. It was plenty for the three of us and for $5 you can't beat that deal, expense account or not. Definitely a must try for people who like me who love bacon on anything!

Overall, the menu delivers enough variety for any type of southern grub you could crave.
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Doc Crow's Southern Smokehouse & Raw Bar
FKS Scale (1-10): 8
Pros: great sampling of southern food; remoulade on everything; brioche on everything; fresh pork rinds; candied bacon; foodie expense accounts
Cons: weird shop-cloth napkins; parking;

Deep-fried crunchy pork-fat goodness

So, I ate at Doc Crows today for lunch and the meal was great (full-post coming), but the clear star of the show for me were the fresh pork rinds. Pork rinds, cracklins and chicharrones are very similar in that they are made of fried pork skin with varying degrees of fat and cooking techniques. Essentially, they are like the identical triplets of the culinary world: oft-confused and you can tell them apart because one's a little chubbier than the other two.

I digress. I loved these pork rinds so much that I ate them twice today... as in I ate them at lunch and ordered two to-go boxes full of them for later. Cinnamon-sugar and the traditional kind with a kick of heat. I wanted to save them for an after-work snack ("gorge" may be the more appropriate term).

Only problem is I accidentally left them at work and got all the way home without them. So I did what any other FKS-stricken person would do. I drove all the way back to work to get them.

Hello? Top Chef finale and fresh pork rinds? Duh, winning!

(The End)

Planning my next work trip around food... typical.

One of the major perks of work travel is that I can use them as an excuse to try new restaurants I've heard or read about. Usually I've got a handful of options in the holster in case I get the inevitable, "Sarah, what would you like to eat for dinner?" question. Or, if I'm by myself, its even better... I don't have to feel bad about driving 30 minutes out of the way in order to try something no one else wants to eat.

I'm heading out to Sac-town next week and was super excited to catch an episode of triple D's featuring all Sacramento restaurants. I have to try the Dad's burger at Dad's Kitchen. It does something awesome with burgers that I've never quite seen before. They take what looks to be a 4 inch ring mold and layer in the burger toppings with the meat, smashing them into basically one thick burger patty. And they layer in yummy goodies like bacon and blue cheese.

hard to see that bacon crust, but it is there

A patty that is one side ground beef, one side crispy flat-top-cooked bacon and cheese?

Yeah, I think I'd drive out of the way for that.

A stoner's dream...

Packaging frozen pizza AND chocolate chip cookies all in the same package?

What took them so freaking long to think of this?!

genius!

Only thing that could make this any better is if this wasn't DiGiorno... which happens to be my absolute least favorite frozen pizza. Don't get me wrong, I've eaten a lot of it, but only after experiencing extreme inebriation while finding myself at a friends house at 4 AM and having absolutely no other choice. Not the fat-kid pizza of choice for me.

P.S. Didn't know Nestle had bought Kraft's pizza business this year... if they keep this up it will be a long, happy marriage!

Props: The Impulsive Buy

Favorite dish... of the day!

Do you have a favorite dish? The one that would serve as your proverbial "last meal?"

My problem is that I have, like, 30 favorites dishes. I swallow my tongue when people ask me the question, "what's your favorite food?" Deer in headlights! I could go a million different ways.

One of those ways is chicken-fried steak. Seen here on my first attempt to make it at home, with garlic-parm skillet potatoes and a fried egg. I don't like frying in my home, but I was craving this one day and whipped it up. The chicken wasn't as crispy as I liked, but my scratch-made sausage gravy* always delivers.

What would your last meal be... sweet or savory? One, simple dish or one of everything?

*FYI... sausage gravy would probably make my top 10 favorite dishes on its own. True love.

This is why I love America (Corbett's)

It's hard to not like a restaurant with the words "An American Place" in the name... especially a fine dining restaurant. Why? Because this means all of the home-grown foods that we love, that were created or "fine-tuned" in this great country are turned up a notch. Or two.

B.Blaze and I took our parents to Corbett's: An American Place for their 30th wedding Anniversary/V-Day (on another note, 30 years? that's a damn long time to be married kudos to them!). The goal of the evening was to just eat everything and anything that looked good. Can't decide between two apps? Get 'em both. Everyone wants their own dessert? Who the hell cares... why not get two each?! I love these dinners - they become tasting marathons more than they are dinner sometimes. Where people are so full, that they are more than willing to share, which, if you know me, does not happen often. (Side-bar: I hate sharing food; I must have skipped that lesson in pre-school. If you want some of whats on my plate you should have ordered it. That is unless you have something equally as good to barter with!)

mushroom and short rib ravioli

The food at Corbett's was amazing, as expected, from my *first* app (foie, of course), to salad, to my entree, to cleaning up my mother's, or basically my second, entree. My dad had sweetbreads, which were so tender and delicious and a very well portioned* entree of pork tenderloin, chestnuts and cherry glaze. B.Blaze had a yummy sea scallop dish with parmesan grits. I had the ravioli, filled with marscapone, mushrooms, and short ribs, topped with shredded sweet potatoes and fried sage. But my mom's entree stole the show for me. She had the sea bass special - and while I normally do not order fish when I eat out (not when there is red meat or pork!) - this fish was cooked perfectly, with the most amazing crust, and tender - oh so tender - on top of lemony, mushroom risotto. Seriously kick ass, sea bass (see what I did there?)! Best fish I have. Ever. Eaten.

yummiest fish ever

Ultimately, Corbett's passed every test, except for maybe our (three!) desserts, which, despite being comped (thanks Nirm!), just left me wanting another piece of sea bass.
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Corbett's: An American Place
FKS Scale (1-10): 9

Pros: celebrating my awesome parents; beautiful setting and ambiance; great food; foie gras; sweetbreads; short rib ravioli; kick ass, sea bass; free dessert(s)
Cons: having to drive home fighting through my food-coma; dessert not quite my fav; wishing I had ordered sea bass
*I'm always worried my Dad won't get enough food. He's 6'8" 250. Big boy. And while I love exposing him to new food, I'm afraid sometime when we eat out that he'll think the food is too, how do we say, "fairy" for him. That's a direct quote. Love when we find a place that is interesting, pushes his boundaries, AND still gives him enough food to fill his belly.

Can we get a pop-up...

... food vendor in Louisville? Do we think there is enough demand for this? I've thought long and hard about running a food truck for 2-3 days a week (Thurs-Saturday). I could start at lunch and when I run out of food for the day I could just pack it up and go home. I need to run a break-even on this stat.

What do you think? Tacos or empanadas one night, mediterranean another and cheese steaks or burgers another. Or pizza. Or fried fish. Or just a carb night with every type of topped tater tot/fry/chip nacho concoction you could think of.

Or pies.

Yes, we need a pop-up pie vendor... this would be amazing. Could you imagine if the Pie Kitchen suddenly showed up on your street corner with their Dutch Apple by the slice? With a scoop of cinnamon ice cream? Sounds like heaven to me!

props: BA

Very little fun at Funmi's

I really hate typing these words. I wanted desperately to like Funmi's, the new Nigerian restaurant right next to Pie Kitchen on Bardstown Rd. Not only do I love trying new cuisines, there's not much to do but root for first-generation immigrants opening up their own restaurants. And on Bardstown Rd. this eatery seemed like a perfect fit.

Jollof Rice with beef and chicken

I'll make this short and sweet, because the indigestion I had after eating there already made this food-memory much longer lasting than planned or was necessary. After my friend and I collectively tried two appetizers, two entrees with three different proteins and three different sides, the only thing I would re-order was the Jollof rice with beef and chicken. The rice had a flavor that almost reminded me of Indian food and both the beef and chicken were tender and moist. But the entire meal lacked a completeness of flavor. Either too spicy, or not enough, too dry or bland. Even the fried plantains, which, lets face it, are really hard to mess up, were bland with little sweetness. Despite all of this the most dissapointing part was the borderline ineptness of the waitstaff, and Funmi herself, to guide us through the menu. We were open to anything, literally anything, and even after specificaly asking for help, just left to fill in the blanks for ourselves.

Ultimately just too many other good restaurants in the area to go back.

Insert my really, really sad pouty face here.
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Funmi's Cafe (Modern Nigerian Cuisine):
FKS Scale (1-10): 3
Pros: great company (thanks, Wade!); BYOB&W (double thanks, Wade!); close to my house
Cons: wanting desperately to like this place but being let down; sad, pouty faces

Super Bowl = woof

menu: chocoloate chip cookies stuffed with reese's cups and snickers...and jalepeno-grapefruit margaritas...

and "french onion" stuffed mushrooms...

and piggies in a blanket...

and buffalo chicken dip...

... plus shrimp pico de gallo, sweet and sour meatballs and shit tons of fritos. woof.

Lasagna cupcakes... the best ravioli ever?

Lasagna cupcakes... imagine the possibilities!

I love ravioli. Cheese, meat, mushrooms and herbs... what's not to like? The only limiting factor is the amount of filling - the more filling inside, the less likely to close tightly without exploding, and that's why I generally need so many little pillows of goodness to fill up my plate.

But lasagna cupcakes? Pasta cups filled with shit tons of filling? Like, meat and cheese muffins? Tell me these don't sound like a fabulous idea for your next dinner party. I really need this trend to catch on in Louisville.

props: WSJ read it and salivate.

Marriage made in brisket heaven

Disregard the fruit. You know I didn't order this sandwich with fruit. Try the onion rings.

I don't think I've ever eaten something quite like this sandwich before. I mean, I love meat. I also live* alcohol. But a brisket sandwich with a Kahlua cream sauce? On a fresh-baked butter-honey bread topped with gooey smoked cheese and served with thick cut onion rings and sriracha ketchup? I don't think I can say the words "yes please" fast enough. Yes. Please.

If you're ever in Dallas and want to try the most truly unique, meaty-sandwich awesomeness you will ever put in your mouth - seriously, ever - you have to stop by Vickery Park.

*Editor's note: this was a typo, but a somewhat accurate one, so it stays.

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Vickery Park (Dallas):

FKS Scale (1-10): 9.5 (I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't considering a move to Dallas purely because of this sandwich)

Pros: everything; great company (thanks Michelle!)

Cons: Painfully having to relive this moment knowing I am 836 miles and 13.6 hours away from eating it again; knowing I have to go to Dallas to get it; FABD, step up your game.

These tots are the mac daddy

mac-n-cheese-n-tots

I think most people know I'm down with the t-tots. One of my favorite ways to fix them is to bake them up super crispy and then drizzle them with truffle oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. That's just how I roll. But layering mac-n-cheese on top of tater tots? And adding blue cheese or spicy buffalo sauce? I am soooo down.

genius: Comfort times two
props: SF Weekly

Sushirrito... you look so good but bad (but good?) for me

The idea of creating a burrito form of a sushi roll is fascinating to me. Generally I support taking healthy things and making them ridiculously bad for you (i.e. cream cheese and fried crab.. in a deep fried sushi roll), but this seems sort of unhealthy in a good but bad way. Did that even make sense? This sushirrito has me so confused...

Sushirrito
props: SF Weekly