D.I.Y. Southern Comfort

Hosted by HM & B. 

 

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Dishes inspired from the American South that include at least one "made-from-scratch" ingredient that you usually buy from the store. 

Hush Puppies & Corn Bread with homemade cornmeal 

Bacon-y Coleslaw with homemade bacon 

Skillet Fried Chicken with homemade buttermilk 

Biscuits with homemade baking powder 

Green Peas in Cream with homemade butter 

Homemade Hot Sauce 

Fried Okra 

Collard Greens with homemade lemon and duck confit 

Hard Lemonade with homegrown lemons 

Lemon Chess Pie with homemade butter 

Mint Julep Ice Cream

NOPA **'

Dinner w J&A, and M's first restaurant dinner.  Excellent service from hosts & servers.

Warm Marinated Olives - o.k. good sized serving.

Fish Soup - nice light.

*Manila Clams, Green Garlic Cream, Tasso Ham and Grilled Bread - good flavors, well balanced, the ham was particularly tasty.

*Fried Asparagus and Romesco  - simple but very good.  The fried coating was crispy and not greasy while the asparagus inside was perfectly cooked.

*Moroccan Vegetable Tagine, Almonds and Lemon Yogurt - my favorite of the night, which was a surprise to me.

Housemade Pappardelle, Nine Hour Bolognese, Spinach and Parmesan  - average at best.  The pasta was a bit clunky, the texture was a bit tough and the pasta itself doesn't have much flavor.  At least they didn't err on the overcooked too soft side.  Compared to the quality of the pastas at Italian specialists this dish fell flat for us.  The meat in the bolognese had the proper long cooked consistency, but the sauce needed something to punch it up, either more acid or a hint of spice.

Grilled Broccoli, Lemon, Anchovy and Breadcrumbs  - o.k.

Kokkari ***

Great dinner at Kokkari.  I hadn't been in several years and the place hasn't lost a step.  From most to least favored:

Arnisia Paidakia -  lamb chops grilled with a lemon-oregano vinaigrette. Nice char and smokiness. My favorite.

Gigantes - giant beans with tomato and feta.

Tzatziki with housemade grilled pita - the fresh pita here is delicious.

Octapodaki tou Yiorgou- grilled octopus with lemon, oregano & olive oil. 

Average:

Horiatiki - classic Greek salad.

Baklava - the baklava was fine, but the praline ice cream was just sweet and flat.

Moussaka - the spicing of the lamb had too much cinnamon or nutmeg to my tastes.

Yummy Yummy **

Sate Beef Noodle Soup with Egg Noodles #8 (ordered spicy) - I loved the tender meat and strong sate flavor. 

I had written off YY before due to a lackluster Bun Bo Hue, but this was such a great showing, I might have to come back and give the BBH another shot.

Yum's Bistro **

Lunch
Salt & Pepper Pork - o.k.
Mock Goose - good wine flavored sauce.