Foodie Travels: In-N-Out Burger

Heaven. Pure Heaven.

This was the thought that went through my mind when I ended my In-N-Out Burger drought, and bit into my food in Petaluma, Calif. The meal consisted of a burger, fries and a chocolate shake. However, the burger and fries weren't your standard menu items. In fact, you won't even find the following terms on the menu -- but trust me, the "Animal Style" burger and "Well-Done" fries are just two items that can be found in the In-N-Out Hidden Menu. (This is a topic that is worthy of its own post.

The "Animal Style" burger has a beef patty that was cooked in a mustard sauce (trust me, it's delicious), grilled onions, ripe tomatoes, crisp lettuce, pickles, cheese and a thousand island sauce. The "Well Done" fries are fries that have been cooked extra-long so they are very crispy.

The "Animal Style" burger was slightly messy -- the Thousand Island sauce dripped onto my fingers. And the high-quality produce - crisp lettuce and ripe tomatoes -- was a nice contrast to the texture of the burger. In addition, the grilled onions added a hint of smokey sweetness to the burger. Simply delicious.

The "Well Done" fries were very good. They were very crispy -- not a soggy fry to be had. In addition, the potatoes were cut and fried in front of my eyes -- you just can't get a fresher french fry.

The chocolate shake was good. They claim it's a 100% ice cream milk shake. But it's more like the standard fast food soft-serve milkshake -- like a Wendy's frosty, but just a little more liquid. Don't get me wrong, it was still delicious, but a far cry from a real milkshake.

After all was said and done, I finished the burger and shake but ate only about half of the fries -- there were a LOT. I love In-N-Out, and my allegiance has only grown since I moved to the east coast over a decade ago. Cookout and Five Guys are good -- but IMHO, this is better.

Score:
Atmosphere: 4/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Total: 12/15

Price: $
Kid Friendly: Yes

Conclusion: A great burger made only better with fresh produce and REALLY fresh fries, make this a delicious meal. If you're ever within a 30 minute drive of one, be sure to drive and try it. It's worth it.

Restaurant Info:
In-N-Out Burger
http://www.in-n-out.com/

Foodie Travels: Sonoma Wineries

Last week, with only a moment's notice, I decided to grab a last-minute flight and join my wife in Sonoma County, Calif., for a convention she was attending. If you don't know about Sonoma, think wine country next to Napa. So, I hopped on a flight, and about 7 hours and one connection later, I was in San Francisco International. YAAY! I know. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. :)

After meeting my wife at the airport and eating our way through San Francisco, we made it to the convention hotel. The next day, we joined her friend and headed up the road during some convention down-time to try some local wineries that distribute wines all the way to North Carolina. The next thing I knew, we were exploring the grounds of Chateau St. John. WOW, what a place!

The estate is gorgeous and HUGE. But in some ways its a little over-done. The wine-tasting room is easily larger than my entire house. It was stuffed with trinkets, books, hats, sweatshirts, and lots of wine displays --one display had over a thousand bottles of wine. The only thing missing was a water fountain filled with wine! (If you know the movie Sideways, think Frass Canyon.)

But that said, it WAS quite nice -- and the seating area outside was remarkable. LOTS of tables, chairs and umbrellas from Restoration Hardware were inviting us to stay, relax, and enjoy a bottle of Chardonnay.

Who am I to decline such gracious hosts??

So, the three of us sat back and relaxed for a little over an hour. Surrounded by rose bushes and vine-covered walls, while enjoying the warm sun and a cool breeze, we thoroughly enjoyed our first winery.

It should be noted that the Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay was perfect for the summer day. With hints of pear and apple, this slightly oaky chardonnay had an awesome finish of spices and clove. Light but not too light. Absolutely the perfect drink for the perfect afternoon.

More about the next winery, Blackstone, to come....

McNuggets Made with Silly Putty Chemical

This comes from the "I'm not at all surprised" category. It's come to light that McDonalds' Chicken McNuggets have an ingredient that is commonly found in -- wait for it-- Silly Putty.

That's right, McNuggess contain dimethylpolysiloxane, "an anti-foaming agent" also used in Silly Putty. Just when you thought it was safe to have those tasty little nuggets, you might also want to know that they also contain the chemical preservative tBHQ, tertiary butylhydroquinone, a petroleum-based product.

I've always been somewhat worried about the stuff actually found in fast food, but this is just a little ridiculous!

Here's the original article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?entry_id=66729

Crispy Creme AND Cheerwine in ONE!

The Charlotte Observer is reporting tonight that some Crispy Creme donuts got a little freaky with a bottle of Cheerwine, and here is the product of that union.

Crispy Creme has unveiled its Cheerwine donut. It's donut filled with a "Cheerwine creme", and coated with chocolate icing and sprinkles. Now, I'm not the biggest Cheerwine fan, but this sounds sorta good!

Not only does it sound sorta good -- but really, what is more Southern? I mean, this is more Southern than a fried green tomato at a NASCAR race!

UPDATE: Ok, I tried this thing, and really, it was WAAAY too sweet for my taste. The wierd thing is that they REALLY nailed the Cheerwine flavor in the creamy, whipped frosting filling. It tasted exactly like Cheerwine. The bad thing is that it, well, tasted exactly like Cheerwine. Let's face it, when was the last time you had Cheerwine and donuts? Never?? There's a reason for that.

Restaurant Review: Zoes Kitchen

If you've been cruising around the back side of Birkdale, between Qdoba and Dicks Sporting Goods, you're probably run across a new restaurant: Zoes Kitchen.

I'd been expecting it for a while, and when I stopped by two weeks ago it was finally open and my stomach was ready for business!

Zoe's seems to be another addition to the Fast Casual style eateries that have begun to pop up. You order your food at the counter, and then after about 5 minutes a server brings the meal to you. Forks and knives are actual metal, wine can be enjoyed, and the atmosphere is relaxed. And the price -- definitely not resembling a fast food restaurant.

The first thing I noticed when I entered Zoes were the large menus on the back wall -- there is no questioning where you need to place your order. The menus were a little overwhelming, and it took me a couple of glances to figure out that the stuff listed on the far left were family size meals meant for 4 people. Yeah, I almost tried to order one of those for myself!

Zoes food has a decidedly Mediterranean flare with pita, hummus, and feta appearing throughout the menu. However, they do have steak roll-ups and grilled cheese sandwiches too. So, you can pretty much find something for everyone.

The first time we went to Zoes, I ordered The Olympus. This sandwich has a mountain (get it?)of turkey with tomato, lettuce, onion and a feta parsley spread on foaccia bread. The spread was good, the veggies were fresh, and the turkey delicious. The only bad part of this sandwich was that it was quite dry and the spread did nothing to moisten it.

The second time, I ordered the Greek Chicken Pita, and substituted a side item with hummus and pita. Again the veggies were great. The grilled chicken delicious, and the caramelized onions were a great and flavorful addition. But again, this sandwich was dry.

Fortunately, I found a GREAT way to fix it -- I put a couple splashes of their salad dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, and spices) onto the sandwich, and viola! Instant yumminess!

It should also be noted, that the hummus and pita rocked! And the limeade was delicious.

All in all, a great addition to the Birkdale area. The food is filling, yet light. The perfect addition to summer dining options in the area. As for the interior atmosphere, I really can't remember it as we ate outside and only ventured indoors to place the order. However, we found the patio area to be spartan but nice and relaxing.

My wife and I have enjoyed Zoes twice over the past two weeks, and we'll be going back again.

Score:
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 3.5/5
Total: 11/15

Kid Friendly: Yes. Lots of tykes abound. And there is a children's menu (includes the grilled cheese mentioned above).
Price: $$ (entree with drink will push you over $10)

Restaurant Info:
Zoe's Kitchen
Birkdale Village
16735 Cranlyn Road
Suite D
Huntersville, NC 28078
p)704-655-2635
f) 704-655-2639
http://www.zoeskitchen.com/

Huntersville Toast -- The Story Behind the Closing

Joe Marusak with the Observer has a great piece about the story behind the closing of the Huntersville Toast. And it's worth the read.

It mostly confirms what I'd been hearing around town. But here's my summary WITH conjecture and rumor! (Hey, if I were a legitimate news source, I'd have a press pass where this food stain is!)

But scuttlebutt has it that the old Toast Huntersville manager and the landlord were in cahoots, and decided to try to take over the Huntersville Toast location. They figured that while the Toast owner was out of town in New York for personal reasons, they'd close down Toast, and re-open it as "Taste". Same menu, same wait staff, same furniture, and even the same freakin' font! And hopefully nobody would be the wiser.

Fortunately, the Toast owner heard about what was going on, and with the help of his attorneys, was able to get that debacle stopped before it got started.

If the rumors are right, I'm glad that the old manager and landlord weren't able to try to cash-in on potential customers lack of attention. Trying to mislead the customer and stealing a brand at the same time is truly despicable.

Can't wait to try the new Toast at the Discovery Place in Huntersville!

And I can't wait to try the almost "Taste," now called Cafe 100. I'll try to keep an open mind... but if I can't, I'll let you know!

Also, when was the last time you saw "scuttlebut" and "cahoots" in a blog post?? A FOODIE FIRST! :)

Whew! Glad that's over!

The Lake Norman Wine and Food Festival was a huge success! Raising over 700 lbs of canned goods for local charities, over one thousand attendees ate new foods, tasted new wines, and got to check out local vendors.

Photos can be found here: http://pundithouse.com/2010/06/lake-norman-wine-food-festival/

It was a lot of work, and I'm glad to be a part of this Festival. But the people who REALLY helped to pull of the Festival were the volunteers from Hope House, Angels and Sparrows, and the Mooresville Soup Kitchen. Without them, the Festival wouldn't have happened. So, THANK YOU for all of your help.

Be sure to check back this week for your almost regularly scheduled Foodie posts. :) I'm back with new restaurants to try!

Where the Heck Have I Been????

Ya, know. When it rains it pours.....

As many of my long-time readers know, I've spent much of my time in the area looking for full-time employment. A project here and there have arisen, but nothing kept me busy for the 40+ hours a week that I need to keep my ADD in check.

So, as a way to keep myself busy -- and help my new community -- I started working on the Lake Norman Wine and Food Festival. (Its gonna be AWESOME!!!) That job alone was giving me a full-time workload with no pay.

Then out-of-the-blue I was offered a temp job. It in exchange for working 40 hour weeks, I would actually recieve a paycheck for a couple of months. SWEET!!

But here's the rub, this means that I've been working 80+ hour weeks for the past month and a half! So, my Foodie duties have fallen by the wayside. My apologies.

But, the good news is that all my work and effort are finally coming together. The Festival is rocking at least a DOZEN wineries, each one pouring tastes of several vintages. So, if you go, you will get the chance to sample approx. 40-50 wines.

In addition, six eateries (Dresslers, Creole House, Brooklyn South, Mayo's Ristorante, Sangam Indian, and Kernel T's Korn Krib) will be serving everything from American and Italian to Indian and Cajun. THAT'S A WIDE-RANGING MENU!! And don't forget the local artists and vendors!!

So, in conclusion, I've slacked from my writing duties here, to make sure that I can benefit local charities through a kick-butt Festival that will whet your appetite for food and wine.

I hope all of you can make it. Drink some wine, eat some amazing food, and help the community at the same time. Sounds like an excellent June weekend to me!

http://www.lakenormanwineandfoodfestival.org