10th Annual Taste of Downtown in Savannah

Each year the Chamber of Commerce puts on a great event for its members, and the public, called the Taste of Downtown. It is a great way to get out and sample something special from the local restaurants here in the Savannah area, as well networking with fellow chamber members. This years event was held in beautiful Johnson Square and had plenty of variety for everyones taste buds. From casual to fine dining, it was there. Below is for the most part the best of the best that I ate. Some vendors were there that I didn't try just because I eat in their restaurants so often or the fare they were offering just didn't excite me enough to want a bite.

You can watch the news feature at the end about this event, in which I make a guest appearance in a drive by shot.

First up I tired the Braised Short Rib Slider Topped with Shrimp from The Olde Pink House. This was quite possibly the best dish I ate of the night and it was the first one out of the gate. It set the bar pretty high for everyone to match and only their sister restaurant, Garibaldi's, came close with their stuffed fried shrimp entry. This one was so good that I ended up coming back around for seconds.

Everything else was pretty good. The duck wrap was a nice bite. The ribs from a chef in Richmond Hill were excellent. The crab dip from another restaurant was spot on. The steak sandwich from Ruth's Chris was decent. But one other thing stood out...the cupcakes from Gigi's.

Gigi's has been one of our favorite guilty pleasures since they opened here in Savannah a couple of months ago. Bethany, the owner, has done an amazing job with her shop and these works of art are something to behold, and eat. Last night they had an amazing sampling of the mini cupcakes for everyone to enjoy at the event. These were far and away the best desserts of the night, and it wasn't even close. Every time I turned around Bethany was roping me back in and she let me know that the regular cupcakes would be arriving shortly. She gave me a couple for the road to take home to my wife, that is what you see pictured below. The one on the left is the Italian Wedding Cupcake and the other one is the Cherry Limeade Cupcake. Sadly only one made it home as I lost the Cherry Limeade one on a sharp turn. The cupcake went rolling onto the passenger side floor for the rest of the ride home.

For those that have never had a cupcake from Gigi's, find a location near you and get one today. You won't be disappointed at all.

Valentine's Day Dinner 2011: Salmon Hearts

I racked my brain to figure out how I could top last years widely popular Valentine's Day Dinner. It took all of about 5 min to determine it would be "Salmon Hearts". No this isn't the actual heart from a Salmon. Instead I decided to cook some Salmon in the shape of hearts. This was a lot easier said than done.

To start off I needed to find fillets of Salmon that were big enough for me to cut hearts out and I decided the best way to accomplish this was via heart shaped cookie cutters. Fresh Market had some beautiful cuts and I decided to get two, one to cook regular and the other one to cut hearts out of. The salmon is "Cuban Style" as it was marinated with Nellie & Joe's Key West Style Cuban Marinade. This stuff is really the best marinade on the market and goes well with pretty much everything. Oh...back to the hearts.

I ventured over to Kitchen Outfitters and luckily they had one box of heart shaped cookie cutters left. This box was perfect because it had various sizes of hearts for me to use. The big debate I had with myself was to cut before cooking or after cooking. I decided to go with before cooking and these cutters went right through the Salmon like a hot knife through butter. That was a good thing, until I got to the skin. With all my good knives, not one of them would cut through that skin. So I ended up pulling the hearts off the skin. My big concern now was would these hearts hold their shape through the cooking process. Luckily for the most part they did hold their shape and worked out very nicely for the presentation. I cut the other fillet in half for us to share after it was done cooking.

As for the rest of the meal:

We started off with a Shrimp Cocktail and had Rosemary & Sea Salt Rolls with a balsamic-olive oil dipping mixture that included several spices. These spices were cracked black pepper, garlic, oregano, and cracked red pepper. The shrimp were fresh Wild Georgia Shrimp that I seasoned with some cajun rub. I also put some of this rub in the water that I boiled the shrimp in. After an ice bath they were peeled and placed on the place with a cocktail sauce heart.

The side items for dinner were garlic red skin mashed potatoes and fresh cut green beans & caramelized onions. I partly peeled the potatoes as I wanted to have some of the red skin in the mixture. I then mashed the cooked potatoes with butter, heavy whipping cream, garlic, and cracked black pepper. The mixture was then transferred to a baking dish and was finished in the oven. The green beans & onions were cooked in a little olive oil, salt, garlic, and pepper. I caramelized the onions and the green beans were still crisp with a great bite to them.

To compliment this meal we drank a bottle of 2009 Don Miguel Gascón Argentine Malbec and for dessert we had Red Velvet Cupcakes from Fresh Market.

I got to say, as good as last years Valentine's Dinner was...this one was even that much better.

Shrimp Spring Roll

I was trying to think of something while in The Fresh Market to go with the P.F. Chang's General Tsao's Chicken (which I have reviewed before) that I was making for dinner and was drawn to the "Sushi with Gusto" counter.

This is the same fresh sushi counters that are in many grocery stores these days, but it just seems that there is more variety at The Fresh Market. Still, if I could change one thing it would be them being able to make certain rolls upon request (especially if they have everything on hand). I really was wanting a roll like the Montgomery Crossroll, but the guy behind the counter told me he couldn't make it. All he really needed to do was make a California Roll and add tuna. Oh well, that couldn't be done but the Shrimp Spring Roll caught my eye.

The Shrimp Spring Roll is very fresh and refreshing to eat. It is loaded with cucumbers, carrots, lettuce and avacado. It is then rolled up and sealed with a little lemonayse. They then take a cooked shrimp and lay it on top of the roll and wrap everything up in rice paper. It comes with a spicy duck sauce that is the perfect compliment to these rolls. Dipping each bite into this spicy sauce gives it the extra bite and flavor it needs.

Give this roll a shot the next time you pass by the sushi counter in the grocery store. I really think you will like it.

Abita Brew Pub

New Orleans is known for its food, its party, and its music. However, it is also known for this excellent brewery in Abita Springs that puts out great beer for all tastes. Some might not know the brewery, but they might recognize the name "Turbodog". That is just one of the beers that they produce.

The restaurant is located in what used to be the old brewery (the new brewery is located down the road) and has some pretty good grub to go with the beer. On this trip I tried the heavily bitter Jockamo. It is about the most bitter IPA I have ever had and I must say that I quite enjoyed it.

As for the food...Shrimp Po'Boy with Sweet Potato Fries, Cup of Gumbo, and Crawfish Cornbread. I could have eaten any of these 100 times over. Excellent food all around and I look forward to the next trip there when I can try all the different beers and do the brewery tour.

Appetizers from P.F. Changs

Lettuce Wraps, Dynamite Shrimp, Crab Won Ton, and Pot Stickers.

Lunch at Magnolia's in Charleston

Charleston SC is full of great food, but when you are wanting some great food in a causal uptown environment you go to Magnolia's. We started off with the massive plate of Housemade Potato Chips. These chips are covered with warm and gooey crumbled blue cheese and scallions. For my main course I got the Parmesan Crusted Flounder. This was served over Carolina rice and creek shrimp purloo with sweet corn, tomato and asparagus salad, lump crab and a lemon beurre blanc. It was a nice treat to find the rice and shrimp under the corn salad. I highly recommend this restaurant or one of their other 2 sister restaurants on your next trip to Charleston.

http://www.magnolias-blossom-cypress.com/