Greek Offerings

I remember in the 11th grade, my high school chemistry teacher went to Greece and recounted to me how amazing the food was. I instantly decided on the spot that I was going to Greece, for the pretty landscape but more so for the food. 5 years later, I got my wish, although I wasn't all that much wiser on Greek cuisine since the only exposure I've ever had to Greek food was Greek Lady aka lamb meat and french fries stuffed in a pita, and hummus (which isn't even exclusively Greek). Fortunately for me, my chemistry teacher was right and the food was amazing (the landscape was pretty great too) and I finally learned about the nuances and complexities of Greek cuisine.

Pork filet stuffed with smoked cheese from Metsovo, wild rise on veal gravy and fig syrup
Veal rib-eye with truffle honey garnished with hot salad from local black-eyed beans on veal gravy

Grilled octopus stuffed with rice, lamp mutton, ragu pasta, Greek yogurt with dried fruit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pork T-Bone Steak, Grilled Octopus.

Pork Souvlaki, Mezze, Spring Salad, more Greek Yogurt with dried fruit.

Baked feta cheese with honey, BBQ pork chops, Stewed beef with feta.

Amazingly delicious salads, a very innovative Greek salad with capers, Mushroom risotto.

Lacroix (Part III)

Still haven't finished all of the posts from Southeast Asia (as there is an entire folder of Thai Cooking class pictures to go through and edit) so here is a quick little post on Lacroix for Restaurant Week. Came here last spring (forgot a camera) and last semester (poor dinner lighting) but this time I managed to snap some quick shots before digging in.

Apps: Mixed Greens & Caesar Salad

Main: Lamb BLY & Fish and Chips

Dessert: Dessert Trio

Apps were delish, mains were somewhat underwhelming but the desserts (as always in the case of restaurant week) were amazing.  Also hit up Amada for dinner which I discovered is infinitely better than its lunch offerings but the lighting for that rendered the pictures almost completely black. Oh well...maybe some editing will salvage them.

I Sense a Pattern....

Another post dedicated to meat! I swear I'm not a constant raging carnivore because this time it was my dad, not me, who went with the theme. We went into BJs hoping to pick up some rib eye for dinner and left with 16lb worth. It was one big hunk of meat. Literally. After marinating two slices for dinner we had exactly 11 massive steaks left. Enough to last us for quite a while. Then again, my dad does like steak. I wonder if there will be any left when I go home for Thanksgiving break...Anyways, here are the snapshots from dinner :)

Cucumber Salad - so Asian. Yup.

And a salad. Got to get the green in there.

Jasmine Rice

And the Grand Finale!

Starting a new tradition :)

OK. I officially love Tap House. After reading the lackluster reviews on Yelp, I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the highly anticipated beer and burger joint. Fortunately, positive reviews from all my friends persuaded me to check out this fancy "casual dining" spot. After an evening of coffee enhanced Guinness' and rich Belgian drafts (can you tell I don't know my beers?) as well as the Mediterranean plate (which served Quinoa!), both my dad and I were hooked.

Alright, so my parents never go out to eat, much less to a place 45 minutes away from home. 1 week after my dad had a quaint heart to heart what do I get but a call from my parents asking me if I wanted to meet up with them at Tap House again.  What college student says no to a free dinner?   This time, our waiter also lit the fire-pit outside and it made for some amazing picture taking.

Chop Salad. I need to find out how they make that dressing. This salad had amazing greens, chick peas, pancetta, provolone and kalamata olives.

Burger with roasted red peppers and Gruyere Cheese. Tasty but not as good as it was hyped up to be

Probably my proudest shot to date :p