I don't know about you, but this past month has me all appled-out. Let's put down our knives, untie the apron and step out of the kitchen for an evening out, shall we?
Aaaahhhh, dining out. Is there anything better than putting on a nice outfit (maybe you take it for granted, but I'm a full-time mommy. Some of my nicer clothes haven't seen daylight in almost 3 years), making a reservation - or just wandering in - and hitting the town for a bite to eat? Nothing. In fact, despite our best efforts here at SaltySourSpicySweet, from some of the feedback we've been getting, I get the sense that many of you are doing a lot more dining out than in. So, that makes all of you qualified for some group participation this week.
We want to hear about your favorite places to dine. As foodies, it is our mutual responsibility to share with each other the best things around. So, spill it. Tell us about your favorite spots, favorite meals, favorite cocktails, favorite waiters...whatever you like, we want to know about it. Who knows, we may even be able to help you replicate some favorite restaurant recipes or at least encourage you to give some cool things a shot at home.
To get the ball rolling, I'll start. The following are my personal Top 5 favorite dining (or drinking) experiences. They are not all fancy, they are not all unique. Some might even debate whether all of them are even good. Regardless, they are mine and I love them. After putting the list together, I realize that it isn't really even about the food. It's more about the feel of a place and the memories it evokes than anything else for me. Give them a read and then e-mail us at SaltySourSpicySweet@gmail.com to share your faves. If you've got anything good to share with the rest of the class, we'll publish them. Besides, I am desperate for you people to write to me. You've reduced me to begging and I'm not above it. Dig deep and find your inner restaurant critic, but this time around, indulge in only the positive. Bring it on!
Kristin's All-Time Top 5 Restaurant Experiences
1. Paradiso, Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI - Gorgeous colonial Caribbean atmosphere with amazing food and wines. Totally elegant. Was there on my honeymoon and have since been back and I just love every minute of it. Feels a little like Hemingway just left only it's more refined than Papa's usual haunts.
2. Tapas Teatro, Baltimore, MD - On the average night, if you ask me where I'd like to go for a bite, this is it. I love eating in the tapas style and feeling like you got to experience everything that appealed to you on the menu but you are neither bloated or bankrupt. Other tapas places have opened around town and gotten more attention, but Tapas Teatro does it best with an outstanding collection of Spanish reds to back it up. The sangria is good too if you're into that.
3. The Black Pearl, Newport, RI - Right on the water in the heart of Newport, a town I love but never get back to since moving from New England to the mid-Atlantic, the Black Pearl has a casual, tavern-y side and a more formal dining room. I've eaten in both and never been disappointed. Again, it is also the ambiance that I love. It is just so cozy and so New England. Excellent soups and seafood and a great burger as well and you know I love a burger.
4. The Oak Room, The Plaza Hotel, NY, NY - Ya know, as I write this I'm not even sure what's going on with the Oak Room since the Plaza became condos (that gives me an idea for another story entitled Real Estate Transactions That Make Me Want to Die, but that's for another day) as I haven't been back for a while, but I love the gentleman's club elegance of the Oak Room. I've mostly been just for cocktails, but when they make a movie about my life, I'm gonna fix it so that something significant and romantic happens to me in the Oak Room. You can fictionalize your own life story, right? Anyway, they also have a pretty nice burger. The stately elegance of burger served on good china and a martini...perfection.
5. Tie : Foxy's Tamarind Bar AND The Soggy Dollar Bar, Jost Van Dyke, BVI - OK, so the food here is really not what it's all about, although there is some if I recall, (have a flying fish sandwich at Foxy's) but there is almost no place I would rather be at any moment on any given day - specifically grey, rainy days like this one - than on Jost Van Dyke. Soggy Dollar, so named because you can only get there by wading up to it from your boat invented and perfected the world-famous Painkiller cocktail. Now, anyone can tell you that I'm not an umbrella drink kind of gal, but I would drink these for breakfast, lunch and dinner and at the first opportunity, I plan to try.
There's my 5. I want to keep going, make it my Top 10, but I will resist the urge and leave the rest to you. Please send us your lists at SaltySourSpicySweet@gmail.com. Can't wait to hear from you. I have to go...all this typing is interfering with the Foxy's daydream.
Aaaahhhh, dining out. Is there anything better than putting on a nice outfit (maybe you take it for granted, but I'm a full-time mommy. Some of my nicer clothes haven't seen daylight in almost 3 years), making a reservation - or just wandering in - and hitting the town for a bite to eat? Nothing. In fact, despite our best efforts here at SaltySourSpicySweet, from some of the feedback we've been getting, I get the sense that many of you are doing a lot more dining out than in. So, that makes all of you qualified for some group participation this week.
We want to hear about your favorite places to dine. As foodies, it is our mutual responsibility to share with each other the best things around. So, spill it. Tell us about your favorite spots, favorite meals, favorite cocktails, favorite waiters...whatever you like, we want to know about it. Who knows, we may even be able to help you replicate some favorite restaurant recipes or at least encourage you to give some cool things a shot at home.
To get the ball rolling, I'll start. The following are my personal Top 5 favorite dining (or drinking) experiences. They are not all fancy, they are not all unique. Some might even debate whether all of them are even good. Regardless, they are mine and I love them. After putting the list together, I realize that it isn't really even about the food. It's more about the feel of a place and the memories it evokes than anything else for me. Give them a read and then e-mail us at SaltySourSpicySweet@gmail.com to share your faves. If you've got anything good to share with the rest of the class, we'll publish them. Besides, I am desperate for you people to write to me. You've reduced me to begging and I'm not above it. Dig deep and find your inner restaurant critic, but this time around, indulge in only the positive. Bring it on!
Kristin's All-Time Top 5 Restaurant Experiences
1. Paradiso, Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI - Gorgeous colonial Caribbean atmosphere with amazing food and wines. Totally elegant. Was there on my honeymoon and have since been back and I just love every minute of it. Feels a little like Hemingway just left only it's more refined than Papa's usual haunts.
2. Tapas Teatro, Baltimore, MD - On the average night, if you ask me where I'd like to go for a bite, this is it. I love eating in the tapas style and feeling like you got to experience everything that appealed to you on the menu but you are neither bloated or bankrupt. Other tapas places have opened around town and gotten more attention, but Tapas Teatro does it best with an outstanding collection of Spanish reds to back it up. The sangria is good too if you're into that.
3. The Black Pearl, Newport, RI - Right on the water in the heart of Newport, a town I love but never get back to since moving from New England to the mid-Atlantic, the Black Pearl has a casual, tavern-y side and a more formal dining room. I've eaten in both and never been disappointed. Again, it is also the ambiance that I love. It is just so cozy and so New England. Excellent soups and seafood and a great burger as well and you know I love a burger.
4. The Oak Room, The Plaza Hotel, NY, NY - Ya know, as I write this I'm not even sure what's going on with the Oak Room since the Plaza became condos (that gives me an idea for another story entitled Real Estate Transactions That Make Me Want to Die, but that's for another day) as I haven't been back for a while, but I love the gentleman's club elegance of the Oak Room. I've mostly been just for cocktails, but when they make a movie about my life, I'm gonna fix it so that something significant and romantic happens to me in the Oak Room. You can fictionalize your own life story, right? Anyway, they also have a pretty nice burger. The stately elegance of burger served on good china and a martini...perfection.
5. Tie : Foxy's Tamarind Bar AND The Soggy Dollar Bar, Jost Van Dyke, BVI - OK, so the food here is really not what it's all about, although there is some if I recall, (have a flying fish sandwich at Foxy's) but there is almost no place I would rather be at any moment on any given day - specifically grey, rainy days like this one - than on Jost Van Dyke. Soggy Dollar, so named because you can only get there by wading up to it from your boat invented and perfected the world-famous Painkiller cocktail. Now, anyone can tell you that I'm not an umbrella drink kind of gal, but I would drink these for breakfast, lunch and dinner and at the first opportunity, I plan to try.
There's my 5. I want to keep going, make it my Top 10, but I will resist the urge and leave the rest to you. Please send us your lists at SaltySourSpicySweet@gmail.com. Can't wait to hear from you. I have to go...all this typing is interfering with the Foxy's daydream.
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