Restaurant experiment: Post Office Pies

Post Office Pies

209 41st Street Street betwend 2nd Avenue South & 3rd Avenue South

Birmingham, AL 35222

205-599-9900

https://www.facebook.com/PostOfficePies

Laura, Joni, and I were looking forward to checking out Post Office Pies, the newest member of the Saw’s family.  It’s located between garbage alley (what Laura and I use to refer to the alley with dumpsters in it) and Avondale Brewing Company.  As we happened to come on a Saturday night of the opening weekend, the place was packed.  Families, young adults, older adults, you name it.  The three of us looked over the brief menu and then ordered at the counter.  We decided to get salads and then split the swine pie.

The next challenge was finding a place to sit.  All the tables were occupied, sadly.  At least with a trio, we could spread out and focus on a section of the big open space.  Amazingly, three spots at the bar opened up, and we pounced on them, just in time to thwart some young women from scoring these chairs.

Brussels Sprout & Kale Salad

• Fresh herbs, Bacon, Red wine vinagrette

• 8.00

The salads came out promptly.  Joni and I shared a Brussels sprout and kale salad.  This was no joke; it was plenty of greens for the two of us.  I should also warn folks that this thing is rather spicy, and this isn’t mentioned on the menu at all.  Mmm, bacon.  I love Brussels sprouts so this was worth eating, though I had to suffer through a bit of a burn.

Swine Pie

• Tomato sauce, Pepperoni, Pork Sausage, Bacon

• 16.00

Hehe, if you look at the photo below, the pizza definitely looks handmade.  We had to wait a very long time for the pie to emerge, and we were starving and going insane and stalking the runners with our eyes every time one walked remotely near out table.  I should add that a table miraculously opened up and we were able to snag it.  There’s just something nice about being able to put your feet on the floor.  Something odd I noticed was that the little numbers that you place on your table so that your order can be brought to you have the number only on one side.  That doesn’t seem very efficient but what do I know?

I didn’t keep track of time so I’m not sure how long it took for our swine pie to trot on over to our table.  Maybe an hour?  Granted, Post Office Pies was quite hopping, but that was still a bit extreme.  We gobbled up the slices like there was no tomorrow.  I really liked the crust…from where we were sitting, we had a good view of the dough room which featured giant mixers and the like.  The nice things about this crust were that it wasn’t too salty and was soft and bready, but not doughy or undercooked.  The toppings however were a little scanty, so Post Office Pies could certainly beef (ha) them up.

Needs a little work, but I’ll cut them some slack since they just opened.  A return visit is certainly in the cards.  If you’re a fan of Avondale Brewing Company, Post Office Pies sells their beer, or you can just walk a few feet and get beer from the brewery.

Restaurant experiment: Over Easy

Over Easy

358 Hollywood Boulevard near Highway 280

Birmingham, AL 35223

205-639-1910

http://overeasybham.com

Brunch!  I haven’t had you in a while, and it feels so nice to meet again.

Despite the drizzle, Over Easy [not a chain!] was not in want of customers.  Laura, Joni, and I had to wait a little bit to be seated, so in the meantime, we enjoyed complimentary coffee and assessed the dining environment.  Lots of white and a modern sleek look but in a retro way?  Families, young adults, a mix of a crowd.

I went with my standard brunch dish, the Classic Eggs Benedict, for $7.99.  This included one side and I picked grits.  Over Easy serves McEwen & Sons blue corn grits which Joni and I noticed on a TV in the restaurant showing Over Easy ads.  They looked like some sort of blueberry pudding, we agreed.  Naturally, I had to get these grits.  The menu has a lot of classics and all your favorites like pancakes, huevos rancheros, omelettes, biscuits and gravy, and breakfast sandwiches.  But no boozy breakfast drinks.

The plate was so large!  It made me falsely believe I would be hungry later.  But no.  I was quite satisfied at the end.  I did visit the McEwen & Sons website, and I learned that blue corn grits have lots of protein which helped I’m sure.  And Hollandaise is just so rich.  And as you can see, there was lots of it.  I would have liked it more lemony but what can you do.  I do applaud the fact that there was lots of it.  And the grits were buttery but not obnoxiously so.  I didn’t have to eat again for a long time after consuming this plate.

Service was fine but nothing extraordinary, more on the minimalist side.  Both Laura and Joni agreed that their meals were return-worthy and recommend-worthy.  Joni’s oatmeal pancakes were outstanding and Laura loved her breakfast bowl, the OE, and her biscuit side.  Come early though!  By the time we left around 10:15, folks were milling around outside.  Yes, we were quite pleased with Over Easy.

Restaurant experiment: Homewood Gourmet

Homewood Gourmet

1919 28th Avenue South, Suite 113

Homewood, AL 35209

205-871-1620

http://www.homewoodgourmet.com

Homewood Gourmet is a little unassuming establishment in a shopping center on the corner of Highway 31 and 28th Avenue South.  When Laura and I arrived for dinner one evening, the place was empty but people drifted in and out as we dined.  You order at the counter and then take a seat; your food items are then brought to you.  The menu has mostly salads, soups, sandwiches, and sweets.  The man manning the counter was very welcoming and very patient while we took our sweet time deciding.  Eventually I decided what I wanted, the beef & blue sandwich.  It’s described as “warm sliced beef with sauteed onions and blue cheese.”  It was $8.25 and included my choice of side.  Oh decisions, decisions!  I took long looks at the sides in the refrigerated display case and pondered.  Finally I selected the Israeli couscous, which also included “roasted seasonal vegetables, lemon, and fresh herbs.”  Laura had the chicken salad plate with fresh fruit ($9.75).  It includes homemade banana bread which I sampled a bite of.  It was fine, but I’m probably letting my indifference towards banana bread color my opinion of it.

The couscous was like little dots of wonderful.  I really liked this side and was glad I went with it.  There’s a bit of dressing on the couscous to add flavor and interest.  Sort of like vinaigrette dressing, not sure exactly what it was.  The sandwich was also quite good but I thought it was a tad small.  And there could have been more blue cheese!  It appeared that the blue cheese had been mixed into a sauce-like sauce.  The menu informed me that all the grilled sandwiches are on Homewood Gourmet’s very own fresh bread which was very impressive.  The bread was slightly sweet and almost like a croissant, not your mass-produced hamburger bun, that’s for sure.  Baked with love!  All in all, Laura and I were very pleased with our dinner, and a trip back was certainly in the cards!

Restaurant experiment: Taco Mac

Taco Mac

573 Main Street at Lindbergh Center

Atlanta, GA 30324

404-574-5813

http://tacomac.com

Dave and I seem to want wings 90% of the time, so he suggested we go to a Taco Mac since I’d never had their wings before, and they are supposed to have some of Atlanta’s best.  Sounded like a plan to me!

We ended up at this location since we happened to be close by.  It was a Sunday evening, and we were kind of early, so it wasn’t too crowded yet but definitely got busier as the night went on.

The folks working the hostess stand (is there another term for this?) were very welcoming, and one guy ended up being our waiter.  There’s one big main seating area, and there was also another space upstairs that seemed smaller.

Dave wanted some nachos since he was starving, so we went with the Nachos All the Way to start.

Nachos All the Way
Our fresh, homemade tortilla chips topped with award-winning T.MAC chili, black beans, seasoned beef, pickled jalapeños, Cheddar Jack cheese, fresh shredded lettuce, fresh tomatoes and onions. Served with a side of all natural sour cream and our fresh, homemade salsa.

These were pretty good.  I’m not a huge nachos person, but nachos are basically nachos, just with more of less stuff.  The pile, er, mountain, of nachos was generously sized, though some chips were more decked out with toppings than other more naked chips.  I could see noshing on this mountain with some buddies while watching the big game.  As we weren’t able to demolish the Mount Nachmore, the server kindly boxed up the appetizer and even threw in some extra chips.  That was really generous.  I should add that they bring out a small carafe of salsa which I thought was funny but good since it’s nice to have more salsa than you need.

For wings, I selected a single (10 pieces) of signature buffalo wings with lemon pepper rub.  There are eight flavor options, including “Death.”  Taco Mac also has boneless and roasted buffalo wings options.  You can also get extra sauce or even order all drums or all flats, for extra charges, of course.

SIGNATURE Buffalo Wings
Fresh, bone-in wings tossed in your choice of our signature T.MAC wing sauce. Always cooked to order and served with choice of creamy Blue cheese or house ranch dressing and crisp celery or french fries.

Mmm, they were really tasty!  And quite large, I must say.  Strong lemony peppery taste.  Crunch exterior, moist interior.  And hot too.  I got celery as my side; you can either get that rabbit food or French fries.  Wanting to at least pretend to be healthy, I went with the celery.  I slowed down and wasn’t able to finish the whole order of chicken delights, probably since I ate those nachos earlier.  Plus the wings were getting cold, so we just had them boxed up.

I noticed that our server seemed to be hustling with the family of five sitting next to us.  The three kids needed special cups, coloring page and crayons, etc.  Hope they gave him a good tip.  It seems odd to bring children to a sports bar, but I did see a fair amount of offspring.  And there is a kids menu on the menu.

I forgot to take any pictures, maybe I was distracted by all of the televisions blaring various sports events.  But do we need more TVs showing college lacrosse than the Winter Olympics?  C’mon now.  Who the heck wants to watch college lacrosse?

If you’re wondering about parking, you get three hours of parking in the adjacent deck with validation, and they validated our ticket at the hostess stand, before we were seated.

Writing about wings makes me really want some wings!

Restaurant experiment: Slice and Pint

Slice and Pint

1593 North Decatur Road at Oxford Road

Atlanta, GA 30307

404-883-3406

http://sliceandpint.com

Dave and I decided that we wanted pizza one evening, so we headed to Mellow Mushroom but as we pulled up, the telltale packed parking lot revealed that it was Trivia Night.  The would no doubt mean nary a seat to be had and much time until food arrival.  As a result, we decided to nix the idea of Mellow Mushroom and head to Slice and Pint since they didn’t have trivia on this particular night.

Slice and Pint is the new resident after Everybody’s closed down.  There’s plenty of parking in the lot next door.  It was bit drafty inside so I had to put my coat on again.  And the park bench seating made me want some cushions.

Our young server was very affable, despite not supporting our sports team of choice.  Dave ordered a beer.  Slice and Pint has a nice selection of drafts, and they are supposed to begin offering their own brews sometime in the future.  Dave decided to order a Bell’s Two-Hearted to which the server declared the presence of Bell’s Hopslam.  He made it sound like Slice and Pint was the only place to carry this double IPA which we knew to not be true, but that sounded like excellent marketing copy to a consumer not in the know.  Dave ended up declining the Hopslam even though Slice and Pint were kind enough to offer a sample.

Looking over the menu, their specialty pizzas are only served in the 12″ size.  They cost around $15.  You can also build your own pizza/calzone, and for those, well the pizzas, you can select what size you want.  The toppings are grouped into several price points.  It seemed like you needed to be careful since the toppings could quickly add up.  Dave and I decided to share a 16″ pie ($16) with pepperoni ($3).

Our server did successfully upsell the gourmet pepperoni (Heywood’s), which he commented that it came from Shields Meat Market across the street.  As a “2nd mortgage topping,” it was $6 extra when added to a large.  Eep.  he’s lucky that the pepperoni was very tasty!

Aside from the upsells, Slice and Pint was promising, though Mellow Mushroom is still the best southern pizza in my mind, no contest.

So Slice and Pint likes to talk about their four food groups, and this pyramid graphic is on the menu.  But shouldn’t pizza be on the bottom, then beer, then chocolate?  Though I would agree about eating chocolate more than pizza and beer.

Restaurant experiment: Miller Union

Miller Union

999 Brady Avenue NW at 10th Street NW

Atlanta, GA 30318

678-733-8550

http://www.millerunion.com

So when I decided to go to Miller Union for my birthday dinner after much Yelping and checking OpenTable, I didn’t yet know that Miller Union had gained TV fame and James Beard accolades.  I’m totally off my game and need to brush up on my star celeb chefs.  Apparently it’s been on some food TV shows like Unique Eats and The Layover.  Chef Steven Satterfield was a finalist for the James Beard Best Chef: Southeast in 2013 but lost to Joseph Lann of The Barn at Blackberry Farm in Walland, TN.

Miller Union is located in West Midtown, in kind of a dead area.  There’s valet parking but we just parked on the street right in front.  Ugh, valet.

The layout of the restaurant is so that there are several rooms, and then a bigger room with larger tables, and there’s also a patio for mild weather.  We were seated in sort of an antechamber room.  Our waiter had a hipsterish vibe but was very polite and professional and knowledgeable.

Usually I’m cheap so I don’t get a cocktail, but since it was my birthday, I selected the Angel’s Kiss as my potent liquid.

Angel’s Kiss
sparkling wine, gin, aperol, cranberry shrub, grapefruit….9

I’ve been obsessed with shrub lately, so I was stoked to finally try it.  Aside from being beautiful, this drink was very delightful.  If you love vinegar and fruit, you’ll really dig shrub.  Recently I obtained a bottle of shrub from Shrub & Co, and it was fantastic.  The drink was a gorgeous hue of red as well.  Dave’s Le Tigre (“vodka, cocchi americano, kumquat, ginger, lemon”) is on the left.  He liked it but said there was too much ice.

For our appetizers, we decided to get two of them.

(left) brandade: it’s not on the online menu, so I can’t paste in the info.  Our waiter told us that brandade is a creamy potato salty cod dish that’s served with bread.  Sounds like of strange, but it was quickly gobbled down by us.

(right) chicken liver mousse, apple cider jelly, grilled bread….10

The chicken liver mousse was smooth and rich.  Mmmmmm, was perfect on the toasted bread.  The apple cider jelly gave it a brick-colored glossy topping and added sweetness to the liver.

For the mains, Dave decided on the gumbo while I wanted to try the quail.

(left) roast duck & andouille sausage gumbo, carolina gold rice….26

(right) sauteed quail, pecan-cornbread dressing, poached quince, dandelion greens….26

I sampled the gumbo and while it was fine, the sauteed quail was the real star.  Crispy skin, tender meat, mmm mmm goodness.  The pecan-cornbread dressing had me dreaming of Thanksgiving.  A bit of a mess to eat, with the small bones, but it was worth it.

I probably wouldn’t have gotten dessert if it weren’t a special occasion.  Not because the desserts didn’t sound appealing (they certainly sounded super), but I was getting full.  Dave and I decided to split the  chocolate ganache cake.

chocolate ganache cake, peanuts, fig-balsamic ice cream….8

It wasn’t the best chocolate cake ever, but it was still great, and I loved the crunch of the peanuts.  The ice cream wasn’t too shabby either.  While waiting for our treat to arrive, the waiter asked if it was a special occasion, and I replied that it was my birthday.  Hence, the candle on the plate.  That was very nice of them.

On the way out, a bearded man with a thin face wished us a good night.  Dave speculated that it might have been the chef, so after Google Imaging later, indeed, it was Steven Satterfield.  A lovely meal and a brush with a celebrity chef?  Kickass birthday, I’ll say.

Even though it was nearly an hour after close, there were still diners eating.  I will add that I was super thirsty later that evening.  Stealth salt perhaps?

Sea Salt Assault

If you’ve got a sweet tooth like I do, surely you must have come across some sort of sea salt-enhanced dessert in the last few years?  Just last week, I ate a caramel sea salt mocha cupcake from Dreamcakes which was good but didn’t make me want to marry it.  It was the kiss of death: too sweet frosting.  You need just the right amount of sugar.

Anyway, there was a sprinkling of sea salt on the frosting.  And I’ve used sea salt for some health reasons, mixing it with warm water for sea salt soaks or nasal rinses.  But what’s the big deal about it?  Why is it popular?  And most importantly, what is it?

Well, one thing is that we’re in the midst of that whole “Natural is good!  Processed is bad!” food movement.  Sea salt, as the name suggests, is salt from oceans or other salty bodies, the result of good old-fashioned evaporation.  From ocean to table, as it were.  Sea salt also tends to be coarser than table salt, and sometimes it can be colored.  This is because minerals may be included with the leftover salt.

Table salt comes from beneath the earth’s surface.  After it’s mined, iodine and anti-caking agents are often added while minerals are stripped away.  Grinding down table sodium chloride makes it easy to dissolve into food.

Sea salt and table salt contain the same amount of sodium!  Some chefs say that sea salt can taste different.  That’s for you to judge.

Wikipedia mentions how different taste sensations have different mechanisms.  Sweetness is detected by G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) while salty utilizes ion channels.  I haven’t studied GPCRs and ion channels in years, but in general, that’s pretty interesting.  Sourness is also sensed by ion channels.  Hmm, maybe that explains why sweet-sour and sweet-salty are so popular.  Sweet and salty/sour use different mechanisms so both can be detected at the same time?  Maybe this is why sour salty never took off.

Writing this up is making me crave chocolate covered pretzels, my favorite sweet-salty combo dessert.

References

• http://www.mayoclinic.org/sea-salt/expert-answers/FAQ-20058512
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste#Functional_structure
• http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Sea-Salt-Vs-Table-Salt_UCM_430992_Article.jsp

Restaurant experiment: Carrigan’s Public House

Carrigan’s Public House

2530 Morris Avenue at 25th Street North

Birmingham, AL 35203

205-440-2430

https://www.facebook.com/carriganspub

I’ve been slacking off since I ate at Carrigan’s Public House back in mid-December and am finally writing about it now.  Better late than never, I suppose.

So Laura and I decided to check out the relatively new (opened summer 2013) Carrigan’s Public House before a showing of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation at the Alabama Theatre.  The place has a big parking lot right outside but be careful at the intersection of Morris and 25th Street North since there appears to be no stop sign.

The first thing I noticed was, well, I noticed a lot of things.  Like the nice patio that would be excellent in mild weather.  And the enormous Christmas tree right by the entrance inside.  Carrigan’s has plenty of space.  You can hole up at the bar or migrate to a table.  There’s no table service so you have to order at the bar no matter what.  There was a big representation of the after work happy hour crowd as the majority of patrons were wearing business casual attire.  Sporting a hoodie, I fit in more with the hoodie-wearing bartenders than the clientele.

I held off on trying a cocktail but they have a mixed drink menu that I certainly perused.  Our friendly female bartender said they make all the classics.  Laura’s Old Fashioned received two thumbs up.  I’m not a Old Fashioned person (ha!) but the drink certainly was gorgeous to look at.  [Photo courtesy of Laura!]

A neato feature of the bar is the Beer Rover which has all the taps coming out of an old minty green Land Rover!  Definitely a topic of conversation.  I noticed that not many people were partaking in draft beer.  Cans were very popular.  Seems a shame since they have beer snob brews such as Founders Sweet Repute and Duchesse du Bourgogne available from the vehicle’s side.  [Photo courtesy of Laura!]

Laura and I decided to both order the cheeseburger since the Monday night special of ten bucks for pizza, PBR, and Jameson didn’t appeal to us.  I think the burger was about $11.  The features of the burger included white cheddar cheese, garlic aioli, sticky onions, and Wickles pickles.  Yum!  The bun was toasted which was a nice touch.  We both got salad as the side since we were somewhat trying to be healthy.  I’m not a big Wickles person (an anomaly down here) but they were fine and not too peppery.  The standout here was the white cheddar.  Oh so ooey and gooey on the beef patty.  Mmmmmm!

Satisfactorily sated, we left to enjoy the antics of Chevy Chase in the charming Alabama Theatre.  Hope to return sometime and try an adult beverage!

Restaurant experiment: Pastries a Go Go

Pastries a Go Go

235 Ponce de Leon Place at West Ponce de Leon Avenue

Suite E

Decatur, GA 30030

404-373-3423

http://www.pastriesagogo.com

First of all, the name of this place is so much fun to say.  Or maybe I just like saying “a go go.”  At any rate, a silly name certainly gets my attention.

It was a freezing early Sunday afternoon when Dave and I popped into PaGG for a late brunch.  We still had to wait a little bit but not for long.  The clientele seemed to be more senior citizen if anything.  Vibe = diner-like.  The waitresses were very cheery and gave you the impression that they had been working there for a long time.

I went with my go-to brunch item, the eggs Benedict.  The menu is pretty basic for breakfast, with offerings like omelets and pancakes.

Eggs Benedict $8.50
two poached eggs, ham on biscuit halves with hollandaise and choice of homefries or fruit cup or grits

What I remember most favorably about this meal is the biscuit.  Mmmmmmmmmmm.  Super crumbly, soft, buttery, everything you’d ever wanted in a biscuit.  The hollandaise was great too.  The homefries were nice as well.  But Pastries a Go Go’s “benny” as a waitress called the dish, is elevated by the biscuit.  Okay, I’ll stop harping on the biscuit now.  Oh, also the portions were more than generous.  I couldn’t finish my dish, so that’s saying a lot.

I saw the employees prepared some sticky buns for customers.  Looked like monkey bread.  The sticky buns were messy deliciousness but I resisted.

Hehe, now I should listen to “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.”  Of course now that sounds reminds me of Zoolander.

Restaurant experiment: Twain’s Billiards & Tap

Twain’s Billiards & Tap

211 E Trinity Place at Church Street

Decatur, GA 30030

404-373-0063

http://www.twains.net/

Dave and I came to Twain’s Billiards & Tap since a friend of his was celebrating a birthday here.  As the name of the establishment suggests, Twain’s is a bar and also has games you can play (pool and shuffleboard were the big ones).  We started off playing pool since that’s what the birthday girl and her posse were doing when we arrived.  The pool tables are a little close together for my tastes, but what can you do.  There’s one giant room that’s full of several tables.

Eventually Dave and I got hungry, and we ventured into the bar/restaurant area for some pub grub.  Dave thought Twain’s had revamped their menu and gone a bit more upscale.  They brew their own beer if that’s something you’re into.  The eating area was packed, and the bar was the same way.  We were lucky enough to snag a booth, beating a girl from grabbing it.  First come, first serve can be very Hunger Games-like but instead of shooting us to death with arrows, the girl graciously let us have the booth when we offered it to her.  Pages from Mark Twain’s novels are pasted onto the walls, adding a touch of whimsy.  The salt water fish tank in the middle of the space gives Twain’s a “Georgia Aquarium crossed with library” atmosphere.

Our waiter looked very hippie-like.  He was very outgoing and checked in regularly.  Here’s what we went with:

Wings

1 1/4 lb or 2 1/2 lb of jumbo chicken wings. Marinated, fried then tossed in one of our sauces:
Mild, Hot, XXX Habanero, Honey-garlic, BBQ, Jerk-BBQ, Hot Chipotle, Lemon-pepper, or Thai chili. Served with celery and blue cheese dressing (ranch on request)
$8.00 / $15.00

Poutine

 House fries, veal gravy, mozzarella cheese curds, with a sunny side ManyFold Farm egg.

$7.50

Dave is a poutine expert and deemed Twain’s version of high quality.  An egg in poutine doesn’t seem to be a thing but that was just Twain’s spin on the dish from the Great White North.

The wings were most excellent!  The drumettes and wings were crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside.  And I do want to mention that there weren’t microscopic wings, but they were quite fat.  I got lemon pepper which I liked a lot.  I thought I was starving but then I couldn’t eat much of my small order of wings.  Very filling.  I’ve been given a tip that Taco Mac has the best wings, so I can’t wait to try them and see how they stack up to Twain’s and Jagger’s (R.I.P.).

‘Twas a terrific time at Twain’s!