Dining Out in Kaua'i

Last year, I posted about our strategies for cooking on vacation, especially with a family.  While eating in our condo saved us lots of money (and probably calories), we did splurge on some amazing meals and this year, I'm going to tell you about some of my favorite places to eat out.

On our recent trip to Kaua'i, we stayed primarily on the south shore in Poipu Beach and I didn't venture very far in the car for most of our trip (for over a week my longest trip was into Lihue for urgent care and an airport run).  Within a couple mile radius, there are some fantastic fine dining options and I got to experience 3 in particular:  Tidepools, Merrimans, and Plantation Gardens.  We were blessed to have my cousin join us so we could go out without kids a few nights!  Honorable mention goes to Keoki's Paradise and Pizzetta.

Tidepools is at the Grand Hyatt and the restaurant is thatched huts over the water with koi fish and birds around you.  While the resort has an amazing beach front view, you're not on the beach at Tidepools but it's a great Hawaiian ambience.

I've had some really terrific meals there in the past and this year I ordered the Opah which had a spicy blackened crust and was served over mashed potatoes and succotash.  Our friend said his steak was one of the best he's ever had.  The molten chocolate cake was sooooo good.

One night my husband and I had a date at Merriman's.  Merriman's has two other locations (Kapalua and Waimea)  but the Kaua'i location in Poipu is relatively new.  The restaurant is situated upstairs with beautiful views.  Last year we had our anniversary dinner there and I remember the food being great but it was dark and rainy.  This year we went for an earlier dinner (our first meal out without baby girl!) and it was a gorgeous view and setting.  We shared a beet salad with local tomatoes, papaya and goat cheese . . . I'd go back for the salad alone!  I followed it with a shrimp scampi - it was light, flavorful, and served over sauteed spinach and creamy polenta.

Finally, we had dinner at the Plantation Gardens - a favorite of ours in Poipu and especially nice because we can walk there from where we usually stay.  Sadly, I only have a photo of the delicious cucumber ginger mojito that I drank and my cute kids . . . not the meal itself (I was a little preoccupied with the conversation and baby girl).  I've had many items on the menu and a meal here never disappoints!

Adventures in Atlanta

It's hard to believe that just last weekend we were in Atlanta.  We visited my husband's aunt, uncle and grandmother and had a wonderful trip.  The girls loved spending time with their great-aunt, great-uncle, and great-grandmother, getting to know Barkley the dog, and seeing some of the sights.  We visited the Georgia Aquarium and the Tellus Museum and had some memorable meals out.

Since this blog is all about the food, I'll share two spots you can't miss if you're in the Atlanta area.

First, the Varsity.  The original location opened in the 1920s in Atlanta and it seems like the equivalent of In-N-Out in California . . . fresh ingredients, enormously popular, great burgers . . . but the menu is more diverse, it's known for being the world's largest drive-in, and it has an Atlanta flair all its own.

Their hot dogs are popular but I had a cheeseburger, onion rings (to die for!) and a Frosted Orange (tasted like a 50/50 bar).  We had dinner here after the aquarium and Little was so tired she slept through the whole meal.  Big gave her burger two thumbs up.

Next up, Henry's Louisiana Grill.  I love cajun food and every bite I had in this restaurant was amazing.  To get a feel for the place and Chef Henry, who is larger than life and we got to chat with for a bit, check out this video clip.  We had the scallop appetizer he prepares in that clip.

My husband had blackened petite filets over goat cheese grits and I had a sampler of the Louisiana Shrimp Creole, the Louisiana Ooh La La over grits, and red beans and rice.  Fun atmosphere and one of the best meals I've had in a long, long time.  Don't miss this place!  And Henry, let us know when you want to open a location in Southern California.  Thanks Joe and Sharon for everything!

Henry's Louisiana Grill
835 N.Main Street
Acworth, Georgia

Flappy Jacks

First, for your listening pleasure, a kids' song that we love:

In our house, we love going out for breakfast.  Our favorite spot has always been Cafe Verde in Pasadena, but now it's a bit of a trek if we're not heading that direction anyways.  The default in Claremont has been the Village Diner or IHOP.  My girls *love* IHOP but I'm getting a little tired of it.  We took the girls to a Glendora classic, Flappy Jacks, a few weeks ago and now they're hooked.  

Daddy had the Cream of Wheat pancakes which were delicious and the girls each got a Mickey Mouse pancake with some mini chocolate chips . . . any chocolate at breakfast time is exciting for them.  I had the pecan waffle and it was to die for.  A note of caution:  the portions are huge and you can easily split - especially the omelets, skillets, and regular portions of pancakes.  A bonus:  if your kids are early risers like mine, they open at 6am Monday through Saturday :)

Flappy Jack's

640 W. Route 66

Glendora, CA

http://flappyjacks.com

Big and Daddy with their pancakes

Little - the spoon seems a bit irrelevant since she kept eating with her fingers

Pecan waffle

Mickey Mouse pancake

Heroes and Legends

Months and months ago, I wrote about the new house that we bought. We still aren't living in it but renovations are underway and we're enjoying our pool and our new neighborhood on the weekends. On Sunday, we wanted to try somewhere new for lunch and found a parking spot right in front of a restaurant called Heroes & Legends Bar and Grill.

Now, our daughter had been having a rough weekend (chalk it up to 2 and a half and a poor night's sleep) and even on a great day, eating in a restaurant with her can be a challenge. But, she loved the bags of peanuts that they gave us and the fact that you could throw the shells on the floor. In fact, we were seated by the front door and she would say to everyone that walked through, "Excuse me, but did you know you can throw the shells on the floor?" The peanuts kept her busy until our food arrived.



The menu looked good and my husband and I shared a Southwest Chicken Sandwich. You can split a sandwich and for $2 you each get your own side so I had a salad and he had curly fries. The portions were massive and our food tasted great. Although we didn't partake, there were about 50 beers on tap, including some good Belgian Ales. Lunch for 3 under $30 with decent service and the Dodger game playing - a new local hangout!



Heroes & Legends Bar and Grill
131 Yale Avenue
Claremont, CA

Maison Akira

I have heard about this restaurant many times, l lived within a few blocks of it for 7 years, and until this past weekend, I had never eaten there. Wow. Was I ever missing out! The menu was amazing, the house smoked salmon and soba noodle salad that they gave us as a pre-meal treat was out of this world, and I'm seriously in love with their green tea baked alaska (photo above). I was inspired to start making baked alaska again but in individual sized portions (more meringue, the best part!).

Maison Akira offers several tasting menus where you can pick a few courses, with or without wine. I did the "menu of the month" which featured lobster and had a lobster corn chowder as my first course and a Maine Lobster Gratin as my entree. The lobster meat was removed from the shell and cooked then topped with an amazing cheese bread crumb mixture and served back over the shell. It came with steamed vegetables and quinoa. The other cool thing about the menu is almost everything comes in two sizes - entree and tapas. The tapas portions were perfect for trying a couple of things and my husband had the lobster shrimp ravioli and the Kobe Beef.

We have a few local restaurants that we love and this will join the ranks - how great is it to be a foodie and live in Pasadena?

Maison Akira
713 East Green Street
Pasadena, CA 9110
(626) 796-9501

Parkway Grill

For our 8th anniversary, we had dinner at Parkway Grill on Monday night. I haven't been there in a few years but we frequent other Smith Brothers establishments and Parkway did not disappoint. I've sometimes joked that one of my spiritual gifts is ordering off a menu and I struggled last night to make my choice - everything looked so good. But, here's what was for meat:

For appetizer, we had the flatbread with pears, walnuts, and cambazola cheese. Then, we shared a roasted beet salad with Humboldt Fog, micro arugula, and candied hazelnuts. I had one of their daily specials - halibut over parmesan risotto and ratatouille with a sweet chili sauce and my husband had a Kobe rib-eye with basil mashed potatoes and baby carrots. Dessert was amazing. Him - meyer lemon tart with meringue and pistachio ice cream. Her - s'mores with homemade marshmallows, dark chocolate, thin graham crackers over vanilla bean and raspberry sauces.

Recently, I heard that Parkway was doing a cooking class featuring ingredients from their Organic Garden that's on their property (you can see it from Marengo better than from Arroyo) but by the time I called, it was full. Has anyone gone to this?

At dinner, part of our romantic musings was our list of top Pasadena restaurants. A couple of our favorites are Derek's, Cafe Verde, Celestino, Sushi Roku, Gale's, and Smitty's. What are your favorite Pasadena restaurants?