2011 Summer Restaurant Week Dayton–Saturday

I love having my own personal bartender!! Starting the evening with a Blueberry Gimlet (based on the great one he had at Meadowlark this week). Dining tonight at The Firefly Building with friends – so not a restaurant at all tonight. Turns out we will have 11 for “family” dinner…wishing I had called Becky or Karen. Oh well, Ellen will be here…she loves to clean my kitchen. Tonight’s menu: Cook’s Illustrated “Best Grilled Chicken” Blue Cheese Crusted Tomatoes Cucumber, Tomato and PIneapple Salad with Asian Dressing Macaroni and Cheese Grilled zucchini with Citrus Salt Ooops…can you tell I’m cleaning out the refrigerator of my CSA vegetables? Oh and some wine…yet to be determined....

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2011 Summer Restaurant Week Dayton–Friday

It is David’s turn to decide on tonight’s restaurant week restaurant…so we trek off to The Winds. It always seems so far away to me…but heck, David drives from Middletown so what do I have to complain about. Deciding on dinner is a hard choice. The Winds is offering both their regular menu and their restaurant week menu. Our waiter complicates things by pointing out the Figs, Pigs and Goats appetizer. I was momentarily sidetracked from the restaurant week menu by the Game Hen Limoncello but David and I decide to come back next week for that. (Yes, John will once again be traveling the globe – his loss.) We are all adults…we can handle this. We opt to have the restaurant week menu PLUS the FPG appetizer. Figs stuffed with goat cheese wrapped in peppered bacon…SCORE! In addition to the restaurant...

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2011 Summer Restaurant Week Dayton–Thursday

Restaurant week is not complete without a trip to Meadowlark. This is their first restaurant week  at the new location. Meadowlark, like Savona, is only offering the special menu…no ordering off of the regular menu this week. Don’t let that scare you as you won’t be disappointed. For $25.11, you get four (4) courses and a choice from four (4) different entrees. The new location offers a full bar. While waiting for our table, Linda and I ordered the special Watermelon Punch. A refreshing beverage that is guaranteed to sneak up on you if you fall into the trap of drinking it like water. David and John had the Blueberry Gimlet…which John is going to attempt to recreate for me at home…it was so good! Paul opted for a simple Watershed Gin and Tonic. The first course offered is the Portabello...

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2011 Summer Restaurant Week Dayton–Wednesday

Coco’s was our restaurant of choice Wednesday. John joined David and I. Ashley took great care of us and highly recommended the Barbera on the wine list which was very nice. Funny thing about this meal is that we each had the exact same thing. Well, John and I shared our meal…so David had none of my leftovers tonight. More blueberries were on the menu with the Local blueberries served on mesclun greens topped with whipped Brie cheese, Captain Morgan spiced cashews and house blueberry balsamic vinaigrette. If you have had whipped brie cheese…you really need to try it. Our entrée was the Char-grilled 4oz center cut with BBQ spice, melted bleu cheese, drizzled with a Worcestershire syrup and cabernet reduction and tobacco onions, served with a chive potato cake. And who could resist the House...

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2011 Summer Restaurant Week Dayton –Tuesday

Everyone needs a friend who is a human garbage disposal. I’m lucky enough to have one! When John and I eat out, we will typically share a meal. The advantage is that it allows us to also enjoy an appetizer, salad, and/or dessert which we wouldn’t be able to do if we each ate a full meal. Unfortunately, John travels a lot…leaving me faced with having to eat an entire meal myself…or have lunch with David. Now what you need to know about David is that he is younger and has a metabolism that I would kill for. David can share and appetizer, eat his salad, and entrée, and still share dessert. And he still has room to finish what is left of my meal. That was never more evident than Tuesday night at The Oakwood Club. BTW, this was David’s first visit to the Dayton landmark. We each ordered from...

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2011 Summer Restaurant Week Dayton – Monday

As part of full disclosure, readers need to know that I have a love/hate relationship with restaurant week. I love it because some restaurants do very creative things. I hate it because people who don’t normally dine out are in restaurants seeking “deals.” Just before I left work, I checked the list of participating restaurants…I so didn’t want to go home and prepare something for myself. In the fine print, I found that Savona, which is not normally open on Mondays, was open tonight. It occurs to me that maybe they won’t be as crowded if people aren’t expecting them to be open. Adding to Savona’s troubles is that the City of Centerville has major construction going on and you can only reach them if you are south-bound on South Main Street. This all works to MY advantage…and it is all about...

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Out of the Fire Cafe

What a great find! Seriously recommend reservations. And it is byob (iso it possible that PA has crazier liquor laws than Ohio?) Chef prepared us pan seared scallops with a mango chutney and snow pea sprouts dressed in a champagne vinaigrette. We shared two entrees: Pan roasted wild striped bass with vine ripened local hot house tomatoes, crispy zucchini and yellow squash, sun dried tomatoes, saffron saioli, basil pesto Spiced rum barbecue glazed pork shank: smoked white cheddar grits, chorizo sausage, sauteed sweet corn, crispy mustard greens With a 2009 Gopfrich Zinfandel Finished with Pineapple Upside Down cake: spiced rum sauce, blood orange...

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2011 Fireworks Party Recap

Thank you for making another party successful! We had a great time visiting with friends and meeting new people…and our generous friends raised $1800.00 for CultureWorks. That’s a lot of toilet paper in the theater! Special thanks to John who worked tirelessly behind the bar all night and truly earned his cocktail geek badge. The big hit was his Ginger Beer Mojito…enough of them to go through 4.5 liters of rum being consumed. In addition, we went through 3 cases of beer and 21 bottles of wine. And as usual, Becky and Sharon  made sure everyone was well taken care of. The menu and recipes are available at noumena12dining.blogspot.com. Thanks...

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2011 Fireworks Celebration Menu

Igel’s Onion Dip Mango Chutney Cheese Dip Meadowlark Meatballs Grilled Ginger-Soy Marinated Skirt Steak Grilled Korean BBQ Portabella Mushrooms Grilled Asparagus & Onions with Balsamic & Blue Cheese Blue Cheese Cole Slaw “Everything But the Kitchen Sink” Orzo Salad Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese – The Kids Version Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese – Definitely for Adults Orange Cucumber Salad with Sundried Tomato Dressing Apple-Pear Salad with Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing Lemon Pound Cake with Balsamic-Macerated Berries with Basil...

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2011 Fireworks Celebration Menu

Igel’s Onion Dip Mango Chutney Cheese Dip Meatballs Grilled Ginger-Soy Marinated Skirt Steak Grilled Korean BBQ Portabella Mushrooms Grilled Asparagus & Onions with Balsamic & Blue Cheese Blue Cheese Cole Slaw “Everything But the Kitchen Sink” Orzo Salad Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese – The Kids Version Chipotle Macaroni and Cheese – Definitely for Adults Orange Cucumber Salad with Sundried Tomato Dressing Apple-Pear Salad with Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing Lemon Pound Cake with Balsamic-Macerated Berries with Ba...

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