Wayfare Restaurant – update

My friend, Charlotte, and I went back to Wayfare Restaurant on Freret today. The last time I went was in December and this trip was just as enjoyable.

I can report the drinks are still very very tasty. I had the margarita and she had the Ponchatula punch. Strong and very fresh flavored. My Mexican Coke with the real sugar was equally delicious.

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I went for the avocado and tomato sliders – slice of avocado, tomato and some slaw on a little pretzel roll. Pretty darn cute and very good, even if I took off the slaw as it was hiding the avocado flavor.

Wait staff attentive and responsive and they kept the drinks coming, which was exceptionally good after her morning of being a legal observer.

 

Avery’s on Tulane

I had a lunch meeting to plot world domination and it was decided that a po-boy place was the perfect venue for our conspiring. Avery’s on Tulane was convenient to nearly everyone, so that’s where we went.

They were very busy when we arrived at noon with workers from the area construction projects, lawyers and other workers from the courthouse, etc filling the place. They have a concrete floor, so it was a little noisy.

The menu is divided into starters, salads, po-boys and platters which makes it easy to decide how much food one wants.

For starters we had sweet potato fries which had an interesting seasoning on them. Not bad but a little odd. Their honey butter biscuit was really delicious and I could have eaten a second one.

I had the shrimp creole daily special. Came with five large shrimp and two pieces of toasted garlic bread. The sauce was really good – with enough spice and flavor to open my sinuses but not enough to make me cry.

The other folks at the meal had the shrimp po-boy, catfish po-boy, buffalo shrimp platter and blacked chicken Caesar salad. All of which were good sized portions and I heard no complaints.

The kitchen seemed backed up as it took a while for a meal to arrive. However, we were busy intriguing and hardly noticed. The waitstaff might have been rushed but they were quick with drink refills and checking to make sure we had all we needed. Very much worth a trip back to taste a po-boy or three.

Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles

I’m a fan of fried chicken and love a good waffle. The combination of the two is mouth watering and finger licking good.

I’ve been trying for months to get my Mom to try chicken and waffles together for a while now. Since we’re in Los Angeles on a layover from our round the country train trip, we decided to go to the source. We went for lunch to Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles.

Mom went with the wings and waffles and I went for the breast with waffles. Yum!

The fried chicken is juicy and the coating crisp and sticks with the meat. There was a huge scoop of butter on the waffle and the syrup was nice and rich. Their secret waffle batter recipe is quite good – certainly a world better than the Bisquick I was raised on!

The service was quick, although we did have to ask for a moist towelette.

I would definitely recommend this restaurant – and, from the looks of the plates of other diners, possibly even order more than chicken and waffles.

Deschutes Brewery – Portland

Mom and I had time to visit Powell’s City of Books and have lunch before getting on the Coast Starlight train. With recommendations from the hotel and from the very friendly book clerk who shipped our many books, we went directly to Deschutes Brewery from Powell’s.

They gave mom a sample to taste and she chose the Chainbreaker White IPA. I went with their house made root beer and ginger ale. The ginger ale could use some ginger but the root beer had a lovely bite.

We started with the pretzel. The cheese sauce was Monterey Jack with cream cheese with a rim of stone ground mustard. The pretzel was hot and yeasty and salty and we ordered another one to go!

And, of course, I forgot to take the picture before we started eating it.

For the main meal, I went with the daily special BBQ brisket. The meat was juicy and tender and it was served on a brewery baked bun. The pub fries were cooked to perfection.

The service was excellent – helpful in describing the brews and the menu and getting things to us quickly.

I would definitely recommend this brew pub.

Vita Cafe – Portland

I went out to dinner with a friend from graduate school (was that really 13 years ago?). She took us to her old stomping grounds of Vita Cafe. Lots of offerings for vegans, vegetarians, gluten free and even the meat eaters!

I loved the funky car in front of the restaurant:

I was craving a simple sandwich and got one in the grilled cheese (pepperjack to be exact) with grilled onions and tomato on sourdough bread. It really hit the spot.

I even enjoyed the house made pickles.

Mom ordered the BLT and it was very good with tons of well cooked bacon, lots of organic lettuce and tasty tomatoes on sourdough bread.

This was a cool place that even had a Food for Thought section on the menu. While the staff was rushed, the six of us were served in good order. Well worth a visit for anyone with friends of mixed appetites.

 

Truffles After Dinner

I’m in Portland for the Golden Crown Literary Society Annual Conference and my publisher, Bella Books, had a dinner for their authors. The hotel we’re staying at (Red Lion on the River at Jantzen Beach) provided a very nice spread that included pulled pork sliders and Thai chicken lollipops. There was also salad but my constant readers know my feelings on that (salad isn’t food, it is what food eats).

Following dinner, the inimitable Karin Kallmaker (writer of riveting lesbian romances and Editorial Director for Bella), provided us with a selection of truffles from the Moonstruck Chocolate Company, a Portland chocolatier. They were beautiful to look at and even better to eat. There was even a selection from Oregon distillers that were almost too gorgeous to eat.

Key word being ‘almost.’ Rich decadent chocolate plus the flavors of spirits made my mouth very, very happy!

Thanks so much to Linda Hill, Karin Kallmaker and all the others who make up the Bella Books family. I’m honored my books have such a good home.

 

Giordano’s Central Loop, Chicago

Traveling to Chicago means the chance to eat deep dish pizza at the source. My mom and I are just passing through but there was enough time to walk from Union Station to Giordano’s Famous Stuffed Pizza.

It was entirely worth waiting over thirty minutes for our pie – the tomatoes were very fresh, there was  so much lovely cheese and the toppings were very plentiful, too. It was one of the best pizza’s I’ve ever had.

I can definitely recommend this place for those downtown Chicago or just passing through on a train.

 

Thai Mint

My mom is in town and we were over on Carrollton at lunch time so we stopped in at Thai Mint. It was after 1pm and we had the place to ourselves.

I went for the Ginger Chicken. Very mild ginger flavor on the chicken but quite good. The veggies were nice and crisp (at least the one each I ate).

Mom had the Cashew Chicken and it was a little bland. We probably should have ordered it to be spicy. She enjoyed the bell peppers and onions with the cashews, though.

The server was quite attentive but, then again, we were the only ones in the restaurant.

I’m definitely willing to give this place an other try but will certainly ask for more spice when I do.