An evening with Soul

After our quick introduction to Soul in Plaza-Midwood, a few weeks ago, the Mrs. and I decided we needed to do a full investigation of the menu. So Friday night with little else to do and a grumble in my belly we gave a call to the Millers. Mr.Miller is the guitarist for the band I am in, Broken Napoleons if you are interested, and he and his wife live in the neighborhood and always make for good company. Luckily they were milling their food options at the same time so we decided to consolidate efforts and give Soul a working over.

When Soul first opened we feared it would be a hipper than thou bore fest that should be avoided at all costs. I was so pleasantly surprised to find out it was totally laid back and very welcoming. The interior is quite small with a bar a few tables and a couple of small "living room" seating areas as well as a DJ booth. We grabbed a couch and a couple of chairs and settled in for the evening. Joe and I recapped and critiqued an open mic night performance we had done earlier in the week. We placed drink orders and surveyed the menu. A couple of quick notes, one, they have no beer on tap but do have a decent bottle selection, two, do not order well drinks they appear to be watered down so pony up for the top shelf stuff. With that said our drinks came and we were introduced to the specials. First, was a corn and zucchini fritter with aioli and then a shrimp something or other. We opted for the fritters and an order of veal short ribs in hoisin-sesame sauce. The Millers got a ham plate and salmon-kopita which for those keeping score is exactly what is sounds and looks like. So I should mention here that Soul is a Tapas restaurant with small plates some larger plated and paninis. I really love Tapas places when the service understands the concept. Too many times the staff wants you to throw down one order and get out. I was very happy to find that, at Soul, we were made to feel comfortable in ordering however we wanted. When we are enjoying an evening with friends we like to linger.

And the first round shows up. One problem with the "living room" area was that the table was a wee small and we like to eat, so it took some Tetris like action to get everything situated on the table, but we managed. The fritters were fantastic, a little hot when I took my first bite, but so good. They were just crisp on the outside and perfectly done inside. The short ribs just fell off the bone and melted in your mouth. The sauce may have been a bit overpowering but I am nit picking. The ham plate looked nice. I did nab a taste of prosciutto which was soft and buttery. I was told the salmon-kopita was good but how do you even compare that to anything, an A for originality if nothing else.

The next round brought a Steak and egg panini and an order of Chimichurri beef skewers for us and after seeing ours the Millers decided to get an order of fritters with some chorizo. The steak and eggs was a skirt steak topped with greens and a fried egg. I am working on fried eggs so this was a good test. It was very tasty with the steak really shinning, not even a hint of chewiness. The Chimichurri skewers, however, were in my mind, miles ahead. The beef was perfectly cooked and seasoned with extra sauce on the side to add as you wished. The Millers were not disappointed by ordering the fritters, and the chorizo was good but not excellent. It was a little on the tough side but not to the point of making it unpleasant.

More? Yes, please. Next up, an order of bone marrow for the Mrs. and I and a bbq-cubanini with more fritters for the Millers. How could I not order the bone marrow. Sure, its like eating an animals soul but it is a very tasty soul. We were warned that it takes some time to roast the bones which i was aware of and had no qualms with waiting and having another drink. While we waited we got reports from the Millers on their orders. The fritters were again perfect and the cubanini was very tasty. I think I'll have to try that on our next visit. And then it arrived. Three, three inch tall tubes of roasted goodness with toast and red-onion relish on the side. While it was not the best marrow I have had, it was awfully good. Especially amazing for the time it took to get it on the table. It could have used a little salt but again I am nit picking.

Last but not least was a cupcake the size of a small woodland creature. I am usually so disappointed when we order cupcakes, they are often small and limp, sometimes bland as well. Not so at Soul. We ordered the seasonal cupcake which was lemon cake filled with lemon curd and topped with a blueberry cream cheese frosting. It was big and it was delicious, I feel that the cupcake had been redeemed.

My other problem with tapas is the shock at the end of the evening when you get your bill. When you say to yourself "but I'm still kind of hungry and it was how much". But tonight, though it was not inexpensive, I was satisfied and we did manage to milk two and a half hours out of the experience. All the while not feeling rushed or pressured by out waitress. For that I say "Thank you"

Soul Gastrolounge -Located at 1500 - B Central Ave. in Plaza-Midwood - Website

Meat and Beer

Beef, it's whats for dinner. And suds to wash it down.

So, we have wanted to order a large quantity of beef for quite some time now and finally rounded up enough people to share in this endeavor with us. We spoke with our favorite meat purveyors at the market, Underwood Family Farm, and originally decided on a half cow which we were told would be around a hundred pounds. When they decided which cow to bring to the processor Christy told us it was a big'un so we moved to a quarter cow which would be about seventy-five pounds. Wednesday we got the email that the quarter cow came in at ninety-three pounds. It was very exciting and mildly terrifying. How the hell were we gonna get all that home to separate. We borrowed a large cooler from our neighbors and brought a couple of our own and at eight A.M. Saturday morning we set out for the market. Wow, that's a lot of beef. It was glorious, when she opened the cooler i felt like I was finally getting a glimpse into the Pulp Fiction Briefcase. Grassfed goodness of every variety. We split it up amongst five couples and families and I was perfectly happy to reserve for us, the oddball cuts. We got a couple of steaks but more importantly there was a piece of flap meat and ox tail and a soup bone and a tri-tip, oh happy day.

In other news I am very happy to report that Revolution Pizza has moved ever closer to becoming the best bar in Charlotte by removing from its taps the last of the large brewery beers. It is all craft brew all the time. The Guinness was replaced by Pisgah Nitro, a beautiful example of a Nitrogen conditioned stout. Other new additions include Pisgah Valdese, Great Lakes Edmond Fitzgerald, Left Hand 400lb monkey, and Flying Dog double IPA.

As mentioned above, Great Lakes Brewing Company has finally made its entry into the Charlotte Market. I would strongly recommend picking up a six pack. I myself am a big fan of the Eliot Ness, but they are all tasty. I was lucky enough to visit their brew pub last fall, in Cleveland, and I can only hope that they ship their seasonal brews, last years Octoberfest was the best I had all season and the Nosferatu is a dangerous thing. So go pick some up.

Finally, I would like to thank Brawley's for being awesome, I picked up a bottle of Avery Brabant, a beer of which there was only 694 cases made. It is a wild yeast beer, with no style precedent that was aged in Zinfandel barrels. I'm now hoping I can get another bottle so I can taste it and save the other bottle for a rainy day.

Adventures in Southern delicacies

I am ashamed to admit that we have lived in NoDa for almost four years and only yesterday did I finally make it to Brooks. For those unfamiliar with this Charlotte institution and culinary time machine; Brooks is a cinder block bunker that holds a sandwich counter and the kitchen that supplies it. That's it. If you want to sit down there is a picnic table outside under a carport. Or you can sit in your car. Now, all of this is well worn culinary and literary territory, but it's my blog, so there.

Upon arrival at Brooks you notice first the giant sign for the "worlds best hamburger", a dubious claim at best. Second, you notice the stream of people coming and going and they are representative of all walks of life. From bankers to laborers, they're all there. When I arrived there were two of Charlotte's finest chowing down off the trunk of their car, which is always a good sign. When you enter, which you do carefully due to the size of the queue and a door that opens in, you are greeted with a warm smile and a familiar atmosphere. Everyone around you is probably a regular. A quick scan of the menu and I decided to forgo the hamburger and opted for the fried bologna sandwich, all the way of coarse, mostly because it entails chili. How can chili on anything be bad. An order of fries and a Pepsi round out my meal. I will pause for one second to address one thing quickly. While I am not a huge fan of sweet tea, unless its with barbecue, one tell-tale sign of a quality old school Charlotte eating establishment is a line of pre-cupped sweet tea ready to go. With food in hand, I go back to my car and dig in. It's not a huge amount of food, which is probably best, any more and you might have a coronary right then and there. The fries are salty and I mean southern salty. Which is not a slam, it's just a simple fact that, especially, older southerners can get down on some salt. On the plus side they were fried perfectly. The bologna was quite tasty, not over the top, the chili was just right and they added just enough chopped onion. I will definitely return and I guess next time I have to try the burger. So one more Charlotte Icon down and so many more to go.

This morning I found myself feeling better than expected after the over indulgence of alcohol the night before. I was, however, hungry, very hungry. The Mrs. and I had errands to run so I suggested we check in on Zada Jane's, since we had not been in awhile. We got there and realized there was no reasonable shot at getting seated this week so we moved to plan B, Eddie's Place in Cotswold. Not usually my top pick for breakfast but on the way to our destination and always a solid performer, if not outstanding. Also packed, we did score bar seats immediately and the coffee quickly followed. Still having Anthony Bourdain's voice ringing in my ear I decided to dive into yet another southern specialty I had neglected far too long. I ordered a livermush sandwich on a biscuit with egg and cheese, hashbrowns on the side. As it arrived I put on my game face and took a bite. The first thing that came to mind was "earthy" it tasted like mashed sweetbreads, which, it pretty much is. So, while it will never be my favorite, I will fear it no longer. I do have to mention the very odd hashbrowns at Eddies. They hand cut their french fries and then cross cut them to make little quarter inch potato cubes, delicious.

I hope my southern friends get a kick out of this and do not give me too much grief about my foray into the southern lexicon of food. Who knows what's next, I hope its tasty.

Brooks - Is located in Noda at 2710 N. Brevard St.

Zada Janes - Is located in Plaza-Midwood at 1601 Central Ave. - Website

Eddies Place - Is located in Cotswold at 617 S. Sharon Amity - Website

Fran's Fueling Station Feeding Frenzy and Skanking

It is very rare that I eat myself into uncomfortability. Last night was one exception. With a heady mix of beer, good food and friends, I chowed down like it was my death row meal and at the end of it all, I was full.

It all started with the Mrs. and I deciding what we wanted for dinner while sitting on the couch having an after work cocktail. We had tickets for The Pietasters show and knew we needed to stay up late. We gathered some ideas and called up the Whiskeys to see what they were up to. Between calling them and them calling back we stumbled upon the idea of going to Fran's. I had never heard of it before so I checked out the website and decided it looked promising. Just after finalizing arrangements with the Whiskeys, we got a call from Mr. Chelsea about a matter of which will be discussed in a future post. Spoiler Alert, half a cow. So we convinced the Chelseas to join us and we were on our way.

We met around 6:30 and the place was packed. It is a small space with a dozen or so tables. I would not recommend any groups larger than six. We had a bit of a wait ahead of us so we got a round of drinks. The selection is limited, but a good mix of craft brews and imports. We discussed news of the day and the finer points of Olympic competition. Realizing our wait could be awhile we asked for a menu to get a few appetizers. I would have preferred it had been offered, but no big deal. The staff seemed half crazed and slightly overwhelmed. We skimmed the menu and all of us hit "it" at the same time. A hush fell upon us in awe and wonder. "Bacon wrapped tatter tots, are you kidding me, Yeah, we'll have some of those. Fried Pickles, sure. And an order of deviled eggs for the Mrs." As these tasty items arrived, our table was ready. So we sat and devoured our morsels.

The tater tots were good but not as life altering as hoped. The Bacon was outstanding but the tots themselves didn't quite hold their own. Mr. Chelsea would disagree with me on this as his world was suitably rocked. The fried pickles were deceptively tasty. First taste and you say, "eh". Then a few seconds later, "man those are good". They use sweet and sour dills and a cornmeal crust that, could have been fried a tad longer but still awesome. The deviled egg was gone by the time I had paid our bar tab, which is just as well since I am not a fan. But, the Mrs. says it was delicious. Deviled eggs are done as a daily special, last nights was Bloody Mary and reported to be very Worcestershire saucy. When our waitress finally made it around to us she had some specials to tell us about and we listened intently. And as we did, another collective hush fell upon us, "did she just say Pastrami wings". Picturing Pastrami wrapped around a chicken wing I was slightly disappointed to find out it was Pastrami spices on a chicken wing, but my curiosity got the best of me and a basket was ordered. Some questions were posed and answered, another round of drinks ordered, and we were left again to decide on our meals. And when our waitress arrived with wings we were ready.

In an effort to fulfill my New Years resolution and prepare myself for our upcoming trip to Brussels I ordered the mussels in beer and herb stock, with fries of coarse. The Mrs. had the Mac and cheese with a side of collards. Mr. Whiskey had pot roast, Mrs. Whiskey the Mediterranean veggie burger, Mr. Chelsea got the beef and lamb, burger of the day and Mrs. Chelsea seconded the mac and cheese. With orders taken we turned our attention to the wings, which were unique in a good way, very meaty and also deceptively tasty. Their true selling point was how moist they were. Rarely do you get a wing that is that well cooked.

Next our attention turned to convincing Mr. Whiskey to accompany Mr. Chelsea and I on a beer adventure to the East in celebration of the impending arrival of baby Chelsea. Since he is not the biggest beer fan we tried plying him with the promise of food. Though not convinced last night, we will break him.

On to the main coarse, I will start by saying I have not had mussels since I was a small child and, as you may have gathered, I'm not a huge fan of the bounty from the sea. But, fortified with beer and having been on a No Reservations bender for the last few weeks, I dove in. It was really good. The mussels were not rubbery or fishy; just tasty. Everyone seemed truly enthralled with their food, we were shoving bites of this and that in each others direction and cooing like children. The pot roast was excellent, the lamb burger thing also very tasty. The mac and cheese was almost perfect and the collards would make any southern grandma proud.

And, just when we thought it was over."Would you like dessert?" , "Oh sweet Jesus" (pause) "well, what have you got?" The Mrs. and I decided on the malted milk ball pudding. Chocolate overload, but we finished it.

And, with that the carnage was over. So we waddled out the restaurant and said our goodbyes promising to come back but never eat that much again and see each other soon.

The two negatives of the evening were that the service was a bit slow and haphazard but they easily made up for this with personality and self deprecation, and really, we were in no hurry. The other issue was either the fryolator was having a hard time keeping up with the constant flow of people or the kitchen staff was pulling it a little to quick to keep up. In either case nothing was woefully undercooked. It just wasn't quite to my view of fried perfection.

We capped the night at the Visualite Theater skanking to the sounds of the Pietasters, a ska band from our youth who haven't lost a thing. And we arrived just in time to see the opener IED, who are friends that I did not realize were on the bill.

Fran's Filling Station - is located in Dilworth at 2410 Park Rd. - Facebook

For the beer lovers

So, I got off a little early today and stopped by my local, Revolution Pizza. Today was apparently Big Boss day. And more importantly, Revolution got 2 of only 4 kegs of a new pale ale they are test marketing. Of coarse, I had to have one. In general, I am a fan of Big Boss so its no surprise I was a fan of this beer. It was a well balanced crisp beer with a nice hop finish. No, it was not ground breaking, but it was an easy drinker; and when your session beer has started to reach 7 - 8% a 5%er is a nice change of pace.

Farmers Market and Modernist Art

Finally, a chance to get to the market. With plans from the last few weeks being foiled by weather, work or both. The Mrs. and I finally got a chance to get back to the Yorkmont Farmers Market. And, although there was little in the way of veggies to be had from our local farmers it was good to see them all and catch up.We got some eggs and sweet potatoes; picked up some meat, including some fresh salami. The real reason we were there was to get the low down on ordering a half cow. We have a chest freezer begging to be filled and some friends who want to split the order with us. We finished or shopping on the wholesaler side if the building, picking up what we needed for a broccoli soup from Orangette . To finish off our visit we stopped by the Harvest Moon Grille and got some breakfast from Cassie. The Harvest Moon is a small food trailer operated by Grateful Growers and serves meals created from local products, including their pork. I had an egg and pork wrap with diced potatoes and herbs, and the Mrs. got an egg sandwich on focaccia.

Sunday was our fist chance to go check out the Bechtler Museum. Since the weather was agreeable we decided to ride bikes and enjoy the day. I am not a huge fan of Modernist art but there is almost always something to like in every museum. My real reason for wanting to go is slightly less altruistic.

At the time of the opening of the museum I was reading a book on art forgery called, Provenance. The artists represented in the book are all represented in the Bechtler collection, so what i really wanted to do was contemplate whether or not the art was genuine. Is that wrong? But, while listening to the stories about the art from the little talk box, I leaned the Bechtler family were personal friends of most of the artists; therefore the possibility of them being fakes is low. With that said I did enjoy the museum quite a lot and will definitely be making return trips as the collection is rotated. The Mrs., however nearly had a nervous breakdown when we entered a room of sculptures by swiss artist Jean Tinguely that were composed of found objects, old wood, animal skulls and electric motors that apparently move when switched on. Unfortunately, they all had large "Do not touch" signs over their switches. It was very hard for her to not turn them on. And, who could blame her? As we finished up we had an interesting conversation about the use of the term "Modern art" and its misuse in place of "Contemporary art" and whether we should use "Modernist art" instead to differentiate.

From there we finished the day anxiously awaiting the USA vs Canada hockey game.

Cuban Pete's, Charlotte Squawks and a winter wonderland

So, here I am sitting on my couch with a lovely glass of port staring out the window as the town is blanketed with quiet. It is a great way to unwind from an evening of too much food and a healthy helping of laughter.

We started the evening, as the snow was just starting, at Cuban Pete's in Plaza-Midwood. They opened Wednesday and normally I like to wait a week or two before checking out a new restaurant. But, since the sign went up the Mrs. and I have been ravenously craving Cuban food so we had to go.

I will start by saying, as I spent the vast majority of my youth in South Florida, I feel uniquely qualified to judge a Cuban restaurant. It is located in a spot previously occupied by a slew of contenders that fell by the wayside including Joe's Raw Bar, The Graduate and most recently The Nook. I had not been to any of these establishments so I had no frame of reference for which to judge the new interior. I am guessing though that it is quite a drastic change. It's a little gimmicky for my taste but fun none the less. There are beach cabanas in most of the corners and tables here and there. After being warmly greeted and seated quickly we got our menus and knew immediately what we wanted to start with. Ham croquettes when done right are a magnificent pairing of crunch and soft and sweet and savory. Cuban Pete's did not disappoint. As we were munching, the owner came by to check on us and chat a bit. And as we were talking a second order of croquettes showed up. Who am I to turn down free food. Our waitress came by often to check on us and refill water. She was a bit on the chatty side but sweet as could be. With ham goodness only so satisfying we moved to our main courses. The Mrs. ordered the thing she came for, a Cuban sandwich. I did get a bite of it and it was pretty spot on; very delicious. On the side of the sandwich was an odd pile of potato sticks. I myself ordered Picadillo, which is a beef hash. It came with a side of rice and Cuban black beans. The hash was just a tad dry but very tasty and easily moistened with a splash of bean juice. Ahh the beans. They were fantastic. For dessert we had a flan. I am not the biggest flan fan but the Mrs. had just had a tres leche cake the day before. The custard was fine; but the topping was odd; it was hard; like peanut brittle without the peanuts. With dessert we ordered a pair of Cuban coffees, which came in the traditional tiny cups and were just the right blend of bitter and sweet. All in all definitely worth the visit.

After our meal we trudge back out into the snow and moved on to spirit square for Charlotte Squawks, where we met up with Mr. and Mrs Whiskey. We got there a little early so we could catch up with them and then moved into the theater. For those unfamiliar, Charlotte Squawks, is a musical sketch satire based on local and national current events. This is the third time we had been and we were quite glad to see an almost entirely new program. The basic gist is that they re-write universally known songs with topical lyrics. The highlight of the night was the "Thriller" skit done as "Twitter". Other highlights included "Que Cera Cera" done as "Oh Sarah Sarah" about Sarah Palin as well as a good "Take it easy" as "Take it Easley". A good time was had by all. We bid adieu and made our way home in the winter wonderland.

Cuban Pete's - is located in Plaza-Midwood at 1308 The Plaza