Tag: USA

Eataly

After asking for NYC recommendations our friend suggested Eataly NYC. It is difficult to explain what it is. I guess a simple description of Eataly would be a collection of restuarants, food markets, and food related products.
When you sit down to eat at Eataly, you must choose a specialized restaurant to eat at. The menu will be limited to dishes of a certain food type. If you want to try variation, you must move on to another restaurant.
We choose Il Pesce NYC, a fish restaurant,  to start with. We ordered a salad and fish to share.

My husband loves whole fish and this orata did not disappoint. It was cooked perfectly.

While we enjoyed our salad and fish, Eataly was quite busy.

When we were ready to move on to the next food stuffs the restaurant portion was getting ready to close. We were unable to try more of the restaurants.

I was able to spend some time looking at all the food for purchase at the market.

I love squid ink pasta.

There are so many desserts. Too bad I was not in the mood for dessert. They look so good.

Last but not least is the cheeses. I could tell if I lived in NY this would be where I would hang out. I will take a cheese plate over a dessert any day!

St Pete Breweries Day 1

Last fall I went on a brewery road trip with some friends from the Orlando Lady Crafters to St. Petersburg, Florida. St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area in general is a burgeoning location for the craft beer scene in Florida. There are a number of breweries in a short distance.
My friends have had craft beer road trips before but this is the first one I was able to attend.
Only a few of our events are opening to the men behind the ladies; this is one of them.
Our first stop on our brewery road trip was the Green Bench Brewing Co. Green Bench hosted a one year anniversary party. We stuck around a while to try some of their beers.

It was very crowded so they decided to discontinue beer flights for the day. I was disappointed I was unable to try more of their selections.
However we did get a free can of their anniversary beer.

They had the brewery open to visitors. We took a tour around.

They even had food trucks and live music outside.

When I cashed out I was happy to discover that they give you one additional anniversary beer for every pint you purchased. We almost had enough for a six pack!

Second stop on our brewery tour was St. Pete Brewing Company.

We were happy to discover that flights were available here.

We passed the time with games while we enjoyed our samples.

After touring the breweries we grabbed dinner at Engine No 9. The Saganaki burger was probably one of the best burgers I have ever had. The restaurant is small and has limited seating. We got lucky out and spread our large group across the bar; we only had to wait around 40 minutes.
Not quite wanting the evening to end we visited the The Ale & The Witch to keep the night going on. They had a great beer selection and live music. However we all got tired quickly and called it a night after one drink. We planned to meet up the next day for more beer-ploring St. Pete.

What a fun day in the city!

Todd English Food Hall

Caviar Bar at the Food Hall

Last fall I met my good friend in the city for her bachelorette party. Some of us arrived early and decided to start with champagne at The Plaza to celebrate early.

We worked up an appetite so one of the other girls suggested we visit the food hall that was “downstairs”. They led me to the Todd English Food Hall. I am surprised I have never heard of it before because I love food, and there is a ton of it there.
While we were deciding what to eat I got to see many interesting treats.

We decided on the Tartinery for a drink and something to hold us over.

I got a lovely open faced salmon sandwich and a glass of white wine.

I am looking forward to returning on my next trip to NYC.

Greenville Fun

As part of our southern vacation we stopped by Greenville, SC to visit some friends. While there we checked out the Blue Ridge Brewing Company a local brewpub in downtown Greenville. We had a good time sampling the beers.

Later on we met some friends at Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria. This place was amazing. Pizza and great craft beer in one place? Yes please!!!

If you are a huge craft beer fan the secret is to go to the upstairs bar to get beers that are not served downstairs. The upstairs was closing soon for a private party but before then I got to sample some awesome beers. I even got to order a pint of the coveted Westbrook Mexican Cake. It was very good. Too bad it is next to impossible to get a bottle of that to take home, especially as a non-local.
The Palmetto beers I tried are highly recommended as well. I will need to visit the Palmetto and Westbrook breweries on a future trip to Charleston.

Later after dinner we went out to see some local music at Smiley’s Acoustic Cafe.
The band that was playing was pretty entertaining and it was a packed crowd. Definitely a fun night. Greenville, SC you may have made me change my opinion of you this trip!