Taste of Garner Coming Soon!

Tomorrow I will be covering the Taste of Garner event. So stay tuned to see what goodies can be found in the land of Scotty McCreery.

The Durham Food Truck Rodeo

For underfinanced foodies, the food truck phenomenon is a thing of wonder.  Delicious, often innovative and frequently local foods are served up at reasonable prices.  The world is your dining room!  However, food trucks can pose their own set of problems, like how and where to find them. Finding a food truck couldn't h ave been any easier this weekend at the Durham Food truck Rodeo in Durham's Central Park.  I couldn't resist attending to give you, loyal reader, the scoop on some of the best food trucks in the triangle.  There were over 30 food trucks in attendance Sunday serving up everything from the traditional burgers and pizza to gourmet crepes, roasted pork belly, dumplings and everything in between.  I've already been made a fan of the chirba chirba dumpling truck from previous encounters outside of Big Boss Taproom, so I tried to hit up some of the trucks I had been waiting to try.  I started with a piece of the Margarita pizza from Pie Pushers Pizza truck that featured basil pesto, goat cheese, heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella on a thin NY style crust.  Two thumbs up, I'm usually a pizza purest going for the classic cheese Margarita style, but I can always make exceptions when pesto is involved.  My carnivorous companion ordered the pepperoni slice and was equally pleased.  After being dissuaded from the Parlour ice cream truck by its mega line (I'm still sad I didn't get to sample flavors like Vietnamese coffee and lavender vanilla..,) I was consoled by the idea of a dessert crepe from Parlez Vous Crepe.  I ordered the lemon crepe with a lemon meringue pie style lemon filling and opted to add some fresh strawberries in line with the menu's suggestion. Then I waited...and waited...and waited some more.  Delicious looking crepes were received all around me and a growing crowd of people waited for their orders.  It got to the point of absurdity... about an hour for a crepe.  I did finally get it, and it was good, but very little is good enough to be worth that kind of wait.  I understand that food truck rodeos bring foodies out of the woodwork, and lines should be anticipated, but this was ridiculous.  The crepe was good, if you can catch the truck on a slow night, go for it, otherwise be prepared to wait.  My companion ordered a vanilla shaved ice, which was good (although personally I would have gone for something a little more exotic than vanilla.)  Some acquaintances of mine sampled a jerk chicken sandwich and a bacon wrapped hot dog with salsa verde, that both seemed pleased with.  One item had me seriously second guessing my current vegetarian experiment (more will follow on that in a future post,) chile rellenos stuffed with pulled roasted pork and cheese, deep fried in a beer batter and served with ranch or sweet Thai chili sauces.  These were offered up by the Valentino's Italian truck, it may not sound very Italian, but they looked so good I'd let that slide. I had to settle for harassing a person who was eating them into a bite by bite account.  Now go stalk some food trucks!

Life Really Is Sweet at Sugarland

Do you ever get a nighttime craving for something sweet and delicious, despite your mother's advice not to eat too close to bedtime? I do..like every night, and last night was no exception when I was dragged (kicking and screaming, mom I swear..)to Sugarland Bakery location in Raleigh's Cameron Village. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, Sugarland is open at the prime sweets craving times of 10p.m. on week nights and till midnight on the weekends. Sugarland has already graced Chapel Hill with a location, and not to be outdone Raleigh now has it's very own. Now I like cupcakes alright, but honestly they are more pleasing to my eye than my pallette. The whole bakery case was indeed a treat for the eyes. The shelves held beautiful cupcakes that were little works of art, with flavors like Grasshopper and Boston Cream Pie. (Half price cupcakes on Tuesdays!) What Sugarland holds for me is GELATO. I've spent some time eating my way around Italy and gelato alone could probably account for a good five pounds of weight gain (it would probably have been more except that to eat my way through Italy I also had to do quite a bit of walking.) So you may wonder what the difference is between American style ice cream and GELATO. Gelato is more dense than ice cream with less air making it richer and is served at a slightly higher temperature than icecream, making the flavors more intense. I haven't yet figured out whether this means gelato is less likely to give you a brain freeze.. Miraculously gelato has less fat and calories than traditional ice cream, with 90- 160 calories a cup what's not to love? The rotating gelato flavors available at Sugarland range from classics like cappachino or pistachio to flavors more decidedly influenced by our side of the Atlantic like margarita, dulce de leche, or the cinnamon spiked Mexican chocolate. After some ample sampling, I think the Tiramasu may have been my favorite of flavors. Now here is the real kicker, they make frozen martinis from liquor and their fabulous homemade gelatos! I was also pulled in to try the Kentucky Derby Pie, an individual Bourbon pecan pie with chocolate chips and a drizzle of chocolate ganache and whipped cream. I know, sounds like food porn right? I wish it had more pecans, but it was definitely rich, I had to take half of my little pie home with me. The prices at Sugarland are on the steep side, but its still a fun place for a night out with friends or a date. I think I'll be finding more excuses to go to Cameron Village.

 

Coquette, Dinner vs. Brunch

So I've already made my love of brunch fairly clear.  It may be easy to make a delicious brunch at home, but the lower prices at brunch can provide a way for even an underfinanced foodie to try out those high end restaurants where they have been aching to dine.  Following this policy I have taken to enjoying one of my favorite fine dining establishments for brunch rather than dinner.  If you've been to Coquette French Bistro in North Hills, you know that the Parisian bistro setting is spot on.  It's open and airy and oozing French charm.  You may also know that the dinner prices are prohibitively high for all but special occasions for those of us working on a budget.  I've had dinner at Coquette and enjoyed my steak frites, although I expected better for the price. Fortunately, that was on a date where my tab was picked up. For those eating on their own dime (and I'm usually one of them,) brunch is the way to go.  It's not cheap, but it's much more accessible than the dinner prices.  The fresh bread and salted butter they serve is divine...and I don't generally use or even particularly like the term divine.  I highly recommend the eggs benedict and any of the quiches.  The eggs in the quiche have been whipped to a frenzy producing the most airy melt in your mouth quiche with a souffle like texture.  I hate to say skip out on the Croque Monseiur at a French Brasserie, but it was just ok, not extraordinary. The crepes are delicious, but despite how rich they are (and they are sinfully rich,) they aren't enough to fill me up.  I recommend a sweet crepe as a dessert rather than an entree, since it really is a dessert anyway, unless you have a considerable sweet tooth. So get a sugardaddy (or mamma) to take you for dinner, otherwise try Coquette for brunch, and soak up some of the Parisian charm.