Halloween at the Till's

October 27, 2017

Halloween has started! We had fun at the Till's house. They always throw a great party!

Post Oak Smokehouse Beef Brisket and Burnt Ends

I Went To Texas

October 6, 2017

It's been a while since I've stepped foot in Texas - 25 years ago - so it was weird heading back there for a little business trip. My goal while I was there was to eat as much beef brisket as I could and drink as much Texas beer in equal measure. The photo above was from one of the places I tried called Post Oak Smokehouse, it was so good! Bumped into one of the owners while I was there too.

Thought I did eat a lot of brisket and even brought back some to Virginia with me I think I could have done better though on the consumption side of things.

I did eat some other stuff too. I hit In-and-Out burger for the first time which was fun because I got to meet up with my nephew who was passing through town, ate at a chain called Uncle Julio's that turned out to be pretty good! I had to get Whataburger just because it has been ages since I had it, again, not bad. I tried as much of the local beer as I could, which wasn't a ton due to logistical reasons and the fact that everything in Texas is at least one hour apart from each other. I did make it to one brewery in the area called Grapevine though, visiting was a must.

Whenever I go anywhere I try to bring some beer from home to trade. I had actually brought some Veil beer with me too, I thought that would be nice since the brewery has generated a lot of buzz around the world. I had arrived at Grapevine Craft Brewery with my coworker Phil I had a lil stash of brews with me. The brewery's tasting room was pretty cool, it was two levels and had high-tops and regular tables. It happened to be trivia night so there was a good crowd and lots of energy. I talked to the tasting room manager a bit and he asked if we wanted to tour the brewery. We walked through the brewery, maybe did a little trading, and got flight at the end. Check this place out if you're ever in the area.

All in all, I had good time checking out the area. Again the last time I was in Texas was when I was driving to Virginia Beach from El Paso. I was stationed in Ft. Bliss back then I was happy to be leaving! I'd love to check out that place again...

(Supposed to be) A Quick Stop at The Veil Brewing

October 2, 2017

Marleigh came down from Brooklyn to drop her car off. She really had no need for it with New York Metro system taking you wherever you need to go. It was also a pain to have to move the car every other day due to the street sweeper schedule. It was nice having her home for the weekend! On the Sunday we took her up to Richmond to catch the train back to New York.

After we dropped her off we figured we'd hit The Veil for a pint and I also wanted to see if they had any cans left from earlier in the week.

Yeah, yeah I know they wouldn't. Doesn't hurt to try though!

Walking in we saw Carling behind the bar which was nice. I bump into her all the time in Virginia Beach. I asked if they had any cans left, which they didn't, but she said she might be able to dig up something in the back. Score! Carling came out with a couple of cans of their collab with Cloudwater - a brewery out of Manchester, England - called Cat and Taco. See it doesn't hurt to try :P Thank you Carling and The Veil for the hook-up, I brought back a Jester King sour for the brewery after a trip I took to Texas.

Of course Shelby and I ordered beers while the can thing was getting worked out. I sipped on our beers and investigated the food pop-ups happening outside the brewery. I was feeling like we would score again on some great food because when we pulled up earlier I smelled some woodfire cooking happening around the block somewhere. We we rounded the corner to enter the tasting room we found the source of that smoke and it was right there at the brewery.

Yes!

There was not just one, but two pop-ups at the brewery that day. One was Brasa food stand, which was the source of the smoke, and another was a oyster stand by Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program. Walking up to the Brasa table you were greeted not only by the wonderful wood smoke but a huge Serrano Ham! Take a look at the shop above to see the menu, this is a pop-up that cooks its food on embers. We had a hard time picking what we wanted on the menu (everything!) because there are only two of us and we have to eat oysters too. We picked the Oysters Mushrooms and the Ham plates.

Since we were ordering from both pop-ups we grabbed two small servings of the oysters, plus a few "extra" that ended up on our plates...thanks guys! When sat down with all our food and dove in. It was so good! I mean we're at a brewery eating some high-end stuff in the parking lot. You can't beat it! I forgot to mention that we were meeting someone there too, I mean I was just really going for the beer but Shelby was chatting with a guy named Scott on Insta about dropping off some Distinction Magazines that just came out. He's friends with Todd Wright, whose work regularly appears in the magazine. We also messaged our friend Gerrell to meet up with us. Shelby and him used to work together in Virginia Beach till he moved to Richmond, so we try to get together whenever we're in town.

Shout out to the guys in the pic above, great job with all the food. It was amazing! I ended up with an invite to an event called the Shell-Raiser's Shindig happening later that month that included Brasa and a ton of other restaurants, the guy in the pink shirt is Todd Janeski and he is the director of the oyster shell recycling program I linked at the the beginning of the post. Great guy doing good things put together the event and The Veil was going to be there too in addition to oysters from 7 of the 8 regions. Sounds like heaven.

Sorry didn't mean to carry on, the gist of it was we stopped by The Veil and ended up experiencing a lot more than we thought we would and it was wonderful. Love ya Richmond!

Schooner Virginia

September 24, 2017

Had a great day on the Elizabeth River on the Schooner Virginia. A keg of beer from Bottlecraft VB and lots of friends - couldn't ask for more!

Green Flash Breakfast Club - Waffletina

September 19, 2017

Cobalt Grille Burger Night

September 8, 2017

Shelby saw that Cobalt Grille did a burger night where the burgers were 1/2 off! I mean Cobalt if fancy stuff so the chance to have a meal half off there was a no brainer. I had the Park Ave burger with caviar, mushrooms, and Havarti. Very good!

Brewing (kinda) Beer with Ross and Ryan

August 27, 2017

Saltine with Josh

August 17, 2017

Fortunately, hanging around in the food scene for years has allowed me to become familiar with a lot of talented people that work all aspects of the food/drink service industry. I'm not just interested in the plate in front of me, but I love knowing the people back of the house to the front who make it happen.

I love sitting at the bar too; finding a new beer or wine to enjoy and once in a while a fancy drink. You probably guessed from a quick glance of this post this is going to be about cocktails and you would be correct. I'm going to tell you how I got to drink a bunch of them one night and show you what they were.

My journey into an evening of cocktail sampling began one warm evening in Norfolk, VA. I drove Shelby down to a new Italian restaurant called Leone's so she could meet up with "The Ladies." After I creeped on them a little bit, taking photos, chatting, etc... I thought they should have their girl time so I left for the car. I needed to run some stuff to a chef I know down the way and I had time to burn. While I was walking down Granby St. I was spotted by another guy I know named Josh Seaburg. I wrote about him a couple of years ago when he was at another shop.

After spying me he messaged me and asked if I would be interested in trying out his new drink menu he created for Saltine, one of three new hot spots in the Hilton Norfolk The Main. Saltine, a seafood restaurant, has a beautiful bar on the ground level of the hotel that allows you to do some serious people watching - everyone coming into the large hotel lobby and people on the street.

Shelby told me, that her mother (Hi Nana!) told her, it is rude to turn down a drink so I accepted happily. After I ran my errand I made my way to Saltine, ready to be wow'ed. Josh has put in his dues and is serious about his drinks. He pays attention to detail and it's the small things that make the whole.

The menu, at the time, had not been tested by a layman as myself and I was ordered to give him feedback. Lucky me!

Attention! I'm just going to say right off the bat that the presentation of all the drinks was beautiful. Figured I'd add that caveat at the beginning so I didn't have to keep saying it throughout the post.

We started out with a White Julep - Wasmund’s peach-smoke bourbon mash, mint, simple syrup. This one packed a punch but was refreshing, loved all the ice.

Kuh-Shah-Suh (Josh explains the name is the phonetic spelling of the main ingredient Cachaça) This is made from pineapple infused Cachaça, lime, simple syrup, winter melon bitters, and garnished with dragon fruit. This was a neat, it even had a little heat on the end. While he was making it he gave the glass a spritz of green Chartreuse.

Western Medicine - Belle Isle Honey Habanero, lemon, and ginger syrup. It's garnished with candied ginger - when available. Shelby will love this one!

Had to take a food break and ordered some calamari

The Rosetta Toned was served in nice stemware and had a pleasant, sweet finish. It's made with Flor de Cana extra dry rum, lime, house strawberry cordial, Absinthe, and coriander. I'm a fan of rum!

The classic Piña Coloda, not much to say other than it was damn tasty and he didn't put it in his shirt pocket. Maybe next time!

(Shirt pocket reference here.)

The Vida Bandida - Vida Mezcal, dry Curacao, lime, Ignition Tincture, bitters. This was different, neat. Mezcal drinkers would like this, even if you don't like mezcal, try it anyway. Thug Life.

Cleaver Club is fun to watch being made. It is a mixture of Beefeater Gin, lemon, and nitro-raspberries. Josh busts out the nitro to prep the glass and it looks highly technical. The name of the drink, and the drink itself, pay homage to the classic cocktail The Clover Club.

The Audible Sigh was fancy and was garnished with fresh Passionfruit - Ketel One, passionfruit, lime, sparkling rosé, hibiscus/acai bitters. All the cool, trendy stuff in one drink, you might hear Josh give an audible sigh if you ask for him to make you one. It's worth the side-eye though, it's pretty tasty.

Bet you thought I would drink each one to the finish? Maybe I did...

I just wanted to give Josh a shout out for letting me try all these delicious cocktails and give him feedback on them. I think I'll be swinging by again tonight to revisit one or two of these. "The Ladies" are meeting there and I always crash a party.

- Fini

Watermelon Mojito Smoothie

August 11, 2017

I wrote a little story about Tropical Smoothie Cafe's "secret menu" a couple of years ago and it's still one of my most hit post on the blog. Kinda funny.

Guess what? Here's another write-up on them! They sent me a message asking if I'd like to try their special Summertime smoothie, which as you all know, I accepted the offer. I was sent some gift cards to have lunch on them and try out the Watermelon Mojito Smoothie.

(Make sure you read till the end for a chance to win a $25 gift card.)

Shelby and I took a lunch break and headed to the closest Tropical Smoothie get business done. They had a big sign out front advertising the Watermelon Mojito and an Avocolada. We decided we needed both!

The shop is pretty popular as we ran into the lunchtime crowd. We ordered the Watermelon Mojito and Avocolada and two bowls: the Baja Bowl and Caribbean Jerk. The smoothies were done first so grabbed them and sat outside to enjoy the nice, warm weather.

First thing we tried was the Watermelon Mojito and it was very good! It's made of Watermelon (duh...), mint, and strawberries. I loved the light flavor of the watermelon backed up by the strawberry - very refreshing! The Avocolada was earthy and smooth, I liked that one too.

What you need to know is that the Watermelon Mojito is only on the menu till August 20th! So make sure you get in there and grab one for yourself. It was $5 and could pass for a lunch to be honest. I'm always full when I drink a whole smoothie.

Tell you what, they gave me a $25 gift card to give away to my readers! If you would like a chance to win it just leave a comment on this post and I'll pick someone tomorrow morning. Good luck!

Jubilee Seafood Oysters

August 5, 2017

We had the pleasure of snagging the last bag of Jubilee Seafood Eastern Shore oysters this past weekend. Nice salinity, sweet, and big. Grab some if you get a chance at the Old Beach Farmer's Market or call them to order.

So good!

Bonefish Grill

August 4, 2017

There are a lot of places to grab a meal around here. It's funny because if you're not paying attention it's easy to miss a lot in close vicinity. This post is about one we recently (finally!) visited in Virginia Beach called Bonefish Grill. I'm sure if you live in the area you're probably saying to yourself, "Yeah, yeah...everybody has been there. Bang Bang Shrimp!", but I haven't. I have a mile long list of places to visit and Bonefish was on there somewhere. We ended up going because they contacted me and asked if I would like to come by a and try their Hand-Crafted Happy Hour.

Here's the blurb they sent me:

"Hand-Crafted Happy Hour menu, served 4:00-6:30 p.m. seven days a week, featuring upscale bar bites including sushi-grade Ahi Tuna Poke, Crispy Cod Sliders, Wagyu Beef Sliders, Crispy Au Gratin Bites, Mussels Josephine and Crispy Calamari priced at $6 each. Drink specials showcase a selection of Bonefish Grill’s handcrafted martinis and cocktails at just $5 each, including the Blueberry Lemon Drop, Tropical Tiki Martini, Raspberry Vodka Collins and Fresh Margarita. $4 house wines, $5 mixed drinks and $1 off draft beers are also offered."

When I'm offered free food I'm usually all over it, that didn't change with this offer either. They said I could bring friends, and as luck would have it, our buddies Amy and Alan were available to hangout. We met them at a local wine tasting then headed over to Bonefish Grill down the boulevard.

We met with the kitchen manager and he introduced us to our server. We settled in and ordered lots of drinks (of course.) Actually, we ordered everything on the Hand-Crafted Happy Hour menu to get an idea of what the place was dishing up. As listed above, this is what was on our ticket: Ahi Tuna Poke, Crispy Cod Sliders, Wagyu Beef Sliders, Crispy Au Gratin Bites, Mussels Josephine, and Crispy Calamari.

The drinks came out first and they were all pretty tasty. I don't drink a ton of mixed drinks but the margarita was my favorite. When the food came out I snagged all the plates to take photos. I always say I'm the worst dinner date. They filed out one after the other and the amount of food was impressive. The price point was great considering what you get and we really loved the poke. Super fresh and delicious, the calamari was good too! Everything was actually tasty and I could see us putting Bonefish Grill on the rotation.

Ahi Tuna Poke, our favorite off the menu!

Shelby with Amy and Alan, always fun hanging out with these guys.

Even though they weren't on the Happy Hour menu we ordered some Bang Bang Shrimp too. Super light batter and nice sized shrimp. The sauce their in is so good, I could probably eat 4 orders of these in a sitting. After we plowed our way through the food they kitchen had a surprise for us and brought out their Summer Berry Bread Pudding. I mean we really couldn't eat anymore but it looked great so we tried and almost ate the whole thing.

After really finishing up with dessert we said our goodbyes and thanked the staff for hooking us up with a great meal. We'll definitely will be heading back.

Tuna Kebabs

August 3, 2017

I had to share these Tuna Kebabs I made for dinner last night. My friend James caught a bunch of tuna off the coast here and gave me belly. I had to freeze so I figured since it was frozen I would cube it and put it skewers. The marinate was simple: teriyaki, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. I tossed on some cherry tomatoes my mother gave me and some red onion.

Simple and delicious...it looked pretty too!

National Tequila Day

July 24, 2017

Our daughter Marleigh reminded us it was National Tequila Day! I was like "Yes! Drinks on a Monday night!" Not really, well, maybe...anyway we made margaritas. Marleigh made the pretty one in the photo above and stylized it with her plants which we are babysitting while she moves to New York.

Enjoy my friends!

757 Poke

June 28, 2017

Carolina Shuckers

June 21, 2017

Father's Day was nice this year. I was taken to Bay Local on Laskin along with my step-father Johnpa and we a great brunch. I had a Bloody Mary with a soft shell crab on it, how wouldn't that make your day?

Our daughter had to head back up to Richmond a little later after brunch and said I'd be getting a gift in the mail. It showed up the next day and I was surprised to see I got a Carolina Shuckers. It even had my initials engraved on it.

You notice it's made out of a railroad spike so it's heavy but I found out the weight works for you when you're shucking oysters. I figured this out after buying some Lynnhaven East Oysters from the Kings Grant Farmer's Market.

It worked best for me to put the oyster down on a cutting board and apply pressure to open it. Of course this could change depending on the type of oyster you get. I would usually open at the hinge with my smaller shucker. Anyhoo, check it out! Hit their website and see what else they make, this was a great gift that I'll definitely put to good use. Thank you Marmite!

Twisted Sisters Sugar Shack Ice Cream Sandwich

June 12, 2017

Every week I check one of our local cupcake shops for their Monday $1 special. Basically everything in the shop is a buck! It doesn't happen every week, only if they have leftover inventory before they start the fresh baking cycle.

Luckily I saw on Instagram that they were open today, when lunch time came around I decided to swing by on the way to picking up Shelby. At the shop I picked out way too many cupcakes and cookies to take home. I was about to check out when I saw Tracy, one of the owners of the sugar shack, who offered me a little treat.

The shop was starting to offer ice cream sandwiches and she asked if I wouldn't mind trying one. I don't eat a lot of sweets but ice cream sandwiches are high on the list. Of course I would eat one, twist my arm already. There were a few varieties: chocolate chip, brownie, sugar cookie, and the one I got, a brownie/cookie mix! I rushed out of the store will my loot to pick up Shelby, I didn't the sandwich to melt.

When we got home the first I had to do was photograph my food (you all know this, I've been doing this 6 1/2 years now!) Fortunately, Shelby is a great sport when it comes to this stuff and even has great suggestions on how to shoot stuff. We did a quick round in the backyard shade then started in on the sandwich.

It was really good! I like the cookie and brownie mix, getting a bite of both with the ice cream was great. Mr. Man, aka Jasper, gets his favorite dog treats from Twisted Sisters too. They bake dog cookies he absolutely loves. Shelby was nice and gave him some of our ice cream sandwich. We kinda had to, he was staring us down big time.

Devin And The Pina Colada He Made

June 9, 2017

I met up with my buddy Chase (check out his bottle shop - Bottlecraft Virginia Beach!) for a drink yesterday at Esoteric and were lucky to have Devin behind the bar, always a good time when he's there. After our first round Chase was looking for a suggestion and Devin mentioned the Piña Colada. It was in a nice tall glass garnished with a pineapple leaf, I took pics of Devin with the drink because it seemed like the natural thing to do...please enjoy.

This will actually fit into his shirt pocket.

After Chase drank some he insisted that I have some too, I took a little sip then I was told to drink more. It was pretty good.

Happy Mother's Day!

May 14, 2017

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there! I hope you all had a great day :)

Red River Smokehouse

May 8, 2017

I recently told you all about Redwood Smoke Shack, a BBQ food truck that has placed itself soundly in the top tier of BBQ in the area. I love BBQ and smoked meat. Pulled pork, beef brisket, BBQ chicken - whatever! If it was on a grill I'm probably going to like it.

Last month I got a message from a guy named Jon Basco asking if I wouldn't mind checking out his authentic Texas BBQ operation called Red River Smokehouse. Of course I said, "YES!"

(I didn't really yell like that, it was in message, but that's how it sounded in my head.)

A little bit about Red River Smokehouse, the truck is named after the Red River that separates Texas and Oklahoma. Jon is a Texan transplanted in the area through his service in the Marines. After getting out of the service he ended up staying here and with him his take on BBQ. I think we lucked out.

Red River Smokehouse was going to be at Commonwealth Brewing Co. early the next week after we talked and I planned on meeting him there. Monday rolled around and it was the big day, I mean I get to eat BBQ and drink beer at the beginning of the week, that's about as good as it gets. I went straight to the truck to meet Jon in person and check out his setup. He uses a custom trailer that affords him a lot room (more than some of the rigs I've seen out there) and it's equipped with a smoker on the back. Jon let me jump up and check out the truck but I didn't get too far in because he was busy and I didn't want to get in they way. I told him I was going to grab a beer and he said he'd put together a little something for me try. Excellent.

I love Commonwealth Brewing Co., they have an IPA called Wapatoolie that is hazy, citrusy, and amazing to drink. I know some people might look for something a little darker to pair with BBQ but I like to say, "I can do what I want!"

That's my Commonwealth Brewing Co. Wapatoolie

I grabbed my beer and was scoping out a place to sit with some good lighting and notice a someone getting their photo taken in the brewery and then immediately recognized her as one of the local lifestyle/fashion bloggers Tilley Hansen of Tilley's Threads. We follow each other online but have never met in person, I'm all about meeting the people I see online. I figure if you can creep on them online you can definitely (at least) say hello in person! She was with her friend and photographer Meridith A. Bright who shoots for Elizabeth Ashley - Virginia.

Tilley stole my beer, luckily she she left a little for me

After chatting for a bit I went to check on the food, luckily it was finished by the time I got to the truck. I know I already posted a photo up top there, but here is another because we eat with our eyes first right?

I got hooked up with some smoked turkey breast, BBQ pork ribs, brisket (dry and wet), and some sides. I went straight for the beef brisket first. Jon explained to me earlier that this brisket was only seasoned with salt and pepper then, of course, the smoke. It was delicious! Seriously, after having the brisket I was thinking I really needed to sit down and do a comparison from the notable BBQ trucks out there. I could eat this stuff all night.

The ribs were excellent, didn't fall apart, the meat firm on the bone. Lightly sauced and tasty. The turkey breast was a nice surprise too, some people out there don't eat beef or pork so bird is always a good to have on the menu too. I liked the smokey flavor.

I liked the mac and cheese a lot and cole slaw is always good. Oh yeah, look:

Usually when I'm out, I'm the one taking all the pictures. It was fun to watch someone else out there doing their thing. I peeked outside and saw someone else I knew...

...Boss Lady Caity! She runs the Your Pie Pizza joints in Virginia Beach and Norfolk. Try their pizza if you haven't yet, the Great White is my favorite. Let me get back to the BBQ.

If you haven't tried Red River Smokehouse you need to. Put it on the list of great BBQ trucks we in the area you need hit and definitely get the brisket!

I have another truck I'm scheduled to visit, I've had their food a few times before but I'm going to check out the operation a little more in depth! Till next time!

Burger Night

May 2, 2017

Shelby and I took a walk earlier, the weather was beautiful, there was a breeze and people were grilling. As soon as you smell it you immediately want to bust out your grill and cook something outside!

We committed to hit the store after our walk and pick up something to cook. I was thinking maybe doing BBQ chicken but Shelby said it had been a while since we grilled burgers and went with that instead. When I make my patties I like to take two small plates and smash the ground beef thin. Shelby really likes when the burger is larger than the bun. We also love to toast and butter the bun - a pet peeve of mine is if you get a burger and the bun isn't toasted. It really does make it that much better.

I used a pound of Angus 80/20 and I made a tiny burger for Jasper. He's really is spoiled. I dressed my burger up with some American and cheddar cheese. I cut up a whole onion and put it on the vegetable grill rack too. I made two layers of cheese, onion, and burger. I also added a little pickle, mayo and a ton of lettuce (I love lettuce on a burger!) This is how it came out.