Sunday, October 19, 2008

skip this one











in nearby brentwood, there is a new strip of stores and restaurants.  darry and i were out on a date-night excursion and we decided to give kalamatas a try.  this is the second location for restaurant and we wanted to go somewhere that we haven't been recently.  both of us enjoy greek food and thought, why not?  

having been there and done that, i can give you several reasons not to bother with this restaurant.  while i have often stated that many people choose restaurants based on quantity and not quality, this one failed on both points.  what we were served and what we paid were definitely not on the same page.  the fact that the place is very clean and neat didn't add any points either.

when you walk in, there is a counter/cafeteria line that you must approach to order your food.  on the counter are copies of the menu for you to read and decide your choices.  the menu is very clear and in all honesty, a bit short;  there wasn't a whole lot to choose from besides salads, sandwiches and a few entree plates.  the day's specials were located on small placards and in an odd spot that we missed because it was well after we ordered that i spotted them.  since it was not busy, we watched as our food was prepared.

darry is a fan of gyros and decided on the gyro plate with a side salad.  i was in the mood for a typical americanized greek salad and that is what i chose.  we watched the plates being assembled and were surprised that everything came off the cold table or a portable steam table.   nothing came from the kitchen or the cook who looked on as the cashier/hostess assembled our selections.  the lady in question was very nice and friendly, she gave us the iced teas we chose on the house, but even so, we still spent $19.56 for two sparsely filled plates of mediocre food.

the salad i chose was especially disappointing.  while i will admit that i could have had my salad topped with kabobs of beef, chicken, lamb or veggie, i chose to have it plain since i just wanted a salad and the description on the menu fit the bill for me.  what i got and what i expected were two different salads.  on my standard sized disposable plate was a thin layer of chopped romaine leaves with a few cucumber slices, two kalamata olives, 1 pepperoncini and a rather bland vinaigrette with feta cheese.  not at all filling or even that exciting, no  bell peppers or onions, no dolmas and very little cucumber or feta.   the romaine was fresh and well washed but it was only the dark tops of the leaves, very little rib and not very crunchy.  perhaps i was expecting more of what you are served in every other gyro place in town, lots of crunchy lettuce hearts with lots of of garnish, dressing and chunks of cheese.  if i am going to pay over $7 for a salad, i expect it to be more filling and the cold, spongy wheat pita that came with it did not improve the experience.

when we go to gyro places, darry always orders one in a sandwich.  this time he chose a lamb gyro plate with a side salad.  using the same disposable plate that my salad was on, we watched the lady spread a layer of yellow basmati rice and then top it off with a large spoon full of meat strips from the warmer and add more of the cold, spongy pita bread.  if you have ever eaten a gyro, then you know that you are always offered some tabbouleh and tzatziki sauce, his plate had neither and he wasn't offered any.  his salad was served on a tiny plate and it was a mini version of mine.  we took our plates to the table and ate.  the gyro plate wasn't any less of a disappointment than my salad.  although it really was basmati rice just as the menu promised, it was a funky yellow color that suggested some sort of flavoring mix.  the lamb was nothing more than the same processed meat that you see turning on the spit, just cut into strips.  it looked rather dry and unappetizing so needless to say, i did not ask to try it and he didn't say much about it.  we ate our meals, both remarking that it wasn't much for the money and that we would by hungry again by the time we got to the movie.  the amazing part is that his dinner must have cost about $10, since our total was over $19.  

we were in search of something different since we generally go mexican or asian when we eat out.  it's always nice to try something new but next time we want to go greek or for gyros, we will skip this place and try one of the others in town.  we expected better of a restaurant with more than two locations; the other is in green hills.  it will be interesting to see if brentwood embraces this restaurant or if it just feeds on the overflow of (the always packed with a crowd waiting)  peter's sushi next door. 

Friday, October 17, 2008

nashville farmers market

the food scene in nashville has experienced a dramatic transformation in the last decade.  we have so many great independent restaurants, cafes, coffeehouses and markets to choose from.  there is still an abundance of chain restaurants that the locals can flock to in droves and indulge in gluttonous portions of mediocre food.  for those of us in search of something better, we also have many choices these days.  in all great "food" cities, there are farmers markets that reflect the diversity of their food scene.  when we moved here from san francisco 13 years ago, we visited the nashville farmers market and loved the fact that you could pick produce from the back of a pickup truck; produce that was fresh picked the day before and sold to you by the farmer.  unfortunately, local politics and gross mismanagement led to the near demise of the farmers market.  after a few years, management overhauls and an ongoing renovation of the facility, it is vastly improved.  most of what you see is locally grown, not necessarily by the vendor, but it is from the region and it is fresh and in season.  gone are the businesses that only resold what is generally available in any supermarket.  if you have visited local farmers markets lately, you know that you will find many things besides fresh produce.  many markets feature fresh seafood, meats and poultry, cheeses, breads and baked goods and so much more.  the nashville farmers market generally concentrates on produce but you will also find locally produced preserves and relishes, meats, baked goods,plants as well as fruit trees and shrubs and a small nursery. darry and i had the chance to take a trip to the farmers market today and this is what we saw.
a lovely display of fall gourds and squashes
since it is october, there were pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and colors

in the back side stalls there were giant pumpkins for sale
we aren't the only ones with tomatoes still on the vines.  there were tons of bradleys as well as these heirlooms.  pictured from the top left are green zebras, pineapples, cherokee purple and more pineapples.  we bought some green zebras and pineapples

it's not fall without fresh apples.  these are arkansas blacks.  we have an arkansas black tree out back but it is too small to produce yet.  these are the hardest and crunchiest apples with a sweet and tart flavor.  the south is not known for it's apples but the arkansas black is a native of the area.  most of the apples available today were from michigan and a few from south carolina

smileys of ridgetop, tn had bushels of fresh turnips and we picked up a few as well as a few cucumbers
they also had fresh eggplants, we admired these beauties.  they were firm and very fresh
this fresh picked cauliflower also on display in smiley's was almost as large as a basketball

Monday, October 6, 2008

new hope and lambertville

the toughest part of living in nashville is that no one else in my family lives here.  sure, the four of us have each other but we don't have anyone else close by except "the cousins" in paducah and that is 150 miles from here.  so any chance to travel to areas that have family members is taken and as much as possible is crammed into the days since we know it could be months and sometimes a year or more in between visits.  when i traveled to hyde park for my reunion at the culinary institute, i chose to land in scranton, pa so i could see my family.  

mom and brother steve met me at the airport, if you can really call it that.  scranton-wilkes barre (say that bury and not bar) airport has only one terminal and about a dozen gates; finding someone there is not difficult.  we were met by uncle peter and aunt katherine so that we could all visit and have dinner-not at the airport.  we left the building and headed out to a local restaurant for a late lunch-early dinner.  since none of us really spends much time in scranton, a choice was made to head to a local ruby tuesdays, and that is all i will say about it.  fast food is fast food, even in a place like this it is still fast food since very little of it was made from scratch.  

whenever mom and i get the chance to spend time together, we almost always head out to an antique store or a district that has antique stores.  this trip was no exception.  we packed up early and headed out to lambertville, new jersey and new hope, pennsylvania.  the two towns sit opposite each other on the bank of the delaware river and have shops and restaurants lining the streets.  there is a bridge that connects the two and if you park on one side, you can walk across the bridge to the other.
this horse greeted us when we parked the car in a lot on the new  hope side.  the new hope railroad also has a station here and the old trains run daily.  













we left the parking lot and  began walking down the hill towards the bridge, stopping to browse along the way.  it was a beautiful, warm day and we took a leisurely pace.






many of the old buildings, including the large church have restaurants in them.  this area is a popular weekend getaway and there are also little hotels and inns.






the view down the delaware river from the bridge was beautiful that day.









we decided to stop for lunch in the lambertville station which is situated on the small canal that runs parallel to the river on the new jersey side.
there was a large patio along the canal and old railroad tracks that was being used for a dining area and mom and i sat outside since it was warm and sunny.





we ordered sandwiches, and like all of my previous dining experiences in the region, they weren't very exciting.  i ordered a turkey rueben that according to the menu, featured house roasted turkey.  it was bland and unremarkable and no amount of brown mustard seemed capable of adding any flavor.  mom's choice of the greek pita sandwich seemed intriguing.  she didn't care for the large amount of dried herbs in the mix, either rosemary or oregano, i am not sure.  the homemade chips were dark and crunchy, just they way i like them but i think they needed to be a little thinner; they were a work out for the jaw.  the meal was not particularly expensive, so we were not overly upset, just disappointed.  we decided that the ambiance made up for some of it and since we rarely get the chance to dine together like this, we enjoyed ourselves despite the meal.  
after lunch and further browsing, we walked back across the bridge and headed back towards mom's house in bushkill.







on our trip back, we stopped a few times to browse in antique/junk shops as well as at hot dog johnny for a drink.  we couldn't resist stopping since the place looked like a trip back in time and apparently it is.  then it was time to head home.