Inaugural Post

So, this is the first post on what is sure to be an interesting blog. Andi and I both grew up in Salisbury, NC and went to the University of North Carolina. After graduation, I stuck close to home while she has been all over the place. We have both traveled all over the world, tasting amazing food and trying to create our own masterpieces. Throughout our journey we have both developed a love for great food, and this blog is our way to share that with everyone, and each other. Most of our communication is thru food texts and emails about different dishes we have recently tried and made, and here we can do that and more.

On Thursday October 1st, I went with my family to Magnolia Grill for my mother's birthday. It was my first time having a full-on dining experience there, and I was not at all disappointed.

Appetizers: I had a pan seared duck foie gras, garnished with peanuts, pickled watermelon rind, citrus vinaigrette, and a small green salad. The foie gras was amazing, while the peanuts and watermelon rind added a wonder textural element, and the salad and vinaigrette balanced out the richness quite nicely.
-My sister had a perfectly prepared Georgia quail over bacon risotto.
-My mom enjoyed a roasted red pepper soup, with lump crab.
-And my dad had their twice baked grits souffle, with wild mushrooms, aged sherry-mushroom emulsion and shaved confit foie gras. It was described by the waitress as , "grits in a way you have never had them." She was right, and there is a reason this dish is always on the menu.

Entrees: I had the t-bone lamb loin chops, over roasted vegetables in lamb jus. The lamb was cooked perfectly and melded perfectly with the sauce, however the sauce was a bit overpowering for the vegetables alone and the chops were what you would expect from lamb loin chops, small and difficult to get to.
-Lil Sis' had the Carolina triggerfish, which was on top of a vegetable succotash. The fish was cooked well but didn't necessarily mesh with its partners on the plate.
-Mom had the grilled scallops. Served with grilled pineapple and a bunch of other mouthwatering sides. I think this was the best composed entree and was definitely a hit at the table. I love scallops but I can never eat them for my entree, I just don't love them enough.
-You can never go wrong with beef short ribs, and my father had them served with wonderful parmesan mashed potatoes and roasted carrots. The beef was tender and flavorful and the mashed potatoes were mashed potatoes, only better.

Normally I am not a dessert person, it's not that I don't have a sweet tooth, its just that if I have to choose between foie gras and cheesecake, I'm taking foie gras every time, or crab cakes or some other cliche appetizer. However, at Magnolia Grill you have to try the desserts, so even though I was two seconds away from unbuttoning my pants to get more comfortable we ordered one each. I had the manchego brulee. I have had this dessert before and it is still my favorite, ever. When I saw it on the menu the first time I knew it would either be amazing or disgusting and luckily it was the former. With poached quince and olive oil crisps, this dessert is simply ah-may-zing!
-My sister had the Mexican chocolate cake with Mexican chocolate ice cream, which was out of control good.
-My moms had some crazy kind of banana sundae that was awesome.
-And lastly, pops had the goat cheese cheesecake with strawberry and rhubarb something or other on top of it. It was killer, its like cheesecake but not as dense and rich (I love cheesecake period so I don't mind it being dense and rich but I digress).

This restaurant was named Gourmet Magazine's 11th best restaurant in the US in 2006, so I think expectations are going to be hard to meet, every dish we had was not 100% spectacular, but it was definitely a great meal with many high points. Overall I was happy with the meal, as was everyone else, and I didn't have to pay for it which makes it something special.

Since this was a party of four and we were all trading plates I am not going to delve into the bottle of wine and the cocktails we had, but for future reference that is often my fav part of the meal, so we will usually touch on that quite heavily, but I didn't want this to be too heavy of a read.

-Jonathan