ZEA YEA! Dale's Fails...

Disclaimer: if you like dale's southern grill, please don't be offended by my humble opinions as a chef and restauranteur. I write this food blog for me as a personal outlet.It has been a while since I've posted. What can I say, I'm busy.

I am not a fan of negative restaurant reviews. I like to dwell on the positives. So here's a bit of both. I have two new restaurants to report on: ZEA at Brookwood Mall, and Dale's Southern Grill.

The Positive: Zea had excellent food. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the dishes that I tried. I had a hummus dish with olives and roasted garlic that was excellent as well as a seared tuna steak that was very well seasoned with citrus. That being said - I am not a picky eater; My wife, however, is. She had the hardest time finding something suitable for her tastes. She does not eat seafood. or pepper. or undercooked meat. or tomatoes. or cheese. let's face it, she enjoys chicken. without pepper. But for normal diners, the food is outstanding and I would definitely recommend eating at ZEA. My only real complaint is that I had the misfortune to sit at a table near the window at sunset and was blinded for half of my time there.

On a sadder dining experince, Dale's Southern Grill was not anything exciting at all. This restaurant feels confused and odd. The decor is along the lines of an old folk's home. with fake plastic grapes, hanging lights, and cushions tied to the backs of the high backed boothes. That being said, over the speakers we were serenaded by K-C and JoJo, followed by Nat King Cole and Nickleback? wierd. just wierd.

Aside from the decor being confusing, it was at least clean, and comfortable. Our server was friendly, though slightly awkward. Not sure if he's been waiting tables much. (hovers when getting the check, had a hard time understanding my order)

The food all came out right (accurate) but to say it was lackluster is nice. My favorite things that I ate tonight were the muffin that was made from a mix, the pillsbury frozen biscuit, and the peppermint on the way out. I had an appetizer of crab cakes and fried green tomatoes witha remoulade. frozen, frozen and bottle. "country fried steak" that was smothered in either a mix or canned gravy. cheap frozen okra, instant potatoes smothered in the same mix or canned gravy. and a piece of frozen cheesecake with canned strawberries and ready whip on top. My wife had pot roast that was actually not bad, except they smothered it in canned stew. grilled vegetables and sweet potato. the sweet potato was good. I'm not saying that I myself am not guilty of using frozen onion rings, okra, etc. The difference is that I make sure I'm using the best quality frozen ingredients that I can buy. All the rest is made from scratch. At least it was fairly inexpensive. I can only imagine they are appealing to an older crowd. a much older crowd. one who enjoys bland food and cannot remember if it was bad or not.

I did not complain because I have no doubts that is what they serve on a consistent basis. the food was a stellar example of mediocre food. They are doing what they do very well, but what they do is canned and pre packaged foods that just don't suit my tastes. If it were my restaurant, I would consolidate the menu, make at least some of the items fresh, and liven up the atmosphere because it felt like an evening at st. martin's.

Home Field Advantage...

Our latest meeting was at my very own Rusty's Barbeque in Leeds, AL. Obviously, everyone involved had eaten here before, but what can I say: It's good, and we're short on funds...

I think a great time was had by all! Ian tried our Bacon-Brie Burger...something that is not officially on the menu, but we're happy to make if we have the ingredients. We also had some fall off the bone ribs, tender pulled pork and chicken; and for sides we had potato salad, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and fried okra, to name a few.

For dessert we tried out our new milkshake machine. We voted and decided that milk chocolate ice cream makes a better milkshake than dutch chocolate. Other than that, we had peanut butter pie, and banana pudding...and then peanut butter pie with banana pudding.

Overall I think we had the best turnout for any of our meetings yet, and I cannot wait for the next time we get to go out! On our radar for potential meetings are : Brick & Tin, and Chuy...

Adventures in Homewood.

This weeks adventures included Urban Cookhouse and Oak Hill Bar and Grill. For Dinner this evening our group tried out Urban Cookhouse, a new sandwich shop in Homewood that opened a couple of weeks ago. This new restaurant show some promise, but as with all new restaurants leaves something to be desired. Urban Cookhouse offers a fairly limited selection of sandwiches and salads with a few kid's meal options and side dishes. From a strictly menu planning standpoint they do what they do and utilize everything very well; however from a customer standpoint the menu is very limited to different ways to order exactly the same thing. Would you prefer a pepper patch salad or a pepper patch wrap? do you want your lime marinated steak on a sandwich? or on a salad? or on a plate with rice? Honestly it's a very smart business model, but they could try utilizing these ingredients in different ways rather than offering the same preparation seven different times.

I think everyone who joined our little dinner group this evening was satisfied with his/her meal, but I doubt anyone was blown away by it either. I had the "Urban Cowboy" Sandwich with "Hot Cheddar Pasta". The "Urban Cowboy" (translated to cheeseteak sandwich) is a sandwich consisting of Lime-Marinated steak, caramelized onions & peppers, pepperjack, and aioli on a french roll. The hot cheddar pasta (translated mac & cheese) is a more grown up version of a classic dish, using penne pasta instead of macaroni. The meal could have really used a bag of chips and a kosher dill...just something for a little more texture. Both my sandwich as well as my pasta were lacking in seasoning. I hear judges on tv cooking competitions say that all the time, and tonight I understood precisely how they feel. A promising dish that sounds delicious, looks good, and even smells yummy and you bite into it, shrug your shoulders, and go "eh". Neither were bad, it's just that neither were as good as I had hoped. I believe the best thing on the table was Rhiannon's "Berry Good" Salad which had seasonal berries, local tomatoes, spiced pecans, feta, and a light citrus vinaigrette. It was also served with an orange roll, which was quite tasty. For dessert we shared a "Brown Sugar Brownie". I didn't bother finishing the brownie, in fact, we bought two and gave away one.

I do want to reiterate that Urban Cookhouse is an extremely new restaurant and I do not want anyone to get the idea that they should not try it for themselves a few times before forming an informed opinion about the place. I do hope the owners do well, it certainly seemed busy enough. I will say that for such a young restaurant, the staff seemed well trained and knew what was going on.

After dinner we crossed the street to a more adult and less kid friendly environment to Oak Hill Bar and Grill for an after dinner drink. This was definitely a fun and good experience. It was nice to continue the company of new and old friends after such a long and miserable day. I doubt that Oak hill will become my regular hang out, but it is a nice bar in the heart of Homewood. Drinks are a little pricey, but it's also not a college bar or popular night club. It seemed like a nice place for mid 20's to mid 30's young professionals to go after work. Though I didn't get a chance to sample any food, the menu seemed like standard bar fare. wings, nachos, philly cheese steak, etc. I did enjoy the fact that there was seating, little to no smoke, and a pretty damn decent selection of music playing.

I think we've decided that our next little gathering will be July 13th or 15th at Rusty's Barbeque in Leeds. I can assure nothing but stellar revues for that place, but I will report nonetheless...

a true "Taste of Birmingham"

I've been eating food for my whole life...Presumably we all have! And naturally we all tend to have our own opinions on the matter. But a dear friend of mine pointed out a few weeks ago that she is in a sort of rut when it comes to her dining choices. I proposed she should dine more at my restaurant Rusty's Barbeque...She came up with a (slightly) better idea: a dining club to visit new (to us) restaurants and explore different dining experiences in the Birmingham Metro Area. Considering the vast number of restaurants in the city, I have personally visited only a handful; and considering I have lived here for my entire 25 years of life, I felt that it was time to get a true "Taste of Birmingham".

So far, we have made two stops on our culinary tour of the city: Niki's West and Flip Burger Boutique. Two completely different dining experiences altogether!

Niki's West was the first meeting of our little club; A true staple to the Birmingham dining scene. Located near the Jefferson County Farmer's Market, it has long been a fine family dining atmosphere. Having never been there before, our small party of five were a little confused as to how to go about it: there is a cafeteria line for a traditional meat and 3 style meal; or there is also an a la carte menu featuring steak and seafood. Most of us went through the line and ordered, but to be fair to see the other side, one ordered from the a la carte. Collectively we had a wide sampling of traditional southern fare: sirloin steak, fried green tomatoes, macaroni and cheese, liver and onions, fried catfish, black eyed peas, mashed potatoes, roast beef, and a piece of chocolate cream pie as big as my head! The atmosphere was pleasant, and the service was as good as could be expected. And the food was, well, as good as could be expected. I feel that we all ate well for the money, and none of us had any complaints but if I were to go back, I would opt for the a la carte menu over the cafeteria line. There's only so much you can do with meat and fried vegetables that have been held on a steam table. Overall I feel that Niki's West was a good way to begin our food tour.

And now for something completely different...

Flip Burger Boutique was a complete change of scenery from Niki's West. This week, fewer people showed for our supper club but we enjoyed ourselves just the same! Flip is a trendy burger bar where you get high end dishes, just on a bun. Everything here is sleek and modern with a great patio that overlooks The Summit and Highway 280. The food was excellent. I had the Osso Bucco Burger, while others ate a Tuna tartare and an original "flip" burger. We also had side dishes of tempura fried asparagus and tempura fried sweet potato fries. And for dessert Liquid Nitrogen Milkshakes: a Nutella and Burnt Marshmallow, as well as a Rice Krispie treat milkshake. All of which was enjoyed and devoured. A little pricier than Niki's West, but also a far cry when it comes to service and quality. I do have a few complaints/suggestions. Inside was loud and cold. The patio is the place to be. The service staff seemed rushed and inexperienced, but they are also a new restaurant. I felt that the service was good, mind you, but not quite as attentive as some. My two minor "complaints" are that the drinks should have had coasters since there were no tablecloths, and that the restrooms (at least the men's room) could have used a little TLC in the cleaning department. not that it was nasty, it just hadn't been attended to...

Overall, both dining experiences were wonderful meals with good friends, and that's what really counts. But it is neat to be able to compare and contrast a new, trendy restaurant with a tried and true Birmingham staple. Personally, I enjoyed Flip better, but I am interested to see if it will be able to stand the test of time like Niki's...