The Catbird Seat

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to dine at arguably the best restaurant in Nashville. I had high expectations and they were absolutely met. Maybe even surpassed.

Here are a few of the highlights:

You are greeted with a glass of champagne – major perk!! And then guided through a menu of 13 courses of pure culinary bliss!

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves – because each course was equally intricate and beautiful – not to mention flavorful and surprising.

The sushi piece was made to taste like an everything bagel – with potato serving as rice, cured fish and sesame seeds, topped with caviar.

The preserved tomatoes are sundried on premise and paired with a fresh cheese, sea salt and lemon verbena! Once the tomato and cheese were eaten, we were left with a bright and flavorful – light! – soup to drink from the bowl. So delicious!

The Little Lemon cake tastes different from every bite! Lemon Meringue, Meyer Lemon, Fresh Herbs – cilantro and savory basil flavor -, Goat Yogurt Mousse, St-Germain Bubbles, Cucumber that is infused with elderflower liqueur in a vacuum sealer, and Sponge Cake!

Our time at The Catbird Seat was an incredibly memorable experience – one that I hope you could feel even in small part by the pictures posted here.

Perfect Pad Thai

In honor of this cloudy, gloomy weather that we’ve been having, let’s dive into some good ol’ comfort food. For me? I go ethnic in the winter. A big bowl of ramen here, a hearty plate of curry there — but my ultimate comfort fav? Pad Thai.

Pad Thai is like an opinion; everyone’s got one and they all think theirs is the one and only. Look behind the ingredients to the method, study the ones you like best in restaurants and create your own opinion of pad Thai. But for now, here’s mine:

Ingredients:

8 ounces Dried Rice Stick Noodles

1/4 Cup Fish Sauce

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 teaspoons-2 Tablespoons Lime Juice

Canola Oil as needed for stir frying

Eggs, 2 each

2 teaspoons Water

1 Tablespoon Thai Red Curry Paste

1 pound Shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 pound Chicken Breast, julienned

1/2 head Savory Cabbage, shredded

Carrots, finely shredded, 2 each

1 Cup Vegetable or Chicken stock

1/2 pound Bean Sprouts

Scallions, thinly sliced diagonally, 6 each

3/4 Cup Peanuts, coarsely chopped

Cilantro, coarsely chopped for garnish

Lime wedges for garnish

1. Soak the noodles in warm water for 15-20 minutes or until flexible but not overly soft. Drain. You can cut them into smaller lengths if you want, although Thais do not.
2. In another bowl, mix the fish or soy sauce, brown sugar and lime juice and set aside.
3. Combine the egg and water in a sauté pan and cook until it sets, once it is cooked, remove it and slice into a julienne.
4. Heat a wok until hot, drizzle oil in around the edges. Add the curry paste and stir-fry, mashing it into the oil for a few seconds. Add the shrimp and stir-fry until just cooked and transfer into a bowl. Repeat by stir-frying the chicken. Transfer the chicken to the bowl with the shrimp.
5. Stir-fry the cabbage and carrots until tender. Add the drained noodles and toss and cook until they are al dente, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add some of the fish sauce-lime juice mixture to the noodles and stock as necessary – this should be a little soupy but the noodles should absorb the liquid as they cook, leaving moist but not wet noodles. Add the shrimp and chicken back to the wok with the remaining fish sauce-lime mixture. Fold them into the noodles. Taste & adjust flavors.
6. Add the egg, bean sprouts and scallions and toss gently. Cook until the sauce is absorbed and everything is hot. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Turn out the pad Thai on a platter and sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro. Don’t mash it down, mound the noodles high. Arrange lime wedges around the edge. Serve with a bottle of fish sauce on the side.

 

Feel like you’re in Palm Springs (at Pinewood Social)

It’s no secret that I love Pinewood Social. It reminds me of the Ace Hotel in NYC — because there’s a super cool coffee bar, full bar service, trendy little couch setups, and a bunch of people who look much more hipster than me scattered around working on their laptops.

But it wasn’t until the last week that I discovered how amazing their outdoor setup is. There are Palm Springs-esque umbrellas, a small pool, bocce ball, lounging couches, and PALM TREES!

I’m telling you that you will feel like you’re in California. The vibe is awesome but you know what else is awesome? The food. The bahn mi sandwich is A+ – I cannot wait to get it again!

We probably only have a few days left this season to enjoy Pinewood Social’s patio – so get on it!

Percy Warner is the Place to Be (Between all of Your Amazing Food & Wine)

You probably think that all I do is sit around eating, drinking wine, and talking about food – and for the most part, you would be correct. But sometimes we need a little reset, right? So the next time you need to get away from it all, (I’m letting you in on a big time secret here!), head to the Mossy Ridge Trail at Percy Warner.

The trail is a little over 4 miles, and it is BEAUTIFUL. It’s the perfect mix of up and down hill, just enough of a workout to let it still be relaxing. It’s the perfect way to walk off a hangover or the enormous City House pizza you just ate! (<- spoiler alert for my next post!) The best part? Dog friendly!

The only thing about Mossy Ridge that is semi-frustrating is how to find it. So – here I will do my best to explain where it is!

If you’re into google maps, here is a picture:

The best way to find the trail is to find where Highway 100 meets Harpeth Trace Road. There is a small gravel road that says “Service Road” just beyond Harpath Trace off Highway 100 towards Old Hickory. Once you drive up the gravel road, you’ll be at the crossroads for Mossy Ridge. If you’re like me, the “hike” will take you about an hour and a half – and you will be sorrrreee the next day!

Cheers to health! (And cheers to the wine you can enjoy guilt free afterwards!)

Momofuku Pop Up at Rolf and Daughters

Last night, I had the privilege of attending one of my favorite New York restaurant’s pop-up dinner at one of my favorite Nashville restaurants! — Momofuku Ssam at Rolf and Daughters. It was a collaboration of all of the good things in life!

Chef Matthew Rudofker is really a creative genius and he brought his A game to this dinner. Here were a few of my favorite bites:

This pork bun was part of the reason I wanted to do to this dinner so badly. The sweet bun is so fluffy and delicious and wonderful. It was a surprise course and I was SO HAPPY to eat it (as fast as humanly possible!)

I knew that the pork bun would be amazing, but the most surprising dish of the night (at least for me!) was the Sardines on Toast. Featuring sake, fermented chickpea and hearts of palm, it was rustic and bold and flavorful. It packed a punch in the best way possible.

I highly recommend Rolf and Daughter pop-up dinners — they are selective and the chefs they bring in are top notch. And next time you’re in NYC make sure you stop in to see Matthew (who I thank for the sardine picture!) and get a pork bun!

Eat Avo – what’s good with raw food!!

Disclaimer: if there is anyone in this world who shouldn’t like Avo, it’s me. Because I am officially allergic to avocados. It’s basically the worst allergy in this universe (except for maybe shellfish, or wine. Wine would definitely be the worst). I digress. Avo’s menu is entirely plant-based. No processed foods and no heat over 118 degrees. You read that right — ZERO processed food. Other no-gos? Red meat. Poultry. Seafood. You are looking at an entirely vegetable-based program. But guess what? You won’t miss those proteins!!

 

What you see there is Avo’s take on Pad Thai. It features kelp, daikon and zucchini noodles and the sauce is an almond milk sauce that has a major KICK of spice!! It’s interesting, perplexing, fresh, DELICIOUS and nothing like any pad thai you’ve had before.

While the food is worth the trip to Avo, there are two other things worth nothing. The first? The decor. It’s stunning — you feel almost like you are in a little metropolitan green house. Example A: the bar.

The last thing to make SURE you don’t miss at Avo is their famous-in-its-own-right signature AVOcado Margarita made with fresh avocado, resposado, cilantro, fresh lime, agave and orange dust. As you saw above, despite my allergy I couldn’t resist (okay, okay i just faked a picture) but there wasn’t one table without it and my partners in raw food crime said it was BEYOND delicious and refreshing — a must have!! (A common theme with this place!)

Cheers!

Rolf and Daughters Wins Twice

I told you I would fill you in on my favorite dessert at Food + Wine, so here it is —

Surprise! Rolf and Daughters is more than just 100% killer squid ink pasta and chicken liver pate (and seaweed butter, and lamb sausage…and the list could go on forever). I’ve always been too full (big time full!) for dessert when I have dinner with Rolf, so the Food+Wine Fest was my first go around. I will definitely make this happen more often because what you see above is the best take on cobbler I’ve ever had ever.

Semolina pudding (that basically means it’s health food) and blueberry jam. Best day of my life in a dish.

Moving on, my bff from NYC was in town for the festival and on her last night we decided we would have the above-noted squid ink pasta for dinner so we headed to Rolf and Daughters. And Surprise x2, they had my fav Scribe wine! I hope I’ve convinced you to book a trip to Sonoma by now — or at least sign up for their wine club!

I’ll fill you in on another partnership that Rolf and Daughters are taking on with another one of my favorites in my next post. Until then..Salud!!

Must Sees at Music City Food + Wine

There’s no question that the Music City Food + Wine Fest had lots (and lots!) of wine. My personal fav, Scribe, had an amazing chardonnay that kept me refreshed (and buzzed, let’s be honest) all day long. But what you might not have expected is that in some cases just a simple glass of wine wasn’t enough. Patron put together popsicles (the lemon and basil is pictured above) that had close to a shot in each, but were so citrus-y and amazing that you could barely tell. A+!

Now, on to the food — every year there is a PLENTIFUL amount of pork, at least a couple booths putting together pimento and andouille (both Nash favorites — I’m not hating!) but this year, I want to highlight the kickass vegetable dishes that chefs put together.

Treehouse, an innovative health and farm toward restaurant in East Nashville, put together a surprisingly light-tasting bite of zucchini, corn, black eyed pea and goat cheese with sunflower seeds. This was definitely a dish that I wouldn’t mind serving for the new year (and I’m not usually a black eyed pea fan!)

Josephine, one of my favorite places to grab a glass of rose on 12S (also please order the beef cheeks!!) put together a sweet-corn-forward (thank you summer!) duck confit salad bite that was one of the only booths I just HAD to visit twice.

And last but DEFINITELY not least, The Catbird Seat (who’s chef we are losing back to San Francisco early next year so quick…get your reservations!) put together a surprising and absolutely amazing ice cream salad. So simple yet so complex with the ice cream center a light goat cheese. Dishes like this are why we go to Food + Wine, am I right?

My favorite dessert is up next! Stay Tuned…

P.S. Thanks to #musiccityfw for some of the good shots that I was too busy drinking wine and eating popsicles to capture!

Nashville Food + Wine Festival

Everyone has their favorite weekend of the year – maybe it revolves around a travel destination or a concert – or in my case, copious amounts of wine and delicious food.

Nashville’s Food + Wine Festival started three years ago and has steadily grown into the trademark place for foodies and winos to hang out for a weekend of Nashville eateries as well as international wines and foods. It’s grown so much that this year, it was moved to Bicentennial Park

The next few days I will be highlighting my favorite booths and exhibits so you can feel like you were there too!

Cuvaison in Napa Valley (aka My Favorite Place in the Universe)

There are a few “MUST SEEs” on my list for Napa Valley. This first vineyard is the one place that I will FOR SURE return to the next time I am in Napa. Ladies and gentleman… Cuvaison!

Cuvaison is first and foremost absolutely stunning – it’s modern and sleek and beautiful. Our sommelier’s name was Paul and he was wonderful, accommodating and helpful. I highly recommend requesting him to guide you through all that Cuvaison has to offer. The unique part of Cuvaison, is that they will allow you to “revisit” the pours of wine that you enjoy the most. Something people don’t often realize about wine country, is that typically the vineyards are not legally allowed to open a bottle for you. Not having access to whole bottles makes “revisits” super important if you’re looking for more than a 1 oz pour of your favorite wine!

Speaking of revisiting, you can revisit the delicious rose pictured from joining their wine club – which will get you a comped tasting experience on your next visit. Drink up!!