Weekend food blogging

Jan 27, 2008

On Weekend America yesterday, dispatches from North Carolina, including an anti-BBQ tour of Chapel Hill led by food writer Kelly Alexander. She took WA host Bill Radke to 3CUPS, Sandwhich, Lantern and Locopops (some of our favorite places here in the Triangle).

When the segment was done, I looked across the car to Erin and smiled a glad-we-decided-to-stay smile.

Later, we met up with friends Robinson and Elizabeth Everett; we left the children with other law-school friends, and the four of us headed out for dinner, a bottle of Darioush Russian River Valley Cardonnay 2005 firmly in Elizabeth’s grasp. We first stopped at Rue Cler, where the wait was about an hour (Rue Cler takes no reservations). A few blocks away, Piedmont was also booked up (Piedmont now uses a blog to post the daily menu). Then, Tosca, to find it taken over by a wedding reception.

So, back to Rue Cler for us, where we stood at the bar for an hour and a half, enjoying the delicious Darioush chardonnay, which Elizabeth had saved since a Thanksgiving visit to that California winery.

Finally seated, we rushed right into the Rue Cler prix fixe menu, at $25 per person a nice value. My meal: roasted beets, peppered chevre and mixed greens; pork-belly and apple tartlet; and crusty sea scallops on a bed of mushrooms. All in all, a tasty meal, even though the scallop dish was surprisingly spicy.

Then, we treated the babysitter-friends to dessert and wine at Six Plates. The Sant Evasio Brachetto D’Aqui 2005 was a sweet, fizzy red wine that, had I not been the driver for the night, could have seduced my palate.

Today, I’ll cook comfort food, back to my Sunday regular: hearty lentil soup.

Anton Zuiker ☄