Sunday, June 30, 2013

Epiphany and a weeknight out

If you are looking for a nice meal or even a great weeknight deal, look no farther than Epiphany in downtown Tuscaloosa. I consider myself pretty "in the know" about things going on in Tuscaloosa, but somehow I totally missed that Epiphany has half price small plates Monday-Thursday 5-7pm. And, if you aren't familiar with this restaurant, the small plates aren't boring, bland appetizers. Their focus on bringing fresh, local, and upscale food to Tuscaloosa. With the words Farm to Table on the building, you know they desire to provide fresh, local, food. And that's what you find with items on the menu from places like Buhl and Coker.  And, the menu changes often. In fact, the night we went, the bartender mentioned the menu would be changing the next night. I think we have been hesitant to  go to Epiphany because of the price. But, it really wouldn't be that far off some of the other restaurants we go to more often.  And, for a nice night out, I certainly think this would be one of the best options in Tuscaloosa.

For the half price deal, you have to sit at the bar, out front, or at one of the high top bar tables. We don't mind doing that at all. In fact, on this visit, we asked our bartender, Anthony, lots of questions about different menu items and we really enjoyed talking with him. They serve a lot of local Alabama beer and Wes tried one from Huntsville. The have a nice wine list but a limited number of them are served by the glass. It seemed there was at least one of each type of grape, but often times, just that one. All of that is good with me, though.

We started with the bread service. This is a freshly made brown sugar bread served with a homemade pork butter. The slightly sweet bread paired wonderfully with the slightly salty butter.
Bread service with pork butter


We then shared four small plates. We probably could have even done just three, but that would have meant we didn't try one of these dishes, and I have no idea which one was my least favorite. We had shrimp cakes, roasted mushrooms, stuffed squash blossoms, and a polenta dish.
All four of our small plates


The shrimp cakes were similar to the more commonly seen crab cakes. They were topped with a radish salad which didn't have a ton of flavor but gave a nice crunch to the dish. The sauce, apricot and pickled peach purée, had a great flavor with the shrimp cakes. In all, this dish was fresh, not too heavy, and delicious.
shrimp cakes

The roasted wild mushroom dish was probably both Wes and my favorite. It was served with crispy pork, which tasted like yummy bacon in the dish. It also jalapenos that had me a little worried. I am not a fan of things that are too spicy. But, we didn't outright eat the peppers, so the spiciness was not too strong and the dish as a whole had the best flavor, texture, and was just delicious.
roasted wild mushrooms
One of the specials that night was the stuffed squash blossoms. The blossoms were filled with goat cheese and ricotta, lightly breaded and fried. They were served with fried crooked neck squash, mustard greens and topped with a green goddess dressing. YUM! It was all amazing. I love greens and Wes doesn't, so I probably lucked out and got every bite of those.
fried squash blossoms
And, finally, we had the polenta dish served with crispy chicken skin, soft cooked farm egg, cheddar, and wild mushrooms. What can go wrong when you throw some crispy chicken skin in a dish? With the egg, cheese, and polenta, this dish had the taste and feel of an almost breakfast or brunch item. It wasn't too rich but had tons of flavor in every bite.
polenta
As I said before, all the food we had this night was amazing. You certainly have a higher quality food and atmosphere at Epiphany than you would at other restaurants in Tuscaloosa. With the uniqueness of the dishes, I think this is more on par with what you would expect in a bigger city. And, in general, Tuscaloosa just doesn't have too much of that.  And, with the half price small plates during the week, we were able to spend a reasonable amount for a nicer night out and enjoy special food.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

On A Roll /Fifth and Main

On A Roll was formerly Fifth and Main in downtown Northport. What a quaint and adorable area downtown Northport is. I went to lunch last week with my friend Rebecca and we got lucky that this June day was cool enough (and not too humid) that we could sit outside. With a few tables out front, you are able to enjoy the small town feel of Main Avenue. This is a great lunch spot with a variety of salads, sandwiches, soups, and combos on the menu.
Sitting outside on Main Ave in Northport

For this meal, I had one of the daily specials. I had the caprese sandwich with chicken.  On the menu, you will find the caprese sandwich without chicken and I would imagine that to be just as good. I love anything with pesto and I'm likely to pick it off the menu. This flavorful sandwich had tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, pesto, and this day, chicken. It is served with chips.
Chicken Caprese Sandwich
 Rebecca had a salad on our visit. I believe it was the Cobb with chicken. You can see it looks great. The dressing was a vinaigrette and it and the salad got approval from Rebecca. 


The next time I visited On A Roll, I had the pimento cheese BLT and it was delicious. It was a part of my sandwich and salad combo. I got the Lewis salad that had avocado,black beans, yellow peppers and onions and a vinaigrette dressing. I'm not sure these two items were meant to be served together but it certainly worked for me. I was with a client and I convinced her to split the rainbow cake with me. This is their signature cake that has a layer of strawberry, key lime, and orange covered in a delicious cream cheese frosting. I really wish I had thought to take a picture. Hmmm, maybe I need to stop in just to get another piece (for the sake of the blog of course).  This cake was amazing. We kept debating which flavor was the best and had a terrible time deciding.





Monday, June 17, 2013

Another Broken Egg

If you are looking for a great breakfast or brunch spot here in town, Another Broken Egg is the place. About a year ago, Another Broken Egg opened their Tuscaloosa location at the new River Walk. Just off Jack Warner Parkway, this location has great views of the river, a patio, and the quality food that you get at all their other locations. Of course this is a pretty casual place since its breakfast and lunch only. But they also have a full bar which means mimosas and bloody marys. And they serve their coffee in these really cool mugs.
Menu with signature coffee mug


I have been several times for lunch and breakfast since they opened, but I always get breakfast food. On this last visit I had the veggie omelet with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and goat cheese. The omelet comes with their potatoes and English muffin. I love the way goat cheese tastes in the omelet.
Veggie omlet

Another one of my usual items is the skinny omelet that also has goat cheese, asparagus, and tomatoes but is made with only egg whites. Both omelets are delicious. And there is a lot to love about the potatoes and English muffin. The English muffin is denser than one you might buy in the store. Oh, and it comes with whipped butter that is light and fluffy. The potatoes have always been fresh with just enough crispiness but aren't overdone. They have a light seasoning on them.

I went with two girlfriends this trip after we visited the farmer's market one Saturday morning. Deidra got the black bean sliders. I didn't try them but they looked really cool so I wanted a picture for the blog. She said they had a little bit of a kick to them. I think it was the "slaw" topping that had some peppers in it.  The black bean burger was between two small pancakes and topped with the slaw.
black bean sliders
It has been great to add a breakfast spot to the mix here in T-town. And, it is even better that the food has been delicious each time I have been. The only complaint, or more of an issue, is the wait that you will often find, especially on a Saturday morning. But, that is a good sign and of course you can't really do much about that.