What To Have

I grabbed a quick lunch on a cold afternoon this past week at Hard Times. One of the easiest and best things they’ve got going is their chili. Get it 3-way (noodles, chili, cheese), 4-way (noodles, chili, cheese, onions) and 5-way (noodles, chili, cheese, onions, beans). I usually go with a 4-way cincinatti. I love cincinatti style chili. It’s almost soupy, with a hint of chocolate and cinnamon. I think the almost sweetness holds up very well to a nice hot sauce and then you’ve got the best of both worlds.

-Matt

518 West recently updated their menu, adding quite a few new options. Some of the new salads and pastas look amazin. I thoroughly enjoyed the steak sandwich. It was fairly large, came on a fluffy sub roll with provolone cheese and grilled onions. I added some horseradish for a little spice. This sandwich coupled with one of their fresh side salads makes an enjoyable meal I’m sure to enjoy over and over.

-Matt

Moonlight Pizza is a lunch staple for me. I usually go with the salad/pizza combo, but today i tried something new.

I had The Dark Side of the Moon …one word…WOW!! This is another example of how you can take a normal item and make it 10 times better with great ingredients. This is a grilled portabella mushroom sandwich, and yet it’s so much more. They start with super fresh bread. They get giant French loafs that they cut off to make their sandwich bread, lightly buttered and toasted. Next a huge portabella mushroom is grilled to perfection. It’s cooked to the point that its soft and juicy. Top that with fresh lettuce, tomato and onion. It doesn’t stop there. It’s rear that you’ll find fresh basil in a dish, they slice thin strips and sprinkle them over the sandwich. Then they blend some basil with their fresh mayo. This is a huge sandwich with lots and lots of flavor, I might have another one this week!!

–Matt

Last time I described Hard Times I talked about a few of their dishes and their chili. This time I wanted to describe their steak and cheese. I really like this dish. There are not many places to get a steak and cheese in downtown Raleigh. The Brass Grille has or had an excellent one years ago, but I haven’t been there in a while (guess I need to go back and see what’s going on there). Otherwise, you’re kind of outta luck for a steak and cheese in downtown. That doesn’t make Hard Times slack off though. They start with fresh steak that’s pre-cut, but not pre cooked. I think this is key, none of that steak-and-cheese-strip stuff. I like mine with grilled peppers and onions. Finish it off with cheese on a grilled hoagie roll, a side of fries and you’ve got a steak and cheese that is not just satisfactory, but tasty, quick and convenient.

–Matt

The Triangle Wine Experience is a local event that benefits the Frankie Lemmon School and Development Center. It’s an annual event in Raleigh that matches great restaurants in the area with wine makers from around the world. Throughout the week during the experience, restaurants sell seats to a special meal that lets the establishment’s chef cook whatever they choose to pair with wines from the selected maker. This year over 25 restaurants participated. Seats are generally around $100 per person and includes a multiple course meal and paired wines. Proceeds go to the Frankie Lemmon School.

I would suggest participating in a TWE dinner If you like wine, want to help the kids and are interested in great food. The rest of the weekend includes events based around wine. There is usually a wine tasting, a wine and gift auction and a grand gala. These events can expose you to wines from around the world that you would usually never have the opportunity to sample.

This year I went to the TWE dinner at Second Empire. It was a treat, I’d never dined in the main dining room and I’ve heard many good things about the paired winery Robert Foley Vineyards

The meal, the wines and the experience was exceptional.

The wines: We were able to try the three current offering from Robert Foley, the Claret, the Charbono and the Petite Sirah. I actually purchased the charbono later on.

The meal: Given the ability to stretch their legs, chef’s in this position often come up with out of the ordinary dishes they wish to test out. I thought that although the dishes were uncommon, they was no sense of being rushed or having something thrown out. The dishes paired the wines extremely well. The starting dish included grilled mushrooms with truffle oil and balsamic vinegar. My two favorites were the meat dishes, a seared venison tenderloin and then braised pork wrapped in a pastry shell. The meal was finished with hand made chocolate truffles.

Items from this meal aren’t available on the regular menu, so next year, when the TWE is going on, I’d suggest signing up and trying out one of the local participants. I’ve never been disappointed.

–Matt