Dressler's Metro

Sexy view of Uptown

The Food Baby bottom line:

• Dressler's was Lauren's absolute BEST dining experience since the conception of The Food Baby.
• The warm, friendly, knowledgeable, and prompt service was nothing short of perfect.
• Each and every dish was boldly flavored and highly seasoned, resulting in a totally-worth-it Sodium Baby.

I am so freakin pumped to write this blog post. I can't believe what an ahhhhmazing experience I had at Dressler's Metro last night. My friend Kiley (who you may remember as 1/3 of the blonde mafia) and I went after work on Friday night, and every aspect of the evening exceeded my expectations.

Growlers Pourhouse Tasting (3/1 @ 7pm)

**Now available:  check out the FULL review HERE!**


This is a Food Baby first, but I feel compelled to "pre-blog" about an upcoming adventure...  Lauren and I are most excited to check out an amazing beer tasting at 7PM on Tuesday, March 1st at Growlers Pourhouse in NoDa.  When their fabulous GM, Drew, recently told me that they do tastings on the first Tuesday of each month (more info here), I was relieved that I would only have to wait a few days for the next event!  We hope our Food Baby readers will join us at Growlers to check out the tasting!!

Harvest Moon Grille Restaurant

The Food Baby Bottom Line:   

• We adore Harvest Moon Grille for their true commitment to local food.
• The Banh Moon Sandwich 100% deserves it’s place in the list of Charlotte’s best sandwiches.
• The Grateful Growers Maple Sugar Bacon is ridicu-licious (ridiculously delicious). 

Brianna and I have been in The Food Baby withdrawal. We both traveled for President’s Day weekend (she to Austin TX, I to Gatlinburg, TN) where we naturally acquired lots o’ food babies…but we missed working on our beloved websites, even for a couple of days. So, we had a Food Baby business meeting at Harvest Moon Grille today, which we both have been dying to try. We’ve frequented the HMG lunch truck many a time, but were curious to see what the “brick-and-mortar” experience would be like.

Cowfish Decoded

Bento box!

The Food Baby.com bottom line:

• My feeble attempt to explain/demystify the enigma that is Cowfish. 
• Delicious identity crisis (meat or sushi?) solved! 
• Casual and funky atmosphere with plenty of surprises inside; spacious patio outside. 

I decided to enjoy the nice weather last weekend, and went to Cowfish with the hubs to dine al fresco.  This was our second time at Cowfish, and it was even better than the first time we tried it.  I think its one of those places that you need to patronize a few times to “get the hang of”.  I know that sounds a bit strenuous, but the massive menu and unique concepts (e.g., “Burgushi”) can be a bit daunting at first.  However, once you get over the initial information overload of the 10 page menu, the payoff is absolutely worth it.  

Customshop

Cozy, Inviting Interior
Image courtesy of Customshopfood.com

The Food Baby bottom line:

• Customshop's reputation as an Elizabeth "gem" is absolutely true.
• Cozy atmosphere, sexy crowd, and great service.
• If the Living Social menu is that good, I MUST return to try everything else

I, along with everyone else in Charlotte, purchased the Living Social coupon for Customshop in the fall. I usually have decent self restraint with Groupons, Living Socials, etc - because if I didn't try, I would buy them every single day. This one was too good to pass up: A 3-course meal for two, including a glass of wine, for 50 bucks! So my coupon had been sitting there, flaccid and unused for months, until I finally busted it out for a romantic Valentine's dinner with my hubaroni.

From the outside, Customshop is fairly unassuming - on the end of an adorable strip on Elizabeth Ave. The dining room is very intimate and dimly lit, and was jampacked with attractive couples. We were given a separate Living Social menu, which offered three options each for the appetizer and entree, and Apple Walnut Brioche Bread Pudding to share for dessert.

“Huge California and Washington Red Tasting”, Hosted by Wine Vault + Dinner at Aria

The tasting crowd

 The Food Baby.com bottom line:

• Amazing event hosted by The Wine Vault…and, yes, you can try almost 24 wines in 1 hour if you put your mind to it (in case you were wondering).
• Aria remains a personal favorite, particularly for their small antipasti plates.
• Blonde Mafia makes its blog debut!

On February 10^th, The Food Baby ladies plus their amazing and beautiful friend Kiley (collectively known as the “Blonde Mafia”) attended a most fabulous wine tasting after work.   The “Huge California and Washington Red Tasting” at Founder’s Hall uptown was hosted by The Wine Vault, and drew an impressive crowd.  The bustling crowd ranged from social swillers to the serious wine buying set, and the energy was great.  The Wine Vault organized the event well – splitting the crowd into a 5:30PM wave and a 7:00PM wave, each lasting one hour and limited to 40 people, which ensured that each of the four tasting tables were accessible at most times.  The cost of the event was $25 (waived with the purchase of a case of wine), and there were over two-dozen wines being poured.  While the event was dubbed as a Cali/Washington event, there were a few Spanish and Australian numbers that snuck into the rotation as well (not complaining!).  To put a proverbial cherry on top, The Wine Vault partnered with Aria and Sonoma to offer attendees special deals – each restaurant extended their 3 courses for $30 menu from Charlotte Restaurant Week.  In addition, there was no corkage fee for any wines purchased at the tasting.  Lastly, The Wine Vault was offering amazing discounted prices for bottles, mixed cases and full cases.  What a great set up!

10th Annual Charlotte Bartender’s Ball!!

**UPDATE - FREE TICKETS ARE GONE - CONGRATS TO JESSICA AND RYAN CHALMERS FOR SNAPPING THEM UP AND THANKS AGAIN TO FIJI WATER!!!  GO BUY YOUR TICKETS IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!!**


Hey everyone!  Thanks to the amazing people at FIJI Water, The Food Baby has TWO FREE VIP TICKETS to give away for the 10th Annual Charlotte Bartender's Ball!!  Contact us ASAP (info@thefoodbaby.com) with interest!  If you miss the give away, please see below for info on how to purchase tickets for this dank soiree!!  Thank you FIJI!

Event Description:

10^th Annual Charlotte Bartender’s Ball

Sunday, February 20 at 7:00pm-12:00am

Blake Hotel - 555 South McDowell Street

It's that time again.  The craziest party of the year is back for its 10^th year and better than ever.  30+ area bars and restaurants, 5 DJ’s, 2 ballrooms, and one crazy night.  Admission Includes, Open Bar with Top-Shelf Liquors & Full Line of Beers, Catered Food, and Entertainment ALL Night!!!

Participating Venues: 1900 Mexican, BAR Charlotte, BlackFinn Saloon, Buckhead Saloon, Connolly's, Crave Dessert Bar, Dandelion's Market, Dixie's Tavern, Fox and Hound, Hooter's Center City, Howl at the Moon, Kazba, Kennedy's Premium Pub, Loft 1523, Men's Club, MEZ, Phoenix, Prohibition, RE: Public, Strike City, Suite, Tempo, TILT, Tyber Creek, Town Tavern, VIDA, Vinnie's Raw Bar, Whisky River, Wild Wing Cafe, and Wok Bar.

VIP TICKETS AVAILABLE!!!  VIP includes top shelf liquor, private food section, lounge and cocktail sitting. Private access, right next to DJ’s and dance floor.

To purchase tickets now and more information, go to:
www.charlottebartendersball.com

Share our Strength's Taste of the Nation

Hi to all of our fabulous foodie friends!  We wanted to announce that we have partnered with Share our Strength to support their 16th annual Taste of the Nation event here in Charlotte!!  Share our Strength is an organization fighting to end childhood hunger in America by 2015.    

The event is on Wednesday, April 13th, and The Food Baby ladies will be in attendance!  We hope you will join us for a night of food, drinks and fun!!

***Any general admission tickets purchased by February 18 are TWO for the price of ONE (an $85 savings!!).  To receive the discount, enter promo code "LOVE" and make sure to enter "The Food Baby" in the how your heard about Taste of The Nation box.  Don't miss this opportunity to help a great cause!!***

Please check out the info on our website to learn more about the cause and how The Food Baby is involved in this amazing event:

FOOD BABY PARTNERS WITH TASTE OF THE NATION

Halcyon, Flavors from the Earth

The Food Baby.com bottom line:

• Great spot for an uptown business lunch, absolutely worth coming back for dinner.
• The pork belly was so amazing, I was almost embarrassed to eat it in public.
• Truly a place where the cooking is a craft and an art, and a celebration of local farms and food.

The ladies of Food Baby recently decided to have a “working” lunch at Halcyon at the Mint Museum.  "Working" both in the sense that we knew it would be blogworthy, but I think we might have discussed some business too.  We arrived a touch after noon and the dining room was nearly full.  The hostess offered us a seat at either the community table (a long table in the middle of the dining room – love this concept), the bar or the chef’s station.  We chose the latter.  The dining room is simply breathtaking – flooded with natural light and decorated in an almost ethereal way – very chic and very sophisticated.  The crowd was a largely uptown professional crowd, conducting client meetings or noshing with colleagues. 

Fleming's - Bar Bites

The Food Baby bottom line:

• GO TO Fleming’s for happy hour.
• That’s all.

A few nights ago, a fab friend Kristen and I went to Fleming’s for their “5 for $6 ‘til 7” - which includes five appetizers and five glasses of wine for $6 each…..until 7:00 PM. Clever!

Now, as I’m sure you have heard, Fleming’s is an extraordinary prime steakhouse, and I WILL be back soon enough to give you a review of a sure-to-be incredible filet mignon. I’ve had dinner there once, a long time ago for Restaurant Week, and it was fantastic. That said – this review is not of the beautiful steaks, but rather the beautiful bar food!

Charlotte Regional Farmers Market

The Food Baby bottom line:

• Being at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market makes me feel happy and smiley
• Meat and eggs are expensive, but fruits and veggies are super cheap!
• The grocery store is dead to me

So, I have a burgeoning love for the local food movement. My partner in crime Brianna has been feeling the love for a while now, and some really wonderful people in my life swear by the farmers markets here in Charlotte. There are about 100 good reasons to eat locally sourced food, including: supporting local farmers, eating healthy natural foods, humane treatment of animals, and the fact that fresh food is just dank!! So this farmers market virgin finally (FINALLY!) gave it up and visited the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market on Saturday.

Good Food on Montford

The Food Baby bottom line:

• Once again, GFoM delivers a tasty and comforting experience.
• Interesting people watching - local "celebrity" spotted!
• Discovering avocado ice cream.

I recently hit up GFoM with two of my favorite girlfriends - Kristine and Laurie - for our quasi-monthly ladies night.  We had a choice corner table that was just private enough so that we couldn't offend others with our conversation, but still had a prime view of the entire dining room.  The moment you walk into GFoM, you feel cozy and comfortable.  Its minimalist decor features exposed bricks, beautiful wood ceiling beams and funky fork/spoon/knife light fixtures.  The space is small yet open, and definitely inviting.  

Harvest Moon Grill Food Truck

thefoodbaby.com bottom line:

• Oh how I've missed the Harvest Moon Grill during the long, cold winter
• Pork Carnitas are good, Beef Brisket Ravioli is better
• We heart Ariana - say hi to her for us when you hit up HMG FT

Brianna and I were delighted when we learned that the Harvest Moon Grille Food Truck would be BACK on Thursday!  I adore stopping by on my lunch break to see what delicious pork pleasures they have to offer.

Harvest Moon Grill is a beautiful byproduct of Grateful Growers farm, which is located in Lincoln, NC and cultivates a variety of products, most exciting of which (for this porcine princess) is the pork! In addition to the food truck, there is the new "brick and mortar" Harvest Moon Grill Restaurant in the Dunhill Hotel....which I have yet to experience but plan to very soon.