Toscana

Image courtesy of charlottemagazine.com

The Food Baby bottom line:

• I’m outdoorsy in that I like drinking on patios.
• The knowledgeable and attentive service - including frequent visits by the manager to chat - really made the experience great.
• A couple of dishes lacked flavor, but the Mare and the bean dip were to die for! 

On Saturday night, I met my friends Kiley, Andy, Nancy and Kate for dinner at Toscana – which is located in Morrison Center in the Southpark neighborhood. I’d been to Toscana once before, about a year prior, and I recalled it being super delish Italian fare so I was really excited to go back!

I arrived a tad late (okay 30 minutes late) due to losing track of time and drink counts at a St. Patty’s party earlier that afternoon. However, despite my lateness, we were fortunately seated at some very prime real estate: on the lovely outdoor patio to enjoy the amazing weather.  The interior of Toscana is great, with very classic Tuscan décor and dim lighting, but the patio is really where it’s at. The crowd is very “Southpark”, meaning 30-40ish age range and sophistractive (sophisticated + attractive).  I realize now that my unwieldy amount of cleavage that evening may have been a touch out of place. Eep.

Cyros Sushi and Sake Bar

The Food Baby bottom line:

• Cyros is apparently a very hip Southpark spot, with a 45 minute wait on a Thursday.
• Glacial-speed service leaves something to be desired.
• However....the sushi rocked pretty hard (hello Avant Garde Roll) resulting in a Houdini Food Baby.

The Food Baby is BACK! We have been traveling to New Orleans, amongst other taxing adventures, and took a brief hiatus from blogging. We are (just now) fully recovered and ready to get back into it!

The day after returning from our 4-day stint at Mardi Gras (more on that later in Traveling Food Baby) my younger sister came into town. Our first stop was a much-needed sushi binge, and Brianna recommended that I take her to Cyros Sushi and Sake Bar in the South Park area. While I had never been to the restaurant, Brianna commissioned Cyros to set up the most fabulous sushi bar at her wedding reception last October, and it was ridiculously posh, and the biggest hit of her cocktail hour!

Growlers Pourhouse: Craft Beer, Artisan Cheeses and Housemade Sausages…In Other Words, Heaven on Earth

The Food Baby Bottom Line:

• If you haven’t been to BeerEd at Growlers, mark your calendar for the first Tuesday of next month…and every other month from now until the end of time. 
• Come for BeerEd, but make sure to stay late after “class” for the sausages.
• Save room for dessert!

As noted in the pre-blog, Lauren and I were ever so excited to attend our first “BeerEd” session at Growlers on March 1.  While we were BeerEd virgins, many in the room that night clearly were not.  Those in the know arrived early to claim their seats, and by 7pm, Growlers had a full house.  What is BeerEd?  On the first Tuesday of each month, Growlers showcases a different brewer or one of their distributors, so each of the (FREE!) tastings has a unique focus and flavor.  On this particular evening, Brian St.Clair of Tryon Distributing was in the house showcasing four excellent brews from his portfolio.  Brian was joined by John Reid from Earth Fare, who provided masterful artisan cheese pairings for each beer.  We were happily surprised to learn that not only would we be sampling some terrific beers, but that there would be cheese involved.  The evening was suddenly elevated to a whole new level…