Scott Rowson over on Show Me Eats has more information about the upcoming move.
Now we wait to see what happens. As Scott mentions in his blog, if you want to do the bartenders a favor, go drink this week so they have less inventory to haul up the street (I have visions of bar help staggering up 8th street with kegs on their backs…)
I just read in the Trib that Bleu is closing this weekend in its Tiger Hotel location, and will reopen in the Boone Tavern Space by the Courthouse. Go read the story because it’s kind of, well, weird.
Bleu announced their move on Twitter last Saturday; and their employees also got told Saturday.
Boone Tavern employees also were kept in the dark until last Fri/Saturday, and the Boone Tavern Folks seem to think they are going to somehow share space with Blue. But Carrie Gartner of the Downtown Community Improvement District said the Tavern would close; it apparently celebrated 29 years on Feb 1. Dick Walls not available for comment.
I knew that the new Tiger owners were wanting to open a new restaurant there, and had wondered where it would be located. Now I know.
Now me, I am ambivalent about whether I think Bleu’s move is a good one. It’s a nice location and has good outdoor seating, but I have a few too many memories of the Tavern’s old, stale menu matched only by the overly heavy, dark decor. I’m just not sure I will feel any “cool factor” with the new location, even after renovation. Plus, will such a dramatic increase in size (350 seats up from 100) impact the overall quality of the food? And speaking of renovation; Bleu will be closed until April. In this town, out of sight is out of mind…
What do you think?
Roly Poly after struggling for several years has finally closed its doors. In its place is a new Mediterranean place called Oasis Cafe. I had no clue it was there, but am SO glad my friend suggested we eat there.
When I get enthusiastic sometimes I go all southern. And y’all, this place is good.
The hummus is super thick and creamy, heavily drizzled with olive oil and whole garbanzos along with a generous dollop of hot sauce. The pita looks homemade, and has a very slight sense of sweetness about it.
A huge bowl of hummus, with pita bread in the background
One of my friends had the chicken plate, with a bowl of lentil soup. The soup had a crisp, clean almost delicate flavor. You could taste a bit of lemon in with it. Excellent.
Chicken plate with lentil soup
Here’s the gyros salad.
Tons of gyro meat on the salad
I got the gyro plate. They were out of rice, so I got salad below it instead and think that’s the way I will always get it. Crisp lettuce and cucumber with the grilled gyros and beautifully carmelized peppers and onions. I loved that the gyros had actual crunch to the edges. Again very generous portions.
Look at those beautiful peppers and onions.
Oasis Cafe is in that funny little strip mall that sits just North of Broadway at 63, right next to Fast Signs, East of Applebee’s. It’s kind of awkward to get into the place and a little easy to miss but do NOT miss this place. Seriously. It is really, really good. I will be very peeved if people ignore it and it goes away, because I’ve just found one of my new favorites.
Yes, I’ve posted on Okii Mama before, but I just wanted to show you all a picture of my dinner tonight. Coconut Curry Chicken on their amazing garlic green beans (by far the best in town). I got a double helping of the beans instead of rice for the same price. What’s in the bowl is less than half of their “Dragon Bowl” (small) size. It’s a LOT of food.
A bowl full of creamy, spicy heaven.
And the sauce is amazing. Creamy, spicy, with lots of shredded bamboo shoots (I think) and carrot along with lean white meat chicken. It’s my go-to dish there.
Granted, Casablanca wasn’t empty last night by any means, but seriously, I never understand why there aren’t more people there. Best hummus in town, good prices, generous portions and just overall good food. Last night I had their schwarma salad. It had a huge amount of schwarma on it, and I got a side tahini and dabbed it around. It was wonderful.
The decor is nice, the place is clean, the wait staff is friendly. Service is sometimes a little leisurely, but I can live with that given the quality of the food. So don’t forget to give them a try. Especially on a weekend night. You’re likely to get seated right away and enjoy a really nice dinner.
Slowly, I stumble through getting up to speed on technology. I finally added a subscription button. So now, if you would like a notice in your email for when there are new posts, just subscribe at right.
A really interesting article on the NPR Blog today on the recall of organic celery seed and why we need to understand that organic is not the same thing as safe.
Now I happen to believe an organic growing process is the way to go and has advantages for us and for the environment. But if a spice is grown in Egypt in compliance with some esoteric law saying it’s organic, then shipped here, labeled as organic and sold, is the food better for you? Hmmmm.
More and more, I realize that local source is more important than organic, though local source and organic is probably the best of all. One problem I have with Natural Grocers is that yes, they are all organic. But no local source. Which is why most of my buying is HyVee (Clovers is just inconvenient for me to get to), Farmers’ Market, and starting this year, a great CSA with Eric of Chert Hollow Farm right here in town; the best of all worlds. Organic and responsibly local-grown.
You know, when I said a couple of posts ago that I won’t eat steak anywhere in Columbia except Outback because it’s the only place I’ve found that I can get an actual Medium steak, (consequently stirring up all kinds of conversation on both this and Scott Rowson’s Show Me Eats blog) well, I lied. (sorry!)
It was a lie by omission, because I had totally forgotten about the superb Filet Porto at Sophia’s. I don’t know why it didn’t come to mind, because it’s one of my standby favorites at Sophia’s. Maybe because it’s small at 4 oz, and not a main entree, but rather a tapas.
Four ounces of flavor
Last night I had it again, along with the vegetables grigliata. The filet porto is served with blue cheese and a port wine reduction. And it is delectable. It’s too bad, really, that it’s a public restaurant. I badly wanted to lick my plate.
But, in all fairness I have to say that it was not a Medium steak though I ordered Medium. It was Medium Well to Well. The flavor was so superb and the cut of meat so tender that I didn’t mind. But still…. I think I have to say that I will definitely order steak from Sophia’s but it’s still not always served to a proper Medium.
I guess my post on McDonalds got some attention. Otherwise why would a McDonalds office in North Carolina sign on to my twitter feed? That’s, like…. weird.
NPR posted an article this afternoon on the McDonalds’ restaurants in France. It’s an interesting article which mostly looks at the reasons why Mickey-Ds is actually working there (France is #2 in the world in McDonalds, after the U.S.). The reason, it seems, is because in France, customers demand a high quality of food. Their beef is all grass fed and has actual provenance; verification of source (we do not, Lord knows where our U.S. burgers come from). Likewise their chicken, plus they have added menu items and atmosphere to cater to the locals.
Which begs the question. What does the schlock that is McDonalds here say about OUR values and OUR tastes? Obviously we are just fine and dandy with corn-fed mystery-beef and chlorine washed chickens. Obviously we do not need fresh-baked-daily bauguettes. We are content to slurp down shoddy product, so that’s what we get.
For all that there are chains which do try to provide better food sources (Chipotle’s commitment toward organic for instance), McDonalds, the King of Crap Food, still reigns supreme.
So is it really McDonalds? Or is it us? I think it’s us…