Eggplant Parmesan

My grandmother Bernice, my dad's mom, used to love going to Olive Garden to eat their eggplant parm...to the extent that it became a bit of a family joke.  "Where should we take Grandmother to eat?"..."Olive Garden"..."What do you think she'll get there?"..."Eggplant parm"...

On our last trip to Costco they had these bags of baby eggplant, 4 to a bag, and they were so pretty under the warehouse lights that I knew I must have them.  And what can you do with eggplant besides parm?  (actually, we have another very tasty eggplant recipe, but it's still a variant of the parm)

 Yep.  We have all that.

 My wife lived in Italy for a year and is normally in charge of the pasta sauces and marinara in general, but tonight I took on the task.  San Marzano tomatoes are always a good place to start.

 I sliced up a couple of the baby eggies - these filets were a little less than 1/2 inch thick.  I salted them a bit to sweat on each side, and wiped away the sweat.  At the same time, I started some red onion and garlic in a sauce pan with olive oil and pasture butter, then chunked in the tomatoes to simmer a bit.

 For the eggplant, I dredged it in egg+milk+flour and fried it in hot canola oil.  Breadcrumbs are probably more authentic, and I had none!  So flour it was.  After a good bit of frying (an inserted fork pulled out cleanly), I set the 'plant on some paper towels to dry a bit, and grated some parmigiano reggiano on top.

 The sauce was all steamy and bubbly and garlicky.  I added some salt and pepper - a taste from the spoon revealed an unexpected sweetness!  (my wife reminded me about basil, so we dropped in some of these frozen basil herb nuggets we found at the organic grocery)

I warmed a baking dish a little and then ladled in a base layer of the sauce...

 ...and then the fried eggplant filets (they almost fit in the dish without overlapping).  Then I spooned some more sauce on top, added some slices of fresh mozzarella, and put it all in the oven to get warm and gooey.

And then it was time to serve it up!  While it may not compare well to the Olive Garden's version, ours turned out to be pretty tasty.

Aji - Collegdale Peruvian

[editor's note: this is a second attempt.  the first was composed on-phone, and when complete and submitted, the first attempt vanished into the aether.  argh.]

We have actually been to Aji a few times before, but I had not thought to blog about the experience.  That was an oversight, now to be corrected.

Collegedale is community near Chattanooga, wrapped around the campus for the Seventh Day Adventist Southern university.  It's a short drive from our neighborhood, and there is a nice walking path and playground there for some active family fun.  Collegedale's commercial development is primarily of the strip mall variety; as it turns out, strip malls are often allow small scale ethnic eateries to flourish.

Aji is focused on Peruvian foods, and is staffed by folks who appear to be of Peruvian extraction.  The space is simple, with maybe 8 tables, and is decorated with large format photos of llamas, people in Incan costume, and amazing mountain vistas.  The menu is biased to fish and veggie options (Seventh Day Ad.s are vegetarian); Aji is one of few places in the area to offer ceviche, and theirs is worth trying.

This day I opted for the Chicharron, freshly cut nuggets of fish rolled in a seasoned batter and fried.  The fish is served simply on a bed of lettuce and fried yucca, and topped with some lightly marinated onion.  On request, they brought me a side of a spicy red sauce for dipping.  My lunch was fantastic.

In likely deference to the 7DA's celebration of the Sabbath, Aji is closed on Saturdays.  Also, while they offer a splendid array of S. American fruit juice drinks, they do not offer beer or booze.

We like Aji and will return.  We also want to particularly support small, local options that offer food from outside the SE Tennessee mainstream.

212 Market

I've known about this spot for a while, and not just because they are perennial sponsors of the local public radio station.  One lovely prom night in the early 90s, my party checked in at 212, briefly, before heading across the street to TGI Fridays.  Those were simpler times.

Tonight, we got a seat on the upstairs patio, so we decided to stay for dinner.  212 focuses on fresh, local, and organic ingredients.  We knew the food would be up our alley.  Unfortunately, the space (the inside dining rooms and bar) have not changed since that night in the 90s...we won't hold it against the place, but they could really use a new paint job.

We opened with some cocktails (mine was called "honey badger", haha) and their pork belly appetizer.

(the pictures aren't great tonight - maybe a combination of the strong evening sun and the shadows, or maybe the terrible photographer?)

Both of us chose fish options off of the daily specials menu: she took the salmon and I chose trout.

Her salmon was lovely, and my trout dish was nice - I'll spare you that picture.

All in all, the dinner was well prepared and the service was nice.  I might think that 212 is still at a price point and atmosphere better suited for "special occasions", if not prom nights...

Totto Sushi

It was a dark and rainy night...so we went out for sushi.


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We had seen Totto on previous trips to Frazier Ave.  This new (apparently newer than Google's last streetview pass through) is between BrewHaus and Stone Cup coffee, two places that we like pretty well.

Chattanooga and sushi may not be a match made in heaven, given that the nearest coast is hundreds of miles away, and the nearest major airport, in Atlanta, is about a 2 hour drive down I-75...the point is that there is not a ready supply of super fresh seafood.

But all in all, dinner tonight was not a disappointment.  I generally defer the ordering of rolls to my wife, and she picked three diverse options and we tucked in.  The boy had some chicken fried rice, as well as some broccoli and sundry items taken from home.

One (positive?) thing that stuck out about Totto was the beer menu and pricing...they had a wide selection of bottled domestic and "Asian" beers, and the menu as well as several permanent looking signs around the room advertised the beers as "half price".  Indeed, they sold us 20 oz Kirin Ichibans for $3.75, which is roughly half of what we pay at our neighborhood Thai spot.  I worry what this scenario means for Totto in the long economic run...

Service was not a high point, although I would allow that maybe the one lady working the tables was having an off night...she did seem very preoccupied with her cell phone, but maybe when we try Totto again (and we will!), things might shake out a little differently.

Sorry for the lack of pics - working chopsticks with one hand, tending the boy with the other, and drinking 20 oz KI with the third leaves no hand for the camera!

Easy Bistro

Tonight was our second visit to the Bistro...the first was a birthday dinner without Baby, but tonight was the 3 of us plus a good friend recently moved back to town. I didn't get any pics tonight, but dinner was fantastic.

We adults started with cocktails, the boys with a Chattanooga whiskey, some aromatics, and bitters- they were a nice start. We also shared a fig mostardo and mozzarella app...this was a server recommendation and it came off fresh and light and a good way to ease into dinner.

For the entrees, we chose a bottle of a Super Tuscan. The wine list seemed a little pricey, with the least expensive bottles starting in the $30s...so the bottle we tool was a little expensive, but it was a very inoffensive red.

My special lady friend ordered a potato ravioli with some seasonal veggies. The boys both chose the steak frites- they serve the beef sliced and with some chilled herb butter.

The service was impressive. Often, when you are among the first seatings of the evening, you get the sense that the kitchen and wait staff aren't quite "on" yet, but the team tonight was top notch.

I'm not a dessert guy, but my dinner companions ARE. We had profiteroles, a pot de creme, and some coffee drinks (the beans sourced from Chattz down the street).

All told, it was a wonderful time, but at a price point that will prevent super frequent returns.

Market Street Tavern

First off, let me just say that I love love love (and appreciate) it when places that serve interesting beer and cocktails are proactive in telling you what they have on offer.

local meat, local beer, fancy cocktails - Oh My!

This place was apparently once located across the street, near Miller Plaza, but has been open at 809 Market St (the map points to the old address.  Google hasn't updated yet!) for a couple of months.  The space was nothing fancy, but was comfortable in a neighborhood bar kind of way.  The MST is a "sister bar" to one on the north shore, Tremont Tavern.  I had been there before, and they may have mentioned the Market St option, but it slipped my mind and we lived our lives unaware of this cozy spot for dinner and drink for far too long.

Earlier today I was on the Google looking for information on local supplies of grass-fed beef, and I ran across a review of MST, where some lucky diner had enjoyed a burger of locally raised meat...I called to make sure they were open, that they didn't allow smoking, and that adventurous toddler reviewers were welcome.  Check, check, check, and we three were off for a 6 pm dinner date.

I tried one of their signature cocktails, named for the building the MST now inhabits.  It was a blend of two rye whiskeys and some bitters - it was ok, but I would probably try something else next time.  The Lady chose a New Belgium shift tall boy, and the short boy chose high quality H20 and some whole milk.

Dinner was a pretty straightforward affair, and mi hijo was as patient as we can expect out of a 20 month old.  He got some mac&cheese (one of the evening specials was "pimp your mac", where you get a base of noodles+cheese and can add toppings, pizza style, to customize your plate.  He got noodles and cheese.)  My wife of 6 years chose the fried chicken, but subbed in some roasted brussel sprouts in place of fries, and I took the pulled pork, under slaw, and over cornbread.

The food was nice.  There were no real off notes, and we will go back.  It's not a place that I would bring my foodie friends to show off, but for a basic, comfortable meal sourced from high quality, local ingredients, this spot could well become a regular for us.

Niko's

Sometimes you miss one...it's right there, you see it, you think "oh, there's a place we haven't tried", and still, you just...miss it.

And so it was for Niko's for a couple of years.



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Like the name suggests, Niko's is on Chattanooga's southside, in the rapidly swankifying Southside development zone.  One of our family favorites, the Urban Stack gourmet hamburger emporium, is located just down the street, and a handful of other regular haunts are within a short walk.

But Niko's...we had seen it, but not visited.  Once, some number of years ago when we were but a young, unwed and un-childed couple of love birds, we had visited Chattanooga for a sleepover away from home and dined at a previous spot in the same space, called Southside Grill, if memory serves.  And that meal was fine, but maybe the fact that we had eaten inside those 4 walls allowed us to mark the space off as "done", even though the new place was, well, new.

At any rate, tonight after mowing the lawn I got an email from Open Table suggesting that I might be one reservation away from a new reward, so I checked out what might be available at 6 for a family of 2.5, and Niko's popped up.  A quick check of the menu suggested the Niko was likely a Greek dude, and we haven't had Greek in a while (since Chicago, TYVM), so I booked the table and off we went.

The space is nice, and there was ample street parking out front.  The hostess did not blink about us bringing a toddler in, although, to be fair, there were few diners to bother at that early hour.  Our server was a pro, and soon we were set up with drinks (a Dark&Stormy for me, a glass of Sauvignon Blanc for the missus) and a special summer bruschetta.

We seem to have entered a new stage with the Little One.  He has more energy and less patience for fine dining these days, and it has become a challenge to keep him occupied while his Mama and I eat.  Pepper shakers and straws are good for about 48 seconds each.

Ultimately, we opted for "Greek-ish" options from the entree menu; she chose a "Farmer's Pie", which was basically a shepherd's pie kind of thing in filo dough (she says it was veggies and cheese).  I chose lamb chops with a mint pesto, couscous, and squash.

My dinner was fantastic.  The lamb was nicely done, although the overall dish needed a tough more seasoning.  Our server recommended a glass of Malbec to accompany the lamb, and it worked out well.

For a pre-tip check in the mid $70s, this was a great meal out, and it made me sorry that we had missed Niko's for so long.

St John's Meeting Place

We had a quick dinner out tonight, all three of us. I failed to take any pictures, but the dinner experience was mostly pleasant. 

The Meeting Place is a nuevo bistro concept, and is next door to its more fancy sibling St John's. 

The menu is printed daily, with drinks on one face and the food items on the other. There is a more robust, separate seasonal wine list.

The menu features a number of "small plates", salads, and a few entree sized options.

With ramps in season, they found their way into several plates. We started with fried ramps (they came out very tempura like), a shitake mushroom and goat cheese salad, and some cheese fries.  Yes, cheese fries. They were a hit with the boy.

Mi esposa had a Stella Artois and I tried one of their feature cocktails featuring gin and several citrus juices.

We should have called it done for the night, but there was a "chicken biscuit" item on the menu that was calling out to us...it was interesting, but maybe a little over done.

Overall, dinner was great, and both the space and the service added value. 

I would go back, maybe without the kid so the adults could linger a bit.

BrewHaus

Wow. New on the North Shore (open since September), tonight was my first exposure to their brats, kraut, and beer from a faucet. 

We 3 settled into a bier hall style trestle table and jumped in with a fried kraut ball appetizer.  The beer menu is long on local brews and short on lagers from Deutschland, but all come served in steins measured by the liter...so, Win!

I ordered an encased meat entrée, served with some home style potatoes, spaetzle, and sauteed veggies. Mein Frau took the wiener Schnitzel and similar sides.

The space was small and cozy, and the service was friendly and quick. 

The food tasted great, and all in the bill ran to $60 (1.5 liters of beer, app, 2 entrees)

Public House

I meant to take pictures in the tradition of obnoxious food bloggers everywhere, but I forgot...maybe I was distracted by my beautiful date.

We ditched the baby at my sister's and headed downtown to the Public House. Located in the boutique-ified new version of the Warehouse Row shops, the PH first came to my attention via their bar.

On a prior investigative trip to WR, and while amazed at the transformation from the outlet store offering of my youth, I came upon and was arrested by the sight of a swanky cocktail lounge called "the Social".  It may have just been because I had a kid hanging from me in a Bjorn, but on that day and at that moment, an upscale bar featuring handcrafted cocktails seemed absurdly adult...absurd in a way that I wanted to internalize.

Anyway, fast forward.  My sister offered last minute to watch our darling baby boy and I whipped out Open Table and found us a spot at PH. 

We did start in The Social and I had one of those handcrafted cocktails.  I forget what it was called, but it was a mix of light rum, grape, and house candied ginger.  It was delightful.  Mi amor had some pinot noir. Smiles all around. 

On to dinner.  The room was nice, with some clever design elements without being fussy or precious.  We started with a cheese plate and some bread (from local bakery Niedloves) and I jumped in on the pinot bandwagon for the remainder of mealtime. 

The entrée menu was a little surprising. The focus seemed to be gussied up comfort food, and if that theme had been communicated prior, I had missed it. They had pot roast, fried chicken, a steak option, grilled pork tenderloin ...and some fish dishes as well.  Many dishes featured grits. I chose the pork (grilled medium, with grits and sauteed kale) and she took the pot roast (also with kale and a fairly safe version of mashed potato) .

The food was well prepared and tasty, with a reasonable seasoning.  The service was professional and courteous, and we finished up with some apple fritters and a semifreddo (runny ice cream).

My date offered one of our best compliments: "this is a place we could bring out of town friends."