The Jealous Crumpet

A sweet little blog


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Day 1: Grille 29 #dinehsv

Grille 29 #dinehsv‘Tis the time of year that North Alabama foodies rejoice and get their taste buds ready: Huntsville Restaurant Week! This is the 5th year of Huntsville Restaurant Week and from August 12th until the 21st patrons can enjoy speciality menu items at great prices from numerous restaurants across Madison County.

As part of the kickoff to Restaurant Week several fellow bloggers and I visited three eateries to get a first look at their specials. I’ve had the pleasure of participating in this Blog Tour for 3 years running. I love it, so please feel free to keep inviting me back! (Not so subtle hint)

This year’s talented bloggers included:

Charles Hunter III with The Salted Table

Jennifer Gervens with Sweet T Makes Three

Katie Wright with Katie Actually

Bo Williams and Stephenie Walker with Rocket City Mom

I’ll include a link to each of their posts at the end, so make sure you give them almost as much love as you give me!

Grille 29Our first stop was Grille 29.  Last year the blog tour had brunch here (the shrimp and grits were to die for!) so I had very high expectations, which were surpassed yet again. You can check out last years post here.

We started with Roasted Cauliflower Soup, which was garnished with crispy prosciutto and greens. I’m a huge veggie-aholic, so I found this dish completely addictive. I seriously dreamed about it that night.Cauliflower SoupNext we sampled a Southern classic, fried green tomatoes, topped with pork belly and blue pimento cheese. It was also scrumptious! Fried Green TomatoesNext came the main course Flat Iron Steak, enhanced with a roasted shallot reduction, topped with house-made Pico de Gallo and sweet potato straws, over cheese grits. Are you hungry yet, because just writing this post is making me drool.Flat Iron SteakWhen we knew we couldn’t possibly eat anymore, dessert came out and we mustered the courage to go on.

We started with a Lemon Lava Cake, which was stunning. It was a delicious dessert, but it was also a beautiful dessert, which really warms a food photographers heart.Lemon Lava CakeThen came a Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle, which I’ve had before and loved before. From what I could tell it was a fan favorite. Peanut Butter TruffleAnd last, but certainly not least, was the Cheesecake of the Day, Turtle Cheesecake.Turtle CheesecakeEverything was delicious! While we were photographing food on the patio a jealous lizard kept on eyeing the Lemon Lava Cake.  Sadly for the lizard, we didn’t have any leftovers.lizard and cheesecakeAll of the food was created under the watchful eye of Executive Chef Cara Thompson. Make sure you attend Rocket Chef at the Merrimack Hall on August 8th and cheer for Chef Cara as she competes against other culinary geniuses for the title of Rocket Chef. All proceeds from the event go to the Food Bank of North Alabama, so it feeds your soul as well as your belly.11More about Grille 29 please visit:

Katie Actually: http://www.katieactually.com/grille-29-2/

Sweet T Makes Three: http://www.sweettmakesthree.com/places-to-eat-in-huntsville-alabama/

Rocket City Mom: http://www.rocketcitymom.com/grille-29/

Bo Williams: http://bowilliams.com/2016/07/huntsville-restaurant-week-2016/

Grille 29

 


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Blog Tour: D’Licious Dining #dineHSV

D'licous Dining

 

So for this leg of the blog tour I found myself at the delicious restaurant D’Licious Dining and Smokehouse Grill.  It is housed in a really quirky building, that for some reason reminds me of the 80’s Cafe from Back the Future 2.  I just aged myself there.

Cool looking building!

Cool looking building!

The inside of the building was also really cool, with lots of fun things to lot at including a pinball machine hanging from the ceiling which I of course forgot to take a photography off.  11

This time I parked close and remembered my camera and tripod… on the way in.  On the way home I would forget my tripod, drive all the way back to my house before realizing it and have to drive back to the restaurant.  sigh.  I swear if my head wasn’t attached.   D'Licous Dining & Smokehouse GrillThe bloggers assembled, ready for the Jamaican Restaurant week special.  We talked about the lunch from the day before and our high hopes that D’Licous Dining would be as good as Sady’s Bistro. (which it was!)  We also discussed unique (for our location) foods that we had eaten.  The foodies had eaten everything from jellyfish (this was the most intriguing to me) to kangaroo and alligator to a myriad of insects.  No animal is safe from the food blogger!2

The staff was very good: quick, nice and attentive without being pushy.  As an added benefit there was live music, a talented saxophone player that added to the fun ambiance of the restaurant.
Fried Green TomatoesThe starter was the Southern staple, fried green tomatoes, which were quite delicious, or I should say d’licious.  This was a risky starter since most of the bloggers are southern and know a good fried green tomato from a bad one, but the consensus was D’Licious’ tomatoes were excellent.  Not only were these tasty, they were beautiful which warms a photographs heart. 5

Most people went for the jerk chicken.  I looked up why it is called ‘jerk’ chicken, assuming it was not named after idiotic poultry.  Jerk is a type of seasoning that is traditionally applied to poultry or pork, though it can be used in numerous other foods.  Jamaican Jerk Spice typically made with allspice and the Scotch bonnet pepper.  The term ‘jerk’ came from a native South American word ‘ch’arki’ which meant ‘dried meat’.  If you don’t believe me here is the Wikipedia article: Jerk Seasoning.10All  you really need to know is that it is tasty.  It came with nicely seasoned red beans and rice and fried plantains.  Right before dessert the owner Chef Rae came out to meet us and talked about some of his philosophies on food.  Chef RaeWe finished the meal with a brownie and ice cream dessert.  It was the perfect size, and a nice sweet end to a well-crafted Southern/Jamaican meal.9The Restaurant Week Lunch Special was $15 and included an appetizer of fried green tomatoes, and entrée of Jerk Chicken with fried plantains and red beans and rice and a dessert of brownie and ice cream.  Well worth the price.

Restaurant week SpecialCheck out the blogs of my fellow food fanatics and get a different perspective on the experience.

The Dining Dragon

The Foodie Army Wife

Aka Jane Random

Rocket City Mom

Southern Plate

Fini