Tuesday, January 10, 2012

One Down, Nine To Go

It went like this.....the kids called my mom to see if they could come over on Saturday evening to watch the "Wipeout"she recorded. She said sure and she would pick them up around 5p. A little after 5p, she arrives and I walk the kids to the car to kiss them and make sure they got buckled in and my mom turned to them and asked them if they wanted to sleep over. They were so suprised (as was I since they have only stayed at her house one other night) and excited. So I ran in the house to pack a bag and to tell Bill we didn't have to rush to get out to dinner and back in a couple of hours and to start thinking of where we wanted to go.....all the while I was thinking, SOHO, SOHO, SOHO!

A little backstory about Nolan Konkoski, the owner and chef of SOHO. When Momocho first opened in 2006, Bill and I started going there often. We enjoyed sitting at the two-seater chef's counter and got to know owner and chef, Eric Williams pretty quickly. If you've not been to Momocho (why the hell not?) the kitchen is the size of a postage stamp (no joke), so the chef is about a foot in front of you. The chefs stand basically shoulder to shoulder and turn out the best Mod Mex you will EVER taste. The other chef was a super quiet, very serious looking guy named Nolan Konkoski. Little by little we got to him and he even cracked a smile or two ;)


Our first meal dining out after finding out we were having a boy and girl was at Momocho. Nolan and Eric were some of the first people to know and they joked about names. Nolan and Erica (Nolan's choice) and Eric and Nolina (Eric's choice.) On the way home we started talking about the good time we had joking around with them and the names came up. We already knew the girl would be Reagan, it was a name Bill really wanted for either a boy or a girl, I only liked it for a girl so that was settled. There was the issue of the other little bean growing quickly who was going to need a name. We wanted something that complimented Reagan, looked similar, and had a similar origin (Welsh.) That was when it really hit us; Nolan really was the perfect boys name. So I guess Nolan K. really does have his own (well, not HIS own) namesake.


Back to the original story.... I called SOHO to make a ressie and we were able to get in. When we arrived we settled on drinks, a beer for Bill and a "Savannah" for me along with BBQ and Pimento Cheese Dip. One sip of that Savannah and I was hooked. I need to figure it out so that can be the house drink on our next OBX trip. It was tea-infused vodka, hibiscus syrup, lemonade and something else. SO GOOD.

We wanted to try everything on the menu, it all sounded delish. We settled on the Crawfish & Crab Fritters and a side of Deviled Eggs for another app course.I think Bill was surprised I ate one whole fritter. My intention was to just have a bite, but I couldn't stop at just one.


For dinner, Bill chose the Charred Ribeye Steak: Fried egg, fingerling-spinach hash, pickled Vidalias, Tabasco Hollandaise.I'm not a lover of med-rare meat, but I loved the fingerling-spinach hash served over the steak. Mixed with the egg yolk it was sinful. Bill loved the ribeye and said as much as he wants to try everything on the menu, he'd probably order this one agian and again. I had the Dixie Cheese Steak Po'Boy: Brisket, collards beer-cheese fondue, hot sauce. The texture of it was more pot roastish, but that was OK for me. The collards are what knocks this po'boy out of the house! We might have to steal this idea for our next BBQ (of course, Nolan, Molly and Sophie are invited!)

As if we weren't stuffed enough, we managed to finish off an order of Crispy Beignets Dark chocolate, blackberry jam. Holy, sweet hushpuppies of goodness!

A nice surprise of the evening was having a round of drinks bought for us. We didn't know who bought them until we were just leaving. Those J. Ross' sure are sneaky. They phoned in a round on them!

I'm so glad I got to cross SOHO off my "Must Try 2012" list, but I'm sure it is not going to be our only visit.

10 restaurants I want to try this year:

1. SOHO
2. L'Albatros
3. Spice Kitchen & Bar
4. Sun Luck Garden
5. Fat Casual BBQ
6. Bac
7. Crop Bistro
8. Deagan's Kitchen
9. Pura Vida
10. Pranzo

Friday, January 6, 2012

10 Things

I don't make resolutions. I don't like setting myself up for failure. This year I decided I would create some lists of things I'd like to accomplish. Things that I currently enjoy, but the things on the list will push me out of my comfort zone a bit. We eat out alot, but we tend to fall back on our favorites instead of venturing out to try new ones. I would go to Momocho for every meal if I could and Bill's fave is Lolita. There are SO many great places in Cleveland to try, so here goes....

10 restaurants I want to try this year:

1. SOHO
2. L'Albatros
3. Spice Kitchen & Bar
4. Sun Luck Garden
5. Fat Casual BBQ
6. Bac
7. Crop Bistro
8. Deagan's Kitchen
9. Pura Vida
10. Pranzo


Sunday, January 1, 2012

First 5/Last 5

Happy New Year from The Pchaks!
 
I did this last year, so I thought I'd carry it on this year.

The first 5 pictures I took in 2011

 (Yes, Uncle John has Reagan's socks on his ears!)



And the last 5 pictures I took in 2011




 
 
I lost count of how many there were in between, but have enjoyed every single snap!