Howdy, my little lunchboxes!  A lot of people have been wondering if mommin' has me on hiatus from FvF, but not for another couple months.  The lack of posts has little to do with my parasite, and everything to do with err'day life and work.  I know, I know - it's hard to believe that this website doesn't have me wiping with dollar bills, but food samples an adoring fans still don't pay the mortgage - although I heartily appreciate both.  So, since there's a LOT to catch you up on and little time to do it, here's a recap and some upcoming fun stuffs.

• Are the tomatoes from your own garden so good that you're disappointed when eating one in a restaurant?  Peter and Laurie at Figlio totally understand, so they're letting you bring in your OWN tomato this week to be used in their Caprese Salad.  "Bring Your Tomato to Figlio Week" started yesterday and runs through this Saturday, August 27. 

• BEERS!  Not only is Dayton AleFest this weekend at Carillon Park, but it will also cap off Dayton Beer Week.  from their press release:                                                                                     "AleFest will be held from 2 to 6 pm on Saturday, August 27 at Carillon Historical Park.  Featuring an expanded selection of draft and cask ales, AleFest offers attendees a selection of over 300 different beers from over 140 different breweries. Many of the exact details for this year's event are still being finalized, but tickets are currently available at finer dining and food and beverage locations throughout the greater Dayton region for the advance price of $35 ($40 at the door).  As in the past, tickets get you entry to the event, a sampling guide, 20 craft beer samples and a commemorative sampling glass.                                                                      Dayton Beer Week, held August 19 - 26.  Dayton Beer Week officially kicks off with the "Beer Pride Parade" in the Oregon District on Sunday, August 21 and continues throughout the week with a series of unique events, tastings and dinners held at various locations throughout the greater Dayton region." 

• Peeled Snacks will be doing some serious sampling of their dried fruit offerings at Costco stores across the nation tomorrow, 8/24.  The one in Dayton isn't open yet, but Columbus and Cleveland could get up on this.  I've always like dried fruit, but I was a little skeptical when I saw "Organic" and "no sugar added" on the freebies they sent me.  However, the stuff is delicious.  Will have a full-on product review coming your way soonly. 

• Speaking of free food, I'll be giving away more freebies from McDonald's. You can call me a sell-out all you want, but I like giving people prizes, and the local indies aren't exactly chomping at the bit to give out coupons.  Hopefully, this one will go over better than the last, since it's a sandwich offering and not a salad.  I won't boast its low calorie content, because that will probably turn you all right off of it just like the salad.  Look out for another Facebook contest soon.  Unlike the last contest loot, I promise to get these prizes out in a timely fashion! 

• I know you guy are probably all, "What the hell, Vizz?  You didn't post ANYthing during Restaurant week!"  Yeah, it's because I'm busy. Or lazy.  You decide.  Either way, we only had the time to go to McCormick & Schmick's, which was good, but not stellar.  Expect my review of that soon, along with the much-anticipated thoughts on Company 7 BBQ in Englewood*.                                         *According to Dre, always up to no good.

It's sad that I'm still doing Restaurant Week shit from almost three weeks ago, but it's really pathetic that I have a good five posts prior to that still needing edited and posted.  I'm sure you'll find a way to deal with it, Chubs.

So, our first RW experience was at Dublin Pub, and was mostly assy.  For the big-baller event, I wanted to go to Sunrise Cafe. (I always *try* to go The Winds, but am never impressed with their menu.)
Despite the fish offerings, Mr. FvF took one look at Sunrise's menu and he was all, "Ewwwww, that's bourgie.  Do not want!"  Luckily, my homegirl Carly was into it, so she and I made it a gal-date.  

We both ordered the same appetizer - Toasted Sesame Flatbreads with Caramelized Onions, and the same entree - Garlic-Stuffed Wagyu Kobe Sirloin (mid rare), with polenta and roasted carrots.  The starter came out quickly and looking great, but it was astonishingly a little too much onion.

Now, considering that I can barely get caramelized onions into recipes because I stand over the stove and eat them with a fork, that's a really bold statement.  I will say they were caramelized perfectly, though.  Sweet as jam.  What I actually liked more was some sort of bacon-infused butter that was in the center of the plate.  I ended up scraping off 90% of the onions and smearing it with the pig-buttery goodness, and that took it up a notch.  The flatbread was more like a really weak pita, too - not exactly the thin & crispy goodness that I had imagined.  

We were both such Motormouth Mabelles that we weren't even halfway through our apps before out entrees were on the table.

Normally during RW, you get a 3+ course meal for around $20.  The price has always followed the year, so logically, this year it should be $20.11.  However, the powers that be decided to change it to $25.11, which a lot of people are pretty peeved about.  While I completely sympathize with the rising cost of food, a 25% hike is a bit much all at once.  So, for five extra bucks, per person, I'm looking for something pretty high end.  Hell, for some of the participants this was an all around price hike.  You could probably eat a two, maybe even a three course meal not even ordering from the Restaurant Week menu.  But, when you're splitting the five on dinner for two, it doesn't seem like such a gouge.  Dublin Pub had by far the most expansive menu options for their two-fer, so we met my sister and her fella there Wednesday night for dinner.

They got there at 5 and grabbed a table, and said there wasn't a soul in the place besides them.  But, by the time we arrived just a few minutes after 6, it was uncomfortable packed.  Dub Pub has really small, cramped booths anyway - so when they're all full and people have coats hanging everywhere, it's a pain in the ass.  To boot, we had a semi-shared booth with some of the most uppity people I've ever seen.  While we tried to politely pile into our booth, they huffed, scowled and scrunched together like we were carrying the great plague.

The onion rings had a great batter on them, but they used a really potent white onion, rendering them almost inedible.  The corned beef sliders were pretty good, but the addition of herbed cheese (something like Boursin, I assume) really helped them out.

Our entrees were taking ages to come out, so we decided to have a smoke.  There are a few magical things about leaving the table and/or lighting a cigarette that makes food appear magically.  Even though the RW menu notes that the sirloin is only 6 ounces, we all chuckled at the meat-to-potato ratio when my sister and I got our plates.
I had to remind our server that we were supposed to get side salads with our meal, and I was kind of tired of fooling with him. So, I asked the  much more attentive bus boy for steak knives when I realized our server hadn't brought us any.  The sirloin entrees both came with an herbed butter that was good on both the steak and potatoes.  Considering what it lacked in size, the steaks were well-seasoned and cooked nicely.

The gents both ordered the Pub Burger - a burger topped with the Pub Fries (steak fried with bacon and white wine cream sauce) that helped make the Pub a notable eatery.  And arteries be damned, more fries were served alongside the burger.  This was really great timing considering Mr. FvF was having his blood drawn for a health risk assessment at work the next day. High cholesterol, ahoy!  The boys both said there burgers were good, just not remarkable. The famous white wine cream sauce was almost absent from the "pub fries" part of the burger as well, which disappointed them.


Once we finished our meals, our server came back and asked us if we were thinking about having dessert.  Yet again, I had to remind him that dessert was part of the meal we had ordered.  It should have been brought to the table with little more than asking if we were ready for it.  Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the "Must Be 21 Sundae" because my phone batteries were too run to take a flash pic. Just trust me when I say that booze, cinnamon ice cream, chocolate drizzle and whipped cream are all very good things.  We were pretty full, though, so no one finished theirs.

The food wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't outstanding, and DubPub has some serious service issues.  The big thing that's saving them here is the bang we got for our buck during Restaurant Week.  I won't be too eager to head back, though.

We decided to have a date night Saturday and finish off Restaurant Week with one of the two-for specials. We thought about Bahn Mai, but would rather go when we can order anything on the menu. Thought about Beef O'Brady's, but that wasn't exactly a place I was dying to try. We finally settled on Hickory River BBQ, what with Mr. FvF missing the Texas BBQ he'd grown so accustomed to. The deal was two large brisket dinners (each with cornbread, a cobbler and two sides) and soft drinks for $20.10.

The mister chose the ranch beans and mac & cheese as his side, and I chose the cole slaw and cottage cheese with mine. For dessert, he had a blackberry cobbler and I picked peach for myself.

The ordering style is cafeteria style, like a lot of BBQ joints. you order at the counter, pick your sides and whatnots as you go down the line, and pay at the register at the end. Normally, their large brisket dinners with the same sides are only $9.50, so we were basically just getting the cobblers and soft drinks for free. That said, this was a hell of a lot of food for just over twenty bucks.

Bad first impression. We were "greeted" by someone who wouldn't know their menu if it bit her in the ass. She was clueless about the RW special (which was listed nowhere within the restaurant that we could see), and none too happy about answering questions. After only my second question, "Do you make your own slaw?" she sighed, rolled her eyes and yelled to the line cook, "Do we make our own slaw?!" That guy was the friendliest during our whole visit, letting me know it was not dairy based, but made with a sweet vinaigarette and was with a try. We passed through the line and got to the register. When someone walked up and opened the drawer, I greeted her with a friendly "hello," to which I wasn't even met with so much as a glance. Strike two.

A slightly friendlier gal rang us up, and was reminded by another not-so-friendly staffer that we needed to pick out two cobblers because it was included in our special. I tried to thank her for reminding us, but was again met with silence.

I ordered my brisket with sauce on the side, because - as I've noted before - good barbecue should be able to stand on its own. I noticed the brisket had a good bark on it, but not much of a smoke ring to speak of. Anxious to see if the line cook was right, I dug into the slaw first. Spot on! I normally don't care for vinegar-based slaws, but this one was tops. It was much sweeter than City BBQ's. Such a sweetness that the dressing almost mimicked the house dressing from Old Hickory - which I believe I've mentioned, I'd bathe in.

I started into the brisket next. It was so dry without sauce that I couldn't finish it without a mouth full of soda. That's simply a sign of overcooking. I had a little piece of fat hanging off the side, covered in bark, so I tried that. It had been cooked so long that even the FAT wasn't overly moist. It was just okay with the sauce - but I'm not looking for "just okay" when it comes to brisket. Mr. FvF's ranch beans were pretty tasty, and the mac & cheese was very similar to Stouffer's (which isn't a bad thing). Once I opened up my cornbread, I noticed that dryness must have been a theme I wasn't privvy to, considering it was bone dry and at least one day old. Very rarely can you see a photograph of something and tell that it's stale or dry, but I think this pic gives a fairly accurate representation.

That, I figured, was fine, because now I could save my gluten-fail for the cobbler. Yet another lost cause. The crust didn't seem fresh or at all flavorful, and the filling was comprised of that gelatinous goop that you can buy by the can at Kroger and HARD peaches. Of all fruits to be hard - really, a peach?! I might give a little wiggle room for someone serving an apple pie or cobbler with firm fruit, but not a damn peach. They're soft by nature. I'm not even sure where in nature one could find a peach this firm.

Overall, the food was "meh" and the service was dreadful. We definitely won't be back.

We dug into Summer Restaurant week this evening, with our first choice - Meadowlark Restaurant. I've been wanting to go there for quite some time, it's just not really in the budget for a couple of scrappy young kids saving up for a wedding. I figured I'd wait for a special occasion to check it out, but better yet - Restaurant Week.

In case you don't already know, most mid-large market cities hold a restaurant week once or twice per year (Dayton has two), when local eateries offer special menus for a special price, part of the portions benefiting a local charity. In this case, you can get a three-course meal at Meadowlark for only $20.10. Hell of a deal.

I didn't think about making a reservation, as a lot of places don't even take them during this promotion. There was certainly a crowd, but the hostess said there was only a 30 minute wait, which didn't seem too shabby. We browsed around looking at furniture next door for a while, then came back in just under 30. Unfortunately, we waited almost another 30 minutes after returning from our window shopping. Meadowlark is situated very unassumingly in a shopping plaza near the Dayton Mall. Space inside is very limited, which means all but 5 people waiting have to hang outside. When it's 90 degrees out, that's nothing but a stone-cold bummer.

As packed as they were, none of the staff seemed flustered - everyone was still friendly and attentive. Our drink & meal orders were taken quickly. The only thing that struck me as odd is that if you order soda, it comes in a 20 oz. bottle. I've noticed a lot of small independent restaurants doing this, and I can't say I'm a fan. I always order water, but Mr. FvF likes his Sprite. Just seems like it's more cost-effective do have fountain sodas (certainly is for the consumer - no free refills here!). Then again, I'm not a restaurant owner or a buyer.

Since we ordered off the RW menu, I knew our food would come out quickly. Since most of the patrons had been waiting on line, the chef was thoughtful enough to send an extra small plate out to all of the tables - crispy, seeded flatbreads with pimento spread. Doesn't sound like much, but it was just enough of a nibble to get your appetite going. Plus, the mister doesn't care for pimento, so - more for me! Our menu appetizer came out next, and we'd both ordered the same thing - Griddled Summer Squash with Falafel, Blistered Tomatoes, Herbs, Feta, Lemon Oil and Za’atar. It was the most appetizing things I'd seen in years.
This would be a good time to mention that Meadowlark is a chef-owned restaurant, which is also mutually exclusive with having amazing food. Chef Elizabeth Wiley's creations at Meadowlark are certainly no exception. This tasted every bit as good as it looked. Mister Picky Pants doesn't care for tomatoes, so again - more for me.

Just after they cleared these plates, like clockwork, our dinners came out. I opted for the Braised Pork Shoulder with Red Chile Jus, Tortilla Budin and Vegetable Slaw...

and Mr. FvF had the Seared Red Snapper with Smoked Shrimp Hash and Fresh Corn Butter Sauce.

The first bite of mine was divine, and that feeling stuck around until I'd cleaned my plate. The pork was so tender, I'm not even sure why they bothered bringing a steak knife with the dish. As good pork shoulder should, it just fell apart at the touch of a fork. Between the sauce and the seasonings, it reminded me a lot of carnitas done very, very well. The red chile jus underneath and around the pork couldn't have been more complimentary. The veggie slaw was great - just enough vinegar and capers to bring it to life, but not soak or overpower the cabbage. I could have done without the tortilla budin. It wasn't bad, it just didn't bring much to the dish and was a bit on the bland side.

I don't dig on seafood at all (okay, now you can call ME picky), so I just have to take Mister's word on the fish dish. He gave it an overall 8 out of 10. According to him, the shrimp in the hash wasn't very detectable, and the snapper was good, just not remarkable. Keep in mind he's quite a finicky eater and lived in coastal towns for much of his life, so for him, that's a pretty good rating for seafood.

For dessert he ordered the warm eclair with French chocolate mousse, and I had the Dolcessa Gelato Fresh Peach Ice Cream with Butter Cake and Bourbon Sauce. We both traded bites of our desserts, and I have to say, the eclair wasn't memorable. It was good for an eclair, that's just not the type of dessert that impresses me. It was definitely better than Perkins-grade, but nothing you couldn't get at a local bakery. Pastries very rarely get my goat, so take this with a grain of salt.

My dessert was pretty boss. It had to be for me to keep eating it, considering cold food gives me a painful reminder that I need a root canal.
My only real complaint is that I think I may have been shorted the bourbon sauce. Basically, what I got was some great pound cake with some kick-ass gelato on top. I really despise fruit-flavored things, but love the taste of actual fresh summer stone fruits in a gelato, which Dayton's own Dolcessa Gelato very successfully provided.

I'm not sure Meadowlark will shoot quickly to the top of our favorite places to splurge, but I'll definitely make it in another time to check out their regular menu offerings.

I'm getting all ants in the pants for Summer Restaurant Week, which will run July 25-31. That's when local eateries create special menus for (typically) 3-course meals for only $20.10 and donate a portion to charity. Some joints, like Fricker's, will even have TWO for $20.10 meal deals. Not many folks have posted their menus on the MVHRA website yet, but next week you can get a sneak peak of the vittles some of the participants will be serving up. White Allen European Auto Showroom will be holding a Restaurant Week preview party, showcasing selections from places like El Meson, Rue Dumaine, Bahn Mai Thai, Coco's Bistro and Sidebar.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door, cover unlimited samplings and two drink tickets, and are available through the MVHRA website (linked above).

In case you're living under a rock, you already know that sidebar has picked up the lease at the old Pacchia space and the coffee shop has re-opened. For those of you living in the now, here's some more Gem City dining updates:

• Smashburger (which I have yet to try) is opening a location on Brown St. near University of Dayton on February 24. Maybe this will make eat easier for me to check it out since it's much closer to my end of town that their Mall-area location.
• In even awesomer Brown Street eats news, a new indie joint called Butter Cafe will be opening in the space that Dolcessa Gelato left vacant not too long ago. they'll offer breakfast and lunch, including a lot of locally grown/raised produce and meat, as well as free-range eggs and other stuff that's delicious and good for you. Big fat bonus: a gluten-free menu. I'm really excited about this place opening, but of course, all of the mongoloids on DDN.com can do is bitch about how the name is "stupid" and it sounds like the kind of place that will alienate meat eaters. Pull your heads out of your asses and get excited about something, people. Butter Cafe is slated to open its doors sometime in March.

• A handful of places garnered such great results from Restaurant week (which ended Friday 1/29), they're extending their deals one more week. Those eateries include:

Barbie's Bistro
The Melting Pot
L'Auberge
The Caroline
Welton's
Nick's Restaurant
The Dock
C'est Tout
Amelia's Bistro

Check the MVRA website for menus on these deals.

Fricker's is one of the places having a killer two-fer deal during Restaurant Week. They were offering chips & salsa to share, two rib & chicken chunk dinners - each with slaw, a roll and one side, and funnel cake fries to share. The rib & chunk dinners were only supposed to have *half* an order of chicken chunks, but this weighed in much closer to a full order. I pawned some of my garlic chicken off on the fella, as well as my roll, and still left half my slaw and one rib on the plate. This was a LOT of food for $10 per person.



The chicken was great, as always - and the ribs surprised me. I wasn't expecting much, since I've been spoiled on Old Hickory and great Southern BBQ ribs, but the sauce was just the right mix of sweet & spicy and they were very tender. The middle of the rack had some great bark on it, too, which is my favorite part about barbecue. Bark shark!

When our server (who was awesome, very friendly, and not at all frazzled by knowing jack-shit about the RW week special) returned asking if we wanted our funnel cake fries, we opted to have them fried up & put in a box to take home for a late night snack. Unfortunately, we both forgot them and left the box of goodness on the table - which I of course blamed on Mr. FvF and almost called off the wedding over. What?! Come on, it's funnel cake!

5 out of 5 sporks!

*This is the longest run I've ever had, giving 4.5 or higher to the last five consecutive restaurants. If you're waiting for me to give someone a scathing review, just give it time.

Time for another installment of Table Scraps, all of the little food news bits and blurbs from the last few days.

• Madison's Bistro in Kettering got busted and raided for not having a hooch license. Had I known they were bootlegging that whole time, I would have went in there wearing a fringed dress and a feathered headband yelling stuff like "You dumb mug, get your mitts off the marbles!"
• The most googled recipe of 2009 was "chili." Maybe it's just me being old-timey, but this seems like something for which every family should have a handed-down recipe of their own.
  
• Serious Eats (via CakeSpy) posted a recipe for Donut Upside-Down Cake that I want to make sweet, sweet fail with. Um, one of you guys should do it first and tell me if you went into any sort of diabetic coma or had a seizure after eating it.
  
• Girl's Night Out on Friday - we're planning on getting dinner and drinks. Any suggestions for Indian food, so Ginger doesn't have to be admitted to a 12 step program? Anyplace that meets this criteria and has a bar within walking distance wins bonus points and all of our love and affection. We're open to non-Indian food suggestions, too. Just keep it around $10-15 per person sans cocktails. We're not the damn Rockerfellers, you know.
• Dayton Restaurant Week is next Monday through Saturday, so gear up and peruse the menu selections here! If you're unfamiliar with DRW, it's a great time to try out Miami Valley Restaurants that you may not otherwise splurge on, since you get a three course meal for $20.12, and a good portion of the proceeds to go local charities.
  
• The Oregon District's new German joint Boulevard Haus is getting a head start on Restaurant week by offering a super sweet deal of TWO meals for $20.10, plus you get to pick a boozy beverage to share! Peep their massive amount of selections here. But hurry, the offer is only good tonight through Thursday!