Tavola Rossa is Terrific!

My office has their Christmas party at Tavola Rossa (www.tavolarossa.com) every year. We usually have random appetizers and an open bar. The food is always unique and delicious! This past Christmas, we had duck confit and tuna tartar in what looks like a little ice cream cone. The prosciutto wrapped shrimp ($11 appetizer...JUMBO shrimp) is also a big hit! The chocolate martinis are done very well!

Daryl and I decided to eat dinner here after going the mall tonight. I had a $25 off coupon, so I figured what the heck! Daryl had the shrimp and grits (of course) - $15. He said it was good and he liked the big pieces of andouille sausage. I ordered the Grilled Veggie Plate with Fresh Fish (Grouper) - $23. The grilled veggies were awesome! It was an entire plate filled with eggplant, zucchini, squash, red, green, and yellow peppers, red onion, and tomato with balsamic drizzled on it and chunks of goat cheese. The Grouper was placed on top. The fish could use a little sprucing up with some sort of seasoning. Or maybe I should've gotten it with the salmon, but the vegetables were really good!

Their complimentary bread is like a thinly sliced toast and served with hummus. My favorite!

We decided to share a dessert...the Chocolate Bomb ($7). It was a round dessert with an Oreo Crust Bottom, a layer of chocolate mousse, a layer of peanut butter mousse, and chocolate ganache on the outside. It was the bomb diggity!! It was like a really large peanut butter cup with oreos smashed into the bottom. I would go back again and again just for their signature dessert!

The wait staff was excellent! The owner even came over to check on us to see how we were doing. It was a good dinner!

Hot Point Cafe at Lassiter Mill/North Hills

I was doing a little bit of research on places that serve breakfast on Sunday mornings. Hot Point Cafe was one of them. (www.hotpointonline.com) Before planning a breakfast for approximately 15 people, I decided that we'd check it out first. Their menu online had a large variety of foods...from Thai to Mexican to Italian.

Hot Point is a small cafe with more seating outside than inside. I'm hoping the weather is nice the day that we go for Breakfast so that we can sit outside.

Hot Point is tucked away behind all of the hoopla at North Hills. It's across the street from the main "mall" and if you act like you are driving behind Bonefish and the Harris Teeter, it's hidden in the corner back there diagonal from the overpriced nail salon, Lee Nails.

Obviously we couldn't try the breakfast at 7pm, so we settled for dinner. Daryl had their special of the day, Shrimp and Grits ($9.95). Big surprise there. That's all he ever orders. It had lots of bacon in it, so it was a big pleaser!

I ordered the Thai Curry Chicken Salad ($9.95). It was a pretty large salad. There were grill veggies (Zucchini, peppers, carrots), roasted red peppers, peanuts, and curry-coconut chicken skewers served with a home-made sesame ginger dressing. DELICIOUS! The salad is also served with two very large pieces of bread that were like big honkin' homemade croutons. I was even nice enough to share with Mr. Daryl. :)

I watched the very pleasant servers bring out other dishes from the kitchen. They all looked excellent! I think next time we go for dinner, I will try one of their calzones or maybe a garlic shrimp burrito.

We'll definitely be going for breakfast the morning after our wedding!

Zydeco near Moore Square Park in downtown Raleigh

I've heard great things about Zydeco. When I found a coupon on restaurant.com for Zydeco, I figured we'd definitely have to give it a whirl! Since it was a Monday and I had no interest in cooking, I decided that Daryl could buy me dinner. But, I had a $25 off coupon, so he was getting off easy. :)

First, let me start with saying that this is a smoke-free restaurant and has a great atmosphere! If you go to their website http://zydecodowntown.com, you'll hear R&B music welcoming you to Zydeco. I'm not a big fan of R&B, but I really like that they wrote a song all about their restaurant. Zydeco is owned by Patriots defensive back, Antwan Harris who is a Raleigh native.

We ordered the Bourbon Street Shrimp to start off the meal. It was basically four large pieces of shrimp wrapped in bacon and fried. You know what they say, everything is better with bacon. :) Actually, it tasted like friend shrimp and bacon. The only thing special about this appetizer, was how "special" I felt after paying $11 for four pieces of shrimp.

On to the dinners....Daryl ordered the Shrimp and Grits ($16). Daryl orders Shrimp and Grits at almost every restaurant we go to because he's always looking for the perfect taste and portion. I believe he found it at Zydeco! The Shrimp and Grits portion is really large as far as Shrimp and Grits go. The tasso ham gravy is spread all around the cheddar grits. There are probably 8-10 pieces of shrimp throughout the dish. Daryl used a spoon to scrape the bowl when he was finished, so I'm thinking he liked it. :)

I ordered the Zydeco Ribs Half Rack ($14) with grandma's famous sauce. The meal came with two sides, so I got the the mac and cheese and the lynonaise potatoes. Grandma's famous sauce was nothing to write home about, but the ribs were very meaty and delicious. The mac and cheese was perfect! I wasn't a fan of the lynonaise potatoes; however, I'm not a big potato eater.

The service was excellent and the atmosphere was very nice. I especially like the skylights in the restaurant where the light poured down over the bar and the larger table in the back of the restaurant.

I'd definitely go back!