Crate & Barrel Pieces

For Mud Room$299 and $399 and island for Kitchen $499

 

 

Sonoma Wine Bar Best Bar food Award

See! I've been confirmed. Sonoma, good wine bar!

Big Mamou

Another restaurant I live right down the street from and have never tried, Big Mamou.  Surprisingly, I actually like the interior, it's quaint.  I think this would be a great spot for a brunch place.  It's got nice outside seating for those amazing weather days.


Menu, kind of looks like Onion Creek's Menu...well the design of it.  Since this is cajun, the food is nothing like Onion Creek's.


I get the chicken gumbo since I'm not a huge seafood fan, other than sushi.  This dish is really different from other chicken gumbos I've had.  It's actually pretty bland and tastes really greasy, oily is more like it.  I still prefer Treebeard's chicken gumbo.  I also had the pecan pie which was yummy.

In summary, I heard this was atypical cajun, more northern or something.  I wasn't a big fan of the food, I did like the atmosphere inside.  Ryan liked his food, but he's really easy.  He always says I'm hard to please when it comes to food and that I don't like anything, not true.  I just like tasty things and Big Mamou was not tasty.  Hopefully, a brunch place will come take it's place and us Height residents can walk over and have a nice meal on a beautiful sunny day! :)

Glass Wall

I finally got a chance to visit glass wall.  I'm pretty shameful about it since I live right down the street.  Still haven't visited Stella Sola yet either. 

Its front is all window, I like.  I walk in, bar then this frosted glass that divides the bar area and the dining area.

Tasty potato chips at the bar.

I asked for a menu and the bartender says the kitchen is closed, so he reaches over offers his To-Go food, which I refuse, he insists and puts it on a dish and brings it out. It's the Beef Short Rib (apple cider braised, apple/jalapeno jam, whipped maple sweet potatoes, $23). Again, I'm thinking of that saying..."don't bite the hand that feeds you". He insisted it was the best dish on the menu. It was good, but it wasn't excellent. The mashed sweet potatoes I thought had a weird taste to it. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was funky. He also insisted I try this specific cab and poured, I liked and he didn't even charge me for it.

In summary, I really liked the interior. I definitely want to try it again, I'll have to try another dish though. Our bartender was amazing. You can tell he believes in the restaurant. He was extremely accommodating and really wanted me to enjoy my food, wine and time there. He really made me feel important/special, he was fantastic. Great bartender. I will definitely be back.

Piola

Piola is new in midtown off of Louisiana next to Sushi Raku.  It's Italian, pizza is their specialty and they are a national chain.

I thought it looked cute on the outside.  Interior is decent.

Fun menu and designs.

Bruschetta, tons of tomatoes.  It's basically what it looks like, toasted bread, tomatoes, basil and some parmasan.

Seth got the FUSILLI BIANCO VERDE (With broccoli, chicken breast, cream and grana padano cheese. $11).  He made a comment about Piola just settling for mediocre.  I tried this dish too, it was pretty bland and boring.

I asked our server to recommend something, I always tell them I'm going to blog.  She suggested the Piola pizza. I liked it.  One complaint, there were too many sundried tomatoes.  I had to scooch some of them off.  I love thin crust, but the problem with that is you never quite feel satisfied.  It's almost like you have to have it as an appetizer.  I think La Griglia has this pizza in their bread basket and it's good and free!

I thought our server was ok.  I think she forgot us at the end.  She did seem new at the job.  The manager came by and gave us a sample of the gnocchi.  It's all you can eat for $13 every 29th day of the month.  They were very friendly and nice and I thought the gnocchi was good minus the fact it had tuna on it.  Fishy.

Final thought is that it's a decent spot in midtown and near downtown if you're looking for something Italian and/or pizza.  But even then I'd prefer NY Pizzeria.  Between the bruschetta, pasta, gnocchi and pizza I wasn't really impressed.  It felt very minimal.  I wasn't too crazy about the interior decor either.  But again, staff and sever were very friendly.  If you do make it this way, try Sushi Raku.  I've always had great experiences there from the food, staff, atmosphere, and beating on the drumbs!

Florist at Krogers

What an amazing selection! Ranging from $10-35 plus.

Happy Holidays from Soo, Lola & Cody!!