SoBe

We had a few culinary adventures in the country to our South, which I must pass on before I write about the latest recipe test (that we gobbled up last night!!!).

In our recent trip to Florida, husband introduced me to Cracker Barrel restaurant. We stopped there en route from Kennedy Space Centre (amazing, by the way) to South Beach. It was like comfort food overload. I ordered Chicken n' Dumplings (pictured). Their dumplings are basically like perogy dough simmered in a gravy...very good, but VERY filling. They even have a cute country store at each restaurant, that I could have taken an hour to peruse, but alas, no time this time! We had a schedule that night.





We arrived in South Beach and stayed at the Hotel Astor. An excellent call we made was to have some drinks/appies in the lounge at their restaurant, Johnny V. The bartender served up a most fabulous apple martini. We then tried out their three cheese plate: we chose a creamy brie, ginger and mango stilton, and truffle pecorino (from about 40+ options). Ohmygod, it was good. So good. The accompaniments were a big plus: grilled baguette slices, fig balsamic marinated grapes (yes, grapes), sugared n' spicey pecans, and garlic olives. The brie was a little creamy for our liking and the pecorino was very rich, but those points didn't hinder our love of it all.









After that satisfying adventure and start to the evening, we hit the streets to find some dinner. That's when we ended up at Spiga, by no other reason than it looked like a nice place to have dinner. This is also the place where I had the BEST pasta dish I have ever had...FETTUCCINE CON GAMBERI E ASPARAGI (Homemade Fettuccine with Shrimp, Asparagus, Garlic, White Wine, Fresh Tomato and Olive Oil). I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but wow, it really was...all elements made it this way, from the perfectly cooked shrimp, to the soft and tender homemade fettuccine noodle. So, I digress...I wish big sis had a Spiga in Edmonton so she and her hubby could try. Needless to say, we liked the cheese experience so much we did an encore on the Friday night. There definitely isn't a shortage of cool restaurants or lounges in SoBe to explore. One place we are sad we missed was having a cocktail at Delano. Not sure there will be a next time, but hopefully vicariously through someone else!