By Location Archives - Page 37 of 42

Chato Brasserie-March 3, 2012

March 4, 2012

Living Social is a fabulous thing. Thanks to Living Social, we got $20 worth of food at Tremont Tavern last week, I paid $10 plus shipping for $50+ worth of business cards and bumper stickers (!) Friday night, and last night, we got $40 worth of food for $20 at Chato.

I’ve been wanting to try Chato ever since I saw them featured in the Dining Out insert in the Sunday edition of the Chattanooga Times-Free Press when they first opened. They feature food with a slight French flair but it’s not really a “French restaurant”. The food is upscale and the atmosphere is as well, but we wore jeans and did not feel out of place at all. We saw a party, people on dates, older people, younger people, and families with children dining here….it’s definitely an “inclusive” environment, unlike some of the other upscale restaurants in town that shall remain unnamed….and that you will not likely see reviewed here. Chattavore and pretentiousness don’t mix.

One of the first things that I noticed was that the chef-owners were not in the kitchen, for the most part. One of them appeared to be expediting, and I even saw him taking food to diners, and the other was walking around interacting with diners. I have a slight case of amnesia, but I think he may have brought our appetizer to us…I do remember that he stopped to check on us on two different occasions. That may be the first time that this has ever happened, and it definitely made an impression on me.

The menu is divided into three sections: Small Plates (small appetizers), Medium Plates (slightly larger appetizers?), and Large Plates (entrees). It didn’t take us long to decide on a small plate: Crisp Pork Belly, served with chipotle slaw and onion petals. The slab of pork belly was served on top of the slaw with the onion petals on the side. The onion petals were, well, onion petals….they tasted fine, but alone I didn’t think they were much to get excited about. The slaw was good, slightly sweet, slightly vinegar-y, with just a slight hint of chipotle that definitely did not leave my mouth burning, which is a good thing. The pork belly….oh, the pork belly. The crispiness was just on the top, and the rest, well, it’s pork fat, people. Delicious, melt-in-your-mouth pork fat. Oh my. I was sold. We only ordered one small plate, but I was intrigued by the Chato salad, which includes a poached egg with bacon lardons on greens, and the southern biscuits with honey-truffle butter, as well as the Caesar salad with basil-caper dressing and the potato-leek soup with crispy shallots on the medium plate menu.

I agonized a bit over my choice of an entree. The sweet-tea brined, roasted chicken was tempting…but seemed a little normal. The sugar-cured pork tenderloin was tempting, especially since it was accompanied by pimento cheese mashed potatoes…but I knew that my mom had mentioned having a pork roast at our Sunday family dinner. So, I decided on the braised boneless short ribs, with hoisin sauce, herb-mascarpone polenta (mascarpone is an Italian soft cheese similar to cream cheese), and garlic spinach (one of my favorite at-home veggies). Our server, Alex, told us that all of the meats are cooked sous-vide, which means that the meats are vacuum sealed and cooked in a water bath. This renders the meats very tender, and then the meats are finished to produce browning, crispness, etc. I loved the polenta and the spinach, both of which were cooked perfectly and seasoned just right. As for the meat….well, I’m not going to lie. I am not a huge fan of hoisin, which is sort of a Chinese barbecue sauce. The short rib could have stood on its own without the hoisin sauce. I scraped most of that off, and found the meat to be very tender and flavorful. So, the only issue that I had was one that I had not with the meat but a standard sauce that I don’t like in any dishes.

Philip wrestled with what to order as well, but he kept coming back to the Maple Leaf Farms Duck Confit Cassoulet. It was a duck leg/thigh with crispy skin, served on a bed of cassoulet (a sort of bean casserole with sausage-chorizo, in this case) and arugula with carrots. He had ordered duck once before in another popular restaurant in town and did not like it one bit, but decided to go for it again. First of all, let me say that they had him at chorizo. He loves chorizo, and really loved it with the cannelini beans in the cassoulet. He was nervous about the duck….but needn’t have been. This experience was 100% different than the time before. The skin was wonderfully crispy and the duck cooked perfectly. It tasted like a slightly saltier, slightly fattier (not in a bad way!) dark meat chicken or turkey. Delicious!

About halfway through our large plates, Alex came by and mentioned to us that their dessert special was a lavender souffle with honey-chevre creme anglaise poured in the center, and that it took about twenty minutes so if we were interested he would go ahead and put in our order. Since we had looked at the menu prior to going to Chato, we knew that they had crème brûlée on the menu, and Philip is a crème brûlée fiend, so we told Alex that, while the souffle sounded great, we were going to have to stick with the tried and true. Besides, I’m not so sure about honey-chevre creme anglaise. Chevre is goat cheese, and I am not a fan, so…..anyway, the crème brûlée was a white chocolate-raspberry. The raspberry sauce was on the bottom of the dish and on the top of the custard, just under the bruleed sugar. I was impressed at the size of this dessert. Usually, when we order this in restaurants, it comes in a ramekin that’s about 1/8 of an inch thick and we each get 2.5 bites of it…not this one. I didn’t really detect much of a white chocolate flavor, but it tasted very lemony, which was fine by me-I love lemony desserts. After we got home, I told Philip that I wanted another one. Great dessert!

Chato also serves brunch on Sundays from 11-3, and I am anxious to try their brunch. The brunch menu includes a whole list of Eggs Benedicts (I love Eggs Benedict!) as well as some sandwiches/burgers, waffles, and a few interesting entrees. Count me in!

Chato is not inexpensive, but for a special, occasional night out, it is worth the price. I especially love that, like I said in the beginning, it is an upscale restaurant that avoids pretentiousness. They are open from 5-9 Monday through Thursday, 5-10 Friday and Saturday, and 11-3 Sunday. Chato is located at 200 Manufacturers Road, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can reach them at 423-305-1353. Check out their website, http://chatodining.com. You can find them on Facebook as well.

Tremont Tavern-February 25, 2012

February 25, 2012

Quite some time ago, one of my friends told me that one of his favorite burgers in Chattanooga was at Tremont Tavern. I checked out their menu and discovered that there were quite a few burgers to be had at this tiny haunt in the Riverview section of North Chattanooga. When a Living Social deal to Tremont Tavern popped up in my email…..I jumped on it. It’s a great way to try new places and save a ton of money! $10 for $20 worth of food…couldn’t pass it up.

From the outside, you can tell that Tremont Tavern is a small joint, and my brother had told me that inside it’s even smaller than it looks, so I knew that we needed to pick a time that it wouldn’t be too busy, since we don’t really like to wait (for this reason, we rarely go out to dinner on Friday or Saturday nights!). We went for lunch today, and we were astounded at how popular this tiny place is! There were a ton of people there, and we managed to snag the last available table (it’s a seat-yourself sort of place). There were several seats at the bar. We were amazed at how many families were at this tavern…but I’d be happy to take a child there for one of their fantastic burgers, which I’ll describe for you in a moment. There were specials listed on the board when we walked in-a surf & turf burger, a shrimp po’ boy, a couple of beers, and an extensive list of draught beers available. They also have a couple of shelves of beer mugs engraved with numbers, with a person’s name engraved on a little gold plate on the shelf under each mug. Apparently, once you’ve tried all of the beers on their list, you get your own mug. I thought that was pretty interesting!

It took a few minutes for the one server that was working (another quickly joined her) when we first got there (30 minutes after they opened-and they were already full!) to get to us, so when she got to us we had decided on our order. We decided to order the hummus du jour, which was lemon-garlic and served with toasted pita wedges. It was nicely salted (undersalted hummus = very bad), and I really liked the lemon. I loved the crunch on the toasted pita wedges. Now, here’s the problem with being someone who cooks lots of different things at home…sometimes you find that when you order your standards in restaurants, they don’t quite measure up to your own. That’s not to say this hummus wasn’t good….we ate all of those pita wedges and over half of the hummus. It didn’t have quite as much garlic as I use, and was a little drier than mine (I add yogurt-I’ll post my recipe sometime!)…so anyway. It’s what you’re used to, I guess. , and I loved the idea of a “hummus du jour”. I’d love to go back and try some more hummus varieties!

That’s a cucumber slice in the middle of that hummus, by the way….

It shouldn’t surprise you to know that I ordered the pimento burger (after briefly considering the Chuck “It-Puts-the-Guacamole-on-It” Fisher burger because the name made me laugh). It has homemade pimento cheese (one of my favorite things) and bread and butter pickles on a Niedlov’s bun. I also ordered the homestyle chips (the other sides available were steak fries and Tavern tater tots). The chips, as expected, were pretty much the same as I found at Market Street Tavern, so I loved those. The burger….well, let me begin by saying that the bun bottom was dripping. That’s not a bad thing. This was a super-juicy burger. I was slightly concerned about the bread and butter pickles, because I haven’t really liked sweet pickles in the past. They really, really work here. The sweetness combined with the wonderfully browned meat and the melty pimento cheese was just amazing. There were tiny flecks of fresh jalapeno in the pimento cheese, making it just slightly spicy. I was sold. In fact, they had me at the soggy bun bottom. Wowsers.

Philip decided on the jalapeno jack burger, with fresh jalapeno, bacon, ancho cilantro dressing, pepperjack cheese, green leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, and red onion. He decided on the tots as his side. I really should start tasting his food every time, because when I ask, I rarely get much description….but he loved his burger. His favorite thing was the fresh jalapenos, which really make a burger “pop” more than pickled jalapenos. He said that the main spice to the burger was the jalapeno…the dressing wasn’t extremely spicy. His burger was super-drippy too. He wasn’t crazy about the tots, which he said tasted like they weren’t salted….but, once you’ve had tots fried in duck fat, I’m not sure any tots can satisfy. I tasted one….it tasted…like a tot! That was the only thing bordering on a “problem” that we had with our meal.

This is a great local establishment. I was absolutely blown away by the popularity…by the time we left, all of the tables as well as the bar were completely packed out. Tasting the food, though, I see why. In addition to the burgers, there are also salads, sandwiches, and soups on the menu…but I’m not sure I’ll ever find out how good those are, since I’ll probably be ordering burgers as a rule here (my next try is going to be the Coltrane (One-eye) burger with a fried egg on top). It’s a great atmosphere with a focus on buying as many local ingredients as possible. You should try it-but be prepared to sit elbow-to-elbow with a stranger (it’s worth it)!

Tremont Tavern is located at 1203 Hixson Pike, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can contact them at 423-266-1996. You can find their menu and beer list on their website, http://tremonttavern.com. You can “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. They open at 4 p.m. on Mondays, 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday-Friday, and at noon on Saturday. I am not sure about when they close….their hours are not listed on the website! It is a bar, though….so late.

Brewhaus-February 18, 2012

February 19, 2012

Back in November, when Philip and I went to Good Dog, we noticed a new restaurant on the north shore called Brewhaus. I am sure you won’t be surprised that it didn’t take long for us to figure out that it was a German restaurant-a German gastropub, the website calls it. We were immediately intrigued. When we were trying to decide where to eat with a couple of friends this weekend, Brewhaus came up and we decided to try it out.

We arrived at Brewhaus at 6:30ish. I wasn’t too sure how the seating worked when we walked in; there were no signs asking customers to wait to be seated. When a server walked by, I asked him how it worked and he told me that it was first-come, first-served. We grabbed the one empty table that we saw, out on the back porch, which was covered since it was only in the 50s and beginning to drizzle. When our friends came, one of them asked if the outdoor heater behind our table could be turned on, since the temperature was dropping. I’m not sure why, but it took us asking twice and another person asking as well before it was turned on. I am assuming it was just because they were pretty busy. Anyway, the heater made it nice and toasty….

Covered Porch on a Cool, Drizzly Evening

Our server was also the bartender, and she was very helpful with suggestions. The menu consisted of appetizers, a handful of salads, sandwiches (mostly burgers), a hot-dog style brat, entrees, “side cars” (aka side dishes), a couple of desserts, and drinks (they have a variety of bottled beers-both German and otherwise-as well as an ever-changing selection of draft beers). After considering the fried pickles, Philip and I ordered a honey-bacon deviled egg appetizer. It was a fairly standard deviled egg topped with large pieces of bacon, with honey on the side for dipping. That’s right-honey. It seemed quite strange, as I am sure that it probably does to you….but oddly enough it really worked! Very tasty. I never would have thought of serving honey with deviled eggs!

Deviled Eggs with Bacon & Honey Dipping Sauce

I had pretty much decided before I ever set foot in the restaurant what I was going to order: The Rooster Schnitzel Weiner Art (and you better believe I pronounced it “veener”, not “weiner”. I’m all about authenticity!). This is a pork loin cutlet, pounded thin, breaded, and fried (classic schnitzel) and topped with a fried egg. On the server’s recommendation, I ordered German potato salad and veggie medley. I really liked the schnitzel….the oozy fried egg yolk really made the whole thing. The egg was highly peppered, and if I order this again I will probably ask them to go a little light on the pepper. It just made it a little spicier than I would have liked. The crispy coating on the schnitzel was perfectly fried and the meat was not greasy. The veggies were good…carrots, broccoli, and snow peas, cooked till crisp-tender and lightly seasoned. However, I was not very happy with the German potato salad. German potato salad is served warm, which I like, and has a vinegary dressing, which I also like (I’ll post my potato salad recipe sometime), and it has bacon in it, which I like in theory….but my potato salad was pretty much just bacon. A big pile of limp bacon. I’m not sure what happened….maybe I got the last of the batch and ended up with the majority of the bacon? There were very few potatoes on my plate. I didn’t care too much for the dressing, either. It was just a little weird to me. Philip liked his, though, so don’t make your decision based on my opinion. Your experience might be better than mine. I should have ordered the spaetzle (more on that in a minute).

Rooster Schnitzel Weiner Art with Overly-Baconated German Potato Salad and Veggie Medley

Philip decided on the Jäger Schnitzel Weiner Art-and no, it does not contain Jägermeister. It’s a classic schnitzel, as I described above, served with mushroom gravy on top. Philip decided to get German potato salad and spaetzle as his “side cars”. As I said above, he really liked his potato salad….but then, his was not just a gigantic pile of bacon. He did not care so much for the spaetzle, which is an egg noodle dish with a tiny bit of creamy sauce. I, on the other hand, really liked it and ate several bites of his. He loved the schnitzel and ate the whole thing.

Jager Schnitzel Weiner Art with German Potato Salad and Spaetzle

Our friends both ordered Hamburg Cheeseburgers….one of them topped with pimento cheese. She said that she was a little concerned about ordering the burger since she didn’t know anything about it and had very recently eaten a Terminal burger, which is hard to follow. She liked the burger, but said that it was not as good as a Terminal burger. No surprise there (no offense, Brewhaus! The Terminal burger is one of the best around.). She did say that their pimento cheese was really good and that The Terminal should get the Brewhaus pimento cheese recipe to put on their burgers. You know what that tells me? I need to order something with pimento cheese next time (you know I have a things for pimento cheese)! They also ordered homefries and thought they were really good.

Hamburg Cheeseburger with Pimento Cheese & Home Fries

At the end of the meal, I was a little bit sad that I was so full, because I wanted some of the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (aka black forest cake, aka chocolate cherry cake) from The Hot Chocolatier. No, no German chocolate cake-did you know that German chocolate cake is not actually German? It was named after Baker’s German’s Chocolate. See the useless knowledge you gain when you watch food television all the time? Black forest cake, on the other hand, is authentically German. Next time, I will be saving room for this!

Well, next time I visit Brewhaus, I will be skipping the potato salad…and probably the appetizer, just so I can replace it with dessert. There will be a next time, though. The atmosphere is really cool in this “gastropub”, and I liked most of the food. I encourage you to try it out, and don’t be afraid of the word schnitzel….or spaetzle…or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. This is a great local restaurant.

Brewhaus is located at 224 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can reach them at 423-531-8490 or info@brewhausbar.com. Check out their website: http://brewhausbar.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.

Market Street Tavern-February 11, 2012 CLOSED

February 12, 2012

Market Street Tavern closed at the beginning of December 2012.

You know what my favorite type of meal in a restaurant is? The kind I don’t have to pay for. Okay, technically we paid $3.01 in tax + the tip….but that’s all. Philip’s sister gave us a gift certificate to Market Street Tavern for Christmas. I’m not sure why we just now got around to using it, but the coldest day so far this year seemed like a perfect time to park a mile away and walk in the wind tunnels between the buildings in downtown Chattanooga. I mean, doesn’t it make sense to you? Anyway….

We got there at 12:15; they open at noon on Saturdays and we were the first customers. I think that happened to us the last time we went there a couple of years ago. I guess a “tavern” is probably more crowded in the evenings. Obviously, we were seated immediately. The first thing that I noticed (as with the last time that we went there) was the one problem I have with Market Street Tavern-the decor. The space used to be an Italian restaurant (Cibo, I think) and they just kept the decor. The walls don’t bother me, and part of the restaurant has nice-looking hardwood floors, but the carpet, tables, and chairs could use an update. Still, I don’t go to restaurants for the decor, so it’s definitely not going to affect my decision to go back or not.

We ordered our waters and some fried pickles. I puffy-heart love fried pickles so I was very happy to see them on the appetizer menu. Link 41 sausage was also available but we had already ordered the fried pickles when we realized that. They took about 10 minutes and they were hooooootttttt. The fried pickles here are pickle spears, not chips….I think I’ve decided I like spears better, although they hold the heat in more so they are definitely more risky to eat. I definitely burned my mouth! Oh well-my fault! They were battered, not breaded, which I loved, and served with ranch dressing for dipping. There were 6 spears….and we ate them all. Mmmmm.

I couldn’t decide between the Tavern pizza (herbed flatbread with artichokes and sundried tomatoes) or the Sequatchie Cove burger, so I asked our server, Kate, which she would recommend. She recommended the burger, so I ordered it, medium, with sauteed mushrooms and Swiss cheese. For my side, I chose chips; they are housemade. If they had been packaged chips, I would have opted for fries. In case you don’t know, Sequatchie Cove is a local farm that sells grass-fed beef; yea for local! The burger is served on a Niedlov’s bun. I definitely was not disappointed by this burger. It was so juicy that the bottom of the bun was drenched, but the bread was sturdy enough that it still held together. As you see in the photo, the burgers are served with lettuce, tomato, and onion. I left the onion on for the pic, but removed it immediately after, of course. The burger was perfectly cooked, and since it was local, grassfed beef from a source that I know and trust, I was fine with eating it pink. Delicious! The handcut chips were great too, and if I hadn’t eaten 3 fried pickle spears, I would have cleaned my plate.

Philip decided to order shrimp and grits. Ever since the first time we ate at Food Works, he has been on a mission to find a restaurant that serves shrimp and grits as good as theirs. Up to this point, he has been unsuccessful….but he actually liked Market Street Tavern’s shrimp and grits better. I was beside myself. The shrimp and grits here consisted of three fried grit cakes (he felt they could have served two and it would have been plenty of food), country ham, sauteed shrimp, brown butter sauce, and scallions. The country ham and the brown butter sauce give a deep, smoky, rich flavor, and the grit cake (as opposed to just a big bowl of grits) lends structure and texture. Amazing. We considered dessert, but we were way too stuffed for one of their gigantic cupcakes made by Belle’s Cupcakes, and since I was planning to bake a cake to blog, it seemed like overkill to get one to go. Next time!

I didn’t know this, but I guess Market Street Tavern and Tremont Tavern are owned by the same person or people. I guess that makes sense…..especially since the burger was so good. I haven’t tried Tremont yet, but I actually have a Living Social deal for there, so it will be coming soon. I have heard that their burgers are among the best in town….but that’s another post.

This was definitely a great dining experience for us. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend Market Street Tavern. They are located at 850 Market Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. You can call them at 423-634-0260. Their website is http://marketstreettavern.com; you can follow them on Twitter or “like” them on Facebook. I am including photos of their menu; not great photos but they’ll give you an idea of the offerings.

9/16/12: Over the summer, Market Street Tavern moved across the street to 809 Market Street. Of course, the restaurant has a more updated look, and the menu has gotten an update as well. I hope to write an updated post about them soon!

Delia’s Dayton-February 8, 2012

February 8, 2012

You may have read my glowing review of Delia’s Taqueria right here in good ol’ S-D back in December. I pretty much declared that Delia’s is the best Mexican food I have ever eaten, and I pretty much swore off all other Mexican restaurants at which I have eaten to date. Remember that? Well, I found out that Delia’s has a sit-down location in Dayton, TN, and I knew I had to go ASAP. A much-needed personal day from work provided the opportunity to go with Philip, my mom, and my sister for lunch. I was not disappointed!

Delia’s in Dayton is just past the “town” part of Dayton…you might think you’ve gone too far, until you see the bright orange double wide on the left. It’s a dine-in/take-out, with a window outside for those who are taking out. There were not many people dining in when we got there, so we were seated immediately, and baskets of free and unlimited chips and salsa were quickly delivered to our table. That’s one of the advantages to dining in, obviously! The chips were the delicious homemade chips that are served at Delia’s in Soddy-Daisy, but Philip thought that the salsa seemed a little different-less chunky, but still delicious. I liked that the salsa was served in these little mini-carafes with an individual bowl for each person. Double-dip away! (By the way, what do you think of the pics? I got a new phone and the camera is vastly better than the camera in my ipod.)

The menu at Delia’s Dayton is identical to the menu at Delia’s Soddy-Daisy, with the obvious difference in address and phone number. It took me ages to decide what to eat because so many menu items sounded so appealing, but I finally decided on the quesadilla Taco Roc (have you heard of Taco Roc? It’s on Lee Highway. Yep, apparently they own that too. It’s on the list!). Pretty much just meat and cheese on a flour tortilla with guacamole, lettuce, pico de gallo, and sour cream. I ordered mine with steak. Everything about it was delicious, and I ate the whole gigantic thing. The steak had a great grilled flavor and was very tender and sliced very thin. I’ve only recently started eating guacamole, and I thought that theirs was great-not super-chunky, which I appreciated. I also greatly appreciated that the pico did not have huge chunks of onion in it-they were small enough for me to tolerate (I have issues with raw onions, in case you didn’t know). It was also slightly spicy but not overly so. Thank goodness. I’m a huge wuss. I would definitely order this again!

My mom decided on the tacos platter with ground beef on flour tortillas. I’ve had this twice, except on corn tortillas, which I prefer for tacos. As has been my experience in the past, everything was pretty much perfect with this meal-perfectly seasoned meat, great rice, and skin-less refried beans. She really enjoyed it (also, I might mention that the day after Philip and I first tried Delia’s my parents tried it, and they’ve gone there about 100 times since. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But not much of one.).

My sister decided to just have the chicken with cheese sauce, which she ate with chips. As you see below, it was basically just a bowl of chicken, chopped up into tiny bits and sauteed, then mixed with cheese sauce (which, interestingly, is absent from the menu as an “appetizer”-come to think of it, there is no appetizer menu). The chicken was nice and brown and very fresh-tasting, and the cheese sauce tasted great and was very thin, which is how I like it.

Philip had been chomping at the bit to go to the sit-down location so that he could try the chimichanga, which is generally his go-to menu item at a Mexican restaurant. He hadn’t tried the chimichanga at the Soddy-Daisy location because he was afraid that it would get soggy by the time he got it home. He kept it simple and ordered ground beef as his meat. He was not disappointed. He loved that this chimichanga contained sauteed vegetables (green and red peppers and onions) and not just meat like the chimichangas at most Mexican restaurants. He was truly raving about this meal. I tasted it as well and found it to be delicious. Another win for Delia’s!

Delia’s in Dayton is a bit of a drive if you live in Chattanooga or even Soddy-Daisy, but if you happen to be in the Dayton area and you are looking for fantastic, fresh food, go there. It’s fantastic!

Delia’s is located at 8795 Rhea County Highway, Dayton, TN 37321. You can reach them at 423-570-1813. I am including the menu for Delia’s Soddy-Daisy below for reference; prices may differ somewhat.

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