Every now and again Huntsville will fool you. If you squint your eyes just right, you might wonder if you're in a much cooler city instead. Case in point, my last two days in Huntsville seem to be stolen from a much hipper town.
After work on Tuesday Dawn and I went out to eat at a great restaurant called 801 Franklin. I dare you to guess their street address. Their deal is they have a constantly rotating seasonal menu utilizing organic, sustainable, and local ingredients whenever possible. I had a pan seared duck breast with saffron balsamic glaze and slow roasted duck leg confit. The duck confit definitely can fit in my belly. It was one of the best duck dishes I have had in a restaurant in a long time. [As for non-restaurant, Yvonne’s five hour Egg duck rocks my world.] Dawn had a grilled lamb and venison entrée that came with “Minted Peas & Pearl Onion Orzo Pasta, Spicy Mustard Slaw, Crimini Marsala Wine Sauce.” The lamb was good, but just good. The venison was excellent and helped reinforced the notion that deer needs to meet (or is that meat) my grill more often.
After dinner we went home and I sipped cognac from a snifter and listen to some Miles Davis. Tuesday was a smashing success.
After work on Wednesday Dawn and I went to a sushi and sake tasting. I enjoyed getting to try different sakes side-by-side. Sake is normally one of those things I only have every-so-often and can never really remember what type I had last time, not to mention even being able to construct some sort of useful comparison between sake experiences. I think I would like to try more of the “cloudy sakes” in the future. They are served cold and have an interesting texture while hinting at subtle fruit flavors. Definitely something I can appreciate when it’s hot outside.
The sushi was provided by I Love Sushi which is a newer sushi restaurant in Huntsville. There was only a small amount of sushi provided at the tasting. They had to halve each of the pieces just so there would be enough to go around and even then when they put a plate out it was mobbed and instantly cleaned. I think Dawn may have bitten someone. If not, then she probably should have. At any rate, the sushi that was provided was very tasty and inspired us to simply drive out to I Love Sushi and do a more thorough investigation of their menu. We weren’t disappointed; they had some very good sushi. I was especially impressed with some of their less traditional offerings. Some of their roles include mango, zucchini, and peanut butter (don’t worry those are all in different rolls). I especially liked the “Burrito Roll – shrimp tempura, crabmeat, wrapped in lettuce and soy paper.” The menu doesn’t mention the wonderful sauce that’s included…it makes for a very tasty roll indeed.
I went home and finished the evening with an absinth and soda water or what I like to call a French-Italian soda.
Not bad couple of evenings. Definately a nice change of pace for life in the Rocket City.
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3 comments:
I know 801 says "whenever possible," but I think "whenever convenient, and based upon what is en vogue" would be more accurate. I'm sure the lamb would have been phenomenal if it had come from the same local source the now defunct Madison Meat Market sold. But New Zealand Lamb just looks more exotic on a menu.
I thought the Madison Meat Market was a completely different thing entirely. Wow, Huntsville HAS changed!
The pendulum swings slowly, but at least it's swinging!
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