panKates

Heads Carolina, Tails California

Exciting stuff has been going down around here lately.  As you may have guessed from the title of the post (though you need to be a Jo Dee Messina fan to actually appreciate it), we're moving to the Carolinas!  Yes friends, we will once again be southerners. 

Some details:

We're moving to Charlotte, North Cackalacky.  My parents aren't too thrilled (kidding, obviously).  We've lined up movers, a place to live (almost), fab-o jobs (we aren't starting new careers, just going to new firms), and a vacay to old Mexico for some down time between our current jobs and our new jobs.  That might just be the best part of this whole deal.

So what does this have to do with food?  Not much.  Except that we've already discovered our favorite restaurant in Charlotte.  A few weeks before we pulled the trigger on sending resumes and setting up interviews, I told Russ that we could not move to the Queen City if they don't have a decent Indian restaurant.  And I was only half-joking about that.  So I surfed over to our fave restaurant reservation site, OpenTable, to check out the Charlotte restaurant scene.  Not surprisingly, lots of steakhouses and similar establishments.  But I did happen upon Copper, a funky-looking Indian restaurant with an appealing menu.  So I told him we were in the clear and could start circulating our resumes.

Fast forward 3 weeks.  We're in Charlotte for interviews and we make dinner plans with some friends.   A text message conversation ensues:

Friend: "Where do y'all wanna go?" 

Me: "Doesn't matter to us, you pick." 

Friend: "Do y'all like Indian?" 

Me: "Omg, we LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Indian food!!!"

Friend: "Ok, meet us at Copper, 311 East Blvd."

Me to Russ in the hotel room: ::Screams:: "You won't believe it!!!!!  Remember that ONE Indian restaurant I found on OpenTable?!?!?!  That's where they picked for dinner!!!!!!!" ::Jumps up and down on bed::

Anyway, it definitely lived up to the hype.  Maybe I was on a "we're about to move to Charlotte" high, but I actually think it may have been better than our favorite Indian restaurant here in the Bay Area.

So I know I have a handful of Charlotte-area readers.  You folks need to get your collective booties on OpenTable or the telephone, get a reservation, and check this place out. 

Parcel 104

We generally stick to the whole healthy lifestyle thing (eat healthy, exercise, etc., etc.) during the week, but we do believe in moderation...and that means we go a little crazy on the weekends...i.e. no cooking or calorie-counting.  Knowing that I can skip the gym and eat a little more on the weekends helps keep me motivated to be healthy during the week.  I don't think any of us can be perfectly healthy 100% of the time, right? 

One weekend tradition we always look forward to is going to a nice restaurant on Saturday nights...and we're always on the look-out for a new place to try.  Last weekend, we ventured down to Santa Clara to check out Parcel 104, a place that claims to have "daily menus featuring seasonal farm-fresh American fare in the heart of Silicon Valley."  Russ managed to get us a 1,000 point reservation through OpenTable (and any of you who know me know I love anything with points...frequent flyer points, Lexis research points, etc.), so we decided to give it a shot.  Turned out to be the best dining experience we've ever had in the Bay Area, and the food was so unique that I decided to share the menu with all of you.  And for those of you who don't live in CA, maybe this will give you another reason to come visit!

We both had the six-course tasting menu, and decided to try the wine pairing as well.  Note that the menu changes almost daily, based on what the chef chooses from local farmers.  I've read a couple other reviews online which indicated that the menu can be hit or miss...we must have showed up on the right night, because every course was just perfect. 

First course: Apple fritter with bleu cheese
Paired with blanc de blanc

Second course: Wild boar sausage with beer battered oinion rings and ten year cheddar fondue
Paired with Gordon Biersch beer

Third course: Sea bass over sweet pepper salami with balsamic syrup
Paired with chardonnay

Fourth course: North Dakota bison filet with mushroom and organic spinach salad, drizzled with dungeness crab hollandaise
Paired with red wine

Fifth course: Carr valley cocoa cardona cheese platter
Paired with white wine (can't remember exactly what it was...)

Dessert (finally!): Bananas foster with grand marnier ice cream
Paired with 20-year-old port

Enjoying yourself every now and again is part and parcel of a healthy lifestyle.  If you ask me, Parcel 104 is a pretty sweet part.