Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Louisville Trip :: Day 1 :: 610 Magnolia

Last May I had the privilege of (very briefly) meeting Edward Lee, Chef/Owner of 610 Magnolia at the Le Creuset and Garden & Gun Chef's Roundtable.

When we decided that Louisville would be our anniversary destination, I knew we had to eat at 610 Magnolia. We made reservations way in advance and called when we got to Louisville to see if we could come early for a drink or two before dinner. When we arrived, they literally had two seats at the bar, moved there just for us. We also received a complimentary glass of champagne to start off our night!







We eagerly sat for dinner, dying to see the menu, and were so excited to see some of our favorite dishes on the prix fixe menu. These included short ribs, tuna and of course chocolate!





We also were surprised to see that the cost was only $55 for the 4 course meal and $65 for the 5 course meal. We also each got the wine pairings with our meal, which was definitely a must for me.

The chef's selection trio (which isn't included as one of your courses) came out first and took me through almost every taste I posses. We had savory, sweet, succulent, refreshing, chewy, crispy, and I could go on...

Here's a snapshot of the trio. The last item was the Chef's take on a BLT and contained a BLT pâté in between two crispy pieces of bread, definitely one of our favorites!



I had already had a glass of the wine that they were intending to bring with our first course, so the Restaurant Manager/Wine Director brought out what I can now call one of my favorite wines ever, Verdad. At first sniff, it reminded me of cake batter, but it was in no way too sweet.





Our first course was absolutely wonderful. I ordered (my favorite thing ever) Seared Ahi Tuna which came with Sous Vide Abalone with Black Garlic Puree Egg Yolk-Anchovy Emulsion with Garden Tatsoi. I absolutely love his style of blending his Korean heritage with southern cooking.



Ryan ordered the Mussels which was equally as fabulous as the Tuna. I loved the presentations of these dishes too!



We next moved on to our soup/salad course where I ordered the Chilled Spring Pea Soup with Lobster, Pea Tendrils, Crispy Pancetta with Crème Fraiche and Shallots.



Ryan ordered (naturally) the 610 Charcuturie Plate that contained Braised Mustard Seeds with Garden Greens, Nigella Seeds with Baby Beets and House Pickles. There was also different meats and Blue Dog Bakery bread that was fantastic!



And then on to the entrées! We were both overwhelmed with how much food we got with these courses, I couldn't even begin to finish my meal. Then again, I was really looking forward to my dessert.

I chose the Lamb entree and it definitely did not disappoint!





Ryan had the Braised Beef Tederloin and Short Rib, so yummy!



And finally on to the course that I always look the most forward to, dessert! It was a very easy decision for me to order the Chocolate Many Ways that had Bitter Chocolate Mouse with Milk Chocolate Powder, White Chocolate Gelee with Caramel Popcorn Ice Cream.




The Bitter Chocolate Mousse was so dense and delicious, almost like fudge. The Caramel Popcorn Ice Cream was the perfect reprieve from the rich chocolate and even had bits of popcorn that gave you the texture you look for in those flavors. Amazing!


Ryan ordered the American Artisan Cheese Plate with Accompaniments. I love a good cheese plate. I feel like that's one area that Greenville is lacking, its one of my favorite things to order, such an educational and taste journey every time. 



610 was a great experience and felt like such an intimate, hole in the wall celebration for our long weekend. Not to mention, the staff was great, the wine pairings perfect and as you can see above, the food was delicious as well.


The final delivery to our table was Bourbon Chocolate Truffles, the perfect night cap!


Thursday, May 17, 2012

Louisville Trip :: Day 1 :: Nord's Bakery

We groggily arrived at our hotel in Louisville on Wednesday night around 1am ready to hit the sack and wake up fresh and ready to get out on the town the next day. When a peep of sunlight came through our blacked out hotel curtains Thursday morning, I could just tell it was going to be an epic day.

And I was not disappointed one bit.

We started off with breakfast at Nord's bakery which lies a little outside of the city. I'm an avid donut lover and Nord's definitely lived up to my wildest donutty dreams.

Not to mention, as soon as they heard we were in Louisville for our anniversary, they threw in 4 free donuts. Yep 4 whole, fluffy, amazing donuts!

Here's a snapshot of the outside:




New life goal: Get giant pink glittery whisks!





Our chosen lot: Buttercream, Maple Bacon and Pretzel



Here goes the first bite...



And I think it was a success!



Ryan's Maple Bacon donut.



One of our favorites, the pretzel donut.



Yay for free donuts!



The texture of this donut was soft, pillowy, chewy and out of this world! Especially with the maple frosting.



The Coconut donut:



I've got to find a way to duplicate this chocolate frosting, it was so good!



The Buttercream was the only one we had with filling inside and gosh the buttercream on buttercream action with the soft, amazing dough was so delish!



Fatties or foodies, y'all decide...




The original Nord's, so cool!



Even their Edible stand was retro and adorable.


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Louisville Bound!

We're Louisville bound for our 1-year anniversary!! I can't believe it will be one whole year since we've been married on Monday!


Got any recommendations for us while we're here?


We've got some super exciting plans over these next few days, here's a few of them:




  • Bourbon Tour (Buffalo Trace)

  • Churchill Downs

  • 610 Magnolia

  • 21C Museum

  • Hot Browns at the Brown Hotel

  • Sipping mint juleps (my favorite!)

  • Nord's Bakery


And oh so much more, stay tuned, we're SO excited!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Gardening 101

This weekend we decided to tackle a few outdoor projects on our house. This called for me to do some gardening.

If you're like me, my gardening education is minimal to none. So I headed to the expert's house (aka my Nana) for some gardening 101.

The end result turned out pretty good I think, only time will tell though if my plants will live (cross your fingers). But, if there's anything I've learned through this its that if I can do it, so can you.


There are a few spaces in our front yard that I feel need some filling in, so Nana educated me on most of the plants in her garden so I first could decide what I wanted. A couple hours and a truckload later, we left with new ideas and a couple boxes of hostas, lenten roses and other plants she was so gracious to split and share with us.

On the way home, we hit up Home Depot for some Miracle Grow, tools and smaller plants for the planters that hang on the front of our house. I also grabbed some herbs that I can't wait to cook with later.











I used existing planters that were here when we moved in and they already had soil, so I just removed some and added some Miracle Grow along with my plants.

The order of my plants were:

2 Begonias; 1 Coleus; 1 Begonia; 1 Dusty Miller; 1 Begonia; 1 Coleus; 2 Begonias



For my herbs, I used Rosemary, Common Sage, Sweet Basil and (my favorite) Lemon Thyme. My original intent was to hang them right outside of our kitchen window, but I ended up needing this planter for the front since one was completely rotten.





Here's my original intent until I found out a front window planter was falling apart.



Ryan had to do some maintenance on some of the planters, even outside of trying to salvage the rotten one. Note: Use a non-molding material if you're building or buying your own planters.





So there you have it! Pretty easy, right? Let me know what you end up planting!



09 10 11 12
Blogging tips