A New Tomato Soup Fan

I have never cared for tomatoes. It isn’t from lack of effort. I keep trying them ever so often to make sure my tastes haven’t changed. They are beautiful pieces of fruit and in the summer nothing looks more appetizing than a fresh tomato. Burgers look more appealing with a juicy, ripe, red tomato perched upon them. How I have longed to enjoy a Caprese salad.

The kicker is that I enjoy products made from tomatoes: pasta sauce and ketchup for example. My motto is to try everything once but I must admit that I’ve never tried tomato soup because to me I thought it would taste too much like a raw tomato.

This past week I went to eat lunch at Cobalt Grille in Virginia Beach. My lunching partner was friendly with the owner, Alvin Williams, so he sent our table a cup of the soup of the day: tomato soup. I had no excuse now; it was sitting right in front of me with a few lovely croutons resting on top. It was my time to taste tomato soup.

Wow! I must say if all tomato soup is as Cobalt’s I have been missing out for sure. The soup had a great consistency, it wasn’t runny and a great rich flavor that reminded me of a homemade marinara sauce. It was delish and it made me a convert.

It just goes to show you that you always have to be open to trying new things and now I have a new addition to my diet that has all sorts of health benefits in addition to an excellent flavor. Good timing since soup is one of my favorite things to enjoy on chilly fall and winter months.

I love to eat at Eat!

Last Thursday I got to eat at one of my top 5 Hampton Roads  restaurants, Eat – An American Bistro. So cool of an establishment it doesn’t even have a website. I ate there for the first time last winter and fell in love. My best friend and I decided our mutual birthday presents to each other this year would be an evening out and since Stef had never been to Eat – that is where we went.

Eat is located on Atlantic Avenue. If you aren’t looking for it you will miss it, which perhaps is a good thing because the space is relatively small, and the food if off the charts good so if everyone knew about this little gem, I wouldn’t be able to access it as easily as I do. Parking is a chore as well, but a chore I am willing to take on just to sit at the table.

I knew what I was going to get before I walked in the door. They have this incredible dish of beef short ribs with kale over polenta . (My mouth started to water just typing that sentence.) Incredible - just doesn’t do it justice. The meat is so tender and juicy and simply melts in your mouth. My biggest issue is that as much as I love that dish I can never finish it because there is so much food and it is so filling.

This is one place I could eat at every week and never dull of the menu. The menu also changes with the seasons so with the fall weather upon us I’m anxious to see what my new favorite plate will be.

Eurasia, good food and a walk down memory lane

Last night I had dinner with a very old friend who was in town from DC. I wanted to take him to a restaurant that I had been to before and was confident in the food. I also wanted an intimate environment that would allow us to catch up on the past 18 years. With those qualifiers we ended up at Eurasia off of Laskin Road in Virginia Beach.

It was a slow Tuesday night and were treated to an awesome comfy seat (of course I took the side with the cushion and pillows) and wonderful service by Ann, a Charleston, South Carolina native.

Eurasia was voted one of the top 5 restaurants in Hampton Roads Magazine in 2008. The review said, “Regional favorites pair with Asian flavors in many dishes, while others are straightforward contemporary, seasonal and delicious. A tasty dose of Adams' Southern upbringing is also apparent.”

It was the southern dishes that attracted me. One of the specials was an appetizer of local fried okra. Done. It was tasty but I think it could have used a pinch more seasoning. For my entrée I opted for the sautéed shrimp and smoked Gouda stone grit cake with surry sausage, roasted red peppers, basil and old bay butter. Oh my! Our waitress Amy said the dish was the best “shrimp and grits” she ever had, which was validation enough. A girl from Charleston better know her shrimp and grits. Indeed she did, it was amazing. Smoked Gouda is one of my favorite cheeses and was happy to be able to taste it in the grit cake. The shrimp were cooked and seasoned to perfection.

The service really made the evening. I was riddled by a dry cough, the lingering effects of a cold that will not go away. Amy fixed me a Chamomile hot tea with local honey. Mmm - soothing and the honey was so tasty I wanted to pour it straight down my throat solo.

The only unfortunate aspect of the evening is that my friend had to drive back to DC that evening so we were unable to enjoy dessert – next time for sure.

* By the way, I was eating Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch and watching Top Chef Las Vegas during the writing of this post.