Don't Be Still - Get Yourself to Portsmouth

If you were raised in the Hampton Roads area and grew up in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake or Norfolk you may have this perception that Portsmouth really doesn’t have much to offer. While I have been guilty of some negative Portsmouth bashing I have come to fall in love with a little establishment called Still.

I’d love to be able to capture the essence of Still but why recreate the wheel when AltDaily nailed it.

I work in Portsmouth and it is my favorite place to grab lunch as tapas are perfect for a small mid-day meal. Even if you are more interested in liquid libations they don’t disappoint there either. One evening over cocktails one of the bartenders turned me on to a fabulous bottle of Gascon Malbec (check out this review) so the praise the staff receives from AltDaily is well deserved. I went there for lunch today on an extremely tight time frame. I gave the waitress the heads up and she delivered my tempura fried beef short rib in zinfandel demi with bacon wrapped tater tots in record time.

There are so many items on the menu that tantalize my taste buds that I could eat there every day, have something different and be completely satisfied. So to my fellow VB natives, get in your car travel over the river and through the tunnel to enjoy the marvels of this Old Towne establishment.

Pasta Mania

I went to Aldo’s last night to enjoy dinner with a group of friends. I love Italian and pasta but it has been a pasta week (spaghetti and turkey meatballs on Sunday, chicken fettuccini for dinner on Tuesday and spaghetti and beef meatballs for lunch on Wednesday), and I was in no mood for another pasta dish. Earlier in the day I mentioned wanting something “gamey,” meaning not the traditional beef, pork or chicken. I was hoping for a dish with fresh mozzarella and basil.

Eureka! Aldo’s delivered, well almost. One of the specials was a veal chop stuffed with fresh mozzarella and spinach. A simple leafy green traded for another. It was a massive man meal and the waiter was impressed with the damage I did to the chop. Pretty tasty.

I had planned to try an experiment on the waiter. I was told that waiters are told to ignore mispronunciations of food, wine, etc. A waitress friend of mine told me of a lady who ordered “facaca” bread from her. “Facaca” doesn’t sound like anything that I want to eat, but I do love focaccia bread. So my goal was to order some “facaca” unfortunately two orders had been placed prior to my arrival. Next time I guess - or if you have the opportunity do it for me and let me know how the waiter reacts.