Restaurant Week SC - Dianne's on Devine

We've been celebrating Restaurant Week here in Columbia since January 12.  So far, I've hit up two different places, with a third on tap for tonight.  I'll be recapping everywhere I've been (obviously), but I wanted to start with last night's meal at Dianne's on Devine.  No pictures, since the lighting was rather dim, and I wasn't going to use an overly bright flash to get good quality shots.

We Have a Winner!!!

Many thanks to those of you who entered my little blogiversary giveaway!  I appreciate the comments and suggestions about the blog.  I'm definitely going to try to put some of your ideas into practice.  I'm hoping our winner will enjoy the prize: a copy of Eric Dishes & Dustin Mixes.  Fair warning...my prize copy hasn't actually gotten to me from Amazon yet, but it should be delivered around the middle of this week.  As soon as it's here, I will send it off to the winner.


And now, without further ado, the winner of the giveaway (as determined by Random.org) is....

ASHLEY

Ashley, if you would please email me at thehungrylady [at] gmail [dot] com and send me your mailing address, we can discuss your prize.  Also, if you would like to provide a review of one (or more) of the recipes in the book, I'd love to have it as a guest post.  And make sure you stop over at Eric Dishes to let him know what you think of his book. 

Restaurant Week, 2012, and a Contest

Happy 2012, y'all!  Yes, I realize that I'm about two weeks late with the New Year's wishes, but sometimes that's just the way it goes.  This is really just a big housekeeping type post, though I promise that I have a few reviews that I'm sitting on.  Hopefully they will start to appear this weekend...assuming I don't have too much homework to do for my classes that started this week.


First things first. South Carolina Restaurant Week starts tomorrow, January 12.  It runs through Sunday, January 22, and features tons of deals across the state.  The options for those of us in the Columbia are pretty awesome, but if you're outside of the capital city or feel like a quick road trip, the choices in other parts of our fair state look to be worth the trip.  I'll be hitting up three restaurants (and finally using up my gift cards!) - Dianne's on Devine, Villa Tronco, and Rosso.  Needless to say, I'm pretty excited.


Moving on.  I don't normally make New Year's Resolutions because then I can't be disappointed in myself when I fail to keep them.  This year, I've decided to take a leap of faith and make a few.  But only for the blog. Not for my non-blog existence.  In 2012, I would like to:

• Visit a new restaurant at least once a month.  This may not seem like a big deal, but now that my gift cards are just about gone, I have to find a way to work it into the budget.  I think this is a resolution I can stick to though.  And I'm taking requests for places to review.
• Post at least twice a week.  This one may be a little trickier.  I don't want to write if I have nothing new to say.  I'm debating opening up the blog for guest posts, so let me know your thoughts about that.
• Figure out a way to incorporate my other great love into the blog.  That would be music, for those of you just tuning in.  I'm still hammering out the details on that one, but as music is food for the soul, there should be some way to work it in.
• Learn to cook.  There.  I said it.  My 2012 life goal is to learn to cook.  Here's the thing.  I am capable of cooking, I just really don't like to.  I get bored, so I stop paying attention, so everything burns.  Vicious cycle.  So this year, I'm going to start simple and try to find recipes that don't require me to pay too much attention.  I'm open to all suggestions.

Given that last resolution, it seems appropriate that as a prize for my 1 year blogiversary, I'm giving away a cookbook.  Yes, that's correct. The Hungry Lady turns 1 at the end of this month. To celebrate, I'm giving away a copy of Eric Dishes & Dustin Mixes, a new cookbook authored by my friend Eric.  Eric and I have known each other since we were awkward high school freshmen, and though we haven't really kept in touch (except via Facebook) since graduation many years ago, I follow his food blog and love his recipes.  The best part?  The recipes look like they make some fancy food, but it's all very simple to prepare.  I asked Eric if I could use his book for a giveaway, and he was all in favor of the idea.  

See what you can win?  Check out Eric's blog or the Amazon.com page for more information.  

So here's how this is going to work.  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post by 5 p.m. EST on Saturday, January 14.  Tell me why you like this blog, things you would like to see on the blog, how you feel about guest posts, your thoughts on Restaurant Week, etc.  Just keep it food or blog related.  After 5 on Saturday, I'll go ahead and use a random number generator to pick a comment and determine the winner.  The winner will be announced in a separate post on Sunday morning.  If you are the winner, you will need to email me (thehungrylady [at] gmail [dot] com) to claim your prize.  I must receive your email by Monday at noon EST.  If the winner hasn't contacted me, I'll pick a new one.  I know that sounds complicated and annoying, but it's the only way I can think of that doesn't require you to leave your personal email in comments.  Plus, I wouldn't mind the blog views.


Go. Tell your friends.  Leave a comment.  Check out Eric's blog (linked above).  Win the contest.  And if you win, and want to review one of the recipes in a guest post, that would be pretty awesome.  Happy 2012!

Fra-gil-e. Must be Italian.

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season!  Christmas is one of my absolute favorite holidays (it's about equal on my list to Thanksgiving and St. Patrick's Day), so I've been reveling in the holiday spirit, starting well before I headed out of SC a few days before Christmas.  Believe it or not, I'm still trying to use up the rest of my giftcards that I won last January.  I discovered that one of them was going to expire before the advent of 2012, so I called up R and we headed to use that one up at Ristorante Divino.


As you might have gathered from the name, Ristorante Divino serves authentic Italian food.  And by "authentic," I mean that the chef / owner is from Italy.  Right on.  The restaurant is tiny - like maybe 15 tables in the entire place.  We didn't have a reservation - it was the middle of the week, so we didn't think we'd need one - but we probably should have.  I absolutely adored the atmosphere.  It was intimate without feeling crowded, dark without being overdone.  I personally wouldn't have gone to dinner wearing anything less formal than what I had on (I had come straight from work), but there were other people there in less formal attire.  I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post, but there was a sign at the hostess stand that asked that cell phones not be used in the dining room, a directive I was happy to comply with.


We were seated right away, and our server came over almost immediately to take our drink orders.  After perusing the menu, we each decided to start with soup.  R had the soup of the day, which was a wild mushroom dish.  It was incredible.  The flavors were spot on.  It was rich, creamy, and delicious.  This was probably one of the best things about our meal that night.  I had the lobster bisque, which was equally rich and creamy.  There were huge bits of lobster in it.  I very strongly considered a) licking the bowl and b) using the fresh bread on the table to sop up every last bit of soup.  In the end, I did neither, as I do, on occasion, have a wee bit of class and know how to behave properly.


The pace of dinner was great, as we had a few minutes to relax and chat before our entrees arrived.  I ordered the linguine ai fruitti di mare, or for those of us who don't speak Italian, seafood linguine.   It had shrimp (which I picked out and gave to R), scallops, calamari, tomatoes, and garlic in a pinot grigio sauce.  The entire plate was also ringed with mussels.  I really wish I could have taken a picture of this dish, because the presentation was beautiful.  It tasted as good as it looked.  The scallops were perfectly cooked, and the tomatoes and garlic created a great flavor.  The pasta was a perfect al dente, which is huge in my book, as I despise overcooked pasta.  It really was a deceptively simple dish.  Everything complemented everything else and tasted absolutely divine.


R ordered one of the specials that night, which I believe was trout.  It was served with mascarpone mashed potatoes and a red wine sauce.  R enjoyed it.  The fish was perfectly cooked, and the mashed potatoes were out of this world.  They were creamy and a little bit tart, as you would expect from potatoes made with mascarpone.


And of course, no meal would be complete without the perfect dessert.  I had the cheesecake (of course).  It was creamy and awesome.  It came with a drizzle of raspberry sauce and fresh berries.  It was a rather large portion after a huge dinner, but the berries were the perfect way to end the evening.  R had a grilled chocolate pound cake with whipped cream and berries.  It was a much lighter choice than my cheesecake, but again, for me, the berries were the standout.


Once again, I enjoyed a fantastic meal at a locally owned Columbia restaurant.  Anyone who tells you we don't have a food scene in this city must not be looking too hard.  Ristorante Divino is just another brillant gem that Columbia has to offer.  It's probably not much of an everyday spot, as it's a bit pricey, but I would definitely head there for a special occasion.

Final Rating

You can find Ristorante Divino on Facebook, or on the web. 

DRY Soda - Product Review

I'm officially the worst product reviewer in the world.  My sincere apologies to the lovely people at DRY Soda who sent me drinks to review almost three months ago.


Back at the beginning of October, the sweet people at DRY Soda emailed me to ask if I'd like to review their product.  DRY was just launching a new flavor, and were doing so while they were part of the Urban Outfitters Store on Tour. The first stop on the tour was Columbia, and while I didn't make it to the event because I was out of town, I was still on board to try out the new flavor of DRY Soda.


It may seem a little odd that I decided to review a line of sodas because I'm not a soda drinker.  I might have a soda five times a year.  I think most of them are way too sweet.  I stick to water, and not flavored water either.  Artificial flavoring just doesn't do it for me.  However, according to the press release that the DRY reps sent me, their product is all-natural, contains four ingredients, and is less sweet.  The soda also comes in a variety of flavors outside the norm - no Dr. Pepper or Coke knockoffs here.  DRY has flavors like rhubarb, vanilla, and lavender, as well as the slightly more normal wild lime and blood orange.

The 8 bottles that are still in my fridge.  Maybe I should move them to the front so I remember they're there.

I was sent 12 bottles of soda (sidenote: soda in bottles!  That require a bottle opener to open!  Love it!) in flavors including rhubarb, vanilla, lavender, cucumber, wild lime, and blood orange.  I was pretty excited to try the lime and orange sodas, as those were the closest to the types of "regular" sodas I drink on occasion.  


The blood orange was divine.  I think it's my favorite of all the ones I received.  This is a flavor that I could drink on a regular basis.  The wild lime was pretty good too.  It tasted almost like a flatter (in a good way) Sierra Mist.  That's the other thing - I really like that DRY Soda seems to have less carbonation.  It makes it easier to drink.  I enlisted the help of my roommate when trying these out, and she had the cucumber flavor.  She said it was like drinking cucumber water with a splash of seltzer.  That sounds lovely and refreshing.


To be honest, I still haven't tried the vanilla or lavender flavors yet.  In my defense, I'm so used to drinking water, that reaching for something else to drink doesn't even occur to me until it's too late.  I did try the rhubarb last week, and I was not a fan.  It still had the same basic qualities of the others - less fizz, more natural flavor - but I just don't like the flavor of rhubarb.  Of course, I'm pretty sure the only time I've ever had rhubarb was in a strawberry-rhubarb pie, which is definitely not the same thing.


Despite not yet trying the vanilla or lavender, I'm pretty confident that I can recommend DRY Soda to you.  The flavors I have tried are awesome.  I love that the actual flavors are the star of the show - that they aren't masked by carbonation or excessive sweeteners.  And, for all of you waistline conscious readers, each flavor is under 100 calories per bottle.  For those of you who like to drink mixed drinks with assorted sodas, I think that DRY would be a great mixer option.  The lack of sugar and carbonation would probably even help to keep the hangover to a minimum the next day.  Included in my case of soda was a handy little adult beverage guide, detailing which flavors paired best with which liquors.  Very thoughtful of the folks at DRY Soda.  Bottom line?  If you're looking for a more natural or healthier version of your favorite fizzy drink, I would give DRY Soda a shot.


Disclaimer: While these product samples were sent to me for free, the opinions above belong solely to me.

Food and Music in the AVL

I may have just had the best weekend in the history of weekends.  Excellent company, spectacular music, and amazing food.  Pretty much the Hungry Lady trifecta of good things.  So where was I, that I enjoyed such a wealth of awesomeness?  I was in Asheville, N.C. for the Warren Haynes Xmas Jam. This magnificent event is a weekend-long festival of fun and music, put on solely to benefit Habitat for Humanity.  So not only was I having a blast, I was also upping my good karma by charitable giving (no really.  In addition to the concert itself, I donated a ton of winter clothes/blankets to the Grateful Bread clothing drive to benefit the homeless of Asheville).  I had such a good time, that I'm trying to figure out if it's too early to book a hotel for next year.


So on to the main event:

Time for Thai

Ever since I moved in to her house, not quite a year ago, my roommate  has been pestering me to go to Mai Thai. I'm a big fan of Thai food, so you would think I would easily cave to the pressure to eat it.  Except that every time J invited me to go to Mai Thai with her, I always had other plans.  So, when she finally told me, three weeks in advance, that she and her girlfriends were going to Mai Thai, and she hoped I would join them, I put stars on my calendar and blocked out any other potential activities.  Really really glad that I did.

Food Truck Update

I got a comment the other day about my post from a couple of weeks ago about Saving Columbia's Food Trucks.  Sorry for not relating this info sooner....this is why you should follow me on Facebook and Twitter.  Sometimes I update those and forget to update the blog.  Oops.

Anyway.  I ended up going to the City Council meeting that was dealing with this issue, after emailing my post about it to the Mayor and Council Members.  There was quite a crowd there to support our local trucks.  First the representative from the SC Hospitality Association spoke about his concerns.  After he finished, and the Council asked some questions, 5 or 6 people spoke on behalf of the trucks.  The Free Times ran a great article about this, so I suggest that you go read it here.  Their coverage is much more comprehensive than anything I'd be able to relate.

Bottom line, there were some positive results for our food trucks.  At one of the Council meetings in September 2012, the issue will be revisited to see how the trucks and restaurants are living in harmony.  In the meantime, keep on truckin'.  Sorry...couldn't resist.  But seriously, keep an eye on each truck's Twitter feed, as that's the best way to keep track of who is where on any given day.  And make sure to let the trucks know how much you enjoyed your meal.  Feedback is always a great thing.

Bone-In BBQ Buffet

Everyone's favorite local BBQ truck, Bone-In, has started a glorious weekly event: Thursday lunch buffets.  Yes that's right.  All of your Bone-In favorites in one meal for a measly $12.  Including dessert.  As soon as I heard about this, I started making plans to get there.  I rounded up a few friends and headed to the Big Apple to see what kind of delectable food I could stuff in my face.

Not a bad looking menu

This was only half of the buffet.

And the other half of the buffet.  Look at that plate of pork!

My plate and G's plate.  We could each only fit half of the food on each plate, so we had to go back for seconds to try out the rest of the food.

Overall, it was awesome.  I particularly enjoyed the brussels sprouts and the mac & cheese.  Odd, because brussels sprouts have never been on my list of foods that I enjoy eating.  But these were spectacular.  I really can't wait to try them again.

It's hard for me to go out for lunch during work, but I'm pretty sure this is going to become a monthly event for me.  As far as I know, this is a weekly event for Bone-In.  I suggest that y'all head that way this Thursday or the next Thursday so that we help make sure this is a weekly thing.  The Big Apple is at the corner of Park and Hampton Streets downtown, right behind the Main Branch of the Public Library.  No word set if the menu will change weekly, but knowing the geniuses behind Bone-In, I wouldn't be surprised.

Turkey for me and Turkey for you...

I may have mentioned once or twice or 17 times how awesome my family is.  What I haven't mentioned nearly enough is that my friends rival my family in their awesomeness.  Maybe it's because I'm exceptionally lucky to count my friends as family.  When you live 700 miles away from your closest relative, an adoptive family becomes almost vital.  So this Thanksgiving season (and yes, it should be a season.  Why does Christmas get all the love starting in October?  I hereby declare November to be the "Thanksgiving Season."), I'm extra thankful for my second family. And for their concept of Friendsgiving, a fabulous evening that brought us all together for an amazing potluck style Thanksgiving dinner. Huge thanks to R, A, and baby E for hosting us, and huge thanks to everyone else for making some divinely inspired dishes.