My Trip to: Charlotte, North Carolina

Hey!  I just got back from visiting my law school loves, Heidi and Lindsey, in Charlotte, North Carolina!  It was such a fun (and short) trip!  Heidi was my roommate all three years at Wake Forest, is a vegetarian, and has literally transformed the way I eat and think about food, so I trusted all her restaurant recommendations and loved them all!!!

Our first night out I got to hang out with some of Heidi's DA friends and got to rekindle my romance with North Carolina BBQ!!! (Note: NC BBQ has more of a peppery vinegar base while KC BBQ is more tomato based with a sweeter molasses taste)  We ate at a place called Mac's Speedshop which also had a great local draft beer selection.  I told Heidi's friend I liked Hoppy beer and he ordered me the Hoppiest beer in the place. It was soooo good!!!  I'm also happy to say that I discovered that there is a beer named after me!!!  It is called "Sweet Josie Brown Ale" and it is brewed in Raleigh, NC.  Heidi's friends ordered it and I got to try it.  Unfortunately I'm not a fan of brown ales, but its got a cool name ;-)

After Barbeque we went went to a really trendy dessert and hookah bar called Crave.  I was stuffed from BBQ so I didn't get any dessert, but the menu looked amazing!  So tempting to get a cupcake or choose from their cheesecakes!!!  They have a huge selection of fun "girly" cocktails that no guy should be afraid to try.  I got a drink called "Clean Slut" (get it... not "Dirty" because no olives), which was Pear Vodka, pear puree, Apple Pucker, and pineapple juice.  So delicious! I had two!

On saturday we had a late lunch/brunch and went into a really fun hipster Plaza/Midwood area of Charlotte called Zada Jane's Corner Cafe.  Zada Jane's has all organic and locally grown food (their eggs are called "Happy Eggs" because they come from free range chickens) and are known for their breakfast, especially their biscuits.  They have a fun and colorful decor and local art is hung all around the walls, ceilings, your name it.  I ordered the Bunny Rancheros (see picture below) which consists of two fried happy eggs (I got mine scrambled), black beans, home fries, sausage, topped with white queso and pepperjack cheese sauce, quacamole and sour cream (on the side), salsa verde (not spicy) and cilantro crema - served with a tortilla (I exchanged a biscuit for a tortilla and ate mine like an open scramble).  It was too die for!  The queso sauce was delicious and I dipped each bite in the quacamole on the side and all the tastes blended so well together.

The Plaza Midwood area was really fun.  It has a bunch of cute antique shops and thrift stores that we took a look at.  And FUN FACT: Zada Jane's is right across the street from a small diner called "The Dish" which was recently featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, which focused on their chicken and dumplins and shrimp and grits.

Later that night we went to the Historic Dilworth area and got dinner and drinks at Zen, an Asian Spanish fushion restaurant (I know... weird combination right?  But it worked!).  We split a craft of red sangrias, then moved onto white sangria (picture below).  I think we all preferred the white sangria.

I went the Spanish cuisine route and ordered the Vieras Chillindron, which is sauteed scallops in sundried tomato and roasted pepper sauce, with saffron rice (picture below).  It was to die for!  The sauce was so hearty and had tons of chunks of pepper, tomatoe and onion that mixed well with the rice.  And the scallops were the perfect size and cooked perfectly (but it's really hard to mess up scallops).

I'm new to sushi so I'm usually clueless what to order, but Heidi always knows good sushi and she ordered the Bruce Lee Tempura, which is flash fried shirmp tempura, cream cheese and scallions (pictured below).  The roll came out very presentable with a drizzle of sauce on top and the pieces were cut much thinner than normal. 

Overall, it was a very yummy trip!  I really enjoyed visiting what I missed so much about my law school days in North Carolina: locally brewed beer; great BBQ; fun cocktails; local, organic, quirky lunch spots; and great friends!!!