« July 2005 | Main | September 2005 »

Oh Little Town of Exeter

When I first moved to I ol' Exeter three years ago I was in culinary culture shock. Where are the restaurants??? Ok,so we had about a half dozen pizza joints, oodles of soup and sandwich places and a plethora of Chinese restaurants (with variations within that category)....

...but not much else. Ok, there was the Tavern at the River's Edge with Creative American fare and burgers in the pub room right downtown and that's cool--I can walk there.

And the Town Lyne, where I made my first best friends---that's slightly out of town. Then there's the Inn of Exeter. Good Brunch.

Well, recently I began to think about moving to somewhere else--like Dover where there are loads of good restaurants right downtown. But I changed my mind. Now it looks like Exeter is getting more interesting in the restaurant category with a new Thai place, Pan Thai, that is always packed, a yet-to-open Martini bar and restaurant called Shakers right around the corner from me (again--walking home is the key), The Lunch and sometimes dinner place The Dam View now has a kind of retro lounge downstairs right on the water and there are RUMOURS about a major (although locally-based) chain watering hole and restaurant coming in as well.
Exeter.

Add too that Goody Cole's with the excellent authentic BBQ and The Circus Cafe with Jim Battles' eccentric ways and from scratch creativity made to order for B L and D and things are looking up for Exeter. Plus we have a nightclub in the Ioka.

Now all we need is a cool, creative restaurant akin to Lindbergh's or Victory or 43 Degrees or Anneke Jans and I'm all set. Oh, and Vietnamese. But that's not likely to happen any time soon.

Posted by rforrest at 11:51 AM | Comments (2)

Cowboy country

While on vacation in cowboy country--that's the wide open spaces of Wyoming elk was on the menu everywhere. Elk with black cherry sauce. Elk with chilies. Elk with blackberry sauce. Game meats galore. And it was an opportunity to eat lots of comfort food--sausage biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak!

And over at the Cadillac Cowboy bar in Jackson, I got to sit at the bar on a saddle instead of a stool. It made it hard to get up, but yee-haw, it was fun!

And congrats to Arrows Restaurant in Ogunquit for the highest Phantom Gourmet rating ever!

Posted by rforrest at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

Wine, Women and, well, more.

It's been a whirlwind of a week. Or ten days or so. Last Thursday I went to Artichokes in Greenland to taste some delicious tidbits from Chef Ron Boucher to go with the great wines from Tres Sabores. The winemaker, Julie Johnson came on the radio show on Friday and there was a little heated discussion about sulfites. Foodies arguing over world politics, nah! Sulfites and underage drinking, yes!

I did go to a White Trash themed party on Saturday that was hilarious for some reasons I can't go into, but the hostess served cheeto balls, slim jims and little cocktail pigs in a blanket. I refrained from letting everyone know that I eat that stuff on a regular basis. Does that make me white trash? No, I think not. There was lots of blue eye shadow in sight as well.

Tuesday I went to the book signing and Q and A for Martha and Linda Greenlaw's new cook book Recipes from a Very Small Island. They were so charming and homesick. The recipes are great.

And I stopped by the Pow Wow GRill in Amesbury for a martini--wow that place is huge and glittery with a very large light up bar. They have Jazz there tonight so I might go again.

Anyway, check out the show at 6 p.m. on Friday--Susan and I will be talking with a boat captain about sailing and cooking in the Meditterranean. 106.1 FM folks.

Posted by rforrest at 12:11 PM | Comments (1)

Cirque Du Gourmet

Well, I'm back from Chicago---three days of gastronomic debauch. The Alinea dinner took 4 hours. 24 courses. 4 amazing hours. Moto was about 3. It was all so much fun! A surprise at every turn with yogurt in test tubes and deconstructed A-1 sauce at nitrogenated popcorn at Moto.

Check out Susan and me on Portsmouth Community Radio 106.1 on Friday at 6 pm. Our guest will be Julie Johnson of Tres Sabores winery in Napa. She'll be talking about her artisan Zins unless we take her on a tangent.

Posted by rforrest at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)