Nectar: Dinner Club

We had a different sort of dining experience recently at Nectar, in Mt. Lookout.  A piece was recently done on this restaurant in the eating-local-mag EDIBLE), and an acquaintance of ours talked them up.    

We happened upon to visit Nectar during one of their periodic Dinner Club events.  On these nights dinner is a single event with a set menu, designed around a certain theme, the menu is prepared with seasonal, locally farmed ingredients.  We happened upon them for "Products of the Hive," a dinner event designed around the central theme of honey.  

I don't know that I would have sought out goat cheese beignets in my life before this experience, but I now know that I should have.  By god, I should have.  I can't remember being more pleasantly surprised by some unassuming looking dish.  I shamed myself by not allowing the waiter to take away the table's shared plate until I'd eaten no less than three.  I blame the steroids (allergic reaction, long story).  The salad was no great shakes for me, and the dessert wasn't my thing (D loved them both though), but truly a delight was the "local poisson, " which has got to be "poissin" misspelled because I was expecting, no, dreading a honeyed-fish and instead I got this awesome, moist and flavorful wee chicken.  

Eh, french stuff.  Who can be expected to spell correctly, am I right?  

they sent us off with a comb to enjoy at home

They announced that their next theme event will be garlic.  I love me some garlic, so I'm tempted to try the next Dinner Club event.  It was a long evening, much longer than your normal dining experience would be, so you have to expect that that, that is, the eating,  is your entire evening.  And the price is steep, or seems so to me.  Then again, we eat in a lot.  And pricey is pretty much what one might expect from a touted "culinary event."  

 I can say I'd be interested in trying the normal fare.  I'm not one to be impressed or put off by decor, but I can say that in matters of decor, as well as in matters of general enjoyableness of the food and experience, it was the opposite of the experience we had at Cumin.  The decor at Cumin accosts the eye with its trendiness and the food made me yak in the parking lot of the nearby police station on our way home (*I was not cited for illegal dumping).  The decor at Nectar was... goats and stuff.  Yeah.  But I kept my meal, thanks, which is the way I prefer it.  

I enjoyed that the local farmer/apiarist spoke about his (newly learned) trade before the dinner.  How the bees sieve off the pollen from their catch-pouches, how many flower-visits go into making pollen.  Bees made the news in the big mysterious population die-offs a few years ago that were never thoroughly explained by science.  The apiarist told us that there have been several historical die-offs of bees in the past, not so many as to be cyclical, not so few as to be entirely shocking.  Bees are pretty special.  They got some press with that Bee movie a few years ago, but don't get their due often enough.  

I learned from that movie that bees are so un-aerodynamic that science can't fully explain how they are able to fly in the first place.  Not a great film, but I learned something.

Personally, I think its sugar-power.  After dinner I was humming on honey-energy myself.  I was so buzzed I half-expected to fly home.  

Chock full of finishings and an Edible Adventure : The BBQ Revue

This past weekend was another busy one.  We went to Oakley After Hours, which was kind of a let-down. i don't know what I was expecting, but I was a bit underwhelmed.  It didn't seem that much different than turnout at Oakley Square when there wasn't an OAH going on.  Soo....  The weather was great though. And I ate ice cream, so all is well. 

 

It wasn't what I expected, not that I can articulate what I expected exactly, but it was nice to just be outside and people watch.  Just to hang around and take a leisurely look at the town I live in.  People seem nice. Lots of young families, it seems.  Joggers.  Lots of dogs out for walks in the late summer evenings.  When you're not occupied with going from point A to point B, you can better take everything all in.  I like what I see though.  A friend once told me that so few people ever look up in life.  And so I often do when I'm looking at a building for the first time.  Some of these old touches on buildings, just these tiny embellishments, are a pleasure to see.  

We also did some work Saturday, and now have basically finished off the office for now.  We've made even more trips to 1/2 Price Books and have another Goodwill Box, and we've thrown away a mountain of old papers.  With the help our new friend, Roomba, this room looks so much better. 

bleh, the original dingy yellow

Suspicious grunge that I washed off the walls

Painted in Manhattan Mist

With a ton of crap from the apartment

Not perfect, but a hundred times better

Looks much nicer from the hallway

And we've made space for our little treasures

Because so much room was taken up by books, even after we've taken four boxes to 1/2 Price.  The shelf with the red boxes contains my collection of Post-Apocalyptic Literature.

Now we both have enough space to work!

We can walk in the office without twisting, hopping, or otherwise contorting, which is a vast improvement.  And now a lot of our old books have ceased to gather dust, as we set them free (to 1/2 Price, where they will indubitably not be free) to be loved again.  I'm really fond of this space, as I could never work in the old office because my desk was right next to the catbox.    

 

Yesterday we emptied out the apartment, scrubbed it down, and handed over the keys. Originally I had fantasized about letting a cleaning service handle it, but in the end we are much to cheap for that.  Taking my last looks at the old place was kind of sad.  I loved how the light came into the window in the morning, softly filtered by the tree.  Our balcony was loved by our cats, who don't understand why we don't let them out anymore.  And it was our first shared home, D and I and Yuuki, and then Max was miraculously returned to us.  Two years.  Man the rent was expensive.  D told me what we spent in total after living there for two years.  I can't repeat it.  It boggles the mind.  But we are finished with the apartment, and its like a weight has lifted.  I'm so thankful that that is over.   

 

We ended up being able to conclude the move-out inspection too, because they'd already had the place pre-rented.  Which means we probably are off the hook for next month's rent.  Which is just perfect. So we are finished with the apartment, and now have no need to ever return there.  It's unreal, because this move has been the most prolonged and annoying one I have ever experienced.  But being at home is wonderful.  Of course now we have a zillion home reno projects to do.  

On the way home we went to a local restaurant that we had often passed by.  We'd been curious about it because, well, there's a giant pig out front.  What's not to like?  

BBQ Revue

It was quiet when we went, although it was about 5pm so it was rather early for the dinner crowd.  It was a decent place, low key and reasonably priced, with a piece or two of conversation-inducing pig-inspired artwork.  We did like the painting of satan fiddling behind a massive pig about to attack frightened villagers.  At least that's what I got out of it.  Anyway, it was kind of like City Barbecue though D likes it better.  The people behind the counter were nice and patient with us first-timers as we umm-ed and uhhh-ed.  The mac and cheese was good, the beans were awesome.  The sauce is not my preference.  Peppery and smokey, which are good things.  I myself like a little more molasses or vinegar.  But that's a matter of personal preference.  But we had a pretty good experience, and we'll likely go back.  :)

And in closing, I have some sort of allergic reaction on my arms and stomach.  It's been getting worse and migrating, despite my best attempts to quarantine the spots.  I called around to five different physicians this morning, and only two offices accepted new patients, and one of them couldn't get me in until October.  But actually the office staff and the doctor were very nice, so its all turned out all right.  And I got some steroids to help me fight off my reaction.  I'm still super itchy though.  Trying to be patient and hoping the steroids finishes off all the red-and-itchiness.   

Edible Adventures : At Home and Afield (Cumin)

Our weekend houseguest bailed at the last moment.  Despite the fact that we'd spent all that time cleaning to make pretty for outside eyes, we were gleeful that we now had both a clean house (well, not entirely.  give us a break) AND the first opportunity for a date night that we'd had in a long while. 

We did have some things to do Friday night, but we thought we'd dash out and get a bite.  D's local friends had gushed about the Hyde Park restaurant Cumin, so we were able to get a table for dinner.  We spent no less than a C-note and found the food to be visually fantastic.  That was the only thumbs up we can give though.  Oh, our waitress was nice.  D's burger was good but my fish was heartbreakingly bland.  My salivation turned to tears of frustration.  Seriously.  Salt?  Lemon?  Butter?  Chives?  Dill?  Have you heard of any of these things?  The guy in the kitchen clearly had not.  And for what we paid for D's burger we could have gotten one for each of us at Oakley Pub & Grill.  (psst, its also a better burger)  This place was the first fancy restaurant D has taken me in Cincinnati since we moved here, and what a let down.  The worst part is, experiences like this make it harder for me to convince D that we should leave the house to eat. 

We were more than disappointed.  We both began feeling ill before we finished eating.  Our first date night in a long while, and we spent in on the couch, miserable, popping tums like candy.  D was still feeling queasy on Saturday, but I felt much better.  Inspired by something truly awesome I saw on Design Sponge, I went to Fresh Market to stock up on some things I'd need, and incidentally I am never allowed to go back unsupervised. I went in for shrimp and lemon juice and I came out with Virgil's Root beer and candies, and having spent fifty bucks without even trying.  The produce is so lush and colorful.  And they carry Virgil's, which is my kryptonite.  Anyway, like I said, I was on a mission, and this is it: 



Tara Guerard's Shrimp Paste Sammiches from Design Sponge

These babies were so quick and easy in the food processor.  D thought "shrimp paste" sounded gross, but the taste made him a believer.  No question, I can't wait to make these again!

It's so nice to be cooking in the kitchen again, after so much crappy take-out through the stages of moving.  And precisely because we're new here we don't know where the good takeout is hiding yet.  So there was a lot of trial, and mostly error, if you ask me.  D has been out on the grill (gifted to us, thanks very much).  I tried my hand at hummus (Hummus III at Allrecipes.  Not quite great, but this batch isn't bad if you reserve the bean juice instead of throwing it out).   

And tonight?  I'm trying my hand at this bad beauty, right here:

Alice's Plum Cardamom Coffee Cake from Savory Sweet Life

 I originally was going to make this Dimply Plum Cake from Smitten Kitchen, but that was until I read that she'd amended her recipe to remove cardamom.  Remove cardamom?!  That's madness!

Anyway, that's what I'm doing tonight. 

And laundry. 

And clearing a box or two out of the basement.