Bring Me That - Capital Creations

Still missing from Raleigh's booming restaurant scene is quality delivery food. While services like Raleigh Takeout, 919 Dine, and even Raleigh Munchies are able to handle some of the demand, it's still difficult to get good food on your doorstep, especially for those who live in the 27610.

The people at BringMeThat have been making the rounds to the local blogger community in hopes of getting their name out to the Triangle. Not one to pass on a free meal, I accepted their offer in exchange for my thoughts on their service.

When first logging into the site I was delighted to see a clean and cool design. Some of the other delivery service websites look like they were designed by middle school computer classes.

The site is pretty easy to navigate through and for true introverts, BringMeThat does not require first time customers to call for confirmation.

The only true glitch in the system would be tipping. Within the BringMeThat site, there is no section to put in a tip. Only after you receive a confirmation email does the system mention "additional tip added from the credit card will be charged to your credit card with a 10% mark up." Not only is the tipping system frustrating, but it shorted our delivery person because we couldn't create cash out of thin air upon reading the confirmation email.

The delivery time was as promised, clocking in at around 40 minutes. Everything was well packaged and still warm. The pizza boxes hadn't mushed the cheese and the salad wasn't wilted. Unfortunately, they did forget our salad dressing, half the reason Sara ordered a particular salad.

Spinach Salad

Despite the missing dressing, the salad was still tasty. Crispy fresh spinach, juicy tomatoes, and tons of bacon made the spinach salad a fun experience, even if the goat cheese would clump up onto one side of the box and be impossible to spread.

Wintergarden

Before Capital Creations' Wintergarden pizza, I don't remember the last time I had a cornmeal crust. Since having the Aristocrat at Lilly's, I've become a fan of potatoes on pizza. Heck, even mashed potatoes on pizza. But with all its veggies and potatoes, the Wintergarden lacked flavor and seasoning.

Pesky Chicken

Sara knew better than to trust her appetite to mere carbs, cheese, and veggies. She went with the Pesky Chicken pizza. Definitely tastier than its vegetarian alternative, packing tons of garlic with the pesto and saltiness from the bacon. The crust was mediocre, making as much of an impression as CJ Leslie in important games.

Raleigh will continue to grow, and with it many more homebodies and couch potatoes will be in search of great food at the convenience of Bring Me That.

Bring Me That
www.bringmethat.com

Side Street Cafe

Recently, The Market posted a picture that stated, "In order to last, you must evolve." Apparently no one cared to give Side Street Cafe the memo. Even as downtown Raleigh changes all around it, for the past 25 years Side Street Cafe sits relativity untouched. Old pictures nailed to dated wallpaper, spots of the wall are cracked and warn, and there's still a large Coca-Cola mural on the side encouraging passers by to "take home a carton." Side Street Cafe has no aggressive marketing campaign, social media outlets, point-of-sales systems, or credit cards. There are just there, like a mother, caring and feeding the neighborhood family.

Carrot Curry Soup

Walking inside of Side Street is like strolling through a grandmother's house. Old, unsorted paintings hang from the wall, opera is playing from dated speakers that inexplicably turn to 80's R&B, and a consuming sense of "I can't touch anything." And just like a grandmother, we see sweet, smiling faces eager to fill stomachs with food given quirky names. Impressive for this old school classic, carrot curry soup was on the menu. Served with stacks of crackers, the soup was almost overwhelmingly sweet with a hint of curry at the end.

The Eggwood

Egg salad will forever be a foreign concept to me. Any salad where the main ingredient is mayo creeps me out. But for Sara it's a homecoming.

But Side Street Cafe's egg salad looked impressive enough that I took a bite... and then immediately remembered why I do not like egg salad. Sara wasn't much a fan either, surprised that the sandwich lacked much flavor.

Let's Horse Around

We turned our server away twice as we all were trying to figure out what to order. My main dilemma was finding the sandwich that would calm my hunger. And while that roast beef sandwich was effective in filling my belly, it didn't quite entice my taste buds. Much like Sara's experience, I too was astounded that a sandwich packed with so much meat could be so tasteless.

While not the most satisfying meal, Sara and I were full and enjoyed our company when our server, in his deep Southern accent, asked if we would like dessert. We laughed at a joke our friend Hugh made, and then I chose the chocolate bread pudding. The others at the table settled on the chess pie.

Chocolate Bread Pudding and Chocolate Cheese Pie

After our server dropped off our desserts, I was surprised to see a piece of chess pie cuddled next to the bread pudding, like the onion ring in a cup of fries. Apparently Side Street Cafe didn't have enough bread pudding to fill the order and thought to supplement the portion with a piece of chess pie, which depending on the eater’s view of chess pie, is either marvelous or unacceptable. The bread pudding came out piping hot out of the microwave, we heard the beeps, but I enjoyed it none the less. Though I did wish ice cream was standard rather then an addition. 

Chocolate Chess Pie a la Mode

Sara, however, was not going to pass up on ice cream, no matter the cost. And considering how rich the chess pie was, it was a good investment. While the pie's crust had a wonderful crumble, the rest of the pie was no Sweet Genius.

We sat there and talked well beyond the final bite, with our server constantly checking on us and making political jokes. And I think that's the charm of the place, its sense of comfort and home. Even if you're grandmother cooks better food.

Herons

Holy. Crap.

On my trip to Chicago I was looking for goats.

I’ve been lucky enough to travel to places like New York, Chicago, L.A., D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, and Hong Kong, but I never had a meal at a Forbes Five Star and a AAA Five Star establishment until I dined at Herons, located a few minutes away inside Cary’s highly acclaimed Umstead Hotel and Spa .

It was a celebratory day in the eatRaleigh household as I became another year older, and the day I had been anticipating for weeks (years, really) had finally arrived: the day we eat at Herons. The promise of culinary excellence was my coping mechanism while dealing with the Canes’ abysmal season.

Amuse-bouche

The Triangle isn’t a hot bed for fine dining establishments, and as one former Raleigh city counselor put it, “We’re not really a white tablecloth kind of town.” But where other restaurants have failed, Herons has thrived. "There really isn't any other choice than the chef's tasting menu," one of the servers mentioned during our meal, and he was right. The chef treated us to an excellent amuse-bouche that immediately woke up our palates. The fresness and bright citrus left us anxious for our first course.

Pretzel bread and Herons signature roll

Many people feel that a bread course at a fine dining restaurant is filler, and that it adds no culinary intrigue to the meal. Those people should be slapped. A gorgeous spread of scones, pretzel bread, and Herons signature dinner rolls came to the table. All three of the bread selections were divine. The pretzel bread was uncannily similar to its high quality, twisted counterpart. The roll was top notch as well. But the scone hit the highest marks with its flaky deliciousness.

Garden Pea Custard

Our complimentary courses and wine pairings more than adequately prepared us for the first course, and the meal could have ended there because it was just that amazing. On paper garden pea custard might not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, but the execution of the dish was one of my favorites of the night. In a spectacular way the pea custard was strongly concentrated with savory, salty, and pea flavors. The steelhead roe were little firecrackers of flavor, adding to the symphony of the dish.

Golden Tilefish

While still beaming from our first course, a plate of golden tilefish came next. Our server carefully poured spoonfuls of hot pepper vinegar over the dish, table side. The delicate fish bounced off the intense flavors of the vinegar and wheat. The octopus was tender and had no bubblegum-like chew.

Seared Foie Gras

Over the course of my culinary adventures, some of the most beloved gastronomical ingredients have alluded me, one of them being foie gras. While visiting San Francisco, Sara attended my cousin’s bachelorette party and unknowingly dined on foie gras. I’ve been jealous of her ever since. But finally, no more waiting. And while the foie gras was charred to perfection but silky in texture, it wasn’t quite on the level of the other courses we had that night. The dish was the Chris Bosh of the meal.

Roasted Rabbit

I have fond memories eating rabbit. As a chubby faced kid in Massachusetts, my mother breaded and deep fried rabbit a couple times for the family. Having a clear grasp of irony at even a young age, I requested rabbit for a childhood Easter dinner.

Seeing the beautiful medallions of rabbit stirred up those childhood memories. Yet, while I’ll always love my mom’s cooking, hers wasn't a five star rabbit dish. Tender, juicy, and succulent, it was one of those dishes that I didn't want to end.

Dessert Amuse-bouche

Sitting happily, satisfied, and awaiting our final course, we were served a dessert amuse-bouche, complete with another glass of wine. I had never even heard of serving a dessert amuse-bouche! Another excellent tantalizing addition to our grand finale.

Jasmine Cake

More like a piece of abstract art, the dessert course at Herons was stunning. Laying like a row of Swarovski crystals was the most mysterious part of the dessert. Thinking perhaps it was rock candy, we split the crystals in half to find out it was delicious sorbet. The dense jasmine cake played a perfect partner to the sorbet. The raw honeycomb was too sweet for Sara to enjoy but I loved munching down on the treat, even as it stuck to my teeth.

For a special present for my birthday Herons gave us an extra round of desserts, and Sara didn’t put them up to it either. Herons was able to take one of my tweets to staff and they matched it with my reservation. That's attention to detail. Of course I paid the most attention to the french macaroon.

As an extra birthday present they sent us home with hand-made chocolate candies and personalized menus of our meals, all of which made the experience feel extra special.

Maybe it's true that Wake County is not a "white tablecloth" kind of town. Who the heck cares.