On The Road (Food) Again...

 My sincere apologies for the wacky line and paragraph spacing which follows.  Sometimes I really dislike Blogger.  I have the post looking all nice in the Compose view, and this is the kind of garbage which it spits out, seemingly at random.

It's been a hectic, but fun, couple of weeks. The day after I returned from the World Food Championships, Sally and I turned around and went to Gainesville to attend the UF Homecoming. We stayed at what we call The River House, in the boondocks outside of a wide spot in the road called Fort White, about an hour west and a bit north from Gainesville. The house is right on the Santa Fe River, just a couple hundred yards above where it is joined by the Itchetucknee River. It is owned by friends-of-friends, and this is the 4th year we've used the place as our base. 

        Saturday was the UF Homecoming, which we painfully won. It was 90F and no shade, although clouds did hide the sun for a few minutes here and there. After the game we went to our favorite sushi house, a place called Chop Stix there in Ganesville, and enjoyed a quiet and air conditioned meal.

        Sunday morning we had planned on what has become our traditional kayak trip on the Itchetucknee, so we had breakfast (mushroom omelet, bagels and chef-made orange-lime marmalade) and were on the river by 10AM. The sky was overcast, the temperature a comfortably cool 73F, and we had the river practically to ourselves. We were picked up a bit after noon, went home, showered and changed, and went for a late lunch at a great place in High Springs called The Great Outdoors. The restaurant is a tastefully themed log cabin (unlike a similar restaurant here in Fort Myers), with some beautiful art and large scale photographs by local artists.  

      I don't remember what Sally had, but I had a dish I've seen more and more frequently on menus, but never tried -- a Fried Fish Reuben.

      For those who don't know, it's basically  a breaded, fried fish sandwich topped with cole slaw and cheese, served on some form of rye bread.  In this case the fish was lightly battered Haddock, a wonderful Atlantic deep water white fish.

      Not bad as a concept, but I kept wanting to say "Where's the sauerkraut? 

      A Reuben, to me, just isn't a Reuben, without a healthy helping of that brine-pickled cabbage.  Restaurants which serve a Fish Reuben, would do well to at least offer sauerkraut on the side.

      Heading back to the car, it started to rain. It rained all afternoon, most of the night, and was still raining when we packed up and left on the next stage of our trip:

Savannah

It rained virtually all the way to Savannah, GA, about 3 hours north-ish of Gainesville. Neither of us had been there, although we knew folks who had. The only thing I knew about the place was that there was an important and highly successful nuclear reclamation site outside of town, and that Paul Deen had started her food empire there. We found a great AirBnB property to stay at near the historic Old Town, and spent two days taking in the sights which dated back to the early 1700s. If you go, we recommend the Oglethorpe Tour Trolley. We ate out, of course, and here are the places we went. One thing we noticed was the wealth of restaurants offering farm-to-table menus and other locally sourced produce and protein.

Lady and Sons

I just had to visit Paula Deen's signature restaurant, and gift shop. The Lady is a self-made gazillionaire through cooking. WTG Paula! However, unless you've never tasted Southern style cooking before, I recommend you order off the menu. Now, I've had Southern cooking, and the buffet was tasty (everything goes better with bacon and butter right?) but typically "southern bland" to this spice-loving foodie.  To me, the best offering was the ribs simmered in BBQ sauce.

 My mid-western kinfolk would feel right at home bellying up to this buffet!

Sally had Paula's Crabcake plate from the menu which was well and properly seasoned, prepared and presented. 

 

Lump crab cake served with tri-colored veggie couscous and sauteed asparagus. 

Garnished with pico de gallo, fried collard greens and lemon dill sauce.

We made a reservation for noon, and the 3-story restaurant was only 3/4 full. But I'll bet that reservation is really necessary during "season".
 

The [anything but] Ordinary Pub

This was a great find as my bracket comment in the title implies, suggested by our AirBnB hosts. The Ordinary Pub is below street level, and features an eclectic menu and a personable Chef who visited our table. As a starter, Sally and I shared the

Fried Green Tomato Caprese Salad

With beautifully breaded green tomato slices, fried golden brown and topped with mozzarella and a balsamic reduction; served on a bed of assorted locally grown greens.

      Sally had the

Salmon Gastro Plate

Which features pan-seared maple-glazed salmon and caramelized onions on a bed of mashed potatoes, with a splash of balsamic reduction. Perfectly seasoned and presented.

      While I had the

Shrimp Tacos

Which came with an interesting fruity drizzle sauce and assorted greens, and a side of the finest-cut cole slaw I've ever seen. The chef uses a box grater to get the fine shreds of cabbage, jicama, carrot and radish, then makes his own tasty dressing.

The Green Truck Neighborhood Pub

Our second night's dinner we visited this pub/burger bar and beer drinker's heaven which is locally famous for its organic farm-to-table fare, and house-made pickles. They serve a wide menu of vegetarian and vegan dishes.

      Sally had the third-pound

Veggie Burger

billed as 'the best damn veggie burger in the world', made from their own blend of organic ingredients, and served with all the trimmings you could want.

      I settled on the

Green Truck Classic

with a 1/3 pound grass-fed all-natural patty (top quality meat here, folks!) with my simple favorite ingredients -- lettuce, tomato and mayo. I did add some of their house-made pickles -- not real sweet, not as tart as a dill pickle. Like the burger they're 'just right'.

      Both burgers came with Green Truck signature French fries, thin but not shoestring cut potatoes lightly seasoned with something I couldn't distinguish.

 Vegetarian or Carnivore, that's a beautiful and tasty burger!

Even though The Green Truck has an extensive exotic beer menu including some for $36 (for a wine-bottle sized container), Sally and I chose a Georgia Ginger Beer, made in Atlanta -- another 'just right' choice that was very ginger-flavorful but not as sharp as most of the Caribbean-made ginger beers. I'm gonna make my own ginger beer one of these days, and tell you just how easy it is.

St. Augustine

To break up the trip home (neither of us appreciates 6 or 8 hours of driving anymore) we decided to over-night in St. Augustine at another AirBnB property. At our host's recommendation we went for dinner to a place called:
 

Mango Mango's

out on Anastasia Island, which serves "Caribbean cuisine".

      We started with an order of

Yuca Fries

which came with an almost too sweet mango crema dipping sauce. Instead, I preferred the beautifully crispy and creamy fries dipped in the house Key Lime Jerk spice blend, which I may have to order from them, as I got stupid and didn't buy a bottle when we were there.

      For dinner I had

Aroz con Pollo

with black beans and fried plantains, which was plated to resemble an island volcano. The chicken had a nice 'jerk' seasoning, the Aroz was nicely flavored as well, and the plaintains served as dessert.

Sally had the

      Avocado Mango Salad

as a Chef Salad, with a nice filet of mahi-mahi and a flavorful house dressing.

Great value and good prices.

The Blue Hen

Before leaving town we stopped at this eclectic breakfast and lunch joint also recommended by our host.  
     I had a dish they called

Zada Jane's Stack

With no explanation of who Zada Jane is/was or why this was her stack, I devoured the sweet/salty yam homefries, and the scallion-topped sausage and cheese fritatta. The biscuit and flavored butter were virtual icing on the cake.

      while Sally feasted on

Pumpkin Pancakes

Which could have been too heavy on the pumpkin and not nice for breakfast. These, on the other hand were some of the best 'cakes of any flavor I've tasted in a long time. Just the right amount of pumpkin!

      These folks don't just throw down a dollop of pancake batter or a couple of whipped eggs and let them randomly spread across the griddle. Both dishes were cooked in rings, which gave them a much more elegant than usual presentation.

       ALL OF THE RESTAURANTS mentioned above have websites. Please check them out online, especially if you are planning to visit those cities.

Next Week:   I pretend to be a Great British Bake Off baker, and more silliness in Sally's kitchen!