From the Forge Came Heaven – Miller’s Guild

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A birthday celebration calls for something special, exceptional, and wholly memorable. I took t0e out for his birthday to Miller’s Guild without really knowing what we were getting into – only that they had a gigantic flaming grilled call the Infierno and that they specialized in meats. And what followed next, was jaw dropping, camera clicking, OMG inducing for a variety of reasons (how’s that for a sensationalist hook line?).

The chef, Jason Wilson, is probably better known for his fine dining establishment Crush, which is a solid place in my mind, but not on my recommendation list. Miller’s Guild is a restaurant built around a 9 foot flaming grill, and while it specializes in meat, the chef is top notch in all the other items beyond just meat.

miller's guild - 31oz prime rib

31 oz. prime rib – we came for meat, and they did not disappoint in that arena. 31 oz with the bone in of meat that came on a tree trunk sectional, brown sauce are drippings from all the meats on the grill (heavenly) and green sauce was horseradish-y with truffle oil; 31 oz. is impressive – it was also the smallest rib eye steak on their dry aged menu; and because it is such a large and thick cut of meat, parts of it were more well done than medium rare, especially near the tip of the bone, the meat has a sweetness to it, but it’s not the most tender or most flavorful steak you’ll ever have, but it is by far the most impressive chunk of meat you’ll ever be served. Still, a good steak.

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Spoiled by Pasta – Vespolina

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Urbanspoon ran a contest to encourage use of its save feature, which I use regularly to track the restaurants I’m interested in trying as the are simply too many to keep track of in my head, and randomly drew me as their winner for a gift card to use at one of the restaurants on my list – Vespolina. I’d like to thank Urbanspoon for giving me the opportunity to try this restaurant!

I had been to the restaurant during the new year when it had just opened as Argona – Spanish tapas and had enjoyed the complexity and inventiveness of their dishes. But when you run an empire built on hand made pasta already, customers are interested more in pasta than they were daring Spanish cuisine, which has no pasta at all. Jason Stratton heard the feedback and bravely revamped the entire restaurant to go back to his Italian roots.  The restaurant architecture and design remain the same, but the name and menu are entirely new.

vespolina - antipasti misto

antipasti misto – the sampler appetizer platter, mortedella, beet and sardine on crostini – a nice balance with beets and sea foam, calamari in hummus – a nice combination reaching a little bit closer to the eastern Mediterranean

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Glowing – Glo’s

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Glo’s was actually plan B on Saturday around noon. I had heard it was popular, so the Black Knight indulged me and we drove across town to wait 45 minutes for a table. The restaurant is tiny, so we had to wait outside, which can be somewhat unpleasant if you’re not prepared, but we got coffee at Starbucks and wandered around Goodwill.

Glo's - pumpkin french toast

pumpkin French toast – made of pumpkin bread served with pecans and whip cream stuffed inside, it didn’t quite have as much pumpkin flavor as I would have liked, but it still quite tasty

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