London Coffee Peddler, London Ohio

This place opened up not too long ago in my home town. It is a one man, and occasional family member, operation. They buy their coffee from Hemisphere Coffee Roasters, or HCR. HCR buys their coffee straight from the farmers and try to cut out as many middle men as possible. They opened last year and from what I can tell, it seems to be going well.


They have chess meetings here every Wednesday at noon and this is a bicycle repair shop as well. Weather it is needing your chain fixed, your tires pumped, or seat adjusted, Mike lends a helping hand. For more information about the services he offers, contact the store at 740-490-7328 or send an email at mike@londoncoffeepeddler.com.


I was dying to try this place since I saw them start construction. I love finding new and awesome coffee shops, little places that just love what they do. Mike has a variety of flavors and my sister even helps with making specials for holidays and seasonal coffees. I myself had a hand in making the special menu in honor of the summer Olympics 2012. But whatever you would like, Mike tries to make it work as best he can. He recently started selling sandwiches and soups. There are also pastries, cookies and other beverages besides coffee and espresso available. A somewhat full menu is available on the website linked below.


My absolute favorite is Dark of the Moon Ride. This delicious drink is amazing weather hot or...that's right....blended. It is espresso, dark chocolate, caramel, steamed milk and whipped cream, which I leave off. The dark chocolate brings out the bold, nutty and earthy flavors of the espresso while the caramel accents the sweet and almost minty undertones. I was told he does a cold press, which is brewing coffee in cold or room temperature water for a long period of time versus a quick brew with hot water. This saves on the bitterness hot coffee gets when cooled.


With the wireless internet available, it is impossible not to sit and linger for a good hour, or four...five...six. He is friendly and knowledgeable about the bike trails around the area and more. He will give you advice and tips about bikes, trips and even tell you about upcoming excursions planned. 


I give this place 5 stars.


Mini Chef

http://www.londoncoffeepeddler.com/

Donkey Coffee and Espresso, Athens Ohio

This cafe is located in Athens not too far away from OU campus. It is a small cafe that provides a study atmosphere, both upstairs and downstairs seating, as well as 24/7 service during finals. Their products are organic and fair trade, which is almost a must around OU. They serve pastries, coffees, teas, and other beverages.

If you are looking for overly sugary and sweet coffee, this is not the place to go. Their drinks are absolutely phenomenal, but they don't try to mask the flavors of the coffee with sugar and syrups. Their hot coffees are bold and pipping hot, as one would expect. They work to bring out the espresso's bold, nutty and rich flavor by accenting it with syrups that aren't over powering. Their cold drinks, though I have issue with their policy of not making every hot drink into a blended drink (-_-), their selection is delightful. And, of course, they have soy milk. About every place now a days has soy milk, but I have run into a few that do not, or can't carry it due to cost efficiency.

Their staff is knowledgeable and comfortable with treating you more like a long lost friend than a customer. They joke around and some even make your coffee look pretty with an extra flair with your foam. Their cups are humongous, at least their eating in ones are. Although I do cringe, very much, at sharing the same cup thousands of other people have used, I know they wash them thoroughly. But still I ask for a to go cup.

Their couches are comfortable and their seating is all around every little space they can place a table and a few chairs. Their upstairs seating is great for deep conversation or taking a board game from their selection. It is a great place to mellow out and relax.

I give them 4.5 stars, because I like blended drinks in the summer. Grr.

Mini Chef

For their website, click the link below.

http://www.donkeycoffee.com/ 

Ruby Tuesdays, Athens Ohio

This, so far, is the hubby's favorite place to eat in Athens. I took him here once as a special treat. He was much more impressed than I was, but it was an ok place to eat.

Appetizer

He had the Asian Dumplings- Filled with a blend of chicken and seasonings, then steamed and seared. Served with sesame-peanut sauce.The dumplings were good, he quiet enjoyed them, being almost obsessed with pretty much all dumplings. I hardly ever like any I don't make myself. For some reason everyone feels the need to make the meat taste like cardamon sausage. The peanut sauce was a little weird with them at first but balanced them out to make the Asian feel complete.

I had the mozzarella sticks. I am a sucker for fried cheese with marinara sauce. I am used to being jipped in this department, even though I can get about a dozen in a box at any Dollar Tree with a freezer section. But there were more cheese sticks than I could even consume. They were delicious. The seasoning wasn't too overpowering but was fantastic if you wanted to eat them by themselves. The cheese was soft and stringy like it should be, not greasy and like taffee like so many other places believe it should be.

Entree

I had the Top Sirloin with creamy mashed cauliflower and spaghetti squash. Now, here is confession time. I am not big on too many veggies. The ones I have grown to like are normally how Chef Autumn makes them at Rhapsody. I love buttered, garlic, sauteed fresh veggies. However, though I hate cauliflower, I was very interested in trying it. It was creamy, but sweet. I didn't finish it because it tasted like it was trying to be a dessert rather than a side for steak. 

The spaghetti squash was horrendous. I was told they toss it with some olive oil and put pasta sauce on top. Now, I know spaghetti is in the name, but this is a squash people. Pasta sauce and squash should never go hand in hand. Its like cheese and shell fish, it rarely works out well for anyone. I know the waitress absolutely loved this combination, but even just hearing her describe it made me want to stab her with a fork for liking it. But I tried it anyway. It was bland and bitter. Like I was eating a leaf. Part of it was dried out and crunchy and just plain dull. I added as much salt as I could, trying to make it taste better, and even tossed it around with the steak juices, but this one could not even come back to life with CPR. However the steak was delicious and cooked perfectly, for once. Nicely seared and the seasonings weren't overpowering.

The hubby had the Smokehouse Burger- Topped with aged New York cheddar, applewood smoked bacon, tangy barbecue sauce, and crisp onion rings. Now I work at a restaurant that also has a Smokehouse Burger, so this was some competition, seeing as how I am a grill cook there and make this a million times a day. In comparison, I like this one better. He loves onion rings, and these were perfect. Not greasy, crispy and the onions didn't fall out of the batter. The only disappointing thing about them is that he didn't want to share. 

After this, there was no room for dessert. We left pretty satisfied with our meal, for the most part. The waitress was nice and attentive. We spent about $45 here, which I was expecting, yet still cringed at. 

All in all I give it 4 stars because the veggies are just gross.

Mini Chef

Full Brooks Cafe, Nelsonville Ohio

This is perhaps my favorite cafe so far. It is a quaint little place on the corner of the square in Nelsonville and is owned by Miki Brooks (I believe that is her name). They serve fair trade coffee, teas, sandwiches, soup from time to time, pastries and have daily specials. 

Although a lot of the food and drinks here are quiet tasty, I do have a usual. Milky Way, blended on hot days, hot on cold days, with soy and no whip, a turkey sandwich on ciabatta with whatever veggies I feel like that day with pesto and mayo. This, I find, is the most delicious lunch ever. Though it does take a while sometimes for the food to be made, it is worth the wait. The staff are friendly and do a good job of making special orders and accommodating finicky customers.

Although the lack of dress code does irk me from time to time, I still come back to this place as a staple cafe whenever I want some small town atmosphere and delicious food. However, if you want to gather a large group of friends, be prepared to either be crowded or go outside, this place only seats about 12 inside. 

4.5 stars, always room for improvement.

Mini Chef

The Catalyst Cafe, Athens Ohio

The Catalyst is a mostly vegetarian coffee shop that serves not only coffee but small food items, pastries, etc as well. It serves more natural flavored, organic coffee and the location is beautiful. A two story shop is perfect for this trendy hang out.

Today I ordered an Iced Mocha with soy. I was a bit annoyed at the Barista, which is not usually the case with this shop. She took forever filling my order and stopped several times to  attend to pastries and other customers behind me. I was getting impatient because I had a dead line. It upset me that her lack of attention was also being seen in my drink and also that soy milk is an extra $.85 here when all other places are between $.30 and $60. For the $5.14 I spent there, I could have gotten a Venti blended caramel macchiato and a pastry at Starbucks.

However quality and organic and blah blah blah came into play. At first I thought the soy was a little off, but then noticed that the organic chocolate is much more bitter than the dark chocolate I am used to. I eventually settled that it wasn’t bad. The earthy flavors combined with the subtly nutty and richness of the cold espresso brought out the bitterness and dry aftertaste. I am not a fan of overly bitter nor excessively sweet coffee, but I do feel this Barista was leaning more toward the strong bitter taste. 

The soy, which normally makes my coffees taste a little like sugar cookies, did nothing to enhance the flavors at all. It just seemed like someone poured the milk from their cereal bowl into my coffee and stirred in instant coffee.

Now I do have to point out that the coffee from this place is normally good. Even though I am more of a fan of the sweetened and flavored variety, the simplicity and organic side is very pleasant. However, with that said, I won’t be getting another mocha iced coffee from here every again. Best stick to my usual, which saddens me :/

I give this place 3 stars for today.

Mini Chef

Lam's Garden, Athens Ohio

Time to delve into my favorite cuisine….chinese. I am a sucker for it and this place is phenomenal. The atmosphere is odd, and this restaurant does employee caucasions, which is something I’ve never seen at an Asian restaurant. The food is amazing. Some of it doesn’t taste like the other places, but they serve, at least everything I got, on huge platters bigger than your face. By the time you are done, about a third of the platter is gone and you are stuffed. I am just glad this place doesn’t play country.

Sadly, this is the only thing I can say about this place. Its good. End of story. But it was here that I was turned onto bamboo shoots. Virtually flavorless unless you add seasonings, they are tender with a slide bite to them. They are in the chicken in garlic sauce, which is my favorite dish here. I recommend this place.

4 Stars.

Mini Chef

Dairy Queen, Logan Ohio

Now, I am not a fan of posting about fast food places unless they really have an impact. Today, July 21, I went to the Logan Dairy Queen. I am not a huge fan: their food is way to expensive and the quality is not usually that great. But this Daisy Queen wasn’t that bad. 

I got a Hamburger with ketchup and mustard only, cheese curds, and, if course, Dr Pepper, no ice! I was pleasantly surprised by the meal, except for the amount of cheese curds. The small container which fit into my hands cupped together was not work the 3.29. The hamburger, however, actually had toppings on it, unlike McDonald’s and Burger King where all they do is swipe some condiment on the bun and call it a day. It tasted like someone just pulled it off a charcoal grill. It was the best Dairy Queen sandwich I have ever had. Now the cheese curds, on their local menu, wasn’t that bad. We have them at Bob Evans and I wanted to see if they were similar. The cheese was a little too greasy for me to get them again but the major let down is that they had no marinara sauce. Whoever thought of the idea of serving Ranch Dressing with deep fried cheese should be shot in the knee caps.

Though this experience was more pleasant than anything I’ve every experience in the Nelsonville chain, it wasn’t enough to write about. Speaking of Nelsonville, if you want to wait 20 mins for sub par food that is cold by the time you get it because no one knows what they are doing there, by all means go there.

It was when I was walking out of the store that I got this little nugget. The girl behind the counter, who could not have been more that 17, was talking to a guy that she apparently knew. She said in a very loud voice that she tried Chardonney and did not really like it. This shocked me that a minor would even publicly volunteer this information let alone at work. This was followed by her major saying ” Wait, how old are you? I didn’t think you were 21.” To which the girl shut her mouth and walked away. I laughed to myself at the stupidity of this teenager and pitied the poor man who was subjected to this idiocy. However, I think she will soon be out of a job.

I give this place 3 stars for the chuckle.

Mini Chef

(Some comments were made when I posted this on my Tumblr. I don't post about fast food unless something occurs of which I wish to share. The whole point of this was to mention the girl squawking about alcohol, not really to comment about the over processed chain food.)

Millstone BBQ, Logan Ohio

As a full fledged fan of BBQ, I have to give some props to this place. I love ribs, brisket, pulled pork….just deep southern food. The first time I went, I was in love. The ribs were saucy and tender, the beans were tasty and not mush like most places. And the corn bread….oh my Lord, the corn bread. If I was a prisoner I would request that corn bread for my last meal.

The place feels like hill billy chique, which is a little odd but works. Almost like Texas trying to be fancy. But the uniqueness of it gives it a home style feel. The servers are friendly and surprisingly I am not bitter toward them for not hiring me -_- 

Moving on…. 

I took my now hubby to this place for his birthday dinner. We, of course, got ribs. Now I don’t remember everything I eat everywhere I go so this is not going to be a true summary. The ribs were smoky and flavorful. Almost to the point of fall off the bone. I can’t for the life of me remember what sides we got, but we only wanted ribs, which we got plenty off. For a little po-dink town like Logan, this place is a gem. But if you want amazing, thoroughly knock your socks off bbq, this place has a bit to go. The food was good and the corn bread was heavenly, but there just seemed to be something a little lacking. I don’t remember what exactly but it was like they were almost to the finish line but was stuck on the treadmill. 

Now I have had ribs from other restaurants before and these were in the top. If course one place I used to work at dared to serve me MICROWAVED ribs. That is a capital sin in my book. Punishable by death. ;) But the Millstone is a good place. Friendly and clean with unique taste in bathroom decor. 

All in all I give this place 4 stars

Mini Chef

The Coffee Cup RIP, Nelsonville Ohio

Throughout all of my dining experience, one has been lost in the back of my mind. The Coffee Cup, once a great hangout for me and my college friends, was burned to the ground by a grease fire about a year or two ago. We were devastated by the news and I assume the owners are cutting their losses and not attempting to rebuild or relocate. It was a quaint place, though the decor was lacking. It was like a garage sale threw up on one site and Amish business people designed the other side. The servers were all teenage cell phone abusers but most were nice and attentive. Depending on who was working that nice depended on the quality of food. It ranged from good to fabulous. The chicken alfredo and another dish that I cannot remember the name of were my go-tos. The nameless dish had pasta with chicken, tomatoes, herbs, cheese and olive oil. Sadly that is all I remember if it. The chicken alfredo was heavenly. The sauce was creamy and cheesy, which I love in my alfredo sauces. The only thing I did not like about the dishes was that whoever was plating them felt the innate need to dump large amounts of parsley on the rim of the plate. Now, these rims were 3-4” wide. That is a lot of wasted parsley. 

We did have some dislikes about the place: one waitress served our vegetarian friend chicken and when she was told, again, that she was vegetarian she responded with “well can’t you just take the chicken off?”. Needless to say we did not tip her nearly as well as we did everyone else. They only toasted bread on one side. It was annoying seeing as how it was toast, not toasted bread.

But we loved it there. The coffee was ehh but we stayed for at least 4 hours. We knew we annoyed them but we left generous, and creatively folded tips. That was another thing of ours, folding our tips in origami or just weird ways. We balanced two forks on quarters, creating an entire airplane scene.

Despite the flaws, we loved this place. Endless coffee and they never kicked us out, no matter how routy we were. We even left messages for them on our checks before we left. 

All in all, I give this place 4 stars :)

Mini Chef

Leghorns, Athens Ohio

This is one that the hubby and I differ on. He liked the flavor and quality of the food. But left still hungry.

This place feels like its trying to be a pizza shop version of Applebees. A little confusing, but it might work. The first, and only time we visited this place, I was grievously disappointed. The servers, all females from what I could see, was more interested in themselves and their facebook than actually doing their jobs. We never received any refills….. of water, which was ok because the amount of food they gave us would have been able to be washed down with a drought. The $6 sandwich was about as big as my hand, and  I’m 5’2”. For around the same price, you can get 5 onion rings or 4 cheese sticks. My sandwich, the chicken parm, was ok but the cheese made it taste like something was disturbingly off. The hubby’s chicken cordon bleu was sub par. The only thing delightful about this place were the creative names for the menu items. So, for a good laugh the the food, I would suggest this place. If you are hungry, go elsewhere.

I give this place one star. For the menu names. 

Mini Chef

Rhapsody, Nelsonville Ohio

Ahh, Rhapsody. I am fond of this place, and might be a lot biased to the food here. I interned, I guess you can say, two quarters during my education. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and being trained by Chef Autumn Wallace. She is amazing at what she does and, in my opinion, does not get enough recognition for her work. It is a difficult job to maintain a well oiled machine with temporary employees taking the reigns every 3 (now 4-5) months. 

However, lets stick to food here. On the day of our wedding, my husband and I made reservations for a romantic chef tasting. Being very picky eaters, we were a little nervous about what Chef would present. To our delight, the 5 course meal was phenomenal.

We received Boursin Cheese with hand made herb crackers when we first arrived. The cheese, which is house made, was creamy and the right blend of salty and fresh herbs. The crisp crackers made an excellent dipping tool to shovel in the cheese.

The beer pretzels with cheese fondue was to die for. I know Chef spent a lot of time trying to match the right beer for the pretzels. I myself have hand made these in the kitchen and know how pain staking they are. The fondue was smokey and salty, an excellent cohort with the pretzels.

Then, then appetizer. For the life of me, I cannot remember everything that was in this dish. It was flank steak, I believe, with crispy tortilla shells. It was a version of the appetizer Chef made for the Spring menu. However, since the hubby loathes beans with every fiber of his being, she omitted the foul creatures. This dish was fantastic. The beef and tortillas worked well with each other.

The salad course: Spinach salad with pecans, blue cheese, fuji apples with an orange vinaigrette. The hubby bore with this one. He does not like blue cheese, or vinaigrettes but he liked the salad despite of it. I quiet enjoyed it. My only disappointment is that Rhapsody has the most delicious Walnut Vinaigrette. I would drink a whole vat of it if I could.

I believe around this time was the Rosemary focaccia bread with garlic infused olive oil. I have never been a fan of dipping my bread into oil. I have enough oil on my skin, I don’t need more to remind me that my skin has no idea that I am no longer a teenager. The bread, however, was scrumptious. Soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside. Sprinkled with chopped Rosemary, kosher salt and brushed with….yup, olive oil.

The entree. Odes could be made for this entree. The first, and only person to convince me that sweet potatoes could tastes like something else besides dirt. A 10 spice encrusted fillet mignon on top of a sweet potato puree with baby carrots and asparagus. Now, the only thing on this dish I would like is carrots, and I don’t even like cook carrots if they are not in soup. This is where I believe Chef has a true gift. All of those ingredients meshed so well together that both of us had no problem scarfing down everything on the plate.The plan juices of the beef made the puree exquisite. The asparagus was crisp enough to not be soft and limp but soft enough to not be raw. The carrots were sauteed in butter with salt and pepper and were amazing.

Now, for dessert. Before I get on with this particular course, I must confess that I was in my baking lab that quarter and had been working on menu development. I was tickled pink when my mystery basket dish can in second in the competition and thrilled when 3 of my desserts I worked on because 3 of 5 desserts on the menu. Moving on….we were delighted to find chef had created a root beer float with marshmallow ice cream, an extra large beignet, and strawberry mint sauce. The hubby did not like the sauce, which disappointed me because that was my recipe. (I found out later they were using too much mint.) But the other two components were fabulous. For those of you who do not know, a beignet is a New Orleans donut. It is pate choux that is deep fried and dredged in powdered sugar.

All in all, this experience was one of a life time. Being pampered by people I call friends was to die for. We even had sparkling grape juice, a play on champagne. It was work every penny and we are definitely planning on returning for another chef’s tasting.

I give the experience 5 stars! 

Mini Chef

Rolling the Ball

Food has always been a passion of mine but when I find myself twiddling my thumbs at a seamlessly dead end job, I begin to wonder where I am going. Already educated in the Culinary and Pastry Arts, I thought to myself “Where is this escalator of so called destiny think its taking me?” Now, those of you who have the privilege of know me personally can attest that I am, indeed, extremely opinionated. I love to give people my answer about anything, no matter what the topic is. I thought to myself “Face Palm! Food…..opinions…..critic!” And VOILA! Food Critic!

So this is my first, in many admissions, to my new food blog. Now, because my budget is…..limited, finer places will be difficult to review. (Meaning I is poor). But I am sure this will change.

I love to cook and I love to eat. These truths I hold to be self-evident. I have been to amazing fine-dining establishments and have also waited 15 minutes in line at the nearest McDonald’s. However, even fast food deserves recognition and accurately based remarks of anger.

So come one, come all, to this tragic affair. I will be posting blogs, regularly is the hope, of where and what I have had the delight of obtaining or the punishment of receiving. 

Mini Chef

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