Thomasville GA

Tasting Thomasville: Bacchus

Nibbles

Today’s Tasting Thomasville venue has been mentioned in passing (see our YEP! Bar Crawl post and video) but now gets it’s day in the sun.

I was happy to see that there was a wine bar downtown, Bacchus, when we first moved here. And the fact that it was next door to the yarn shop seemed like a fabulous combo to me! But it wasn’t until our first Valentine’s Day as Thomasville residents that we made the time to visit. They were hosting a wine tasting dinner in the event space next door.

Valentine's Selfie!

Valentine’s Selfie!

Bacchus is located on W Jackson St, "on the bricks" as you come into town on Hwy 319.

Bacchus is located at 229 W Jackson St, “on the bricks” as you come into town on Hwy 319.

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The vintage clutch I used at our wedding making a cameo in this shot–I thought it’d be fun to put it into service for a night out.

Dinner started off with bruschetta and a garden salad served at the table. We shared a table with two other couples and enjoyed chatting with them over dinner.

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The main course was served buffet-style and included Beef Wellington, grilled mushrooms, seasoned potatoes, asparagus, and chicken fettuccine alfredo.

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Dessert was a choice of cheesecake or warm brownie (the brownie might have been a touch underdone, but it was still rich and chocolatey, and the little chocolate arrow was a nice touch).

Our wines, the real reason for the event!

Our wines, the real reason for the event!

Paired with the courses were some very tasty wines.

  • Chamisal Unoaked Chardonnay
    This was really nice and light. I like the idea of a crisp chardonnay, but not the oaky reality of it, so an unoaked version is right up my alley. All the buttery notes with none of the barrel!
  • Bistro Pinot Noir
    Of course we enjoyed this one as we enjoyed almost any Pinot Noir. I think this was Todd’s favorite of the night and, if my searches are pulling up the same one, it’s a very wallet-friendly wine (which is always nice).
  • Broquel Malbec
    This was my favorite of the evening and I find myself, in general, enjoying the spicier notes of a good Malbec more often than the richness of a Pinot Noir these days.
  • Excelsior Cabernet Sauvignon
    I remmeber being surprised by this one, as I usually don’t care for cabernet to drink (I’ll cook with it, but it’s not what I want to sip and savor if there are other options around). This was one very enjoyable, kind of mellow–or it could well be that the three previous wines had mellowed me, your guess!
  • Brachetto Fizz 56
    A sparkling red always peaks my interest because it’s still not super common to find them. This had definite floral and berry notes (a really strong nose, if I recall correctly) but tasted much more subtle.

Overall we definitely enjoyed ourselves at this event. The only downside was that we didn’t get a chance to try their regular menu. Aw, shucks, I guess we’d just have to come back.

Twist my arm why doncha?!

We got our chance during the Downtown Bar Crawl.

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I won’t repeat myself overmuch, but the sushi really was delicious. Todd’s nachos were difficult to eat due to the pretty presentation, but tasty as well. One day we’ll try the sausage nachos (they’ve been out both times we’ve been).

The nacho experience came in handy as our next visit to Bacchus was with friends on Saturday afternoon, we advised them to order a spare plate along with the nachos. I had mentioned, a few years back, that I wanted a party for my 40th and that I didn’t want to plan it myself. Well, L decided it was going to be her project and has just run with it and so now I get to look forward to a wine and cheese event at Bacchus for my birthday! (And yes, I’ll be sure to post all about it!)

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One of the things that will be on the menu (at least the last version I saw) is this duck breast flatbread with goat cheese and caramelized onions. I took a little nibble (Todd ordered it) and it was divine! I somehow neglected to get a picture of the personal-sized spinach and artichoke fondue I ordered that day. I think I was too hungry by then to bother!

Bacchus features a large shaded patio in the back that also joins both the main space and the event space. I attended a Chamber function there and when the Creative District improvements are complete I believe you’ll have a grand view of the amphitheater from said patio.

We adore Bacchus, we just don’t make the time for a leisurely night out that often. Of course, now they’re open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday, so there are more opportunities to stop by.

 

Tasting Thomasville: Chop House on the Bricks

Nibbles

It’s been a while since we’ve done a Thomasville restaurant experience; let’s fix that, shall we?

Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

About this time last year, Todd decided he didn’t feel like cooking one night so we wandered into Chop House on the Bricks, a restaurant that opened right around the same time we bought the Dollhouse.

Our view from the front and center table, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

Our view from the front and center table, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

With the low lights and the cozy booths, I was at first concerned we were under dressed (as we were both in jeans) and without necessary reservations. Neither appeared to be an issue, however, as we were seated immediately at a table right in front, affording us a nice views of Broad Street.

Whiskey Smash, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

Whiskey Smash, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

For drinks Todd ordered a glass of Pinot Noir while I decided to try their Whiskey Smash–whiskey is slowly growing on me, at least in well-made cocktails, and I was rewarded with a highly sippable drink of Knob Creek Rye, muddled mint, house sour mix, orange bitters, and soda water.

Bread and butter, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

Bread and butter, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

Chop House Chowder, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

Chop House Chowder, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

House Vegetable Soup, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

House Vegetable Soup, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

We were both in a soup mood that night, so with the dark bread brought to the table we ordered the Chop House Chowder (Todd) and the House Vegetable Soup (which was, that evening, a blend of roasted red bell peppers and eggplant and absolutely delicious).

Sea Scallops, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

Sea Scallops, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

For dinner, Todd ordered the Sea Scallops served with grilled Brussels sprouts, double smoked bacon, and caramelized Vidalia onion hash with a Romano cheese crisp and sweet corn puree. The scallops were melt-in-your-mouth tender and the accompaniments were bursting with flavor.

Duck Three Ways, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

Duck Three Ways, Chop House on the Bricks, Thomasville, GA

My Duck Three Ways featured seared crispy skin duck breast, duck confit, roasted butternut squash, local white acre peas, duck cracklings, and a red wine demi glace. I was in duck heaven. It took effort not to lick the plate clean.

Between soup and supper, however, we were stuffed and did not get a chance to sample any of their desserts. It was tempting to get an order of Bourbon Bread Pudding to go, but we restrained ourselves (how or why I couldn’t tell you).

We haven’t made it back to Chop House yet, but their house Burger (topped with a fried egg, Sweet Grass Dairy Asher blue cheese, onions, mushrooms, applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, heirloon tomatoes and house sauce) is high on my list of items to try. As is their Lamb Rack with pork belly polenta, their Black Grouper and grits, and, well, if I continued I’d just end up listing their entire menu. Everything sounds good and, if our first visit was any indication, will taste good, too!

Chop House on the Bricks is an excellent restaurant for a relaxed evening for two or a business dinner. Entrees range from $15 (the Chop House Burger) to $36 (the 8oz Filet Mignon), so it’s more of a special occasion restaurant for us, but it’s one I hope we make it back to before too long. You can find them at 123 N Broad Street and they are open evenings starting at 5pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

Been There, Done That, Got That T-Shirt–Again!

Everyday Adventures

Last year, shortly after we closed on the Dollhouse, we signed up for and participated in the Rose City 5K Walk. I thought it’d be fun (it was) and I figured it would be a good way to see more of our new neighborhood (the walk starts and ends about 3 blocks from our door), not to mention it sounded like something to do to get us moving that wouldn’t be boring or pointless (okay, debatable about the pointless part as we’re walking in a circle, but anyway).

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My only goal, really, was that we not be the last people to cross the finish line.

We weren’t (though we were close). Our final time was 1:06:07, I believe.

Oh, sure, we though for sure we’d do some sort of training before next (i.e. this) year. But we didn’t. We joked that climbing up and down the stairs each day surely counts for something (maybe?) and we do occasionally walk the 10 blocks or so to get downtown for shopping or dinner or a festival, so it’s not like we’re complete sloths. But train we did not.

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And somehow I managed to block all but the first hill from my memory of last year’s walk, assuring our friends that decided to join us for this year’s walk that there was only the one, at the beginning, and it wasn’t too bad.

Yeah…

At least this year it didn’t rain!

The obligatory before and after shots--Notice a tiny bit less exuberance in the 'after'..

The obligatory before and after shots–Notice a tiny bit less exuberance in the ‘after’..

On the up side: we made it through, once again, and beat last year’s time (our goal) and even made it in under an hour (bonus!). I huffed and puffed my way across the finish line at 59:48 and was just so very glad to be done (and, again, not the last people to cross, and by a better margin this year). We turned in our finish tickets, got the aforementioned t-shirts (and leather coasters, that was a nice surprise–last year the extra bit was a hat) and grabbed popsicles from the BlueBell truck before heading back home.

That’s where the down side comes in. At some point while we were standing there, enjoying the very cold and tasty lemonade popsicles, my right foot staged a major protest. And since we’d walked to the race, I had to limp my way home. *queue sad trombone*

They say there were 800 sign-ups, I'm thinking not all of them showed up!

They say there were 800 sign-ups, I’m thinking not all of them showed up because there were not 300 people after us, maybe more like 30!

I ended up spending the rest of the day like Tiny Tim on my one crutch so I didn’t have to put any weight on the ball of my foot where a large and angry blood blister had decided to form, and icing both the affected area and my ankle which was feeling a bit ill-used from walking funny for the first little while trying to accommodate the owie.

No good deed goes unpunished, right?

Thankfully, the worst of the pain and swelling went down by the end of the weekend and the crutch went back in the closet. Unfortunately my plans to wear heels to various meetings on Monday most certainly did not pan out, and walking in flats is all I can stand until this fully heals. But at least I wasn’t limping and didn’t have to explain to various people I was trying to impress with my business acumen (oh, yeah, the business plan is done, now–more on that in another post) how I’d managed to maim myself doing something so simple as walking!

 

Tasting Thomasville: Liam’s Restaurant

Nibbles

If you tell someone from the surrounding area that you went out for dinner in Thomasville, invariably they will ask was is to Jonah’s or Liam’s. They are, I suppose you could say, the stalwart, flagship, food ambassadors of Thomasville fine dining.

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Of course, if nothing else, I hope you’ve seen that there are plenty of tasty options in Thomasville besides those two. But we’re only human, so when planning our anniversary dinner back in November, we figured it was as good a time as any to give Liam’s a try. (I also had a Groupon that I’d bought about 5 months prior, not realizing it’d take us this long to use it, so that was another deciding factor for timeliness’s sake.)

A few things about dining at Liam’s (or Jonah’s, judging by how often we see groups waiting outside): make a reservation and don’t be in a rush. The time spent (on both of those suggestions) will be well worth it as there’s really no room inside to wait, hence the benches outside.

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While perusing the menu, our server (which may have actually been one of the owners, if I’m not mistaken–I didn’t come right out and ask as it really wasn’t important, just indicative of their hands-on approach to food and business) brought us a bottle of water for the table in what appeared to be a re-purposed alcohol bottle (I’m guessing). It was nice to look at than the standard pitcher or carafe, at least, and it allowed the waitstaff to top off our water glasses each time they passed. Todd ordered a glass of wine and I opted for their craft cocktail, the Red Medicine. In addition to the listed ingredients, there were ultra-thin slices (shavings, really) of something in the drink that I first thought might be radishes, but since none were listed in the drink description I decided it must be ginger, and that perhaps the ginger ale was house-made.

Turns out it was radish after all. That earned me a high-five for guessing correctly.

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We shared the charcuterie board to start, with 400-day ham, prosciutto, and a house-made pork terrine served with toasted bread (challah, perhaps–I’m going by memory since their menu changes regularly and this is no longer an option per the website), whole grain mustard, and house-made pickles. Those pickles were divine! Everything was, really, thought I was a bit more partial to the prosciutto and Todd preferred the ham.

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For our main course Todd ordered the quail served over spatzle and mushrooms in a rich sauce. I opted for the monkfish over tomato risotto and greens. My monkfish was better than a steak and Todd’s quail was quite tasty, too! I remember he had a bit of a pickle telling the sauteed mushrooms apart from the spatzle, but he managed. (He’s not really a fan of mushrooms, they taste bitter to him, but is always willing to pick them out of something he otherwise wants. The best kind of “picky” eater!)

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The servings at Liam’s are plentiful but not overabundant, meaning we still had room for dessert! Todd ordered the creme brulee and I the panna cotta with cranberry compote and granola topping. I could really go for some more of that panna cotta right now!

When we arrived for our 8 o’clock reservation the restaurant was jam-packed. When we left just before 10 we were one of the last couples in the place. The relaxed pace of dinner gave us ample time to take in the rustic, homey atmosphere with it’s subtle 7 Deadly Sins edge. It’s definitely somewhere we’ll go again, though most likely save for special occasions (for the curious, our bill for all of the above came to ~$130, including tip and the Groupon value.). Still, it’d be quite tempting to come in and sample their extensive cheese options or just pop in for a late dessert.

Next time on Tasting Thomasville: Andy’s Wings and Q Cafe.

Tasting Thomasville: Masatos & Rick’s Oyster Bar

Nibbles

A couple of quick bites for you, today!

Speedy Sushi and Hibachi Bowls

I tried to snag a picture of the menu board, but it's not super-clear.

I tried to snag a picture of the menu board, but it’s not super-clear.

While I’d resigned myself to depending on Publix’s seafood department for our local sushi cravings, a little bird told me that Masato might just be another option.We stopped by one Friday evening to check it out. Now, I point out that it was a Friday night, and one where a high school football game was going on down the street, because the first thing we noticed was how empty it was. Usually a sign for concern, but we decided to give it a go anyway.

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In Tallahassee there are a couple locations of the chain Sumo Sabi, and Masato reminds me very much of this sort of “fast food” sushi–think the Chipotle of sushi. I suspect they have the same sort of rice sheeter in the back. though I could, of course, be wrong about that. Either way, the sushi isn’t anything amazing, but it does hit the spot. The first time here I think I got the Thomasville roll (or some southern-town-named concoction) as well as a small hot entree. We’ve since been back for another round and their tuna roll was at least as good as your average quick service shop.

Masato Entrees

Masato Entrees–despite the side-by-side, my bowl on the right was less than half the size of Todd’s on the left.

On the “hibachi” side of things you can get all manner of proteins in a variety of sauces over rice. Todd prefers to get one of the shrimp dishes while I got what I believe was the Yakisuba (?) Beef. It was good on its own, but they’ve got a delicious mayo-based sweet and spicy sauce that reminds me of the “yummy sauce” you get at a Japanese Steakhouse. It’s pretty much amazing on everything.

While there are several amazing reviews on their default Facebook page, I’d give them a solid “reliable” on the awesome scale. I’m glad to have an easily-accessible source of simple sushi rolls, but it certainly doesn’t take the place of Kiku back in Tallahassee!

When Fair Food is Too Dicey

I had high hopes for the South Georgia Fair that came to town this past fall. Growing up, our small town of Ponchatoula was known for it’s annual Strawberry Festival–we may have been small but the festival was mighty. Small towns sometimes do these sorts of things best, you know? Unfortunately the same could not be said for ours, and the plan to splurge on some Fair Food for dinner was foiled by lack of both options and atmosphere.

So off we went, looking for somewhere else to eat, approaching 8pm on a Friday night. If there’s one complaint I have about Thomasville, it’s their tendency to roll up the streets after dark–we saw several interesting places only to see that they were in the process of closing. At 8pm. On a Friday night!

While we were a go for fair food, fast food just didn’t strike our fancy, and we finally ended up at Rick’s Oyster Bar and Grill–a place I pass daily since it’s on the way to or from the edge of town. Rick’s has a country and western/sports bar vibe, and on this night they were setting up for some live music the entire time we were there. I also noticed the business was for sale on Craigslist not 2 months ago, though it’s still open while they look for a new buyer. I say that only because I don’t know what, if anything, new management might do to the place.

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Still in the “fair food” mode, we started with an appetizer sampler that got me some fried pickles (and a hitchhiking fried oyster–delicious!), while Todd took care of the mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers.

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Todd went for a somewhat reserved hamburger steak, expecting sawmill gravy and was more than a touch disappointed that it was brown gravy instead. Which tasted straight out of a can. Once he scraped that off he said the rest was good–take what you will from that. For my part I felt like eating like a 6 year old, apparently, and ordered the bacon wrapped hotdogs with a side of coleslaw. I’ve been on a bit of a coleslaw kick for the last few months, and theirs was okay, but I’ve had better in town. While not something I’d make a habit of, the hotdogs (I skipped the buns–the breading on the fried pickles was enough of an indulgence for one night, I figured) were tasty in the moment.

I suppose they can’t all be winners, right? But don’t worry, the next one up for discussion is one of the Big Deals here in Thomasville, and it’s where we went for our anniversary dinner: Liam’s.