Jason Ackerman 2/24/16 Jason Ackerman 2/24/16

Seoul Food Meat Co

"That's good meat right there"

Full effect

On Saturday night, Seoul Food Kitchen had its soft opening. If you want some K-pop and Korean barbeque, then you have found the promised land. This place was jammin' for a little-publicized opening, which we think really speaks to Charlotteans desire for new and interesting cuisine (we do well, but we could do better). They were only offering one option on Saturday: a tray of foods, the variety dictated by the kitchen.

Our tray included two kinds of barbeque, a sweet pork and a smokey brisket. Both were fantastic and we could have easily eaten more, but we didn't want to hog (pun) the meat from our fellow patrons--not foodies, by the way-I detest the word foodie. It's like moist. Moist foodie. Shudder.

The tray also included Sriracha slaw, pickles, sticky rice with chilis, and pimento corn cheese served with rice crisps.

The full menu was teased, and it included wonders such as green tea biscuits, soju, and something called "potato swirl." We will definitely be back soon--they are opening for real sometime in the next couple of weeks, but they told us they couldn't give an exact day. The suspense makes it even more exciting!

Very important linguistic query: What's a good alternative for the word "foodie?" Gastronomes? Culinarians? The fat kids inside of us all? Discuss.

https://www.facebook.com/seoulfoodmeatco/?fref=ts

Jason Ackerman 2/22/16 Jason Ackerman 2/22/16

Kid Cashew

Dip Trio

Octopus

Sponge Cakey Cake

Tax Season No-Filter Jason

Bath Tub of Water

Background: Kid Cashew. So hot right now. (see also: Hansel). Kid Cashew opened on East Boulevard about two weeks ago and Scallionpancake is here to give you the scoop. The owner, Martin Sprock, also owns RuRu’s Tacos & Tequila and Leroy Fox. This spot is what I (affectionately!) term a cancerous location--it has housed two or three failed restaurants in a short period of time. Is this the restaurant that ends the losing streak? Well, in the words of Marcel the Shell…“read on!”

Eat This: The menu is a family-style affair with selections for small plates, salads, sandwiches and “from the butcher” items--meat cooked on the grill served with a selection of sauces.

We tried--

Small Plates--Hummus, tzatziki, & eggplant caponata dips served with grilled bread. We tried all three, and they were awesome. The hummus was super thick with a strong coriander flavor, the eggplant caponata was sprinkled with golden raisins, but my favorite was the tzatziki. Sometimes this iconic yogurt dip can taste anemic--like the chef threw some cucumber slices into a cup of Dannon and called it a day. Kid Cashew’s version was thick and had that distinct tangy greek yogurt taste. At this point, we were all feeling pretty good about the state of things. Then we got the Chargrilled Spanish Octopus, and our lovely dining companion Daniela wanted to know why the heck you would go out of your way to say “chargrilled” when the flavor was anything but. We didn’t even see grill marks. The roasty, crispy giangte beans served with this dish were our favorite part. Otherwise, bland and run of the mill: skip.

Salads--We unanimously agreed that the Passionate Beet & Arugula salad was the way to go when we were ordering; it’s served with whipped goat cheese and toasted pistachios. You had us at goat cheese. However, we were unpleasantly surprised that the goat cheese was a microscopic smear on the bottom of the dish, and we could barely make up the flavor. The beets were seemingly poached in a sweet, cinnamon broth, rendering the entire dish too sweet and not at all what we were expecting. Lots of other tables had the Farmer Greek salad, which looked really tasty.

Sandwiches: We tried the Lamb Burger on a brioche bun. This was our favorite dish of the night, but it’s a little difficult to split burgers/sandwiches between more than two people. The burger was cooked perfectly, but it was served with two awkward baby potatoes that were hanging out like a garnish. Either offer potatoes as a side or don’t--this was a weird tease (and the potatoes were undercooked).

We would have liked to have tried one of the meat dishes & more of the sandwiches--maybe next time. We left feeling pretty nonplussed, on the whole. This place definitely has room to grow, but we would certainly give it another shot after they have been open a few more weeks.

Dessert: They have two options right now, a caramel ice cream and a sponge cake--we got the cake. With a dessert of this quality, it might be better not to offer anything at all. It tasted like a cake from a grocery store --bland and somewhat dry.

Drink: They have a Goat’s Breast Milk cocktail--but the name is just to shock you (uh, well played), this drink does not have milk of any kind. It’s a sweet and tangy mix of ouzo, amaretto, lemonade, and mint. We ordered a pitcher, and while the flavor was great--refreshing, and not too sweet, it was very light on the booze. It was basically mint lemonade. Still good, but not what we were expecting or worth the price tag ($30 for a carafe).

Atmosphere: This place is adorable. I couldn’t stop marveling at the details when we first walked in--water carafes in an antique bathtub, chandeliers, and cool knickknacks scattered about. My only complaint is that the lighting was harsh--why do so many dinner places insist on having lights like a supermarket? What happened to mood lighting? We are pushing 30--we need it.

Southern Hospitality: Our server was very personable, and someone else was quick to fix our wobbly table. The food came out quickly and with a smile. They were perhaps a bit too quick to try and take our plates away (before we were finished), but that’s a minor complaint.

Frankie’s Notes: Don’t take “Tax Season Jason” to dinner if you aren’t ready for him to throw expletives across the table at the top of his lungs; What does Daniela want? Grill marks. When does she want them? uh, yesterday; How do you measure the level of passion in a beet? Cinnamon, apparently; Only really good friends can split a hamburger into thirds; Restaurants that are about as romantic as a Wal-Mart on a Wednesday afternoon; We are not sure if this was worth missing Tuesday Trivia over--they need more Johnny & hot wings.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Et Cetera:

1608 East Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28203
11 am-10 pm daily

https://www.facebook.com/KidCashew/?fref=ts

Jason Ackerman 2/12/16 Jason Ackerman 2/12/16

Kindred

THIS BREAD

Blue Crab Gnocchi

Wagyu Beef Tartare

Speckled Trout

Smoked Duck Gumbo

Tagliatelle alla Bolognese

Pork Saltimbocca

Oyster Tartine

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Salted chocolate chip cookies with cinnamon ice cream

Background: Kindred was voted #7 on Bon Appetit magazine’s list of Best New Restaurants for 2015. Yep--Davidson, NC made the top ten list for the whole darn country. Husband and wife team Joe and Katy Kindred wanted to move back to Joe’s hometown after they met on the Chicago restaurant scene.

Eat This: We’ve gotta come clean about our first visit. Back in August when we first ventured to the charming college town, we were less than impressed with Kindred. It wasn’t that we disliked it, we just didn’t get what the hype was about. Was it good? Yeah. Top ten in the country good? Calm down, bro.

But...maybe the problem was the hype and we needed to manage our expectations? Did they have an off night? Did we? With all of these super important life queries swirling through our heads, we decided to give it another shot before we reviewed it. We dined with our lovely friends Zander and Tamara. They are also: getting married this year and don’t care one bit about spoiling their appetites on bread before the meal. Twins!

Kindred specializes in small plates that rotate seasonally. Top picks this visit included the Wagyu Beef Tartare and the Tagliatelle alla Bolognese. The tartare was served with finely grated dried mushrooms and salty dried fish--absolute perfection. The Bolognese was a table favorite and we agreed it was like something your Italian grandmother would make, if you had one (if you do have one, will you share her with us?) Jason and Zander really loved the Pork Saltimbocca served with grits and red-eye gravy, but Tamara and I just wanted more bread. All the bread. Their bread is “milk bread” served in a round carafe with house cultured butter. The first loaf is free to the table, but you have to pay for additional loaves. Worth it.

Dessert: At dinner, we found out that Zander is kind of a health nut: he drinks bulletproof coffee every morning, engages in intermittent fasting, and eschews dessert. Tamara told us that her other half always acts super non-committal regarding dessert, until it is on the table, practically begging “EAT ME, ZANDER.” And, true to her word, Zander looked at the three of us like we were hungry barbarians when we suggested two desserts after we pretty much had eaten everything on the dinner menu. Then, when it was served he descended upon it like it was a death row meal (disclaimer: Zander is the thinnest of us all, so #judgementfreezone). What did we get, you ask? the Milk & Cookies (salted chocolate chip cookies with cinnamon ice cream) and the Chocolate Birthday Cake. The cookies and ice cream were pretty good, but the cake was the stand-out. On our last visit, we thought it tasted disappointingly similar to Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, but this time we were so glad we ordered it. Top notch.

Overall, we felt the food this time around was much more impressive than at our visit in August. We still aren’t sure it’s “top ten in the whole country good,” but it is definitely great food and easily among the top restaurants in Charlotte.

Drink: Jason & Tamara each ordered the same girly cocktail (called the Santiago) and gave it high marks. We especially liked the aluminum straw that looked like a dental instrument.

Atmosphere: Kindred used to be a drug store, and they have maintained some original wood elements in the bar area (+ the dental-esque straws). The seating is both upstairs and down, and the kitchen is in the basement, so the servers certainly get a workout! The decor is charming, right down to the sign in the bathroom that says: “Employees must wash their hands...and moonwalk out of the bathroom.” The atmosphere at Kindred definitely feels special--perfect for date night or a fancy occasion.

Southern Hospitality: The service here is laid-back, but helpful. On both occasions, our waitresses have been more than happy to offer food and drink suggestions.

Frankie’s Notes: When you are planning a wedding, you become People Who Only Talk About Weddings--you can feel yourself doing it and yet you are powerless to stop it; Friends don’t let friends feel weird about ordering bread to-go; Dessert is casual until you turn into a T-Rex over some cake; Tamara is planning our honeymoon to Easter Island to see the alien statues; It’s normal to go through a stick of Kerrygold butter a week, right?