Food News and May Foodie Events

City Kidz Ice Cream & Cafe introduced  its new corporate box lunch program.  Healthy and tasty lunch orders can arrive for a meeting, celebration or as a large lunch order.  Order 10 or more lunches and they waive the delivery fee.
 
On a somewhat less healthy note, Dunkin’ Donuts will be opening two more franchises here in Jacksonville. One will open in 2012 and the other will open in 2013. This is part of an expansion that will open a total of 17 new locations throughout Florida.

May 3rd Andy’s Farmer’s Market Grill will open next to the Jacksonville Farmer’s Market on  West Beaver Street.

  A new Urban Flats should be open at 9726 Touchton Road on the Southside.
Good news for fans of the flat bread and wine restaurant, who used to travel all the way to Ponte Vedra.

  Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives filmed several restaurants on the First Coast. On May 7th at 9 pm the Singleton’s episode will be re-run on the food network and 13 Gypsies will be shown on the May 10 at 10 pm.

Every Friday  Sake 101  5-8 pm Circle Japan, 12192 Beach Boulevard, Suite 1, 710-5193.
Every Friday St. Johns Towncenter Market 3pm- 8 pm, sjtcmarket.com
Every Saturday Riverside Arts Market www.riversideartsmarket.com/
Every Saturday Orange Park Farmers Market 10 am-2 pm www.orangeparkfarmersmarket.com/
Every Sunday Mandarin Farmers and Arts Market Noon- 4pm, www.mandarinfarmersmarket.com
Every Sunday The Avenues Mall Green Market Inside the mall rather than outdoors. Noon- 6 pm
 
Wine Tasting Series at Zaitoon Mediterranean Grill Held on the First Wednesday of each month 6 pm- 8 pm, $15, 13475 Atlantic Blvd., Ste. 40 (located behind Fresh Market in the Harbour Village Shopping Center)  www.zaitoongrill.com
 
April 30- May 2 The 46th Annual Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival Includes dozens of food booths featuring shrimp specialties. The Fine Arts Show has been ranked 38th in the nation by Sunshine Artist Magazine as part of their 200 Best Shows in the United States. Downtown Fernandina Beach, www.shrimpfestival.com
 
May 21 Jacksonville Craft & Import Beer Festival It’s the second year for this festival and it promises to be bigger than last year. With over 35 breweries and 200 beers to taste, you’ll be sure to have a good time. VIP party starts at 5:30 pm ($45). General Admission 7 pm ($30). Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, www.beerfestjax.com/
 
May 26 Indie Dinner and a Movie at Gypsy Cab presents: “Don McKay” For a midweek date, you can take a ride to St. Augustine. The Indie film series at Gypsy Cab continues with the movie, Don McKay. Twists, turns, fantasy, reality, past history, and future tragedy runs into a mass collison in this comic thriller. Doors open for dinner at 6pm and the movie starts at 7 pm. Tickets are $25 and include a buffet dinner, the movie, one non-alcoholic beverage, and a donation to the St. Johns Cultural Council. For reservations call 904-824-8244. www.stjohnsculture.com
 
May 29 Blue Bamboo Cooking Class This time Dennis Chan is cooking up outdoor summer barbecue and showing you the ropes! $38 per person, includes lunch and a glass of wine or cocktail. 10 am- noon, www.bluebamboojacksonville.com
 
May 30 Jacksonville Jazz Festival-Jazz Brunch Enjoy the sounds of jazz with a brunch buffet of fresh salads, pastries, and gourmet prepared entrees. African American artist Marsha Hatcher will be on hand to sign copies of her award-winning poster. For brunch reservations at Café Nola, call 366-6911, ext. 231. 11 am- 3pm, Cafe Nola inside the MOCA Downtown, www.mocajacksonville.org

Swanky Easter Brunch

Just a list of swanky Easter Brunch places here in Jacksonville I've compiled. Happy Easter 2010



III Forks Easter Brunch

11 am-3 pm

It's one of our newest upscale places to nosh (namely wet-aged steak) and you'll be happy to know that they will be open for Easter Brunch. Executive Chef Joe Everett and his team are preparing a memorable Three Course Easter Celebration, beginning with your choice of Cream of Asparagus Soup, a delightful culinary salute to the season or a famous III Forks Salad. Entree choices are all served with whipped potatoes, sugar snap peas and off-the-cob cream corn. The special III Forks Easter Brunch is $42.95 for adults and $14.95 for children under 12. (Includes tea and coffee) Call 904-928-9277. 9822 Tapestry Park Circle on the Southside.



Easter at Azurea

11 am-8 pm

Do brunch, lunch or dinner at one of the fanciest places to eat in the area. You can order a creamy She-Crab Bisque, Pan Roasted Black Cod with Mussel and Vine Ripe Sweet Tomato Broth, Potato Truffle Dauphinois and finish things off with a dessert of White Chocolate Coconut Cheesecake, Macaroon Crust with Compressed Strawberries. There's much more to their Easter Menu, so check it out at www.oneoceanresort.com/dining. Cost will vary depending on what you order. Inside One Ocean Resort at One Ocean Boulevard Atlantic Beach.



Casa Marnia Hotel Easter Brunch

10 am-2 pm

It’s a traditional family affair in Jax Beach, featuring Chef Aaron Webb’s generous buffet menu, including smoked ham, sausage, an omelet station, crab legs, macadamia crusted grouper, paella, tandoori chicken and more. Reservations required; call 270-0025. The cost is $38.95 (plus tax & gratuity). 691 N. 1st Street in Jacksonville Beach.



Easter Brunch at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville

11am-3pm

Enjoy the buffet of fresh salads, pastries and hot side items while you wait for your gourmet, freshly made entree. Over 10 choices including Shrimp and Grits, Kentucky Hot Brown & Banana Stuffed French Toast. Reservations strongly suggested. Go to their website at www.mocajacksonville.org $22/person / $8 Children under 10. Cafe Nola at MOCA 333 North Laura Street.



Orsay Sunday Brunch

11 am-4 pm

Orsay will be keeping their regular menu for brunch, which has always been good enough for any special occasion. Try the Croquet Madame or go for their raw bar and a Bloody Mary. You can see their full menu for brunch online at www.restaurantorsay.com/ 3630 Park Street in Avondale.



Easter Brunch at Salt

10 am-2 pm

Inside the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, is one of the best restaurants in the area. Admission actually includes one 5x7 family portrait. Reservations required; call 277-1100. $65 per adult, plus tax and gratuity. $32 per child (ages 5-12), plus tax and gratuity. 4750 Amelia Island Parkway, Amelia Island.



Zaitoon's Easter Brunch

11:30 am-3 pm

The Mediterranean restaurant Zaitoon, will be open for Easter Sunday during their regular operating hours. They will have a full buffet. Reservations are suggested; call 221-7066. Adults meals are $26.95 (includes a complimentary Mimosa) and kids 12 and under cost $14.95 (children under 4 eat free). 13475 Atlantic Blvd., Ste. 40 (behind Fresh Market in the Harbour Village Shopping Center)

Calorie Counting on Menus

So the Jacksonville Observer has reported that Jacksonville State Senator Steve Wise-R and Rep. Ed Homan, R-Tampa decided that it would be a good idea to put forth legislation in favor of forcing restaurants to put a calorie count on all menu items. They want to do this because they think it will make Floridians thinner--and therefore more healthy.

As a foodie this has made me made angry for a few reasons.

1: You can't legislate health. Case in point, larger warning labels on cigs in other countries resulted not in less sales of cigarettes, but in larger sales of decorative cigarette cases.

2: It stifles creativity. Chefs would not have the ability to be put together dishes based on what's fresh at the market. Nope. They'll have to stick to the calorie counted menu.

3: Higher cost for smaller businesses. Chains can afford to do calorie counts because they have the same menus across the country. But the cost of sending each dish to a lab is prohibitive for a local place. Say goodbye to Orsay.

4: Calorie counts are just a guess. Calorie counts even in chains can vary widely. Unless you're dealing with ALL prepackaged food ANYTHING can skew it higher. A piece of meat of the same size can vary in calories.

5: Less fresh food. If this is enforced, see above--in order for calorie counts to be accurate, less fresh food will be served in restaurants. How is this more healthy, exactly?

6: This will further homogenize our fruit and vegetable supply if all the states decide to do this. If each restaurant needs an exact calorie count, then they'll look for fruits and veggies that deliver a consistent count per gram that they are familiar with. That means they'll stick to a particular genus. If we don't have a variety of different genuses it could lead to a farming disaster for the US. We're already in trouble on that front because we don't grow enough different varieties of, say, corn. If you grow one type of corn only, it takes only ONE wave of disease or bugs to wipe out all of the corn in the US. If you grow a bunch of different types of corns some will be resistant.

I'm also annoyed because it seems to me the sort of thing I'd condemn Democrats for, but both of these guys are Republicans! It costs small business owners more and it sticks the government's nose in something that it should not interfere with.

We are not California.

The Death of Sushi

A friend of mine sent me a link to something called a Sushi Popper.

This unholy item makes sushi more convenient with a push pop candy apparatus, so that it may be eaten at the ball park, in stadiums and other such places. This is part of a trend that I blame on the popularity of sushi.

Restaurants that have no business making sushi want sushi on their menu. So they get someone else to roll them up a supply, which they leave in their fridge until someone orders it--not unlike what you'll find at a Publix in the sushi case. At least there, you know that your roll might have been made up the day before. At a restaurant you expect that the chef is rolling it up when you order it.

What I like about the Sushi Popper is its sheer audacity. One look at the packaging, and you know that baby wasn't made-to-order. They, like the sushi you sometimes get at non-sushi restaurants, are made up ahead of time. Sushi Popper hires local rollers to fill their blasphemous tubes (Hi Kellie, I stole your phrase!)The tubes are then refrigerated and await your order.

I don't think they're a horrible health hazard. After all, I've eaten sushi from the case and lived. Many people have.

But it still makes me sad because the real, made-to-order deal is just so much better. If I had kids I wouldn't want them to grow up in a world where sushi came in tubes.

A Trip to Fresh Market: Hydroponics and Swedish Pancakes

Get Your Hydro Here.
I picked up a decently sized basil plant from Fresh Market the other day when I was waiting for one of their food demos to start. (It was an Italian Beef Tenderloin served with Gorgonzola butter. The beef was excellent, particularly set off with the butter, but the pasta served with it, wasn't entirely my cuppa.)

The basil was grown hydroponically and the fragrance hit me from a couple of feet away.

I grow my own herbs at home. Sometimes I grow them from seed, like my purple Thai basil. I've got a large rosemary bush which I didn't grow from seed, some chives, parsley and a little bit of thyme I rescued from one of those refrigerated packages which leave the roots and some soil intact.

I knew that the basil I was looking at was exceptional. The copious amount of leaves and their size were one thing-- but the important part is how it smells, and this basil was quite possibly the most fragrant I'd encountered.

I've since transplanted the beauty into a pot after using some of it in a diced strawberry and honey mixture, as well as in a pasta dish (angel hair pasta with a Parmesan basil and olive oil sauce, topped with tilapia.)

All very delish.

This plant has piqued my interest in hydroponics, which was formerly relegated into categories labeled "Pot growers" and "moon colonists." Narrow minded, I know. But it's not just me. Type in a google search.

The only problem is that it looks like I'd have to use specialized equipment and buy nutrients. This translates into money, and I certainly don't have much of that, despite the fact that I just told you I was in a Fresh Market.

Swedish Pancakes

I actually got out of there for about $21, namely because I found Lund's Swedish Pancakes. I then cleaned them out of Lund's pancakes. Except for one box, which I left out of a misplaced sense of guilt.

You don't know what I've gone through to find Lund's Swedish Pancakes. I called both Native Suns, a Euro specialty market, I went to four different Publixes, called around to Winn Dixie, I went to the other Fresh Market (the one on San Jose) and I called the distributor. They were willing to ship me a large amount, but I'd also have to pay shipping. I could also get them over the internet. Same deal with shipping, even if I didn't have to buy a case.

So imagine my shock and joy at finding the box that had burned itself into my brain--when I wasn't even looking for it; when I had given up all hope.

You might imagine that I really like Swedish Pancakes. I do. My father likes them more and he can't find them either. I plan to share some of my bounty with him. In this way, he will know that I love him.

Swedish pancakes aren't spongy and thick like most pancakes can be. They don't bubble as pancakes do when you cook them. No, indeed not. This batter is thin, the result of which I can only describe as the holiest of matrimony between a crepe and a pancake.

Code Organ OR I stole this from Jax Con

I surf Jax Con aka Jacksonville Confidental and they had something on there called code organ, a fun way to waste your time. It takes the html coding of a site and translates it into music. I must say, my Epi Jax blog sounds pretty sweet! One side note though, do make sure you cut/paste the whole thing, including the http://

Spice of the Moment: Spanish Smoked Paprika

Like most Americans my first experience with paprika came on deviled eggs. It didn't taste like much and it was only trotted out for that particular dish. When I experimented in my mother's kitchen, I opened different spices and took a whiff. I even gave the paprika a chance, but it didn't pass the sniff test.

What I didn't know is that there are different varieties of the spice and that it has a relatively short shelf life as far as spices go. When I found a recipe which called specifically for Spanish smoked paprika, I didn't use the stuff in my cabinet (because there was none) so I had to buy it.

It was a whole new experience--the difference between a skeleton and a living being. You might know the general shape of an animal from its skeleton, but you wouldn't know the important details. There's beauty in the flesh. That's what smoked Spanish paprika is to the musty stuff I knew growing up: alive rather than a pile of bones.

Smoked Spanish Paprika comes from very mild sweet peppers that are ever so slowly smoked, generally with oak chips (though not always). Sometimes a combination of peppers are used. Despite peppers being the base, the most commonly found paprikas here in the US don't add heat to a dish. In some ways, it reminds me of chipotle, without the heat and with less dramtic sweet notes. Instead it's savory and smokey, with just a touch of the sweet.

I'm gaining an interest in trying to smoke my own paprika, though it really seems involved and I would have to get a smoker. I do have a dehydrator, so I can experiement with drying and grinding various peppers, but I won't get that smokey flavor.

I'm also interested in some of hotter Hungarian and Spanish paprikas. I'm unlikely to find these in a typical supermarket, but some of Jacksonville's ethinic markets and the interweb should should serve me well.