while thumbing through FOOD & WINE magazine, i came across a write up about COTTON ROW. usually, i only eat at one restaurant outside of my aunt’s/grandma’s kitchen when i visit home (CHICK FIL A). but i was curious to see what it would be like to eat at a non chain/nice restaurant in ALABAMA. so i called my oldest friend, AMBER, hopped in granny’s cadillac and rolled out.


the fabulous AMBER DIGGS…we’ve been friends since 4th grade!

PEACH POMEGRANATE MOJITO was all kinds of good!

LOCAL FRIED GREEN TOMATOES with COTTON ROW HOT SAUCE and HICKORY SMOKED AIOLI
i popped my fried green tomato cherry and the 1st time was amazing! the panko bread crumbs created a crispy coating for the juicy inside accompanied well by the smokey aioli.

GRILLED BLACK ANGUS NATURAL BEEF FILET ROASTED FINGERLING POTATOES with FARM VEGETABLES and BORDELAISE SAUCE

STEAK AU POIVRE with FRITES and CRISPY ONIONS
my steak was well cooked, with a nice charred outside. the fries were slightly undercooked.

overall we had a great meal. my 1st time at COTTON ROW won’t be my last.

COTTON ROW
100 Southside Square
Huntsville, AL 35801

I checked in with fam and friends in LA last week and while it’s not exactly food my first stop in LA: COFFEE BEAN. I act brand new like I never met Starbucks when I’m in LA.

4 hours later

My friend had a meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel so I had breakfast w/ the girls at The Fountain Coffee Room inside the hotel

It's no POLO LOUNGE but a great casual spot with good food and service

Sour cream caviar omelette

My friend's son Hunter is so cute it HURTS

Possibly the only reason why I go to LA as often as I do

Shishito peppers grilled to perfection

Baked crab hand roll is unreal

Yellowtail sashimi w/ jalapeno

Home of the BLUE VELVET CAKE

Thank you Natalie for putting me on to this cake! I love you and hate you for it

I’ve just returned from a visit home for a week where I ate my through California spending time in SF, Berkeley & Mendocino, ending my visit in LA.

Starting in SF:

California's sacred condiment: RANCH and not just ANY ranch, JACK IN THE BOX ranch

Wouldn't be a trip back home without a shameful visit to Jack in the Box. I'm such a nerd for caring about the evolution of their logo

BI RITE ice cream in the Mission is like a gourmet Mitchell's. When in SF ice cream lovers MUST hit BI RITE & MITCHELL'S

Ricanelas (cinnamon with snickerdoodles) & Brown butter pecan...they do it RITE

When in Cali I have to get my MEXICAN on and in SF it's straight to the MISSION (in the Mission it's all about Mexican, pupusa's or Nicaraguan queso frito)

My two spots for Mexican food in the Mission are EL FAROLITO (on 24th) and GUADALAJARA TAQUERIA which is deeper in the Mission. I chose Guadalajara this time because I LOVE their shrimp burrito, complete with slight burn marks on the tortilla so you know it's good

Viva Mexico

Viva La Salsa

Along with missing Mexican and Chinese food in California I specifically miss the Shanghainese cuisine of SF. This veg Hot & Sour soup was from the province of DA' MUTHAF**KIN SHIT

as a southerner living in the big titty, i’m always searching for a taste of home. my quest for the best fried chicken in new york took me to the COMMODORE in brooklyn. the bestie and i arrived to what looked like a sketchy motel bar, ready for some delectable eats.


“saltie” potato salad. good, but a bit too creamy for me.

“hot breast” chicken sandwich. the cole slaw and pickles helped to cool the spicy kick at the end.

3 thighs and biscuits arrived to our table with honey butter and hot sauce. the chicken was crispy, moist and well seasoned. while tasty, the honey butter was an unnecessary condiment for the bite sized biscuits. the biscuits were just right, not too flaky, buttery or dough-ty (too dense) as my auntie would say.

my quest for the best fried chicken in new york continues…but don’t be surprised if you see me licking my fingers in a back booth at the COMMODORE.

THE COMMODORE
366 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211-3305

I’ve been craving Filipino food for a while so some friends and I hit Roosevelt Avenue in Queens for our soul food fix. Woodside is alright and it’s nice to have a few options there but I miss Lola’s (Kapampangan) cooking and I also miss the decent Filipino restaurants in Cali that could SOMETIMES come close to home cooked. My Lola is from Pampanga so I wasn’t raised on no bullshit!

Mabuhay (Thanks Isis)

 

Dasilog (I love a place that serves "silogs" all day)

 

MANDATORY: Garlic Vinegar

 

SiniGANGSTA

 

Wouldn't be a Filipino restaurant with out this on the wall (I pretend they're my grandparents)

 

Bury me with a plate of LUMPIA prito (gulay only please)

 

We had jokes about carrying this piece in our purses (next to my sriracha and ranch)

 

ONLY in a Filipino restaurant do you see a Santo Nino at the register

 

A trip to Woodside wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Filipino market

 

REPRESENT

 

This is me: a MIXED BITCH

 

Pilipino carbs

 

ONLY in a Filipino market check out would you feel like you just went to mass. Could you imagine how you'd feel if they sold condoms?

My friend Sally was just in town from LA staying at the St. Regis with her husband and while he worked we caught up over an AMAZING meal at The Oak Room in the Plaza Hotel. Sally is a “foodie friend” so whenever we see each other, whether in NY or LA, we “get our EAT on”.

Tempura Artichokes w/ ahi amarillo

 

Truffled "Tater Tots" w/ peach ketchup (could've lived without the peach)

 

Cauliflower Brulée (I flew to SF & slapped my mom after I ate this)

 

I'd like turndown service at home every night. Such a nice touch.Â

 

The St. Regis with it's old-world grandeur (Only my weird mind would worry about someone staring at me all night through that vent like People under the stairs)

 

Growing up on the West Coast I developed a late night vice called JACK IN THE BOX. I equal my DEEP love for “Jack in the crack”, as we fondly refer to it out West, to my girl Elle’s adoration for Chick-Fil-A which is native to her southern homeland. She, unlike me, is fortunate enough to have an outpost here in NYC to satisfy her inner fat girl. It’s technically located inside NYU and only available to NYU students but she has been known to disguise her way in carrying a trapper keeper like a clutch. I have to fly all the way to California to get my fix. It became a tradition for me when I land in the Bay Area to have my sister drive thru the Jack in the Box on Hegenberger in Oakland after she picked me up to order my usual: jalapeno poppers, seasoned curly fries, 20 buttermilk ranch’s and an Oreo cookie milkshake. Before I stopped eating meat over 10 years ago, their taco’s (which are deep fried with something like a Kraft single in the middle) were included in my late night orders. I probably dipped them in ranch too which we have a habit of doing in Cali. We dip everything in ranch. Shout-out to the locations in SF & the East Bay who knew me when I had a fast metabolism: Bayshore (how did I make it to you without a DUI?) Geary & 11th (I loved you and hated you for closing early) San Pablo Avenue (never got funny about the ranch) and of course Hegenberger in THE TOWN who saw me before my own family did upon touching down in the YAY.

Jalapeno poppers are like secret diet pills that "clean you out" the next morning after a red eye

 

Curliest curly fry I ever met

 

This required 2 ranch's. I've cancelled an order at the window because they were out of ranch