Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Weekend of excitement

This was a great weekend in Tuscaloosa. The weather was perfect, there were things happening, and we got to hang out with several friends. I already mentioned the wine tasting and the dinner we had at Five, so I am jumping right to Saturday. I decided to put these all in one post because while we had fun at all the places we went, none had quite enough to talk about alone.
We started Saturday at Tree House Farm and Nursery for their garden expo. Coach Pat Dye was speaking at 10:00 about Japanese Maple Trees and of course, that caught Wes' attention. I really enjoyed hearing him talk about the trees and the way he has come to love them.  After coaching at Auburn, he started a small nursery at his home and now it has grown into quite the Japanese Maple farm.  He taught us how to prune the trees. After the talk, we looked around at all the great plants they have. If you are looking for trees or bushes this is the place to go! We bought one of Coach Dye's trees for Wes' aunt and uncle.
Coach Dye pruning his trees.

The baby Japanese Maple we bought.

After Treehouse, we went downtown to see what was going on with the Tour de Tuscaloosa and the Druid City Arts Festival. We had lunch at Depalma's. This is my favorite restaurant in town and some of my favorite Italian anywhere. I will make a whole post about this one sometime, but just quickly, the food has always been good, the service is good, and the atmosphere is really cool. There is always a mix of people, from college students, to young couples, to business people at lunch during the week. This visit I had the Mediterranean pasta with chicken. It is one of the lighter pastas, with less sauce but lots of flavor from the greek olives, peperoncini peppers and feta cheese.

We walked around downtown for a bit following lunch and made our way over to the Druid City Arts Festival. This art show is put on by a group on campus. I saw an article yesterday that it might be the last year as some of the founders of the event are graduating, but I hope they figure out a way to keep it going.  There was quite a variety of vendors and artists set up in the government plaza, the green space behind the city hall. Bands were playing music throughout the afternoon. One of my friends, Rebecca, had her Little Bee Design tent set up with her punny art! And, we walked around and saw jewelery, paintings, and knitting a lot of the other tents.

The Junior League of Tuscaloosa was hosting a wine and beer tasting at The Alcove, so we walked over there after we finished at the festival. The Alcove is a really cool spot in town with lots of beer selection, on tap and in bottles, and the home of the 2 oz drinks. They have some patio areas and have expanded what used to be a very small area inside. The crowd is an older crowd and is usually more laid back.  This event had the bar pretty crowded but it was a fun event and we enjoyed the tasting. I always recommend The Alcove for non college students looking for a cool place to have a drink, and we enjoyed sitting out back on the patio with some friends.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Friday food at FIVE

Five has already shown up in one of my blog posts, but here it is again. A few weeks ago, I talked about the very cool jazz brunch on Sundays at Five. This post is about the fabulous dinner we had at Five Friday night. This has quickly become a very hot spot in downtown Tuscaloosa and for good reason. There is always a crowd, the food is consistently good, and the atmosphere is unlike anywhere else in town. Five is located on 6th Street next to Catch 22 and just down from The Shirt Shop.
Outside seating at Five.

There is a small outside eating area, and one big dining area/ bar/ stage area. The whole room is very open with tons of chandeliers, a gorgeous bar, and a fairly crowded eating area.
View of the bar and chandeliers

Wes and I find ourselves at Five pretty often. The crowd is usually the same. Depending on the time of night, there may or may not be a good crowd of college students. They tend to come in a little later.  While we were there Friday, there was quite a few college students, 30 something's on both dates and group dinners, and parents bringing their college students to eat. The restaurant is somewhat small and the crowd is usually big, so there is often a decent wait time. This weekend we were at the wine tasting around the corner at Carpe Vino and we put our name on the list while we finished. It was a great idea! Five is working to turn the building next door into a pastry and lunch spot that will then serve dinner too. It will be nice to have more room!

Like I said above, the food is consistently good. There are five entrees written on a chalkboard in the restaurant. The options change a few times a year. There are also nightly specials, five appetizers, five white and red wines, and five specialty cocktails. The idea is simple and unique, and has been well received in Tuscaloosa.  My favorite item on the menu is the paneed chicken. It is served with mashed potatoes and a salad. All the entrees come with the same salad. It is topped with fruit, nuts, and feta cheese and their homemade vinaigrette type dressing. It is delicious. Wes ordered this Friday night and here is the picture.
Paneed Chicken

At dinner, we talked about what nice size portions you get at Five. This plate is $17, which is a little bit more expensive than some other places in town. But, it is a full plate. You definitely don't leave hungry. You know sometimes you can go to those fancy places with fancy ingredients and spend more than that for too little food. So, the prices range from $13 to $20ish but you will be pleased with the food.
I had the Friday special. This was the first time I had tried the jalapeno tequila shrimp and I was very pleased. It was served with a polenta cake and the same salad that comes with the other meals. The shrimp had a little bit of spice to it but it wasn't too much. The shrimp was served with peppers, onions, and a light sauce over the polenta cake. The polenta cake was just slightly crusty on the outside and really tasty. Wes and I talked about what exactly polenta is. I was thinking it was similar to grits and I looked it up to make sure. Yes, it is similar to grits made with cornmeal. All in all, the meal was delicious as always. Here is a shot of mine. The polenta cake is covered up in this shot. I forgot I also got a piece of bread.
Jalapeno Tequila Shrimp
We have taken several friends from out of town to eat at Five. Everyone is always pleased with their meals. It really is such a cool atmosphere and you don't even feel like you are in Tuscaloosa. Later in the night they have live music, which is cool but gets kind of loud. They also serve food late, so if you are out in downtown and need some food this is one of the few places still serving late. Quickly, this has become the place to go for dinner, drinks, live music, and to be seen. Even though parking in downtown can be a challenge, you can park once grab dinner, drinks, meet up with friends, and have a great night out in downtown Tuscaloosa. I highly recommend Five!!

Carpe Vino Wine Tasting


Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, Carpe Vino, a locally owned wine store, has a wine tasting. For $5 you get to sample 5 or 6 wines and then get $5 off a bottle of wine.
Carpe Vino has a nice selection of wines that are displayed in really cool silver tub like containers. The sitting area is several red sofas and several chairs. While were there all the sofas were full as well as a couple of groups of tasters standing around the room. The vibe at Carpe Vino is really laid back, casual but cool. I have been for a couple of other wine tastings at this location and have always really enjoyed myself.

The crowd Friday night was a variety of ages from college students to probably 50s and 60s. I am always impressed when I visit a place in Tuscaloosa that can draw both college students and adults. You could tell it was some visitors' first times as well as several usual clients. There is nothing intimidating about the visit. Just walk right in and go to the counter to order your wine by the glass or ask to take part in the tasting. 

The tasting this week was small vineyards from Italy. I follow Carpe Vino on Facebook so I see each week what types of wines they are going to have at the tasting. I really like Italian wines, and Italy in general, so this one caught my attention and I asked Wes if he would go with me. The small vineyards have a gold label (see in the picture below) that tells you the wine is from one of the region's smaller vineyards. My friend who works here says these are always a real treat! The wines came from all over Italy and were all very different. We had three whites and three reds. From a Prosecco (light and bubbly) to a Super Tuscan (a stronger red), we were able to taste sweet,light, dry, but all really good wines. We bought a bottle of one of the reds that was from the southern heel of Italy.


Carpe Vino is located in downtown Tuscaloosa on Greensboro Ave between Mugshots and Epiphanys.You can also stop by and just buy bottles of wine. I think it is always nice to buy wine from someone who can answer questions and offer suggestions for what you might like.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Wine Tasting at Ozan Winery

Back before Christmas I purchased a Living Social deal for Ozan Winery. The deal was a wine tasting for two with a cheese platter and some free goodies to take home. So, I thought it would be fun to do and grabbed the deal. This Saturday was the last available date before the certificate expired and I waited until about 2 weeks ago to check the dates for the deal. So, needless to say, this Saturday I went to the winery.

I had heard that there were some wineries in Alabama but I had yet to visit one. Ozan Winery is in Calera, and turned out to be only about an hour drive from Tuscaloosa. It was a really easy day trip for a very fun experience!! 

When I asked Wes if he wanted to go, he passed. So, I called one of my oldest friends in T-town, Amy, and asked if she would like to accompany me. And, then when I told my friend Christin who lives close to the winery we were going, she wanted to come too. When I checked the website, they said you can show up for a tasting as long as the group is small. They normally have wine tastings on Friday and Saturdays. I think Saturday they were open from 11 to 6. We decided to go around noon and that was probably a good thing. By the time we were leaving, things were getting pretty busy. They have a few tables outside under umbrellas, a few in a partial open air area with the white tentlike sides, and a few tables inside. Here is a shot of the building. We definitely didn't feel like you are in Alabama.
The wine tasting has a lot of wines and we really liked most all of them. There were three whites, several fruit wines, like a Chilton County Peach, about four reds, and then two dessert wines. Three of the wines are made with the grapes that are grown at the vineyard. The others are from grapes grown elsewhere, like Georgia, or other fruit juice they use. I bought a red that uses the local grapes. Here it is in front of the vineyard. I thought this was a nice shot.
It was a really nice afternoon with really great friends. We learned a little bit about the wines, got to catch up with each other, and enjoyed the experience a lot. There are a few other wineries in the area, so now I am thinking we need to try out the others.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Uptown Art Uncorked: Making Masterpieces

I mentioned Uptown Art in a previous blog post, but this one is about an actual night of painting in a class. So, this is a little more detail about how it works and a picture of my latest painting! Uptown Art Uncorked is located on 6th street in downtown Tuscaloosa. It is a cool building with the exposed brick walls with all their cool paintings hanging on the walls. You can buy wine or beer at this location. In other cities you can bring your own, but Tuscaloosa has some funny laws about alcohol.

I should have taken more pictures of my progress in class,but I am just now getting used to the blogging and didn't think about it. But, basically you start with a blank canvas and leave with an actual painting. The calendar online shows you what paintings they are teaching, so you can pick one that fits your house, personality, or just looks fun. I promise I am not artistic but I always leave with a painting that I am happy with and that actually looks pretty good.

The teacher actually walks you through every step. She teaches you how to mix the paints to get the colors you need, the brush to use, the way to add it to the canvas, and can help you fix any mistakes that you make. I always follow their directions and never venture out to do my own thing. But, this time lots of other people made their background colors different based on where they wanted to hang the painting or the colors in their house. I know my friend Mira did a really gorgeous red and orange background that everyone in the class just loved. I should have taken a picture of it too. (I will get better with my pictures!)

So, we painted the background and then took a break to let it dry. Then we painted the tree and did the shading to make it look dimensional. And the we added the fun circles. This was my favorite part. The great part of this painting is that it is called a funky tree. So, it is really hard to mess it up. A painting like this is a much easier painting than say an angel or a cross because you don't have to have details like a face and it doesn't have to be symmetrical. Here is the finished masterpiece.


Again, I would not consider myself artistic but these classes are so much fun. The more you do it the more comfortable you get with the process and the better you will feel about your paintings. The teachers are all really nice and helpful. It is one of my favorite activities in town so I hope if you haven't tried it you will. And, if you had been to the previous painting studio that was in this spot, you should check out Uptown Art again. There are a lot of new paintings and a really fun atmosphere!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Walking in Memphis

So, I started this blog with the intention of telling anyone who wanted to listen about things I do in Tuscaloosa. But, if I visit somewhere nearby, I want to share about those places too. This past weekend I visited Mollie, my good friend who left Tuscaloosa to move to Memphis about a year and a half ago. I have been to visit a couple of times, and each time we try to eat at different places and see something new.
Memphis is about 3 1/2 or 4 hours away from Tuscaloosa. Of course it is the home of good BBQ, Graceland, Sun Studios, and Beale Street. I didn't see any of those places on this visit but if you know anything about Memphis, one of those probably comes to mind.
Friday night, I joined in on a birthday dinner for one of Mollie's friends. We ate at Local, a gastropub in downtown. The atmosphere was very laid back but the food was delicious. It was one of those places where the food was kind of surprising for the location. I had BBQ tacos and green chile mac and cheese. Yummy!! I really enjoyed my meal here. The prices were mid range and seemed appropriate for the location and the food x. The mac and cheese had a little kick but was really creamy and baked on top. A really nice combo. Here is a picture before I devoured it!
After Local, we went a new speakeasy themed bar, The Blind Bear. It is a new bar, according to the group, and had a pretty good vibe and mix of people. Mollie and I kept talking about how it was too bright, maybe just turn down the lights a little. We followed that with Silly Goose and finished the birthday celebration at Raifords. Here is a shot of Mollie and me through the fog in there. It was super fun and different. With streamers hanging from the ceiling, the fog machine, and good dance music blaring, like Michael Jackson and Prince, you are sure to have a good time at this spot.


Saturday, we had brunch at SOB, South of Beale. The food was just ok. According to my tour guides, the food is traditionally better but they seemed to be understaffed.
That night, we went to a restaurant in East Memphis, The Beauty Shop. It was literally a beauty shop and they still have the sinks at the bar area and in the back they have the hair dryers above some of the chairs. I wish I had taken a picture, but where we were seated I couldn't get a shot and I felt weird taking a picture of people eating. My food was delicious. The best of what I tasted at the table. I had a grilled Barramundo, which I googed and is a Japanese bass. They used coconut milk and  a couple of other ingredients I didn't know which gave the fish just a little bit of a sweet taste but certainly not too much. For dessert, we tried their gelato. Now, I love gelato, but have a really hard time finding what seems to be authentic gelato in the US. We tried the white chocolate blueberry, the tangerine orangecicle (or push pop orange) and strawberry balsamic. The real reason I tried the gelato was to have the strawberry balsamic. And, it was worth it. It was my favorite with the white chocolate blueberry not far behind. The strawberry wasn't that different from regular strawberry, but it had just enough of a twang to show that there was another flavor that you aren't used to having in ice cream. If you have the chance to try strawberry balsamic ice cream or gelato, you should!

So, the weekend of food was a success. Memphis has more to offer than I once thought. There were a few events at galleries and museums that we thought about going to, but the weather was so nice Saturday we just sat outside downtown. If you are looking for a good weekend visit, Memphis can definitely be considered.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Yakamoz Turkish Restaurant

I recently read an article on a new restaurant in Tuscaloosa, Yakamoz Turkish Restaurant. I had passed it on Hargrove for a while now, and just hadn't stopped in yet. I was unsure what Turkish food was so after reading the article I felt a little bit better about giving it a try. They have hummus as an appetizer so I was sold! Yakamoz is located behind Stein Mart and Pet Supplies Plus on Hargrove Rd. in a pretty plain building. They have a few things in there to make it feel authentic like the music playing, an area where you can sit at a low table on the floor, and pictures and fabric that seem to be Turkish.
Wes and I met our friends Kristen and Matt for lunch today. They had been once before and were excited for a second go of it. We started with the hummus. I could tell it was freshly made but I might have liked it to have a bit more seasoning. The pita bread was warm, fluffy and delicious, though!!
Wes and Kristen both ordered the Adana sandwich. Adana is a ground beef and lamb mixture with Turkish seasoning. It was wrapped in thin pita. Wes described it as tasting somewhat like sausage. It was good and definitely different from anything else I think I have had before.
Matt went with the beef gyro. This gyro came without the pita. The beef was thinly sliced and they said it was tasty.
I am usually one to go with chicken and today was no different. I chose the chicken roll up. This was a chicken breast with spinach, feta cheese, carrots and tomatoes rolled inside it. I couldn't tell that there was any feta cheese but it might have been there. It had a red sauce on it that I don't know how to describe. It was somewhat marina"ish" but certainly had different flavors to it. It also came with rice and a salad with a dressing that was kind of like mustard and yogurt together. All of it was good.

For the first Turkish lunch, I think we did well. Now we know what a few of descriptions mean I think we will feel more comfortable. The grill is in the center of the restaurant so you can see the freshly prepared meat being cooked. And, the server was nice and answered our questions. I figure she might be related to the owners because it seemed English wasn't her first language.

Saturday Fun

This Saturday I had several businesses that I wanted to stop by for an open house or special event. It seemed like a perfect girls day out, so my friend Laura and her two girls let me tag along with them.

We started at The Purse Man. If you haven't visited Richard's store in Northport, then you are missing out on tons of affordable bags, bows, and bangles. This is the same Purse Man that used to set up his camper at the corner of 69 and Skyland. A year ago he opened this store in Northport offering a huge selection of seriously well priced merchandise. And, Richard is one of the nicest guys in town. So, a visit to The Purse Man is always a treat! Laura stocked up on bows for the girls and I made a request for Richard to check at market for day clutches. I saw them in People Style Watch this past month and I am so excited about having a couple for this season. (It is really just a larger size clutch.)

The next stop was Uptown Art Uncorked. This is a fun little studio where you paint your own masterpieces. You can see the calendar online and sign up for classes where the instructors will guide you in painting you own work of art. But, this day they had an open house with an open studio where you could select whichever painting you wanted and complete it on your own time.  Laura, the girls, and I didn't do that, but we all contributed to the community painting.
I love going for girl's nights to paint. This is the same downtown Tuscaloosa location where the painting place was before, just a new name. It is so much easier than you might think. I wouldn't consider myself artistic at all!!! But, every time I go, they make sure you leave with a painting that looks good.

Our final stop on girls day was Mary's Cakes and Pastries. During the months of February and March, they have a cookie throwdown. This is a cookie decorating contest. Each week had a theme, and this week was dinosaurs and monsters. They break the kids down into groups by ages and then select winners in the end. All the kids under 5 win, so Rainy walked away a winner while the rest of us just got to eat our yummy shortbread cookie.
Mary's always has a great section of cookies, the shortbread are the specialty, and yummy pastries and breads. Their cakes are beautiful and creative and also taste wonderful.

So, all three of our stops were fun. It was a great Saturday out and about in Tuscaloosa.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Book Club & Free Yogurt

My favorite group got together last night. TCBC, or Tuscaloosa Coolest Book Club, had our monthly dinner. I started up the book club about 2 years ago when The Help first came out. We have lost a few members and gained a few over the time, but we have always had a great time. Oh, yeah, and sometimes we read a book and talk about it. Wes jokes that we are the most non-reading book club ever, but we just went through that one phase where we saw movies for a few months last year :).

This month, we read the second and third books in The Hunger Games series. Next month we will go see the movie, so a month without a book, and so we had to get the full story read before the movie. I love The Hunger Games series if you are looking for a book to read right now!

But, what I wanted to talk about was the food we had. We ate dinner at Mellow Mushroom. This is a chain but the one in Tuscaloosa always has a good quality of food. The servers are often times less than attentive and the food can come out slowly. But, if  you have been before, then you know that going in, right? FYI, the Kosmic Karma pizza is awesome!!

After dinner we walked across the street to Sweet Cici's. This was their first night open and we got free yogurt. There is really nothing better than that, right? This is one of the self serve yogurts places where you put your own toppings on too. How is this one different? Well, it had a fun and festive vibe. Bright colors, fun decorations, and a cheerful spirit. And the toppings might have a little more variety than some of the other locations in town. They are displayed really nicely in tubes and the fresh fruit is supposed to be local. Mine was great. But, it seems to be really similar to the other options in town. I am excited they have outside tables and free wi-fi. I see this being an afternoon work spot in my near future on pretty days!!

Hidden Art

I had a lunch date with a friend/client yesterday. She suggested that we meet downtown at Moe's BBQ and visit the art at the federal building. Ok, so maybe others knew about this art, but I had no idea that as a part of the new federal building there was an artist commissioned to create special artwork just for our city and this building.  My friend Amy was on the board to select the artist, so I got a little bonus info on the visit. 

The artwork is on the second floor. The board decided they wanted an artist who could paint realistic portraits and a historical representation of our area. The artist, Caleb, was there working on one of the final paintings and was extremely nice and took a minute to talk with us. He still has two paintings to finish.

I am no art person. I have taken one art history class, visited a few museums, and know very little about the process that goes into painting. But, I know, these paintings are really great.  Caleb did his research. He studied the landscapes he painted, the people he painted, and has truly created lifelike paintings. He has such accurate scenes and the faces are so realistic. The Moundville painting has a gorgeous sky that catches light and looks like a photograph more than something someone has painted.

If you have the chance, stop by and see this fantastic art. All you have to do is tell the guys at the metal detector that you are there to see the art.