Greetings, readers! As per usual, I'm dropping in from some sort of "busy" hiatus that kept me from writing about all of the food fun that's been on my plate and in my brain lately. I have been tending to my wild baby boy and working all sorts of strange hours lately. Thankfully along with the every day stuff I've also been sippin' on lattes and enjoying a lot of good Netflix and Foodnetwork shows. If you're looking for some new binge watching material in the land of tastiness, look no further!
1. Salt Fat Acid Heat
My new favorite Netflix mini series! If you were a fan of Michael Pollan's Cooked this is going to be another favorite. Samin Nosrat was actually a guest on the Water chapter of Cooked. Her goal in this series is to explore the 4 elements -salt, fat, acid, and heat and how they can be added to dishes/ingredients to make food more delicious. I binge watched this one in an afternoon. My next order of business is buying the book!
2. Chef's Table
I've touched on Chef's Table before... I am OBSESSED! I love how artistic every episode of the series is can generally feel tears welling in my eyes when the intro orchestra gets rolling! The new season just came out and highlights another group of creative chefs across the globe. I can't recommend this show enough for people who appreciate gastronomy and high quality, creative dishes. I find myself adding restaurants to my bucket list anytime I turn this on. Watch it and then geek out with me about it sometime.
3. Girl Meets Farm
I caught a glimpse of Girl meets Farm one morning before work and was hooked on Molly Yeh's cooking style and her overall aesthetic. Girl Meets Farm is one of Foodnetwork's newest shows that's on every Sunday morning. Although I find Molly's personality to be the worst, I still watch because I love her kitchen and want everything in it! She has a boho/country/retro vibe going on and it really helps to distract you from the dorky things she says nonstop. She's basically like a young, Anthropologie-loving, Pioneer woman for millenials. If that doesn't completely deter you from wanting to watch a new show, check out Girl Meets Farm 😂
Anyway... to the main point of this post: there IS a fine dining scene in Erie! After growing up here I was convinced that all Erie had was hotdogs and Olive Garden, but thankfully I was wrong. There's a small (but growing) number of local spots with passionate chefs and beautiful dishes! I plan to make my way around town to try more (and hopefully blog more) in the coming months! My first fancy spot in the 814 was 1201 Kitchen -a chic destination that showcases contemporary Asian and Latin fare. My friend, Meagan, and I split several dishes and then went our separate ways for mains before returning to the same plate for dessert. Here's what we tried:
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| Short rib Dumpling -it's hard to see, but this dish is one large dumpling. It was brimming with savory short ribs and was nestled in a bed of white sweet potatoes. It was also garnished with crispy shallots and scallions. The dumpling was the perfect winter starter for our meal -dense and cozy. |
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| Housemade Chips and Caviar -we were drawn to this dish for many reasons, but the main one being that the caviar is in a grilled scallion aioli...ummm yessss! The caviar's delicate, salty flavor was a perfect balance to the creamy, oniony flavor of the aioli. |
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| Green salad and burrata -if you can't figure out why this dish matters we might not be friends. BURRATA aka one of the best cheeses ever is the star. If you live under a rock and have no clue what burrata is, it's a cow's milk cheese that is mozzarella on the outside and fresh cream on the inside. The green portion of the salad is a mix of sorrel (bright, lemony goodness) and grilled scallions. Scallions find their way into basically everything at this place. The whole dish is tossed in a garlic mojo (sauce). This was a nice lighter dish amongst all the savory dishes we tried. |
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| Short rib miso ramen - I'm not going to lie, when I read the description of this dish 2 things caught my eye and I couldn't look any further "truffle buttered corn" and "black garlic" I knew this ramen was going to have all sorts of umami things going on and I was so excited to devour every drop. Not to mention the beautifully soft egg, the shredded short rib, and velvety noodles...oh and scallions. The waiter told me that it was a "huge meal" and that "there would definitely be leftovers." I made a bet with him that I could eat it all...and yes I drank every last sip of broth in that bowl. He bowed to me and I had no regrets. I'm also going to go out on a bold limb and say this was the BEST ramen I've ever tried! |
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| I forget the name of this dish/the dessert menu doesn't exist on the internet... but this was a vanilla yogurt with pistachio brittle, peaches, berries, and mint. It was a really light dessert to help even out all of the decadence we had encountered previously. This dessert was like a bite of summer in the wintery wonderland. |
Mint espresso - to round out the night I got this cocktail that had Kahlua, espresso, mint, and chocolate in it. I love all things minty, chocolatey, and coffee-y. Also, coffee and fruit are a great combo so this went really well with our dessert!
1201 Kitchen was one of the first fancy restaurants to come up in Erie and it's taken me too long to get there. It was a great first chapter in my Erie fine dining book. If you're looking for a place to go for a romantic date or a girls night out or a family celebration this is a perfect choice. If you've already been to 1201 Kitchen, what was your favorite dish? If you haven't been there, GO! Also, if you have a favorite restaurant in or near Erie please let me know so I can add it to my list.
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