Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Ladies Night

A few weekends ago, some friends and I were headed out of town for a weekend of shopping and shenanigans, but unfortunately, the trip had to be postponed.  Although thoroughly enjoying sleeping in, I called one of the ladies to see if she still wanted to get out of the house.  Knowing there aren't many opportunities for her to strut her stuff on the town, being the strong, hardworking woman that she is, we scheduled a date which involved the traditional dinner and a movie. 

Finally settling on a movie and location, we went to the Paradiso Theater and saw the movie Bridesmaids.  Someone mentioned that it's like the estrogen-laced (my words) version of The Hangover, and I might agree a bit.  If anyone was in the theater that day and heard the loud, sincerely obnoxious laughter coming from the lower left corner of the room, I apologize.  But if you were there, you also know why there was high peals of laughter from the entire audience...pure hilarity!  So definitely check it out...and The Hangover 2 when it's released in a few weeks.

After composing ourselves and surving the showing with dry pants, we headed over to Napa Cafe in the Sanderlin Shopping Center.  I'd called earlier in the day to make a reservation, and they were ready when we arrived, even though we were a little early.  For dinner, the lighting is low, the candles are up, and the atmosphere is ripe for romance.  Perhaps a bit much for two ladies out on the town, but sweet all the same...we made sure to note that we'd be bringing our significant others back for a real date night.  We burned up a lot of calories in our laugh fest, so we were primed to get our eat on!

To start the meal, my friend ordered soup and I ordered salad.  My salad was Romaine and Gorgonzola, which consisted of hand cut Romaine lettuce, spiced pecans, gorgonzola cheese, and was topped with a honey roasted garlic dressing.  Despite the fact that I'm definitely a "meat girl," I do love a good salad.  This one has my favorite items...pecans and garlic...and I ate it like it was the main course.  I believe the only thing that stopped me from literally inhaling without chewing was the fact that I was there with someone with whom I was engaging in conversation.  Otherwise, that could have been ugly.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that it was really good.  I think society should be grateful that it's not proper dining etiquette to lick the plate, because I did clean the plate.  I could have just been hungry, but that's neither here or there...


They really are colossal...
 The other thing I have to mention is that my friend is awesome.  Aside from her sparkling personality and engaging conversation, she is absolutely willing to offer up part of her meal for me to savor and bring additional legitimacy to the blog.  Which is extra awesome because for the main entree, she ordered Shrimp and Grits.  The menu offers this dish as grilled colossal shrimp with pancetta and mushroom demi-glace, and is served atop delta grind grits.  There is another spot in Memphis that serves the shrimp and grits entree, and I'm going to try them out for comparison's sake, but this entree was just as good as it looked.  I think we were drooling over each other's plates, and yes I shared my meal as well...


I ordered the Roasted Chicken, served au jus over sauteed spinach, and a side order of Sweet Corn Saute.  The chicken was cooked...perfectly.  The chicken was roasted so that the skin was crispy and the meat was cooked to the appropriate level of juicy.  The corn saute was served with crisp Benton's bacon.  I'm not really sure who Benton is but his bacon is super fantastic!  I didn't eat the main course nearly as fast as I did the salad; I actually took the time to savor each bite of this meal.  The spinach was not heavily seasoned and balanced the spices in the chicken.  About 3 bites into the main course and side item, I realized that I was being Greedy Smurf and was going to inevitably hurt myself trying to eat everything.  But in true champion fashion, I finished my meal and found a pocket in my tummy for dessert...

Roasted Chicken au YUMMY!

Sweet Corn Saute with Benton's Bacon
Not cheesecake, but just as awesome!
So dessert...against the better judgment of our digestive capabilities, we ordered off the dessert menu.  Sweet Buttermilk Pie for m'lady and Praline Pecan Ice Cream for myself.  I was so full of food, that when they brought mine out, I was confused as to what I'd ordered.  As much as I love cheesecake, I didn't actually remember ordering it and I didn't know why my cheesecake was frozen.  Please see the picture in regards to my confusion and don't judge me.  All that eating makes you tired and a bit delirious.  I also sampled the buttermilk pie and let my friend taste my ice cream, which by the way, was prepared on a coconut pecan crust, with butterscotch sauce and whipped cream.  And I  finished every single morsel.  I had to drive home with the windows down and wind in my face, but we promised that we would get together soon and eat ourselves silly once again. 

The staff was pretty awesome as well and definitely earn their pay.  So head over to Sanderlin Shopping Center and stop by Napa Cafe (reservations recommended) for a great experience, great service, and a positively earned belly ache.

1 comment:

  1. I would sell my 2nd born for some Benton's Bacon! That corn is AMAZING! I ♥ Napa!

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