HullaBalloo!

Back in Boston, freezing my knickers off and biding my time until May. I ate a lot of good food in Greensboro, it is certain. Actually, it has gotten to the point where I've started stealing menus from restaurants so I can remember what I had, and therefore, blog about the food.

So, I did that for a dinner I had at Maria's in Greensboro, just a few days before I left, and I wish I had done it for The Wooden Nickel in Hillsborough, NC. Maria's has been in business for a long time, quietly delivering good food off of my radar the entire time I've lived in the city. I went in for lunch, and while there was invited to a 5 course wine dinner made by one of my favorite chefs at Liberty Oak. For an exceedingly affordable $25, I got shrimp won-tons with a homemade sweet and sour sauce, steamed mussels in a curry broth, duck confit with fig chutney, and tea-brined pork loin with sweet-potato polenta. All of this specially paired with wines that, unfortunately, I cannot remember well. The pairings, oddly, were done by an old friend of mine who used to work at the wine shop that I used to work at. Such is the world of food/wine.

Now, The Wooden Nickel is in Hillsborough, a farming community in the middle-of-nowhere NC. This place is a hub of delicious food, and this unassuming little pub has a good share of it. Here, you can have something that I have just discovered is totally delicious: battered and fried banana peppers with ranch dressing. You can also have burgers from free-range grass-fed cows that were raised about a mile away from the restaurant, as well as bison burgers of the same ilk. You can undoubtedly taste the difference in the meat. Top that off with some delicious beer from my folks at Foothills Brewery , and you have a fine meal. My fellow blogger and delicious-food maker Amy at Earthbound Kitchen used to work down here on a farm, which is why I've been coming down to visit.

One more word on beer, because I've found a brewery worth raving about. Aviator Brewery in little Fuquay Varina, NC (just outside Raleigh, and yes, I've already made the appropriate jokes) makes several delicious options worth writing home about. My favorites were the Frostnipper and the King Rat Stout. Big, delicious beers with clean hoppy flavors and malty, creamy, coffee finishes. The brewery is not messing around about the name: it really is in an airplane hangar that used to house the owner's biplane. They seem to be doing well, and are creating an underground stir in the beer-world of the Triad area. They do a good tasting/tour at their brewery on the weekends.

Also, my personal nostalgic beer of choice, the famed Red Oak beer is now being bottled in the Triad area, and can be found in many specialty grocery stores and wine/beer stores. This beer comes in several varieties, but the standard lager is what you can get in the bottle. This stuff is brewed according to the Munich Purity Law, and you can tell by the clean, nutty flavors of this wonderful micro-brew.

Now that I'm back in Boston, I'll start reviewing Boston eateries, brews, and bars again. However, it was good to be reminded that home has some fantastic eats. I'm not ashamed of the culinary possibilities of Greensboro and its surrounds, and it could easily stand up to Boston's metropolitan area any day of the week.

Here's to eating more in the New Year!!