Let the Feast Begin!

Port City Java
21 N. Front Street
Wilmington, NC 28401

(910) 762-5282
portcityjava.com

South Beach Grill
100 S. Lumina Avenue
Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480
(910) 256-4646
southbeachgrillwb.com

Elijah's
2 Ann Street
Wilmington, NC 27501
(910) 343-1448
elijahs.com

IF ONE OF my favorite culinary truths about New York City is the vast abundance of international and creative vegetarian food to be found here, then one of my favorite parts of traveling south and east to the Atlantic Coast is the buckets and buckets (quite literally) of seafood to be had there. And in a city like Wilmington, whose historic downtown has managed to outlaw franchises, the buckets to be had are mighty, mighty tasty indeed.

We start, however, with a blueberry muffin procured from Port City Java, which sits downstairs, conveniently, in my brother's apartment building, which is oddly enough a former Masonic temple:

Not the most delicious blueberry muffin I've ever had, truth be told, but when you're sitting alongside the Cape Fear sipping iced coffee on a 95-degree Saturday morning eating said blueberry muffin in the company of Mint, mom and brother, its tastes okay. Throw in the view and one doesn't complain:

The day was spent mostly at the beach, which included the ice cream cone (top) and 75-degree water, after which my brother took off for the airport to meet his girlfriend, Elisa, while my mom, Mint and I grabbed a late, light lunch at the nearby South Beach Grill. Situated at one of the main entrances to Wrightsville Beach, parking can be a frustrating affair, but more enjoyable food within walking distance of the sand is hard to find.

Lunch was wasabi-crusted sea scallops, a 'Seafood Napoleon' of shrimp, fried tomatoes, and crab meat with boursin cheese, and a plate of seafood nachos featuring creamy crab, a few more shrimp and homemade tortilla chips, all shared between the three of us. The creative fare might not be as finely-executed as that in downtown Wilmington, but the ambitious dishes are well-prepared and make most excellent beach fare.

After making the fifteen minute drive back into Wilmington, we took a few hours to relax, clean up, and share a bottle of wine. And then, once again, it was time for food. (I love Wimington!) My mom's recommendation for tonight: Elijah's.

Sitting off the end of Wilmington's riverside boardwalk, where the cobblestones of Ann Street mark the end of the city's main drag, Elijah's sits sprawled out with its triple-terraced patio overlooking the Cape. It's beautiful spot to sit on a summer evening and dig into a bucket of seafood. Literally. "The Carolina Bucket"--crab legs, shrimps, mussels, clams, corn, slices of sausage, and bunches of fresh oysters. Had we known the bucket (below, top left) would be so deep, we might not have also ordered the chef's Grill Plate, a pile of blackened salmon, mahi mahi and skewered shrimp. Suffice it to say there was a lot of food.

Dessert, somehow, was deemed necessary. Apple pie and a chocolate cake were ordered, the latter (above, bottom left) boasting more than a pound of butter and chocolate per slice. The thing was a veritable chocolate truffle, engorged and molded into something resembling a slice of pie so rich and dark it appeared a black hole at our table that we could only hope sucked the calories out of itself. Even more confounding was the Cape Fear coffee my mother ordered (above, bottom right). It looked innocent enough; the Bailey's, Khalua, and amaretto all involved begged to differ.

And so began the weekend.

Going to the Country, Gonna Eat a Lot of Mexican Food

Eat Records
124 Meserole Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11222
Official Myspace Page

Eat-A-Pita
Grand Central Terminal
New York, NY 10017
212-297-2500
Official Website

Chuck's & Margaritas
1498 Stafford Road
Mansfield, CT 06268
860-429-1900
Official Website

MY COUSIN ADAM is getting confirmed tomorrow (think: Catholic version of a Bar Mitzvah, only without the big party or super-long ceremony), so I'm headed up to Connecticut for the weekend. That means errands in the morning, a train in the afternoon, and Connecticut by nightfall. Of course, today's sustenance will follow in exactly the same path.

First thing this morning, finding our shelves finally void of the Turkish coffee we discussed a few days ago, I stopped into Eat Records while running errands to grab a cup. I've passed the tiny, hole-in-the-wall record shop/coffee shop/cafe/music venue guided by indie scene beacon Todd P many a time, but I've always kept walking as my caffeine loyalties lie with Cafe Grumpy and Ashbox. Used vinyl loyalties? I have none.

What Eat Records would look like full, at night

The coffee was decent (costing a buck and some change), the records looked old and/or new, and there were a few well- and/or poorly-dressed kids hanging around. Pretty much what I expected. Not much space to sit and use a laptop, though there were certainly a few tables available to occupy for such a purpose, so I can imagine the place gets filled up pretty easily on a weekend or whenever Todd P is selling tix for some impossible to find Greenpoint gig. So, Grumpy and Ashbox--fear not, this morning's infidelity means nothing. It was just a cup of coffee. I will return to you both soon. Kisses.

Suitcase packed (yes, loaf of banana bread included), I set off for Grand Central in hopes of arriving in time to find a bite to eat before running to my 4:09 train to New Haven. Deciding against dragging my suitcase through the always-packed Grand Central Market, I descended instead to the Dining Concourse and found the falafal-tastic Eat-A-Pita. For $6 (GCT is convenient, but not cheap) I had a delicious pita stuffed with falafal and much hummus. Not too shabby; a standout among other options.

The burrito barn beckons...

From New Haven, my uncle Frank and I drove up and through Hartford, arriving to meet my aunts Kathy and Eileen, uncle Tom, and cousins Paul and Adam outside Ashford, CT at the triple-level Mexican super-barn, a.k.a. Margaritas. I'll say this much: if you're in eastern Connecticut and looking for a gigantic Mexican steakhouse, look no further.


In the past I've enjoyed enchiladas the size of my head. This time, I gave the fish tacos a try. I'll go back to enchiladas next time, or perhaps the plates of sizzling fajitas that my cousins always enjoy, or perhaps the nachos my uncle ordered that showed up the size of a sombrero. All are more satisfactory options. Regardless, don't bother going on a full stomach, don't forget the margaritas, and be sure to get a table in the top-tier hay loft. Because if you haven't eaten Mexican food in the rafters of a barn in the Connecticut woods, you haven't lived.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Coffee, nah; pita, yah; margaritas, you betcha.

Spring Break, Part X: Back in Brooklyn

La Traviata
139 Montegue Street
(b/t Clinton & Henry)
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 858-5592

THE BEST PART of waking up in a Comfort Inn is making your own Belgian waffles in the lobby. I think. Anyway, I got a kick out of it--I've never had the pleasure. It was certainly a plus to be able to drag them back to the hotel room with a couple cups of coffee and sit on the balcony looking out over the ocean. Not a bad send-off.

The flight back was unremarkable, same for the taxi (yet apparently I've decided to remark on them... curious), and I spent most of the afternoon unpacking all the goodies I happily lugged back: a new flask (from my mother), a huge Eduardo Chillida art book, and lots of glasses (also from my mother) that remarkably survived the flights crew's best efforts to destroy them in my luggage. Those, and several other things.

Unpacked, I headed down to Brooklyn Heights to meet Mint for dinner. The snow and ice was an unpleasant reminder of reality after a few days at my brother's place in sunny North Carolina, and so was slipping on the stairs outside Mint's store and nearly destroying my arm. Welcome home.

We went, as we always seem to do, to La Traviata. It's absolutely nothing special, and I certainly wouldn't recommend you make a trip out to Brooklyn Heights just to hit it up, but if you're in the neighborhood it's not a bad option. Reasonably priced, well-prepared Italian food with service that tends to be, well, not. I guess the plus to this is that you won't be rushed.

I've had lots of stuff over a few visits and found that the pastas tossed with seafood tend to be the best bet for your money, only slightly-more expensive than their pasta-only options and twice as good. The salmon and peas in vodka sauce and the linguine with shrimp, calamari, and mussels with plum tomato sauce are two of my favorites.

It's nothing you'll run home raving about, but if you order a few glasses of wine and sit back to watch the waitresses struggling to keep up with their tables, you'll have a fine time indeed.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: He's in Brooklyn Heights.

Spring Break, Part VIII: Begin the Grand Finale

Hell's Kitchen
118 Princess Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 763-4133
www.hellskitchenbar.com

Circa 1922
8 N. Front Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 762-1922
www.circa1922.com

THE PROBLEM WITH being "on vacation" is the part where you start eating every meal like you can afford to eat every meal like you're on vacation. Arrived with my mother in Wilmington to stay at my brother's place for a few days, we immediately began this with lunch at Hell's Kitchen. Of course, Adam, my brother, works at Hell's Kitchen, which makes it a easy choice.

I've eaten at Hell's now a handful of times, and not once have I been disappointed. Not only is the food excellent as bar fare, it would be excellent by any standard at any other restaurant. It's that good. And the kitchen is vegetarian friendly (which is not always the case at bars) in that they can actually tell you what's in the food (which is not always the case at a bars).

My ma and I had the grilled tuna sandwich and black bean burger, respectively, both with the sweet potato fries that are a signature item at Hell's (NOTE: ask them to go light on the brown sugar if you don't want yours to be too sweet.) And while the menu is solid, the kitchen is good enough that you would do as well just to try the daily specials, whatever they happen to be.

For dinner, we dropped in on Circa for tapas and wine--a "happy hour" special of sorts that offers any item on the tapas menu for $3.

Now, I'm perpetually annoyed by restaurants that have taken to calling appetizers "tapas" simply because they are small portions of food. The "tapas spirit" is a poor excuse to use a singular Spanish culture as a way to sell more appetizers, and there are only three things on the "tapas tradicional" menu at Circa that you would ever find at a bar Spain: Serrano ham, olives, and cheese.

That said, Circa is one of the more enjoyable restaurants I've ever been in. The places looks incredible, the food is great, and while the "tapas" menu is laughable, the bruchettas and grilled shrimp are excellent deals for $3 each.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Yes on both counts.