Breakfast at the Mandolin

The Mandolin decorated for Christmas.

Shelley and Jesse, friends we met on our trip to Italy three years ago, were in town visiting Mary (another member of our tour), and we got together with two others tour members,  Becky (and her husband Frank) and Paula (and her husband Doug) for brunch this morning at the Mandolin Restaurant.  It was sort of a reunion of several NC State Alumni who had taken the Alumni sponsored trip to Italy in the fall of 2011.  After the big victory of State over Carolina yesterday, everyone was celebrating that win.  *

Shelley and Jesse visiting from Virginia.

Dan and I had been to the Mandolin for brunch last year**, and we recommended it as a great place to have breakfast.  It was a lot of fun visiting with this bunch of friends.   And the food was good too.

Clockwise beginning in foreground:  Dan, Paula, Mary, Shelley, Doug, Jesse, Becky (hidden behind Frank) Frank.

While we were waiting on our orders, each of us was served a delicious homemade biscuit with butter and apple butter.  I love these biscuits.

Mandolin's homemade biscuit.  Delish!

For the main dish several enjoyed the Johnston Co. Country Ham Benedict.  The Mandolin is a farm to table restaurant and uses products from local farms as much as possible in their dishes.

Eggs Benedict with country ham from Johnston County.

My choice for brunch was a Virgin Bloody Mary, fresh orange juice and a country breakfast. 

A Virgin Mary garnished with a pickled okra.

Country breakfast.

Doug chose the shrimp and grits served in an iron skillet.  He pronounced this delicious.

Shrimp and grits.

Dan chose the Omelet of the Day that included pheasant, scallions and cauliflower.

Omelet of the day.

Jesse and Dan.

Left to right:  Paula, Mary, Shelley, Jesse, Doug, Becky, Frank

The food was good, but the best part was visiting with these NC State Alumni friends. 

*I am a State fan unless they are playing Carolina.  But I wore a red jacket and was sitting with State fans, Jesse had gotten the ticket and I certainly wasn't going to be cheering for Carolina under those circumstances.  I did my graduate work at NC State so I was happy they won---sort of. 

**Check out my earlier blog about Brunch at the Mandolin.

Shrimp 'n Grits Throwdown at the Carolina Inn

Shrimp 'n Grits Throwdown at the Carolina Inn (Photo by Bridget Whelan).

On Saturday, the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill sponsored a Shrimp 'n Grits Throwdown.  Dan and I like Shrimp 'n Grits, and we like the Carolina Inn, but unfortunately I was home recuperating from eye surgery and missed this.  But I'm sharing some photos by Bridget Whelan from WRAL.  So let's vicariously enjoy this.

The event enjoyed by 200 patrons of the Carolina Inn was a sold-out fund raiser for TABLE, a local charity benefiting children who are at-risk for hunger.

Trey Cleveland's winning dish (Photo by Bridget Whelan).

Seven local chefs prepared shrimp and grits, and the judges chose Trey Cleveland from Top of the Hill in Chapel Hill as the winner with his dish: a crisp fried grit cake topped with shrimp and a creamy mushroom sauce.

Attendees voted for their favorite and chose the dish of Vimala Rajendran  of Vimala's Curry Blossom Cafe: spicy shrimp, full of Indian curry flavors.

Fan's favorite: curried shrimp and grits. (Photo by Bridget Whelan).

For a full account of this event and for more photos check out the website of WRAL.