Here’s the monthly Mockingbird visit to Sunrise. We decided to venture into the bakery section and managed to have our entire dinner from there, for better or worse….
We started with this amazing semi sweet bread with a hot dog in it. Heated up it was delicious. Mmmm. Crazy unknown Asian bakery goods. Check it out though, they have about 15 different kinds of these breads.
They also have passable Banh Mi. I have to admit I have never had amazing Banh Mi. I always mean to try the places in New York but never do. It is a full on fad up there. Actually a bit hard to miss eating them up there. As far as I know Sunrise is the only place to get them in Knoxville.
The other awesome New York find thanks to Lady K, Ippuddo. House made ramen noodles. It was mind boggling. They have some kind of broth that takes days to make, there’s all kinds of different meats, steamed buns that melt in your mouth. Oh my. We were there the day of one of the recent blizzards. It was the most warming perfect comfort food.
So a few weeks ago Mockingbird was in New York. I tried lots of new places with Jesse, Lauren, and Carlos. Neither of them had really been to the city before so it was really fun to try new things.
I’ve walked by this place, Ideya many times the past couple years. It’s down in Soho and just so cute and pretty.
Turns out their drinks are absolutely amazing. They had infusions going at the bar and lots of unique things. We tried a lot of the drinks, it was sunny, and we were enjoying the sun for first time in months.
The classics were amazing. I mean who needs another mojito? Well when it’s done properly you do. Man. Things done well are always worth it, no matter how many times you’ve had a bad version. They also did the classic Brazilian drink that I can never remember the name of even though I should…
I love food tips. Especially from Jeff Ross. He has good ones. In my food finds at the end of the year he suggested going to Denton’s for a good basic burger. I was running some errands recently, not eating properly that week, and starving. A burger seemed like the best idea ever.
Denton's Cheeseburger with everything
Mmmmm. This burger was great. White bread bun, crinkle cut pickles, yellow mustard and ketchup on the bun, what looks like a hand patted patty. The only thing that could have been better was the cheese. We didn’t try the fries but did get one of those big orange drinks. I’m not sure but I seem to remember that orange julius didn’t always have slushy ice in them. A Coke would have certainly been better. Check it out.
David Luttrell did an amazing job documenting the planning of BaconFest for the Metropulse. He was kind enough to share his shots with Mockingbird. Below are a few selects that didn’t make it into the paper.
Thanks David!!
Allan Benton at work
Q the Pig's jalepeno masterpiece 2nd course
Holly Hambright's amazing lobster bisque
Hey Craft and Spoon got any of this bacon toffee goodness leftover?
Yay, I am excited to welcome my first official guest blogger. went to a wild game dinner a couple weeks back. What with bacon madness it took me a bit to get it posted but here is his recap with a photo! Thanks so much Chad:
The Wildlife and Fisheries Society at UT hosts the annual Wild Game Dinner on the Ag Campus in the Ellington Plant Sciences Auditorium. It is a potluck, and Wildlife/Fisheries students and faculty tend to do lots of hunting/ fishing, so there is always tons to eat.
This year was no exception. Dishes ranged from simple BBQ pork to Squirrel Dumplins and grilled shark…there were probably 10 cast iron Dutch ovens set up cooking, and a host of grills. Elk was probably the most abundant dish, and it was mostly variations on tenderloin, as were the venison dishes. A highlight was antelope tenderloin wrapped in bacon, and the elk burgers were delicious, and perfectly medium rare.
There was salmon, shark, trout, catfish, and even an alligator dish (but I was too far back in line for that one).
The black bear summer sausage was good (bear seems hard to fix unless it’s in some stew or sausage form).
The squirrel dumplins were out of this world and made me feel like a kid at Grandma’s house, and the Cajun Goose Gumbo was the best thing I’ve tasted in quite a while.
Presentation of the food is how you’d expect…paper plates and platicware. Non-pretentious. You can feel the sense of passion for the outdoors…as there are also items up for raffle, ranging from knives, handmade bird houses, camo shirts, to a 12 gauge shotgun. The event raises money for the Wildlife & Fisheries Society, and also serves as a forum for likeminded folks and alumni to swap memories and stories.
The Ag Campus is a special place indeed, and I will always have a special place in my belly for the time I spent in the Wildlife program. Good people.
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