Review: Dee Felice

I recently went to dinner with my 2 brothers and their significant others to Dee Felice in Main Strasse Village. Dee Felice is known for their Cajun style food, which they’ve been serving for about 25 years. I love, love, love spicy food, so this place is right up my alley!  

The ambiance at Dee Felice is very fun - but very loud. They have a 5 piece jazz band playing there most nights. They are very good; however, I really wanted to chat and catch up with everyone and I could barely hear anything.  The waiter had to yell for all of us to hear him, and he had to repeat things multiple times. We were sitting at the very front of the restaurant – incredibly close to the band. If I go back, I would definitely request a table towards the back of the restaurant. That way the music would be more in the background.  

My favorite thing at Dee Felice is by far the Ricardo’s Ravioli. I’ve had it once before and couldn’t wait to have it again! We asked for 2 orders for the table because I knew everyone was going to love it.  The ravioli is filled with ricotta cheese and jalapeños and deep fried. It’s topped with the most delicious crawfish- jalapeño cream sauce. Absolutely divine!! And I was right – everyone else loved it too!  

We also started with an order of the Cajun-style Calamari for the table. This was pretty good as well; however it could have been crispier. The calamari itself was good – not too rubbery, which is always my biggest issue with calamari – and the Cajun spices added a nice flavor and “kick” to the dish. (Sorry - no photo of this)

My older brother ordered the Crawfish Etouffée, which was easily the best entrée at the table. It was absolutely delicious! I’ve never had etouffée before, but I will definitely be trying it again. It’s a mixture of crawfish, vegetables and seasonings served over rice. It’s very rich, very spicy and very good!  The side of red beans and rice was also great!

Dan ordered the jambalaya, which was my second favorite dish of the evening. The protein in the dish included chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage with creole vegetables and rice. I’m not a jambalaya expert, but I thought it tasted great and was a good consistency.

Based on a recommendation from our waiter, Jen and I both decided to try the Tournedos of Beef. We each got the half order, which was 4 ounces of beef tenderloin topped with béarnaise (my favorite sauce!!) and red wine sauce with mushrooms. It’s served over deep fried linguine. My beef tenderloin came out well done the first time around, even though I’d ordered it medium. I hate complaining when I go to restaurants, but this was unacceptable so I flagged down our server. He sent it back to the kitchen and brought out a new one fairly quickly (and a free glass of wine- bonus!). The second time around, it was perfectly cooked and worth the wait. And the sauce itself was amazing. But the linguine was a huge disappointment. Not sure what I was thinking ordering deep fried pasta? It was almost like eating uncooked pasta….very crunchy and hard. I usually like all things fried but this is definitely an exception!

My younger brother Robbie ordered the Blackened Halibut, which was excellent! He let me try a bite and I loved it….this comes by no surprise since it is served with béarnaise sauce (which I mentioned earlier is my favorite!).

Robbie’s girlfriend ordered the Halibut Forté, which is sautéed in lobster butter with shrimp.  This was just okay, but probably my least favorite dish of the night. Compared to the richness and flavors of all the other dishes, it was a little bland.

Overall, we had a good time at Dee Felice. The service and the food were pretty good – although I think slightly over priced (entrees range from $17 - $37). I wish I would have ordered one of their Cajun specialties like the jambalaya, etouffée or Dee’s Filet…but I'm glad we went and I would be willing to go back.

~Kris

Food: 3.5

Service: 3.5

Overall: 3.5

Guest Blog: Bottomless Mimosas!

My co-worker Beth will be our guest blogger again today! She has a great review about brunch at Poco a Poco, a restaurant in Hyde Park Square that specializes in Latin cuisine. I think the first sentence of her post pretty much says it all!!   ~Kris
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Bottomless mimosas, anyone? If you’re looking for good food, good drinks and a warm environment then Poco a Poco is your place on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I've been to the restaurant before  for dinner and wasn't overly impressed with my food but they definitely redeemed themselves with brunch! I'm glad I gave them another chance!

What really enticed me to join my friends last Sunday was the bottomless mimosas. That’s right – bottomless! Where could you go wrong with drinking carafes of refreshing mimosas on a Sunday morning with your best friends? When I arrived around 11AM, the place only had a few people seated at various tables around the room and also at their café tables outside in front of the restaurant. We were quickly seated and welcomed by our server, Jared, who was great and made sure our glasses were filled and our stomachs were satisfied.

At first glance of the menu, we all instantly noticed the very interesting item of pork and doughnuts. Yes, that is exactly what I wrote, pork and doughnuts! Two of the guys decided that they had to try this. The pork and doughnut dish consists of slow roasted pork with a Krispy Kreme doughnut that is layered with maple syrup. When the dish arrived it definitely looked interesting…and actually somewhat good. The combination between the sweet Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut and the tender, slow roasted pork made for a very complimentary taste of flavors in your mouth. Add a little bit of the maple syrup and you have a very sinfully, sweet treat! The guys left nothing on their plates and were very satisfied with this interesting combo.

One of my friends had been looking at the lunch menu and chose a burrito she thought looked delicious. When she went to order it, we were told that we couldn’t order anything on the lunch menu. L My friend was a little disappointed, but Jared assured her that he could check with the Chef and see if she could still have the burrito. He was successful! She received her very own custom burrito that the Chef had made just for her. She was very pleased with the combination of veggies, beans and pork all wrapped in a soft tortilla shell and served especially for her. (sorry no pic of this one)  

I decided on the Latin Benedict. I am a big fan of eggs Benedict and thought the slow poached egg, ham, smoked cotija cheese and pico de gallo sounded delicious!  All of the ingredients were well put together and added a slight Latin flare compared to the typical eggs Benedict. I really enjoyed the pico de gallo and smoked cotija cheese and would recommend this dish to anyone.

My other friends decided on the French toast, which consisted of crispy pork belly, two eggs and maple/agave syrup. They were very pleased with the combination of the pork and eggs with their French toast.

Not only was the food good, so was the service. Throughout the meal Jared was very friendly and conversational and always had our glasses filled with mimosas. We never once felt rushed to leave, even though the place began filling up around noon.  We ended up spending a couple of hours enjoying one another’s company with great food, great drinks and great service.

~Beth

Mama's Recipe: Warm Potato Salad

Kris is right when she says that we get our love of food from our moms.  So many occassions in my family involve good food. Any time we have a game night, holidays, or Sunday dinners, we always have to make sure the food is going to be delicious! This is typically not a problem with my mom.  Like Kris, I think my mom is a great cook. There is nothing like your own mother's cooking. There are so many dishes of hers that I love, so it was really hard to decide on one to share. 

I decided to share this warm potato salad because this is a dish that every single person in my family loves (maybe not my dad, but he never likes what everyone else likes).  My brother, sister, and I always request it, and my mom typically has to make extra because there are never any left overs.   Newcomers to our family, my husband and my sister-in-law, both love this too.  It's so good AND easy to make!  What's not to love?


Recipe:
4-5 red potatoes (depends on how many people you are serving)
one package of bacon pieces (find it in the salad dressing aisle)
1 cup of chopped scallions
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1-2 tbsp of dijon
salt and pepper

You could really use any kind of potatoes you would like, but I like the red potatoes the best.  Chop up the potatoes to bite size pieces.

Bake at 400 degrees 'til brown, about 20 minutes or so, depending on how many potatoes you are cooking.  Flip them half way through baking.  Meanwhile, chop your scallions.  In a separate bowl, mix together the mayo, mustard, salt and pepper.  Again, this mixture could be added to if you need more.  If you are making more potatoes, just eyeball it.  I sometimes add a bit more mustard too, just depends.  You can't mess it up too much! 

Once the potatoes are finished, pour them in a bowl, add the scallions, bacon and dressing and mix it up.  I used turkey bacon pieces this time, but choose whichever you prefer. 

This really is a crowd pleaser and is best served warm.  Hope you enjoy, and thanks Mom!
~Kate

Tribute to Our Mamas!

In honor of Mother's Day this week (reminder – it’s Sunday!!), Kate and I are going to post a couple of our favorite recipes that our moms make. We got our love for food from them, after all, so we thought we should pay tribute.

My mom is a great cook, so there were a lot of options for recipes to write about. I ultimately decided on her butternut squash lasagna, which is one of my absolute favorites. For years, my mom has been experimenting with and combining different butternut squash lasagna recipes she has found online.  

When I asked my mom to send me her recipe, I knew this was not going to be an easy task for her. She cooks with “a pinch of this” and “a little of that” and the ingredients in many of her recipes vary depending on what she has on hand. I’m sure many of you can relate to this, but it sure does make it difficult to recreate any of her dishes! It was a little like pulling teeth to get this recipe out of her, but here it is!! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

¼ c. butter

¼ c. flour

1 ½ c. butternut squash, cubed and cooked until fork tender (boiled or steamed)

3 amaretti cookies crumbled (these can be tricky to find, but I usually get them at TJ Maxx)

3 c. milk

¼ c. fresh sage, minced

1 - 8 oz. container mascarpone cheese

Pinch of nutmeg

½ c. chopped walnuts

Salt and pepper

12 no boil lasagna noodles

8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ c. grated parmesan 

In a skillet, melt the butter then add flour and stir to make a roux. Next add milk and stir until it’s slightly thickened. Add all the ingredients (except last 3 on the list - lasagna noodles, mozzarella and parmesan cheese) along with flour mixture into blender or food processer. Blend until thick and smooth. 

Spray a 13x9 pan and preheat oven to 375. Spread ¼ of the mixture on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Place 4 lasagna noodles on top of the mixture. Repeat – layering 3 times. Top with mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes covered, then remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Feel free to play around with this recipe a little - I know my mom does all the time! One thing I’ve seen her try (and I really like) is frying the sage in butter before adding it to the blender.  You can crumble some of the fried sage on top of the lasagna before you bake it as well. It adds a great texture to the dish! I also wanted to point out that you can find cubed butternut squash at Trader Joe's. This is great because it takes a lot of work out of preparing the butternut squash. I'm all about simplifying!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!!

Review: Chi-natti's

Pizza is one of those foods that everybody loves.  I like that you can make it at home, have it delivered, or go out to a local pizza place.  So, when Kris asked me to go to Chi-natti's, I couldn't refuse.  I had been to Chi-natti's a couple times before, but Kris had never been before.  Chi-natti's is located in Kenwood on Montgomery Rd. Every time I have gone here there has been plenty of seating and no wait time.  They do have a happy hour, but it was only until 6:00 and we had just missed it. 

Our waitress promptly greeted us.  She offered some information about the menu as a whole and was able to answer all our questions.  We decided to start with the Easy Caprese Salad which is slices of fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, fresh basil and balsalmic dressing.  This was a good size to share.  The tomatoes weren't quite as fresh as I would normally have liked but there was just enough dressing.  This is one of my favorite classic salads.  I love the combination of the soft, creamy mozzarella with the sweetness of the balsalmic. 

Chi-natti's offers both Chicago-style deep dish pizza and a traditional thinner crust.  I don't typically order deep dish pizza because it is too filling; however, Kris and I decided we should try it since we had never had it here before.  Our friend Christina was joining us, so we ordered a medium pizza with mushrooms and pepperoni. 

We were told if you order deep dish that the wait time will be a bit longer because it takes longer to cook.  We didn't mind.  This pizza turned out really good!  Many traditional Chicago style deep dish pizzas have the tomatoes on top of the cheese and other toppings.  The sauce had a bit of sweetness to it and there was just the right amount of cheese.  I thought there could have been more mushrooms on the pizza.  The crust was soft but crunchy.  It tasted a little bit like a cornbread crust.

We all ended up liking the pizza, but it was still too much for 3 people,but there was extra to take home.  This pizza is very filling, so take that into consideration when ordering a deep dish pizza.  Chi-natti's offers different specials throughout the week.  Their happy hour is every day from 3:00-6:00 with half off all drinks and appetizers.  On Wednesdays they have family night where it is buy one pizza get one free.  It does get pretty loud in here though, so it's probably not the place for a quiet dinner.  The prices are about $5-$9 for a salad...a bit high for a side salad.  They also offer sandwiches and catering.  This pizza is pretty good, but I am still on a mission to find my favorite pizza in Cincinnati, any suggestions?

~Kate

Food: 3.5
Service: 3.5
Overall Experience: 3.5