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Soleil shines in Eureka
Date: 10/22/2009
By:
Arkansas Times Staff
Cafe Soleil is a bright spot on Eureka Springs' already sunny dining scene, combining good food with easy access, a precious commodity in the mountain town. The food's so good, though, that you'd find a place to park, even if it meant leaving the car in Berryville and thumbing a ride.
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Friday, November 06, 2009 - 08:55:59
I continue to indulge myself both by eating and by preserving the memories of my trip to Italy in a few photos. At top, an arugula pizza from a century-old pizzeria in Rome, Da Rici (or Est! Est! Est! -- it serves gallons of the mellow white wine known by the same name).
Then there's one of the best pizzas of the trip, the diavola from Da Rici, with spicy salami, somewhat like pepperoni and hot chili oil for added condiment. These pizzas cost around 7 euros.
Then, a break from pizza, with slices of roast veal, roasted potatoes, impossibly sweet steamed pearl onions and garnish at Sabatini, a venerable restaurant in the Trastavere neighborhood of Rome. Not cheap -- about 14 euros, but rich and filling.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 - 08:35:48
of food and wine. Next week, Eureka Springs is hosting its annual Food and Wine Weekend - four days of fabulous wine pairings and meals offered by 18 different restaurants in the area.
Some are extravagant -- like The Grand Tavern's $95 meal that includes House Cured Gravlox with Caviar, Lemon Lavendar Salad, Grilled Veal with a Fois Gras and Truffle Demiglas and Vol au Vent stuffed with Grand Marnier cream and strawberries. Some are very reasonable, like Casa Colina's Tamale and Dry Aged Ribeye meal for $55. There's even an incredible $395 per couple dinner being served at The Crescent Hotel that includes beef tenderloin, lobster tail, and wines that made my husband gasp such as a 1944 Royal Oporto Port and Grand Marnier 150 (I know, not a wine but I love Grand Marnier).
There are even classes. Sharron McCarthy is doing classes at the Cottage Inn. There's one on Saturday the 14th for $45 that not only includes a cooking class and wine seminar, but also a tasting of the dishes and chocolate truffles and... man, I need to stop writing about this while hungry.
There's a lot more at the event website. We're planning on heading up there ourselves (it's anniversary time) and can't wait. Well, we have to, but we don't want to. More information by phone at (800) 344-6050.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009 - 08:47:28
I gotta tell ya, I love cookbooks. Must have a couple hundred of them -- ranging from Apicius (ancient Rome) to Le Menagier de Paris (14th Century French) to Cake Doctor to The Joy of Cooking and about every little church and school cookbook I've been able to get my hands on. I've kept up with a battered dogeared copy of the early '80s St. Vincent Infirmary cookbook Cornerstone Cookery with care and respect, have two copies of the gigantic tome The Best Recipe (the original and the update that came out last year) and jealously guard my mostly complete Time Life collection of The Cuisine of... books. I keep close tabs on my signed copy of Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt and my autographed copy of Big Kevin, Little Kevin. I even have the Favre family cookbook and Penn & Teller's How to Play With Your Food and Dom DeLuise's Eat This, It'll Make You Feel Better.
But when it comes down to talking about cooking here in Arkansas, I've been hard pressed to point someone in the right direction, one commercially available book that contains not only Arkansas favorites but information about this city I grew up in. Something worthy of being a fantastic Christmas gift.
Guess what? I found it. More on the jump.
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