Au Naturale

Au Naturale is a new restaurant on the corner of 900 East and 2100 South. The goal of the restaurant is to serve healthy, delicious and affordable food quickly. No one said this would be easy, right?

And they really do try. I promise some of the friendliest, most out of their way helpful people work, own and run Au Naturale. I ordered the Ahi Tuna Sandwich expecting seared Ahi Tuna. What I got was grilled tuna that tasted so strongly of fish I was sure I had somehow ended up with salmon. Well, I was assured that I hadn't. But the woman I spoke with was very sweet and even let me have a free salmon sandwich so I would leave with a wonderful experience.

Actually, I kind of feel like an idiot. Really? I blog about food and I can't tell the difference between tuna and salmon. I need to eat more fish! I'm going to the ocean and eating nothing but fish someday.

Phew! Glad that's resolved. The edadmame were good, nice and salty with the shells still on. They were fun to eat, too. Judging from the way, Link's fan girl poked at her pulled pork sandwich the healthy part of barbecue wasn't very good.

The best dish of the night was the iced tea I had. Okay, I know it's not really a dish, but it deserves a mention. They were out of Pepsi and I had a caffeine headache (I know, but I'll die happy) so I chose the iced tea. It was Mango Citrus and it was delicious, just a squeeze of lemon and I could drink the whole thing.

My total came to about $17. Which is a little more than I would expect to spend on fast food, but about what I expect to spend on health food. So here's the deal, if I were very concerned with my health (say, to the point of never drinking caffeine) I would love Au Naturale. It would finally be a place where I could feel comfortable ordering from the whole menu. But I'm not and I also happen to like flavor and texture and getting my money's worth. So sadly unless I have a serious crazing for edadmame I will not be going back to Au Naturale.

For the rest of you, it really is worth the one time experience. If nothing else you actually get to see what they mean by their tag. Delicious healthy food. Fast. Yes it is food, yes it is healthy and yes, it is fast, but is it delicious? What do you think?

Tsuanmi Restaurant and Sushi Bar

This semester I have been writing for my college paper, The Forum. Last week, I pitched the idea of writing review pieces of ethnic restaurants and guess what? My editor gave me the go ahead. So tomorrow stop by Westminster College and check out my review of O'Falafel and Tsunami. But for a preview keep reading...

Tsuanmi
2223 South Highland Dr.
Monday--Saturday
Open for lunch and dinner
Sunday
5:30 p.m.--9:30 p.m.

This little place can sometimes be forgotten. It resides in a red brick building next to the dollar theatre and the interior seems to suffer from an identity crisis. The restaurant is decorated in a host of neutral colors that I find visually boring. The apprearance seems to say, "Look, we're high class," but the location says, "we're a neighborhood place where anyone can enjoy good food." According to my resident Japanese expert the decor is too busy for traditional Japanese style. I think it would be nice to have some more color. Maybe they could repaint the tan walls a nice shade of green.

Aside, from the identity crisis of Tsunami, there are some wonderful things to be found there. First, there is Albert. Albert is a friend from school and he loves to make people happy. So if you're lucky enough to have him be your waiter, you are in for a great night. Second, is the sushi. Tsunami flies in their fish fresh every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Last week, Ianto and I chose to sit at the sushi bar. It was a new experience for me since I had only previously eaten at a table in Tsunami. So here's what I like about the bar. 1. it's a bar. 2. Brian the sushi chef. 3. it's a bar and 4. the other people sitting at the bar. The guy next to us joined in on making fun of my non-existent chopstick abilities. He even sided with Ianto and encouraged me to eat sushi with my hands.

We ordered the Samurai and Tokyo Cowboy sushi roles. They were phenomenal. Everything in the roll was very fresh. The yellow tail was sweet and delicious and the flying fish eggs were great. I love how they pop in your mouth. The presentation was beautiful. Brian even managed to make the wasabi and pickled ginger beautiful.

The Tokyo Cowboy had Kobe beef. For my first experience with Kobe, WOW! This is easily one of the best sushi rolls I have ever had. The roll was a blend of sweet and spicy. The fusion of Southwest flavors with traditional Japanese worked well together. I will definietly order this again.

For dessert we had the tempura fried ice cream. The ice cream was yummy, but tempura really wasn't meant to go on it. Something a little sweeter like frosted flakes works more for me. In the end, we had a wonderful food and a good experience for about $25.

Food Economy--A Rant

So, I went grocery shopping last night. It was fun to see how high the numbers could go before I walked out the door. I live with two other women. We're 20, 21 and 22 and we don't eat a whole lot, but we're not afraid of food either.

Ridiculously, after purchasing enough food for a week it cost $111. According to my mother this is reasonable. But it's not.

Seriously just a few months ago the same groceries would have cost about $75. I know, I know the economy is crashing and there is a $700 billion bailout in the works to save the economic "downturn," are you kidding me?

Sorry, adults. You left your kids with a crappy world. For being a generation so focused on change in your teens and twenties. You sure let me down. I may not be the oldest or most experienced person when it comes to life. But I know paying more than I can afford for food isn't right. And I know any person facing the choice between rent and groceries like I am is wondering what they did to deserve this.

And you know what? No one seems to really want to solve the problem. A $700 billion bailout is like putting a band aid on a broken bone. It's not exactly like this a broken bone of a limb you can live with out either. It's more like the clavicle has been shattered and there's a possibility the lung may be punctured and damage to the heart could occur. And the decision makers went with a band aid--medical malpractice lawsuit for a doctor, another shoo-in vote for the senator.

So yeah, when I pay over $100 for groceries like flour, sugar, eggs, bread and milk I'm upset with the system. Because I'm a college student. I work for next to nothing, in the hopes of achieving the American dream through my right to education. A right I have to pay for with non-existent money through loans from institutions that I'm told may or may not survive the economy.

The story between the lines there people is that I will now be posting more about great places to buy ingredients and good recipes I've created or discovered.

Wow! Lemonade?

Thanks for the comments of love. In case I haven't mentioned it yet, I have the absolute best friends anyone could ask for. Guys and girls, y'all are amazing! The Race was Amazing has suggested I start having guest bloggers. An excellent idea, by the way so once again. I'm asking all of my amazing friends to help me out. If you would like to blog let me know in person, through text or online and we can figure out what you would talk about.

Now on to the yummy!

No Brow Coffee

This great little shop at 300 South 300 East was introduced to me by the fabulous irelandsgem in the early days of summer. The eclectic art gallery meets coffee shop is run by the owner. He's a great guy who is very invested in his business, which means you and I reap the benefits of excellent service.

No Brow resides in an unfinished warehouse and feels very much like what it is. A home away from home for the artistic and creative crowd who also happen to enjoy a good cup of coffee with their art. But the secret of their success is in the lemonade.

Yes, my friends, lemonade. I love the sour. But this lemonade is delicious, sweet, tart and perfect. I cannot up sell the house speciality enough.

The No Brow owner said it was taken from a recipe his wife found and they have only tweaked it a little bit. I don't know the recipe, but I want it.

This lemonade is the right blend of sweet and lemony, served in a recycled, recyclable, corn oil cup letting your Eco-conscious rest easy, too. A small (12 oz.) is about $4 and worth it.

So for a lazy afternoon or early morning stop by No Brow.