This is in my backyard?

Last night we held our second Benson community focus forum at the Preston Woodall House in Benson, NC.  All I can say is WOW! As we were pulling up Lisa was telling us we were holding the forum at a Bed and Breakfast and all I could think was..how in the world are we going to fit 30 people into one room in a bed and breakfast. Well as you can see by the picture we had more than enough room (theres more room behind me) and the place is gorgeous. As if the place wasn’t pretty enough to the food was absolutley amazing! They had a gorgeous salad bar with fresh toppings and wonderful dressings, red potatoes, green beens, and this divine chicken. After eating as much as I possibly could I then decied to try the cookies…wow..I’m not even kidding, they were the best cookies I’ve ever had in my entire life! I think I ate 3 in less an a minute! I don’t even know what was in them but they were so moist and chewy and tasted so good I didn’t even care! Joel the owner, the executive chef, and the staff were so nice and friendly it made the night all that more enjoyable. If you ever need somewhere to have an event be it, wedding, party, business outing, etc..think of Preston Woodall House, you would never imagine a place this amazing could be in Benson!

Today myself and three of my coworkers (Doug, Candace, and Ashley Sue) went to lunch at the Crabtree Valley Mall food court, I know were ballerz! So I couldn’t decide want I wanted..I’m one of those people that if I have too many choices I can never choose..I want it all! Then out of the corner of my eye I spotted this cute little place in line with all the normal food court delicacies.  Here is it what the Crabtree Valley Mall website has to say about it…

CRISP SALADS Crisp is now open in the food court. At Crisp, salads are prepared in front of the customer with super fresh ingredients and creative offerings. Customers may choose one of the twelve (12) signature salads or create your own from more than forty (40) quality toppings including three lettuces, homemade dressings and a wide variety of fresh vegetables, meats and cheeses. Each salad is then chopped, tossed and dressed to order. Soups and wraps complete the lunch and dinner menu. 10% mall employee discount.

So I headed on over to their counter and saw what amazing salads they had to choose from as well as create your own salad choices….and so many choices there are! They are locally owned and trying to turn Crisp into the next up and coming salad place! It was a little pricey. I paid $7.96 for my salad (mixed greens, grilled chicken, craisins, wal-nuts, apples, blue cheese crumbles, and balsamic vinagarrette dressing) but it was so good and everything was really fresh! It was nice to have a salad that didn’t consist of 50% iceburg lettuce! If your ever craving a good salad and your in a hurry, I suggest checking out Crisp at the Crabtree Valley Mall Food Court! It was so good I had to lick the bowl!

For about a month now I have heard a lot about The Mint, downtown Raleigh’s newest Restaurant on Fayetteville Street. The thing is I can’t figure out if it’s everything it’s cut out to be. Before it even opened there was a lot of controversy around it because of how much money was going into it. I want to know if it’s really all it’s cracked up to be. I’ve heard from some people it’s absolutely delicious and I’ve heard from others it’s just ok. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, so I want to hear what you think of it. Either what you have heard or if you have tried it what your experience was like. Let me know!

Here is a picture 0f my boss Maryann with her husband and our Co-worker Shuneca with her husband at The Mint.

This past Monday the Business Development and Community Connection team (which I am a part of it) all went to a welcome lunch for our newest and last member Jessica. Our station isn’t far from North Hills so we like to go there a lot for lunch, this time we decided on Vivace! I hate to admit it but I have been there once before (another welcome lunch for new team members) and I didn’t really like what I got, I believe it was the agnolotti so I was a little hesitant when we decided that’s where we were going. Much to my delight though this time the food was amazing, and not just mine, I tried a couple of my coworkers dishes as well!

 This time I got a seasonal insalata with Salmon, cherry tomatoes, Pomegranate, a good cheese I had never tried before, nuts, and a delicious balsamic vinaigrette. The way all the flavors came together was delicious. I also tried Courtney’s Pizza which was a smoked chicken pizza with pesto and artichoke which was also very good. Maryann and Candace got the pizza as well and liked their’s as well. It wasn’t really heavy and greasy like most pizzas are which was a refreshing change. I also tried Doug’s dish which was a scallop risotto which was also very good. Ashley Sue and Jessica had the spaghetti and both said it was amazing. Lastly we all split the black and white tiramisu and these fancy donut holes. Both desserts were amazing, especially the tiramisu…I had a lot of tiramisu while I was in Italy this summer and I have to say Vivace’s tiramisu is right up there with the tiramisu I had in Italy.

Do you have a favorite Italian restaurant in the area? 

McLean’s Old Time Cafe is definitely a hot spot in Zebulon, NC. We heard from a lot of the local citizens that if we were hungry we had to try McLean’s, so what did we do….tried McLean’s for lunch! Court and I got there around noon and the place was pretty busy and stayed that way the entire time we were there. Everything on the menu looked sooo good, Court and I had a hard time deciding what we were going to get. While we were waiting they brought us homemade biscuits and hush-puppies that were melt in your mouth good! We finally decided on what we were going to get. Court picked homemade Chicken Salad and I picked Chicken fingers. As I was ordering I was told that the bbq chicken fingers were the way to go. With the chicken fingers I got a choice of 2 sides so I went with the mac and cheese and the broccoli. Court’s sides were the sweet potato casserole and the broccoli. At the end of the meal we split a piece of Chocolate Cream Pie which was amazing, they make a lot of their desserts along with their food right there in the store! Both of us really enjoyed our lunch, loved the staff, and had a great time with the local citizens. We talked to Suzie who has worked at McLean’s for a couple years now and absolutely loves the restaurant and it’s people. Check out the video and if you want to learn more about McLean’s check out their website or better yet go and visit them in Zebulon.