The Waffle And The Duck

I'm going to try and actually get my trip recap done before the trip is even done! I'm sitting at the airport in Columbia, South Carolina, and have some time and laptop battery available to do some typing.

I don't know how good a picture of Columbia I could paint based on the 24 hours or so I effectively spent here. Plus, given that it was a Monday and Tuesday night stay, it's not like I could tell you how the weekend nightlife is anyway. But we will push on nevertheless.

I stayed on the northwest side of town, about 6 miles away from downtown, on Bush River Road. Bush River Road is mostly commercial businesses, ranging from department stores to strip clubs. There were no 24-hour stores that I saw with the exception of the Waffle House next to my hotel. But what a Waffle House it was! I had breakfast there both days, and while I ordered the same both days I got different food each time. The BRR Waffle House is definitely in the friendly and clean group of WHs and it appears that at least half of the morning crowd eats there several times a week, as on the first visit I was the only person I saw actually order for myself. Everyone else was "***some menu item***, right?" as asked by the staff.

R made me a convert to over easy eggs and WH is like a church to me now -- both times I ordered 2 eggs over easy, white toast, and hash browns smothered (onions) and peppered (jalapenos), extra crispy. Day 1 they nailed it, and even gave me double hash browns for 25 cents extra (half price on the upgrade.) There's nothing quite like the egg yolk running over the buttered and slightly salty toast. Day 2 I ordered the same thing, but the two staff were trying to get out a to-go order so by the time the waitress called mine she substituted cheese for the jalapenos. Still very good, but the hash browns with the onions and jalapenos are certainly superior. It was also 5:20am when I ate, and I wasn't awake enough to try for corrections.

Service was excellent on both trips, and the iced tea was refilled appropriately and tasted good.

There are alot of WHs in Columbia, and I can only vouch for the BRR location (near I-20 between I-20 and I-26), and if you're a WH fan, it's a good one.

I went with Muffler and the Independent to lunch at the Fuddruckers near our meeting site (almost everyone else from the meeting showed up there as well. Popular spot.) This location was also on BRR, about 2 doors down from the above WH. Small world.

I ordered the half-pound cheeseburger, medium, with onion rings and tea. The cheeseburger was a very good sample of what Fuddruckers can do with beef and bun, as the meat was cooked perfectly, tasty and juicy, and the bun was exceptional buttery goodness. The pico and jalapenos made it a winner. The tea was good too and refilled appropriately by your's truly. Overall a good location of that chain (to recap...good locations: BRR in Columbia, Rogers, AR...lesser location: Branson, MO.)

The real adventure was for last night's dinner. The Independent and I, on my executive decision, headed downtown to the Congaree Vista district, which is a gentrified/revitalized/yuppified warehouse neighborhood near the state capital. Think of 6th St in Austin -- I think that's where they're trying to head. One impressive piece of work is the Publix supermarket which is located in an old block-long warehouse. Cool way to use the old building.

I had actually seen the website and menu for Gervais and Vine before I headed down here, and I thought that would be a good place to try. I was a little nervous when the Independent told me his favorite restaurant is Cracker Barrel, but apparently he also likes all other sorts of foods. Gervais and Vine is a tapas bar.

*** time to board plane ***

*** on the ground in Atlanta ***

Our pilot altered us before we took off in Columbia that we were the only flight in the southeast released to fly into Atlanta. Apparently the storms that killed 47 overnight were going through the Atlanta – absolutely horrible and very scary. As I type this, we’re under a tornado watch, and hopefully I can get out of here today.

Back to Gervais and Vine…

G&V is a tapas restaurant and wine bar, to update my characterization of it a few paragraphs north of here. See I could just edit myself, but how excited would that be?

The menu is pretty broad – hot tapas, cold tapas, spreads, and pizzas. The sort of thing where only the most picky of eaters wouldn’t be able to find something to try. Items tend to be in the $6-8 range, and pizzas are about $7.50.

One big attraction for us to the restaurant was its outdoor seating, as the night was about 70F and we had spent the day in a less than well-ventilated room with 100 other people. The patio atmosphere was very relaxed – a student with laptop, a girl with small puppy, working folk, etc.

I chose a marghertia pizza (hey the menu says the oven runs at 700F, may as well give it a go) and the spicy sausage with romesco sauce. The Independent ordered the asparagus with romesco sauce and the duck with a honey glaze. He also did something very bold – he ordered his food and asked the waitress (who, while wearing a “wine goddess” tshirt wasn’t all that helpful with wine selections) to tell whoever was running the wine bar to pick out a wine for him.

He was quite pleased, as the white Austrian wine, who’s name I can’t remember right now, went perfectly with his two items, and he loved the wine on its own as well. Romesco sauce has red peppers and a bunch of nuts and spices (sort of like a Spanish mole, but not really), and theirs’ had a slight kick to it. The asparagus was cooked perfectly to my tastes, at a nice al dente. There were actually a bunch of stalks – about 10 – which was surprising given the market prices for asparagus right now (at least in Arkansas.) Throw labor, sauce ingredients, and overhead on top, I’m a little bit amazed they could make money on it.

The Independent also loved the duck, and I thought it was good too. I will admit this was the first time I’d ever eaten duck, and good thing it was good. It was cooked about medium and the fat, while not crispy, was good too. The glaze added a nice sweetness which, as far as the whole meal was concerned, balanced nicely with the spice from my sausage.

The Independent also later ordered a rioja, which he loved (and even wrote down for future purchase.)

The pizza was good. High quality sauce and fresh mozz cheese, and they were generous with the basil. The crust was crisp but not crackery and it had a good buttery flavor. I can’t point to a specific spice in it, but I really enjoyed the sauce on it. Certainly a good pizza, especially for a state that isn’t know for its pizza.

The sausage was great. Very spicy and the romesco sauce was a nice complement – almost mustardy when both were eaten together but not quite. I could eat a lot of this dish.

Complaints? Only one. They don’t brew their own tea. WHAT????? This is the south right? Weird for them to go through the trouble to put in a pizza oven that runs at 700F but not a tea pot to fresh brew the most popular drink in the south.

Service was excellent, and my diet Pepsi was refilled appropriately (if no tea, then cola with pizza.)

I don’t know the next time I’ll be in Columbia, but when I am I will be eating at G&V again. The Independent was equally excited about it. All in all, worth a try if you’re in that fair city.

Now back to waiting for my flight…