Food, More Food, and World Food…..
Despite the fact that we are less financially healthy right now (at this time of year, and since we’ve been doing soooo much home improvement) than we like to be, we are supporting our friends and family members in their new adventures in the restaurant arena.
The Pickled Greek is surviving the slow season. (Yay!)We go there because we love the food, the people and, of course the prices.
Besides, my lovely and talented daughter, no longer a jewelry business owner (this is a relief in quite a few ways), has finally received recognition as an excellent customer service representative, so is suddenly is working at 3 (yes THREE) restaurants.
{The typical “rags to riches” story continues…..I was a poor jewelry store owner who became a waitress…. – (sigh)}. Steve Martin couldn’t have done it better…. 
So, Friday night, we went (on Mitchell’s birthday) to his soft opening at the new Cultured Pelican. It was absolutely lovely!
We wanted to try everything, of course, so we started with soup and salad. They had a roasted eggplant soup. We’d never had anything like that before. It was like eggplant Parmesan puree in a bowl. Perfect for these two eggplant lovers. (My daughter- one of the servers – go figure- reminded me that I ate eggplant parm just before giving birth to her. So, in my world, anything associated with eggplant is GOOD!) And this soup was delizioso!
We needed to try the caesar salad, because housemade caesar dressing is a rare and beautiful thing. It was also fabulous, lightly dressed with shaved parmesan cheese.
For our entrees, Michael chose the housemade pasta dish called, “Fallen Hankeys”, created by former owner and chef, Dennis. (Yes, Dennis is still there working with the new guys. Is this an awesome place or what?!) “Fallen Hankeys” consists of sheets of fresh pasta in marinara sauce topped with ricotta cheese and pesto. Red, white and green, like the Italian flag. Magnifico!
I had the fresh local Mahi with charred tomato risotto and mixed veggies italiano. Eccellente! The mahi was exquisite. Tender, juicy and flavorful. Not over-cooked nor over-sauced, and therefore not overpowered by distractions. Perfetto!
I described dessert in detail, but the computer ate it, it was so delicious. So all I can say is. “Mmm, Mmm, Mmm!
We would definitely eat there again. So we made reservations for Sunday brunch, which would happen the day after their next dinner shift. 10am, right when they’d open because we needed to get to World Food Day festivities at the University of the Virgin Islands.
We were asked about how we like the paint job. Well, the paint job is great. It looks fresh and clean, but I am so totally not a white person, that it really does nothing for me. I like Caribbean colors and I loved the bold blues and purples of the last incarnation. But that’s just me…
Sunday’s brunch was also lovely. Again we ordered a bunch of stuff so we could adequately review the menu items. I started off with a Stoli bloody Mary topped with shrimp and olives. When they are officially open, they will have pickled asparagus and green beans along with the jumbo shrimp garnish. The shrimp were huge and delicious with the olives and the nicely spiced concoction. My food choices were: an omelet with roasted eggplant, artichoke hearts, spinach and goat cheese. I also needed to try the baguette French toast with banana kiwi sauce. Yum!
Michael started with their special cane rum drink with fresh limes. It was cool and refreshing – like a mojito with out the mint. He also ordered and enjoyed the lobster hash with eggs and homefries.
We saw lots of friends there. Meredith back from MA brunched with Nancy and a large contingent from the Pickled Greek came to celebrate and wish Mitchell well.
We were stuffed, but headed to the festivities at UVI hoping that we could work off those calories and eat some breadfruit…..
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:06 pm
You are a white person so be proud. I have seen you with my own eyes.
I have NEVER had a mojito in my life. Every bartender hates to make them and says, “no”.
The food sounds fantastic and the picture of you three are fantastic too.
Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. Whiskey, tango, foxtrot.
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Sounds great! There are so many wonderful places to eat on St. Croix, where do you start when one only has a limited time? Thanks for your review.
October 23rd, 2009 at 6:54 am
Sounds wonderful. Agree with you about the paint. Colorful was better. Maybe next year.
October 23rd, 2009 at 7:13 am
Let’s not forget I didn’t close my jewelry store because I wasn’t doing enough business! In fact the opposite was true, I decided to be a starving artist before a jewelry whore anyday!
Purple and blue hues are appetite suppressants, FYI
October 23rd, 2009 at 2:16 pm
So glad to see the Pelican up and running again! That pesto looks amazing and will provide my fix when Plaza Extra runs out. Hope to get down soon to see you guys and collect my birthday massage. Thanks so much for remembering!
P.S. Nikki is right, red & yellow are the top appetite inducers (just look at most fast food logos).
October 26th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Wreg – I am soooo not a white person, that when I go back to America, I am practically blinded by the whiteness of many of the people up there. WTF to you, too! AND Mmmm Mmmm Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!
True, Trudi, we can never get to them all and we live here!
N & J – I really don’t care what “experts” say about appetite suppressors or inducers. Red, yellow, orange and green are nice colors of foods to eat, and I do include lots of colors in my diet, but white, to me, is a sterile, unexciting color just waiting to get dirty. I have lots of dogs and I drink red wine. White makes me nervous. White is not a charming, welcoming Caribbean color. White is blah in my book, and a close second to beige (ugh).