Passerelle Bistro

Last week T and I tried out Passerelle Bistro downtown.  They are still in their soft opening phase, but should be doing their grand opening later on this month.  Passerelle is the French word for footbridge, which is so appropriate for its location. The restaurant is located right off of Greenville's iconic Liberty Bridge that overlooks Falls Park.

T and I took the scenic route to the restaurant stopping to look at the waterfall that runs through downtown.  With all the rain we've been having lately, the falls were extra loud and lush.  

They have great outdoor seating overlooking the park, and you can even get a little taste of the outdoors while you are inside.  There are several dutch doors along the side of the building and they open them up when the weather is pleasant. 

I was thrilled to see dry rosé on the menu.  I  got into this wine a couple of years ago when it was really trendy, but I've noticed that a lot of restaurants haven't been offering rosé wines this year. 

We started with the Rillettes.  I had no idea what Rilettes were, but when I saw that they came with cornichons (those little savory French pickles) we decided to order it.  The staff seamed very knowledgeable about the entire menu.  Very impressive considering we came on the second night they were open.

  So if you're wondering what Rillettes are here's what we learned:  It's a pork-based dip similar in consistency to pâté. It is served with rustic bread, grainy mustard, and cornichons. I could have completely butchered the Rillette etiquette, but we thought it tasted best when all ingredients were combined. 

As for our entree, I chose the Cheese Crepes as recommended by one of their employees, and T had the Steak Frites. 

Both entrees were great! The crepes were perfectly done and very flavorful.  Steak was perfectly sized and seasoned. I do wish they served the fries with some sort of aioli for dipping though.  It's socially unacceptable to dip your fries in mayo if you're anywhere else than a French restaurant.  But if you're in a French restaurant, it seems so Parisian and cultured.

Overall we were really pleased with everything.  Their outdoor area is going to be great for summer nights. I'm hoping they'll have live music outdoors sometimes.  Maybe even an accordionist.  I think that just screams French Bistro. 

Link Up: From Our Kitchen To Yours

Oh how I love a link up.  Thanks to the Observant Turtle and Laws in the Lowcountry for hosting this!  Earlier this week I tried a Summer Salad with Fresh Tomato Dressing that I found on Pinterest. I loved it so much that I just had to share the recipe.

Summer Salad with Fresh Tomato Dressing
(From Kayotic Kitchen)

Tomato Dressing

Ingredients:
3 Roma tomatoes
1 small garlic clove
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp oil
pepper
salt

Cut an X at the bottom of each tomato.  Boil the tomatoes for about 60 seconds and then plunge them in an ice bath.  At this point you should be able to peel the skins off easily.  Cut each tomato in half and squeeze out most of the seeds.  Roughly chop the tomatoes and transfer them to a blender or food processor.  Add 4 tbsp. oil, 1 coarsely chopped garlic clove, 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.  Blend until the mixture is smooth. 

Summer Salad

Ingredients:

4oz bacon
1 avocado
romaine lettuce
  fresh mozzarella
1/4 c. red onion
rocket (or arugula)

Cook the bacon over low heat until it is golden brown and crispy. Drain on a paper towel. Finely slice the red onion. Break a ball of mozzarella with your hands. Don’t cut it; that looks way too clean. You want it to look a little rustic, so just yank it in coarse pieces. Serve over romaine lettuce with a handful of rocket or arugula mixed in.  Top with roughly chopped bacon and avocado slices.

 

T and I served these on Sunday night for entree salads, So I added some grilled chicken on top.  They were so yummy!

Father's Day Weekend

Happy Father's Day to my very special Dad!  We had a great weekend celebrating together.  Love you Dad!

Friday Five: Father's Day Edition

Here's what I'm loving this Friday.

1. Spending Time with Family- This week I worked Monday and Tuesday and took the rest of the week off to spend time with my mom and dad.  I'll admit it, I'm a homebody.  Its been so nice to spend time with them the last several days.  

2. Wedge Salads- Nothing says summer to me like a cool crisp wedge salad.  We made these last night to go along with shrimp and Corn Souffle.  The dressing on this salad was the best I've ever had on a wedge.  Check out the recipe here.

 3. New Kicks- It's been way too long since I bought a new pair of running shoes.  I finally decided to fork up the money and get fitted for a new pair this week, and I love them!

4.  Home brewed beer-  Well I'll redeem myself from last week's post raving about my love for Bud Light Lime.  This week Dad's homebrew put a smile on my face.  Oak chip IPA.  And those fancy Chimay glasses always make beer taste that much better.

5. It's Father's Day Weekend!  I was able to spend some great quality time with my dad this week, and will continue to do so this weekend at the lake.  Here's a picture I snapped from a jam session we had on Wednesday as he was testing out his new audio system. I love that I have a cool dad. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Calling All J. Crew Lovers!

There is a J.Crew Factory flash sale going on today!  Everything is an additional 40% off until midnight tonight.  There are so many temptations, I don't know what to get!  Here are the things I'm loving.

Gold Plated Chain-Link Bracelet $17.70

 Crystal and Neon Stone Bracelet $14.70

Dorset Wallet in Pale Gold  $38.70

 Teagan Ruffle Popover $38.70

Shiny Stripe Mini $32.70

 Printed Crinkle Tunic $29.70

Happy shopping everyone.  Have a great week!

Five On Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  Once again its been a crazy busy week, and I have been so slack about blogging.  Here are the five things that are getting me through the last day of the work week.

 
#1 Philosophy Miracle Worker- A few months ago for my birthday I got the travel pack of Philosophy's Miracle Worker products.  I loved it so much, but really didn't want to shell out the $100+ for the full-size set.  Last week Zulily featured it on their site for $69.99 and I scooped it right up.

#2 Eggplant Parmesan Stacks- I was a vegetarian for a year in college, and this was one of my favorite recipes to make.  Its actually the first thing I ever made for T, and it still is one of our favorite meals.  I made this recipe earlier in the week, and I'm still thinking about how good it was.

#3 Bud Light Lime- While I don't go as far as considering my self a "beer snob", I do know a good beer when I taste one. But I must admit Bud Light Lime is my guilty pleasure in the warm weather. I can't wait to crack one open at 5:00 today...or maybe 4:00...or 3:00.

 #4 Food Trucks-  My company does Food Truck Tuesdays, and this week we had the Asada food truck come to our office.  I tried the fish tacos for the first time, and they were amazing!  It was a perfect treat to get me through a Tuesday.

#5 Next Week Is a TWO Day Week!- I'm not taking a big week-long summer vacation this year, so I've ended up with a few extra vacation days on my hands.  I'm taking off Wednesday through Friday of next week and going to spend time with my mom and dad, and I cannot wait!  I love being an adult and being independent, but sometimes its to nice to go home and have your parents take care of you like you are a kid again.  Am I the only one?

And can I add a #6?  The lovely April of A. Liz Adventures is featuring my post on her blog today for her Spill About Your L-O-V-E guest post series.  Check it out!

Brew In The Zoo

 This weekend we went to Brew In The Zoo with some friends to celebrate T's birthday.  T and I have been wanting to go to the Greenville Zoo for a while, but it just hasn't ever happened.  So when we heard about Brew In The Zoo, we jumped at the opportunity.

Our friends came over to our place beforehand for appetizers and a beer, and then we headed to the zoo. 

I was a little surprised by the price of the night at first, its $40 a person ($30 if you pay ahead of time). But that $40 includes entrance to the zoo, all you can drink beer, and food.  Wild Wing Cafe, Mellow Mushroom, and a local cupcake shop all had tents up with free food. Since the event was sponsored by RJ Rockers, they obviously served RJ Rockers beer. But they also served beer from other microbreweries like Terrapin, Sweetwater, Thomas Creek, and Dales. This girl made sure to get her money's worth.

Several months ago the female giraffe at the Greenville Zoo had a baby, Kiko.  The birth of baby Kiko was big local news and they even had a live stream of the birth available for everyone to see.  Since he's attracted so much local attention, it was cool to go and see that baby giraffe in person.  And he was so darn cute.  If you look closely you can see Kiko's dad behind us in these pictures. 

After the zoo we surprised T with a cookie cake and some tequila shots at Compadre's, a Mexican restaurant downtown. 

Compadre's has an outdoor patio that backs up to the Greenville Drive stadium's large green wall; their version of Fenway's Green Monster.  The Green Monster (or Greenville Monster as I like to call it) has several small holes in it just large enough to peer through and watch the game. Here's T with his Mexican restaurant sombrero on sneaking a peek of the game. 

I think T had a really great birthday weekend.  We had a great time together with just the two of us on Friday night, and go to spend Saturday with some great friends...and good beer.  Success!