This is a blog of my five-week exploration of culinary experiences in North Carolina. Baaswell Sheep is accompanying me and offering his own commentary on the trip, although he refuses to go into any place that serves lamb chops.
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It's the weekend, meaning a chance to unwind and relax … as much as you can when the temperatures remain in the mid-nineties. Lunch was had in our hotel room today, so only one food report in this post.
Twenty miles from Kinston is a state park set along the banks of the Neuse river, which runs through Kinston. The park is moderate in size but has some nice trails, a lovely large but secluded group picnic shelter, some camping facilities, and even a lake that is open to swimming and boating. I opted to stay off my hooves and keep out of the sun, but my companion did a couple mile hike (in two segments with a break) and managed not to roast himself. He said the views were nice and that it would be a fun place to explore more thoroughly if it were not so hot. He brought back a few pictures of what he discovered.
We returned to Chef and the Farmer tonight to try another of their 'after 5 PM' dinner dishes: the freeform lasagna. My companion says the dish was definitely a unique form of lasagna: the outer edges of the noodles seem to have been purposely allowed to dry out and get a little crisp, and the mozzarella bechamel was an interesting derivation from traditional ricotta cheese. The whole time, we were staring at two different cake slices under glass, and I convinced him to try the hummingbird cake, which is like an iced banana bread. It was good, but even between the two of us, we couldn't finish that large slice. Amusingly, they're getting to know my companion now: you can see what name they put on his cake receipt. I hope this doesn't go to his head or I'll never hear the end of it (and he thinks my bleating is bad …) In any case, we'll be back again one last time tomorrow (Sunday) to try one of Vivian's best known dishes before we head off to our next destination.
Please note that all restaurant and product names are used simply for referential purposes and links provided as a courtesy. Reviews are the sole opinions of the reviewer: no restaurant has paid to be listed here, and no restaurant is being explicitly endorsed. In other words, go out there, try them all, and form your own opinions!
Twenty miles from Kinston is a state park set along the banks of the Neuse river, which runs through Kinston. The park is moderate in size but has some nice trails, a lovely large but secluded group picnic shelter, some camping facilities, and even a lake that is open to swimming and boating. I opted to stay off my hooves and keep out of the sun, but my companion did a couple mile hike (in two segments with a break) and managed not to roast himself. He said the views were nice and that it would be a fun place to explore more thoroughly if it were not so hot. He brought back a few pictures of what he discovered.
