7 Course Tasting at Iacofano’s Italian Bistro & Bar

Last weekend, I was invited by Chef John Iacofano to come to his restaurant, Iacofano's, for a 7 course tasting dinner. I happily obliged, and brought my friend Rachel along with me. One of our coworkers is a long-time fan of Iacofano’s and he and his wife dine there at least 5 times per month. We’ve heard him tell us about his wonderful experiences there many times, so we were eager to see just how good their Italian food was.

The first thing you will notice about the restaurant is its décor. Although it’s in a strip mall, once inside the restaurant, you’re warmed by red painted walls filled with family photos. The staff is quiet, but friendly, and you will be greeted immediately. It’s always nice to walk in a restaurant and feel that the owners and staff appreciate your business.

Once seated, we were offered a glass of champagne. Way to start off the night! As we sipped our bubbly, our server brought Course 1: LOCAL STRAWBERRY SALAD: with baby lettuces, hazelnuts, goat cheese &
hibiscus vinaigrette:

The strawberries were from Boone Hall Farms – yay, local! The flavors complemented each other well. Our only gripe was that the vinaigrette was much too vinegary. I loved having hazelnuts instead of walnuts or almonds, which you typically see with strawberries & goat cheese.

Soon after, we were presented with Course 2: HOUSE PULLED MOZZARELLA
over roasted plum tomatoes, pesto, fresh cracked pepper & grilled Focaccia:

While eating this course, I probably said “Omg, this pesto” like five times. It was SO good. The tomatoes, also from a local farm, tasted like they had been plucked from the vine that afternoon. But seriously, that pesto…can I have it bottled?

Course 3: GRILLED CALAMARI - Chilled & marinated with pickled cherry peppers, Sicilian Oregano, Extra Virgin Olive Oil & lemon with chickpeas & sweet chili threads:

Before this dish, neither Rachel nor I had ever had grilled calamari. This dish was complex with a bit of heat from the peppers and chili threads. I loved the addition of lemon and chickpeas.

Course 4: SWEET CORN BISQUE with tarragon and fennel:

Oh, I liked this a lot. I usually stray away from fennel, but it wasn’t overpowering at all. You could tell the corn was fresh, as it had that nice crunch to it.

Course 5: PAN SEARED DIVER SCALLOPS -over green pea risotto, sweet corn broth & topped with fennel pollen:Though I immediately dove into the pea risotto, the scallop ended up stealing my heart. This was, by far, one of the best tasting scallops I’ve had. It was cooked perfectly! I would never refuse another one of these scallops, no matter how full I was. Ahhh.

Course 6: RAVIOLI CARBONARA - parmesan cream filled ravioli with peas, bacon, and roasted mushrooms:

I thought this would be a heavier dish due to the parmesan, cream, and bacon, but the ravioli so light and tender.

And then came my dessert! Course 7 : CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT TORTE and APPLE CAKE with cream cheese frosting, salted caramel sauce and strawberries.

Rachel and I just stopped talking and started mmmming at this point. As a chocolate cake lover, she enjoyed the chocolate torte. The apple cake was right up my alley, especially along side the salted caramel sauce. After the cake was gone, I used my fork to scrape up the rest of the caramel. I mean, wouldn’t you?

We really enjoyed our evening. Not only was the food divine, but we were constantly entertained by Chef John and our server. They were happy to tell us about the different ingredients, proudly noting that they were sourced from local farms. What I noticed  about all of the dishes was the freshness and effort put into each of them. The staff seems to be genuinely proud of the restaurant and its food, and I appreciate that.

Next time you find yourself craving Italian food while in Mount Pleasant, check out Iacofano’s. They also have affordable happy hour specials with excellent wine choices. Many of my friend Trish’s wines from Vidalco are on the wine list! TRY THE EL HUIQUE CABERNET SAUVIGNON. Do not leave the restaurant without having a glass. It’s incredible.

For more information on Iacofano’s, check out their

• website
• facebook
• twitter

Tell John I sent you and ENJOY your dinner!

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. My friend Steven and I went back to Boone Hall Farms for more strawberry picking. It was kind of funny to see how differently we picked. He stayed in a small area, exhausting his resources, while I walked up and down many different rows. I wonder if this has to do with being male vs. female or being focused vs. unfocused. What do you think? Either way, I caught a ladybug while picking. They’re good luck!

2. Since its opening two weeks ago, I’ve been to Sesame twice. I’m in love! I went with Annabel last weekend, and we split a few different things. The Southwestern Salad  was really fresh, but the dressing made it.

Romaine, chargrilled chicken, roasted corn, black beans, tomato,  and grated cheddar with a chipotle vinaigrette:

We also shared sliders.

• Italian – blue cheese and fresh basil
• Southwestern – guacamole, chipotle sour cream
• Memphis – housemade peanut butter, bacon & banana slices

The Italian was my favorite. The Southwestern was okay. The Memphis was a dessert burger. Different, very different. So far, the Napa Valley (fig & bacon jam, blue cheese, red wine reduction) is my favorite.

3. Pure Barre is kicking my behind and I love it. Since April 1, I’ve completed 15 classes. But I have a confession. Before PB, I never worked on my abs. In each class, we do at least 7 minutes of ab work. 7 minutes x 6 classes per week = 42 minutes of abs that I wasn’t doing before. I see a change!! It’s awesome. PB LOVE!

4. I was laughing hysterically alone in my kitchen while making this.

Yes, that is Zac Efron. Yes, it appears that we are about to kiss. I LOVE IT. Not only is it my new desktop background, but it’s also my facebook profile picture. I just wish I could send it to him so he could see how cute we are together. Crazy?

5. My favorite tweet today:

Who knew this existed? I did not.

Runner up:

Every girl on planet earth can relate to this.

What are your favorite burger toppings?

What body part is your least favorite to work on?

Who is your celebrity crush?

Whole Wheat Strawberry Muffins

Strawberry picking season has begun! I am obsessed with strawberry picking and make it a competition every time I go. Unfortunately I am usually competing with myself, because, really, who else does that? I just love them!

Boone Hall Farms started their U-Pick season while I was in NYC, so my first weekend back in town, I was eager to get out in the fields. On Saturday, my friend Nicole and I made it out to the farm just before it started to rain. Between the two of us, we picked over 15 pounds of strawberries.

Once home, I washed, hulled, and sliced the majority of the strawberries so I could eat and bake with them throughout the week. The rest were frozen. The best way to do this is to wash them, cut off the tops, let them dry, and then freeze them whole. Make sure they are dry or else you will have strawberry icicles and that’s not cute.

But these muffins are.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 cup fat free cottage cheese 
• 1/4 cup canola oil 
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400*. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup of sugar.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese, oil, egg, and vanilla.

3. Combine the cottage cheese mixture and the strawberry mixture. Slowly fold in the flour mixture just until combined.

4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with 1 tbsp. of sugar.

5. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes,  then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

In many cases, muffins are just as bad as cake. These, however, are low fat! You love them already.

It’s only March and the strawberries are already taking over my life. I’m not upset. But I do need your favorite strawberry recipes. Give ‘em up!

Do you pick fruit or vegetables at your local farm? What’s your favorite?

Send your strawberry recipes, please!

Saturday Faturday.

This past weekend was jam-packed with festivities:

• Vespa pizza lunch with Rob on Friday
• Rue de Jean dinner for Lauren’s birthday on Friday night
• Strawberry picking and Mustard Seed lunch with Justin on Saturday
• Long Point Grill for family dinner Saturday night
• Out for beverages and dancing with Mariah
• Cookout at Lauren’s pool today

I am exhausted. Let’s review Saturday Faturday.

Justin called me to take him to his car that he left at the bar. Smart boy not driving! I told him I’d only take him if he’d go strawberry picking with me. The bribe worked and he ended up having more fun than he probably anticipated. We picked SO MANY STRAWBERRIES.

8.46 pounds to be exact. I think I’m obsessed.

I was picking at warp speed and got all those in about 20 minutes. I was trying to race Justin but he wasn’t trying to race me. I am competitive about the weirdest things! And now I have a massive amount of strawberries in my fridge.

All that picking worked up an appetite so we headed to the Mustard Seed for lunch. I had the roasted chicken salad with blue cheese, caramelized pear, in a raspberry port wine dressing.

Justin had the salad special with was the crab cake salad with a creamy onion dressing. Mustard seed has the best crab cakes!That evening, I met up with my family at another Dine with Sal restaurant: Long Point Grill. Everyone’s dinners were so so good. I had one of their “fit menu” (under 400 calorie) options: Hong Kong style mahi mahi in a tangerine curry sauce with lots of vegetables.

Grammy got a manly dinner: braised short ribs in a port wine jus, with boursin-whipped Yukon potatoes, and seared asparagus.

Kelly’s meal was very interesting – and delicious. She had seared scallops with apple-smoked bacon cream, wilted spinach, and potatoes.

Dinner was delicious and I had lots of fun hanging out with my adorable cousins.

Gabrielle:

Zachary, destroying some chocolate cake:

After dinner, I went downtown to meet up with Mariah for beverages and dancing. Oh, and man hunting. We went to Vendue Rooftop bar because the weather was so nice! Later we went dancing at Trio but there were only creeps there. While we were ordering a drink, a couple of guys asked us if we wanted to go for a late night booze cruise on Shem Creek. At 2 a.m. It sounded like a great way to get murdered, so we politely declined and had our own slumber party.

Obviously we had one too many shots, because we both felt the need to “check in” at our “slumber party” at 3 a.m.

I love people’s reactions and unfortunately Mariah’s friend was exactly right. We were in bed next to each other updating our statuses, liking them, and commenting on them. Is this normal?! Noooooooooooooooooo. Was it hilarious to us? Yessssssssssssss.

What are some of the things that you and your friends do that you know is just weird but you love it anyway?