restaurant – Oh, the Places We See . . .

Hashtag the #hashbrowns at Frank’s Diner, Spokane.

Just about any good diner serves a bountiful breakfast, but mostly the tried-and-true menu items look and taste the same wherever you go: scrambled eggs are scrambled, pancakes are light and fluffy, and toast comes with butter and jam. So when we try a new place, we hunt for unique breakfast stand-outs as we scan […]

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Father’s Day treats at Rue Beignet, Baton Rouge

If you live in Tennessee, your trips to a beignet shop are few and far between. We just don’t have those flash-fried little doughnut pillows sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar nearby — or even within a day’s drive, if you live in Knoxville! But since we were visiting relatives in Baton Rouge on Father’s Day weekend, […]

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It’s a Multi-cultural Experience in Downtown Silver Spring

Although I’m no authority on Silver Spring, Maryland, or any big city for that matter, it was my good fortune to explore this progressive downtown area for a few days and get a feel for the people and places that make it unique. Yes, it had the usual national chain restaurants, stores we all know, […]

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Summer’s Last Sip: Chillin’ Good Cook-Out Milkshake

Now, I don’t even pretend to be a Guy Fieri who knows every drive-in, diner, and dive across America and where to get the best milkshakes. But I do know a GOOD milkshake, if I say so myself. I grew up in small towns where you drove up to a tiny little building and then walked up […]

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Bluff View Art District: Chattanooga View Points

Even on the Fourth of July, Chattanooga’s Bluff View Art District was open for business! It’s a place unique unto itself — an artist colony of sorts, offering historic lodging, a noteworthy museum, artists’ renderings, and places to relax and eat inside or out. In fact, all of downtown Chattanooga is unique — an upscale city devoted […]

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Cool Off 2012: Coolato Gelato

Ready for the second in a series of Cool Off 2012? We’re in Downtown Knoxville for another favorite place where lines can get long on hot days: Coolato Gelato. OK. So I said I would write about ice cream for this series, but if you just have one taste of gelato or sorbetto, you’ll be happy […]

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Curate: Spanish Flair in Downtown Asheville

Tyler shows us Spanish ham at Curate Now that I’ve seen the website for Curate and read about this rave-about place for fine dining, I don’t know how I could have almost walked past without even knowing about this unique new restaurant. It was all quite accidental. My husband and I were meandering down Biltmore Avenue (Asheville, NC) in search of […]

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Tupelo’s a Honey!

We had seen the Tupelo Honey Cafe booth at both the Dogwood Arts Festival and the International Biscuit Festival. And we’d seen workmen gutting the old Soup Kitchen right around the corner from The Oliver Hotel in downtown Knoxville, getting ready for Tupelo to arrive. But we still didn’t know what all the hoopla was about. The pimento […]

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Pretty? Downtown? Yes, it’s Knoxville!

Although concrete, broken brick, and abandoned buildings proliferate in just about any city (Knoxville, too!), springtime brings out the best in this East Tennesse (formerly scruffy) city. Early morning walks rewarded me with glimpses of PRETTY at its best — right here — Downtown! Pink, white, green — it’s Dogwood Time in Tennessee! Although the Dogwoods came and […]

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I’m there: The Blue Plate Special

My husband and I had stood on the stage at the Knoxville Tourist Center on Saturday, the rows of blue plates lined up neatly behind and WDVX On Air. But the main event was missing: the music of The Blue Plate Special! I made a date with myself to go back on Monday from noon to […]