Sunny Sunday
Yesterday, E and I decided to get out of the house and head to the mountains for a little day trip. Really all it entailed was a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, towards Linville, then a quick hop up NC Highway 184 into Banner Elk for our intended destination, The Corner Palate. Which has recently been split into two dining experiences, The Palate Restaurant and The Corner Bar & Grille. Both are still owned by the same family, but each offers their own ambience and menu. We decided to check out the restaurant part on this visit.
And the meal was beyond description. We each chose a soup: crab and red pepper bisque for E and classic french onion for myself. Each was heavenly. We then spilt an appetizer of fried calamari with marinara sauce (Scrumptious!) and a caesar salad (Tasty!) before digging into our Blue Plate Lunch Specials. My manicotti, stuffed with a real creamy ricotta cheese, was some of the best italian food I've had in a long time. E was equally pleased with his choice, Shepard's Pie, complete with ground chuck, onions, peas & carrots with a rich brown sauce and it was topped with mashed potates & cheese.
E had a couple of glasses of chardonnay and I had some shiraz with the meal and we finished it off by sharing a warm brownie with a kahlua carmel hocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Stick a fork in us, we were done! By the time we were leaving, it was pretty much time to head back home so I could get to bed early, had to go in at 1:30AM this morning. ick. But we had a great time and we had some great weather to enjoy as well. Ahhhhhh.
Time to refill the coffee mug, so hasta pasta.
And the meal was beyond description. We each chose a soup: crab and red pepper bisque for E and classic french onion for myself. Each was heavenly. We then spilt an appetizer of fried calamari with marinara sauce (Scrumptious!) and a caesar salad (Tasty!) before digging into our Blue Plate Lunch Specials. My manicotti, stuffed with a real creamy ricotta cheese, was some of the best italian food I've had in a long time. E was equally pleased with his choice, Shepard's Pie, complete with ground chuck, onions, peas & carrots with a rich brown sauce and it was topped with mashed potates & cheese.
E had a couple of glasses of chardonnay and I had some shiraz with the meal and we finished it off by sharing a warm brownie with a kahlua carmel hocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Stick a fork in us, we were done! By the time we were leaving, it was pretty much time to head back home so I could get to bed early, had to go in at 1:30AM this morning. ick. But we had a great time and we had some great weather to enjoy as well. Ahhhhhh.
Time to refill the coffee mug, so hasta pasta.