A few weeks ago I shared the news that South Hills Market & Café chef/owner Richard Arbaugh had been invited back for a rare second appearance to prepare an Appalachian-inspired meal at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City, a task he completed this past weekend.
Next week in Charleston, you'll not only have a chance to sample some of Chef Rich's tasty appetizers, but also learn more about Beard himself during a special premiere showing of the American Masters documentary "James Beard: America's First Foodie" outside at Capitol Market.
The movie and food are free, but the event is limited to the first 100 folks who register for a spot in advance by calling 304-340-4601 or emailing aarpwv@gmail.com.
AARP of West Virginia is hosting the May 11 event, which will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m. featuring adult beverages from The Wine Shop, heavy hors devours from Chef Rich and the debatable emceeing "talents" of someone known as The Food Guy.
Dubbed the "Dean of American Cookery" by the New York Times, Beard celebrated the importance of local food and culinary sustainability long before those ideas became common buzzwords. This new film takes a deeper look at his legacy and I, for one, can't wait to see it.
The film begins at 8 p.m. and, of course, popcorn will be served!
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Man, are you all a bunch of salad-eating fiends!
My plea seeking recommendations for the area's best salads drew plenty of passionate responses - more than 100, if you can believe it - including a few I should've included in my previous roundup.
How could I have forgotten about Soho's Venetian steak salad, a savory plate of pan-roasted beef with sautéed mushrooms, red onions, basil-horseradish remoulade and imported Parmesan over fresh greens?
That reminder came from Alisa Bailey, who, as executive director of the Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau, knows all about the best restaurants around town.
Others getting her stamp of approval are: Bluegrass Kitchen's house salad ("their homemade ranch is light and delicious"); The Block's salad with almond-encrusted chicken and homemade dill dressing; and Adelphia's Greek salad with gyro meat, which received lots of love from other readers, too.
But Alisa's number one Charleston salad? Tidewater's creation featuring chicken, oranges and broccoli on greens. She said she could "take a bath in their yogurt dill dressing, it's so good."
Well, alrighty then.
Another foodie, Kayla Young from Buzz Foods, chimed in with the Caesar salad from Pies & Pints, a top vote-getter overall, along with two other gems that also had slipped my mind: the goat cheese salad from Lola's and the Black Sheep salad from Black Sheep Burrito and Brews.
The flavor-packed Black Sheep salad features fresh greens hand-tossed with roasted red peppers, queso fresco and cashews with black bean and corn salsa, plus your choice of chipotle balsamic, sesame-maple, cucumber vinaigrette or cilantro honey-lime vinaigrette. (You can add steak, chicken or tofu, but you won't need them.)
Lola's received a lot more salad love, as well.
"I read your columns and love your approach to writing about different foods and restaurants," wrote Jack Cipoletti. "I suggest you try the beet salad at Lola's. It's actually a mixed green salad with beets [naturally], chunks of feta cheese and nuts, all tossed in a house-made dressing, a great blend of tastes and textures. Check it out and let us know if it has what it takes to make your list of favorites. Keep up the good work!"
And Jack was not alone.
"Lola's has a terrific beet salad." (Matt Haydo); "Lola's sweet potato salad - ADD steak! Might have to get one now!" (Emily Kime): "The sweet potato salad at Lola's is yummy - ADD shrimp!" (Melissa Orders); "Lola's sweet potato salad!" (Lisa Lineberg); "For your consideration ... Lola's goat cheese salad." (Betsy Crockett).
Not far behind all that Lola love was almost equal praise for Capitol Market's Purple Onion.
"Being a three-to-four-times-a-week salad hog, I enjoyed your salad column. Don't forget what a nice job Allan [Hathaway] and his crew do down at The Purple Onion at Capitol Market," wrote Bobb Topp. "If you don't care for their pre-made salads there is something wrong with you, but ask at the register if they could make you a salad for the next day or call the next morning for a lunch salad pickup.
"And you could not find a cleaner place in the area. The girls run the prep area like a surgical arena. I know I must sound like a commercial, but I am just an observer."
Several others called out salads at Purple Onion, Bridge Road Bistro, Celsius, Best of Crete, First Watch and Johnny's Meat Market in Charleston, along with The Olive Tree in South Charleston, River's Edge Café in St. Albans and Books & Brews in Hurricane.
And while some of those restaurants were expected front-runners, several other unlikely spots received surprising salad support:
n "Without a doubt, CAMC Memorial's cafeteria salad bar. I am hooked!" (Ann Simpson Balkey)
n "Sahara downtown has a nice lunchtime buffet with some non-traditional salad options, and Kroger at Ashton Place always seems busy at lunch time." (Tom Whited)
n "Two good local salad bars are Ashton Place Kroger and Rio de Grill in Kanawha City." (Kara Boehm) A self-described "huge salad fan," Kara also praised the chicken and artichoke salad at Soho's, the Sicilian salad at Graziano's and the cashew and wasabi-seared ahi tuna salad at Black Sheep, among a host of others.
n "The Rio de Grille Brazilian Steakhouse has a very decent salad bar. But then there are the unlimited meats, so not for the heart-healthy unless you have mega will power!" (Patricia Thaw)
n "I can't eat all that meat at the Brazilian steakhouse in Kanawha City, but the salad/seafood bar is extensive." (Bettijane Burger)
n "The jerk chicken salad at Blues BBQ in South Charleston." (Jane Bostic)
n "The Cold Spot's raspberry chicken salad." (Kelly Harper Heidenreich)
n "Ellen's special salad." (Jill McIntyre)
n "The Bear's Den Cajun grilled chicken salad is pretty tasty." (Jason Dale Mitchell)
Finally, my editor, Maria Young, got in the action by suggesting her two favorites.
"Mi Cocina's Carne Asada Salad is fabulous. I have dreams about it," she said. "The dressing is delicious, and absolutely makes it, but the fresh guac, the shredded lettuce, the sprinkling of tortilla chips."
She's also a big fan of Adelphia Bar & Grill's Village Salad with Yaya's dressing.
"It's full of fresh veggies and not lettuce-based like most others," she said. "It also has a nice little story from Deno [Stanley, the restaurant's owner] about how, back in the homeland, families all over the island would grow their own specialty - chickpeas, sweet peppers, onions, tomatoes, whatever - and then share them so everyone had a taste of everything in the village. Thus the name."
Very cool. And it sounds delicious, too.
Steven Keith writes a weekly food column for the Gazette-Mail and an occasional food blog at blogs.wvgazettemail.com/foodguy. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or by email at wvfoodguy@aol.com. You can also follow him on Facebook as "WV Food Guy" and on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest as "WVFoodGuy."