Baby cows, bourbon, and books

Ok, we're finally making progress on these things. If you haven't read the last entry, go do that now and catch up on our trip to Savannah so far. If you have read the last entry, then you know that at the end of our shopping trip on the Savannah riverfront, we stopped by a restaurant named Vic's on the River. There are two entrances to the restaurant: one on Bay Street, which is the main entrance, and then there is the entrance on River Street. The entrance on River Street is actually the entrance to the restaurant's coffee bar; to get to the actual restaurant, you have to go through the coffee bar to the elevator and go up to the fourth floor to the dining room.

Like I said before, the actual building was gorgeous, but their food? On a scale of one to ten, ten being the best, their food was a solid...12. Yes. It was off the charts delicious. Even their worst dish, I would gladly order again. I ordered their Fried Green Tomatoes and their French Onion Soup. My friend ordered their Crawfish Beignets and their Crab, Shrimp, & Oyster Stew, but more on those dishes later.

I love Fried Green Tomatoes, and I'm not just talking about the movie. Seriously, I could quote and reference that movie until they discover the real secret in Sipsey's sauce. If you didn't get that, then you have a movie to watch, don't you? 

 Anyway, the Fried Green Tomatoes at Vic's were delicious. They were served on grits and topped with goat cheese, tomato chutney, and a balsamic glaze. The only problem was that the cheese, chutney, and glaze just added to the acidity of the dish. I prefer my FGT's to be accompanied with a little lot of spice so, in my opinion, the tartness of the goat cheese and the balsamic glaze was almost overpowering if you had a bit of each in a single bite. Also, putting tomatoes on top of another tomato, albeit a fried one, is a bit much for me. BUT. It is an appetizer so I really think that if you split with another person, the flavors will be just enough. Or, you could do like I did and just take some of the stuff off and keep it for yourself.

Unlike the FGT's, Vic's French Onion Soup had no flaws. None. Not even a little. Perfection. If you don't know what a French Onion Soup consists of, it's basically meat stock (most likely beef) and onions, topped with croutons and cheese. There's also some wine, brandy or sherry or something similar in the soup, depending on the recipe used. Vic's uses bourbon in their soup, but the thing that really made their French Onion Soup was the meat they used in their stock. Vic's uses veal to make their stock instead of beef, which gives their stock a much richer flavor and makes it 1000 times more drool worthy. My mouth is watering just writing about it. Honestly, if I had to choose a dish for my last meal, it may very well be this soup. 

As I said before, my friend ordered the Crawfish Beignets and the Crab, Shrimp, & Oyster Stew. The Crawfish Beignets were pretty good, despite the fact that they weren't really beignets. Beignets are a lot like doughnuts are in the US; they're fluffy and fried and, according to Disney darling Charlotte La Bouff, have the added benefit of helping one catch a man. 

"I'm gonna need about 500 of your MAN-CATCHING beignets
for my ball tonight!"

The "beignets" at Vic's were more like empanadas or turnovers, as they were pastry dough filled with meat and then folded over while creating a seam by either folding the dough in on itself or by pressing the dough shut with something like a fork. I had never had crawfish before but I have to say, it was tasty. I'd definitely try some more crawfish dishes. However, for me, the star of the show was the Tabasco syrup. Yes, syrup. It was delicious and was the perfect complement to the crawfish beignet/empanada (beignada?).  The Crab, Shrimp, & Oyster Stew, though, was her winning dish. The stew was comprised of sauteed shrimp and blue crab in a cream based seafood broth, topped of three large pieces of fried oysters. The menu says that there were to be potatoes in it but I don't think there were and, honestly, I don't think it needed them. If you know me, you'll know that me being okay with the lack of potatoes is saying a lot; potatoes are my favorite things. 

Beignets

Empanadas

After leaving Vic's in our partial food comas, we headed back to Hilton Head. We dropped our stuff off at the room and then headed out for our next adventure. Whenever I get together with my friends, there are two things that we will ultimately do: eat good food & buy a ridiculous amount of books. So when we returned to the island, we stopped by the local Barnes & Noble. This excursion took us an hour...or so. It would have taken longer if I had wandered into the DVD/music section. Have you ever been in that part? It's like a time suck, a glorious, expensive time suck. Anyway, we got our books (and gave the cashier a shock, as she'd never seen so many books purchased at a single time) and headed back to the room. Dinner consisted of leftovers and candy and Scene It.* Ah, to be in grandma mode at 24 - it's a beautiful thing.

*- We did not eat Scene It. Do not eat board games and do not put game pieces in your mouth. You could choke. And I doubt they're tasty.

If you happen to be in the Savannah area or really within a day's drive of the place, go to Vic's on the River. Don't question it, just go. Check out their website and their menu at www.vicsontheriver.com.