Sunday, May 13, 2007

Good Food Is Where You Find It - A Quick Foodie Post

I'm in Columbia South Carolina tonight and of course one has to eat. My hotel isn't a whole lot of help but they give me a guide of the downtown area and there are lots of suggestions with websites to assist the search. Unfortunately for me just about all of downtown Columbia is closed on Monday. But I do find one, the Motor Supply Company Bistro that is open.
It turned out to be a lovely meal. I had a first course of house made pate and rillettes. There won't be many of you other than AinA who know what rillettes is but it is one of many French forms of cured pork and fat. Let's just say that you almost never see this in the US. And here I find it in Columbia, SC! It was a little bland but there was a very nice, non-sweet whole grain mustard along with it that was a great accompaniment .
For a main course I had a piece of grilled salmon on a bed of locally milled yellow grits with just a tad of crust on the outside and some nice crispy young green beans. The sauce was just clarified butter. Again it was a bit bland but the addition of salt turned this into an exquisite interplay of flavors. Each ingredient stood out and the butter provided a smooth connection between all. I had a glass of Spanish Garancha (Grenache) which was non-nondescript then a glass of Michaud Pinot Noir from the Monterey area that was much better. I finished off with a cup of decaf coffee that was nice and hot and stayed hot as I lingered over it.

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