A sandwich and a slice of pizza aren't enough for a full-fledged review, but they were enough to convince me that we ought to go back and sample some more. I took my daughter tonight to this casual spot in the "Main Street" section of Patton Creek shopping center in Hoover for a quick dinner. You can get pizza by the slice, which is what she had, and it was a very large slice -- really, more like two average-sized pieces of pizza. The pepperoni was plentiful and well seasoned, and the sliced Italian sausage, while it had a tendency to slide off, was good. The crust is medium-thin, with a nice chewiness to it. I had a flatbread sandwich, which seems to basically be a sandwich made on folded-over pizza crust, tossed in the pizza oven to add a welcome crispiness as a contrast to the chewy interior. Spicy Italian sausage slices, sauteed green peppers and red onions with provolone cheese were a little messy to eat but not as greasy as you might expect based on the ingredients. The sandwich came with a choice of pasta salad, fruit salad or chips. I opted for fruit salad, which was a ramekin with cantaloupe, honeydew, red seedless grapes and pineapple.

There are also appetizers, salads, calzones, strombolis, a Parmigiana Hero, and a number of entrees on the menu. Service was prompt and friendly. The atmosphere was family-friendly but also the kind of place adults could hang out with friends -- there's a bar entrance and a restaurant entrance.And with spring here, the outdoor dining should be a treat.

Here are links to other recent ramblings on Cafe Lazio. (Their web site, www.cafelazio.net, is currently not working; I do hope that's merely a sign someone forgot to pay the bill and not a portent of a restaurant in trouble.)
Birmingham News Review (December 2007)
Ladies Lunch at Cafe Lazio (blog)

We recently enjoyed dinner at the newly expanded Little Savannah. We just did a review less than two years ago, so we're not going to do another full-fledged report, but we did want to share with you that Little Savannah is even better than it was when we did our review.

Clif and Maureen Holt took over the old La Reunion space next door last year and spent a couple of months getting it into shape. The result is a restaurant that didn't lose any of its cozy, artsy, funky Forest Park charm, but one that now has just a little more breathing room, including space for a bar and the ability to take reservations. A charming patio out back from the La Reunion days features brick walls painted with murals (although we do hope some of the chairs are repaired or replaced before spring really arrives.)

Some of the highlights of our meal, tucked into an adorable corner booth in the back near the bar, included a Ginger Cosmo featuring ginger-infused vodka; a chunky; zippy seafood bisque; and a stuffed quail appetizer. About the only complaint we could make was that one of the mini corn muffins was a bit burnt. The wine list was quite good, and we enjoyed the humorous pronunciations on the menu. (Also, kudos for actually posting current menus on their web site. So many places with menus that change daily only post a "sample" menu.) We'll be back!

(Photo courtesy www.birminghammenus.com) 

Brett and Havilah Burton have been called "coffee missionaries," and it's easy to see why. The two embarked on a six-month pilgrimage through the mountains and farmlands of Guatemala on a 150 CC Yumbo, apprenticing at a coffee shop there before returning to Birmingham with dreams to bring their passion for coffee to the Magic City.

The result is Primavera Coffee Roasters in Cahaba Heights, behind Miss Myra's barbecue, run with the help of Holly Rodricks. When you walk in the door, if you're lucky they're roasting coffee beans in the gleaming black-and-chrome, gas-fired, 15-kilo roaster to your right, with jute sacks full of green coffee beans stacked nearby. Even when they're not roasting, however, the shop is heavenly with the earthy, spicy, fruity, toasty aromas of freshly roasted coffee.

The coffee menu is simple. You can get a cup of French press of any coffee they have in the store, which is a wonderful way to try before you buy. Their incredible La Marzocco espresso machine puts out the best we've ever had, rich and creamy, whether you opt for straight espresso, macchiato, an Americano, cappuccino, latte or mocha. Coffee drinks with milk arrive with a beautiful fern pattern on top. This is coffee as art, for the eyes, for the nose, for the palate.

A small selection of pastries under a glass dome adorns the counter, and they also offer tea and organic chcolate, but make no mistake – Primavera is about coffee. No frou-frou drinks here; no flavored coffees, no frappucinos. If you're looking for sweet syrupy concoctions that bear little resemblance to coffee, head elsewhere.

Primavera sells single-source coffees, so you can fully appreciate the unique qualities of these regional coffees, sometimes from a single plantation. Primavera offers organic, fair trade and shade grown coffees, and their decaf is a chemical-free water process. Descriptions posted with the coffees for sale use words such as smoky, floral, citrus, vanilla tones, velvety finish, hint of dark chocolate, earthy, smooth, delicate, hints of caramel, orange highlights, etc. When I tried one from Ethiopia that Havilah said was full of blueberries, I really could detect a berry tone. Evan had a decaf macchiato that had a rich, toasty caramel flavor. Decaf! (If you've never had a macchiato, it's espresso "marked" with steamed milk – sort of between an espresso and a cappuccino.) The bold coffees are bold without being bitter or burnt-tasting.

Brett, Havilah and Holly are always happy to help you choose a coffee to suit your tastes. If you have time, talk to Brett or Havilah about coffee. Their passion for and knowledge of the topic is as much of a treat as the product they sell. We look forward to attending one of their Saturday "cuppings," where a coffee tasting is elevated to the level of a wine tasting. In fact, Havilah would like to see a local restaurant offer a coffee menu much like they do wine menus, pointing out the qualities of each coffee that make it a perfect match for various desserts.

The Primavera web site (which is informative and entertaining and nearly as worthy of a visit as the coffee shop itself) says it well: "At Primavera, our goal is to purchase, roast, and deliver the finest coffee available. Along the way, we hope to help each of our customers see a clearer picture of the world of working hands from ground to grind. Our coffee will awaken your senses. Our mission is to awaken your sensibilities."

Daniel George in Mountain Brook has long been one of our favorite restaurants, but their new pastry chef has really taken dg's desserts to a new level -- some of the best in town.

For one thing, the presentation was incredible on both desserts, with large rectangular plates offering lots of room for what can only be described as dessert art. Vanilla-caramel poached pineapple with brown butter almond cake, black pepper ice cream, rum butter sauce and citrus tuile was a bit like a deconstructed pineapple upside-down cake, only with loving attention paid to each component, from the dense almond cake to the subtly pepper-seasoned ice cream and the pineapple itself. Warm chocolate lava cake has been on the menu so long it's almost become a cliche, but Matthew Dyer managed to make it special again. The lava cake was accompanied by chantilly cream, cacao anglaise, and shaved white and dark chocolate, and garnished with a large "O" thin crispy cookie standing up vertically in a base of chantilly cream. 

Other selections on the menu the night we dined were strawberry sorbet with coconut, honey tuile and tarragon-macerated strawberries; vanilla bean creme brulee with local fresh berries and lemon lavender tea bread; and semolina pudding with blood orange sorbet, mint citrus salad, mint syrup and citrus tuile. We like how Dyer is throwing in some unexpected flavorings, like the black pepper ice cream, tarragon-macerated strawberries, and mixing mint and citrus in the semolina pudding.

Dessert is the final impression you get of a meal, and at dg, it's a highlight of the evening with Matthew Dyer 

We hired a sitter and spent the weekend on the town, trying new places and revisiting others. Be watching in the next few weeks for reviews and/or blog entries on the following:

• Primavera Coffee Roasters: Turns coffee into a near-religious experience
• Satterfield's: A hidden gem in Cahaba Heights
• Little Savannah: Even better than when we reviewed them two years ago
• Brunch at Grey House Grill: The most disappointing meal we've had in a long time
• Salem's Diner: The food is good, but the friendliness of the owner is even more impressive
  

It probably wouldn't be fair to write up an official review of daniel george, the fine-dining/neighborhood restaurant/bar in Mountain Brook. There's no way to do it anonymously, because we have become regulars over the years. At least once a month we stop in for a glass of wine and perhaps split the salmon tartare or some fried oysters before heading on to our dinner reservations, or stop by after dinner to sit up at the bar and have a FAB coffee (Frangelico, Amaretto & Bailey's), espresso or dessert wine. Bob Creel, who's in charge of the restaurant's wine list and bar as well as overseeing the dining room, almost always has something new for us to try. (One time we even had a taste of a pineapple wine from Hawaii!)

Most recently, we ate dinner at the bar last Saturday while watching the Alabama-LSU game. (Actually, we had drinks and appetizers during the game, but the tension was too high to eat dinner until the game was over.) We enjoyed a glass of French Vouvray (chenin blanc) with our appetizers of grilled asparagus and salmon tartare. With dinner, we had a wonderful cabernet-merlot from the Pacific Northwest with our entrees. Evan enjoyed the tender, rich and hearty pappardella Bolognese. A large beef tenderloin steak came with gnocchi and vegetables such as asparagus and baby carrots, with a savory sauce that enhanced the tender beef but did not overwhelm it. (They do a wonderful job with the sides here; one of these days I'm just going to order a vegetable plate.) For dessert, we split a chocolate roulage.

The service at dg manages to be attentive yet relaxed. It has the feel of a neighborhood restaurant; you can tell many of the patrons are regulars. It's not large, with several connected rooms that once were probably retail storefronts. The menu includes  conventional fare like the popular veal piccata, delicious seafood and steak, and the occasional more adventurous dish like pickled pig trotter ravioli or lamb's tongue appetizers. Chef/owners Daniel Briggs and George McMillan complement each other well and have created a warm, comfortable place to enjoy a delicious meal, with the help of chef Robin Bashinsky in the kitchen, Bob Creel and the great wait staff.

Copper Grill at Brookwood Mall has become Plaza III Steakhouse, and a lot more than the name has changed. Gone are all the flamboyant (and sometimes tacky) things that made Copper Grill seem like something from Vegas or Disney -- the twinkly-star ceiling, the huge menus with the garish color photos, the spiels about rare olive oils or imported desserts, the Rat Pack soundtrack, the leopard-print upholstery, the flaming rosemary branch that accompanied the rack of lamb on its journey to your table, the pushy service.

In their place is a very classic, very basic, Midwestern-style steakhouse. In addition to a facelift, the restaurant has a completely new menu, emphasizing USDA Prime beef for prime rib and steaks, which you can order with a choice of sauces, or get in classic preparations such as Steak Oscar and Steak au Poivre. You can still get huge, live lobsters flown in from Maine each day. Sides, which in classic steak house style you order separately and are large enough for two, include things like steamed asparagus, sauteed mushrooms, creamed or plain spinach, and seven different potato sides, from Idaho baked to white cheddar potatoes. Salads are basic -- classic Caesar, spinach salad, iceberg wedge, house salad featuring ranch dressing. The wine list is heavy on California selections.

We plan to go back for a second visit and give you a full review, but our initial take was that while we don't miss a lot of the tackiness of Copper Grill, we do miss some of that pizzazz. As our waiter (who had been there seven years and did an excellent job) commented, with Copper Grill, "it was all about the show." Plaza III is good, but for our tastes, both the atmosphere and the food were a bit bland. If you're into very simple, basic food, and places like Highlands are too weird for you, then Plaza III may be just the ticket.

We were favorably impressed by our first experience with Formaggio's Italian Bistro in Hoover. The people who answered the phone and delivered the pizza were very pleasant and helpful. The pizza itself had a nice thin crust, not overloaded with sauce or smothered with cheese. The sausage was cut into very thin slices instead of the more typical bulk sausage. The sauce was a bit on the salty side but had nice flavor, not bitter or too sweet. Canned mushrooms instead of fresh were the only disappointment. They have a rather extensive selection of pastas, calzones, sandwiches and other items, so we'll sample more of the menu and report back with a full review later.

We finished off our Birmingham gastro-adventure weekend with Sunday brunch at Icon. We'll post a full review later, but we particularly enjoyed the "Iconic" Eggs Benedict, with crab meat standing in for the traditional Canadian bacon and a Creole twang to the Hollandaise sauce for an incredibly rich meal. The jazz trio was a nice touch.

Saturday evening we headed down to Five Points South for dinner. We started out at the J. Clyde, a new restaurant on Cobb Lane where the Back Alley once was. J. Clyde's main attractions are great outdoor dining, live entertainment, and more than 100 beers. We enjoyed a couple of Tucher Hefe Weizen (wheat beers) on tap and the house-made hummus plate. The hummus was good, with a sampling of both regular and a red pepper version, with carrot sticks, celery sticks, asparagus and cherry tomatoes. The "fresh baked pita bread" was a strange duck; instead of soft wedges of pita, as we expected, these were hard, sort of fried but not enough to be crispy, and seasoned. The hummus was served on top of mesclun, which was pretty but hard to get all the hummus and also needed to be picked through a bit more to get rid of the not-so-fresh pieces. We'd go back, but this may be a place where the food is secondary to the atmosphere and the great beer selection.

We ended up eating dinner at the bar at Highlands Bar & Grill, and the food and service were impeccable as always. This time of year, you must go by at least to get some dessert featuring local, seasonal fresh fruits. We enjoyed blueberry cobbler and bing cherry pie, and there was also a peach crostade on the menu.

Not food-related, but we finished up the evening at one of the local dives, Base Camp, enjoying a young all-girl punk rock band called The Scarletts, covering Joan Jett and also performing several of their own enthusiastic creations.