When I can spare the time for lunch, one of my favorite downtown spots is Olio Market. They have an impressive list of creative sandwiches (my favorite food) with fresh ingredients that aren’t hard on the wallet. I’ve visited a number of times in an attempt to eat my way around the menu–I find it a good sign that there are still things I want to try.

Olio is usually only open for breakfast and lunch, but I got to try them for the first time during their special extended hours for Jacksonville’s Downtown Art Walk.

I opted for the pork Cuban (smoked pork, ham, dijonaise, swiss, house pickles, Cuban bread), and Mario decided to try the burger + cheese, bacon, and fried egg:

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Here’s a quick touch on things I’ve been doing/eating lately…warm weather means fun food events!

PHiNS Club of Jacksonville Gumbo Festival:

The PHiNS, a group of philanthropic Jimmy Buffett fans, put on their 7th annual Gumbo Festival at the Jacksonville Landing. The event brought together nearly 20 teams–some professional, some just fun-loving friends–to vie for the gumbo cook-off title and raise money for a local nonprofit. Mario and I won tickets via Twitter from the folks at Jax Landing and had a great time sampling gumbo. I am VERY picky about gumbo (it’s hard to live up to my mom’s), so it’s worth noting that my favorite group also won both the People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice awards.

Jax Truckies Food Truck Competition:

Jax Truckies brought together a number of Jacksonville’s food trucks (who knew we even had “a number” of them?) for some friendly competition. Participants (and their Twitter pages, so you can track them) included Monroe’s on the Go, Mother Fletcher, On the Fly Sandwiches & Stuff, Driftwood BBQ, Mike B’s, Brucci’s Mobile Pizzeria, and Comfort Zone Foods. Although the day started out in a deluge, host Bold City Brewery was nice enough to set up tables inside until the weather cleared up. We loved our pulled pork & cheeseburger sliders from Monroe’s BBQ, and whatever the sauce is that On the Fly uses to top their items, it needs to be bottled. The chicken soft taco I tried was excellent, and I hear their ahi tuna was divine.

Sonny’s BBQ Blogger Dinner:

I was recently invited to check out some new menu items at Sonny’s BBQ, including their new dry rub wing & ribs (try saying either of those 3 times fast). I enjoyed both, and their baby back ribs ain’t too shabby either. We tried a number of appetizers too–the fried okra needs serious improvement. Sliminess is not a good quality for okra However, there is just something about those yummy corn nuggets…

And finally…ITALY!! Mario and I took a “we’ve got no kids, let’s do what we want” trip to Rome and Florence (my most favorite city I’ve ever visited). On my last trip to Italy during a semester abroad, my travel buddies and I were pounding 2-a-day gelatos (no change there) and lots of cafe sandwiches for the cheap. I got to eat a little better this time around. So if you need to know where the best gelato is in Rome or Florence, or where Fiorentini stop for wine and crostini on a warm evening, I’m your girl.

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I’m feeling excited for Jacksonville. Food trucks are starting to pop up here and there despite some currently restrictive laws–something I think is a sign of a thriving metropolis. Corner Taco is one of these new trucks, and I was so impressed by my lunch there that I’m typing this with some carnitas possibly still stuck in my teeth.

Mario and I tracked down Corner Taco’s Airstream trailer today for lunch:

Mario’s order was easy–1 of each type of chicken on the menu (marinated and dijon buttermilk fried). I went back and forth over my order (disappointed the shrimp tacos weren’t being offered )and finally settled on the carnitas and espresso-blackened mahi-mahi:

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We’ve spent another few weekends in Riverside, which means we found another new (very literally) restaurant to try. Pele’s Wood Fire opened its doors just before the new year, though they were known to the public previously as a catering company and Riverside Arts Market vendor. I was invited to a media dinner around that time, and proceeded to visit twice more on my own to see if they were really cookin’ with grease–or super, super hot ovens, as it were. I was also intrigued by the curiously low ratings on public review forums. I wanted to see if my media food was a fluke (possible), or if other diners’ expectations were just wildly off. Repeated negative-sounding declarations of “This is foodie pizza” (what does that even mean?) had me leaning toward the latter.

Pele’s pizzaiolo makes certified Neapolitan pizzas, which is kind of a big deal when you consider that the certification requires special flour, bufala mozzarella, San Gennaro tomatoes from Italy, and wood fired pizzas cooked in a 1400 degree oven–which means they’re done in only 90 seconds.

My first visit for the media dinner was a fantastic 7-course feast; I practically waddled out afterward. And of course, the battery on my camera died after the second course You can, however, see some great photos and reviews on some other local blogs. We started with some wood oven-baked bread, and you could really taste the smokiness in it. The two dishes I did get shots of were the seafood platter and Limoncello wings (also fired in the ovens):
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I’m starting to think Mario and I should just pick up and move to Riverside/Avondale, since we seem to end up in one of the hip little ‘hoods every weekend. Although it’s further from my dream of a beachfront condo, apparently it’s where much of the good food in Jacksonville is hiding. One of our new favorites is ‘town, one of Jacksonville’s subscribers to the farm-to-table movement. I love the open design of the restaurant, which allows you to watch your food being prepared at the kitchen bar.

Our first experience there was for brunch one unseasonably warm & sunny December morning. Mario decided to try the buttermilk pancakes (with raspberry sauce & orange-scented whipped cream), and I couldn’t pass up the lobster benedict (jumbo lobster meat, grit cakes, lemon hollandaise):
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I was recently invited to a tasting of the new winter menu at Seasons 52 in the Town Center. I have visited one of the Atlanta outposts of this chain before (see post here) and really enjoyed their seasonal, low-cal food. The menu changes quarterly (hence “Seasons”) with a “Chef’s specials” menu that changes weekly (there’s the “52″). We were provided with a number of this season’s new appetizers, entree of our choice, and a selection of those wonderful dessert shooters (mini indulgences). Since I’ve already done a review of Seasons 52, I’ll just give a play-by-play of this winter tasting.

We started with a special scallop ceviche amuse, PEI Mussels (steamed in a zesty marinara sauce and served with grilled ciabatta), and Tandoori Chicken Skewers (with mango chutney and cucumber herb raita):

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The latest venture of Jacksonville’s Medure Brothers (the minds behind Matthew’s Restaurant and Restaurant Medure), M Shack, is working to establish itself as the place to visit for creative burgers at the beach. The airy space includes a full bar and fits well with the beach location. The menu is displayed on large chalkboards on the wall–but FYI, you don’t have to stand back from the counter to decide on your order, there are smaller printed menus there too.

With promises of competitively-priced, high quality burgers, I had to go see what they had to offer. And once I caught wind of their menu a few weeks before opening, I knew what I’d be ordering: The Medurable, an M burger (fairly standard cheeseburger) topped with foie gras and bacon onion compote, $18. Mario had the much more affordably priced The Sunrise Burger (bacon, farm egg, American cheese and Shack Sauce):
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I thought it wise to finally get around to writing this post before Chew Restaurant closes its [downtown] doors permanently. Following their New Year’s Eve celebration, the Urban Core fixture will be moving a few miles southwest over to Five Points.

I first visited Chew during Jacksonville’s Downtown Restaurant Week with some co-workers. On that visit, I thought that conceptually everything was good–fresh, local ingredients in creative dishes–but that it just didn’t all pan out (for example: tough, dried-out pork belly chicharrones). I chalked this up to it being restaurant week, during which time the place was churning out the same dishes over & over and maybe not paying as much attention to detail. Since I was still convinced that those details could make something good, Mario and I gave it another try more recently. This visit made for much more exciting dining.

We happened to be famished the evening we stopped in, so I decided an appetizer was in order. Plus, I really wanted to try poutine, a dish I’ve heard much about but never tried. What a great introduction:

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Now nearing its 2 month anniversary, the French Fry Heaven kiosk in the Town Center serves different & delicious varieties of “Angels” (regular fries) and “Saints” (sweet potato fries). Due to a number of restricting regulations in the city, this is about as close to food trucks/street food as we’ll get in Jax for the foreseeable future:

We visited FFH’s soft open and have been back many times since. On our first visit, we tried a flock of three cupid-sized Angels & Saints (you see what they’re doing there?), GarlicParm Angels, French Quarter Angels (Cajun spice & remoulade), and Breakfast Saints (with maple syrup):

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One of my new favorite places (and apparently, one of EVERYONE’S favorites) in Jax is French Pantry. Yelp, Urbanspoon, Chowhound, even coworkers were telling me I HAD to get out to French Pantry–followed by a run-down of the rules. First, they’re only open from 11-2 M-F. There is ALWAYS a line, so plan accordingly (French Pantry lunches are “extended” lunches). Dine-in if you can for some of their fresh bread. The warehouse-like building can be difficult to identify (though usually, the line gives it away). And finally, dessert is a must.

French Pantry apparently supplies much of the fresh baked bread to restaurants in town. You can also pick up small items like loaves of bread, packages of rolls, or boxes of cookies from their display cart after your lunch. I’ve visited a handful of times now and always end up ordering one of their famed bruschettas, which are not your typical tomato/basil/olive oil-topped bread rounds. These are topped with a cheese and protein and served over salad:
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