I have been eagerly anticipating the rollout of The Happy Grilled Cheese truck since seeing whispers about it and a menu leak on Twitter. Not just regular grilled cheese sandwiches (delicious on their own merit) but a creative variety of them?? I was so there. And so I was, on opening day:

The Happy Grilled Cheese Truck

The truck features a rotating variety of it’s grilled cheeses, and on this day the offerings ranged from plain to with bacon to with LOTS of bacon. I chose the latter, obviously, Porky the Melt (American cheese, cheddar, bacon, ham, pulled pork, caramelized onion, and tomato):

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Also check out my review of Tres Leches for the Florida Times-Union!

We’ve been stuck in a bit of a dining rut lately, which is not necessarily a bad place to be. It’s a good rut, filled with a lot of our favorites–Picasso’s (new menu!), Nippers, Gumbo Ya-Ya’s, even a couple trips to French Pantry–so no complaints! I recently took a jaunt away from the Southside for lunch to Tres Leches’ recently relocated (from Springfield) bakery in Riverside. I’ve tried their namesake cake at the Riverside Arts Market on a number of occasions (which I reviewed here for the Florida Times-Union!), but had yet to try their lunch menu.

As the name implies, the menu is mainly Spanish-inspired with other Euro influences (for instance, French omelette on baguette). I tried the Bocadillo Manolo (Jamon Serrano, Manchego Cheese, fresh chopped marinated tomatoes on baguette):

Bocadillo Manolo

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Also check out my review of Maple Street Biscuit Company for the Florida Times-Union!

There can’t be many foods more perfect than a biscuit sandwich. Especially when what lies between those two biscuit halves is fried chicken. Maple Street Biscuit Company in San Marco has been putting out some pretty delicious biscuit sandwiches (with and without chicken) since opening a few short months ago. My first visit was on opening day, when I split a Loaded Goat (all natural fried chicken breast, and fried goat cheese medallion), Sticky Maple (all natural fried chicken breast, pecan wood smoked bacon all topped with Bissell Family Farm real maple syrup), grits, and mac and cheese with Folio Weekly’s Bite Club writer Caron:

Loaded Goat + Mac & Cheese

Sticky Maple + grits

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*Update* – Gift card winners have been randomly chosen! Congratulations Livivua, Tina, Tabitha, Mary, and Steph! Thanks everyone for entering!

I wrote about Firehouse Subs way back in my blog’s infancy, when I was a poor college student eating mostly sandwiches, burgers, and pizza….oh wait. Apparently only times have changed! I’m saying that to prove that Firehouse has long been one of my favorite sandwich chains, and that was not influenced by the free food I was treated to at their recent Friends of Firehouse dinner. At this event, Firehouse Founders Chris and Robin Sorensen spoke with us about how their business got started and some of the successes and hurdles along the way.

The Sorensons

We also tasted four of their most popular sandwiches: the Hook & Ladder, Italian, New York Steamer, and Smokehouse Beef & Cheddar Brisket.

Sandwiches

My favorite–the Smokehouse Beef & Cheddar Brisket. I had never tried it before (self-proclaimed barbecue aficionado Robin Sorensen perfectly voiced my concern: “If there’s not a smoker in there, I’m not trying it”) but WOW. Specially-sourced choice beef brisket is topped with cheddar, Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce and mayo. I know, sounds too simple (or crazy–particularly the mayo part). Tastes amazing!
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I have come to realize that I eat food out of a truck about once a week now. Just doing my part to support the local economy–and not to worry, brick-and-mortars, I usually make a point to “eat local” at least once over the weekend too. One of my favorite trucks, Mother Fletcher’s, specializes in filet mignon sandwiches…that’s right, one of the best parts of the cow now comes with cheese (and maybe a few other things) and is portable. This will be a short post, because I can never bring myself to change my order here. I always get the Black and Bleu, blackened filet mignon with bleu cheese and savory sauce:

Black and Bleu

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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:

Cuban

Burger

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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:

Short Rib Poutine

What a slacker I’ve been! The only excuse I can offer is that I’ve been doing little eating out or even creative cooking in the interest of shedding a few pre-wedding pounds (only about a week to go!). However, I did make it out to Jax beach for a little relaxation a few weekends ago, and in order to sate an odd lobster roll craving of mine, decided to stop by A La Carte, a catering company and “gourmet shop.” The cute little building just off A1A/3rd St. looks like it was picked up from a New England coast and plunked here on the Florida coast.

A La Carte

Their “Authentic New England Style Lunch” served Friday-Tuesday features items such as fried clams, a Haddock sandwich, a “clam cake” sandwich, and the aforementioned Maine lobster roll.
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In my current (but soon changing) state as a financially challenged recent graduate, I was sadly unable to participate in this weekend’s inaugural Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. The preview I attended was so great I knew the festival would be too, but maybe next year. I decided the best way to mitigate my sorrows was on a patio with libation in hand. I had heard tell of a place that served what some might consider the holy grail of summer drinks, a Jack & Coke slushie: Inman Park’s newest addition Victory Sandwich Bar. So Mario and I snagged one of their tree trunk patio tables and I ordered up:

Jack & Coke Slushie

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It has been a looong time since I posted a recipe to the site! Not that I haven’t been cooking, I just haven’t been cooking anything particularly interesting (sad, I know). But, this recipe is an excellent way to get back in the swing of things: Tyler Florence‘s Ultimate Chicken Salad.

Ultimate Chicken Salad

Tyler’s recipe actually lives up to the “ultimate” moniker, incorporating cranberry sauce, brie, and sliced apples, but the chicken salad on its own is pretty ultimate too.

As a plug for my ad provider Foodbuzz and Nature’s Pride Bread, the bread pictured was sent to me to try on the house by Nature’s Pride. I used their OvenClassics Oatmeal bread, which was delicious and stood up to any juices from the chicken salad.
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