Thursday, May 13, 2010

My Foodie Favorites

I'm back on the bandwagon. I'm livestronging and exercising again. Despite the fact that I'm watching my calories, a blog post that I read recently made me super nostalgic about all of the wonderful places I've dined while I lived all around Florida. I lived in Gainesville while I was in college, in Jacksonville for a post-bac program, and I'm back in Orlando now. These are the places where I discovered some of the best food ever. EVER!

In Gainesville, I discovered my utmost favorite sushi restaurant (and this is saying A LOT because I'm sort of a sushi snob). It's called Dragonfly Sushi and Sake Company. I'm so excited because they are building one now in Orlando. See you at the grand opening! Everything there is so fresh and absolutely to die for, but here are my some of my favorite rolls:

Gator roll-tuna,salmon, cream cheese, avocado and roe (a classic)
Lava roll- smoked  eel, smoked salmon, crab,  roe, slices and avocado topped with oven baked scallop delight and el sauce
Krispy crunch-tuna, krab, avocado, cream cheese, and roe fried with panko bread crumbs

With a side of spicy sauce and a cocktail please!

On my 22th birthday B brought me there and we probably got at least 5 different rolls. Here are some examples of the food:






 Here I am at my birthday dinner enjoying my margarita!


 Every time I eat there I die and go to heaven TWICE. Cannot wait for the one in Otown to open.

Oh, but there's more...

In Jacksonville, I discovered a quaint, little shop near by my apartment that served pizza and Italian dishes. It was called Rosina's Pizza. This had the most fabulous combo sub I've ever had. They had to have made the bread fresh daily. The calzones were also huge and so delicious. Rosina's pizzas weren't my favorite but I'll get to pizza later. No pictures sorry! This place is tiny.


While in Jax, I also found my favorite gourmet Mexican restaurant, Cantina Laredo. They make fresh gaucamole at your table and my favorite dish is the carne asada. They also have an amazing gourmet breakfast on Sundays.



My friend Jennifer and I ate the Sunday Brunch there just before we went wedding dress shopping for her. Notice the complementary mimosas. Yum!



The best pizza I've ever had is by my B's parents' house waaaaay outside of Orlando on the edge of nowhere.  Everyone that works there is straight out of Italy. I can't really describe the taste of the pizza other than just well...perfect. It's something you to taste for yourself. It's called Calabria's Pizza.




I've decided that I need to take more pictures of the awesome food that I eat at restaurants and awesome dishes that I cook. Who wouldn't want to photograph such joyous memories? I've left out some places but didn't want this post to be 5,000 pages long. I have to note that Jacksonville also has the best wings I've ever had. Obviously, as you can see, I enjoy my food. I like it a little too much based on the size of my waist. Food is spiritual to me. As long as I keep exercising and watching my calories I can occasionally eat at these taste-bud temples of gloriousness.

Sigh.