When in Rome... Eat fried chicken.

Attention bloggie readers.  What you are about to see is not for the faint.  It is not a joke.  And none of the images have been technologically enhanced.  Parental discretion is advised.

That's right foodie friends, it's another Hilton Head binge installment.  This time circa 2011 and this time - with more food photos to share.  I apologize in advance for the somewhat mediocre resolution of the photos as they were taken on my piece of shit garbage can camera phone - which for some reason has no flash.  But for the most part, you don't need a microscope to appreciate the deliciousness - so enjoy.

Let me just start by reminding you that when hubs and I travel south - our good intentions that we discussed en route get tossed immediately upon arrival.  You know, the whole "ok so we will eat salads every day for lunch and stay away from the fried stuff" - yah, that whole mentally got thrown out the window the second we tapped down in the good ol' south, had our first beer in a mild 107 degrees, and whipped out the classic justification "we're on vacation!".  From that moment on we were launched into 8 wondrous days of southern culinary beauty.  simply stunning.

So read on lovies - for I will now share a descriptive and visually stimulating journal of my past week's culinary gems.

Night 1 (Tuesday):

Ate at the club - tired from travels - nothing fabulous to report so let's not waste time here.... moving on

Night 2 (Wednesday): Santa Fe Cafe  http://www.santafecafeofhiltonhead.com/

At an initial attempt to go to Bonefish (a delish American fish chain that - pains me to say - is not in Canada), we realized once we got there that Wednesday is bang bang night - aka their bang bang shrimp dish - aka the main reason to go - was only 5 bucks a pop.  This led to a mob crowd that hubs and I did not wish to endure.  Plan B - we decided on Santa Fe which is an amazing Southwestern restaurant with endless guac, homemade tortilla chips, ridic filet mignon and lobster fajitas and the best chimmichanga i've ever had.  The star dish? The cowboy cut 30z rib chop with shoestring red chili onion rings and baked beans.

 
Night 3 (Thursday): Bonefish http://www.bonefishgrill.com/locator/details/hilton-head-island-south-carolina/

So obvi we had to get to bonefish in the first half of the trip seeing as its one of the top meals we look forward to when we visit.  Any American i'm sure can relate to the mouthwatering addiction that can be brought on by large amounts of their famous BANG BANG SHRIMP.  It's creamy.  It's delicious.  A seductive medley of the perfect amount of spice, tang and cream - all over a heaping bowl of rock shrimp.  It is A-MAZ-ING.  Obviously we had an order.... and then instructed our waiter to bring out a second order with our mains of seabass, rice and chimmichurri.  Justification for the unnecessary second order? Other than the fact that we felt we needed to stuff down enough bang bang to carry us over til our next visit - But also, the healthiness of the fish course clearly cancels out the extra bang bang.  It's basically like a diet.

Night 4 (Friday): Palmetto Bluff River House http://www.palmetto-bluff.com/inn_spa_wine_cuisine_river_house.asp

This is probably the dinner we most look forward to.  Palmetto Bluff is a beautiful resort that has actually been voted the #1 resort in North America.  The view is exquisite and the cuisine is gourmet perfection.  We put on our most formal and appropriate attire for this lil date night and had a magical evening of great service, a fantastic bottle of cabernet and indulgence - enough to leave you in a complete lull of happiness and contentment.  Highlights of the meal included a creamy snow crab bisque, wagu steaks and an assortment of donuts with chocolate dipping sauce for dessert.  The wagu in particular was to die for.  An amazingly marbled and buttery piece of meat, cooked to a perfect medium rare - I can barely write this with all the wagu fairies clouding my vision at the moment.  Utter perfection.

 

Night 5 (Saturday): Michael Anthony's http://www.michael-anthonys.com/Menu.html

After 4 days I started to go into pasta withdrawal and decided it was time for a little italian carb injection.  Hubs happily agreed as him and I could easily eat pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of our lives.  I think my angel food cake husband could have been an italian stallion in a past life.  The biggest dilemma of the week occurred when (after already deciding on our main courses of homemade tagliatelle bolognese) the daily ravioli feature made us second guess our choice.  What do you do when you've already got your heart set out on a classic bolognese but then you get swayed by a homemade ricotta ravioli in a butter sage?  For future reference people - the answer to this is always order both.  and so we did.  One ravioli to share as an appetizer (in addition to our Caesar salads with white anchovy of course), and two tagliatelle bologneses.  thankyouverymuch.

Day & Night 6 (Sunday): Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons & Paulie's Pizza

Day & Night 6 - which can also be referred to as the fattest day of my life -  was also one of the most delicious.  I think right about now you might be starting to wonder if I weigh 400 pounds, so I feel it might be an appropriate time to mention that exercise and the gym was also part of this vacay.  That being said - hubs and I decided that Sunday would be a marvelous day to drive into Savannah, Georgia to dine at the famous Paula Deen Southern Sunday Buffet.  A Bobby Flay favorite and an absolute must - this place gets a line up around the block with people just salivating to get their hands on some fried ... well... everything.  With a plate (or two) full of fried chicken, braised beef, collard greens, grits, creamed corn, sweet potatoes, biscuits, mashed potatoes & fried green tomatoes - i FINALLY had my first real Southern meal.  In all our visits, I had yet to try real Southern cuisine.  While eating I was torn between my total and complete satisfaction - and also the total shock upon the realization that some people actually eat like that every day.  It is beyond insanity to me to think that a meal I could only justify once in a blue moon - is someone else's weekly Sunday Brunch.  Insanity I tell you -  but nevertheless - crazy good.

 

As if this wasn't enough to keep you full for a couple of days - nope - not for nat and dave in the south - no no we thought a perfect way to end off the day was to go to our favorite pizza place for dinner - Paulie's Coal Fired Pizza.  Their large pie with slow roasted san marzano tomatoes in garlic, mozzarella and fresh basil was a thing of beauty.  http://pauliescoalfiredpizza.com/

Night 7 & 8 (Mi Tierra & Paulie's Part 2)
Are you still with me? Have I made you drool on what's sure to be your work computer yet?  Running low on energy after the shameless gluttony of Day 6 - we decided to go cheap and cheerful on our last two nights.  A little mexican cuisine (fajitas and chimmis again), and finally, one more round of Paulie's because..well.... it's just that good it needed an encore.

So there you have it folks.  I feel like this blog should come with some kind of a warning ... replicate only with mindful caution and loose pants for a week afterward.  But really - if any of you ever have the pleasure of visiting Hilton Head, South Carolina, I hope you refer back to this bloggie for some tips on where to eat.  I guarantee you will love it as much as I did. 

Love Love

xo Chef Natty