Just outside the border

Its like opening the floodgates with me once I start posting, they just keep coming. But here we go... 

I was able to take a trip to Chicago the weekend before I left Iowa City and on the way there made a little detour to Fulton, Illinois (right outside the border of Iowa…get it?) to Krumpets. 

This is an absolutely amazing restaurant and bakery and another bonus is it is my good friend’s mom’s place. Krumpets is on the corner in this little town and the atmosphere fits perfectly, right when you walk in you feel like you are in a classed up version of grandma’s café. It has exposed brick around the entrance (which I am obsessed with), followed by really interesting art pieces along the walls; there are also a few armoires with very intricate antique trinkets. You just immediately feel at home. Okay, so let me start off with there was a lot of hype going here, I mean A LOT. My friend and his friends have ranted and raved about his mom’s cooking so being the foodie that I am was pumped to try it first hand.

One thing I left out about the décor of the place is this huge glass case of pasties, pies, other desserts and then on top of the case are this jars filled with cookies, cinnamon rolls, coffee cake…you name it, she has it. So after I pried myself off of the case of heaven it was time to figure out what we wanted to eat. 

Looking at the menu there was no way that I would be able to pick what to get so I made them make the decision for me. We ended up splitting both the cheeseburger and his off the menu turkey sandwich (the perks of being the son of the owner/maker). I literally cannot make words to express the deliciousness of this meal. You know how you walk into a restaurant and you say “yeah that was good/really good”, but that does not begin to describe this. 

Everything was simple but no fanciness needed-everything spoke for itself. The burger was just a perfectly cooked patty layered with two slices of cheese and placed between a homemade potato roll. That roll was definitely the kicker, I literally could not get over this burger. 

The sandwich was a turkey sandwich with lettuce and cucumber, once again on that unreal potato roll that had an aioli spread on it. This once again was just a perfect combination…I can easily see why this was his go to. Seriously those homemade potato rolls are everything. 

The meal didn’t stop there. Our arms were twisted into getting a dessert…they had to try really hard. We went with the legendary Krumpet bar. I am disappointed in myself that I didn’t get a picture, but there was no time…this thing needed to be eaten devoured. It consisted of a thin brownie layer, a thin white chocolate cheesecake layer, a thin layer of fudge like chocolate topped with caramel and nuts. There was a debate between his mom and his cousin whether this needed to be eaten cold or nuked a little so we did half and half, and I honestly couldn’t make a decision. The cold version let the chocolate fudge and brownie shine where as the warm version really highlighted the cheesecake and caramel…so it was a tie. With the lack of Krumpet bar picture, I give you these massive cinnamon rolls. 

I guess you could say I am biased, but I truly truly believe this place is everything it is cracked up to be, and his mom is a god to the kitchen. They are open 6-4 Monday-Friday, and 8-2 on Saturdays so make sure to get into there before they close! Not in the mood for a full meal? Like I said, there is assortment of goodies so either stop in for breakfast or an afternoon pick me up and pick your poison! Did I mention they have an elaborate coffee/espresso/etc. station?! 

So wipe that drool from your mouth (if you aren't drooling you have serious problems) and try it out! 

Last bits and bites of IC

So I know I have been majorly MIA lately, but the job hunt has gotten the best of me. This summer was filled with so many delicious bites and I tried to try as many different things as possible-but I can’t make any promises, it’s just so easy to go back to the comfort food.

I think I have beat into yall’s brain enough about the different assortment of amazing food that is in the heart of Iowa City. Although it was so hard for me to have to leave Iowa City this Summer to come back home, I definitely capitalized on that excuse to eat everything in IC.

Now if you’ve read this blog you know I am a pizza connoisseur. I have eaten at many places that have great pizza such as: Backpocket Brewery, Monica’s, Basta…but there was more to discover.

Disclaimer: These aren’t all necessary nice “clean” pizzas-it gets nasty and dirty in the greasiest most delicious kind of way.

First up: Taco Pizza from Happy Joes 

Although I am usually against the delivery pizza, this is an exception. This pizza was simply put a massive detailed taco piled on top of a pizza crust. The pizza is loaded with refried beans, taco-seasoned beef and sausage topped with lettuce, tomatoes, and as you can see a mound of their own taco chips. There is also little packets of Spicy Joe’s taco sauce along the box…which just added a little bit of a kick.  It truly tasted like a taco, just in a perfect triangle platform. But don’t think for a second that this may be easier/less messy to eat than a taco…you’ll definitely need a stack of napkins by your side. (this is not an eating in bed type of Za).

Next up: Casey’sBreakfast Sausage Pizza 

So this is probably the nastiest best pizza I’ve ever had in my life. This pizza comes from a Casey’s general store gas station…yes a gas station. When my friend told me I HAD to try this gas station breakfast pizza I kept avoiding the situation until one morning we woke up and just needed it-so we went ahead ad ordered it and I in no way was disappointed. The pizza is a medium size crust, layered with a cheddar cheese sauce (the consistency of nacho cheese sauce…but the most delicious kind), scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage and then topped with shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese. There are no words-this in no way is a diet friendly pizza but boy is it worth it. So you Midwesterners give your closest Casey’s a call, wait 10 minutes and then open the box to heaven…you're welcome in advance.

Yet another pizza: Pagliais 

Let’s start off with a little lesson. Pagliais is pronounced: Paw-lee-eyes not Pag-lee-eyes…I was corrected quickly. This is yet another late night pizza place open until 11 every day, and the quality doesn’t slack either. This is another one of Iowa City’s must haves and I waited until my last few weeks to give it a shot, I am a little disappointed in myself there. The crust is super thin, the kind that you can crack but is super flaky. My pizza eating partner (also opened my eyes up to the other two recently noted pizzas) and I got half sausage and half cheese. The thing about Pagliais is there is nothing specific that is completely stand out but all of the little combinations together just make everything work. They don’t mess with fancy toppings or crazy combinations-they know what they do is good and they stick with it.

The Last Za plus more: Big Grove Brewery 

My friend from Blackstone and I wanted to try yet another sister restaurant of Bstone’s so we headed out to Solon to visit Big Grove Brewery. The Blackstone family continued to kill it as we struggled to decide what to order. We knew we wanted to get one of their brick stone oven pizzas and then went with a lighter salad to split both.

The star of the show, the White Sausage. It was a perfectly brick stone oven crust (which is my absolute favorite) covered in crème fraiche with housemade fennel pork sausage crumbled amongst the pizza, then the fresh mozzarella layered on top with red onion, scallion, marinated tomato, and fennel pollen sprinkled on top. The crème fraiche and fresh mozzarella made the pizza so light and gooey to offset the crispy crust and then the delicious fat/grease of the fennel pork sausage completed it perfectly.

We also got a beet and goat cheese salad. We knew we wanted a salad but had a difficult decision with which one until we spotted goat cheese…we are both obsessed so it was an easy choice. The salad was a light greens with a hefty serving of beets, goat cheese, clementines, and grain throughout the salad. It was nice refresher to the pizza and of course our beer.

Another outing: Share Wine Lounge 

I always thought Share was just the Sheraton’s eating, which it is their restaurant but it is its own world. Share has a very complex menu that brings twists to very simple dishes.

One of my best girlfriends and I decided to try it out, we kicked off the meal with a cocktail shaker. Another cool thing about Share is that you can order a shaker that is about 3-4 drinks inside and bonus the shaker is so pretty!

We decided to go splitskies on some things and then get some stuff on our own. My friend is a vegetarian so we went with the falafel sliders, truffle fries, and I went with a goat cheese (shocker) garden salad, and she got veggie minestrone soup. Everything was completely fresh and light—even the fries had the grease from truffle oil and parmesan shreds but was still light. 

The atmosphere was great as well, Share is just smack dab in the center of the ped-mall by the playground and fountain so it’s a perfect people watching outing. 

That's a good wrap-up of little bites of my last little bit of Iowa City for the Summer. But don't you worry, that is not the last bit of the bites in Iowa City. 

The other day my friend was giving me a hard time because every post I put is some variation of the best thing I ever had. My response? Why would I tell people about anything just mediocre or bad and even more importantly why would I waste my time (and calories) eating at those places!!