So when my dear friend Jodi called and said she got her very first puppy, I knew a road trip was in order! Who can resist a puppy? And besides, since the new baby is a Great Dane, I knew that if I didn't see her NOW, the next time I saw her she would have morphed into a mini horse...
I hurried up and packed up my car and hit the road. 2 1/2 hours seemed to take forever - I was so excited! But luckily I wasn't speeding too much since I saw at least eight State Troopers on the Turnpike.
When I first got there, the Baby Dane was shy and a little frightened. But after she figured out that I was a new playmate, it was game on!
Gracie is a harlequin Great Dane and is as cute as can be! I love all her spots and her giant paws...
She loved her Bully Sticks from her cousin Buffy. They are a 100% beef treat that's like rawhide but is fully digestible. They are one of Buffy's favorites but she wanted to share since she couldn't make the trip...this time.
We played and snuggled. Then it was dinner time. We fed the pooch and started figuring out what we were going to do.
We decided to try our luck and see if the local gem Revolver had availability. And lucky we were! Amazingly, we were able to score a 7:30 reservation at the counter. Jodi has been talking about this place for 6 years and it's been on my Must Do list for just as long. We stashed Gracie in her cage and headed out.
Revolver is a hip restaurant in downtown Findlay, OH. It focuses on locally sourced modern mid-western cuisine. Their menu features a weekly musical artist that is their soundtrack for the week.
The artist for our visit was Erykah Badu. I loved our seats at the counter because we were able to see a lot of the kitchen action. We had a hard time deciding what to order because everything sounded really delicious. Before ordering, I had to ask the most important question - what did they have for dessert. With fingers crossed, we waiting to see if the much anticipated chocolate creme brulee was on the list. It was! I knew I had to save room when I heard that one of my friend's favorites was available.
We started with an amuse bouche of popcorn soup. Yes, you read that right. It. Was. Amazing! Better than any buttered popcorn you could ever imagine ~ it was luscious and fun. We may or may not have scored the recipe...
They are known for a wonderfully unique bread service. They bake up fresh rolls with a surprise inside - a pillow of butter and sea salt. I can't believe such a simple idea can be so innovative and exciting. Our fabulous server Amanda asked me if I wanted extras to take back to Cleveland with me. Yes, please!
For my meal, I decided to go with soup...
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| sweet onion bisque with fried farm egg, toasted brioche, bacon and parsley oil
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salad...
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| House salad with mixed greens and parmesan |
and the stunningly delicious pork belly...
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| Chili roasted pork belly over a bed of pea shoots |
I could have eaten 3 of these and skipped the other items, that's how good it was.
Jodi chose the pork loin with farro and brussels sprouts...
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local pork loin with farro verde and jerusalem artichokes
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and the Revolver Fries...
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| Rosemary fries with goat cheese fondue |
Everything was delicious! Even the simple sounding salad exploded with flavor. I need to see if I can recreate that soup. Loved the little circle of toasted brioche with an egg on top. And the goat cheese fondue was tangy and creamy and the perfect compliment to the crispy fries.
Then we eagerly dug into our Chocolate Creme Brulee with Sea Salt. It's the best I've ever had! The salt on the sugar topping ends up tasted like a crunchy salted caramel. To die for!
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| Two VERY happy girls! |
We stayed up late talking and playing with Gracie until we were all pooped out.
The next day was more of the same...
...until it was time to go home. Lots of good-bye kisses were had by all and then I was back on the road. I wasn't ready to leave because we were all having so much fun.
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| SMOOCH! |
What a great spur of the moment get-away! Nothing better than some quality girl time with my friend as she adjusts to her first baby. She's off to a great start and I can't wait to see how big my little (for now!) niece gets.
On a sad note, we found out during our visit that Revolver is going to be closing! This is a real loss for Findlay and all of their fans. Chef Michael Bulkowski is closing shop and will be working at a country club in Toledo. You have two weeks to make the trip and experience it for yourself. It's well worth the drive!
