Kasai Ramen - More than Just Noodles and Broth

Not many Syracuse restaurants have future patrons chomping at the bit for when they are going to open their doors like Kasai Ramen. Through the last few weeks, we’ve been at Kasai Ramen three times - once for a private tasting/photo event, once for a pop up dining event, and most recently for the Farm to Fork 101 “All Hallows Eve Dinner”. During our tasting, people were continually coming to the door and looking to see if it was open. People who hear us talking about our amazing experience with Kyle and his team always ask two questions, “When is it opening?” and “Have you seen the menu?” Our response hasn’t changed, “It’s not opening soon enough.” and “Yes, we can’t say anything about it, but we can tell you that it is going to be epic and we will eat there all the time.” While we can’t reveal all of the menu items, we can show everyone more of a sneak peek of the deliciousness that they have been serving through all of these visits!

The Chef & The Cook - Dualing Menus with Choices for Every Palate

The running joke with my friends is that I rarely leave my ten mile radius on my off time. A trip to Baldwinsville seems so far away (it really isn’t), but we ventured outside our little bubble to visit our friends at The Chef & The Cook on a date night. Chris interviewed Deanna Germano on Episode 5 of WeEatCNY: The Podcast while the restaurant was still in its construction stage. Actually, we ended up sitting at the very table where the conversation took place! It’s wonderful to see how far Deanna and her partners Mark Germano and Jason Jessmore have come in just a few months.

Restaurant Visit, Date NightKatharine JohnsonSeptember 10, 2018oyster, champagne, greens, duck, wings, lobster, local, poke, rissoto, gnudi, ribeye, steak, beef

Kindred Fare: A Spirited Cookery

We had a family wedding in North Carolina this year and missed our annual trip to Nantucket. While we had a fabulous time touring Asheville and visiting with our family, it was one of those jam packed long weekends where you are too busy to actually sit back and decompress for a little bit. One of my favorite parts of our trips away is that moment when you are sitting at a new restaurant and everything is different. There aren't any familiar faces and you can look at the environment with fresh eyes and feel like you are truly getting away from it all. When we can't get away for an extended period of time, trying to venture outside of our typical ten mile radius gives me that same feeling.

Road Trip, Date NightKatharine JohnsonAugust 17, 2018geneva, locally sourced, fried chicken, scallops, cheese board, dessert, duck

Summer Fun at Newly Opened Citronelle

We visited Citronelle on their opening night. Chris and I usually wait and give restaurants a little time to settle before we visit, but the anticipation was too much for us and we had to check it out. We followed the progress of the new space on Instagram, and the pictures do not do it justice! We spent a good portion of our time looking up and admiring the glass ceiling and the beauty of the space in general.

Birthday Celebration

It feels like it takes forever to arrive, and then my favorite season seems to fly by! The multiple sports schedules and the end of the school year seem to be a hectic lead in to summertime and it is nice to finally have the summer months to relax our schedules a bit and have some fun.

Date Night, Local Spots, Restaurant VisitKatharine JohnsonAugust 16, 2018birthday, vegan, cocktails, pakora, squash, pickled

Fork & Cork: The Sherwood Inn with White Birch Vineyards

It's no secret that Chris and I love food; we love to shop for it, prepare it, order it, and share it. I have always felt an affinity with food and never found it intimidating. A voracious reader from a young age, cookbooks were in my hands as often as a good fiction book. I remember fondly sitting with my grandfather when he was cooking dinner one night when I was around nine and declaring rather resolutely that the tomatoes from the garden would be that much better if I sprinkled them with sea salt before bringing them to the table. The milestones of my life are often marked by meals and more often than not, I can't remember what I was wearing on any given day but I can tell you what I ate. That's just how it is with food. Wine, on the other hand, is a relatively new experience for me. I enjoy drinking wine, but have very limited knowledge about it. There are so many varietals and regions, and people who love wine often seem to be speaking a foreign language. I live in fear of someone handing me a glass and asking me to discuss the tasting notes or guess the region it's from. There is so much information and I want to learn, but the entire process is rather intimidating. So, when Chris and I were invited to attend the five course wine dinner at the Sherwood Inn featuring White Birch Vineyards, I was excited to dip my toes into the water and learn a little more about local wine in a more intimate setting.

our journey.