Smoke

After the craziness of the past few weeks, it was glorious to have a weekend at home! The weather was perfect all three days.

On Friday, I took a long walk and ended up at LOFT, where I scored a pair of black shorts 40% off. Matt and I made a pizza and drank wine and sat on the couch all night. That was lovely.

On Saturday, we randomly invited some friends over for drinks on our deck. We were itching for something fun to do outside and I recently got a new outdoor rug and pillows that make our outdoor space more inviting. We drank prosecco and our friends brought over a cookie cake and we talked for a couple of hours. Long, lazy afternoons are the best. Once our friends left, Matt and I made the last minute decision to have dinner at Smoke.

Smoke is fancier than your average bbq restaurant but has a laid back, funky vibe. I ordered a fantastic glass of Tempranillo from Spain, and then we shared two small plates – the fire roasted oysters with chorizo and salsa,

and this corn pouch (similar to a tamale) that was filled with roasted goat and topped with green apple salsa verde. I’ll admit that I was hesitant about this dish, but our waiter recommended it as a popular staple, and it was wonderful.

Matt and I shared one big entree – the coffee cured beef brisket, and ordered braised broccolini on the side. Under the two strips of beef, there was a pile of shredded brisket that was fabulous! The broccolini was also amazing and possibly my favorite item of the night.

We ended with a goat cheese brownie with pecan brittle and fig ice cream. I’m not a brownie person per se, but our waiter promised this guy would be gooey. He was right – I think the addition of goat cheese made it extra fudge-y.

The weekend ended with a run along White Rock Lake, a crock pot mole chicken dinner, and a Duke win.