Twisted Crepe - Asheville, NC

During our trip to Asheville, the weather was beautiful and a lovely escape away from the summer heat of Florida. However, one evening we were caught in the rain, and we escaped out of the rain into the nearest eatery at hand, which happened to be Twisted Crepe. In appearance, Twisted Crepe rather resembles a fast food restaurant. Behind the counter, you can watch as the crepes are made. But what interested me the most was the sign listing the crepe menu. They offer a selection of sweet and savory crepes, so we decided to try a little bit of each.

For the savory crepe, we tried the Smith's Early Bird. This was a crepe filled with eggs, cream cheese, scallions, and local smoked trout. This was delicious and we especially loved the smoked trout. We followed our savory crepe with a nutella crepe. Yum......

Twisted Crepe

62 Haywood Street

Asheville, NC 28801

828-505-3855

Old Europe - Asheville, NC

This is a small, but lovely place to stop in and get a sweet treat. The glass case is filled with an assortment of yummy looking temptations. A chocolate chip cookie and a lemon berry pastry seemed like just the thing to hit the spot, and they were exactly what we needed. Add a coffee to that, and we were ready to continue our sightseeing in Asheville.

Old Europe

13 Broadway Street

Asheville, NC 28801

828-255-5999

The Pub at International Plaza - Tampa, FL

I don't often stop at restaurant groups, but once and a while circumstances dictate. Longing for a bit of a pick me up after shopping, my family and I stopped in at the Pub. It was a while since my last trip to International Plaza, and the Pub was not at the mall the last time we went shopping there. The restaurant is done up to look up like a British pub, only it is a lot larger than a traditional pub and you won't have that same cozy feeling you have with your neighborhood pub. We chose one of the bar tables, so that we could see the bar and part of the restaurant. The male servers wear kilts, which may be a bit cheesy, but a fun concept.

For beer drinkers, they have some of your typical draught beers from England, Scotland, and Ireland, among others. If you don't find what your looking for in draught beers, you can take a look at the bottled beer selection. We heartily enjoyed a couple of dips from the shareables menu. The spinach a artichoke dip along with the goat cheese dip served with warm pita wedges hit just the right spot. After that, we were in dessert heaven. First, there was the warm cookie sundae with gooey chocolate chips served with vanilla ice cream and topped with caramel sauce. My personal favorite was the whiskey bread pudding. The whiskey sauce, combined with the plump raisins in the warm bread pudding and ice cream melting all over it made for pure dessert bliss. Lest I forget, in the upstairs portion of the restaurant you can pour your own beer, if you so desire. So, yes this is a chain, but fun to try if you find yourself at International Plaza.

The Pub at International Plaza

2223 North Westshore Blvd

Tampa, FL 33607

813-443-5642

La Creperia Cafe - Ybor City, FL

Longing for a bit of dessert, La Crepria Cafe was just the place I wanted to try. Inside the cafe, they created a bit of the ambience of a european cafe. There were little tables along one side of the restaurant, and a some spots at the counter if you want to watch your crepes being made at the front of the cafe.

I decided to order the nutella crepe, as nutella is my favorite crepe filling. Luckily, the cafe was pretty quiet, so it was a very short wait for my crepe. The crepe was good, although I do prefer my crepe a bit thinner than it was prepared here. However, I stilled enjoyed crepe and the quaint setting.

La Creperia Cafe

1729 East 7th Avenue

Ybor City, FL 33605

813-248-9700

Meze 119 - St Petersburg, FL

After trying the food at Meze 119 for the first time, I have to say I was very excited by the vegetarian offerings they have there. Although I am not a vegetarian, a majority of the meals that my family and I prepare at home are vegetarian, so I was very curious to try the menu at Meze. Meze is located in downtown St Petersburg, next to Starbucks, if you are familiar with the downtown area. Inside, the restaurant is a simple, but eye-pleasing space. You can sit at one of the regular tables or grab a place at one of the booths with colorful throw pillows.

The staff and owner here are friendly and ready to offer suggestions or answer any questions you may have about the menu items. Our biggest problem was deciding what to order from the menu, as a number of the menu items sounded intriguing. Finally, we decided to select a few plates to try. The Meze website describes meze as small dishes, but let me assure you, there was not anything small about each dish that we ordered. For starters, we tried the bourekas. The bourekas are stuffed puff pastry, and the filling changes every day. On the day we ate there, they were stuffed with a cauliflower filling and were very yummy. The bourekas were followed by the meze-zah, their version of a middle eastern pizza. The pizza had a nice crispy wheat crust and was topped with a delicious medley of cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and artichokes. Next, was the green omelette, which was an omelette with scallions and served in a pita with hummus. We did try the hummus tahina plate, which was a basic hummus served with pita, or if you like they also offer a chef's hummus of the day, but I love basic hummus. Finally, my absolute favorite dish, was the roasted acorn squash stuffed with Moroccan couscous. Oh my, this wonderfully roasted squash was overflowing with fragrantly spice couscous and plump raisins. All of the food was delicious, and I know we will be back to try more items from the menu.

Meze 119

119 Second Street North

St Petersburg, FL 33701

727-498-8627

Pack's Tavern - Asheville, NC

Pack's is a huge restaurant with plenty of open space and windows down the length of the booth lined wall. We stopped in the afternoon between the lunch and dinner time, so we were able to get a booth next to the windows with a view of the peaceful setting outside. Our server was pleasant and answered any questions we had about the beer and menu.

We couldn't eat here without trying the cheeseburger, which turned out very yummy. Along with the burger, we also tried the trout cake sandwich, which was delicious. The trout sandwich was served with spinach, red onions, and a wonderful mango salsa. My favorite part of the meal was the grilled salmon with mashed potatoes. This was a lovely spot to enjoy your meal and just relax.

Pack's Tavern

20 South Spruce Street

Asheville, NC 28801

828-225-6944

Creperie Bouchon - Asheville, NC

Enjoying a walk down the sidewalk in Asheville, we were peeking in various restaurant windows and finally we peeked in Bouchon French Bistro's window and it looked lovely. However, the place was packed, and it didn't look like a table would be available soon. That's when we spied a sign for crepes, and following the sign, we found ourselves in this charming courtyard. It was a lovely oasis, with a few fireflies dancing around. This is meant to be a street food experience, which means you place your order inside and then they bring it to you. While there are tables inside, it was too lovely of a courtyard to miss the opportunity of dining outside.

They serve beer and wine, along with the usual selection of non-alcoholic beverages. They have a selection of savory crepes and sandwiches and the french fries are a must try here. When in a crepe place, I cannot leave without trying the sweet crepes as I am always waiting to get to the dessert. Although, I always have to try the nutella crepes because I have a nutella addiction, I also decided to try the sugar and lemon crepe. Both crepes were delicious and the lemon crepes had just the right amount of tart, but the nutella crepe was my favorite. This is a wonderful place to enjoy crepes in a beautiful outdoor setting.

Creperie Bouchon

62 1/8 North Lexington Avenue

Asheville, NC 28801

828-350-3741