3/28/09-Margaritaville @ Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT

What a day trip! We started at Priam Vineyards in Colchester (www.priamvineyards.com) which had some very nice people and decent wine--good selection and nice souvenier glasses to take with us. During our tasting, a woman was asking my opinion on wines to serve at a shower which lead into a story how she was pairing Priam's wines with cheeses from a farm down the street which she reccomended we check out--Cato Corner Farm--this was the highlight of the trip (www.catocornerfarm.com) We tried all the cheeses they had out and it just amazed me how good they were. We purchased their "Bloomsday" chese--excellent. After this stop, it was off to Heritage Trail Vineyards (www.heritagetrail.com)--I want to come back here to get dinner. Very cute place with a big emphasis on using locally produced items, which is just fantastic.

After all this excitement, we went to Mohegan Sun to walk around a bit and grab dinner. We decided on Margaritaville ( I do love Jimmy Buffett!) and had a great time. I started with their "License to Chill" margarita and then had the Jerk Chicken--not spicy at all like I had hoped for, but moist and flavorful and overall tasty. Tom had the Jambalaya--he definitely enjoyed it because his plate was cleaned! He noted that this did not seem to have the typical pre-made frozen prepared foods like other chain restaurants and that was a nice change. Great atmosphere and a super nice waitress made for a great ending to a great day!

www.margaritavillemohegansun.com

3/12/09-First and Last Tavern, Avon, CT

Very unusual for us to go out to dinner during the week but since we were in the area and had a gift certificate that could only be used during the week, we decided to change it up a bit. Nice local restaurant group with a few locations around the state, its got good italian food and pizza. We started with their fried mozzarella and it's one of the best I've had--nice and fresh mozz triangles with a very good red sauce. The restaurant was wicked busy when we got there at 745pm and there was more evidence of that when our waitress, Shelley(she was awesome!) told us that she actually got called in an hour ago because the restaurant was so unexpectedly busy and she offered us soup and salad on the house since our dinners would be a while. I had the house salad and Tom had their creamy tomato basil soup--I now have to attempt to replicate this soup because it was so damn good. Warm & toasty focaccia bread was brought to us as well which was excellent. For our entrees, I enjoyed the Veal Parmigiana--big portions, served over penne--just what I was craving! Tom had Cioppino--Shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams, calamari, sauteed with garlic, simmered in Marinara sauce over linguine--he thoroughally enjoyed his dish. We've been here before and we'll defintely come back--a nice mid week treat.

avon.firstandlasttavern.com

3/7/09-Liuzzi Cheese, North Haven, CT

Needed to pick up a few things to make our famous pizzas tonight for dinner so we went out here for lunch. I ordered an Italian combo on a hard roll--nice good bread and store made sopressatta with ham, salami, lettuce and tomato. When we got up to the counter to order (this place was busy!! we waited 10 min in line!) there was a HUGE sandwich on display that had fresh mozz, sopressatta, ham, prociutto, tomato, lettuce on a nice big ciabatta bread--Tom says to the girl behind the counter, "I want whatever that is." "All of it?" "Yep, all of it." "Can I cut it in half and wrap the halves seperately?" That's how big this damn thing was. I am glad to say he only ate half and it was very good.

This Italian market has a great selection of premade foods, prepared foods, deli meats and lots of cheeses. I want to come back here another day when its not so busy so I can just poke around.

www.liuzzicheese.com

2/28/09-Rustic Oak, North Haven, CT

Nice hometown restaurant with the greatest fireplace! For me, it only feels appropriate to come here in the winter when they have the fire going. Eating here is like eating with your family on holidays--a menu filled with your average comfort food. With every entree, you have access to their salad bar which is complete with bread and two soups (we had their chicken noodle, which was filled with vegetables). For Tom's entree, he had the "Hunter's Steak" which was wrapped in bacon and served with a demi glace over it and a baked potato on the side. I had the Apple Cinnamon Pork Chops with a baked potato. We both enjoyed our dinners. The fireplace really does make this place feel very comfortable.

www.rusticoakrestaurant.com