Stephen’s the best husband in the world. Case in point, last night he started my birthday celebrations early by taking me to Savor the Flavor, an annual event on Dickson Street sponsored by Faith in Action. We’ve been hearing about Savor the Flavor for the past couple of years. For one night and one ticket, you get to walk up and down Dickson Street to all the participating restaurants and bars and sample the best of their cuisine. This year we decided to try it, and we’re so glad we did!
The event started at The Garden Room by the old Ozark Mountain Smokehouse. We got our wristbands and a map of the event locations and headed on our way! We had 20 restaurants to choose from and started at Hammontrees, a cute little soup and sandwich shop in the new Nightbird Books.
Even though it was our first stop of the night, Hammontrees won “Best Cuisine” and “Best Kept Secret” in our books for their black bean tortilla soup. It was so delicious that Hammontrees may just be one of our new favorite spots!
For our second stop of the night, we ran across the street to U.S. Pizza Company for some salad and chicken margarita pizza. I can’t believe I’ve been in Fayetteville for 6 years now and had never been there before! The waitress there was so sweet we decided she won “Best Service” of the night.
Next we swung by Theo’s for some Slow Roasted Pork with an Asian Pear Glaze over Napa Slaw. Whew! That’s a mouthful! We had such a pleasant time sitting out on their patio and Theo’s won our vote for “Best Beverage” of the night for their deeeeelicious Basil Gimlet.
Then we ran into Romance Diamond Company to sample some creme brulee from Bordino’s (yum).
The next stop actually took us a little by surprise. The Smoke and Barrel Tavern behind Jose’s was serving scotch and whiskey for their part of Savor the Flavor. Stephen and I let the waitress “surprise us” with our samples, and boy were they strong!
We popped into Common Grounds for a quick brownie bite and then ran up to Hog Haus (another Fayetteville fav) for some delicious Chicken Penne Primavera and a great view of Dickson Street. Believe it or not, we were still hungry, so Gullett’s Gourmet was next on our list. We agreed their house favorite dip and asian cole slaw didn’t win any votes from us, so it was a quick stop, and then on to the Railhead Saloon.
The saloon is another place we may have to put on our favorite list – good burger sliders and a fun atmosphere.
After the Saloon, we were ready to sit and relax a bit, so it was the perfect opportunity to visit Gelateria Teatro Scarpino. Scarpino’s is near and dear to our hearts because it’s where Stephen took me on our first date! The gelato was delicious and we had such a blast listening to the jazz trio in the teatro – Scarpino’s won “Best Atmosphere” by a landslide!
After a nice relaxing stay at Scarpino’s, we made our way to Powerhouse Seafood and Grill, where the food was tasty and quite seafood-y (crab rolls, crab and artichoke dip, and shrimp skewers) and the music was… well, let’s just say I asked Stephen if Tuesdays were karaoke nights!
Our last stop on our tour was The Wine Cellar, where Stephen and I agreed we need to take our moms some time to check out their fabulous wine collection! We ended our evening back where we began – at The Garden Room – for some dessert and drinks and beautiful atmosphere.
The perfect end to a perfect evening – sipping drinks under the twinkle lights in my favorite town with my favorite person ever.
I’ve always wanted to check Savor the Flavor out, and after the fun times we had yesterday, this might just have to be my annual birthday celebration! 10 thumbs up! (yeah, it was that good.)
P.S. I did my best to link to the restaurants we visited, but if I missed one and you want more info, let me know!
Images courtesy my camera, Theo’s, Bordino’s, and Railhead Saloon’s MySpace page
