Coco's Italian Market- Nashville, TN

I loved Coco's.  I'm not sure that I've ever been in an Italian market outside of Italy.  There are so many great foods that come from Italy, I'm not sure why.  It was really a market, bakery and restaurant.

When you first walk in, you are in the market.  The market had all kinds of canned and jarred foods, cakes, cookies, you name it.  They also had huge jugs of Nutella with a sign next to it warning people because people have evidently dropped them before probably making a huge mess.

There are a few cold cases.  One had really delicious looking gelato, another one had meats and cheeses.  Yet another had cakes and another chocolates.  They did entice me to try a slice of one of the cakes.  More on that later.  They also had a bar with all kinds of olives, probably for take-out.

The menu was pretty extensive.  They had all of the pasta dishes that you would expect.  I'm told that their pizza is also really good.

I started with an Italian salad; spring mix, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes red onions, roasted red peppers, topped with a vinaigrette.  They claim that they believe in garden to table.

I ordered the vegetable lasagna.  It was served in a baked dish that was incredibly hot when it was served. There was no meat in the dish but, it was filling like there was.  From their menu, the ingredients were "pasta, mushrooms, carrots, sun dried tomatoes and spinach baked with mozzarella, ricotta and egg mixture, Romano and parmesan."  It was really delicious.

So, I went with the veggie lasagna so that I could really indulge with the godiva chocolate cake.  Wow, that was a decadent indulgence.  You can probably get that at the cheesecake factory, but this place just put me in the mood.

Overall, I would rate coco's 9.3 on a 10 point scale.  Service was also really good.  Our server was really friendly and fast.

There was also a bonus.  They had a bocci ball court outside and signs that look like they must sponsor a bocci ball league.  So, this looks like a fun place.

Coco's Italian Market
411 51st Ave N
Nashville, TN 37209
Phone (615) 783-0114
italianmarket.biz

Empire Brewing Company - Syracuse, NY

Empire Brewing Company is a great micro brewery in the Armory section of Syracuse.  The Armory District has obviously gone under a renaissance in the past few years. The area has lots of really good restaurants and at least one very good brewery-restaurant.

You descend down into the Empire brewery through a set of stairs on the sidewalk. It sits below a barber shop.  A real working micro brewery sits behind glass behind the bar. The boil vessels are copper. My bartender told me that they are very old but she couldn't remember exactly how old or where they came from.

The brewery is literally "award winning." There are award after award hanging on the walls around the brewpub. Many of which where from the Great American Brew Festival spanning over several years.

Empire brewery is a brewery first and a brew-pub second. I think that this might be the first triple D restaurant that I've been to that did not advertise the fact in any way.  There was absolutely no evidence of the food network having ever been there; no pictures of guy, no"Guy ate this" notation on the menu. Nothing.

I ordered the elk burger; medium rare with sweet potato fries. I have no complaints about the burger whatsoever. It was fine. But, the food is a second act to the beer.

The first beer that I ordered was a Black Magic Stout. You can read my Untappd review of it here.  My second beer was hey Waldorf Honey Ale. My bartender explained that the brewery has an arrangement with the famous Waldorf Hotel in new York city. Evidently the Hotel has bees on the roof of the hotel and the hotel supplies the brewery with honey and in exchange the brewery supplies for the hotel with beer. You can read my untapped review here.

I was chatting with one of the bartenders and her boyfriend waiter who are also home brewers. They were quite enthusiastic about the brewery, Their own homebrew and beer in general. So, it was a very nice conversation.

I would rate Empire Brewing Co. a 9.3.  I will go back when I'm back in Syracuse again.

Empire Brewing Company

120 Walton St

Syracuse, NY 13202

315-475-2337

http://empirebrew.com