Christiana Creek Country Club

Until October 6th (2012) there is an event called Elkhart Dining Days that is to benefit Church Community Services, it showcases local chefs and restaurants with part of the cost of dinner going to the aforementioned charity; because of this event Christiana Creek Country Club has opened it's dining room to non-members for the two week event. Chef Brian Steinway proved to be a master of his trade, not just with the creativity of his special three course menu for the dining days, but also with the quality and taste of the food. I was torn on which appetizer to choose, the California chicken salad looked delicious, and much lower in calories than the walleye bites I had my eyes on, but my husband talked me into the fish, and I was so glad he did! My small plate came out with three walleye bites atop a dollop of Cajun tarter sauce; I cringed a little because I have never cared for tarter sauce, but this was delicious, it had a nice sweetness and was perfectly paired with delicious, crispy strips of fried fish

To start his meal, my hubby ordered the lobster pizza, which has earned raves, not just from him, but many others I have talked to. The flat bread crust was crispy, which the man LOVES, it was topped with a nice Alfredo and diced tomatoes that he said added a nice brightness, I was surprised when he described the lobster as tender, I truly expected it to be overcooked, and all of this was covered with cheese; now I am skeptical that seafood and cheese can ever be paired well together, but my husband tells me that the lobster pizza was delicious.

The choices for our entree all looked delicious, but I settled on the filet with a side of couscous; my steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare, really wasn't seasoned much (I'm okay with that, I hate when people over do a good cut of meat), but was tender and covered in a delicious demi glace. I will admit that I didn't care for the couscous, but that is a taste and texture issue, because my husband really liked it and what I really liked were the onion strings that covered our meal, those I could have eaten as a side in itself. My husband ordered the pan seared duck breast with port cherry reduction, and oh my! The duck breast was more tender than my filet, was perfectly seasoned, and the sauce was fantastic as well, it was my husband's first time trying duck and he was thoroughly impressed.

While my husband quickly chose "death by chocolate' or as he called it, suicide by chocolate, for dessert, I had to think a while before I chose the carrot lava cake. The death by chocolate turned out to be a gluten free chocolate cake, talk about rich, but was it ever chocolatey and delicious! The only thing we would have changed would have been a tart berry sauce to cut the richness. The carrot cake was delicious as well, warm, with cream cheese frosting oozing out of it, and while I would have never paired them, it was made even better with a side of butter pecan ice cream.

This meal was such a great deal, we paid $25 for each 3 course meal, it was high quality and delicious, not to mention part of the cost went to charity. Normally you do have to be a member to have dinner at Christiana Creek Country Club, but now through October 6th you can enjoy the Elkhart Dining Days menu regardless of membership status. If you don't get in for Elkhart Dining Days, you can still experience Christiana Creek during their lunch hour (11a-2p) when anyone is welcome to dine; we looked over the lunch menu and it looks great, lots of creative dishes at a reasonable price, every sandwich, salad, and entree was under $10 each. And if the thought of eating at  a country club makes you nervous (like I was), we felt totally at ease, our waitress, Jessica, was sweet and made us feel comfortable from the moment we stepped in. Oh, and did I mention that Christiana Creek is available for weddings, meetings, or other parties?

Bill's Bar-B-Que

Elkhart may not be an area known for good barbeque, in fact it can be hard to find, but it is not impossible, and Bill's on West Franklin in Elkhart proves that true! One of my favorite memories as a child was when my mom had dentist's appointments because I knew that after she went to the dentist, Bill's Bar-B-Que was her next stop, and rib tips would be on the menu for dinner. Bill's is the kind of restaurant you probably wouldn't take a second look at, because it doesn't look like much, it is tiny and only offers carry out, in fact the waiting area is probably smaller than your bathroom at home, maybe even your closet, but what goes on inside is a bit of magic. Bill's cooks their meat (chicken, ribs, rib tips, pork, sausage) for hours over a wood fed open flame with a recipe that is 4 generations old and then covers it in their delicious housemade sauce. Last night we opted to stay in for date night, which included take out from Bill's, and let me tell you, Hubby and I tore up half a rack of ribs and a half pound of tips. It is evident in the taste and appearance that this meat is slow smoked, and was done so perfectly, not over or underdone by any means. The great thing about the ribs is that they keep the tips on, which means extra meat!!

And yes, for $10.99 you do get about three times this many ribs, I just forgot to take the picture until we were halfway through!! And for the rib tips, well, they can be a pain to eat, but these are tasty enough to be worth it, and have enough meat on them to make it worth your while. At $6.99 for a half pound order, they are definitely worth their weight! And, did I mention the BBQ sauce? I love it because it isn't spicy, it isn't sweet, it has a nice tang which is something I like...if it's too sweet, I just start feeling sick, and as for spicy, well, like I have said before I am a huge wimp.

 So next time you have a hankering for good barbeque, think outside of the box, outside of your normal restaurants, heck even outside of your own neighborhood, and get some take out from Bill's Bar-B-Que.

GIanetto's Pizza & Pasta

When I saw an Italian restaurant attached to a gas station on 331 in Granger, I was skeptical to say the least, but one step into Gianetto's and you will forget that you are anywhere near a convenience store. The restaurant was tastefully decorated with Italian movie posters ranging from Il Padrino to Via col Vento to Fantasma Ill'Opera to Il Mago del Oz; frankly it was refreshing to be in an Italian restaurant whose decor didn't revolve around the overused, and ever stereotypical little fat man in a chef's hat with a mustache. Along with movie posters in Italian, you will travel back in time through pictures of Italian Americans that look to be from the turn of last century; Gianetto's has been around for over thirty years, and truly pays homage to the immigrants of the late 1800's who gave their food it's roots by mixing traditional Italian food from home, with new American ingredients. We started our meal with comfort food taken to a whole new level; french fries smothered in meat sauce and mozzarella cheese! I am not a big tomato eater, and generally only eat tomato sauce on pizza, but this meat sauce was tasty and the "meatzarella fries" is such a great concept for an appetizer. We split the appetizer between 4 kiddos and 4 adults and at $6.99 we each got enough to whet our appetites. I also enjoyed a pre-meal salad, and while it was just your typical iceberg lettuce with shredded carrots, the homemade croutons and Italian Vinaigrette were some of the best I have ever had, and took this salad to the next level! My sister in law was pleased to find that Gianetto's offers a personal Chicago style stuffed pizza, and tells me that it is reminiscent of Giordano's and Gino's East. 

 I love Italian beef as well as Italian sausage, so seeing them both on one sandwich sounded like a dream come true! The sausage was delicious, and I am sure they made it in house, the beef was a bit on the dry side, which would have been remedied by the au jus, however it was too spicy for me to even eat, which was a bummer, because dipping an Italian beef is my favorite part of the sandwich!  At just under $9 you definitely get enough meat for this sandwich to be worth the cost.

My hubby is a HUGE cheese lover, so the cheesy baked spaghetti caught his eye, and it definitely had enough cheese to suit this man who can never have too much cheese. His biggest complaint with this dish is that the marinara sauce did not stick to the pasta and ended up just being soupy in the bottom of the dish. He also said that he preferred the meat sauce we got on the fries to the marinara on his pasta, so if you order pasta, go with the meat sauce! His portion was huge, and at around $10, he got enough food for at least one more meal, if not two.

Gianetto's Pizza and Pasta is serving food that has stood the test of time, they have a rich history in the South Bend/Mishawaka area, and are definitely worth a try. I know that I am anxious to get back and try some of their pizza!