Grub on the Master’s pilgrimage was roughly divided into
three categories: Road Food, Restaurant Food, and Golf Tournament Food...
Road Food:
we have a couple of sub-categories here: food that
we brought and food that was purchased.
In the “brought” department we had a complete array of “snacks”, such as
granola bars; Payday bars (a personal favorite for this kind of thing); potato
chips, some special “Ocean City” popcorn, and a variety of other little
things. Those kept the energy level up
while watching mileposts go by. For
lunch we had some very good chicken or shrimp wraps which were prepared in
advance. The “purchased” category
included liquids of various kinds grabbed at potty stops and so forth, nothing much remarkable on the outbound leg.
On
the way home while looking for a “Moe’s” we stumbled on a Harris Teeter grocery
store. I have had heard good things about them, so we decided to go in for a look. It
was fairly new methinks, and had a great deli section with made to order
(Boar’s Head) sandwiches, a very nice salad bar with soups, and lots of other
pre-made sandwiches. We ordered up a couple of
sandwiches, and a selection from the salad bar which was more healthy than my
roast beef, mayo, and American yellow cheese sandwich. There was a little area where you could
consume your selections so we sat there.
The store was very clean, orderly, and everybody was very helpful. They all talked funny, then we realized we
were in North Carolina. They had a
lovely wine section (imagine being able to buy wine in a grocery store!!)
Maybe we could have one of those here instead of the glut of
chain restaurants…
Restaurant Food:
With our sort of relaxed schedule this time, we were able to
have two restaurant meals. While all the
travelers, including FOJTE, are pretty food savvy we kind of limited ourselves
to places around the motel, rather than driving for fine dining. Monday night we wanted a bite before watching
the NCAA final, so walked over to a nearby Carolina Ale House, apparently a
regional chain, kind of a sports bar thing so common to us all. It was okay.
Our server (Hi I’m…) was relatively new (as she kept reminding us), but
she delivered an acceptable level of service commensurate with a casual sports
bar. There were many customers who
looked like they were there for the same reason we were (golf tournament). The menu doesn’t need any recap as it was as
you would expect – starters; salad/soups; sandwiches; entrees (mostly platters
and plated items – fish, fowl, beef); and so forth. Our order consisted of a steak salad, a
“special” Cuban sandwich which two of us split, and a flatbread pizza. Our refills of unsweetened tea turned out to
be sweetened (hey, it’s the South!) but that was quickly corrected, Quality was
consistent with the place. Nothing
special. Dining was by light of flat
screens.
Our second experience was Tuesday night, after the practice
round. We found a Carraba’s nearby, and
drove a scant quarter mile (walking for me was out of the question at this point) to the
place. I had never been in one so was
interested to see what is considered a step up from the Olive Garden. We eschewed outside eating which was
available and were seated in the inside dining space. I was informed by one of my traveling buddies
that Carraba’s is under the same umbrella as is the Outback Steak House. Upon hearing that I noticed some similarities
between the two places. Lots of dark
wood, booths and tables, a kind of a separated bar area with a few tables,
although Carraba’s has a more or less open kitchen.
We once again were told we would be “taken care of” by so
and so, she recited a few specials which I didn’t write down or remember, and
left the menus with a drink order (couple of “stella’s” and water). Menu is pretty stock for a popular/chain
Italian place, forced into categories of Antipasti; Zuppe & Insalate; Wood
Fired Pizza; Pannini; Marsala (your choice of chicken, pork, steak, or veal)
and then Classics and Combinations; Wood Burning Grill; Stuffed Pasta, and
Signature Pasta. So there are many
choices to ponder. We wound up with a
Cobb Salad (over Caesar base, please – no problem); I fell back to my standard
Veal Piccata; and another pizza. Mine
came with choice of side salad or soup; and a further choice of vegetable of
the day, garlic mashed potatoes or Cavatappi Amatriciana. the soup was either the ubiquitous Minestrone
or they had a sausage lentil which I took.
Shuddering at the thought of mashed potatoes with Veal Piccata, I opted for
the veggies. The cava…whatever turns
out to be a pasta dish that looks mightily like macaroni and cheese, but
apparently they are proud of it.
Fast forward (about time, you say) to the arrival of the
food. All were fairly pleasing to the
eye, and my veal was nicely browned (albeit thicker cut than it should be) but
did have a lemony sauce. My friend
instantly pointed out that there were no capers! Somewhat abashed that I missed it, I agreed -
what the Heck! As any devotee of Italian
cuisine knows, capers are a key ingredient in veal piccata. It provides a nice acidic punch to the sauce
and livens up the veal. When our server
made a pass, I inquired about this appalling omission. “Oh”, she said, “a lot of people don’t like
them so we leave them off”. Lacking any
intelligent reply to this, I asked if I could have some. I think so… Soon a little ramekin arrived
with more sauce and many capers. This
made the dish ever so much better. There
is no telling about people. Veal Piccata
sans capers. Good grief. I suppose they do achieve a step up from
Olive Garden, I still will avoid either if I have a chance.
After hearing a long list of desserts, we demurred and
headed back to the room for the Women’s NCAA championship game (wherein Baylor
pounded Notre Dame despite the much vaunted Skyyyyyylarrrrr Diiiiiiggins!). Sorry
domer, I couldn’t resist…
Which leaves us with
Food at the golf tournament
The available food was in buildings scattered throughout the
course. There were several lines offering sandwiches, snacks, fruits, cookies
and so forth. Each line had caretakers
constantly replenishing things. It moved
along quite nicely. For those of you
that frequent ball parks and other public venues, you are used to paying 8
bucks for a sandwich and 7 or so for a beer.
Prices at the Masters were 3 bucks for a BBQ sandwich, 2.50 for a “Master’s
club” and beers were only (in a souvenir mug) only two fifty. Imported (the ubiquitous Stella) were three
bucks for a full pour. What a
treat. And once again, the people behind
the counter were friendly (over here, sir!) and nice. But if you ever get the
chance to be there, you HAVE to have the icon of the south:
Not just a jarred spread, there was actual shredded cheese
on white bread. Perfect. $2.00.
wow. It’s just done right.
Okay this took too much ink so we’ll do Pax updates
tomorrow. And don’t worry in this case
about
DFD
Post script: the Master’s is done for this year. High drama
with Phil hitting a rail on 4 for a triple bogey effectively eliminating him
from the tournament and his fourth green jacket
I was really pleased to see another left hander, Bubba Watson, win. He’s a neat guy. Maybe the heir to the Freddie, Phil, crowd
favorite…
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