Tallahassee, Florida

What do you think of when you think of Tallahassee? Florida’s capital? Home of Florida State University? Well… Both of those are true, but there’s so much more to Tallahassee then people know. There’s delicious food, a serious hippie scene, a happening downtown area, fun trashy college bars, cute boutiques, amazing coffee shops, beautiful architecture, rolling hills, big Oak trees with beautiful Spanish moss everywhere, and so much more. I was first introduced to Tallahassee some time ago when a lot of my friends from high school went to FSU. Back then I didn’t quite appreciate it as much as I do now. I’d go visit my friends and all we would do is go to the football games and drink. Ok, we still do that, but now we mix in a few other things. One of my best friends from kindergarten goes to medical school at FSU and I decided to go and pay her a visit because I’m a great friend. Real friends drive 6 hours to see a friend for a weekend. Or maybe idiots? It’s one of those two for sure. My other friend Alissa and I drove up Thursday and due to torrential downpours the entire way up didn’t arrive until 12:30 at night. We were beat and immediately went to bed. The next morning we had our traditional Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. We’ve all been best friends since high school and every weekend after a slumber party we would have the cinnamon rolls. We can’t break tradition! Plus, they’re delicious. After we went and did some shopping and visited Julia’s aunt that lives in Tallahassee and has the cutest corgi you’ve ever seen. After playing with the pup for some time we were hungry (as usual). We heard about this cute cafe called “Paisley Cafe” located in Midtown. It’s beyond adorable and the food is delicious. The chef went to Le Cordon Bleu in London and is just awesome. We all decided to split a few things because we can never decide on just one thing. We got the tomato bisque (best I’ve ever had by far) , pasta salad, a sandwich with roast beef, horseradish cheese, and pesto, and another sandwich with turkey, brie, and homemade apple butter. OMG. So good. Then to finish it off… Nutella bread pudding. Are you kidding me? We also had homemade mix berry lemonade which was sweetened to perfection. Just outstanding. The owner of the restaurant is an absolute doll too. She talked to us for a good amount of time and really spent a lot of time with the customers which is a rare thing to see. I was so obsessed with the homemade apple butter that she even gave me a container to take home. How great is that? After we were all fat and happy we went and did a little shopping around town. That night we went to a restaurant also in Midtown called “The Front Porch”. I loooooooove The Front Porch. It’s in an old house and has a very Hamptons/classy beachy style. The food is outstanding. We decided to get a bunch of apps and split it all. We got fresh oysters from all over the world, delicious calamari, ceviche, and lobster cannelloni. Ugh, heaven. They have a ceviche menu where you can pick all the ingredients you want and you make it yourself. Genius idea. A lot of time when you order ceviche it was made too early and the seafood gets overcooked and rubbery. Not here. Perfect. The owner/chef of the restaurant actually won “Chopped” on the Food Network. Fun fact. He came to the table and talked to us for awhile and he was very nice. Definitely a spot to check out for delicious food and drinks in a great setting. After dinner we went to a Speak-Easy and had some yummy old school drinks. Sorry… Can’t say the name. It’s a secret. Ok, fine it’s called “The Alchemy”. That’s all I’m giving you! The next morning we drove to the outskirts of Tallahassee to this little hole in the wall restaurant called Angelette’s Cajun Kitchen . Well worth the drive. So good. We had chicory coffee, beignets covered in powdered sugar, bananas foster french toast, and something called “Eggs a la Duane” which is crawfish sauce over pan fried grit cakes with 2 fried eggs and Andouille sausage. WOW!!! I wish I could start my way off like this everyday. It was a total New Orleans food orgy up in there. It was absolutely delicious and completely fat free. Not. After that we were in a complete food coma and went to Aunt Karen’s house to relax with the pup by the fire. One thing that I love about Tallahassee is they always have something fun to do. Whether it’s concerts or shows there’s always something you can go check out. That Saturday in the hippie section of Tallahassee called “Railroad Square” they were having ArtiGras. All kinds of local artists came out and we walked around listening to music and… eating. It was really fun! After we went home for a little siesta which was much needed. Later that night we went to our all-time favorite restaurant called “Cluster and Hops”. This place is my all time favorite spot and we make sure we go there every time I come into town. You would never even know its a restaurant looking at the outside. It’s actually a wine and cheese store. In the back of the store there’s about 10 tables where you can eat. They make gourmet, delicious, amazing food. They also have an amazing wine selection which is expected because they ARE a wine shop. This last time we got truffled mac and cheese (ok, 2 orders of it), baked eggplant lavosh ( Armenian bread with roasted eggplant, Parmesan, goat cheese, tomatoes, and a drizzle of truffle oil), filet of dover sole, and sliced duck breast. Wowwwwwwww! My mouth is literally watering just thinking about it. I want it now. For once we were too full to get dessert. That night we went to a bar downtown called “The Standard” where it was 90’s night. We sang Britney Spears, NSYNC, and Backstreet Boys and danced the night away until our feet couldn’t. The next morning Alissa and I had to leave early to embark on our 6 hour drive home. What a great weekend full of friends, food, and fat stomachs. If you ever get the chance to go to Tallahassee try to not just look at it a college town, but a town full of delicious places hiding everywhere. I’ll be back for you Tally.

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