As someone who used to avoid reaching out to anyone for happy hours or weekend brunches, it surprises people to find out that I'm now a strong proponent of having impromptu meetups. Nothing gives me a bigger thrill then texting a friend, "wine bar after work?" and getting back, "sure thing, when and where". Although I evolved, most people do not operate on this same path and my periods of group outings occur sporadically. While going out alone is never a bad thing, (and something that I've been working on), when I get a chance to meet with a group of people, declining an invite is beyond my capability.
In an effort to connect with more bloggers in my area, get ideas on how to improve my blog, and of course go out to eat, I recently became a member of the Virginia Bloggers group. To my delight soon after joining, Liz, the sites organizer and Blogger of I Heart Vegetables hosted a Brunch and Meet Up for Hampton Roads Bloggers at Tupelo Honey Cafe in Virginia Beach.
From Left to Right: Kimberlee, Lani, Brandy, Alexa, Liz, Me, and Jonna. {Their Sites are Linked to their name}
Since many of the bloggers at the brunch are well established in the blog world, I approached the situation with some trepidation wondering how my startup site would hold up in conversation with the others. Once I sat down and introduced myself, that fear factor quickly diminished. The discussions of our blogs was fun, relatable, and informative, and the food was simply amazing.
Tupelo Honey has been in the Town Center area of Virginia Beach for almost a year. They put a fun twist on your standard scratch made Southern food. The taste and quality of the food could best be described as visiting your grandmother and being presented with with a plate of every well known southern dish you've ever heard of. From the moment you pick up your fork, to the time you put it down you will be overwhelmed with large portions of hot, fresh and well seasoned food.
These biscuits need no introduction. When you've had a good one, you just know what to expect. As homemade as you can get, they are dense in weight, but light and flaky in the middle. If they had a hot now sign similar to Krispy Kreme, I will drive up every time it was lit up. Paired with fresh blueberry compote and the signature Tupelo honey, this could be a small meal in it itself.
The Shoo Mercy Pancake is their famous sweet potato pancake with fried chicken, apple cider bacon, spiced pecans, whipped peach butter, and maple syrup. The fried chicken was boneless and crispy, the perfect texture to have with a soft pancake and several spoonfuls of syrup. After several cups of coffee, and a biscuits, it took all 7 of us to finish this pancake, if you try this, be prepared to take most of it home.
The Southwestern Omelet came with Chorizo, avocado, cheddar cheese, tomato salsa, sour cream, and a side of kale slaw. Like everything else here, the omelet was huge, enough to serve 2 people. The eggs were buttery soft, the chorizo was plentiful in portion and not spicy, the amount of avocado could have been larger or not included at all. The heat from the omelette mixed with the softness of the avocado made it nearly undetectable. It is a great dish to have if you want something to fill you up, but not leave you in a food coma.
The banana pudding put me in trance that took me back to my childhood. Do not expect mushy bananas and stale vanilla wafers. The two bites that I took were decadent and creamy, like soft pillows of clouds resting on all of my taste buds. I enjoyed the dollop of whipped cream, that gave me the ability to control the amount I wanted with each taste, and the sprig of mint offered a freshness that I didn't think I needed with this dessert.
The brown butter pecan pie with dark chocolate sauce was the perfect ending to the brunch. When Tupelo Honey first opened, I read a review online saying that there was too much chocolate sauce on this pie; don't believe that hype. My slice consisted of a good amount of chocolate, and I was actually craving more with every bite. Most people don't normally save room for dessert after meals, and you definitely wont have any room after eating here, but take a slice to go, you will not regret it.
Thank you to Liz for setting up this meetup and to Tupelo Honey for presenting us great, food, service and fun!