Big Bite Restaurant in Princeton, West Virginia, is located at 1210 Stafford Drive and opened in April 2023 with the goal of bringing a “big city feel” to the area.
Owned by Tarek Abdelwahed, the restaurant offers a wide-ranging menu influenced by Mediterranean flavors, featuring everything from pasta and seafood to burgers, subs and pitas.
The shrimp scampi is a generous portion of fettuccine tangled with sautéed onions and bell peppers, all in a little bit of buttery garlic scampi sauce. It’s a comforting meal that's basic and could use some zhuzh.
A side crab cake delivered a mild seafood sweetness with subtle seasoning - all in a thick, fried breading.
Grade: C
Rivertown Café in Marlinton, West Virginia, is a cozy eatery located at 309 8th Street in the historic C.J. Richardson Hardware building.
The space retains the charm of its hardware-store past, with original wood shelving, high ceilings, and a welcoming atmosphere complete with couches, a fireplace, and a free library corner.
The menu features fresh, creatively prepared sandwiches like chicken salad, shrimp burgers, and pulled-chicken barbecue, often served with popcorn or plantain chips, along with global-inspired weekly specials. Homemade baked goods include cookies, mini cheesecakes, and flan that are all local favorites, and the coffee is roasted nearby in Hillsboro.
I enjoyed an opossum sugar cookie and their
Bagels and Lox - Toasted Bagel with Butter or Cream Cheese, Smoked Salmon, Capers, and Red Onions. This was flavorful, with silky salmon and tangy cream cheese, though the bagel is a bit too toasted, adding more crunch than ideal.
Grade: B
Charleston’s culinary community came together this evening for the fourth annual Community Culinary Showcase at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center. The event featured live cooking demonstrations from local chefs, creative tastings, and auctions, all benefiting scholarships for students in the Carver Career Center Culinary Arts Program. Guests sampled dishes, cast votes for their favorite creations, and helped raise thousands to support the next generation of chefs.
TRAPP XPRESSCrab or chicken eggroll; greens; honey mustard dipping sauce
RISTORANTE ABRUZZIRavioli Fritto Trio - Fried Short Rib, Hernshaw Farms Mushroom, and smoked Trout Ravioli with different sauces
FAZIO'SRoasted tomato and garlic bruschetta with whipped ricotta, shredded basil, balsamic caviar, JQ salt and cracked pepper; Mini pepperoni egg rolls; Spicy arrabbiata dipping sauce
LIL BIT OF HEAVEN CUPCAKES LLCMini Bacon Caramel Apple Crisps; Mini Sweet Potato Praline Cookies
CARVER CAREER CENTERBourbon Apple Glazed Shrimp atop Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash
Golden sweet potato waffle topped with crispy Korean-style fried chicken, glazed in spicy gochujang-maple syrup; Crisp grilled baguette topped with creamy whipped ricotta and a rich, tangy tomato jam garnished with fresh bail and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.
Autumn Chicken Vol-au-Vents with Pistachio
Pesto
BURTON'S BAKERYMini Cheesecakes:
Hot Cocoa - Hot cocoa cheesecake with a graham cracker crust topped with whipped cream and roasted marshmallows
Raspberry Lemon - Raspberry lemon swirl cheesecake with graham cracker crust, topped with whipped cream and raspberry sauce
Oreo - Oreo cheesecake with an Oreo crust topped with whipped cream and Oreo crumbs
Honey Lavender - Honey lavender cheesecake with graham cracker crust topped with honey whipped cream
Maple Bourbon - Maple Bourbon cheesecake with cinnamon graham cracker crust and maple whipped cream topped with maple bourbon sauce.
Fruity Pebbles - Fruity pebbles cheesecake with graham cracker crust topped with whipped cream and more fruity pebbles
Nana's Poundcake - A citrus poundcake recipe that's been passed down for generations
TIPPLE TAVERNBraised boneless beef short rib, mushroom risotto, roasted baby carrots and Demi glacé.
CHEF KE AND MISS RUBYS CORNER MARKETWhipped Sweet potato crostini with roasted eggplant; roasted leg of lamb, feta crumble drizzled with balsamic glaze
Tucked along East Main Street in Harrisville, Peking Chinese Restaurant serves all the quintessential Chinese-American dishes.
When visiting a new restaurant, I usually start with the most common dish on the menu -- the one every Chinese restaurant should have mastered. Ordering something like General Tso’s Chicken or Sweet and Sour Chicken creates a benchmark for quality; if they can’t get that right, it’s hard to trust how they’ll handle the rest. These familiar favorites are simple in concept but easy to get wrong, making them the perfect test of a kitchen’s consistency, balance of flavor and freshness of ingredients. It’s the culinary equivalent of checking a band’s live sound before diving into the deep cuts.
Naturally, this means I went with my favorites: eggrolls, crab cheese rangoons and General Tso's Chicken (this one indicated it was white meat only). The eggroll was standard, the crab rangoons were creamy enough to earn an above average training, and the General Tso's chicken with white meat was not breaded and fried nuggets like I expected. Rather, it waa velveted - and not too bad.
Velveting is a classic Chinese technique where the meat is briefly marinated in a mixture of egg white, cornstarch and sometimes rice wine or oil. This coating helps seal in moisture and gives the chicken that silky, smooth texture. And, in this case, a better alternative to the sometimes chewy or rubbery texture that can often happen.
Grade: B
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