The trek through the Creative Loafing 100 Dish List continues, albeit at a slower pace, since most of the "easy" dishes have already been tackled. What remains are items that have been out of season, restaurants that are located far out of the way, or places that have hours that I can't seem to sync with. For instance, I went to Sublime Donuts on a Monday and they were closed. Subsequently, when I called to make sure they had the donuts from The List on hand, they were sold out. Sugar Coated Radical is (basically) only open on the weekends during the day, and I'm really never downtown on a Saturday afternoon. The sandwich at P'cheen is only sold on Mondays and that just happens to be my most consistently-booked day of my work week. I realize this sounds like excuses, but it's the context for my slow progress these days.

That said, I happily hit one of the missing dishes this week at Taqueria del Sol. The dish is this week's "Blue Plate Special" and it makes an appearance for a week at a time every few months. The dish is Shrimp & Grits and it was worth the wait! I am not typically a grits fan. I don't understand the appeal of hominy served at a cream of wheat consistency. However, in this dish the grits had more of the corn taste remaining and the consistency was more akin to a polenta than grits. Just that extra taste of corn makes all the difference to me. The shrimp was, mercifully, cooked to perfection and the tomato sauce had just the right amount of kick.

If you're looking for a solid, delicious, always on the menu, salad, look no further than BLT Steak downtown. I love that the mix of greens isn't the typical thrown-together mixed leaf lettuce. The radishes are thinly sliced, the corn is fresh and sweet, and there's a nice mix of chives. Deeelish!

However, as much as the BLT Steak chopped salad (I topped mine with shrimp) deserves its spot on the list, it is STILL overshadowed by the perfect popover. My mom went through a pop0ver phase when I was in Middle School and I loved those rolls. I need to dig around and get the recipe. Yes, I am now obsessing about making my own popovers. Wow!! Worth the price of admission...

Finally, if you haven't discovered Zesto's yet, I'm not sure I want to be the one to point you there. In California we used to have this place called Tastee Freez where you'd get enough ice cream to clog your arteries in mere minutes. Zesto's is that kind of place. Think of Dairy Queen and make it less healthy and you'll be at Zesto's. The item from the list is Toffee Coffee Arctic Swirl. The dessert is basically a milkshake with chunks of Heath bar stirred in.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. So yummy. List worthy? Definitely. However, this dessert has to be so wildly unhealthy that I MUST PRETEND IT DOESN'T EXIST. Don't say that you weren't warned!

Wherever your weekend food journey takes you, enjoy!!

The List: Grits & Greens with Zesto!