Marilyn's of Morgantown is a new restaurant in Morgantown - but it's not a new restaurant concept completely. 



"Marilyn’s of Morgantown is the second location for John, Jim, & Allen. The space has been completely redesigned with a warm inviting décor, an expanded larger kitchen with fresh pasta stations, beautiful new event space, & a new patio with a built-in fire pit off of the original glass room. The Morgantown location boasts a gorgeous stone & granite bar. The warm cherry wood of the back bar perfectly accentuates the many top shelf libations that sit upon it. The bar is surrounded by high definition sound & 75” HDtvs from every seat making it the perfect location to catch the Mountaineers on game day. The Fireplace Room is cozy & inviting & always a little warmer in winter when the fire is burning. The Glass Room is a favorite for personal events or a quiet evening under the stars especially when the doors open to the new patio & the flames are lit in the stunning 10 foot fire feature. While the food at both locations is amazingly delicious the vibe at the second location was made just for Morgantown." SOURCE



Located in Northpointe Plaza, the restaurant decor seems upscale, but it still has a sports bar feel to it. There is a beautiful bar and outdoor dining, but there are also large TVs with whatever sporting event is on. 



The menu is creative, with options like buffalo chicken arancini, blackened shrimp burger, strawberry basil scallops, and more. I would love to have each and every one of those items, but I went with a delicious pasta dish:



Imported pici pasta from Florence, Italy, tossed in a rich D.O.P. dolce gorgonzola porcini mushroom cream with roasted cremini mushrooms. Topped with shaved Parmesan reggiano, cracked black pepper, black truffle oil drizzle, & then finished with fresh parsley. This was rich but tangy and so satisfying. It's one of those dishes that makes me think I could be a vegetarian, no problem. Because it's so flavorful. With a side of fresh garlic bread, the meal was complete.



Grade: A

So, here's something different: A restaurant focused on baked potatoes and the toppings that can go on them. But we're not just talking butter, chives and sour cream. We're talking macaroni & cheese, pizza toppings or even seafood.



Spudz Potatoes, located in downtown Huntington, offers about 20 different types of baked potatoes - from the standard to the extraordinary. There are a couple salads, a soup and a dip. But the main attraction is the baked potato.



I went for the Lil Lemont - which I learned is the owner's son's rap name - it comes with mac & cheese, extra cheddar, bacon and sour cream. Let's start with the good: The folks here are really kind, they're just getting started, and this is the biggest baked potato I've ever seen. It may be two together. And, I love the fun concept. 



Aside from the standard new-restaurant-opening-kinks, there is some room for improvement. My meal was cold.And to be honest, this isn't a total negative for me most of the time, but when it's macaroni and cheese, the texture affects the flavor and it just doesn't end well. The mac & cheese was also just kinda plopped on top, so it didn't really intermingle with the potato. It was of course made separately, but I was hoping that cheese would soak into the potato, creating a cheesy, buttery interior. Instead, it was actually kinda dry. I think with some tweaks, these two could sing in harmony as one cohesive dish. 

Grade: B

Sip Downtown Brasserie has existed in a few different incarnations, and the most recent location change I hope is the final version because this place has nailed it. 



The wine and whiskey bar has expanded from a small space to a large, gorgeous restaurant with an inventive menu and an impeccable whiskey and wine list. 



To start off my evening, I ordered a sweet white wine flight. 



The Sweet Tooth consists of Bornos - Frizzante Verdejo (Rueda, Spain), Fritz Zimmer - Riesling (Mosel, Germany), Vietti - Moscato D'Asti (Piedmont, Italy). 



They are light and sweet and floral and very fruity. If you want your wine to be nearly as sweet as your apple juice, this is the one for you. I like sweet, so this was perfect. But depending on my mood - and meal - I go for a more dry white or red. 



First up was a cheese board. Dawn and I both got one with all the different cheeses so we could try it all (or maybe because I really wanted to try it all and Dawn is a good sport). Along with a selection of crackers, nuts, cornichons, toast and dried fruit, we sampled these cheeses:



- Mahon Reserva (Spain) Firm & slightly sharp with a paprika and oil flavored rind, made from cow's milk
- Manchego (La Mancha, Spain) A popular Spanish cheese, made from sheep's milk with a firm texture
- Beemster Extra Aged Gouda (Northern Holland) Cow's milk cheese, aged 18 months
- Whiskey Cheddar (Ireland) Kerrygold aged cheddar with Irish whiskey, made from cow's milk
- Dorothea (Holland) A unique and creamy goat gouda with basil oil and potato skins Mountain
- Gorgonzola (Italy) Delightful cow's milk blue cheese with a gentle sharpness



I could seriously live on plates like this. If I stopped here, I would've been in heaven still. But, it did get better. I ordered the housemade crab cakes (two 4 oz) with blanched asparagus and creamy sriracha remoulade sauce. 



It's a smaller portion, but it's worth it to me. Better quality ingredients and higher-end dishes with attention to flavor and detail are far more attractive to me than a giant portion of something that's just OK. This was great.



And to finish off the meal, I ordered a caramel popcorn cotton candy. How often do you get to have cotton candy?! And at a restaurant? Never. What a lovely, novel treat. 

If you're looking for a good whiskey and wine list, an upscale environment and delish food, you've come to the right place.

Grade: A

This past year has been the "year of the coffee shop" in Morgantown. There have been a handful that have popped up, and they're all lovely. The latest in that series for me is Annie's Coffee and Creamery. 



Located on Fort Pierpont Drive, this coffee shop comes from the same folks who brought us Apple Annie's, San Marzano Italian Market and more. 



The cofffee shop is located in the plaza on Fort Pierpont Drive along with a handful of other new (well, new to me) restaurants, shops and other businesses. There's plenty of parking, and the buildings are completely new.



The space has high ceilings with some cozy areas flanking the large counter space. Again, when circumstances change, I can see this being a lovely spot to have a coffee or ice cream, get some work done (or catch up on blogging in my case) and relax. 



I love that they support the community. Their coffee beans are roasted by Stone Tower Joe in Fairmont, loose-leaf teas come from The Tea Shoppe at The Seneca Center, and fresh-baked goods are rom Apple Annie’s.



They offer espresso and coffee drinks like lattes, flat whites and macchiatos, teas, and hot cocoa. You can have them hot or iced. Then there's ice cream - bowl, cone, sundae or try the Annie-Lanche, which is soft-serve blended with a mix-in. And, there's a variety of muffins, scones, cookies, cupcakes, cake, pies, pepperoni rolls. sandwiches and wraps.



On this day, I went with a red velvet cookie, a pepperoni roll and a latte to go. The cookie, dotted with white chocolate chips, was large, perfectly chewy and delish. The pepperoni roll is unique in that they use both slices and sticks. And, they're pretty fresh, which is crucial for fluffy dough. And the drink was great. It had a great balance of bitter and sweet and was all-around comforting.



Have you been?

Grade: A

Charleston's favorite donut shop is back open - in a brand new brick-and-mortar location.



Vandalia Donut Co., which had a food truck two years ago in the area, can now be found on Tennessee Avenue in the trendy Elk City neighborhood dishing out delicious donuts under a slightly different name - The Vandalia Co. 



Right now, they're still in a soft opening phase where there is no dine-in and they're open Thursday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Expanded hours and a new menu is coming this summer. 



When I visited, there were three donut flavors: The Number 42 - Scratch-made buttermilk donut rolled in cinnamon sugar. Why the name? It took 42 tries to get it right. 



Hummingbird Cake Donut - The Number 42 with pineapple, whipped cream cheese, toasted pecan, and coconut drizzled with salted caramel banana cream sauce.



Nutella Crunch - The Number 42 topped with whipped Nutella cream, drizzled with Nutella ganache and sprinkled with toasted hazelnuts. 

I think you can tell from the photos alone that these were dee-lish-ous. But the 42 is just a classic and it's the basis for all their specialty ones. The hummingbird just screamed spring to me. And the Nutella? *chef's kiss* - so good. I already can't wait for the next specialty flavors - and to just hang out here.



EDIT 11/06/21: I finally was able to enjoy some of the lunch items they have - like this greek salad grain bowl. It was SO good. It had couscous, kalamata olives, cucumbers, spring mix, hummus, taziki, pita, a delicious lemon vinaigrette, tomatoes and feta. It was full of texture and flavor and so, so good.



Grade: A