The Purple Fiddle is one of those places that I would pay to have a location in Morgantown.

It's a cafe with great food, beer and music. It's comfortable, eclectic and full of character. There's a bar along the right side where they dish out ice cream, a main counter to the front where you can order and a stage off to the left.

Along the way, you can pick up bumper stickers, buttons or other momentos characteristic of West Virginia.

Once Brittany and I got to the front, we grabbed some menus and looked over our options. We ordered the Fiddle platter, which had hummus, feta, olive tapenade and pico de gallo with pita. Plus a slice of pumpkin cheesecake.

The platter was served in individual ramekins and was pretty good. I loved the feta and fresh pico. The hummus was tasty - though I tend to like mine a good bit more garlicky. And the tapenade was good, too. Most of my pita bites tended to have a thick slathering of each ingredient.

The cheesecake was super indulgent. Rich. Tasty.

Oh, and I also got a blueberry pop. I was going to get something different - something more local, maybe. But I had a hard time passing up this adorable little label.

It's Maine Root, and it's kind of a little bit of heaven.

First of all - have you ever had blueberry soda? If you have, you're already way ahead of the game - from me, at least.

I wish blueberry soda was a more common thing. Why isn't that a common flavor? It's delicious. Somebody, make this happen.

Or ship me some of these, that would work just fine too.

OK.

The Purple Fiddle is great, and I'm actually hoping to do a piece on them for Taste WV soon.  So, I will hopefully have more details about the history and background in the future. In the meantime, go go go if you haven't. Super cool vibe, good food and an awesome environment.



Grade: A 

I'm doing a story on Blackwater Brewing Company for Taste WV Magazine, so I was lucky enough to try some of their beer and food while there. You'll have to check that out for their awesome story and plans for the future.

The restaurant features a handful of beers and a weekly rotating menu during the weekends.

Let's start with the beer: They have some German-inspired beers due to the owner's brewing history. They have the Canaan Valley Kolsch, a 3200 Alt Bier, The Goldenrod Gold Ale, The Laurel Run EPA, and The Angus Macker Hardy County Sweet Oatmeal Stout. I had a taste of the Goldenrod Gold Ale and had to get a growlette of it to take back to Morgantown with me.

It's smooth and uses a local honey. How cool.

OK - food. He literally serves food only Friday-Sunday and it changes weekly. As far as a theme, he tries to play on seasons, and there's usually a soup or stew. He had a beef carbonnade, which is a Belgian beef dish with cubes of beef in a rich broth incorporates the Belgian blonde ale as the base. Hot and flavorful. With a side of beer bread.

Then there was a bratwurst that incorporated his Kolsch bier, served with homemade potato salad and sauerkraut. This potato salad was so delicious. It was warm and hearty. So loved it. The bratwurst was delicious and on a nice toasted bun.

My favorite, though, was this beautiful peperonata di patate soup, which had four types of peppers and potato. For one, it's beautiful. And two, it had this really deep, slightly spicy, slightly sweet soup with some potato for some substance. Just super good. Plus some nice buttered crostini.

So, if you go during the week, get a really good beer. If you're there on a weekend, choose one of his meals (there are only a couple options), but I know it'll be worth it.

Grade: A

The Mediterranean Market went out of business, and a new Tex-Mex restaurant has replaced it: Dos Bros Cantina. They've been pretty active (and funny) on Twitter. When they opened, they sent out a tweet. A few days later, I visited with some coworkers.

The outside has some wood panels, and the awning is no more. Inside, bright vibrant colors paint the chairs, the walls and the floor. We walked up to the counter but then someone seated us. Then we moved because my chair was wobbly and I'm a diva, apparently.

We were brought some chips and salsa. It was fine. I'll be honest when I say this isn't typically my most favorite type of food. I tend to gravitate toward sweets and creamy, rich sauces. Just personal taste. However, I try to judge it based on what it is. And the chips and salsa were just fine to me.

The menu seems to be evolving a bit. It is slightly different than the one they posted on the storefront, and when another friend visited, it looked slightly different from that. So here's the menu I ordered from, and I think it's mostly the same.

You have your burritos, combo meals, some house specials, appetizers and salads. I ordered off the lunch special menu: Lunch Special No. 8 - shredded beef enchilada, chicken enchilada and rice.

The Davis-Thomas area has always been attractive to me. It's been out of the way from my main paths of travel, it's near Blackwater Falls, and it plays host to a a number of really cool local restaurants. It's one of those pockets in West Virginia that just has a really cool local culture - like Fayetteville or Lewisburg.

One restaurant I've been wanting to try is Hellbender Burritos. The name just sounds really cool - like they're super spicy or something. But, nope, they're actually named after a kind of salamander - also known as a snot otter -  I learned about at work. But they're native to the Davis area.

They opened at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, and my interview for a story was at noon. So, we were there right at 11:30. We parked right along the main road (for free) and walked to the restaurant. It was the first time I saw snow this season, so I was super happen to see a nice fireplace in the front room. We walked down the steps into the next area where there was a man at the bar (and some folks at another table). He told us we could sit anywhere, so we chose the room closer to the fire to warm up.

The inside is cute and cozy. A server brought us menus fairly quickly. They have specialty burritos, including items named "Gendarme," "Treehugger" and "HooDoo VooDoo." I gravitated toward "The Hellbender," which is shrimp or chicken in a spicy garlic buffalo sauce, with rice and homemade bleu cheese dressing. I got the shrimp.

I think it was something about the homemade bleu cheese that did me in. That just sounded amazing. So when it came out, I instantly knew I would need a to-go box. They are giant burritos, served with a side of chips and slaw. Instead of using a fork, which I assumed would lead to a mess, I picked it up and dug in.

Full of rice and a creamy bleu cheese sauce, it packed just a slight heat and some fresh shrimp. Incredible. Flavors of garlic and smokiness are made all the better with the rich creaminess of the bleu cheese dressing and light shrimp. Even though chicken goes well with this flavor combo, the shrimp gave me something different. I dug it.

Chips and slaw were fine. That burrito, though, delicious.

Grade: A

I've heard for quite some time that Rocco's Ristorante is the Muriale's of southern West Virginia. When I interviewed Rocco Muriale, of Muriale's, in Fairmont, he mentioned his cousin's restaurant and how it does well in the southern part of the state. So what is often considered as some of the best Italian food in West Virginia runs in the family.

Bffl Tom Bragg and I went to Rocco's after a fun day of checking out Blenko and the Pumpkin House. The main Rocco's location is located outside of Huntington in Ceredo. Inside, it's low lighting, maroon tablecloths, and lovely placesettings with gold napkins.

The menu is filled with all the Italian staples like rigatoni, lasagna and chicken parmesan. They also kick it up a few notches with dishes like Lobster Langostino, which is made with angel hair pasta, cream and cheeses of the house. And there are daily specials.

Bread and butter is served first. Breadsticks in packages are on the table. Then was my house salad with house dressing - a giant heap of lettuce, a few cucumbers, tomatoes and a sliver of red onion.

I ordered a special that night, which was fettuccine alfredo with mushrooms and crab meat. SO. G.O.O.D. It was creamy and with fresh chunks of crab. It was a huge serving that was incredibly rich and delicious. The ingredients were high-quality, and the flavors were awesome. Love this place.

Grade: A

Restaurants are starting to trickle into place at Beech View Place on Beechurst. First, The Greeks opened, and within the past couple days, Frank Anthony's Original Pizza has opened.

Parking: You can enter the garage beneath the building from the Fourth Street entrance. When you visit the restaurant, they will give you a token you use as payment. Simple.

The inside is a good size, with a counter space showcasing a handful of pizzas you can purchase by the slice. Only cheese/pepperoni pizzas were out when we were there, but they said they'd make anything. And as we were leaving, there were a few specialty ones available by the slice.

You can order small, medium and large regular pizzas with a number of toppings. Or special pizzas, including a breakfast pizza, a buffalo chicken pizza, a meat lovers and a margarita pizza. Plus pepperoni rolls, strombolis and garlic knots.


Tony, Jake and I kind of decided to do one of everything. We each had a single slice from the pizzas. I had a slice of cheese, while the boys got pieces of their Sicilian. We also ordered a meatball stromboli. Plus drinks. For a grand total of around $24, so $8 each. That's not bad at all.

Through chatting with the man working, we learned the owner is from Ohio and decided to open up this pizza place because he was friends with the folks who own the building. It's the only Frank Anthony's location and is named after the owner's two sons: Frank and Anthony.

First, our slices were delivered. I had already decided Tony was giving me half of his Sicilian, and I'd give him half of my cheese in return. The regular cheese: very flat, really tasty sauce (hint of spice that I love) and lots of melted cheese. The only thing was that the pizza should have been taken out like a minute earlier - a little too dark on the bottom for my liking. But, flavors on point.

The Sicilian was also good - same great flavors. Just lots more breading if you dig that. Also, a little too dark - but that's new restaurant stuff they'll work out. The point is that the main components here are all tasty - dough, sauce and cheese.


The stromboli, though, was super, super good. It's the only thing we had made-to-order, so we waited a little longer on it -- but not long, at all, really, just had finished our slices. It was cooked to perfection. Nice brown around the edges and bottom. Flaky, crisp dough. You could tell they were being careful and checking it and adjusting to make sure they're getting the right color.

Flavorful meatballs, perfect ratio of sauce and lots of stringy cheese. So good. And they're like a foot long for $8. Pretty good deal in my world.

The gentleman working was very kind, knowledgeable and wanted to make sure we enjoyed our food. The flavors are great. Little things like taking the pizza out just a hair earlier is easy to fix. And they're doing cubside pickup along Fourth Street. Very cool. PLUS you get to draw on the tabls with chalk. If you post your piece of art to their Facebook, you could win a pizza. Hoping this one sticks around.

Grade: A

Central City Cafe was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Guy Fieri visited this small restaurant for some "real deal comfort food." Granted, he opted for meatloaf, though the beans and cornbread are hometown favorites.

There's a few things I love about Huntington - I love the giant park, I love that the parking isn't terrifying and costly, and I love their plethora of restaurants (especially since there are so many I haven't tried).

Central City Cafe is in the Old Central City part of town. Easy to find, easy to park and FREE on weekends (ahem, Morgantown...).  When we went, it was pretty empty, but they luckily had the game on so we picked a table near the TV and settled in out of the cold for a few.

I went with the white bean chili because I read it was a hometown favorite. Plus a side of mashed potatoes because yum.

The white bean chili came out as a bowl of beans with a side of raw onions and cornbread. I think most West Virginians would tell you this is a very West Virginia-esque meal. And it is.

I think I was expecting an actual chili. Probably the fault lies on my side, because this is a common meal - a bunch of beans in broth. And now that I think of it, it may have just said "white bean." But I was thinking there may be some veggies and be thicker and maybe some cheese and greens. So, I was a little disappointed. BUT, this is fine for what it is. Just not really my cup of tea.

However, the mashed potatoes were so good. I said they reminded me of my high school's mashed potatoes - which might sound like a dig, but it's not. I loved my high school's mashed potatoes.

Overall, it seems very run-of-the-mill food. Nothing especially outstanding, but it's average and homey. I think this would suit a lot of folks just fine. If you're looking for something exciting, not so much. But looking for some nostalgic home meals? Sure.

Grade: C

After dinner in Bridgeport one night, I scoped out a nearby place to have dessert. Toni's Ice Cream came up a few times. It's located in Clarksburg and is open late. T

On this night, it was raining like crazy, so I was super thankful for their drive-thru.

I got a regular ice cream cone with black raspberry. That seems to be a special house flavor, since there was chocolate, vanilla, twist and black raspberry.

I also got it with scooter crunchies, because what the hell are those.

Well, it turns out scooter crunchies are the best things ever. I remember getting ice cream at the convenient store near my house growing up that was strawberry and had those things on it. I just never knew they were called scooter crunchies.

Anyway.

Raspberry ice cream with scooter crunchies. Yes, just yes. Delicious.

Grade: A

I joined a four-week long fall CSA. A CSA is "community supported agriculture" and it's a great way to get fresh, local veggies directly from a farmer.

Morgantown has a few different CSAs from which to choose, but the premise is basically the same - a farmer offers "shares" to the public. The public can buy "shares," which gives them a box of vegetables weekly through the season.

So, you pay a certain amount and, in turn, receive fresh, oftentimes new-to-you foods while developing a relationship with the farmer. The farmer has a steady steam of income up front to help with cost while also getting to know the consumer. The "shares" come with risk, though, as members pay up front, creating a safety net for farmers if the season is poor. So if the weather does not cooperate that particular season, it will reflect in the vegetables. But farmers do the best they can to provide as many fresh fruit and vegetables to consumers.

There is a good bit of variation in what kinds of vegetables you get. Many folks are worried they might receive 100 zucchinis in their CSA box or that there will be too many veggies for them. I chose Round Right Farm, which is great for me. I chose a Fall share because it's only four weeks long so I could get a feel for how much produce. Since it's just me, I didn't want anything going to waste.

They also allow for a lot of flexibility. They generate a box each week, and I could see the contents, but then I could also swap items out if I so chose. Each vegetable had an assigned value so I could mix and match, with each box totaling in around $20ish. So, if they gave me Swiss Chard, Arugula and Collard Greens one week and I decided that was way too many greens, I could swap out two of them for carrots or potatoes, if they are around the same price. If they are not around the same price, I was allowed a rollover amount to the next week or I could pay the extra at the end of the season if I went over. The rollover is particularly nice. If you need less veggies one week but know you will need more the next, you can only choose a few and save that amount for the next week. Or cancel one whole box and double-up the next week. If my entire box was worth about $25 this week, I could swap everything around and mix and match items until I got back to around that same amount. Or not.

Round Right also offers the option to add on bread from New Day Bakery or cheese from a few different cheese places: Firefly Farms, Goot Essa and Spring Gap.

Before fall started, they also let me order a la carte during summer - which is great since I couldn't do a full box each week. But I could get things here and there as I needed them.

Each week, at a designated drop-off point, you can pick up your veggies and have half your grocery shopping done for that week. And you've already paid for it up front. So, each week I would fetch my bin, pack up my veggies and head home. Here's what I received during my four weeks.

Week 1 - Arugula, radishes, Napa cabbage, small butternut squash, small pie pumpkin, potatoes and garlic. I mostly got the arugula for Franklin, my turtle. I made cabbage and potatoes with kielbasa (and garlic). A delicious butternut squash, parmesan cheese dip, a radish dip with cream cheese and the tops were used in a tomato tortellini soup.

Week 2 - Hakurei turnips, celeriac, garlic, delicata squash, carrots, small butternut squash, collard greens, beets and potatoes. Collard Greens went to Franklin (though he wasn't crazy about them). I developed a love for Hakurei turnips! I just roasted them with the garlic and went to town. The carrots and beets were shredded for a beet salad with gorgonzola (whew, beets are a pain). And the potatoes went to mashed potatoes. The squash? Squash fries! Yum.

Week 3 - baby bok choi, swiss chard, garlic, French breakfast radishes, hakurei turnips, leeks and potatoes. I gave one bok choy away and made a stir fry with some leeks with the turnips. I ate the radishes as a snack because yum! And the potatoes were baked.

Week 4 - green cabbage, lots of garlic, hakurei turnips and radishes. I just got this one, so I'm still working on it! But I did roast some of the turnips and snacked on a few radishes so far.

So, this is a great thing for me. I learned how to cook with a few new foods and discovered ones I like. I did customize my box every week because I was over squash (and am now over turnips). But you can never have too much garlic. I love roasting garlic and using it in everything. But it's also great to know this is all local, I'm helping a local farmer (instead of spending this money in Kroger), and it's already done for me - I just had to pick it up. However, I don't think I could use this much produce every week during the summer - those CSAs are a lot longer. If I had someone to split it with, then it might be do-able. Also, I am kind of tired of fall veggies at this point. But, still, super cool and a great option - especially for families.