18 Seaboard

WTC and I had a wild hair one night and wanted to go out for a nice dinner. Well even though it was a Monday- the Pit had a 2 hour wait. Don't adjust your monitors. You read correctly. TWO. HOUR. WAIT. At 8 o clock at night. Um... seriously? Did I miss something- did I time travel and wind up in Myrtle Beach for July 4th? I don't think so. This is Raleigh. Only the cheesecake factory ponies up to waits that long and stays open to tell about it.
So strike one Pit. Strike one.

A little driving and we decided we'd try 18 Seaboard. We live painfully close, I drive by it everyday, it's classified as "Southern cuisine" - need I say more?

18 Seaboard is located in Seaboard Station on Peace Street. This is a rapidly growing area and I really hope it continues to thrive and prosper because it is such a nice area. The chef is Jason Smith who is a Raleigh native. His self described style is straightforward American. He is also the chef over at Cantina 18 (Cameron Village)- which is amazing if you ever get a chance to go there.

We skipped the appetizers and went with a bottle of pinot noir  instead (who's with me on smart decisions?). They had daily specials- but being the end of the night they openly admitted they were running low.

WTC and I opted for the same route- protein selection with choice sauce and two veggies.

DISCLAIMER: The photos are really dark. I am very sorry- it was dimly lit in the restaurant and there were people at about every table. The flash going off would have blinded everyone. So I took one for the team and opted for dark photos rather than pissy patrons. RESPECT y'all. RESPECT.

Before our food came we were presented with fresh rosemary olive oil bread. It was very tasty.

I went for the deliciousness below: The yellowfin tuna and I chose the peach salsa. I ordered the tuna rare- and low and behold- PERFECTLY done. It was just beyond.

Close up of the sides: I had the goat cheese smashed red potatoes and the sauteed spinach.

WTC opted for the Moore Brothers' barbecue beef brisket. He asked our waitress which sauce she would recommend and she told him he had to go with the 18 Seaboard Worchestershire. He was NOT disappointed.

WTC openly admitted the reason he went this route was so he could try the Old Mill of Guilford Cheddar Grits. He also surprised the vino right out of me and got the pole bean and white acre pea succotash. 

Verdict? My was amazing. My one complaint was the salt content of my spinach was cankle inducing. I walked out with the ankles of a 9 month pregnant lady- easy.

Random aside- I used this around Mama Shute this past weekend and she had never heard of a cankle. I was HAPPY to educate. The more you know - WINK!

WTC had no complaints and we were both clean platers. His succotash had some sauce on it that he was raving about. I love that everything is local. Locally caught seafood- local ingredients- who can complain?

Yes I will be dining at 18 Seafood again- hopefully very soon. AND hopefully I can convince WTC to walk there- a girl can dream can't she?