Dining delights of the weekend

I had a couple of very good dining experiences over the weekend.
On Friday, I met my friend Melissa and her 10-year-old daughter at Virgil's in Bellevue, KY, for lunch. Top photo shows my "pizzette" (okay, but cooked almost to a crisp) and the excellent shaved fennel salad with orange and apple slices and pistachios.
Saturday night we went back to Honey (Northside) after a few months absence. My last two experiences there hadn't been good, but Cincinnati Magazine recently named it one of the top five restaurants in the area.
They were firing on all cylinders this weekend! My arugula salad with raspberries and almonds was a special, very tasty, but my friend's spinach salad with garbanzo beans and olives may have been even better.
For an entree, I went with their meatloaf, quite satisfying atop Swiss chard and chunky mashed potatoes. The Creole sauce (with Tazo ham, yum) was only slightly spicy and matched beautifully with a Spanish rioja wine. My friend's eggplant appetizer, also pictured, was a pretty and unusual preparation, although she said it was a bit overcooked.
For dessert, my friends split a killer brownie with praline layer in the middle, and I topped my meal off with a delicious brandy Alexander (made with cognac and Godiva chocolate liqueur). That drink was my favorite course!

Brunch at Honey

This is one of my favorite Cincinnati restaurants, and one of the best brunch spots on my side of town. We took my mom and brother (visiting from Florida) and had a good time. I always love the Mexican hot chocolate -- spicy with chili, not too sweet and not loaded with cream. But it was a challenge to find a healthy option. My husband's omelet with Asian ingredients--including shrimp--and a side of fruit salad was the healthiest choice. My vegetarian bagel might have been OK except for the fried cheese (oops) that was its centerpiece.
Still, I love Honey and recommend it!