Southern Comfort at Estelle’s

I say it time and time again, but the best part of blogging, by far, has been the friends I have made. There are so many people I’ve met that I may never had encountered otherwise, and I am thankful for it every day.

Over the past few months, I’ve had some great dinner dates with blogger friends; these “supper club” dates are definitely something I look forward to. On our last get together, we finally tried Estelle’s, the latest from Boston chef Brian Poe.

This comfort food-centric establishment was perfect for the night we visited. Despite it being officially spring, snow was falling outside, and I think we were all a little disgruntled with the weather. A great beer selection, cozy atmosphere, and good friends were the perfect remedy.

I was excited to see that one of the many beers Estelle’s serves is Boont Amber Ale, from the Anderson Valley, one of the places we visited on our last wine country vacation. (We’re going to Sonoma in 10 days. . . the thought literally has me wanting to jump up and down on my desk.)

I love Anderson Valley Brewing Company beer just as much as I love the great wines that come from the region. It doesn’t hurt that it is gorgeous up there.

As we often do, we ordered a bunch of appetizers to share. Estelle’s menu has so many delicious sounding items on it; I am eager to try them all. Being a lover of all things pickled, I love the platter of pickled veggies and a pickled egg. I could easily eat this for my entrée next time.

My photos didn’t all come out great, but we also enjoyed massive slabs of cornbread, hushpuppies, deviled eggs, and a chopped salad. Obviously, by the time my entrée, a shrimp po’ boy came, I was pretty much stuffed. After a few bites for dinner, this made a perfect Thursday lunch.

I also stole a couple bites of the husband’s fried chicken. Fried chicken rarely equals my mom’s, but this was really great. The mac and cheese on the side was the perfect comfort food.

I balanced out all of the fried food with some garlicky greens. I can’t get enough of these.

Though we were all stuffed, we decided to share an order of red velvet whoopie pies, because they were there. How can you pass up red velvet whoopie pies? The restaurant overheard that it was my birthday the day before, and kindly brought the dessert out with candles.

It was a sweet end to a really warm and welcoming meal. Estelle’s is a great place to grab a beer and a bite and a welcome addition to the South End.