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The Roanoke Times/File

A new downtown Roanoke restaurant is already expanding into the realm of Sunday brunch.

This Sunday will be the first day for brunch at Le Bistro, which is located in the former Nico's Italian Restaurant space at 125 Campbell Ave. The head chef is Tony Pope, former owner of Tony Pope's Bistro and Wine Bar on Crystal Spring Avenue in South Roanoke.

I've been hearing good things about Le Bistro, so I was glad to have an opportunity to lunch there with a colleague yesterday. My homemade pasta with beef tips and horseradish cream sauce ($9) was exceptional, and I had a pile of it left over for lunch today. The menu relies heavily on local ingredients (my beef came from Leaping Waters Farm in Alleghany Springs, Va.) and specials that change on a daily basis.

Tony says brunch will be no different. He plans to stick with the farm-to-table cuisine as much as possible, with creative specials and a Southern touch. The brunch will be a la carte and runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

I hope to see more of these downtown brunch options, especially as more and more people move into renovated apartment and condo spaces downtown. I'm a bit jealous, actually - imagining myself rolling out of bed late on a lazy Sunday, grabbing my paper and strolling down the street for a delicious start to my day. Plus there would be no grass to mow...

What kind of idiot goes away for a long weekend at the beach and forgets her digital camera? Um, one with red hair and the first name "Lindsey" and a last name that conjures up images of short shorts. That's who.

This same brand of idiot thought the traffic to the Outer Banks wouldn't be too bad on Labor Day weekend. And that the hotel room for which she paid $165 per night would be large and roomy and wouldn't smell like gym socks. And that the swimming pools would not be teeming with screaming children desperate to eke every last moment of enjoyment out of summer vacation before school started today.

There was nothing left to do but eat and drink (and wish I had a digital camera with which to take tantalizing food photos). Instead, you'll have to picture this tour of Outer Banks restaurants:

* At J.K.'s: Oysters Rockefeller made with spinach pesto and bubbling hot Parmesan cheese, served with a crusty French baguette and pats of real butter shaped like flowers.

* Also at J.K.'s: Clam chowder (my all-time favorite soup so long as it is made with heavy cream and not destroyed with tomatoes) crowded with big chunks of potato and some of the most tender, delectable clams I've ever had melt in my mouth. If you travel to the Outer Banks and you have not tried J.K.'s, I highly recommend it. The best bartender in the world works there. His name is Rick. But I'm biased. Rick is my friend.

* At Food Dudes Kitchen: A roasted vegetable quesadilla stuffed with portobello mushroom, roasted red peppers, corn and zucchini. Did you know the term "portobello," which roughly translates to mean "fat beauty," was invented as a marketing ploy to sell an ugly mushroom that nobody wanted? The things I learn from "Food Lover's Companion" never cease to amaze me.

* At the Black Pelican: A frittata with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and goat cheese served over a pile of jalapeno-cheddar grits.

* At the Kill Devil Grill: Cheesesteak egg rolls stuffed with minced steak, caramelized onions and oozing white cheese. For an entree, we split a full rack of ribs. They weren't bad, but the egg rolls were better.

* At Port O' Call: Crab and cheese wontons and a big, fat, juicy piece of fried flounder on a sub roll with tartar sauce, lettuce and tomato.

* And finally, the chain restaurant I could not resist -- Dairy Queen, where I bought a large Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard and consumed the entire thing before feeling like my stomach was going to burst inside me. Why, oh why, did I decide to DQ something different? But then again, that's what vacation is for, right?

If you need me, I'll be at the gym.

Those crazy kids at Chick-fil-A are at it again! They just love to give away free food. This time, they're celebrating the second annual Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game on Monday, Sept. 7 (Labor Day).

All you have to do to earn a free chicken sandwich is show up at either Roanoke Chick-fil-A location wearing any sports-related apparel. The promotion runs from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Any apparel will work so long as it has a sports logo on it -- t-shirts, hats, jerseys, etc.

Also check out the virtual stadium wave at www.ChickenWave.com.

This week, I've received word that TWO fellows with local connections are finalists in national cooking competitions! Katsuko "Katz" Sandifer, who up until recently was a kitchen manager at The Casino Club at The Homestead in Warm Springs, is one of four finalists in the professional category of Ocean Spray's recipe contest. His dish is Asian Shrimp and Scallops with Ginger Cranberry Syrup. Patrick Maggi, owner of Blues BBQ in downtown Roanoke, is one of 10 finalists in the American Pizza Championship. His winning creation is a Prosciutto Pear Pizza, a sweet and savory combination of poached pears, prosciutto and Gorgonzola cheese.

Katsuko Sandifer

Katz was born in Japan but his family moved to America when he was about 13 and he went to high school in Chapel Hill, N.C. He received an Associate's Degree from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. He says he worked at The Homestead for about five years, starting as an intern and moving his way up to a kitchen manager. He recently quit and moved to Rhode Island to finish up his culinary degree at Johnson & Wales University. He would like to eventually be a teacher at a culinary school.

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My Great Uncle Bill used to call my sister and me "the little chappies." He also called our legs "white snakes," because we are both redheads. Ah, the memories.

But I'm off course. What I really want to talk about is how you feed YOUR little chappies when you take them out to dinner. I'm referring to my Front Burner column, which ran in yesterday's newspaper and detailed a study of restaurant children's menus by a team of Virginia Tech researchers. I've heard from a lot of parents since the story ran, so apparently it struck a nerve.

If you haven't seen my column, click here and have a look. And then, please share your thoughts on whether restaurant kids' meals offer appropriate choices or should be healthier.

A Salem boy has invented one of the sandwiches that will be featured in Red Robin's latest cookbook. For the whole scoop, check out this Q & A on the So Salem blog.

www.redlobster.com

Those of you who watch "The Next Food Network Star" know that this week's episode had the final four contestants creating wood-grilled seafood dishes with the promise that one dish would be featured on Red Lobster menus across the country. The winner of the contest was Jeffrey Saad, who invented a tilapia dish with spicy soy broth.

I thought it looked very delicious. Tilapia, which is generally affordable and very quick to thaw and cook, is a weekly staple in our home. So I'm always looking for new ways to prepare it. When Red Lobster sent out Saad's recipe, I thought, "Why not make this myself sometime and save money on our entertainment budget?" I'm sure that's not what Red Lobster was hoping I would be thinking, but that's life.

I'm sharing the recipe for anyone else who would like to try it at home.

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Jenny Boone reports that Brambleton Blend on Brambleton Avenue in Roanoke is closed. See her blog entry. Anybody know what's going on there?

Also, word just in from a very reputable source that Cafe Madrid in Salem is closed. I tried to call them and got no answer.

As for Alejandro's downtown, which is closed today, they are really doing renovations. I have often seen "closed for renovations" signs on restaurants that never open again, but the folks at Alejandro's tell me they are having the floor fixed and plan to be open again by Friday.

Town House restaurant in Chilhowie, which was recently featured in The New York Times, will be closed from July 7-July 27 so the chefs, John Shields and Karen Urie, can get married and take a honeymoon. Apparently, they are going to eat their way through northern Spain and the south of France.

I hate them. No really, I like them. But I am jealous.

Lindsey Nair/The Roanoke Times

Do you recognize this little building? Once upon a time, it was Dee Cee's Deli on Orange Avenue, home of the foot-long Rosie Dog, which came piled with two hot dogs, ham, turkey, bacon, chili, cheese, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, sauerkraut, peppers, tomatoes, hot sauce, onions, relish and slaw.

But Dee Cee's has been closed for a while now, and this abandoned little building would probably not even warrant a second glance if it weren't for its garish color (although personally, I love the color purple).

Patrick Maggi is hoping that will change. The owner of Blues BBQ in downtown Roanoke has bought the building, and today is the grand opening of his new restaurant, Rodney's Fish & Chicken. The Rodney in question is Rodney Ward, who has been cooking at Blues BBQ since it opened about two years ago. He will eventually man the kitchen at the new establishment.

Rodney's will sell fried chicken quarters (dark meat or white), fried whiting, chili dogs, fried jumbo Gulf shrimp, hand-cut french fries and authentic Philly cheesesteaks. Once he gets his steamer set up, Maggi said, he'll also sell steamed jumbo Gulf shrimp seasoned with Old Bay. All of this will be sold as take-out for the time being as Rodney's has no inside or outside seating.

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