Adam & Eats: Pumpkin Patch

 

Editor’s note: Adam Brandt is a graduate from the Cobra Kai School of Culinary Callousness, where he received their highest award, the Red Apron of Merciless Eating. Aside from eating and talking about eating, he makes pots, paintings, prints, books, photographs, and generally, a big mess. He has been the studio assistant at Mudpuppy Pottery for almost nine years and is attending a local university in a desperate attempt to earn a biology degree.

This week we will be continuing our trip down Americana lane and visit a restaurant recently opened. A reader tipped me off to this place, and I felt it was my duty to get the scoop for the rest of you readers out there. After all, that is why I get the big bucks.

This week’s food adventure is filled with exciting discoveries and heartbreaking disappointments. Okay, well maybe I’m hyping it a little much, but it has definitely been an interesting journey.

Located in what was only recently Goodson’s at Cornerstone, is the new Pumpkin Patch. Why is it called this? No idea. Perhaps the new owners really like pumpkins. Or maybe they just got a really good deal on squash-themed decorations. Whatever the case, those of you out there who do not care for eating pumpkin can relax. The menu is definitely not comprised of only pumpkin dishes, but I’ll get back to my gripe about the menu in a minute.

If, however, you have an aversion to all things squash, I would suggest being blindfolded before entering into the restaurant because they most certainly decorated to match the name. It is not tacky or anything, but there is obviously a theme.

Now, back to my beef with the menu. At first glance, the menu was exciting. All sorts of my favorite dishes littered the pages. Then, a realization began to dawn on me, the menu is practically identical to the old Goodson’s menu. What the crap?! This calls for some investigative journalism. Since you can barely call me a journalist, I just asked my waitress what was up with the menu being the same. It turns out that the menu is slowly transitioning from the old Goodson’s menu to a brand new menu that consists of only food made from fresh ingredients. The slow menu transition is meant to keep the customer base that regularly visits the place from jumping ship. That’s pretty smart.

It only seems appropriate that the things I am going to recommend are things that I would normally look at on the menu and then promptly never order. The first is the tilapia sandwich. Most people’s first thought when the phrase fish sandwich is uttered is an image of some fast food mystery fish patty sandwich with the subtitle “Gross” underneath it. This fish sandwich is anything but gross. In fact, this pan seared fish filet, served on a wonderfully chewy (commercial) bun, topped with lettuce, tomato, and basil mayo comes across as bright and refreshing.

The perfect partner in tasty crime for the tilapia sandwich is, of course, sweet potato fries. These sweet little crinkle cut tubers with their honey/brown sugar/cinnamon dipping sauce are the perfect compliment to the savory flavors of the sandwich. It is a match made in Heaven.

The other dish is simply ridiculous. The name alone is reminiscent of Denny’s “Moons Over My Hammy.” It is a dish everyone mentions and laughs about and then orders something else. It is called the Tacobrito and it is exactly what it sounds like. It is what happens when a soft taco and a bean burrito have a baby. This scrumptious monstrosity consists of a giant flour tortilla filled with perfectly seasoned ground beef, refried beans, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Then they take it and drizzle the whole thing with melty cheese and jalapenos. The words “Truly Awesome” come to mind.

If you want to take it up yet another notch, make it a Texas Tacobrito by covering it with chili as well. The phrase “Holy Crap” comes to mind.

Well, that’s it for this week. If you haven’t tried Pumpkin Patch yet, you should give it a go. You’re bound to walk away pleased.

Until next week, good eating to you and yours.

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When he’s not beating his eggs, Adam makes time to respond to e-mails that get past his hard-ass spam filter. You can try to reach him at [email protected]

Adam also has this thing called Sandwich Control.