I will confess that I have no idea who is even in the World Cup this year, much less who should be favored to win it. So, I’m no credible analyst when it comes to futbol. But, I have to say, I do love the event. Every four years, I love turning the games on during the day. It just feels important and I appreciate that. But, I would also liken it to a cat that likes to watch the garbage man pick up the trash in the morning. The cat is amused even if it has no idea of what is actually going on. So, I’m excited for the World Cup to kick off in a week. But, when I found out that Lay’s made special chips for the World Cup, my excitement ratcheted up a notch. I am pleased to announce that I got my hands on all three flavors. I’ve tried each, and am here to do some actual journalism – my report:

Argentinian-style Steak with Chimichurri – I got a whiff of raw meat when I opened the bag, but that first bite was exquisite. The flavor is frontloaded with that charred taste of a good sear on a steak. There’s a little bit of tang on the back end that gives it quite the nice pop for a finish. It is a quite good combination, however, the more that I eat, stacking chip after chip, the heavier that meat taste weighs on my palate. After half a bag, the “chimichurri” starts to taste more “sour cream and onion.” I would crush a handful of these, but I can’t see myself devouring an entire bag. The complexity of the flavor and the balance between steak and chimichurri is deep and reach. Rating: 3/5 – would snack again, but not crushable.

Brazilian-style Garlic Sauce – What is this Brazilian style garlic sauce you speak of? I’ve never heard of such a thing. I had to look it up, and apparently, it’s just a combination of garlic, mayo, some type of oil, and lemon juice? That’s wild. This is a STRONG flavored potato chip. It’s quite pungent when you open the bag. That first bite is an explosion. It’s like someone added garlic to the sour cream and onion flavor and dialed it up to a hundred. It’s intense and overbearing. But, the wild thing about this chip is that it finishes like movie theater butter to me. So, yes…to be clear, I get garlic up front and movie theater butter on the back end. It’s like a sour cream and onion chip and a handful of popcorn had a baby. Just unreal variance. But, with that traditional Lay’s texture, this thing is super crushable. I’m going to devour this entire bag. Rating: 4/5 – if it wasn’t SO tangy up front, this would’ve been an ELITE elite chip experience.

French Onion Soup – That first bite was quite strange because of how accurately they got the flavor of French onion soup down. It’s hard to explain, but from a flavor standpoint, it was as if someone solidified a spoonful of French onion soup. The second chip is where things started to go south. It’s a very rich flavor once it builds up, almost like sucking on a bouillon cube or something. It’s like I decided to chug an entire packet of French onion seasoning that you’d put on a Sunday roast or something. The more I ate, the more bitter the onion flavor came to be. Rating: 2/5 – will not snack again.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

Elsewhere on the SoBros Network: Check out Stacking The Inbox for premium coverage of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft. Subscribe to Nashville Movie Dispatch for all of our movie content. We get weird on Phone It In, the history podcast that explores legendary tales, important historical figures, and events.

My wife, Aura, and I recently celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary – fruits and flowers and what have you. We have a rather simple tradition for our anniversary. We’re not extravagant people. We just love trying new restaurants and spending time together…that easy. This year, we weren’t actually home for our anniversary – we were traveling to visit family, so we had to wait until we got back before we could indulge in this tradition of ours. We kicked around a few ideas – we wanted something new…but we didn’t really want to fool with going downtown…we wanted something special, but also practical. Aura said, “what about Darfons?” I immediately said I was up for it.

We had both been to Darfons on previous occasions. Both were delightful meals. But, I admit that we forget it’s right down the road from us in Mount Juliet. It’s tucked away on Elm Hill Pike in what is otherwise airport wasteland. It’s not a part of town that we frequent, so it’s easy for it to slip through the cracks in our rotation. After an anniversary dinner for the ages, I’m thinking we won’t be forgetting Darfons in the future any time soon.

It was happy hour, and it was a special occasion, so of course we had to order a round of drinks. Aura went with the house chardonnay, which was a solid option. I had an old fashioned that was rich with citrus fragrance and a nice sweet balance to kill some of its bite. For an appetizer, we went with the Boursin cheese and summer sausage board. Served with a sliced baguette, the cheese was rich and creamy and the sausage added a nice bit of spice. The portion was perfect. It’s easy to overeat with an appetizer, but I found this was just right.

For the main event, Aura ordered the lobster ravioli. I got to try a bite and was impressed. Seafood can be a bit tricky here in landlocked Tennessee, but this was good. I went with the crab cakes and gnocchi. In both dishes, the real superstar was the sauce, creamy with a hint of spice. My crab cakes were cooked perfectly. Seared with a slightly crisp exterior. Sometimes, crab cakes can be a tad dry, but not these. The lobster sauce they were set in, loaded with mushrooms, onions, spinach, and gnocchi, made the dish pop. It was a lovely combination of textures and flavors.

We capped it off with dessert – Aura choosing the strawberry pound cake that was on special, and me choosing the butterscotch bread pudding because I’m a sucker for all things butterscotch. We couldn’t finish them because we were so stuff at that point. I mean, we probably should’ve just split one dessert, but I was not going to be denied of that butterscotch bread pudding. All in all, it was a fantastic quality meal – when I got the bill it was $126 before tip. To think we could get downtown dining without heading downtown felt like accessing an entirely new world. It made me realize what a hidden gem Darfons is in the Nashville area dining scene.

Pics

For more on Darfons, check out their website.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

Elsewhere on the SoBros Network: Check out Stacking The Inbox for premium coverage of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft. Subscribe to Nashville Movie Dispatch for all of our movie content. We get weird on Phone It In, the history podcast that explores legendary tales, important historical figures, and events.

Did you read that headline and think this was going to be a post about collecting toys? Because this is totally going to be a post about collecting toys. Sorry if my headline was a little vague, but I wanted something that perfectly captured my feelings about today’s topic. I don’t know what has gotten into me lately, but I’ve been on this kick about how much things have changed in my lifetime. Maybe it’s because my 40th birthday is approaching and I don’t have much time left. One foot in the grave and all. Maybe it’s because I’m not so sure that I like where the world is headed with the advent of all this new technology and whatnot. Regardless, I was standing in Walmart a few weeks ago wondering if kids today will ever know that feeling of finding a toy they had been looking for for a long time – whether it was an action figure on the back of the card or some new game they saw in a commercial watching Nicktoons.

It’s bad enough that toy stores seem to be little more than a relic of the past these days anyway. There’s no more (real) Toys R Us or KB Toys locations around town and there hasn’t been in some time. You’re left at the mercy of the toy sections of Walmart and Target. My wife and I were looking for a gift for a birthday party, and as we walked up each aisle unsuccessfully, I started to think, “eh, we can just go home and order something online.”

That’s when it hit me. Man, they make it too easy to just give up these days. Online shopping has saved my ass plenty of times. I’m not against that – don’t get me wrong. But, I remember being a kid in the 90s and searching for that one action figure that had escaped my grasp. There were times when I’d get home from school and my mom would be waiting for me when I got off the bus. I’d learn that she had called KB Toys and they had the Rikishi action figure I’d been looking for for weeks. I remember flipping over the package on my new Dr. Death action figure, seeing that they made an X-Pac in the same series, and thinking “I have to have it!” It was a hunt, and I looked for that X-Pac for long enough to think I wasn’t ever going to find it before I ultimately did. We walked into the Toys R Us in Hickory Hollow and by chance, they happened to be restocking the wrestling section. I looked through row after row after row and finally, there he was – X-Pac. I felt triumphant that day – it was like winning a baseball game.

Nowadays, if you don’t find it in the stores, you can just fire up Amazon, Google, or eBay, and it’ll be at your doorstep tomorrow. What kind of character does that build? Instant gratification *scoffs*. I like that for some things, but it does make me a bit sad to think about those triumphant moments not materializing for today’s youth. They felt like great adventures when I was a kid….like we were treasure hunters or something. I don’t know if you guys ever felt that way about some toy from when you were a kid, but it’s funny the things we think of the older we get. I miss that. I hope the thrill of that hunt is still alive out there somewhere.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

Elsewhere on the SoBros Network: Check out Stacking The Inbox for premium coverage of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft. Subscribe to Nashville Movie Dispatch for all of our movie content. We get weird on Phone It In, the history podcast that explores legendary tales, important historical figures, and events.

This is a critical week on the scent calendar. As many of you who have read my work for years here at SoBros Network, I’m a big fragrance guy. For me, Memorial Day marks the shift – out with the floral spring fragrances and in with the fruity fresh summer fragrances. But, that doesn’t just apply to candles and plugins. I’m looking to make a change in how my own skin smells too! If I can find something that fits the vibes of the season, you can damn well bet I want to smell like it. That’s what led me to ‘Solstice’ by Harry’s.

I don’t know if this is a new scent or I just never paid attention to it or what. Harry’s is one of the two brands that I stock up on the most when it comes to body wash (them and Cremo). While I do consider the men’s collection from Bath & Body Works top of the line, Harry’s is the best bang for your buck. That scent will rest on your skin for hours after a shower. When I stood in Walmart and the notes of Solstice hit my nostrils, I knew right away that it would be the summer body wash for me.

They say it’s a combination of ‘mandarin and musk.’ I felt as though it smelled like golden hour in a bottle – something indescribable and yet something so simple. It was like the scent of your cologne fading after a day enjoying the great outdoors – maybe you can still smell the fruity waves of the winery, but there’s still that hint of musk to go with it. It smells like the sunset, taking it in from a hilltop with the love of your life…taking it in from the rooftop of a downtown bar with a margarita in your hand. It’s a timeless fragrance. It smells like winding down after a busy summer’s day. It’s the good old days in a bottle. Maybe Harry himself trapped the sunlight that bends over the horizon at dusk and turned it into a fragrance. Solstice is an adventurous spirit and the appreciation of nature’s splendor in liquid form.

This is not a paid endorsement. I just really fucking love Harry’s. For more on Harry’s, and to buy your own bottle, visit their website.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

Elsewhere on the SoBros Network: Check out Stacking The Inbox for premium coverage of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft. Subscribe to Nashville Movie Dispatch for all of our movie content. We get weird on Phone It In, the history podcast that explores legendary tales, important historical figures, and events.

It’s been a minute since I’ve sat and really wrote out a good restaurant review here on SoBros Network. But, truth be told, between the rigors of my work schedule during the NFL Draft cycle and a propensity for staying on my side of town, I haven’t tried a whole lot of new stuff! Hell, the places we’ve been eating on Friday nights already have reviews up on the site. We have our rotation and we generally stick to it. But, as I scrolled through my phone and looked at all of the random pictures of food I have on it, this felt like a good time to round them all up together and do a bit of a catchup on what we’ve been eating here in Mount Juliet for the last month.

Quick hits

• In case you missed the news about a month or so ago, Pelican’s SnoBalls is now open for the season. I believe we’ve already been a dozen times, but I can’t help myself. That honeydew hit hard.
• The Bagel Barn is now open in the Midway Center off Lebanon Road. We’ve driven by it each of the last two Saturdays, but the line has spilled out into the parking lot. It’s a small space, so my social anxiety screams at me and we end up passing it by, waiting for a day when it isn’t so crowded. That day may never come, but hey – good for Bagel Barn.
• It feels like there are a million coffee shops in Mount Juliet, so it’s easy for me to lose track of them all. But, recently, my wife said she wanted to try 7 Brew, and man…we were glad we did. First of all, I’m a bit of an old school curmudgeon. I kind of want my coffee drinks to taste like actual coffee, and there’s does – I got a banana bread latte that was to die for. 7 Brew has quickly become our weekend go-to when we have a little more time to spare on a Saturday or Sunday morning.
• We always complain about a lack of good breakfast spots in the area, but then, we turn around and forget that MLRose actually has a pretty decent brunch. We stopped by a few weekends ago and enjoyed a quiet brunch – their breakfast burrito and hashbrown casserole both get high marks from me.

Memo’s Mexican Kitchen

I’m always game for a bowl of birria or enmoladas, but I would remind you guys that you have to stop in Memo’s every once in a while just to see what the specials are. I still think Memo’s is the best restaurant in Mount Juliet, and some of my favorite meals there, I’ve had because I’ve listened to Andres recite the specials and said, “yeah, gimme that.” I did that a few Friday nights ago with this dish that I can’t even remember the name of! It was like pulled pork with molé on top. Of course, Memo’s has the best rice and beans in the game to go with it, and no meal can start at Memo’s without an order of the grilled jalapeños and/or the guacamole autentico.

The Goat

We were on our way back from a gathering down near Spring Hill late one Saturday night recently. We weren’t really hungry, but we wanted to graze on something a bit and both of us had a sweet tooth. It was late, so a lot of stuff was starting to close. Thankfully, we saw apple crumble on The Goat’s dessert menu, and we saw that they were staying open until 11PM. Winner winner! We stopped by to the peaceful environment of a restaurant winding down for the evening. We got an order of boneless wings that were just what we needed to feel satisfied. Then, we might’ve gone a little overboard with the dessert – getting that apple crumble along with an order of churro bites. That apple crumble had us thinking we needed to add this routine to more Saturday nights. For more on The Goat, check out their website.

The Trailer Park

The concept of a big dining hall that serves beer with an armada of food trucks outside the building surrounding it is pure genius. We made a trip out to the Trailer Park for brunch a couple of weekends ago. There, we moseyed on up to the Waffle Wheels truck and ordered a mess of French toast sticks, funnel cake fries, and a Honky Tonk Hash Wrap (sliced beef, tater tots, peppers, onions, cheddar, and mayo wrapped in a tortilla). It was a decadent way to start the day, but I make no apologies for our choices. It was awesome. For more on the Trailer Park, and to see which trucks are there on a given day, check out their website.

Texas Roadhouse

We wanted to treat my mother to something different for her birthday a couple of weekends ago. Considering that every time we drove by the new Texas Roadhouse on Golden Bear Gateway, there were approximately five million cars in the parking lot, we never stopped in. But, for a special occasion, we were willing to give it a shot. Luckily, we’re early dinner fans! We stopped by around 3:30ish on a Sunday and maybe had to wait five minutes before we were en route to our table with a basket of bread. Let me tell you guys something – I can’t eat a meal like that every weekend or I’ll be 500 pounds by Labor Day. The bang we got for our buck was insane. My mother, my wife, and I all ordered a big hunk of meat – sirloin, prime rib, filet. I had the combo…a 6oz filet with some ribs to go with it, a cup of chili on the side, and a house salad to start. I topped it all off with an ice cold Shiner Bock. We were all struggling to make it back to the car after a meal that grandiose, but every bit of it was worth it. We’re already looking forward to the next special occasion, when we can meet at the Texas Roadhouse yet again. Check out their menu on their website.

If there’s something new around town that we might’ve missed, hit the comments to let me know that I need to try it!

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

Elsewhere on the SoBros Network: Check out Stacking The Inbox for premium coverage of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft. Subscribe to Nashville Movie Dispatch for all of our movie content. We get weird on Phone It In, the history podcast that explores legendary tales, important historical figures, and events.