Have you ever felt a little less than classy carrying the evening’s brews in your purse?
Maybe you decided not to go with the forty in the paperbag this time.
Maybe it’s more of a small bag/clutch kind of night. 
Maybe you’re worried about a purse full of beer/wine and a wet phone should you be trying to run in the rain while wearing flip flops (we've all attempted that one, 50/50 chance of a fall) while carrying your precious cargo in your bag of the day.
You never can tell.

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Fear not, as a gift from my mom (she knows me too well) solves the problem. Enter the “wine purse.” This stealth cylinder can hold 1 bottle of wine or 2 bottles of beer under the guise of a fashion accessory.

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Complete with it's own opener (we can't be left waiting for a server to stop by! Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands) and "seat belt" for your beverage
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In the lovely “snakeskin” model… may your adult beverages be safe.

My mom purchased this one from a store in Stow, OH, but a little googling led me to this site and of course, the greatest website ever for finding something - amazon.com also carries them.


-Ashley

 
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Place: Daphne Cafe - on Ellsworth in Shadyside
Date: 5/4/11
BYO'd: Seasonal Variety Pack from Magic Hat
(not the WHOLE case, just enough for a sampling of each :) )
Corkage Fee:  $5 total

"BYO Buzz": Great value (ie tons of food! not a lotta $)
After a slight disappointment in learning that the previous scheduled venue of Paris 66 had obtained their liquor license last October (this knowledge came once we were seated and started to pull out the evenings selections of brews - C'est la vie!) we debated our options and in the end the reusable grocery bag filled with malted barley and hops won, we Urban Spooned it up and found a location close by and one neither of us had tried.

Atmosphere: Cozy (seating for about 40), Casual, Inviting

Service: Attentive
It turns out that when Shia LeBouf is not acting in a Transformer movie, he waits tables at Daphne.  So if you love Mediterranean food and have a thing for Shia, this is the place for you;It is definitely "more than meets the eye". 

Appetizer:  The Mixed Appetizer Platter : Hummus (brown), Mediterranean Dip (red),
and Eggplant with Sauce (not the brown or red one)

The Hummus was just your normal tasty hummus.  The Mediterranean Dip was L's favorite, made up of roasted red pepper, feta cheese, walnuts, and EVOO.  The Eggplant with Sauce was A's Favorite, made up of cubed eggplant, green and red peppers, all in a tomato and garlic sauce.

Served with warm pita, could have been enough for a meal for two! But we had to try a couple other things...
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Entree: Salads
Gyro Salad (A) right
Very fresh tasting, TONS of Feta, tomatoes, little cucumber and nicely spiced warm strips of gyro meat.  Very large portions (especially after all the tasty dips in the appetizer)

only negative, just a few too many onions for my liking (and probably my husband's for when i come home to tell him about this place).  But easily removed!

Mediterranean Salad (L) left (should be called the Feta Lover's Salad)
I'd like to consider myself a Greek/Mediterranean salad connoisseur, having ordered one in the majority of the restaurants that offer it.  When I saw the amount of feta cheese in my salad, I think a tear of joy ran down my face.  I had enough feta to make every bite FETA-licious.  The dressing was good, not great.  Overall, it was a pretty awesome salad.

*Note how L's is still has it's nice presentation?  If it wasn't for her and reminding me, I'd have no pictures... apparently, I'm just too excited to wait!

Dessert: Baklava (Pistachio and Walnut)
Perfect mix of sweet, nutty, but not sticky or syrup-y, both the pistachios and walnuts were very finely ground, enough to make even a nut-hater (L) enjoy

(again, note the lack of waiting.....and the extra feta on the table from our salads)

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The Drinks: Magic Hat Seasonal Variety Pack
A: Single Chair & Blind Faith
L: Wacko & Blind Faith

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AND a flash back to highschool vending machine days...Magic Hat is like the Snapple of beer, there is a nice little message under each cap.
For our "older readers" the bottle caps read....
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(Clockwise from top left)
What's a Sporkener? (hence title of this blog)
Put a glide in yo' stride and a dip in yo' hip (perfect for L and her NKOTB like dance moves)
Got Cap?
In Fermentum Veritas...something in latin....?

And... for all those wondering what the heck a Sporkener is, the powers at google have an answer - Magic Hat has created a handy-all-in-one-never-need-another-utensil-again device that is a spoon, fork and bottle opener all in one!

What more could a girl want?
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Daphne Cafe on Urbanspoon
 
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Place: Kline's Wine Cellar/Shop
Date: 4/24/11
(Pardon the photography, taken in dimly lit basement with iphone3)

To celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, my parents took their love of wine (and each other… aww) to Napa Valley, CA.  Definitely a place on my list of things to do as well – 7 years later they still talk about their trip and different wineries they visited and the food.  And of course, best part which we get to reap the benefits from – shipments of wine from their favorite wineries –Biale, Vincent Arroyo, Chapellet, Kosta Browne and Pride.  So Easter Sunday morning while all the other kiddos got to search for lame eggs,  my dad allowed me to “shop” his collection, I was a little more than thrilled.


Of course there were the “that’s my favorite, don’t take it”, “don’t even think about it” and “oh yeah, that’d be a good one for you, we have lots more ,“ but definitely came back with a nice little sampling (except Pride – they aren’t giving up those, but we do have a bottle my parents gave us for our engagement waiting for our anniversary to pop open.)
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Look for them to be featured when we BYO them soon!

(PS the Easter bunny also brought Brian a nice surprise, the “OHIO Microbrew sampler” featuring beers from Great Lakes, Thirsty Dog, Buckeye Brewing , Cellar Rat, Fat Heads and more, they’ll be sure to get some face time as well)

 
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Place: Smiling Banana Leaf (Highland Park)
Date: 4/27/11
BYO'd: 1 bottle of Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin + L's bottle of cab
(the cab somehow went unopened...although it was a school night)

"Bottom Line": Great week night spot, value, tasty, and just enough spice

For our "company kick-off" / launch of first BYO review, we thought it would only be fitting to choose a lovely, close to one of the "Head Quarters" of BYOBurgh, and of course, have it be BYO.  Smiling Banana Leaf fit the bill on all accounts.  Located in HP, delish and won't put a dent in your "i need new summer shoes" budget.

Long members of the SBL fan club, typically a run down for quick take out, but for this special event, We chose to dine in.

Atmosphere:The recent renovations from late 2010 make the tiny space very welcoming, light airy and with a modern feel.
Service: Wonderful!

Appetizer: Fresh Spring Rolls with Chicken, comes with a sweet peanut sauce

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Definitely fresh, enough to share for two, and sauce to finish it off

Entrees:
L (Left): Tom Yum Soup with Noodles and Veggies(carrots, broccoli, onions, celery, scallions, and baby corn) Medium Spice. 
YUM is right! It was very tasty and the right amount of spicy that made you want to keep on eating it. (If that makes sense.)
My new favorite Tom Yum in the 'Burgh.

A (Right): Green Curry, Medium Spice.  Great flavor of curry mixed with the coconut milk, good amount of chicken, broccoli, beans and eggplant.  Cooked so it melts in your mouth.   Plus leftovers for the next day!

And everyone's favorite part - the Wine!
Gnarly Head's Old Vine Zin

We won't claim to be wine snobs, in fact we just discussed over our dinner how much of the choice when shopping for wine falls greatly on the label (note to wine makers, invest in some good graphic designers), name, and of course price.

I think this bottle recently sold for the under $9.99 range at our local Wine & Spirits on Penn Circle.
It was good, easily drinkable, not a ton of flavor, but went well with our choice of the Thai Food spice level.

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Smiling Banana Leaf on Urbanspoon