New lounge menu debuts at Eddie Merlot’s

Chicken, Mushroom, Gouda Flatbread

It’s 5 p.m., and we all know what that means. It’s time to leave work and have at least a few minutes of well-earned down time. It’s time to head to our lounge and enjoy a few small plates with friends and co-workers. Our new lounge menu has a few new items on it we’re happy to introduce to our customers, including Chicken and Waffles, Barbacoa Beef Tacos and Gotham Philly Steak Sandwich, as well as some of the hearty standards that have been a regular feature for our lounge diners for years.

We still have our most popular lounge menu items, including our build your own burger menu. Our cocktails include a menu of $6 martinis, which are Washington Apple, Cosmopolitan, French Martini, Lemon Drop and Eddie’s Paradise Infusion.

If you’ve never tried our restaurants, our lounge menu is a great place to sample our food without the commitment of an entire evening. You can get a good sense of who we are and try many of our best foods. Bring a group. Come to watch a game. Stop by late at night for a nightcap on your way home. You can order the items on our Lounge menu in our lounge only beginning at 4:30 p.m. Our drink specials are available beginning at 4 p.m.

We’ll be talking more about some of the new lounge menu items on our menu in the coming weeks, particularly those that are new for us. We hope you’ll come by soon to see us and give these new dishes a try.

You can have a look at the new menus at the links below:

Eddie Merlot’s Lounge Menu Cincinnati Columbus Louisville

Eddie Merlot’s Lounge Menu Burr Ridge Warrenville Fort Wayne Indy

Lunch offered on Administrative Professionals Day, April 25

Cedar Plank Salmon

There is one day a year in which you are expected to do the work that special assistant of yours usually does. It’s Administrative Professionals Day, which is April 25 this year, and yes, you are expected to make your own reservations for that day.

Six of our locations will be open. Eddie Merlot’s is a perfect choice, as we’ve got something for everyone. Our lunch menu has some of the same terrific choices you enjoy in the evenings with us, such as our delectable steaks and perfectly cooked seafood. For lunch, though, we add in items such as salads and sandwiches.

Each of our restaurants creates its own Administrative Professionals Day lunch menu. You can be guaranteed of two things: it will be good, and you will be thanked. Profusely.

Reservations usually fill up pretty quickly. If you do not have an administrative assistant but you need to impress a client, this lunch would be a great chance to do so.

Several of our locations will have door prizes and mini makeovers for the women in attendance.

Get a reservation NOW to ensure that your assistant gets the special attention that you know is much deserved.

• Burr Ridge, 201 Bridewell Drive, Burr Ridge, IL, 630-468-2098
• Cincinnati, 10808 Montgomery Rd. at the I-275 interchange, 513-489-1212
• Columbus, 1570 Polaris Parkway at the I-71 interchange, 614-433-7307
• Fort Wayne, 14 and 24 at Jefferson Pointe, 260-459-2222
• Indianapolis, 96th and Keystone, 317-846-8303
• Louisville, 455 S. Fourth Street, Suite 102, 502-584-3266

A great brunch experience

We are delighted to share with you Kristen in Columbus’ thoughts on her brunch experience at Eddie Merlot’s on Easter Sunday. We were happy to host her and her extended family, and glad to hear she enjoyed it. You can find the post here:

http://kristenincolumbus.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/sunday-brunch-at-eddie-merlots/

If you want to experience our Sunday brunch, we only offer it on special occasions. Next up: Mother’s Day. Get your reservations. We book up early!

A great dessert recipe from our cookbook

Coconut Creme Pie

Since our cookbook was published in December 2011, we’ve heard from a lot of folks who enjoy cooking at home that they’re making our recipes and loving the results. Some have told us that they like the instructions and even feel that they’re learning as they go, which is exactly what we want. We hope that you’ll learn more about food, and consequently, enjoy it more.

Our previous blog posts have given you recipes for several popular items, including our Dijon Elk Chop with Fennel Mushroom Sauce, Baked Macaroni and Cheese and French Onion Soup. Today, we’re giving out our recipes for Coconut Creme Pie. It’s a relatively simple dessert to make but it’s among the most popular items on our Spring Prix Fixe menu.

You can buy our cookbook online or in person at any of our seven locations.

Coconut Creme Pie

Makes 6 servings
Note: for this recipe, you will need six individual spring form pans to make single-serving pies.

For the crust:
1 12-ounce box of vanilla wafers
1/2 pound sugar
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush vanilla wafers in a food processor. Add sugar and butter and pulse to combine. Press 1/2 cup crust mixture into each of the six individual spring form pans, making sure the crust goes up the sides and is not too thick on the bottom. Bake crust for 10 minutes, remove from over and cool to room temperature.

For the filling:

4 cups Half & Half
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 cups coconut flakes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups egg yolk

Bring 3 cups Half & Half and sugar to a simmer in a medium sauce pan. Whisk together the other cup of Half & Half with the flour, coconut, vanilla and egg yolks. Slowly whisk the hot milk into the milk/flour mixture. Pour mixture back into sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and eggs are cooked. Divide custard evenly among the pie shells and chill in the refrigerator 4-5 hours.

To serve, unmold pies and generously top with whipped cream. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Top with whipped cream and toasted coconut flakes. Drizzle with caramel sauce (recipe below).

Caramel sauce (makes 1 1/2 cups)

9 ounces granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a clean and dry heavy bottomed sauce pan, combine the sugar and the water and bring to a boil. Add the lemon juice and continue to boil without stirring until sugar reaches 365 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and carefully whisk in the cream and then the butter. Continue to whisk until smooth.

Our Easter Brunch giveaway

We posted before about the details of our Easter Brunch. We’re excited to be offering this to our patrons. We are only open for lunch and brunch on special days, and this celebration of spring qualifies.

This year, we’re giving away Easter Brunch for 4 by drawing. Drop by our locations and register in person. We’ll be choosing a winner at each location on Saturday, April 7. The only way to register is IN PERSON, so make a point to come and see us!

Here’s the details on our brunch again:

This Easter, April 8,  all seven locations of Eddie Merlot’s will be offering a brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Our brunch buffet features a made to order omelet station and full selection of other hot breakfast items, fresh fruit salad, smoked salmon, peel and eat shrimp, fresh vegetables, creamed corn, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, Eddie’s famous macaroni and cheese, chicken, cedar-plank salmon, a carving station featuring Prime beef tenderloin with Diane sauce and spiral glazed ham. We will also offer a fantastic selection of our desserts, complete with a make your own brownie and ice cream station, dessert bars, cakes and delectable bites.

We strongly recommend reservations, which you can do through our web site: www.eddiemerlots.com, or by calling the restaurant locations. Here’s a quick list of phone numbers:

• Burr Ridge, 201 Bridewell Drive, Burr Ridge, IL, 630-468-2098
• Cincinnati, 10808 Montgomery Rd. at the I-275 interchange, 513-489-1212
• Columbus, 1570 Polaris Parkway at the I-71 interchange, 614-433-7307
• Fort Wayne, 14 and 24 at Jefferson Pointe, 260-459-2222
• Indianapolis, 96th and Keystone, 317-846-8303
• Louisville, 455 S. Fourth Street, Suite 102, 502-584-3266
• Warrenville, 28254 Diehl Road, Warrenville, Illinois, 630-393-1900

The great cookbook giveaway

Our cookbook is an important project for us. It’s introduced many of you to the techniques that help create our famous food. We’ve heard lots of chatter about it in the media, on radio shows and television, and we’re delighted.

We’d like to reward you, our fans, with a free copy of the cookbook, a $34.95 value. This big, beautiful book has every recipe we’ve ever created since our inception 10 years ago.

To enter, just write a comment on this post telling us your favorite dish at Eddie Merlot’s. Be sure to leave us your e-mail address so we have a way to get in touch with you if you win. We’re taking entries from the time this is posted on Thursday, March 22, at 12 p.m. to Friday, March 23, at 12 p.m.

We look forward to seeing what dishes you’ll say are your favorites!

Mother’s Day Brunch at Eddie Merlot’s

Eddie Merlot’s invites you to enjoy a fabulous Mother’s Day Brunch. It’s one of the biggest days of the year for dining out, and with good reason. Mom deserves it. It’s the one day a year (really, there should be more) when Mom is guaranteed she won’t have to cook.

Cedar Plank Salmon

Make your reservations now for Sunday, May 13. Brunch is served from 11 a.m. through 2 p.m.

Our Brunch buffet features a made to order omelet station and full selection of other hot breakfast items, fresh fruit salad, smoked salmon, peel and eat shrimp, fresh vegetables, creamed corn, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, Eddie’s famous macaroni and cheese, chicken, cedar-plank salmon, a carving station featuring Prime beef tenderloin with Diane sauce and spiral glazed ham. We will also offer a fantastic selection of our mouth-watering desserts complete with a make your own brownie and ice cream station, dessert bars, cakes and delectable bites.

If Mom prefers dinner, we will be open for dinner beginning at 4 p.m., a slightly earlier time to accommodate the many guests we’re expecting.

Getting ahead of the game will put you on Mom’s good side – and may make you the favorite among the siblings. If you want to ensure it, top off your meal at Eddie Merlot’s with the gift of our cookbook, which you can purchase online or in the restaurants.