The Hawthornes And Xmaskatie Meet In Manteo For Lunch At Ortega'z.

The Hawthornes and Xmaskatie met up for lunch in the colorful, quaint town of Manteo the other day.

One of these days I'll have to do a walking tour through Manteo so I can show you this lovely little town. This day it was uncomfortably cold, so I'll wait until spring when I'll take another trip to the Elizabethan Gardens. I check out the Gardens several times every season. There's always something different to see there.

One stop shopping. Sounds like my kind of place. Mama Hawthorne would have liked that photograph.

I told you this was a colorful town.

This is looking down Sir Walter Raleigh Street. Manteo Booksellers is housed right over there. It's always worth a visit.

Here's our destination - Ortega'z Southwestern Grill and Wine Bar.

I was reading a bit about the history of Ortega'z and it's rather interesting.

I remember when it used to be the Green Dolphin Pub. (Both photos of Green Dolphin from internet.)

In 1989, Andy Griffith shot a two-hour episode of Matlock, The Hunting Party, in Manteo and one of the scenes was shot at the Green Dolphin. Actually, Mr. Hawthorne was in Manteo when they were shooting. Of course we taped this episode of Matlock when it aired since Mr. Hawthorne swore he was in one of the scenes. There's a scene outside the courthouse and Mr. Hawthorne always points to himself as the camera pans the streets. And yes. There he isn't. The camera stopped panning right before they got to him.

I asked to be seated next to a window so I could get some shots of the barber shop across the alley.

Ten dollar haircuts. I think this is my favorite shot from today.

Xmaskatie had a bowl of the chicken tortilla soup. Shredded chicken, carrots, celery, black beans, and onions in a very flavorful stock, topped with tortilla strips. Pretty good soup. In fact, I'm thinking of making my version for lunch soon. $5.59.

Mr. Hawthorne had the Crab and Wild Mushroom Cheesecake which is served with a small Caesar salad. OK. Listen up. I liked the Caesar salad. There, I said it. The apocalypse is nigh. And the quiche-like cheese cake was a savory blend of crab meat, wild mushrooms, roasted red peppers, onions, and herbed cheese. Very rich. Lots of crab flavor. Quite good. I might just try my hand recreating this at home. $8.29

I had the Southwestern Spring Rolls with a mango habanero sauce. Roasted corn, black beans, peppers, onions, cilantro, avocado, tomato, and lime and what appeared to be cream cheese in a green wrap. This was pretty good. I would have preferred a Monterey Jack cheese instead of the cream cheese, but that's me. I noticed in the menu, the description called for "lightly fried" spring rolls. Mine were not fried. $6.99

Outside shot of the barber shop. Do you remember the last time you saw a barber pole? All in all, this was an enjoyable lunch. I liked the food. I liked the menu. So much so, I had a hard time deciding what to order. And I liked the bit of cultural spice. Plus they make their own flour tortilla chips in a variety of flavors and the corn tortillas are made fresh daily. We're just going to have to go back. Stay tuned for our cooking class at the North Carolina Aquarium. Seafood enchiladas!