I’ve been back from Nashville for five days now, and I’m pretty sure I’m going through fruit tea withdrawal.

For whatever reason, fruit tea (or fling tea, depending where you’re ordering it from) just hasn’t caught on here, and I can’t figure out why. I’m pretty sure Minnesotans would absolutely love the stuff if they just gave it a chance.

Since Minnesotans generally believe that fruit tea is Lipton with a shot of faux raspberry flavoring, I guess I’ll just have to settle for all my good fruit tea memories whenever the craving hits. Or learn to make it myself…Now if I could only get Bread and Company to pony up their recipe.

Now before venturing back to Music City, I’ve been faithfully doing the eating better thing for a couple of weeks, and trust me, I had all kinds of good intentions for my Nashville trip. I vowed that despite all the town’s tasty vittles (and trust me, there are tons to choose from), I’d merely exist on salad, grilled chicken and the aforementioned fruit tea would serve as dessert.

And for about two meals, I did really, really well.

I mean I even turned down the super-addictive queso (and anyone who’s tasted it knows exactly what I’m talking about) and enchilada plate from SATCO, not to mention the tiramisu and tortellini from Amerigo! Now that takes a superhuman level of resolve!!

So what exactly was the food that temporarily brought my good intentions back to earth? Well, it was a sumptuous sweet potato biscuit from Tin Angel.

Now before you think I’ve gone temporarily insane, lemme tell y’all, this was one incredible biscuit (and I don’t even like sweet potatoes that much). Served with cinnamon butter, it’s the kind of flaky, mouthwatering confection that Paula Deen would dream up with butter in the batter and butter slathered on top. Alongside my out-of-this-world Greek omelet (packed to the brim with veggies, cheese and kalamata olives), it was pure brunching bliss. The only thing that would’ve made it better is washing it all down with a mimosa.

In addition to my first sweet potato biscuit, I also gave sustainable food a try when I met up with my friend Andrea at The Silly Goose in East Nashville. For such a whimsical name, the food was hearty, beautifully presented and downright delicious. Along with my “Bird” sandwich (a homegrown, char-grilled chicken breast topped with avocado, applewood bacon and a light sauce on multi-grain), I had a scoop of their famous couscous and greens on the side. I seriously never knew couscous could taste sooo good—and at room temperature, no less.

And just to make sure our sweet tooth was properly satiated, we celebrated Andrea’s recent b-day by sharing a piece of flourless chocolate cake with raspberries and homemade whipped cream. Oh my, my, I can’t even tell you how absolutely delectable that was…saying “it hit the spot” is a serious understatement. Given my hubby’s love of all things chocolate, I’m thinking he would’ve wolfed it down in 10 seconds flat, instead of taking small, dainty bites like Andrea and I did.

Proving that I’m always up for a new culinary adventure, The Silly Goose was just one of the new places I tried (Eastland Café, Pfunky Griddle and Cantina Laredo were especially tasty) before frequenting a few of my tried-but-true picks, Calypso Café, Fido, Bread and Company, The Yellow Porch and Pancake Pantry.

Per usual, I certainly wasn’t disappointed whether noshing on my favorite black bean salad (seriously, it’s like two meals in one), sipping a Pink Poodle (oh yeah!) or savoring the most incredible tomato basil soup, pasta bettola and blueberry pancakes on the planet (not together, mind you, eww!).

After nearly a week of splurging, it’s now back to salads again in Minnesota. But the memories of those sweet potato biscuits, fruit tea and pancakes will be with me for a while. Or until I hit the gym and sweat them off, anyway. 🙂