Omnivore Atlanta

Nick’s Food To Go (240 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, 404-521-2220, www.nicksfood.com) is the quintessential hole in the wall you’ve probably passed by a hundred times but never entered. The tiny Greek gem is a complete family affair with Nick Poulous working the front and his wife, Helen, and their daughters, Evie and Angela, in the kitchen. Although there is no dining area — don’t even try to eat inside or you’ll get a fatherly scolding from Nick — the comforting food travels well and is always made to order.

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(Text and photo by Jennifer Zyman)

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We live in Grant Park. For several years, we were awakened every morning by the crowing of a rooster. I never figured out if he was someone’s pet or a fugitive from the zoo or the victim of a rural kidnapping — kicked out of the backseat of a limo like a Mafia abductee.

Understand, I’m not talking a hidden-away rooster. This huge bird strutted up and down the cobblestone alley behind our house. On several occasions I opened the front door and found myself staring directly at him, perched on the railing of our wrap-around porch. The sight always took both of us by surprise, causing us to scream simultaneously. He’s been gone for a few years.

I thought this was an anomaly. Who knew there are chicken coops all over the city?

This Saturday, 1-4 p.m., you can tour nine urban chicken coops. The tour is sponsored by Georgia Organics and Oakhurst Community Garden, which is also hosting a class, “Chicks in the City,” that morning.

I particularly like this description of the coop d’tour in my ‘hood:

Grant Park: Last summer, four hens came home to roost in this walk-in hoophouse coop complete with disco mirror ball. Their shelter, easily constructed from scrap lumber and fencing panels, can be moved throughout the yard that the birds — a Buff Orpington, Jersey Black Giant, Auracana, and Rhode Island Red — share with two beehives. Plans available for this farm-tested, low-cost coop. Suzanne & Tom Welander.

For details on the tour (prices vary), click here, or call 678-702-0400.

(Image of Edith “The Egg Lady” Massey, from John Waters’ film Pink Flamingos. Image of disco chicken from ringtones-direct.)

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Pauwel Kwak
Brewery Bosteels
Buggenhout, Belgium
8% ABV

Kwak is a Belgian strong pale ale from Bosteels, a brewery which makes Tripel Karmeliet and the famed Deus Brut des Flandres. It pours a coppery reddish brown. A slow, sparkly string of tiny bubbles rising to form a thin ring of foam on the sides of the glass hints at the heavy body. A mild aroma of candied apples, grassy hops, and banana esters from the Belgian yeast and is inviting. The taste is like Carmen Miranda in the hot sun — bold, overripe fruit like bananas, strawberries, apricots and apples. There is a sticky, candied sugar, caramel and honey sweetness that clings to the tongue, followed by some herbal, medicinal hops and a moderate bitterness. Some may find the full-bodied sweetness a bit cloying, and the low carbonation adds to the effect. The gentle, drying alcohol in the finish mitigates somewhat. Definitely a dessert beer.

(photo by Jeff Holland)

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You’re probably already familiar with Yelp.com. It’s a great source of Zagat-like foodie reviews of local restaurants. There are also occasional reviews of those of us who write about food.

I found this, by Laura W., on Yelp’s review page for Cakes and Ale:

I feel the need to do this one justice, because I’m 90% sure we were sitting next to Creative Loafing reviewer Cliff Bostock at Cakes and Ale on Saturday night. Either that or some other middle-aged guy with his middle-aged male partner taking pictures of every course. But I digress.

Sigh. This is what life comes to, people. As your youth swims down the toilet, you’re just another “middle-aged guy” with a camera.

Actually, I do remember Laura and her boyfriend. They looked very young. In fact, still being hungry after the rather light meal, I wanted to bite their sweet, young necks.

I continue to get mainly good reports about Cakes and Ale, by the way. If you haven’t tried it, go soon….

This, by Kit F, was on Yelp’s review page for Apres Diem:

Cliff Bostock from the Loaf consistently says it’s the best looking wait staff…huh? Maybe for a blind person who has an Oompa Loompa fetish. But what does Cliffy know, he plays for the other team! ;)

A European Vacation this is not…but you’ll still find Clark Griswold sucking down a cold one or nibbling on a pee pee sammie. I have supported Andy’s Apres/Carpe Diem for years. From the DJ’s to the dishwashers. But throughout the years, this European cafe has trickled down to Euro Trash central. Who knew there were that many of them in Atlanta?! I think they’re coming here to steal our wimmen and me Lucky Charms!

Hey, I have played for both teams, which puts me ahead of you, experience-wise, Kit. (In another post, Kit alleges that the new MF Buckhead has the hottest staff in town.)…

Ivan S. has a very funny review of Popeyes Fried Chicken on Yelp. The Boulevard/Ponce location closed recently after a fire. Among Ivan’s notations:

Back in the olden days when I lived off of Ponce, I frequented the Ponce Popeye’s, surrounded as I was by crackheads, shemale prostitutes, and masochistic chicken addicts. I’d stop by for my weekly helping of spicy chicken served up with a generous side of abuse. But now that Ponce is no longer a daily journey for me (and the Ponce Popeye’s most likely set aflame by a deranged Cliff Bostock), I satisfy my craving at the Windy Hill location.

Hurrah! I’m a deranged, middle-aged, gay arsonist! Hurrah!

(Image of middle-aged vampire after dining at Cakes and Ale from Harbor Haunt.)

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CNN’s health site features a quiz that compares portion size and calorie content of typical snacks and meals today with those of 20 years ago. You’ll be amazed at the difference. Go here.

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I’ve been stopping by Sevananda in Little Five Points now and then for lunch. The store’s hot counter is full of healthy, mainly good-tasting food every day. It’s all vegetarian; some of it is vegan. I like the “faux” stuff like lasagna made with weird cheese and sausage made of soy. But my favorite is usually the most straightforward vegetable, like recent green beans with garlic.

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We dined at the new Holeman and Finch last night. Among the dishes we ordered was a dessert that featured black-pepper ice cream. This cued Wayne to remember the ’90s band Cibo Matto (Italian for “food madness”) and their song “White Pepper Ice Cream.” I couldn’t find a video of that particular song, but here’s one of “Know Your Chicken,” off the 1996 Viva! La Woman CD, which features nothing but tracks about food:

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Glenwood Park, the New Urbanist development between North Ormewood and Grant Park, held an Earth Day celebration this past weekend. The event featured live music and food samples from some Atlanta restaurants that use local and sustainable produce. While wandering around, I saw that the Shed, a new restaurant on Bill Kennedy Way (the connector between Glenwood, I-20 and Memorial) had its doors open. I stopped in and grabbed a menu.

The restaurant belongs to Cindy Shera, who most recently has been the GM at Twist. In fact she worked with Twist since its opening. Daniel Atwood will be helming the kitchen and is also an alum of Here To Serve restaurants; he was the chef at Prime.

The menu looks very straightforward, featuring American bistro fare. There will be a raw bar, as well as dishes such as chopped salad, “steak frite”, braised short ribs, and various sandwiches. You can check out their Open Table profile here.

The official opening date is next week.

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Rose D’Agostino and I lunched today at Bhojanic (1363 Clairmont Rd., 404-633-9233). This is among the city’s best choices for northern Indian cuisine, meaning, among other things, that there are meat options.

Rose and I both ordered thalis, the traditional plates that look like metal TV-dinner trays. Mine, shown here, featured chicken tikka masala, chicken curry and okra. Raita, rice pulao, chapati bread and papadam come with all thalis. Rose’s plate featured the same chicken tikka, plus onion dumplings and mini-eggplants with potatoes.

The restaurant, which also features a number of tapas and other snack foods, hosts jazz on Friday nights. Prices are low, and the appropriate spices are not toned down for unadventurous palates here.

(Photo by Cliff Bostock)

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Wayne and I dined at Solstice Cafe (562 Boulevard, 404-622-1976) in Grant Park Thursday night. This very laid-back, inexpensive cafe recalls the original Cafe Diem, with the same kind of menu of pastas, salads and a few entrées. Like the original Cafe Diem, Solstice also attracts a very eclectic crowd to its studiously shabby, candlelit interior. We were happy they were playing Amy Winehouse’s CDs.

I ordered this entrée of a chicken breast roasted in a crust of crumbled Ritz crackers, served with a Marsala sauce and garnish of portobello mushrooms. Mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and asparagus were also on the plate. The sauce was disconcerting on first bite, lacking the usual intensity of Marsala sauces, but the more I ate, the more I liked it.

Wayne ordered a decent Caesar salad with grilled chicken.

Our cuisine editor, Besha Rodell, reviewed the restaurant in February and reported that lunch and breakfast are the better meals at Solstice. Read her review here.

(Photo by Cliff Bostock)

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Whew! There’s still time to eat in chain restaurants in New York without the guilty knowledge of the number of calories you’re consuming.

In a case that is being nervously watched by restaurants everywhere, a federal appeals court judge delayed enforcement of city rules that require some restaurants to post calorie content on their menus. The delay is temporary, pending oral arguments before the appeals court on Tuesday.

The New York Times reports:

Under the rules, which the city’s health department revised after Judge Richard J. Holwell struck down an earlier version last fall, any chain with at least 15 outlets nationwide would have to display calorie counts on menu boards, menus or food tags. The rules would apply to roughly 2,000 restaurants, or about 10 percent of the 23,000 in the city, the health department said.

Some chain-restaurant outlets, among them Starbucks, Subway, Quiznos and Chipotle, have already posted calorie counts (startling some customers.)

Read more here.

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NPR’s “Morning Edition” featured a segment this morning about an interesting collaboration between the Culinary Institute of America and Harvard Medical School. The two recently held a joint conference devoted to healthy cooking.

“Intention is the driver of all behavioral change,” says Dr. David Eisenberg of Harvard Medical School, who initiated the collaboration with the Culinary Institute of America a few years ago. He says healthy and delicious go naturally together — but sometimes people need a little education and help. Doctors can be leaders in this area, he says.

Many of the physicians attending the Culinary Institute/ Harvard conference say they want to spend more time focusing on diet, lifestyle and disease prevention in their practices. Patients, they say, are hungry for concrete advice.

I was a bit repulsed to learn one dish was made from canned salmon and frozen spinach, but I do like those fried salmon patties served at soul-food restaurants. Somehow, I’m guessing Harvard’s version is less … fried.

Listen to the whole story or read the transcript here.

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For true cupcake connoisseurs, trying to find a perfect version of the hand-held treat can make you feel like a character straight out of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Too big. Too small. To sweet. Too bland. Too dense. Too dry. What’s a girl to do? Why, head to Little Cake Bakery (3792 Roswell Road, 404-841-8856, www.littlecakebakery.com) where the cupcakes are “just right.” The tiny Buckhead storefront, owned by self-proclaimed Francophiles Pamela Laurent and Meg Genone, has become the spot for in-the-know locals longing for something a bit more sophisticated than the ordinary Publix cupcake.

Continue reading Cheap Eats.

(Photo and article by Jennifer Zyman)

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We dined at Spice Market, inside the new W Midtown Atlanta hotel last week. The restaurant is one of the latest in culinary superstar Jean-Georges Vongeritchen’s empire and features the flavors of street food in Southeast Asia. Ian Winslade, formerly of Bluepointe, Shout and Posh, is the chef.

We ordered the mammoth five-course meal, which actually featured about 10 generous dishes (and is a phenomenal bargain at $48). Among the starters was one of tempura-fried onions garnished with radish slices, served over ripe avocado and — weirdly — Chinese mustard (top photo).

One of the more compelling dishes was the ginger fried rice (above). The kitchen fries an egg sunny-side up and coats the white with browned ginger and garlic, then places it over a heap of rice. The server breaks up the egg and mixes it with the rice.

I’ll have a full first look in next week’s Grazing column.

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I made a salad a few nights ago with ingredients purchased from Publix. The only thing that was any good was the arugula, the fancy stuff that Barack Obama likes.

The shrimp, which I sautéed in olive oil, were utterly tasteless. Organic grape tomatoes had as much moisture in them as dry cotton swabs. Two tangerines were mainly dried out.

I think some stores should start offering a “flavor guarantee.” If the food you buy has awful or no flavor, you would be able to return it for a refund … or maybe for coupons to the Krystal, whose food has better flavor.

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Black Wattle Superior Ale
Barons Brewing Company Ltd.
Sydney, Australia
5.8 % ABV

This intriguing ale spiced with roasted wattle seeds comes from a land Down Under, where the flowering plants of the acacia species grow in abundance, and the golden variety is even the national flower. The seeds of the black wattle give this clear, amber-brown brew a nutty, mocha flavor, similar to chicory. The malts are bready, with a maple-and-brown-sugar sweetness. A mild, earthy hop flavor and low hop bitterness keep the focus on the malts and spice. Medium-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel, Black Wattle is similar to an English brown ale such as Newcastle, but with a more complex flavor profile. Easy drinking and smooth, this Aussie is a good choice for the “shoulder season,” when you’re tiring of heavy ales but not yet ready for the lagers and wheat beers of summer.

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Othe Kendrick wrote this in response to a Dec. 19 post: “In the early ’90s, there existed a stand in the food court of Greenbriar Mall named Puffin Muffin. They were known for stuffed/filled cornbread muffins, particularly the signature concoction filled with collard greens and country ham. Does anyone know what happened to the cook or, more importantly, the recipes?”

Today, Othe writes: “I found the recipes. Meals in a Muffin, by Beverly Worrell and Alice Chapin, was published 1995. It is out of print, but copies can be found on amazon.com for under $10. And the Muffin de Soul is in there.”

Those things were delicious. Somebody needs to start retailing them again.

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My friends Brian Lapin and Eric Varner, part-time residents of Rome, are continually complaining about the lack of good mozzarella di bufala in the city. They are (almost) happy at last:

We went to the neighborhood farmer’s market this morning and stopped by the Via Elisa table to buy cheese. They had some packages of mozzarella di bufala and since they were only $6, we decided to try one. Incredibly and amazingly, the cheese was delicious and while not of the same exquisite quality as in Italy, far and away the best we have ever had here. Run, don’t walk.

That would be the Peachtree Road Farmers Market, open every Saturday in the parking lot of the Cathedral of St. Philip at 2744 Peachtree Rd. If you can’t wait, visit Via Elisa’s shop.

(17th Century drawing of Roman banquet, featuring recumbent diners, from the Royal Collection of the British monarchy.)

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