Omnivore Atlanta

I received this email from Elisa Gambino, our city’s pasta goddess, who owns Via Elisa. The email pertains to my review this week of Neo:

Regarding your visit to Neo: Why put balsamic vinegar on mozzarella? This is a travesty one never sees in Italy. Why put even more acid on something so wonderfully milky when the tomatoes in the salad create the perfect low level of acidity? Caprese salad has five ingredients: mozzarella, tomato, extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil and salt. Balsamic vinegar adds nothing and will change the flavor of even the best mozzarella. Balsamic is often used to hide bad ingredients and I think your “caprese” at Neo might have been a victim of this tactic.

I recently saw a restaurant offering “local San Marzano” tomatoes. Very simply, “local San Marzano tomatoes” do not exist. San Marzano tomatoes are like Parmigiano Reggiano, Champagne and Vidalia onions. They are all geographically specific and cannot be produced outside of their region. The consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano producers has spent millions educating the masses on the difference between Parmigiano Reggiano and all other parmesans but the San Marzano growers do not have the money it takes to create a marketing campaign on this scale.

Buyers beware: If the tomato is grown domestically, it is NOT San Marzano and you should not pay San Marzano prices for it. Is it a good tomato? Maybe, but it is not San Marzano. San Marzanos arrive in the US in cans and they are the best canned tomatoes for making sauce. I’ll write to you about why they are so perfect in another e-mail but for now the pasta machines are calling.

I suppose the restaurant could argue that because it doesn’t call the salad “Caprese,” it can do what it wants. I should also clarify that the balsamic was not on the mozzarella but was a swipe on the plate. I’m nit-picking before anyone else has the chance to.

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The L.A. Times reports that the Los Angeles City Council has passed an ordinance prohibiting construction of fast food restaurants in a 32-square-mile area inhabited by 500,000 low-income people.

Read Slate’s take on the issue here.

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The Porter, a new gastro-pub coming to 1156 Euclid Ave. in Little Five Points, has posted its menus on a new website. The restaurant’s owners, two former employees of the defunct Seeger’s, are hoping for a September opening.

The menu looks very tantalizing. Take a look here.

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Albino Python Lager
Shmaltz Brewing Company
Saratoga Springs, NY
6.0% ABV

Appropriate for the freak show theme, this beer is modeled after a Belgian witbier, but brewed with lager yeast rather than the traditional Belgian ale yeast. The characteristic coriander and orange peel are added, along with some more unusual spices like ginger and fennel. The result is a sweet, mildly spicy brew, with a slick mouthfeel and a clean, refreshing finish. The unfiltered yeast in the bottle contributes to its cloudy, pale-yellow color and almost blue-gray tint. The lively carbonation yields a perfectly big frothy head when poured into a weizen glass. There’s a hint of honey in the pale malt sweetness, along with a bit of citrus twang. The spices meld nicely, with nothing overwhelming the palate. Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing the spices cranked up a notch. The fennel, ginger, and a lemongrass character suggest a pairing with Asian food. The body is pleasantly light but not watery. Overall, a satisfying experiment and definitely ahead of most American pale wheat ales.

(photo courtesy Shmaltz Brewing Co.)

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The company that owns Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale restaurants has filed for bankruptcy. All 150 company-owned restaurants are closing, while 138 franchise operations will remain open.

Bennigan’s was actually started in Atlanta in the mid-’70s. It was the prototypical fern bar, the kind of place favored by Ron Hudspeth, a popular nightlife columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in that era.

Read the full story here.

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Got this question from Sarah about Cafe Lapin:

Can anyone find out more information on Cafe Lapin that is going to open in the Peachtree Battle shopping center? It seems to have an outpost at ADAC, but there’s not a lot of info on the place on the web. It’s going in where Great Wraps used to be - seems like it’s going to be a “ladies who lunch” kind of place.

I found this on Micropundit’s blog on Egullet:

Mattie Hines, owner of LA LAPIN in the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center, will open his second restaurant, CAFÉ LAPIN, a neighborhood bistro, in the Peachtree Battle shopping center this summer.

Anyone out there know anything else?

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I noticed today Slice pizza on Howell Mill is boarded-up and for sale. A quick Googling indicates the place has been closed for over a month.

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They’re taking over America’s palate! Go, Bob!

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Taking a tip from Operation ABECEDarian Eateries, written by a trumpet player and an ecologist, we had one of our most interesting dining expeditions in months when we visited Daru Ssalam Halal Restaurant this weekend.

This is a no-frills operation serving Somali cooking by owner Mohamed S. Ali, a longtime banquet chef for Marriott Hotels.

Closely related to Ethiopian food — Mr. Ali is Ethiopian himself — Somali cuisine also has an Italian influence, owing to a period of occupation. There are dishes literally featuring spaghetti, along with keke which includes chicken and broad “noodles” made of wheat tortilla flour in a savory sauce.

The most unfamiliar dish we ordered was ugali (left), white cubes that tasted like grits, served with kidney beans and spinach.

Half the menu, oddly, is American dishes.

Look for a review in an upcoming Grazing column.

Meanwhile, if you want to visit the restaurant, which is open for breakfast as well as lunch and dinner, it is at 4746 Memorial Dr., Decatur, in a small strip center next to a Dunkin’ Donuts. Phone: 404-298-3440.

(Photos by Cliff Bostock)

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The Gourmet-ification of everywhere

By Lindsey Zuckerman

It used to be that you could only find great food at home or in a restaurant. Lately, though, good food is popping up in all sorts of unexpected places.

Whether you’re enjoying BBQ Pork Ribs at Turner Field, sushi at Seattle’s Safeco Field or clam chowder at San Francisco’s AT&T Park, you’ll know this isn’t the baseball grub you remember from childhood. More and more, stadiums are upgrading their food in an attempt to lure casual baseball fans to the game. The idea makes sense — I am far more likely to brave the blazing Atlanta afternoon heat if delicious food is involved.

Turner Field still seems a bit behind the curve on upscale baseball dining. There’s nothing coming out of its concessions to compete with San Francisco’s fresh crab sandwich or Seattle’s Pad Thai. What Turner lacks in quality, though, is made up for in volume, and you can now purchase an all-you-can eat ticket. Whether your waistline can handle a pulled pork sandwich, 50-chicken wing and 3-beer calorie bomb is another issue.

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We headed to Noni’s, the new Italian deli-bar on Edgewood Ave., for dinner Saturday night but found it still not open. Owner Matt Rupert swears he’s opening tonight, though. The problem has been getting a liquor license.

We parked around the corner and found this new juice bar, Juiceez & Etc. It’s not open yet, either, but should be soon.

The address is 20 Jackson St., 404-688-3812.

UPDATE: I had a call from Matt Rupert this morning. Noni’s will not open tonight. He plans to open Tuesday at lunchtime instead.

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This email just in from Brian:

Read your review. My wife and I recently tried to go on her birthday. However upon arriving, the valet told us that the parking lot was full and to “come back in like 15 minutes”. Given valet is the only option, we left. I wrote a letter to the restaurant, but in true concentrics style, I’ve not heard back. It’s too bad because it’s now on our ‘no go’ list.

I have always refused to use the valet at Parish. I’m happy to find parking the old fashioned way — driving around the neighborhood until I find a street spot. The strange new condo neighborhood directly across the street from Parish often has street parking. But isn’t Brian’s point a funny Atlanta conundrum — when your valet parking situation dictates your restaurant’s viability, there’s no real winner. If all your tables are full, that’s one thing, but empty tables and a full parking lot are not good business.

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Unless you own a bar or work for a distillery, attending the Tales of the Cocktail convention in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter is one of the more self-indulgent things a person can do. Also fun, informative, entertaining and, yes, intoxicating. The seminars – and thus, the drinking – begin at 10:30 a.m. and the mood is predictably convivial. It’s perfectly acceptable, almost unavoidable, to maintain a day-long buzz.

Created only six years ago in the birthplace of the cocktail, and housed in the historic Hotel Monteleone, the annual convention has grown substantially in just the last couple of years. I had the good fortune to attend last year’s event and was pleasantly surprised this week to note the larger crowds and the more numerous free events. This is a prime venue to debut a liquor and grab the attention of some of the world’s top bartenders, industry insiders and booze critics.

Last year’s event saw the launch of two French liquors: La Fee, one of the first of the new absinthes to hit the American market, and St. Germain, a versatile cordial flavored with elderflower. This year, the new entries are too many to count, including several absinthes, a tequila line, an artisan American gin and an herbal vodka.

Apart from the drinks, one comes to Tales for the fascinating historical tidbits. Did you know, for instance, that cocktails gained mainstream popularity in the U.S. during Prohibition, when various mixers and ingredients were used to mask the skunky taste of bathtub gin? Well, you, too, would find such trivia fascinating if you were half-hammered.

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The State of California has outlawed the use of trans fats by restaurants, according to The New York Times:

Under the new law, trans fats, long linked to health problems, must be excised from restaurant products beginning in 2010, and from all retail baked goods by 2011. Packaged foods will be exempt.

New York City adopted a similar ban in 2006 — it became fully effective on July 1 — and Philadelphia, Stamford, Conn., and Montgomery County, Md., have done so as well.

But having the requirement imposed on the most populous state’s 88,000 restaurants, as well as its bakeries and other food purveyors, is a major gain for the movement against trans fats. That movement has been led by scientists, doctors and consumer advocates who trace the largely synthetic fat to a variety of ailments, principally heart disease.

Read more here.

Incidentally, California did not ban the use of carcinogens in the manufacture of cigarettes.

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This is going to be good. Ryan Stewart, chef at The Glenwood, plans to launch a series of “summer farm dinners” on Aug. 4. The first will feature vegetables, herbs and fruit from Scharko Farms.

Cost for five courses is $35, a bargain, to say the least. You must make a reservation by calling 404-622-6066. I suggest you do so promptly. The Glenwood’s last special meal, a “beer dinner” earlier this week, sold out.

Stewart’s menu follows:

First course: Heirloom tomato water with cucumber and basil ice sorbet.

Second: Quail rillettes with field pea pistou.

Third: Salmon on polenta, rattlesnake beans, crispy pork belly.

Fourth: Venison loin with sweet corn pudding and arugula salad.

Dessert: Raspberry Napoleon with lemon verbena cream.

The Glenwood is located in East Atlanta Village at 1263 Glenwood Ave.

(Full disclosure: Yes, Ryan Stewart is the spouse of our cuisine editor Besha Rodell. No, nobody bribed me to write about this. The man’s cooking is incredible. Photo from Scharko Farms’ website.)

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Tasty China is known for overload on many counts - copious spice, MSG and attitude are all hallmarks of the place, none of which have ever bothered me. But now it seems there’s a new ingredient to take to extremes and that’s salt. I ate there yesterday and could barely taste the food for the salt. I just tried to eat some leftovers for lunch and my mouth is numb - and no, it’s not because of Szechuan peppercorns.

Just to be clear, I am a salt fiend.  It’s by far my favorite spice (I know it’s not really a spice, but you know what I mean). But this was like salt-lick salty, like drinking Dead Sea water salty. And it was across the board - out of five dishes, only one was not too salty to enjoy.

The sad part is, much of what I love about Tasty China is the unexpected quality, the way ginger or chilies can create a piercing high note where it is least expected, the way the delicate nature of the food is allowed to shine through the outrageous spicing. The food I had yesterday was sadly one-note, even under all that salt there wasn’t much nuance.

I am hoping it was a fluke.

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Big news at the Ansley Publix. I was paying for my stuff when I noticed a lot of commotion near the manager’s office. The bag boy (or whatever they call them now) informed me that they had caught someone shoplifting and were calling the police. It seems the man tore open a package of meat and stuffed his pockets full.

This of course instantly reminded me of the famous scene in John Waters’ Pink Flamingos (1972) when Divine shoplifts a steak she later feeds to her family back at the trailer. I could only find a clip without the original dialog but please don’t watch this if you have delicate sensibilities….and I know some of you do.

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I visited Neo (3376 Peachtree Rd., 404-995-7545), the new Italian restaurant in the Mansion on Peachtree, last week. This development is the ultra-luxurious hotel with residences that will soon be home to a branch of Craft, the ultra-hip New York restaurant.

Our meal was a mixed success. The take on Caprese salad pictured here looked good but featured a tasteless buffalo mozzarella. The organic tomato was equally bereft of flavor. It typifies much of the food here: pricey, pretty and pretty bland.

On the other hand, an entree of osso bucco was quite good and accompanied by a celery puree whose almost minty sweetness ideally complemented the roasted meat.

I can say without equivocation that the restaurant is gorgeous, with classic architectural features (sans showy theatrics) and a view of a large English courtyard garden. It has a super-attentive staff, too.

Look for my review in Grazing next week.

(Photo by Cliff Bostock)

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Don’t forget: This is Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week. All week, through July 27, you can have a three-course meal for $25 in some good restaurants (including Spoon, Cafe Circa and French American Brasserie).

The event coincides with the National Black Arts Festival, so you should definitely make reservations before heading out. For full details, go here….

Paging Miss Ann. You have competition! Best burger in town? As if….

Slate, the online magazine, is tracking the closing of 600 Starbucks stores. It’s issued an invitation to readers to participate in a memorial project:

We want to hear from you. If you frequented a Starbucks that’s soon to be closed, write a testimonial about it for the map. What’s the history of the place? Did it force a mom-and-pop joint out of business? Or was it the kaffeeklatsch of the community? Did the service suck? Was there a certain demographic (hipsters, old folk, caffeine-addled yuppies) who swarmed the premises? Pictures and video are all welcome, as well.

Get the whole story here. You can read some of the submissions here….

The Standard in Grant Park is toying with its Wednesday night specials. For weeks, it was Korean barbecue, which didn’t really rock my palate. Last week it was a Thai curry whose appearance on another table immediately convinced me not to order it. This week it was a very strange and quite tasty “South African curry” made of ground beef served like meat loaf over rice….

It’s a hassle to find a parking space in the booming Luckie Marietta District downtown, right? Stop your complaining and go whirlybird…..

Nathalie Dupree re-emerges….

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