Omnivore Atlanta

I confess I’m a bit cynical about events like Midtown Restaurant Week. The advertised special is three courses for $25 at some very good restaurants. My fantasy, though, is that once I’m seated, the restaurant will find a way to redirect me to spend more money.

That’s not what happened when Wayne and I went to Beleza Wednesday night with our friends Brad and Eric. We were offered three choices for each course and ended up tasting everything. Exotic Brazilian-style cocktails and wine for my companions added to the cost, of course, but there was no pressure to do things differently.

That was not, however, the experience Brad and Eric had the night before when they went to Trois. Things got off to a bad start when an annoying but bearable 15-minute wait stretched out to a famishing 40 minutes.

Then, as soon as they were seated (behind a pillar), the server informed them that while the special $25 menu was available, they might want to know that if they ordered from the regular menu, they would receive complimentary wine.

Rapid arithmetic told the couple they’d save money and eat better ordering from the regular menu. So, when the server came back, they ordered food and selected a bottle of wine.

You know the rest of the story: When the bill arrived, they’d been fully charged for the $45 bottle of wine. They protested and the server said, “Oh, that was for a free glass of wine, not a bottle.” Of course, they would have spent significantly less had they ordered the special menu and a bottle of wine.

Arguably, they should have asked for more details about the wine special. But the details should have been spelled out more clearly to begin with. And when they abandoned the $25 menu and ordered the bottle after hearing about the wine special, the server should have clarified things. Brad writes:

The wine was $45. There was a special wine list that they provided (similar to the small handout menu that is part of the Midtown Restaurant Week) that had all the wines available as part of the promotion. At the top there was a three sentence blurb about how they understood how pinched we all are as a result of the economy and this was their way to help through election day. There was no mention as far as I know of only providing one a glass of wine with one’s entree.

Brad, not the reticent type, got angry and, to Trois’ credit, the cost of the wine was deducted from their meal.

Back to Beleza….

Among the dishes at Beleza I especially liked was a “ceviche blanco” featuring coconut milk, habaneros and cucumber, as well as fish. Roasted beets with oranges, basil and tofu in an orange vinaigrette was also a hit. But my favorite dish here remains the shrimp moqueca, featuring white shrimp in coconut milk with extra-virgin red palm oil, cilantro, cashews and basmati rice.

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Last Friday, the Food and Drug Administration gave the go-ahead for irradiation of spinach and lettuce (and possibly tomatoes) in response to recent outbreaks of E.Coli and salmonella in our produce. Grocers and food-industry groups have been ready for the irradiation allowance for quite a while, but are consumers?

When I read about the FDA’s nod of approval to have our veggies zapped with gamma rays, the high pressure-hosing scenes from Silkwood haunted me every time I glanced in the direction of a salad. A bit extreme, I know, but quite frankly, radiation is scary. And I will admit I had some questions.

Turns out, a lot of our meat, fruit, and imported spices have been irradiated for years. Fortunately, labels will let you know which products are treated with electronic pasteurization, so if you’re not down with irradiation just yet, don’t buy the beef (or vegetables) with the Radura logo. (more…)

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Full Sail IPA

Full Sail Brewing Company
Hood River, OR
6.0% ABV

Full Sail beers are ubiquitous in the Pacific Northwest, but are just showing up in Georgia. The labels seemed to be redesigned from the way I remember them, touting that the brewery is “independent” and “employee-owned.” I don’t know if this has anything to do with recent mergers in the world of industrial lagers, but as long as it’s true, I have no problem with it.

Superb clarity, a nice, persistent cap of off-white head, and some sticky lacing give the Full Sail IPA an inviting appearance. The aroma has a sweet, floral essence with a hint of pine and lemon tea. The taste echoes the nose, with some fruity, pale malt to back up the soapy, leafy hop flavors. There’s bit of aspirin astringency in the finish, but the lively carbonation and bright character give it an easy drinkability. A well-balanced IPA and a good stepping stone for those looking for more flavor in their beer.

(photo by Jeff Holland)

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ABC News is investigating the role of lobbyists and big-money donors at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. One of its staff was arrested, 1968-style, for photographing senators and their donors as they headed to a private party.

Among ABC’s documentation of excess are pictures of the food the high-rolling Dems are gobbling up. You can check them out here (but you’ll have to scroll through the pictures to find the 3 or 4 pertaining to food). I leave it to you to determine whether the food looks luxuriously decadent.

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There have been many complaints about the downfall of Decatur’s Crescent Moon since ownership changed. It looks as though the original owners may come back though. Read about it here.

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Popeyes is re-branding itself. Read about it here.

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Here’s some more good news from the Old Fourth Ward. Cafe 458, whose popular Sunday brunch helps fund programs for the homeless, is opening for dinner 5:30-8:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, beginning Sept. 4.

A spokesperson for the Cafe, whose chef is Johnathan Metellus, said this:

The new dinner menu at Café 458 will feature an eclectic mix of traditional Southern comfort food and American cuisine influenced by tastes from around the world. Dinner patrons can choose a prix-fixe, three-course dinner ($28) or á la carte entrees including Lobster Ravioli, Seared Filet Mignon, and Sunflower- Encrusted Salmon. Diners may bring their own bottle of wine.

On Sundays, Café 458’s will continue to serve signature brunch favorites such as Southern Comfort French Toast, Costa Rican Pancakes, Thai Chicken and Waffles, and the ever-popular Carolina Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict.

During other hours, the restaurant, operated by Samaritan House of Atlanta at 458 Edgewood Ave., provides regular meals to the homeless in a restaurant setting instead of the usual soup kitchen.

I’ve eaten brunch at the Cafe several times. If the dinner menu is as good as brunch, this should be another great dining spot in the same area as Dynamic Dish, Noni’s and Cafe Circa.

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We dined Tuesday night at Stella (563 Memorial Dr., 404-688-4238) and found the place crowded with people playing its weekly trivia game.

For me, though, the big attraction was a special — a thin-crusted white pizza topped with prosciutto and fresh, local figs. It was a bit pricier than the average special — $15 for a single-serving pie — but worth every penny. I could eat one of these daily forever.

According to our very entertaining server, Bria, the special’s appearance is unpredictable, so call ahead to find out if it’s available.

Stella is now open for lunch weekdays, by the way.

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If you’ve never heard of Outstanding in the Field, they’re this group that drives around the country and throws dinners out in a field somewhere. They invite a local chef and showcase local produce. They’re coming to Atlanta on September 28th, and throwing a five course dinner with Watershed’s Scott Peacock (check out the details here). The event sold out a while back, but I’ve been contacted by someone who has six tickets he can’t use. If you’re interested in taking all or some of them off his hands, email me at besha.rodell@creativeloafing.com and I’ll put you in touch.

8-28-08 update: All the tickets have now been taken.

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I reported Aug. 1 that the Lamplighter Cafe in Grant Park seemed to be closing.

I now learn from Atlanta Cuisine that Carmen Cappello, the talented chef who left Mix for Sweet Lowdown, which also closed, is now taking over the space. He hopes to be open in early September.

I assume Cappello will be preparing his usual kinky fusion, although I’m told he’ll be featuring — all together now — a farm-to-table menu. Is anyone not doing farm-to-table cooking these days?

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Please stop putting trans fats in the dressing that comes with your pre-packaged chicken Caesar salad. You might also want to provide a fork that isn’t so flimsy that lettuce breaks its prongs.

That is all.

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Vietnamese cuisine is my favorite. I could eat it every day and I’ve been in perpetual mourning since the closing of Bien Thuy, although I like Com very much too.

But Chateau de Saigon (4300 Buford Hwy., 404-929-0034), open only a week, sets a new standard for our city. I’ve eaten there twice already and I’ve barely dented its enormous menu. The chef here grew up with Chinese and Vietnamese parents, speaks both languages and cooks both cuisines. The staff here, including the owner, seems to mainly be American-born Vietnamese, so you’ll get a much more thorough explanation of the dishes here than you do at the usual Vietnamese cafe.

At one dinner, we started with two appetizers unique to this restaurant (top photo). One was strips of spicy pork and a pencil-thin, crispy roll wrapped in rice paper with mint, cucumber and lettuce. The other (foreground of the picture) was ground shrimp fried in a tofu wrapper.

One entree (above, right) was lemongrass beef wrapped in wild betal leaves. (The owner, Jimmy, told us repeatedly that this differed from Com’s dish in that the leaf is “wild, from the vine, rather than from a tree.”) We wrapped the stuffed leaves in rice paper along with vermicelli, herbs and — most wonderful –star fruit and plantains.

We also tried one of the Chinese dishes — flat rice noodles with shrimp, scallops and squid (above, left). The noodles, new to me, were even better than the seafood, although all of it was fresh and flavorful too. There are several pages of noodle dishes, including 17 bun dishes.

If you are going to only one restaurant this week, let this be it. The restaurant is located about a half-mile north of Buford Highway’s intersection with Dresden Drive. It’s in a new strip mall, with several other new Vietnamese cafes and a Latino night club.

I’ll have more to say in “Grazing” soon.

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You’ve undoubtedly heard that Starbucks has closed hundreds of locations and is scrapping its expansion plans.

Meanwhile, Dunkin’ Donuts is going gangbusters, with a massive expansion westward. The company is pushing its coffee, which accounts for 60 percent of its sales, as an inexpensive alternative to Starbucks’ increasingly rococo menu of beverages. Prices overall are 20- to 30-percent cheaper than Starbucks’.

Sunday’s NPR Morning Edition aired a story about the donut chain’s plans. Check it out here.

Meanwhile, next week’s Sunday Morning Edition will feature more donuts:

Have you ever been caught in a sticky situation with a doughnut? Weekend Edition invites listeners to ask questions and share their stories about doughnuts. Paul Mullins, author of the book, “Glazed America: A History of the Doughnut,” will be answering these questions next week, live, on the Weekend Edition Sunday blog. Paul Mullins is an associate professor at Indiana University.

Listeners have already started posting their donut stories here.

Finally, Sunday morning’s show also featured a story on the restaurant Fruition in Denver. It’s expecting Democratic bigwigs attending the national convention to dine there. A restaurant representative gave NPR his menu recommendations for such as Bill and Hillary. Listen here.

*The image was removed from this post.

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We were walking toward Noni’s Italian Deli and Bar (357 Edgewood Ave., 404-915-8679), across from the Executive Car Wash where the staff was spit-shining cars and pumping loud music.

A woman, perhaps 45, dressed in soiled white hot pants and a blond wig askew on her head staggered by us, mumbling.

Wayne turned and said, “Aww, that was sweet. Did you hear her?”

I told him I had.

“It’s not every day a stranger says, ‘How you doin’, darlin’,'” he said.

“Wayne,” I corrected him, “she was drunk and she said, ‘How about a dollar?’”

Which goes to show that if you carry the right attitude and hearing, you won’t mind the rather picturesque folks wandering about this stretch of Edgewood Avenue, four or five blocks west of Boulevard. In any case, owner Matt Rupert has hired a black-clad security man who can protect you from panhandlers in hot pants. Honestly, I find the surroundings entertaining and, in any case, there’s parking behind the new restaurant. Look for the driveway on the west side of the building.

Fair disclosure requires that I report that I’ve known Matt for some years. In fact, he was our server at Cava when we had a knock-down-drag-out battle about remodeling Unabomber Acres, our mountain casita. Matt’s the co-founder of the Big Gay Supper Club and he recently completed a master’s degree in French. He’s a very talented, funny and smart young guy. My recollection is that he also plays piano. Maybe he can perform as Noni’s lounge lizard as well as its owner and chef.

Read the rest of this article here.

(Photo by James Camp)

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Friday was a good day for eating. I met my friends Brad and Todd for lunch at JCT (1198 Howell Mill Rd., 404-355-2252). It’s in the same development that hosts Bacchanalia, Star Provisions, Figo and Taqueria del Sol.

All of the restaurants seemed to be packed, so that finding a parking space was an ordeal. Actually, getting there was an ordeal too. I took 17th Street, which runs from Peachtree through Atlantic Station, to Howell Mill.

As usual, the intersection of 17th and Howell Mill was a damn nightmare, with traffic backed-up all the way to Northside Drive. There’s no stop sign on Howell Mill there, so it can take a good 10 minutes or longer to get through the intersection. It’s another example of terrible planning by the city. The 14th Street bridge over the connector is gone, so a lot of westbound traffic is diverted to 17th Street. You’d think they would have thought to install a light or a stop sign.

Lunch at JCT was good. I had sauteed shrimp over creamy grits (above). Brad had iceberg lettuce with shrimp and Todd ordered a roasted-pork sandwich. Portions were on the small side, so Todd and I ordered dessert — chocolate fried pies for him and gingerbread pudding with lemon curd for me.

We had a great server, a young woman from Latvia.

Friday night, Wayne and I went to Dynamic Dish, where we shared our table with a cluster of pineapples. We’ve been eating here at least once a week and Friday’s meal was as exceptional as usual. An asparagus soup made with celeriac broth and a bit of creme fraiche was tangy and fragrant. We both ordered the day’s sandwich — a Reuben made with tempeh, sauerkraut and Russian dressing. On the side, we had a bowl of local black-eyed peas with butter. They were yet another lesson in the value of simplicity when ingredients are first-rate.

Honestly, I consider Dynamic Dish the best restaurant to have opened in our city in the last year. Owner/Chef David Sweeney’s cooking has no equal here.

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Not long after the 5 Seasons brewhouse opened at the Prado in 2001, one of the customers came up with the perfect review: This is fine dining, in denim.

The pub not only features the celebrated beers of brew master Glen Sprouse, it has a menu unlike any other bar in Atlanta, with its emphasis on local produce and natural-fed meats.

But 5 Seasons owner Dennis Lange says he has lost more than $600,000 since the Sembler Company purchased the Prado two years ago and began a big-box redevelopment of the property that will bring in a Home Depot, Target and other retail businesses.

The issue? Parking and public access. “A representative from Sembler assured us they would take care of us,” Lange says. “They started gobbling up spaces during construction. And, suddenly, there was no parking.”

It’s true, getting to 5 Seasons can be an adventure. There are normally three entrances to the Prado. With the construction, there is one. And it leads through a construction zone. For a while, according to Lange, Sembler offered a valet service that was so slow, customers got into arguments over who was first in line. Today, customers are supposed to park in a new parking deck several hundred feet away from the brew pub and walk across a pedestrian bridge.

Read the rest of this article here.

(Photo by James Camp)

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Last week in my review of Vine, I made a comment about the restaurant’s wine list regarding origin and diversity:

The menu, room and list all look to California for inspiration, but all three would do well to take a big step beyond the West Coast. With 400 wines on the list, I’d like to see more variation in origin rather than a few nods toward the Old World in a sea of California wines.

It appears my generalization was incorrect. I got an email from Chris Reid, Vine’s sommelier, which corrected me. He took the time to break down the wine list and found this:

Total counts by percentage are… California 37%, non-California domestic 12%, imported wine is 55%! The majority is IMPORT.

Obviously, I should have paid more attention. My methodology was horribly flawed, and revealed one of my shortcomings: I tend to pay more attention to one part of a wine list than others: full-bodied whites. That’s no justification for the misinformation printed in the review, and to Reid and Vine I apologize. There’s no excuse for generalizations like this that misinform the public - I am fully aware of the impact a review can have, and I take the responsibility seriously.

With that said, it was difficult for me to find a white wine at Vine that I really wanted to drink. That’s partly because of my own tastes, something I usually try to keep under wraps in a review. But it’s one of my restaurant peeves when the list is so heavy on Californian chardonnays and has nothing French, or the few French chardonnays on the list are prohibitively expensive (as is the case at Vine). I’d like to see restaurants that specialize in wine give as much space to French and Italian whites (beyond pinot grigios) as they do to California whites.

It’s true that Vine has some serious geographic variety, offering wines from India, South Africa, Argentina and beyond. I never had the pleasure of speaking with Reid during my visits, and if I had, perhaps he could have directed me to a wine I could get excited about. As it is, I am very sorry for the error.

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Midtown Restaurant Week kicks off this Saturday, Aug. 23, and runs through the following Saturday. It’s your chance to eat three courses at some of the city’s notable restaurants for only $25.

To see the list of those participating and to make a reservation — and you should make a reservation — click here.

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