Great meal at MetroFresh
March 17th, 2009 by Cliff Bostock in Restaurants
I was on my own last night and, on the way home from the gym, I decided to stop at MetroFresh. I mentioned a few weeks back that I was seated next to owner Mitchell Anderson at the first of Shaun’s Sunday night pasta dinners. Mitchell mentioned that his menu had taken some interesting turns and that he was selling bread from Eli Kikove now.
I was pretty much blown away by this dish of sliced flat iron steak over roasted asparagus with a mushroom-cream sauce. I’m talking intense flavors. It was about $17 and came with a cup of corn-sausage chowder. Naturally, I had to eat a lemon cupcake from the Atlanta Cupcake Factory for dessert.
I did have a few complaints. The counter people were all nice but totally uneducated in the menu. Every time I asked a question, they had to pop into the kitchen for an answer. Also, I bought a bread stick and a square of ciabatta. I am assuming that the three days of rain were responsible for the unpleasant chewiness.
But the rest of my food was really good. The MetroFresh website credits Executive Chef Bryan Kraatz for the menu innovations. There is mention, too, that Kraatz makes a cassoulet. I want.
After dinner I took a walk next door to Nam. I was shocked to see how completely obscured it is by the new Starbucks. You can’t see it unless you happen to walk down that way. I was happy to see a sign on the window that the restaurant is now offering pho and Vietnamese sandwiches to go.
(Photo by Cliff Bostock)
March 17th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
I wish I could have a MetroFresh meal plan. That place is the best.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Midtown Promenade did not need a Starbucks, it needed a parking deck.
Glad to hear about Nam’s Pho-to-go or to-go-Pho!
March 18th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Banh Mi?! Awesome!
March 18th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Why say “pho and Vietnamese sandwiches” rather than “pho and banh mi” or “Vietnamese noodle soup and sandwiches”?
March 18th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Argh, because I was in a hurry and didn’t wanna look up the correct spelling of the bandme. Further, I just assume most people know what “pho” is, since it’s become Anglicized, but don’t know the meaning of “bánh mì,” which hasn’t really become Anglicized, raising the question of why you left off the diacritical marks.
Geez.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I don’t mean to sound negative here, but I always assumed “now serving pho” to be a sign of impending doom. Remember Huong Giang, for example?
March 18th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
This is great news. There is virtually no Pho available in town. Obviously there is the buford highway stuff but i mean intown, intown.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
No worries Cliff–I’m not your editor. My guess is that pho and banh mi have equally become anglicized, to the extent that either has. Now, how about banh xeo? Hey, life’s tough for a food writer.
Edgewood Sam: I’ll agree with the “virtually” part, but there is indeed pho to be found at the place that I believe is aptly called Dua Vietnamese Noodle Soup on Broad Street, which is as intown as can be.
March 18th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Agree with Sauce. My feeling after seeing it was that this is the equivalent of an “all you can eat special” or “under new management” sign.
March 18th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I’m ribbing you back, Lorenzo. Is this the Lorenzo who used to Squarf?
I confess I had sauce’s same feeling about the sign.
I reported rumors earlier that Nam was trying to break its lease and after seeing how they’ve been basically rendered invisible, I don’t blame them at all if this is true. However, the restaurant did seem to have a decent crowd.
March 18th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
I had lunch at Dua the other day and it was really quite good. I had the lemongrass chicken and the fiance at a noodle bowl of some sort with shrimp.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
As for Dua, their pho mostly reminds me that I would rather be eating Dai Loi’s pho. But it is about ten feet away from that part of GSU, so that’s a plus.
March 19th, 2009 at 9:09 am
I guess i should have been even more specific. I also need the place to be open during hours when i am not at work. Tried to go get the Pho from Nam last night. They want 10 bucks a bowl. I found that to be a bit ridiculous. I work in norcross so i will just stick to the great reasonably priced Pho choices offered out here. I sure was looking forward to a long dreamed about hangover Pho that did not take a 25 minute ride to get there. A man can dream….
March 20th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
How is the pho at Nam?