Omnivore Atlanta

You’ve probably read about the South Carolina woman who has been charged with criminal neglect because of her 14-year-old son’s obesity. The boy, who weighs more than 550 lbs., is now in foster care.

CNN interviewed the mother’s attorneys yesterday. …

Another Wednesday, another absurdly inexpensive meal of Chef Lance Gummere’s designer sliders at the Shed on Glenwood. I notice that in my original post on Omnivore, I suggested that the $3 treats were big enough that two would fill the average diner. The last two weeks, I’ve ordered three and Wayne has had four — and not because they’ve grown any smaller in size. Addiction. …

Blogger Amy Wallas hits Varasano’s: “We tried the salumi and the white clam pizza. The salumi was tasty, with good fresh mozzarella and Italian meats. The char on the pizza gave it flavor and body as well, but to be honest… .”

Gidget, Taco Bell’s mascot, gives up the ghost at 15. …

How to make a smoothie with your feet. …

Photographer Broderick Smylie checks out the action at Noon in Midtown. I may be mistaken, but I believe Broderick hit Noon after leaving another nearby restaurant still hungry. …

Steakhead has been quiet lately but he likes Teela Taqueria in Sandy Springs.

Bookmark to:

The snooty side of food pairings preaches “no wine with salad.” I fed on this falsehood for years, following the widely-held mantra like an evangelical wino. Then one day a miraculous salad and vino combo made me rethink my reliance on traditional not-so-wisdom.

Not that I was always so cool and contrarian. Before my re-awakening, I lapped up all the drivel wine magazines and writers spit out. But, like a rebellious teenager, I slowly realized it wasn’t adding up. Salads are simply another dish with sauce slathered on it. Match the sauce with the wine and you win. To give tradition some credit, back in the day salad dressings mostly contained robust vinegars like distilled white or cider that rendered wine lifeless and dull; it made sense to teach wine-with-salad avoidance. Times have changed, however. Now that less acidic rice or sweeter balsamic vinegars and lime and lemon use are common, wine and dressing can snuggle up and make sweet, tart love.

Continue reading Pairing Wine with Salad

Bookmark to:

FILTHY RICH: Pick out the most over-the-top things about Atlanta and pull for your everyday hometown favorites tomorrow at the Masquerade.

Creative Loafing’s annual Best of Atlanta Voting Party will be tomorrow at the Masquerade. The event starts at 9 p.m., and tickets are $5. Food and beverages are included. Attractive Eighties Women and Hardy Morris of Dead Confederate will both be performing live. Come submit your picks — whether indulgent or gritty —  for the Best of Atlanta 2009 “Filthy Rich” edition while mingling with the CL staff.

If you can’t make it tomorrow, vote online.

Bookmark to:

After months of battling mightily for the wine job of a lifetime, it appears that Atlanta’s own Hardy Wallace, aka Dirty South Wine, has landed Murphy Goode’s Really Goode Job. Well deserved, congrats, we knew we’d picked a winner.

Here’s the full release.

Bookmark to:

Lagunitas Brewing Company
Petaluma, CA
7.3% ABV

Iconoclastic brewer Tony Magee and his crew don’t need much excuse to release a new beer, and their hop-forward wheat ale is the second to draw on the current economic crisis for inspiration. “So we are all on collective disability,” says the label. “That’s cool. Let’s put some ice on it and keep ourselves elevated for a while.” I couldn’t agree more. The brewery’s website says that this beer has a nice “wheaty-esque-ish-ness,” as if they were a bit embarassed to be releasing a wheat ale, considering their reputation for big, hoppy beers. They needn’t have worried, since this is not your typical pale wheat ale.

Sumpin’ Sumpin’ pours a glowing gold beer with excellent clarity. None of the unfiltered haziness or yeasty aroma often associated with wheat beers is present. Just fresh, piney, grapefruit-y hops and some cookie-like malts in the background. Hops dominate the taste, as well, with some tropical fruit notes. The wheat malt lightens the body a bit, but not to the point of being watery or thin. There is some breadiness mid-palate and a hint of yeasty tang, but mostly a firm, fruity sweetness carries the hop flavors aloft, and all else drops away. The mouthfeel is sticky, but soft, leading to a bone-dry finish. A modest bitterness lingers nicely, and the final impression is of a buttery white wine with some grainy tannins and palate-drying resins.

Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ might be a bit puckering and potent for swilling, but it nevertheless hides its alcohol well and is thankfully not overly sweet or bubble-gummy, making it a perfect summer sipper for hopheads. Another interesting concoction from Lagunitas.

Bookmark to:

MARINATE ON THIS: The marinated short ribs at Myung Ga Won

It’s some ungodly hour and you need food. Unfortunately, Atlanta’s intown late-night dining options are limited unless you want greasy eggs and something of the scattered variety. You do have options if you deign to drive to Duluth, however. Yes, Duluth, where there is an infinite variety of cuisines, new restaurants opening every day, and plenty of spots that cater to night owls. What more can you ask for? One of my newest finds, Myung Ga Won (1960 Day Drive, Suite 100, Duluth, 770-622-1300, www.mk1usa.com), serves exceptional Korean cuisine and is open 24 hours a day.

Tucked away in a small strip mall just off I-85, Myung Ga Won’s colorful — and slightly retro — façade looks more like a bowling alley than a dining establishment. And the last thing you’d expect is the contemporary décor touches like the lightboxes that pepper the dining room and the retro-modern revival wooden panels in various shades of orange and brown. This has to be one of the most upscale Korean restaurants in Atlanta.

Continue reading Cheap Eats

(Photo by Jennifer Zyman)

Bookmark to:

We had a good meal at the new Joia (1100 Crescent Ave.) in Midtown. The restaurant and lounge was opened recently by Marco Betti who also owns Antica Posta in Buckhead.

The chef is Brett Maddox, hired away from Aria. The menu, in all honesty, is surprisingly tame, but I have nothing to complain about this caprese salad’s mozzarella, house-made with water buffalo milk imported from Italy. I was suspicious but the cheese — note its rind — had the right touch of sourness and grassiness. I told Wayne that it was literally the first caprese salad I’ve ordered this year without (controversial, verboten) balsamic vinegar. I think when you taste this, you will see how nothing but EVOO is needed when the tomatoes are sharp and the cheese is slightly sour.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Tom Maicon, the founder of Atlanta Cuisine, has put up a post today announcing that the discussion forums on that site will be shut down at the end of this month.

Atlanta Cuisine has long been a virtual gathering spot for Atlanta foodies. When I first arrived in town I relied heavily on its posters to let me know what I should be checking out. I have many of the posters there to thank for directling me to many of the great meals I’ve had in Atlanta.

Bookmark to:

La Tavola Trattoria will offer its annual “Tomatofeast” menu July 29-Aug. 8. This is the seventh time the restaurant has offered the menu, which features four appetizers and six entrees. The dishes may be bought separately or are available for $29 as a three-course prix-fixe menu with vanilla panna cotta for dessert.

Here is Executive Chef Craig Richards’ menu. All dishes feature local heirloom tomatoes:

APPETIZERS:
CHILLED BRANDYWINE TOMATO SOUP pickled cucumbers, chili oil $5.50
GRILLED EGGPLANT SALAD plum tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, arugula $6.50
POACHED GEORGIA SHRIMP avocado, tomatoes, Calabrian chilies, basil $8.50
CRISPY PIG’S TROTTER frisee and plum tomato preserve $8.50

ENTREES:
TOMATO CONSERVA & SHEEP’S MILK RICOTTA RAVIOLI marjoram and pine nuts $15.50
GNOCCHETTI tomatoes, house made fennel sausage, Pecorino Sarda $16
BUCATINI tomatoes, anchovies, mint, Parmigiana, black pepper $15
BLACK HALIBUT acqua pazza with chilies and herbs $19
GRILLED SKIRT STEAK tomato and bread salad, mostard, Parmigiana $20
COFFEE & PAPRIKA?RUBBED ROASTED PORK SPARE RIBS tomatoes, polenta $17

DESSERT:
VANILLA PANNA COTTA tomato?pineapple jam $6.50

I’ve tried this several years and have always enjoyed it. Call 404-873-5430 for a reservation.

Bookmark to:

TURKISH DELIGHT: Al Ozelci tends to his baklava.

“How did you hear about us?” Al Ozelci demands the first time I visit Café Agora. It’s a rainy Sunday evening, and I’m unsure about how this particular restaurant works. When I walk in, no one greets me, tells me where to sit, or offers a menu. Ozelci is rushing around behind the counter — a one-man front-of-house, with one cook in back. When I approach him to find out what to do, Ozelci peppers me with questions.

“What kind of food you like? This kind of food?” He gestures to a case filled with a rainbow of salads, dips and other Middle Eastern cold specialties.

“I like all food,” I say.

“Fine. Take a seat. I’ll bring you something.”

A minute later, he arrives at the table, a plate in hand laden with stuff from the case. He places the plate on the table, and after taking a quick minute to do a magic trick for my son (an impressive disappearing-mint act), he begins to pick up small squares of pita and load them with tastes from the plate. An outrageously thick tzatziki, the yogurt shot through with dill, is smooshed with a roasted eggplant. And then Ozelci feeds me the square of pita. “You’ll like this,” he says, watching my reaction.

Continue reading “Review: Cafe Agora”

(Photo by James Camp)

Bookmark to:

Mark you calendars for next Friday. Stella in Grant Park is reprising my favorite pizza there, fresh figs with prosciutto. …

The owners of Sugo are opening the Iberian Pig in Decatur, in the space vacated by Sage. …

Marco Betti, the owner of Antica Posta, has opened Joia Restaurant and Lounge at 1100 Crescent Ave. in Midtown. It features late-night hours with an uncomplicated menu by Chef Brett Maddox.

Bookmark to:

SOCIAL: There are places in Atlanta that don’t get nearly as much business as they should. And this quaint and chic Mediterranean café/wine bar is a prime example. Brothers Jalil and Rheda Chikhaoui serve up a menu similar to any you’d find at a restaurant of its ilk in France. During the summer, the restaurant offers an authentic gazpacho as a special. This version is chock-full of the typical ingredients—fresh tomatoes, cucumber, and bell peppers—but they add their own twist with a dash of cumin, harissa and a “special” tomato juice for a smoother mouthfeel. The soup is topped with lump crabmeat and a tiny dice of cucumber for contrast. 12 W. Peachtree Place. 404-525-2246. www.socialintown.com.

Continue reading Mouthful

(Photo by Jennifer Zyman)

Bookmark to:

ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER PIZZA: The margherita at Max's Coal Oven Pizzeria

As soon as we walked through the door at Max’s Coal Oven Pizzeria (300 Marietta St., 404-974-2941), several staff members shouted “Hi, guys! Welcome!”

I’m not sure if it was my response — looking around to see who they were yelling at — or their own discomfort with apparently being trained to impersonate Moe’s employees, but the bubbly enthusiasm quickly diminished. I was relieved. Contrived effervescence makes me hostile.

Max’s is yet another project of the gigantic Concentrics Restaurants group. In fact, it’s located next to Stats, the company’s sports bar. Wayne, being a statistical analyst, prefers to call it “the flagship of Atlanta’s burgeoning statistics community.” It’s located in a turn-of-the-last-century building with lots of brick and warehouse ambiance. It was doing quite a brisk business when we visited on a Sunday night, especially with large family groups.

Our server, John H., let us know that the restaurant features Georgia’s first coal-burning pizza oven. This actually is kind of a big deal. Coal ovens are popular in New York City where many regard them as essential since they reach a temperature of 1,000 degrees. John explained that the super-hot oven produces the blistery, charred crust that pizza aficionados crave. Or perhaps not everyone craves that. “I like to warn people that the crust is going to be kind of black,” John said.

Continue reading “Grazing: First look at Max’s Coal Oven Pizzeria”

(Photo by James Camp)

Bookmark to:

In response to Cliff’s post from earlier today:

Bookmark to:

DINING ON A DIME: Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week will offer three-course meals for $25.

Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week will begin on the 27th of this month. Restaurants in the downtown area will feature $25 dinners that include an appetizer, entrée and dessert. Among the 28 participants offering the three-course deal are 30 Tables, BLT Steak and the Atlanta Grill. The annual event has been extended to last for two weeks this year and will run until August 9th. Reservations are suggested and available via OpenTable.

(Photo courtesy Central Atlanta Progress)

Bookmark to:

ROUGHY RIOT: Greenpeace volunteers go all out for sustainability at a "Traitor Joe's" event earlier this month in San Francisco.

Greenpeace volunteers from the Atlanta area gathered at Trader Joe’s in Midtown this morning to petition the store to stop selling unsustainable seafood. The activist group collected signatures as part of a push to encourage the national supermarket chain to make changes to its seafood policies. Greenpeace recently released a scorecard ranking the 20 most prominent grocery chains on their commitment to selling sustainable seafood. Trader Joe’s was ranked 17^th.

In response, Greenpeace has launched an initiative known as “Traitor Joe’s” to pressure the store to stop selling exploited species.

The group originally planned to wear “brightly colored” orange roughy fish costumes to the event, according to a press release from last week. Orange roughy is a species that is both overfished and collected using methods that destruct marine habitats. The group wore the costumes at an event in San Francisco earlier this month.

However, “We had logistical problems with the orange roughy costumes,” said Greenpeace Climate Rescue Field Organizer Sierra Barnes.

“But we’ll be there with petitions,” she said.

“Nationally, we are using these petitions, and they have started to respond,” she said. But Trader Joe’s has “not responded to the full extent we would like them to.”

Greenpeace left the property this morning after the Midtown Trader Joe’s managers said they were calling the police.

(Photo courtesy Greenpeace, with permission, via Flickr)

Bookmark to:

UPDATE (July 20): The video which appeared below was posted in the same spirit I post all kinds of other lunacy I encounter on the Internet — for amusement. The 50-odd comments that follow demonstrate that my effort bombed. It’s not the first time. Cliff Bostock.

The video that appeared here has been removed as a courtesy to Shaun Doty, who was concerned about the incendiary nature of its contents.  It can be found on YouTube.

Girls go wild at the Vortex:

The Shumacher Group is listing Mitra for sale. The attractive restaurant is on Juniper Street in Midtown. …

Headline from ThePacker.com: “Despite Atlanta being a city with many dining opportunities, produce sales to the restaurant segment have slipped” …

Bookmark to:

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports on the conviction of a Duluth man, Laing Yang, for harboring aliens. I felt kind of of sympathetic toward him until I read the second paragraph below:

Yang had previously operated an employment agency in Atlanta from 2001 to 2003, which found jobs in Chinese restaurants, predominantly for illegal Hispanic workers. Yang returned to the employment agencies and his illegal activity in November 2007. Yang was fluent in Spanish and two Chinese dialects and he served as the broker between the illegal workers and Chinese restaurants looking for cheap labor. Yang was able to place these illegal workers in jobs and also provide the illegal workers’ transportation to the restaurants without any initial payment by the workers. The transportation fee and Yang’s commission would be paid up-front by the restaurant owner, who would then deduct that cost from the wages paid to the worker.

The investigation included surveillance and undercover agents posing as undocumented workers seeking jobs from Yang at Dong Sheng Employment Agency in Chamblee. Neither the undercover agent nor the other aliens present and seeking employment were ever asked for documentation that they were authorized to work in the United States. The undercover agent captured on tape the defendant offering a job working seven days a week, for 12 hours a day, for the salary of $1,000 per month.

Bookmark to:

Is it just me, or does the crust on this spider pizza look undercooked?

(Hat tip: Brad Lapin)

Bookmark to:

With all the new breweries that have come to Georgia in the last two to three years, the trip to the beer cooler at your local package store can be somewhat intimidating. Add to that the increased price of craft beers, and it can be difficult to plop down $8-10 on a 6-pack of an unknown quantity. That’s where beer tastings and beer dinners come in. For little or no money, you can sample new beers and get a sense of both the styles and brands that are worth your hard-earned money. There is no shortage of opportunities to sample beers in Atlanta. Here are a few regular or semi-regular tastings that are going on around town, along with a few upcoming beer dinners.

Hop City Craft Beer & Wine store hosts free beer tastings most every Wednesday at Octane Coffee Bar & Lounge across the street from their retail store. Magic Hat beers will be featured at this week’s tasting (July 15). In two weeks (July 29), sample beers from Sierra Nevada. Hop City has also teamed up with neighborhood caterer Figs & Honey, who operate Tiny Bistro, to host wine and beer events. Sign up for Hop City’s email list or become a fan on Facebook to get updates on the featured beers. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Doppelbock, shmoppelbock: Shmaltz Rejewvenator 2009

Shmaltz Brewing Company
Saratoga Springs, NY
7.8% ABV

Rejewvenator is Shmaltz’ spring and summer seasonal, celebrating the barley harvest. This year’s incarnation is fermented with fresh-pressed date juice, honoring the fruit of the ancient date palm, a symbol of the Kingdom of Judea that was stamped on the ancient sheckel coin. According to Psalm 92:12, “The righteous shall flourish like the Date palm.” This is a righteous beer if I do say so. Two different Belgian ale yeasts were used, along with a lager yeast, imparting the the fruity esters of a Belgian dubbel as well as the clean, crisp fermentation of a German doppelbock.

Rejewvenator ‘09 pours a lovely cedar red with an inviting, slightly boozy aroma full of drunken plums, apricots, overripe bananas, and dates, natch. Generous hopping contributes some citrus rind and spruce as well. The taste is smooth and sweet up fron,t with brandied fruit flavors of candied dates, raisins, and figs, yielding to toffee and an ever-rising herbal hop and alcohol bite. Piney hops and anise settle on the palate with other tingly, almost prickly, spices. Hot alcohol lingers on the breath, which is a bit surprising for an under-8% beer. Banana and clove hang in the background, but this seems less like a doppelbock or a Belgian dubbel than an American-style barleywine or strong ale. It exhibits clean, crisp flavors throughout, with little residual graininess or earthiness in the malt profile.

Although the alcohol is a bit overbearing, Rejewvenator drinks like the celebratory ale that it is. The medium-full body and spot-on carbonation give it a festive character. I’m definitely going to save some for Christmas. Er, make that Hanukkah. L’Chaim!

Bookmark to:

Keep your hands off the liquid nitrogen:

An experimental German chef accidentally blew off both his hands attempting to concoct a “molecular gastronomy” dish with liquid nitrogen, a newspaper report said on Monday…..

There was an “enormous explosion,” according to the Berliner Morgenpost daily. The would-be Heston Blumental – a leading proponent of molecular gastronomy – lost one hand in the explosion and the other was so badly injured it had to be amputated.

(Hat tip: Kit Fenton)

Bookmark to:

Monday was Wayne’s birthday, so I suggested we head to Top Flr. He was unable to go two weeks ago when I visited and was anxious to try the Monday night menu. Hey, you can’t beat a $15 birthday dinner.

Unfortunately, the place was slammed. We had to park a block away and things seemed chaotic at the door. So I suggested we make a reservation for next week and go somewhere else. You should take that as a warning to make a reservation yourself.

We ended up at the new Rí Rá Irish Pub (1080 Peachtree St., 404-477-1700). The name, according to the chain’s website derives from the phrase “Rí Rá agus Ruaile Buaile,” which it translates as “devilment.” Whatever. We were kinda spooked that it’s next door to RA Sushi. There’s a lot of Ra going around.

Be careful what you order, or you’ll end up potatoed-out. I started with these potato cakes, above, which were tasty enough.

Then, for an entree, I had more mashed potatoes in the form of Shepherd’s Pie. I didn’t think to change one of the two after I was told my initial entree choice, corned beef and cabbage, wasn’t available.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

So says Chipotle’s founder to ABC News. What he doesn’t talk so much about is the high calorie content of the chain’s food. But he convincingly argues against the cruelty of factory farming. So if you want fast, fattening food made with humanely raised animals, Chipotle’s the deal.

As for taste, about the only thing I enjoy at Chipotle is the carnitas, although they usually lack the requisite crispiness of the real things. I order Chipotle’s carnitas rolled up with some red beans, salsa and green sauce — no rice, lettuce, mountain of dessicated cheese, sour cream, etc.

Bookmark to:

Is your ice cream charred slow-churned? Slate tells all.

Bookmark to: