Omnivore - From prosciutto to Tebow

Does it get better than this — prosciutto over flatbread with ricotta and pineapple mostarda?

My regular Friday lunch pals and I shared this at La Pietra Cucina this week. We hadn’t visited the restaurant for lunch in more than a month, but it remains my favorite.

For my entree, I chose this open-face panino of meatballs made of pork, fatback, fennel seed and some peppers that slowly yielded a very satisfying, mild burn with each successive bite. A greatly reduced tomato sauce covered the meatballs.

I returned to So Ba in East Atlanta Village yet again Friday night. The place was absolutely packed with nouveau pho lovers. It was so crowded, in fact, that we saw several people get impatient with the host.

As most foodies know, Friday is the big dining-out night in Atlanta. If you want to avoid long waits here or at any other restaurant in town, choose another evening to dine out.

We’re still waiting for So Ba to add some desserts to the menu.

No you’re not looking at hushpuppies. These, consumed during yet another recent visit to Hong Kong Harbor, are something like fried dumplings made with tofu skin stuffed with pork and shrimp.

They’re served with a bland brown sauce which you’ll want to spike with the fiery chili oil on each table here. Put the “dumplings” over rice, spoon the spiked gravy lightly over them and go to work with your chopsticks.

Photographer Extraordinaire Broderick Smylie documents the latest entry in the Pizza Wars, Pie 950....Travelers’ Alert: The annual list of the Ten Dirtiest Hotels in the US is in. Comments on the hotels are funny in that train-wreck-sorta-way. Well, they’re funny, if you never stayed in any of the hotels....Tim Tebow really, really wants you to eat Doritos, the magic family-values food.

(Photos by Cliff Bostock)