Omnivore Atlanta

Fritti remains my favorite pizzeria in town despite much hoopla over a few newcomers. Part of its appeal is the starters. The one I order most is the mushrooms fried in rice-flour batter with white truffle oil. (It may be the only place I like to smell truffle oil anymore.)

Favorite dishes: My favorite pizzas are the margherita, the speck and arugula and the Napoli with bufala, anchovies and capers.  309 N. Highland Ave. 404-880-9559. www.frittirestaurant.com

We will be counting down Cliff’s Top 10 Favorites every day between now and Oct. 21, the day our Food Issue 2009 launches. Check back tomorrow for Number 8!

(Photo by Cliff Bostock)

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Whoa! Subway is about to overtake McDonald’s. OK, we’re not talking sales; we’re talking number of locations, but still..:

Restaurant upstart Subway, riding high on the marketing message of healthy fast food, will overtake its titanic competitor McDonald’s in American store locations by the end of 2009, with a shocking total of more than 32,300 outlets.

That’s something few consumers could imagine before the sandwich chain piggybacked on huge weight loss of morbidly obese Jared Fogle — who lost 245 pounds by exercising and eating only its sandwiches, in contrast to Super Size Me’s Morgan Spurlock, who got fat and sick eating McDonald’s grub.

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Ugh. Another Atlanta restaurant bites the dust. This time it’s Fishmonger in Sandy Springs. (Hat tip: Patricia Tinsley)

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I ate lunch and dinner at the new Bocado last Friday. Located in the Westside, across from Octane at the corner of Howell Mill and Marietta Street, this restaurant has a spare, modern look reminiscent of the Globe. The owner is Brian Lewis.

“Bocado” means “mouthful” in Spanish. The accent here is on inexpensive small plates for sharing and sandwiches. However, a few entrees are available at dinner, like this flounder with braised beans, green olives, almonds and capers.

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Watch what happens. Closely. And you’ll see that at this point of our Las Vegas competition, fatigue becomes a factor.

Tightly cropped haircuts grow past their next usual appointment. Beards and bellies expand. Eyes droop. Attitudes alter. And real world dilemmas present themselves in this unreal world. Like getting sick. What has only been a couple of viewing hours to us at home has been a non-stop, every day, three week grind for the cast up to this point.

Boo-hoo. Chefs work long hours. Right?

Not like this.

“Top Chef” combines two labor intensive industries, television production and cooking. Both are notorious for 12 to14 hour work days. Throw them together and you get a grueling, high-stress 17 to 20 hour day.

When our chefs aren’t cooking, they’re still on the clock. Whether it’s dictated isolation and quiet time, or sitting in the proverbial crock pot called the stew room, it is some of the most demanding work of the participants’ lives. It creates compelling stories, interesting cooking and usually some drama.

And the physical toll doesn’t even compare to the mental strain. (more…)

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I just received this photo from a friend of mine who waits tables at the restaurant:

When I spoke to her yesterday, she told me that the clean up was moving along quickly — all the interior wood had been replaced (although it still needs to be stained), among other things — and that the restaurant was anticipating an early November re-opening. This could change a few things…

(H/T to Lindsay Saripkin; Photo by Kelly Smith)

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Pura Vida is the stage for recent “Top Chef” contestant Hector Santiago to perform his avant-garde magic with tapas. No other chef in the city gets quite as successfully crazy with the form. Faves have included the duck confit with caramelized plantains and steamed coconut buns filled with pork belly, cabbage and pickled chilies.

Favorite dish: Santiago’s mofongo, a Puerto Rican specialty, was my absolute favorite here for years. 656 N. Highland Ave. 404-870-9797. www.puravidatapas.com

We will be counting down Cliff’s Top 10 Favorites every day between now and Oct. 21, the day our Food Issue 2009 launches. Check back tomorrow for Number 9!

(Photo by James Camp)

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Next week, our annual Food Issue will be hitting the streets, packed with advice from our critics on where to eat in Atlanta right now. As part of that guide, for the first time ever, Cliff Bostock will be counting down his Top 10 favorite restaurants in our city along with his favorite dishes from those restaurants. Over the next 10 days here on Omnivore, we’ll be counting down Cliff’s favorites, starting later today with Number 10. So watch for that today and every day for the next 10 days. And watch for the Food Issue next week, which will also have my Top 5 special occasion restaurants, Jennifer Zyman’s Top 10 ethnic picks, and much more!

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Top Flr is one of the over 80 restaurants serving at Taste of Atlanta.

This weekend is the outdoor food festival known as Taste of Atlanta. Along with great food, the eight-year-old event also has live music performances and appearances from celebrity chefs. In fact, our very own columnist Richard Blais of Top Chef fame will be speaking at the main stage from noon to 12:45 on Saturday. But with over 80 restaurants showcased, how are you to choose? We here at Creative Loafing have taken it upon ourselves to make your life easier by compiling some of our favorite restaurant reviews along with what they’re serving. Bon apetit!

4th and Swift
- Roasted Berkshire City Ham with Fall Root Vegetable Slaw and Quince Chutney
- Parsnip Soup with Crispy Duck

Desta
- Fish Tibs
- Lamb Awaze
- Veggie Sampler

Flip
- Organic Grass Fed Flip Burger
- Liquid Nitrogen Milkshake

Legal Sea Foods
- Clam Chowder

Market
- Vietnamese Chicken Curry
- Short Rib Vinaigrette
- Kulfi Lollipops

Parish
- Louisiana Crab Melt
- Olive Oil Poached Tuna w/ Lemon Thyme and Sweet and Sour GA. Beet Relish

Restaurant Eugene
- Whole Pig Sliders with GA BBQ and pickles
- Boiled Peach and Sorghum ice cream with dark chocolate

Sun Dial Restaurant & Lounge
- Butternut squash with pumpkin seed pesto soup
- Venison Chili with Goat Cheese Grits

Top Flr
- Pork Belly with Apple Sauce(Saturday) Duck Sausage (Sunday)
- Duck Confit Salad
- Chocolate Brownie Cake

West Egg Cafe
- Red Velvet Cupcake
- Coca-Cola Cupcake
- Pig and Grits (pulled pork over grits)

$30-$65. Sat.-Sun., 11 a.m-6 p.m. Tech Square, Spring and Fifth streets. 404-875-4434. www.tasteofatlanta.net.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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We visited Udipi last week. The restaurant, once my favorite Indian venue in town, has moved to the shopping center at the corner of Lawrenceville Highway and Church Street.

The menu is the same, as far as I remember, but the experience is generally quite changed. This classic thali (above) was good but a few other dishes were unpleasantly surprising. There was, for example, a spicy puree served with, um, something very much like the bottoms of hamburger buns (right). Yes, chewy, gooey white bread.

I’ll have more to say later this week in Grazing.

(Photos by Cliff Bostock)

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As an ardent observer of Atlanta’s Pizza Wars, I rushed Monday night to try Antico Pizza Napoletana, which Jennifer Zyman raved about here last week.

Her post, which is heavily illustrated and continues on her personal blog, is followed by 40-odd comments. Read them! It is weird how emotional Atlantans get about pizza. When I was critical of Varasano’s (while nearly every other critic and blogger in town waxed orgasmic), I received an avalanche of furious comments. Now, Varasano’s is greatly dissed by commenters on Jennifer’s post and it seems pretty clear Antico is on its way to being the new palazzo di pizza.

The place, located in the old Jaqbo Bakery building, really is like nothing I’ve seen in our city. You can start with the booming opera soundtrack. There’s a big table where you can stand (only) and mix and mingle with Georgia Tech students and foodies while eating the pizza, served hot from the 1,000-degree, wood-burning-ovens.

Standing there, you will get a view of the gigantic kitchen and see that even more people are dining at a couple of large tables inside, within view of the fiery ovens and staff (including Enrico Liberato, who recently departed Fritti). Gazing at the happy seated people, you might feel like a second-class foodie, but you’re not at Antico to burnish your foodie credentials, are you?

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In case you missed this: I suppose it’s coincidence, but I can’t help but remember that Cracker Barrel is the same restaurant chain that fired all known gay employees around 1991 and provoked a years-long boycott. I wonder why they won’t release the video tape of the race-motivated beating that occurred there last month. In any case, it’s astonishing to see something like this happen now.

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Whoa! I thought economists were saying we’d hit bottom and were on the way up — and now something like this happens. The NYT just reported that the nation’s premiere magazine publisher, Conde Nast, will shut down the nation’s premiere food magazine, Gourmet.

How big is this news? Well, Gourmet has been around since 1940 and has always had an air of prestige, reflected by its iconic, at times even abstract, cover designs.

And, since 1999, Gourmet has boasted an editor who’s a foodie celebrity in her own right. A former NYT food critic-turned-bestselling author, Ruth Reichl had been seen by many as having updated a magazine that had developed an air of stodginess.

Says the NYT:

The magazine has suffered a severe decline in ad pages, but the cut still comes as a shock. There was speculation that Conde Nast would close one of its food titles — Gourmet or Bon Appetit — but most bets were on the latter. Gourmet has a richer history than Bon Appetit, and its editor Ruth Reichl is powerful in the food world.

Adding to the shock:

On Oct. 17, the Condé Nast title will debut its new public television show, “Gourmet’s Adventures With Ruth,” in which the title’s editor, Ruth Reichl, spans the globe visiting cooking schools with celebs including Frances McDormand and Lorraine Bracco.

Is that show now on or off? Who knows? It’s a sad day.

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Another landmark closes, according to Repeat Atlanta:

Following the recent closures of ESPN Zone, Wolfgang Puck Express, Roy’s Hawaiian and the Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton, T.G.I. Friday’s on Peachtree has closed too. Located just north of Piedmont Hospital on Peachtree Road, their Buckhead location was one of only a few locations left locally when they ceased operations as of 9/28.

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In case you think the restaurant business is about dead, go to the Real Chow Baby on a Saturday night, as we did this week. The inexpensive stir-fry restaurant was absolutely packed, making it basically impossible to get back in line to exploit the all-you-can-eat deal unless you’ve got unlimited time.

We didn’t. We were on our way to see Grey Gardens at Actor’s Express, which you should see before it closes at the end of this week.  Jill Hames, who plays the dual roles of Big Edie and and the grown-up Little Edie (right)  in the two-act production, is especially brilliant.

There are a bunch of full-service restaurants on Marietta Street and Howell Mill where you can dine on the way to the theater, but our meal at Real Chow Baby was very satisfying. I’m always amazed how I can randomly assemble a bowl of  ingredients, hand it to the chefs and end up with something that makes no sense but tastes very good. …

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Editor’s note: Last night, Thursday October 1st, was the last night of service for the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead. Long considered one of Atlanta’s best (if not the best) restaurant, the closing marks the end of an era for a certain style of fine dining in our city. It’s hard to know how to cover an event such as this – our friends over at the AJC have done a great job of covering the story from a news and dining angle, and I wanted to look at the event from a different perspective. So I asked Eli Kirshtein, chef at Eno and contestant on the current season of “Top Chef,” to give me some impressions of his meal there last night. He was kind enough to oblige.

-Besha Rodell

The end of an era, for better or worse

By Eli Kirshtein

After sitting in the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton and seeing the restaurant take its last few breaths, I felt a weight come off my shoulders.  In the bittersweet moments that the restaurant’s final night of operation entailed, I realized that for so long, Atlanta chefs and restaurateurs have been held down by the philosophies of restaurants like the Ritz and Seeger’s.

The chef at the Dining Room was never American, and only in one instance was he not French.  While the Ritz in other markets has sometimes tapped local talent pools to source their top level chefs (most notably Ron Siegel in San Francisco), the Atlanta Ritz has always gone on a massive global search to find replacements for its departing chefs, somehow implying there were no chefs in Atlanta with big enough feet to fill the shoes. We’re now in a position where we can proudly say that the best chefs in Atlanta are from Atlanta. Look at Linton Hopkins or Anne Quatrano, the remaining gold standard for Atlanta dining.  While Günter and Joel headed for the hills, these homegrown chefs remained steadfast and committed, not only to their vision but the growth of the city. While conversing about the evening, one of my dining companions mentioned how it will be hard to go to more “serious” food cities because for so long we’ve had the ammunition to say, “Hey we have the Ritz!” Now we should proudly put our chin up and say, “Hey we have Eugene!”
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I had a uniquely terrific lunch todat at Abattoir with my friends Brad and Frank. The restaurant has a charmingly rickety ambiance during the day that does not really come through in the low lighting at night. The lunchtime menu is the same as the evening one (and both change somewhat every day). That doesn’t mean prices are high. We ate very well for little more than $15 each.

The standout today was this special — a sandwich of rabbit loin on ciabatta with Asian slaw and fries on the side. It was a huge portion (for $10) and, believe me, when Brad complains that a portion is too large, it’s huge.

The restaurant was offering three terrines today — pork, pig’s foot and this rabbit one that Frank chose to eat alongside his hamburger. You can sample all three terrines for $15, and that’s what I’ll most definitely do during my next visit.

My own choice today was an order of amazingly creamy fried chicken livers and a housemade bratwurst with some onions grilled with a bit of stone-ground mustard.

Lunch here could become quickly addictive.

(Photos by Cliff Bostock)

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HAMMING IT UP: The jamón Ibérico at the Iberian Pig

I’ve spent a lot of time in Spain, mainly in Sevilla. My favorite restaurant there is Casa Salva, a hole-in-the-wall near the Museo de Bellas Artes. It’s been a few years since I visited, but it was open only 1-6 p.m. and the menu was mainly a list of specials that changed daily.

The Spanish love of ham becomes clear as soon as you gaze through restaurant windows anywhere in Spain and see hams festooning the ceilings. But it was at Casa Salva that I began to see the true dimensions of that love. The owner often came to my table and — no joke — recited the pedigree of the ham he was featuring that day. He told me where the pig was raised, on which side of a certain mountain, what it ate and how the ham had been cured.

So, it’s no surprise that I was excited to visit the Iberian Pig (121 Sycamore St., 404-371-8800) in Decatur. It takes its name from the famous black Iberian pig that is the source of arguably Spain’s finest ham. The restaurant has been opened by Federico and Stephanie Castellucci, the husband-wife team who also own the three popular Sugo restaurants that specialize in mainly Italian and Greek food. The restaurant’s managing partner and chef is Chad Crete.

Continue reading “Grazing: A first look at the Iberian Pig”

(Photo by James Camp)

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Oompa Loompas at the Brick Store Pub

Hotoberfest, taking place in Glenwood Park in East Atlanta on Sat., Oct 3 from noon-7 p.m., promises “Earth. Beer. Music.” Which are three things I really like. Especially beer. No offense, Earth, but you just don’t taste as good with pizza. The event puts a new twist on the traditional beer tasting festival by having many of the vendors in a free ”World Market” area encircling the Glenwood Park pond, which will feature retail beer and food sales, artists, music on a solar-powered stage, and informational displays on sustainable and environmentally responsible products and services.

However, if beer is your focus, purchase a ticket to the Beer Tasting area for $30 in advance ($35 at the gate) and get unlimited sampling from almost 150 beers. Select your favorites and vote for the Best Brew, a people’s choice award presented to the top 3 picks. If you want to get really decadent, purchase a $50 ticket that will grant you access to the VIP tent where there will be over two dozen special beers, some brewed just for the occasion, such as an aged cask from Sweetwater, and special offerings from Twain’s, Atlanta Brewing Company, and Lagunitas. Oh yeah, and VIP bathrooms. Proceeds from Hotoberfest benefit Dialogue, Trees Atlanta, and Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. (more…)

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Rathbun’s has just announced its 2010 cooking classes, which in past years has sold out in a few days. Here’s the press release:

In Rathbun’s interactive cooking classes, you are in the kitchen, working and preparing the food yourself. Four teams of four people create their dishes from scratch, and then return at the end of the day with their guest for a complete dinner with wine pairings. Each team actually prepares their own course and then sits down to dine on their own creations. For three hours, you prepare the ingredients and get ready to make the dish. You’re in the kitchen, not in the seat.

Sign up for the class by calling the restaurant at 404.524.8280. Cost is $350.00 per person. All classes include 1 person in the class, you and a guest for dinner, a complimentary Rathbun Logo Chef Jacket, and wine pairings. All classes take place at 112 Krog Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30307

Rathbun’s 2010 cooking class line up is as follows:

Sunday, January 17, 2010 – Mexico City – First class for Chef Kevin. Join us as we create dishes inspired from the heart of Mexico City such as mole’s, tamales, sopes and traditional ceviches. This class will surely sell out and will be recommended to your friends. Only 16 seats are available!

Sunday, March 14, 2010 – French – Back for another run, the first French class created dishes like foie gras, duck paillard, Scottish salmon quenelles, along with seared veal loin and morels. Then we paired classic French wines with the four courses and discovered that French food creates a great cooking class. Only 16 seats are available! (more…)

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It takes a lot for me to to jump off of my couch, throw on some clothes and speed over to a restaurant after settling in for the night. But that’s just what I did after getting a call from my friend (partner in crime and pizza freak), Kit Fenton, tonight proclaiming he’d just had “the best pizza in Atlanta.” I have no idea how Antico Pizza Napoletana (1093 Hemphill Ave., 404-724-2333. www.anticopizza.it) flew under my (and everyone else’s) radar. But my first visit was a revelation. Owner Giovanni Di Palma (a native of New York and Naples) is the kind of man who instantly wins your adoration. His enthusiasm and pure passion for true Naples style pizza is so infectious, I was thrown into a manic state of pizza lust the moment I entered the brand new Westside Pizzeria. Yes, lust. And anyone who wants to know where Enrico Liberato (the former pizzaiolo at Fritti) has disappeared to need not look any further.

Luca Varuni, Giovanni Di Palma and Enrico Liberato

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST…


(Photos by Jennifer Zyman)

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Matt Coggin, the managing partner of DBA Barbecue in Virginia-Highland, writes this good news:

We replaced the electric smokers with a Lang Smoker and an Ole Hickory Smoker. The BBQ has been improved dramatically. Also, Drew Kirkland is our new chef/pitmaster. Drew was the chef de cuisine for Kevin Rathbun for four years. Recently, he has been serving BBQ at the Albert. The Lang smoker is Drew’s, and he is very passionate about his BBQ. We are very excited to have the kitchen in such capable hands.

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MEAT OF THE MATTER: The beef carpaccio at Pricci

Do you remember why you fell in love with restaurants in the first place? I’d like to say that for me, it was the philosophy behind the care and respect for organic vegetables, or the realization that an inspired dish of food could nourish the soul. But I’d be lying. In reality, my love affair started at my best friend’s 10th birthday. Her father took us to a fancy restaurant — it was the first one I’d ever been to. I remember my awe at the dining room’s mirrors and soft lighting, the waiters in tuxedos, the sound of glasses clinking and people talking and laughing. It was like magic, a fantasy, a place where the entire purpose of its existence was to create relaxation and joy.

The first time I entered Pricci I was reminded of that original experience. After devoting so much time to thinking and writing about the new breed of restaurant, where casual hipsterdom and the ethics of produce are the main selling points, Pricci seemed like a welcome reminder of upscale dining’s original intent.

Waiters in white tuxedos glide around a room that’s almost comically clichéd, the Disney version of an Italian restaurant, with mirrors on the walls, Art Deco-inspired decorative touches, and clubby, circular booths. If it’s a bit silly, it’s in equal measure pure fun, an unabashed homage to the idea that dining out is (and should be) a form of entertainment.

Continue reading “Review: Pricci”

(Photo by James Camp)

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We dined at Sotto Sotto this evening and got a mouth full of wonderful food and an ear full of news.

First, the meal: It was the last night of Inman Park Restaurant Week and the restaurant was packed with diners taking advantage of the restaurant’s $25 three-course meal. I actually skipped that but I did take the server’s suggestion that we “say goodbye to this year’s Heirloom tomatoes” by ordering dishes that featured them, like the Caprese salad above.

The salad included a very good bufala mozzarella and yellow, purple and red Heirlooms. The yellow, which I don’t recall encountering anywhere else this year, was especially good, with a slightly sweet flavor that Wayne called “watermelony.” For my entree I chose the restaurant’s classic dish of tortellini stuffed with ricotta flavored with fresh mint under a tart sauce of red Heirlooms and basil.

Wayne ordered the three-course meal, starting with the cantaloupe and prosciutto shown here, followed by a risotto topped with chopped tomatoes and basil. He spooned down a bowl of chocolate soup for dessert.

Now the news. We ran into Riccardo Ullio, owner of the restaurant, along with Fritti next door and Beleza in Midtown.

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Thillist reports that Eros Tapas Bar, which replaced Piebar, is now Ixtlan Ultra Lounge:

Just arrived in the former space of Eros Tapas Bar, Ixtlan retains the interior design of its predecessor (glass tent ceiling, stone floors, rooftop filled w/ rounded white backless couches), while boasting an all-new menu including “tapa-tizers” like Ixtlan Hot Fish (fried tilapia bites tossed in sweet chili sauce) and fire-grilled Filet Kabobs marinated in garlic, herbs, and the chef’s signature tzatziki. Also worthy’re char-grilled Sirloin and Turkey Burgers, Chopped Beef, Pulled Pork, and Chicken Breast BBQ Sandwiches, plus BBQ entrees like the Smoked Turkey Drumsticks and the 10oz Boston Pork Steak, aka the Rich Garces….

Cafe Sage Hill has taken over the Dusty’s Barbecue location at 1815 Briarcliff Road. It’s all about breakfast and lunch, Southern-style. …

A new restaurant, Croaker’s Spot, is opening at the corner of Edgewood Avenue and Boulevard, across from Danneman’s Coffee. It will feature seafood and soul food. …

The Iberian Pig (121 Sycamore St.) opens Monday night in Decatur. …

Abattoir is now open for lunch. …

Regina Charboneau, author of the Southern cooking blog for Atlantic Monthly’s food site, recently posted an article entitled, “Seven Lessons in Southern Hospitality.” Here is my fave “lesson”:

Decide a night or day that is the easiest night for you to entertain. Maybe you have a housekeeper that comes on Thursdays so entertain on Wednesdays so you will have help cleaning up, or entertain on a Friday because your house is already clean.

Right. The secret to Southern hospitality is a servant. Miss Scarlett knew it and so should you.

I find this bit of Southern hospitality advice kind of strange too:

Never apologize even if dinner is overcooked or undercooked. Make light of it, we are all human–just have plenty of bread (and wine won’t hurt). Whether you live in the North, South, East, or West, hospitality is hospitality–it is always a gift.

Well, fiddle-dee-dee, it seems the fried chicken is nearly raw. Y’all just have another couple of biscuits and I’ll get the peach cobbler warmed up as soon as I scrape the mold off it.

(Photo of Vivian Leigh and Butterfly McQueen, from Gone with the Wind, courtesy of Live Auctioneers.)

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