Omnivore Atlanta

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.)

Bookmark to:

Here’s a scene from my early career. I was living in a small town in rural Georgia, a place where my big-city senses underwent continual shock. One very early morning, I awoke to the sound of screams. I’m talking blood-curdling screams. They seemed to come from several directions.

I threw on some clothes and hopped in the car. After all, I was a reporter and it appeared a mass murder was underway. What I found was that people were engaging in an annual ritual of the first freeze: butchering hogs. I’ve never forgotten the sound and the bloody scene I observed.

I suppose I am overly sentimental about animals. After that experience, it was many months before I could eat pork. I went years, too, without eating veal when I saw the conditions of crate-raised calves.

(Photo by James Camp)

Continue reading the latest Grazing.

Bookmark to:

We hit the Shed at Glenwood’s weekly $3 slider night yesterday and Chef Lance Gummere’s latest, one made with barbacoa, was fantastico. I also ordered schnitzel with pear preserves and an Angus burger. And here’s a shot, too, of the trio of beignets with maple syrup and crumbled bacon that I ordered at Abattoir. (”Beignet” is French for “donut,” just like “abattoir” is French for “slaughterhouse.” Yes, there are varieties of beignets. Thus it would be as correct to say, “I got me some donuts at the slaughterhouse after I ate the kidneys.”)

(Photos by Cliff Bostock)

Bookmark to:

Wayne and I hit the new Abattoir last night. I know the restaurant is literally located in a former slaughter house. But, honestly, I have very mixed feelings about a name that reminds me of Upton Sinclair’s harrowing novel, The Jungle, about the Chicago meatpacking industry in the early 1900s. And then there was Bob Herbert’s campaign against the Smithfield Packing Company in the New York Times a few years ago.

Abattoir, rather like Holeman & Finch, is part of the “whole animal” movement. As its website says: “Abattoir will feature dishes redolent of head cheese, innards, feet and tongue.”

Boy howdy. This starter of chicken liver pate served in a jar with an armagnac glaze was tame beside our lamb kidneys and tripe stew. We didn’t taste anything that wasn’t impressive, even if it was offal (laugh, damn it).

Abattoir had only been open a few days when we visited but is already operating smoothly. We did have one rather out-of-the-ordinary experience, but you’ll have to read about that later this week in Grazing.

(Photos by Cliff Bostock)

Bookmark to:

Abattoir, the new meat-centric restaurant from Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison of Bacchanalia fame, opened last night in the White Provisions building on Howell Mill Road. The Blissful Glutton gives us a sneak peek from her opening-night meal. I’ve seen the menu and it looks awesome. Tripe stew and lamb liver fritters? Yes, please.

Bookmark to:

The latest big buzz is the announcement that Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison have announced plans to open a “meat-centric” restaurant with the rather bizarre name of Abattoir. The owners of Bacchanalia and Floataway Cafe say the new restaurant will be located in the White Provision complex on Howell Mill Road. A November opening is planned.

The new name — French for “slaughterhouse,” though commonly used in English — is not exactly receiving rave reviews in the blogosphere. Here’s “Therese” on EGullet:

Am I the only one who finds this a really, really horrendous name for a restaurant? Will I be expected to slaughter and butcher my own meat? Will the process be part of the dinner’s entertainment? Are the guests potentially subject to similar treatment?

To which “Doodad” replied:

Very bad name. Perhaps the motto should be “where the elite meat to eat.”

The White Provision Company opened as a meat-packing plant in 1910 — the South’s largest — and was commonly referred to as “The Slaughterhouse” around town, according to this history of the site. But it was the present Bacchanalia building itself that bore the name “abattoir,” specifically the United Butchers Abattoir. You can read about that facility here.

In other news, Quatrano and Harrison announced they have hired Chef Todd Immel away from Table 1280, where he has been replaced by his sous chef, Tracey Bloom. No plans to make Immel lord of the abattoir were announced.

(Map showing the White Provision Company and United Butchers Abattoir from www.artery.org.)

Bookmark to: