H&F Bread Company, the outstanding bakery from the Restaurant Eugene/Holeman and Finch folks, has closed its doors to the public. According to part-owner Regan Smith, the bakery just wasn’t generating enough foot traffic to justify keeping the retail operation open. The bakery will continue to function as a wholesale operation, and Smith says that in the future they hope to offer call-ahead bread ordering for individual customers.
Bon Appétit’s “Foodist” visits Atlanta and files rave reviews, replete with pics, of near-neighbors Varasano’s and Holeman & Finch. Excerpts:
Varasano’s won’t win any design awards for hipness; it’s a few steps up from an airport food court. (I was reassured, though, to notice the girl sitting next to me wearing a t-shirt that read “Shakespeare hates your emo poems.”) But never mind that. I challenge you to find me a better pizza pie…
H + F’s menu is devoted to small plates: trad Southern meets trad pub. Cornmeal Fried Oysters were perfect. One poached egg served with a small, thick piece of house bacon and a Johnnycake was satisfying–and just right size. Best of all was the house-made currywurst served with Savannah Red Pea dahl, a brilliantly balanced melding of flavors and smart nod to England’s love of Indian food.
Linton Hopkins of Holeman & Finch and Restaurant Eugene has been named one of America’s 10 best new chefs by Food & Wine magazine. He’ll be featured in the July issue.
The magazine’s website features a profile of him. Here are some excerpts:
Favorite cheap eat:
Carvers Country Kitchen, a small Southern soul food cafeteria in Atlanta. “It’s only open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and there’s already a line at 11. They load up your plate. My ideal ‘meat and three’ there is fried chicken, creamed corn, lima beans and braised peas.”Guilty pleasure:
Cheeseburgers. “I love the ones at Varsity in Atlanta, with onion rings and a Coca-Cola; it’s one of my ideal meals. You can’t get it with pimento cheese, you have to get American cheese. That’s how we make burgers at Holeman and Finch; I love how American cheese melts around the burger.”Favorite wine:
“I’ve just gotten into Yellow + Blue Malbec, sold in Tetra Paks [cartons]. It’s $12 a liter. One of my faults is being a snob about bottles and corks, so this is a great departure for me.”What his next restaurant would be:
“My fantasy restaurant is a place called Preservation, which wouldn’t have any refrigeration. Most of our greatest foods were created pre-refrigeration. Country ham would just sit out; it would drive the health inspector crazy. The more realistic idea is a classic fish camp with crawfish boils and Cajun blackened fish and roasted oysters. And great hush puppies and beer on ice, so cold that the labels fall off.”
Damn, I can’t wait for his next restaurant.
(Photo by James Camp)
Our frequent commenter Kali asked us a few weeks back to come up with a list for her of 10 things she should eat in Atlanta before she deserts us for the Great North. She wrote:
Besha and Cliff,
I am sure I have hinted, if not outright said (and I know I have!), that I am leaving my beloved Atlanta for Canadian climes in 8 weeks now. Please give me a list of 10 tastes I should have before I go. Atlanta is a city of foods, cuisines, and delicacies I am glad to know are out there. It makes me proud. My only caveat is this: I don’t eat beef. It’s something weird with me I am sure. Pork is fine, lamb is so-so, fish is ace, and there you go. But please: I would like recommendations.
So here we go – Cliff and I came up with five each. Cliff’s list first: (more…)
THE OFFAL TRUTH: Foie gras and buttermilk pancakes at Home
We love lists – especially at the end of the year. And so, in no particular order, here are my top 10 picks for the best dishes I had in 2008.
The almond croissant at Parish.
Mussel and salami salad at Cakes and Ale.
The Proscuitto de Parma at La Pietra Cucina.
Fesenjan stew at Falafel Café.
The vegetable plate at the National in Athens
Buttermilk pancakes and foie gras at Home.
The burger at Holeman and Finch.
Apple and beet soup at Dynamic Dish.
Korean BBQ at Hanil Kwan.
Monkfish liver at Sushi House Hayakawa.
(Photo by James Camp)
I stopped by H&F Bread Co. today to load up on some goodies and check out the new digs after grabbing a delicious ham, gruyere, butter and cornichon sandwich at Savor’s massive new location. H&F Bread Co. is such a cute little bakeshop; I can see myself and every other baked goods fiend getting very addicted. Stay tuned for more in my “Cheap Eats” column in a couple of weeks. H&F Bread Co., 2255 Peachtree Road, 30309 (in the same strip as Holeman & Finch Public House). (404) 350-8877. http://hfbreadco.com/.
Greg Best helping out at the stand.
Even though H & F Bread Co. has not opened its doors, I am already crazy about the bread thanks to the bread assortment at Holeman & Finch Public House and the H&F stand at the Peachtree Road Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings. Everything I have tried has been stellar. I was at Holeman on Thursday night (getting the burger, of course) and asked the barkeeps when they were going to be open. Mr. Best said Wednesday if all goes well with the city. Lets hope so. I am dying to see the store and grab more of their scrumptious baked goods.
My haul: flat bread, baby challah (hidden), croissants, a wheat sandwich loaf and Jerusalem bagels. Yes, I do have a bit of a bread fetish.
(photos by Jennifer Zyman)
Steakhead of the Atlanta Eats blog is reminding people of his Mother’s Day brunch last year at Pastis. Read his review here….He has also published a list of recommendations from Melissa Libby and Associates here….
Tanai, one of the lovely ladies of the Atlanta Dish blog, has published basically the same list with some additions. Check it out here….
Jennifer Zyman, who writes our Cheap Eats column and the renowned Blissful Glutton blog, has a great post up about outdoor cookware. At the top of Jennifer’s personal wish list is the beehive-shaped pizza oven (left). Read her post here for details….
This is from Chow Down Atlanta:
Just a reminder that the new McDonald’s chicken biscuits will be handed out next week for free on Wednesday, May 14th from 6-9am at 1404 Spring Street (parking lot of The Center for Puppetry Arts). Rock 100.5 (my newest favorite station) will be on hand to make things lively. This should be fun.
Why does this make me picture a reformed playground drug dealer passing out junk food?…
Running with Tweezers posts a thoughtful review about dining on Richard Blais’ menu at Home…
The folks at AtlantaCuisine.com are reporting about their visits to Parish here. (I stopped by for a muffaletta in the very pleasant downstairs section myself on Thursday. I’ll report more soon.)…The AC site also features a discussion about green curry. The originator of the thread mentions the green curry at Little Bangkok as being very good. It’s long been my favorite in town, but he waxes musically, literally, about one he sampled recently at Penang:
From the first little bite of green bean, I was amazed. My problems with other places’ curry are that they are never as spicy as I ask for them to be, and that, even ignoring the spiciness, they are just bland. At Penang, I forgot to say that I wanted it spicy, so it wasn’t very spicy (though still spicier than at many places that I asked for it to be spicy), but the flavor was explosive. It was deep, complex, earthy and bright. I’m a trumpet player and I tend to think of taste [in the way] I think of sound resonance. A good sound is full of deep fundamental tones, but balanced by sparkling, ringing, higher overtones. This had that kind of balance and resonance.
The super-cool Ice Cream Fellow files this report:
The ice cream world has lost one of its 20th century pioneers. Irvine Robbins, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins passed away on Monday at the age of 90. His obituary appears in the LA Times.
It was reported that he started each day with a bowl of cereal topped with a scoop of banana ice cream. I would like to think that was his secret to living to 90.
He’s also posted a recipe for ice cream inspired by a favorite drink of Jack Daniels and ginger ale. I want some.
(Photo of Ronald McDonald under arrest from GreenPeace.org.)
We’ve had some good meals lately — at Home, Spice Market and the latest gastro-pub, Holeman and Finch Public House (2277 Peachtree Rd., 404-948-1175). This is at the Aramore, opposite Restaurant Eugene, whose owner/chef, Linton Hopkins, is one of the owners here too, along with his popular bartender, Greg Best. Tony Seichrist, the original chef at the Farmhouse at Serenbe, is chef here.
Hopkins, who was an Iron Chef contestant, is all about Southern cooking and some of the dishes on H&F’s menu of small plates are unexpected and witty regional throwbacks.
Here, for example, is a serving of fried pig tails and ears, served with a barbecue sauce.
And there’s fried bologna — that’s “baloney” to Southerners — but this is a house-made version.
Not everything is Southern, although the quail egg atop this (fabulous) steak tartare might be considered as such. This was our favorite dish, after a bowl of Hen of the Woods mushrooms served over polenta.
This dish was amazing — a cracked beef femur with melt-in-your-mouth marrow to spread on country bread. I didn’t much care for the onion-parsley salad, but it was easily brushed aside.
A plate of fennel, grilled and tossed in olive oil — simple, juicy, sweet, a springtime favorite.
