Omnivore Atlanta

Have you driven all over Atlanta in a desperate attempt to find the raw foods you crave? Chef Jenya simplifies your search in the video above.

Do you cook? Then you’ll like this new website, Good Bite.

Do you love the recession? Perhaps you need to open a pizzeria.

Didn’t anyone tell Indigo Girl Emily Saliers that meat is murder? Check out her favorite Atlanta restaurant (after Watershed, of which she is part owner).

Popeyes’ sales are up (even though I haven’t eaten there in many months). But overall profits are down. Meanwhile, Arby’s and and Wendy’s are invading the Middle East.

Who’s (finally) taking over the Clubhouse location at Lenox Square?

La Tavola is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a prix fixe menu of all-time favorites. Hurry. It’s only available for a few more days.

Optimism is epidemic in Midtown!

Teens go wild in Johns Creek!

Do some yoga and eat something organic at the Go Green Expo this weekend.

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Chefs Kent and Kevin Rathbun show their adorable faces on the CBS morning talk show where former opponent, Chef Bobby Flay, regularly corresponds with short segments on food issues.

The Iron Chef champions will appear on “The Early Show” tomorrow morning (Tuesday, March 25), preparing “Tomahawk Chop” and other steak dishes for Julie Chen and the rest of “The Early Show” gang.

The show begins at 7 a.m.

Then, on May 4th, Kevin Rathbun will celebrate Rathbuns’ 4th anniversary and Kevin Rathbun Steak’s first anniversary.

The “Barbecue and Blues” afternoon party will include a band, Rathbun’s favorite barbecue dishes and beer and wine.

The celebration will be from 3-7 p.m. at Rathbun’s. The cost is $50 per person. Reservations are limited, so call soon.

For reservations and more information call 404-524-8280 or visit www.restaurantsinatlanta.com.

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“Thank y’all and please come again.”

We’re all used to hearing that at places like Mary Mac’s, but not so much at big-ticket places. My friend Gregg reports that the day after a $600-plus meal for four at Kevin Rathbun Steak, he received a call from the restaurant thanking him for coming in.

I’ve never heard of such a policy and assumed it might have something to do with the amount of money he spent. But I ran into an acquaintance who works at the restaurant and he told me they do it with everyone. If this becomes a popular practice, it could get really annoying.

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I’m sure you’re diggin’ this mouthwatering picture of my leftover $64 Porterhouse bone at the new Kevin Rathbun Steak. (More about that farther down.) Yes, I’m making a statement.

Perhaps you have noticed that I don’t take a lot of pictures of individual plates of food, as many bloggers do. There are a couple of reasons. The first is that I’m not that skilled as a photographer.

The second is that two decades ago I spent a couple of years as editor of a glitzy home-and-garden magazine. I got really sick of looking at complexly styled food (as well as interiors, gardens and architecture). Basically a still-life composition, the usual photo of a plate of food seeks to be seductive rather than representational. (And you would not believe some of the crap professional food stylists use to “preserve” and enhance a plate of food for a photo session.)

Of course, presentation is part of what makes food appetizing, but the food photograph, styled by a professional, is an art quite independent of the chef’s art, no matter how good she is at plating. “Photographs beautify,” Susan Sontag wrote. You can’t intelligently look at a food photograph without thinking about “authenticity” of depiction. Just take a look at the fast-food images I linked to last week to see how far that can go. (It’s also true, naturally, that a bad photograph can as easily misrepresent a chef’s work.)

(more…)

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First the bad news: Renowned chef Jeff Smedstad, who turned Sala into the best Mexican restaurant to ever operate in our city, has announced his departure after less than six months. He’s going back to Arizona. No replacement has been announced.

Smedstad formerly owned Los Sombreros in Scottsdale with his wife. After they divorced, he sold his interest to his ex and moved to Atlanta.

We are really sorry to see him go but wish him well. Fifth Group Restaurants, owners of Sala, will have a helluva time finding anyone up to Smedstad’s quality.

Now the good news:

Red-meat eaters are rejoicing. Kevin Rathbun Steak has opened at 112 Krog St. in Inman Park.

The new restaurant, designed by the Johnson Studio to have a “speakeasy feel,” is chef Kevin Rathbun’s third venture. Rathbun’s and Krog Bar are both within a block of the new steakhouse.

From press materials:

“Introducing his version of the modernized steakhouse, Kevin’s menu includes U.S.D.A prime steaks, smaller half-steaks, and prime steaks for two, three or four that will be sliced and served tableside. The menu also has a mixture of Italian, Creole and Asian items along with fish, soups, salads and sashimi. He has blocks of fish that he calls “slabs” and an extensive list of sides and hot and cold small plates. He also has classics like Steak Diane (his mother used to do this tableside), seafood gumbo, scallops Rockefeller, and crabmeat imperial.

“Keeping sustainability in mind, there are local organic ingredients on the menu that include Georgia lettuces, beets, onions and radishes. Alternative entrée selections include braised short rib, a ribeye burger, roasted chicken, vegetarian dishes and a pork porterhouse. For the worldwide wine selection, there are 28 by the glass; 85 percent of the wine list is available for under $100.”

Check out the website, www.kevinrathbunsteak.com, for more information.

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