Omnivore Atlanta

The latest entry in the city’s pizza war is Nonna Mia (980 Piedmont Ave., 404-532-2815), a Sicilian-inspired café that’s part of a new chain out of New Orleans.

The restaurant has taken over the space last occupied by Sweet Devil Moon and many others before that. In the 1970s, when I lived a few blocks from there, it was the original location of Proof of the Pudding, now a huge catering company, which at the time also served unique sandwiches and salads.

In my recollection, the longest-lived restaurant here after Proof moved was the Big Red Tomato, a New York-style Italian café with an entertaining vibe and fairly good food. Nobody has succeeded with the location since.

I might as well say at the outset that the pizza here simply does not measure up to the standard prevailing in the city now, thanks to Varasano’s and Fritti. We ordered one of the signature pies, the Siciliana, which is topped with roasted red peppers, prosciutto, kalamata olives, mozzarella and tomato sauce. Sounds great, eh?

Continue reading “Grazing: First Look at Nonna Mia”

(Photo by James Camp)

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We visited the new Nonna Mia (960 Piedmont Ave., 404-532-2815) recently. This restaurant, part of a new chain started in New Orleans, is located in a building that has not had a good track record since the Big Red Tomato left it years ago.

Nonna Mia is something of a return to the Tomato’s style with a menu that’s heavy on New York-style Italian. By far the best thing we ordered was the appetizer, “Divine Portobello” (above), with grilled chicken breast, spinach and a red-pepper sauce complementing sliced portobellos.

We also ordered this red pizza, topped with kalamata olives, sardine-sized slices of prosciutto and mozzarella. But, look, Ma! No char!

More in Grazing later this week.

(Photos by Cliff Bostock)

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I stopped in the relatively new Chocolate Coffee (1159 LaVista Rd., 404-327-6060) today. Actually, I have no idea if it’s actually spelled Chocolate Coffee, ChocoLaté Coffee or Chocolatte Coffee. Literally all three spellings are used on the shop’s website. (This is a local chain of three cafes.)

In any case, I skipped the numerous chocolate-and-coffee concoctions and had a good espresso macchiato. Pastries looked better than average.

One sort-of complaint: The shop offers free Wi-Fi and in fact is an advocate of free wireless everywhere for everyone, according to its website. Why, then, are you limited to an hour of service at the shop and why do you have to enter a code to log on? It took me some time to get my iTouch to work and the barista told me she had given up on getting her own iPhone to work there.

This isn’t unique to Chocolate Coffee. It costs practically nothing for businesses to provide free Wi-Fi. Why the time limits, the codes and the log-on pages full of advertising?. …

We ate at — you know where — the Shed on Glenwood Wednesday night, having become totally addicted to the $3 sliders. Last night’s delicious newbie was one of ratatouille topped with goat cheese. We also ordered this plate of onion rings. The damn things were as big as the sliders, tasted sweet and almost tempura-crispy.

The Shed began a Thursday-night special this week too — a plate of four fresh vegetables for $10. This week’s choices were sunchokes, organic tomatoes, Swiss chard, arugula and sweet corn. I hope to get there next week. …

We indulged our addiction to Spoon in East Atlanta Thursday night. The restaurant now has its pouring license, so you can dull the fiery curries by numbing your entire head with liquor. As usual, I trotted across the parking lot to Morelli’s for ice cream — one scoop of ginger-lavender and one of goat cheese swirled with figs.

Morelli’s is featured in the current issue of the Porch Press, by the way. That’s the monthly newspaper for Grant Park and East Atlanta Village. The article’s not online — none of the paper is, incredibly — so you’ll have to find a copy to read it. Writer Darin Glass reports that business has been crazy at the shop since Bon Appetit cited it as one of America’s top 10 ice cream shops. …

Name Change: Food 101 Morningside becomes Rosebud on July 6. This follows purchase of the restaurant by Executive Chef Ron Eyester, who has been with the restaurant as a co-owner and chef since it opened. So, there won’t be any significant changes in the menu. A press release explains the new name:

So, why Rosebud? Well, as any “regular” will tell you, Chef Eyester’s second love (aside from food) is music. An avid fan of bands such as The Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, and The Allman Brothers, Eyester has built a reputation for offering unique music tribute dinners throughout the year. Fittingly, Rosebud is the name of one of Jerry Garcia’s custom made guitars.

Newbies on my list: RA Sushi, Evos, Nonna Mia, Midtown Mediterranean Diner, Teela Taqueria, Nectar, Noon Midtown and Bistro in a Box. I also hear stuff’s happening at Saba. Any reports on any of these?

(Photos by Cliff Bostock)

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