Omnivore Atlanta

You’ve probably read about the South Carolina woman who has been charged with criminal neglect because of her 14-year-old son’s obesity. The boy, who weighs more than 550 lbs., is now in foster care.

CNN interviewed the mother’s attorneys yesterday. …

Another Wednesday, another absurdly inexpensive meal of Chef Lance Gummere’s designer sliders at the Shed on Glenwood. I notice that in my original post on Omnivore, I suggested that the $3 treats were big enough that two would fill the average diner. The last two weeks, I’ve ordered three and Wayne has had four — and not because they’ve grown any smaller in size. Addiction. …

Blogger Amy Wallas hits Varasano’s: “We tried the salumi and the white clam pizza. The salumi was tasty, with good fresh mozzarella and Italian meats. The char on the pizza gave it flavor and body as well, but to be honest… .”

Gidget, Taco Bell’s mascot, gives up the ghost at 15. …

How to make a smoothie with your feet. …

Photographer Broderick Smylie checks out the action at Noon in Midtown. I may be mistaken, but I believe Broderick hit Noon after leaving another nearby restaurant still hungry. …

Steakhead has been quiet lately but he likes Teela Taqueria in Sandy Springs.

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Could this happen at Varasano’s Pizzeria? From a NBC News affiliate:

Today’s Stupid Criminal comes from Croatia where police say he tried to rob a pizza shop but forgot one thing – to leave the scene of the crime.

The suspect told a pizza clerk to make a half dozen pizzas and then pulled out a knife and took cash from the shop, but the lure of the food proved too much and the world-be robber stopped to eat.

He was quoted as saying he knew he should have left, but the food was too good.

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THE BIG CHEESE: Margherita pizza at Varasano

At the beginning of the year, I was on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, in a sleepy beach community. When my sister’s birthday rolled around, we asked our neighbors where we should go to celebrate. They pointed us to a pizza place in a small town about 20 minutes inland. We drove out into the rural rolling hills until we came upon a tiny town called Mullumbimby. In the center of that town was a tiny pizzeria with sidewalk seating and a wood-burning oven.

We ordered a pizza for each of us. A ridiculous amount of food as it turned out, but when the pizzas arrived my mood changed from pleasant vacation stupor to delight. And then quickly to fury.

These pizzas were perfect. Thin, crispy, bubbly crust, fantastic flavor, sauce tangy but not too watery or thick, toppings super fresh, bold, balanced. “Why?” I sputtered to my amused family. “WHY? Why, if they can do it in the middle of nowhere in rural New South Wales, why can’t we have pizza like this in Atlanta?”

Continue reading “Review: Varasano’s Pizzeria”

(Photo by James Camp)

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LOOKING FOR A DONOR: Tierra's Dan Krinsky

I’m back to pizza this week, but first, I want to cite some important news in Atlanta’s culinary community. Dan Krinksy, co-chef and owner of Tierra with his wife, Ticha, is in need of a kidney donor.

Krinsky was diagnosed with polycistic kidney disease, a genetic disorder, about six years ago. He has been seeking a donor for two years and although he’s had seven offers, none of them turned out to be a match. He is now undergoing dialysis three times a week.

His blood type is O, the most common, so the competition for a donor kidney, including a cadaver organ, is intense. He prefers a living donor because, he says, cadaver kidneys are not as reliable over the long term. Recent research has concluded that donating a kidney does not affect health or life expectancy.

All donor costs will be paid by Krinksy’s insurance company. Recovery from the laparoscopic surgery is usually about two weeks.

Continue reading “Grazing: Tierra’s Dan Krinsky needs a kidney”

(Photo by James Camp)

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MMMMM, CHARRY: The Margherita pizza at Varasano

Enrico Liberato is the new chef, the pizzaiolo, at Fritti. Like everyone else obsessed with pizza in our city, he had to visit Varasano’s Pizzeria (2171 Peachtree Road, 404-352-8216) in the new sky-scraping Mezzo building in Buckhead.

Varasano’s, in case you’ve been living contentedly under your homemade Chef Boyardee pizzas, has received more media buzz than any restaurant in memory. Jeffrey Varasano, the restaurant’s owner, became something of an Internet celebrity after he moved to Atlanta and began blogging his efforts to re-create the pizzas he ate regularly in New York City.

Food bloggers have been singing his praises for at least a year. And the New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution both ran major feature stories about him on July 2, 2008, after the writers attended one of the private parties he frequently hosted at his home.

These parties were rather like public scientific experiments in which Varasano attempted to make perfect pizzas with his electric oven. They also, of course, were brilliant marketing for the restaurant, creating such anticipation that Varasano’s Pizzeria was effectively given rave reviews before it even opened.

Continue reading “Grazing: First Look: Varasano’s Pizzeria”

(Photo by James Camp)

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The incomparable Broderick was on hand to photograph tonight’s opening of Varasano’s. Check out his pictures.

Can you spot the image of the Virgin Mary amid the tomato sauce?

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Catharine Price writes about what to do with winter vegetables on Slate. This article may be a help to many people, but I have to say – really? Has the woman heard the term “soup”? And she doesn’t know what to do with parsley? I do love Mark Bittman’s response to her parsley dilemma, although his declaration that kiwis aren’t that good is horrifying. Makes me think he hasn’t had fresh ones off a vine – tiny, sweet/tart home-grown kiwis are perhaps the best thing in the entire universe. So there.

Derek Brown writes a history of the American mixologist on the Atlantic’s food site.

The New York Times gets in on the Varasano’s conniption of pizza joy.

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Varasano’s Pizzeria opens Tuesday night … or maybe Wednesday. Yes, Wednesday. (Unless it’s Thursday.) The anticipation is unbearable. Foodie bloggers, many of whom have sampled Jeff Varasano’s pizza at his home, are twittering like starving pigeons in Vatican Square. Honestly, I hear the face of the Virgin Mary appears regularly on Varasano’s pies.

Anyway, the latest announcement really is a Wednesday opening. Y’all go and let us know if the pizza is as polyorgasmic as the worshipful claim.

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