Top Chef bore-fest

Check out epicurious's take on this lackluster season of Top Chef. My sentiments exactly!

Hosea wins top chef...seriously?

Sorry I'm late to the party on this. The boyfriend was out of town and dutiful girlfriend that I am, I postponed watching the finale for his sake. Alas before I could watch, I accidentally saw a headline about Hosea winning. Wha..wha.whaaaa? Seriously the only thing interesting about that guy was that he cheated on his girlfriend on national TV (what a jerk, right?) 

I get that Top Chef says their criteria is always the meal you prepared that night and not the previous ones. But seriously, isn't that dumb? If you went to a restaurant three times and each time it was average, would you even go back from the place for a fourth meal? I know from personal experience that Stefan isn't the most charming guy to hang out with, but he won almost everything! And when he wasn't winning lately, Carla was. Carla was sabotaged by Casey...her fault for listening to someone who imploded in her own finale, but so disappointing!

Oh well, I still love Top Chef, but I am so dismayed that such an unexciting chef won. BTW, for what it's worth, I saw Jeff when I dined at the Di Lido last weekend and he's just as cute in person! Boring to watch on the show, but easy on the eyes. Hey producers - next time find more interesting chefs like Fabio!

Save our restaurants

Surprise surprise, eating out is taking a big hit in this terrible economy. Suze Orman went so far as to go on Oprah and tell people to stop eating out for a month. I'm all for pinching pennies these days, and heck I'll even agree that you shouldn't be eating out often if you're out of a job, but for the other 92.5% of us in Georgia who are employed, giving up restaurants entirely feels a bit rash.

We're trying to cook at home more, and yet there are just some nights when we don't have energy after work to go grocery shopping, and other nights we want to do something special. Are we going to have a $25 entree every time we go out? Of course not -- downscale eating on Buford Highway or a pizza from Fritti won't set us back a bundle and will shave hours off our shopping and prep time. Not a bad deal in my mind. Especially given my elaborate recipe making often costs as much if not more than eating out would. Have you seen the prices they charge for ground lamb? A life of just chicken and ground beef just ain't worth living! With all the great deals restaurants are offering at the moment, now is a great time to try out a fancy restaurant on the cheap.

With restaurants going out of business left and right (say bye bye to Taurus, The Depot, Allegro and The Grape), I feel good about supporting local businesses when I can.  To remind you of just how fun eating out still is, normally competing restaurants have come together to run an ad in the AJC.

I hate to imagine an Atlanta that loses all of it's unique, chef-driven, neighborhood restaurants. You know the Cheesecake Factory's of the world will survive, so don't you want to do you part in protecting your favorite places? I hate the thought of looking around a year from now and seeing only a sea of chains!

Miami restaurant review: Liberty Parilla

Nothing says Miami like a sizzling platter of meat, right? Most tourists wouldn't know Liberty Parilla even exists, and we wouldn't have either if we hadn't gotten a recommendation from a chef friend. We were in search of a cheap and tasty meal at least one night in Miami, so we were excited to find an authentic Argentine parilla with way lower than normal South Beach prices.

The location is short on atmosphere, but long on protein and authentic parilla eats. Although the restaurant sits on a somewhat dingy stretch of Washington, it's clean, modern and brightly lit, with soccer games playing on multiple TVs. From what I hear, those wearing Columbia's colors are not welcome!

I had forgotten how much I loved provoleta in Argentina until I saw it on this menu. It's a giant hunk of grilled provolone cheese, served here with tomato. Yum...sizzling cheese! That said, it's not for the faint of heart and at Liberty it is chewy enough that it takes a moment to get all that cheesy goodness down your throat.

My ever hungry boyfriend couldn't resist the ultimate meat lover's platter - parillada con papas fritas, including chorizo, sweetbreads, short ribs and flat meat - all for only $20. Appetizers at most Sobe restaurants approach that price!

I couldn't quite stomach that much meat before donning a bikini, so I stuck with the half order entrana (skirt steak) with fries. All of the meats were tasty and well prepared, not earth shatteringly delicious but pretty damn good for the price. The meat comes with a side of chimichurri, which lacked the acidic tang I prefer but still complemented the steak. Although I ordered a half, I got a whole, so it was a boatload of beef for for very little money.

Bikini be damned, I could resist the siren call of dulce de leche. Two thin crepes come wrapped around the sugary, gooey deliciousness, and topped with a scoop of ice cream and caramel. Oh good lord, I could have eaten this whole thing myself, but alas, I had to share. Seriously, dulce de leche should just come on everything. Argentines actually eat this stuff for breakfast. That is one of the many reasons I'd move there tomorrow if I could!

Pros: Dirt cheap for huge portions, authentic Argentine eats

Cons: Low on atmosphere - both decor and energy

Liberty Parilla

609 Washington Ave.

Miami Beach, FL 33139

Drinkshop opens at W Downtown

Milk & Honey is one of my favorite NY haunts. It's a hidden gem of a cocktail bar, helmed by mixology guru Sasha Petraske. It's quite literally hidden, behind an unmarked door, with an unlisted phone number, and you can only get in if you are one of the chosen few who can dial the number and make reservations. 

Best of all, once you get in there, they have only the best ingredients (kumquats anyone?), and the bartenders have an amazing attention to detail and ability to whip up something amazing with no more suggestion than "I'd like something sweet but not too sweet with kumquats and maybe a clear liquor."

Now Atlantans can join in some Sasha-fun at the newly opened Drinkshop at the Downtown W. Top notch ingredients include home made ginger beer (Yum, dark and stormies are my fave!) and ice chipped from directly from a 150 lb block. 

I can't wait to check it out!

In the W Hotel Downtown

Allen Plaza

45 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd

*Photo credit: Thrillist

South Beach Wine and Food Festival

It was a stroke of good fortune that my birthday vacation to Miami just so happened to coincide with the South Beach Food & Wine Festival. Tickets to the events were exorbitant (hello, organizers, did you know there's a recession on out there?), so I was thrilled to score a couple of freebie tickets to the Whole Foods Tasting Village and Seminars on Sunday.
This event included two tents of restaurateurs and wine distributors offering tastings, several stages where Food Network stars gave demos, a Wines of Spain tent and lest I forget, even Danny Devtio's limoncello company was pouring. It was a gorgeous and super hot day, so we made a beeline for the Wines of Spain tent for a few glasses of blissfully cold white wine. I love rioja reds, but on steamy days, I just can't bare to drink much red. Fortunately there were more than a few white riojas and albarinos to go around.
Feeling a bit tipsy with all that sun and wine, we headed to the food tents. I was bummed to see that the lineup from Friday was a wee bit more glamorous than Sunday's line up (Marcus Samuelsson, Rick Bayliss, Al Roker oh my!)
That said, tasty free food is a great deal in my book, even if I haven't heard of your restaurant. Highlights for me were the Morton's steak sandwich, empanada's from Maggie's, huge trays of sushi from Ra Sushi Bar and strawberry mojitos from the guys at Morgan's Hotel Group.
We caught the tale end of Paula Deen's presentation, which didn't actually involve any cooking, and then the front end of Rocco Dispirito's presentation, which also didn't include much cooking. F&W's Gail Simmons popped in to introduce him. I digress, but is it just me or does Gail Simmons have a pretty sweet gig? Eat good food, travel around, be on TV, and from what I can tell, write very little.
Back to Rocco...he has always struck me as a bit of a publicity glutton, given his restaurant failed, and he mostly shows up on reality shows and schills for frozen Italian food. In person, though, he is awfully cute and charming, and his flirtatious banter with the audience makes it clear why he stays on the public radar even when he isn't cooking. He spent more time talking about the ubiquitous giant fake boobs on one audience member than actually teaching us anything, but who am I to judge?!
I only wish we'd had more time to check out other chef talks, but we went straight from this event to the airport (and I slept the whole taxi ride!) I still think the prices were ridiculous ($212.50 for a ticket to the event I attended), but it was still a pretty cool event. If ever I am extravagantly wealthy, I'll make events like this a regular excuse for a beach vacation.

Full lineup is here.

Pantry eating challenge

The worst part about flying home late on a Sunday is that the next morning there is NOTHING to eat. Fortunately I had just enough to get by, but still it was a struggle to piece together something appealing to eat.

So it's quite timely to see that eGullet has challenged people to make do with what's already in their fridge/pantry. Check out the details here.

Over the course of the week, participants will chronicle the meals they whip up. I love the idea, but I must say my pantry isn't as well stocked as it should be. I have tons of spices and baking staples, but nary a protein or pasta around, so not sure what on earth I could make. The eGullet folks appear to have all sorts of eggs, sausages, steak, and veggies around, so they have quite an advantage over me!

Really must look into buying some pantry staples that would actually feed me in a pinch...

A whole world of food blogs

I'm off to Miami. Lest you miss me and your daily fix of foodie scoop too much (oh the horror!), check out this article with a list of some of the world's best food blogs.

I've read only one or two of them before so looking forward to checking out some new recipes, especially from some of the international ones.

Check out curry burgers on Rambling Spoon or blueberry pikelets on Souvlaki for the Soul. Yum!

Miami dining map

I've tried my hand at creating a map to use as reference while I'm in Miami. It plots out all of the restaurants I might want to eat at so I can leave some decisions til the last second. Kind of handy...Google thinks of everything!

Check it out here.

Miami eats

I'm an obsessive researcher when it comes to figuring out where to eat on a vacation. I'm off to Miami this weekend for my joint birthday with the boyfriend. Yes, we do have the same birthday - it's Friday...weird, right?

Anyway, in New Orleans I lamented that we ate so much we had little energy for nightlife, so I swore that on this trip, we wouldn't stuff ourselves. And yet, here I am reading endlessly on chowhound, urbanspoon, citysearch, NY Times, concierge.com...the list goes on and on.

For what it's worth, I always check concierge.com first for ideas, then I scope out articles on NY Times Travel, and I triangulate on the user-generated content sites like urbanspoon and chowhound. It's pot calling the kettle black, but sometimes it's faster to read one trusted reviewers take on a place than sift through a zillion stranger's reviews. Hopefully you know by now you can trust me to have good taste!

Miami is a tough town to plan dining for. We're staying in South Beach, which is far enough away from areas like the design district, where hot restaurants like Michael's Genuine and Michelle Bernstein's new Sra Martinez are, that it'll be 40 bucks roundtrip in taxis minimum to get out there. That makes restaurants in the South Beach area, even pricey ones, suddenly seem more affordable.

In the end, we've made double reservations to leave ourselves some flexibility. After way too many hours of reading other people's take on Miami restaurants, I opted for Sra Martinez if it's cool out and we spend the whole day in the design district and Sardinia if it's warm and we laze the day away in Sobe. We'll make a day-of decision as to where we'll be celebrating our births!

We're also looking to check out the unfortunately named Dilido Beach Club, home of Top Chef's hottie reject Jeff, and a grungy Argentine el cheapo parilla called Liberty. Somewhere along the line, I'd like a Cuban sandwich and a whole lot of cocktails, too.

I've tried my hand at creating a map to use as reference while I'm in Miami. It plots out all of the restaurants I might want to eat at so I can leave some decisions til the last second. Kind of handy...Google thinks of everything!

Check it out here.

Find out how it all went down starting Monday next week...

Quick Bites: Wisteria

I'd been meaning to go to Wisteria for ages. It's in walking distance from my place, and I'd heard people say it was there favorite place in town, and yet something kept me from rushing over. Many months later I finally chose it as the right place to entertain the not-quite-in=laws while they were in town for the night.

Shock of all shocks, Wisteria was actually substantially better than many far more hyped up places. It's great in that subtle, everything's great but you aren't going to run out and tell everyone sort of way. Hence my 2 month delay in writing it up!

I rarely order pork because all too often it's bland, but something about Wisteria's version sounded worth a shot. Choice well made - the molasses rubbed pork tenderloin was served over a sweet potato souffle topped with sweet onion, apple and walnut relish - and it was sweet without being cloying, and every bite held a pleasing contrast of flavors and textures (crunchy and smooth and sweet oh my!) There was so many accoutrement that you couldn't even see the pork under it all. There's nothing worse than running out of the delicious additions to a dish that make it interesting. Why settle for a bite of just pork when you can get one that melds apple and crispy onion and pork?

The roasted duck was also a big hit at our table. It had perfectly crisp skin and not too much fattiness to distract from the flavorful meat.

Add to that our charming server Buffy and even a visit from chef, Jason Hill, to see how we were enjoying ourselves, and it was a truly lovely evening. They even let us try a sip of high-end wine before we committed to ordering it. My kind of service!

I can't put my finger on what kept me from raving about this off the bat because honestly it's one of the better Atlanta meals I've had in '09. It's just that kind of low key place that you don't shout about, but you know you can count on it for dependably great food.

Wisteria
471 North Highland Ave.
Atlanta, GA. 30307

Atlanta shows James Beard what's up

In NY I was a card carrying member of the James Beard Society, an organization that celebrates great food and America's culinary heritage. So I put great stock in what the organization has to say about America's culinary scene. That's why I'm so excited to announce that the semi-finalists for the James Beard 2009 awards have been announced, and Atlanta has put in a damn fine showing.

Outstanding Restaurateur:
Pano Karatassos, Buckhead Life Restaurant Group

Outstanding Chef (US):
Scott Peacock, Watershed, Decatur
Anne Quatrano, Bacchanalia
Up against nationally renowned chefs such as Tom Colicchio (Craft) and Suzanne Goin (Lucques in LA)

Outstanding Restaurant:
Bacchanalia
Up against Mario Batali's Babbo and Jean George's eponymous NY outpost

Best New Restaurant:
Holeman and Finch

Rising Star Chef of the Year:
Kevin Gillespie, Woodfire Grill

Outstanding Pastry Chef:
Aaron Russell, The Chocolate Bar, Decatur

Outstanding Service:
The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead

Best Chef, Southeast:
Hugh Acheson, Five and Ten, Athens
Arnaud Berthelier, The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead
Linton Hopkins Restaurant Eugene
Hector Santiago, Pura Vida.

I've eaten everywhere on the list except for the Ritz and Restaurant Eugene. Can't say that the Ritz is high on my agenda at the moment but eager to try Eugene. I love what Hopkins has created at Holeman and Finch, so I can only imagine how good it is!

So glad to see Atlanta's dining scene getting some well deserve attention. This list doesn't even include stand outs like Richard Blais (Flip), Ford Fry (JCT), or Scott Serpas (Serpas), so this just skims the surface of all the great food to be had here.

See the full list here.

Introducing a new and improved Adventurous Tastes

Adventurous Tastes has received a face-lift! After hundreds of meals and zillions of calories, I thought it was time to spruce up the site a little bit. Thanks to designer extraordinaire Mary Campbell, Adventurous Tastes has a new logo and a new look. We're still playing with things, so be on the lookout for additional changes and news!

A giant thank you to my food-loving pal Mary for her support in improving Adventurous Tastes. I may not be able to use Photoshop to save my life, but I know great design when I see it, and I may be biased, but I love my new logo. Thanks, Mary!

Sigh...always the bridesmaid

I was so thrilled recently when the AJC's John Kessler added me to his new food blog, Food and More. For those who don't know my full-time gig (the one that actually pays the bills) is in brand and creative consulting, so it's always been a pet project to figure out how to increase traffic to Adventurous Tastes. So a link on a well-known site does wonders!

That said, I must admit I'm green with envy that a bevy of other local bloggers were featured in Kessler's recent AJC article, "Delicious Dialogue." Perhaps I should be happy that food blogging is getting attention, but mostly I'm just bummed that I didn't get a shout out, and therefore missed out on an exponential traffic bounce. Sigh...

So I'm making some changes to take things to the next level...you'll see soon what I've got cooking up (ha, gotta love a good pun, that'll get me some more hits, right?)

Congrats to DirtySouthWine, one of my blogging buddies, for getting a shout out. I'm insanely jealous of happy for you!

PS John Kessler next time pick me, and I promise I'll make you my moderately-famous molten peanut butter chocolate cakes for you as a thanks!

Quick Bites: London's Cinnamon Club

It occurred to me today that I never got around to writing about some of the London restaurants I ate at a while back. Likely that's because they largely didn't impress me. Cinnamon Club had come highly recommended from a local friend, and I was particularly excited by the fixed price menu deal offered on toptable.co.uk.

Alas it all was too good to be true. The fixed price meal was indeed a good price, but the options were ultra bland and not at all a showcase for the edgy upscale Indian cuisine they're known for. Our choices were boring fish or boring chicken for an entree. Not what I had in mind at a restaurant that has pheasant, red deer and goat on the menu.


We debated ordering off the main menu, but just an entree was more than the price of the 3-courses on the fixed menu, and it just didn't seem worth it. I finally decided on the chicken, which fortunately tasted good, but only in a ordered it from any ol' random Indian restaurant way. Not what I was expecting from a swanky London restaurant.

The decor was a bit disappointing, too. I knew going into it that it was in a library, so I was picturing dark woods, rich leather volumes lining shelves, and a cozy old world feel. Instead it was brightly lit and somewhat spare - more like my university undergrad library than something luxe.

When all was said and done, it all tasted fine, but it just wasn't anything worth remembering. In fact I can no longer remember the details of what else we had there. It was boring fruit tart with ice cream and dull cake with sorbet. The only intriguing bit was the kebab appetizer which was spicy and hearty.

Sigh...Cinnamon Club just wasn't nearly as interesting as I'd hoped. I'd take a cheap meal at Desi Spice in Atlanta over it any day.

Cinnamon Club
The Old Westminster Library,
30-32 Great Smith Street,
London SW1P 3BU

Quick Bites: Revisiting The Bureau

I was excited to try the Bureau's new Shaun Doty designed menu, but alas they failed to execute on tasty sounding dishes. Although I do really like the space and wish them luck in converting a dodgy strip of Edgewood to a dining destination, 2 out of 3 times I've been there, it just hasn't been that great.

First off the place was beyond smoky for the entire time we were there. Not a few cigarettes smoky, more like "oh good lord, the place is burning down" smoky. I have no idea what had caught on fire, but seriously, it was pretty dense smoke.

I tried the hot dog, bacon wrapped with kim-chi. Weird choice, I know, but the similar dog I'd had at PDT in NY was so amazing that I had to see if lightning could strike twice. Sadly, it didn't in this case. The kim chi was too moist and made the bun soggy, and without being fried like NY's Chang Dog, there wasn't enough crispiness to counter the moisture. My tomato soup was good, but then again when is tomato soup bad?

The boyfriend tried the lamb pie, which was basically lamb stew with a pastry buiscuit of sorts. It was fine, but lacked seasoning or distinguishing flavors and tasted like any ol' stew.


It's not that I hate The Bureau, it's just that I end up disappointed because things sound tastier than they are. That said, my fingers are crossed that with a little tweaking they can bring their new menu to life, and it'll be as good as their descriptions.

Brownies To-Die-For

For my brother-in-law's birthday party, I was charged with baking something that would feed 30 people. Easier said than done! I didn't think you could cut a cake into that many slices without resorting to a boring sheet cake, and cookies wouldn't allow for the whole blow-out-the-candle thing. So at the last second I went with brownies.

I chose this recipe on Food Network's website based on the rave reviews. Some suggested leaving out the coffee, but I thought that sounded like a delicious way to vary from the standard issue brownie. I wasn't disappointed! These brownies were oh so rich and delicious. I'm not a huge fan of nuts in brownies, but they worked here, and provided a good counterpoint to the otherwise densely rich chocolate.

I accidentally left out 4 ozs of chocolate, but good lord, these have so much chocolate in them, that I cannot imagine why they'd need to be any more chocolaty!

Someone else (dared!) to bring brownies to the party, and perhaps it was my rather aggressive cajoling that enticed people to prefer mine, but I'd like to think it was just the face that these were divine!

The boyfriend and I literally turned the tupperware up over our faces to make sure we got every last crumb once the last brownie was gone a few days later.


Barefoot Contessa's Outrageous Brownies
Copyright 1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
This was adapted from a recipe for chocolate globs in the Soho Charcuterie Cookbook.

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Serves: 20 large brownies

Ingredients

• 1 pound unsalted butter
• 1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 6 extra-large eggs
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
• 2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups diced walnut pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over-bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

Restaurant Review: Serpas becomes a new favorite

It was a few months back when I first got a taste of Serpas' fried oysters at the Les Dames event at Serenbe. The restaurant was far from opening, but already I was impressed that their food was among the best I sampled at the event. Fast forward to this weekend...Serpas has only been open for a week or so. It's in walking distance from my home, so I was excited to see if it was as good as the oysters suggested. Aw hell yeah...it was indeed!

The space is gorgeous. With lofted ceilings with exposed pipes, a two-story cotton flower image, an open kitchen, and a single brick wall, it feels downtown hip without being too sceney. It was packed on Saturday night - clearly the recession isn't keeping all Atlantans at home.

Everything we had that night was fantastic. In an attempt to try as much as possible without throwing off my last-ditch-going-to-a-beach-soon eating plan, the boyfriend and I split two appetizers, an entree and a dessert.
The Texas crab toast with chipotle aioli had a good amont of crab and a spicy kick. Good, but when compared to everything else, not a standout. Better yet were the eggplant hush puppies with blue cheese and red gravy. These flavorful little morsels were addictive, and I could have easily eaten a plateful of them. So savory and delish - a really interesting use of eggplant.


The boyfriend and I were splitting our tenderloin entree, and I was really impressed that our waiter, DJ, split the plate for us. Instead of making a mess splitting the meat ourselves, we each got a lovely plate with the perfectly medium rare meat served atop a bed of rich creamed spinach, and topped with a crispy onion ring. Such a nice and rare service touch! True to its name, the tenderloin was ultra-tender, and at $25, a good price for a beautiful piece of meat.

I had previously heard that all the servers are experienced, and it really shows. For a new restaurant, the place was running smoothly, and our waiter was better than most I've encountered. Helpful, there when we needed him, and out of the way when we didn't. Without us asking, he even offered to split our bill by couple. How often does that happen?

The other guys at the table had the burger with smoked cheddar, red wine dressing and house fries. It's well documented here that I fancy myself a burger connoisseur, and damn, this was one fine burger. The boys commented that it was like an awesome Big Mac times a million because the sauce had a hint of a special sauce taste about it. This is definitely a burger worth returning to Serpas for! The fries were excellent, too, with a perfect amount of seasoning to keep them interesting and just the right amount of crispiness. Little sister's ubiquitous short rib was tasty, too, but I haven't really tasted a bad short rib anywhere yet.


For dessert we shared a white chocolate cranberry bread pudding, and although we enjoyed every bite of it, it wasn't as memorable as everything else. Everyone else had the chocolate and pecan tart, which was more my speed.

And I almost forgot to mention...they have great wine options available for only $25. What's not to love at Serpas?

When we left, we couldn't stop talking about how great the meal was. With Shaun's now out of the picture, I am thrilled to have a new neighborhood upscale favorite. Not only were the food and service top-notch, but the prices were reasonable. Not cheap, but definitely not exorbitant.

I'm not sure what this "true food" nonsense is (is some food fake?), but for such a great place, I can look by that. We'll no doubt be going back soon for that burger!

Pros: Hip atmosphere, top-notch food, great service, upscale but reasonable prices, lots of $25 wine options
Cons: None!

Serpas
659 Aubern Avenue #501
Atlanta, GA

Shaun strikes again...new menu at The Bureau

I just can't get away from he who shall not be named (ok fine, Shaun Doty). He's now responsible for the new menu at The Bureau, which I reviewed a while back. I have to admit the new menu looks more compelling, in a classic gastropub sort of way.

The item I'm most excited about is the hot dog. NY's PDT is a trendy, "secret" bar tucked away through a phone booth in Crif Dogs. They serve a hot dog called the Chang dog, —a deep-fried hot dog wrapped in bacon and topped with David Chang’s own Momofuku Ssäm Bar red kimchee purée. Sounds weird, but it is definitely the most delicious hot dog I've ever had. It's got a little crunch, the appealingly piquant kimchee and the always welcome savory delight of bacon. The Bureau's is a bit different with chili in addition and no deep-frying but the sentiment is the same.

I'm still not heading back to Shaun's anytime soon, but it seems if I want good food in Atlanta, I can't avoid the reach of Doty!

Check out the new menu here.

(Photo from NYMag.com: Michael Harlan Turkell)

Top Chef Season 6 Casting in Atlanta

I love Top Chef. The scenarios they set up are ridiculous and likely bare little resemblance to anything that a chef would ever face - cook dinner for a family of 5 for $20 using only a jar of mustard, 3 sardines and (*gratuitous product placement*) Kraft cheese...all in 10 minutes!

That being said, it's just damn fun to watch. Although this season's contestants haven't been all that exciting - Stefan is in theory the bad guy but they don't do enough to show why everyone else hates him. He's no Marcel or Lisa (the Gorgon) Fernandes. Even worse, one of the only good looking people, Jeff, has been kicked off, and he was pretty boring to begin with.

The show is made more fun by the fact that I vaguely know Stefan, and he once cooked at my apartment for me and friends. My recollection is that he was kind of unpleasant and intense back then, so I can guess why everyone hates him, but still I want to see the fireworks, preferably with a heavy dose of swearing or chair throwing. And yet, I'm rooting for him because he seems to be the only one who can consistently cook well.

I heard a rumor last night that Top Chef Season 6 will take place in Atlanta. That seems to be too good to be true, and I can't find any gossip online about it. Anyone know where the next Top Chef will be? I'd love to have Atlanta showcased, and even better if I could run into the frantic chefs at my local Whole Foods!

So if you think you have what it takes to make the show more exciting next season, Atlanta auditions are taking place at Chef Tom's Atlanta outpost, Craft.

Top Chef Season 6 Are you a big deal? Do you have what it takes to be the next Top Chef? Do you KNOW you could mop the floor with the chefs on Bravo's smash hit competition series? Well, this may be your chance to make it happen! We are now casting for Top Chef Season 6! We're looking for chefs with a passion for food, creativity, a knowledge of cooking techniques and trends and oodles of charisma. We want to be impressed. To apply, go to http://www.bravotv.com/Casting/ and complete and application and send the following:

A recent, clear photo of yourself.

A 3-5 minute audition video-tape. Have someone else videotape you; cook us something; we want you to impress us in a (preferably professional) kitchen; show us your knife skills, your plating skills, the use of certain ingredients that makes you stand out, and prove that you've got the chops to compete and win. Remember since we can't taste your creation, the more visual the better. Also, share a slice of your life with us, tell a story, do something that shows us your personality. And do all of that in no more than five minutes.

Your resume.

Mail the above four elements to:

Magical Elves Top Chef - Cycle 6
P.O. Box # 13005
Los Angeles, CA 90013

All applications must be submitted by March 20th, 2009*, but the sooner you send it the better!

*Magical Elves reserves the right to extend the application deadline in their sole discretion.

ATLANTA
Sunday, February 22,
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Craft Restaurant www.craftatlanta.com/

Appetite stimulus plan

Previously haughty NY restaurants are feeling recession pain and becoming a bit warmer and fuzzier. Read all about it here.

Atlanta restaurants have never struck me as snobby in the "you're lucky we're serving you" kind of way (well except for Shaun's!), but I'm still glad to see they're offering deals galore right now to combat the dwindling dining budgets.

A few dining deals worth noting

Sunday Share at Ecco

It's back! The ever-popular Sunday Share at Ecco returns on Sunday (der!), February 8 at 6:30pm. This unique dining experience brings friends (future and present) together around our communal farm tables to enjoy a unique, family-style dinner for only $25/person!

The theme for February is "I Hear Sardinians Are Very Fresh" - Sardinia is the most distinctive of Italy's regional cuisines. The flavours, which have little to do with nutrients and calories, make everything pleasing to the palate and are entirely natural: wild oregano and fennel, garlic, bay leaves. Sardinian dishes are exquisite to eat and healthful to the whole body.

Seating is limited - call 404.347.9555 to reserve your seats today!

TGIS at Ecco

JOIN US EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT FOR
PASTA OR WOOD-FIRE PIZZA
AND A BEER OR GLASS OF WINE
FOR ONLY $15

Reservations are recommended, but not required—
call 404.347.9555 today.


PASTAS & PIZZAS (choose one)

Conchiglie with eggplant, San Marzano tomato and garlic
Fettucini, house cured pancetta, pecorino
Spolettoni with mushroom ragu

San Marzano tomato pizza, housemade mozzarella and basil
Prosciutto di Parma pizza, mozzarella, sage
Fried eggplant pizza, sweet and hot peppers, mozzarella, oregano


WINE & BEER (choose one)

Petit “M”, Muscadet, France ‘06
Antano, Tempranillo, Rioja, Spain ‘06
Stella Artois

* Select menu items only; menu changes weekly.

MOLTO MONDAYS AT LA TAVOLA

In Italian, molto means “a great quantity of”—
the perfect word to describe
Mondays at La Tavola.

Every Monday night, join us for
a heaping plate of
Chef Richards' housemade pasta
and a glass of wine
for only $15.*

To make reservations,
click here or call 404.873.5430.

$24 3-course prix fixe at The Shed at Glenwood

Today's menu
Iceberg Wedge, Blue Cheese, Applewood Smoked Bacon
or
Roasted Beet Salad, Vermont Goat Cheese, White Balsamic

Fish N Chips, Atlantic Cod, Housemade Tartar
or
Pan Seared Free Range Chicken Breast, Butternut Squash

Flourless Chocolate Cake, Orange Anglaise
or
Profiteroles, Esspresso Ice Cream, Valrhona Chocolate Sauce

50% Mondays at Geisha House and Dolce

Get half off of everything on Monday's! I used to love Geisha House in LA - at half price, I'm going to have to check out the Atlanta outpost!

Photo by Ton Cencicola/The New York Times

Quick bites: Il Localino

To be honest, I'd never been much interested in going to Il Localino. It's on my dog walking route, but since I'd never heard of it, I figured it couldn't be all that good. Over the weekend, though, our ill-fated attempt to dine at Sotto Sotto (clearly the recession isn't impacting their weekend hour-long wait!) led us to give Il Localino a shot.

The decor screams old school Italian joint. It's floor-to-ceiling chotchkies, and the owner, a thick-accented New Yorker married to an Italian roams about chatting everyone up. As I'd predicted, the food wasn't very exciting. My veal scallopini was fine but one-note. However, the tiramisu, from the owner's Italian grandmother's recipe, was a stand-out. So moist and bursting with flavor!

But that's not where the real magic came in - at some point mid-way through our meal, disco music started blasting and the waitstaff came around handing out crazy hats to diners. Seriously. With a giant purple wide-brimmed hat on me and a sombrero staring across the table at me - I wondered - why didn't I know about this place? It's utterly ridiculous and yet completely charming. The folks at Il Localino are all about having a good time, and they take their hats seriously. For a fun dinner out and a unique experience, check out Il Localino. If you're lucky, you'll get the totally awesome Pharaoh hat!

Il Localino
467 N. Highland Ave.
Atlanta, GA 30307