News Roundup

Angry Chef Ron Eyester from Rosebud gets controversial

Stock your pantry with these savory items.

Shaun's, Evos and 5th Street Cafe bite the dust.

The feds bust a rat-infested food warehouse in Atlanta - yikes!

Are food carts already played out? If this is happening in NY, how long does Atlanta's nascent scene have before it goes corporate?

Atlanta Halloween Fun

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. When I was a kid I'd take a pillowcase out and hit as many houses as I could in one night, and later I'd gorge on kit kats, special darks, and sweet tarts with nary a thought of their impact on my waistline. In later years I'd don my sexpot Dorothy costume and hit parties in Beverly Hills.

(photo by: José Picayo)

Sigh...Yes indeed, those were the days, but this year I suspect my Halloween will be a wee bit quieter and will involve substantially more clothing. That doesn't mean I have to miss out on the fun, though. I for one will be hitting fright fest at Six Flags and later having little sis and her hubby over for some Halloween Peanut Butter and Toffee Candy Bar and the premier of The Walking Dead (the new series set in a post-zombipocalypse Atlanta - is it just me, or does that sound awesome?)

Since Halloween is Sunday, expect ghoulish fun all weekend! Here are just a few of your options:

Midtown Scary Bar Crawl - 8 pm - 3 am starting at Deadwood Saloon. Get a wrist band and enjoy drink and food specials at 9 bars and a costume contest at Cosmo Lava. Or party it up at Ghouls Gone Wild 4 at Tongue & Groove. Just $15, and ladies enjoy free cocktails from 9-11.

On Saturday, you can recycle last night's costume and head to the always enormous Spiralween. Many a year ago, I actually hit up this party. It didn't quite compare to the the Beverly Hills mansion parties that soon followed, but hell, what does? Or go swanky and head to the Midtown W for the Horror Hotel Party, Saturday starting at 9. You know the drill, it'll have drink specials, costume contests and tunes.

Still hungry for more? Hit up Ra Sushi on Sunday night for food and drink specials, a complimentary tarot card reader and a costume contest as well as a rock cover band...all with no charge to attend. Or hit up Varasano's wearing your costume for a free brownie.

More Halloween fun:

Check out GQ's Candy's never to give out for Halloween  - Mike and Ike's or twizzlers were the pits in my book. Serious Eats took on the subject, too (raisins, seriously? That's just rude).

Rent a copy of my fave Halloween Canadian cult classic, The Worst Witch. Tim Curry was never more magnificently creepy/sexy.

I always love seeing what celebs dress up as, what with all their unlimited funds and costume designers. I LOVE Ellen's hilarious pouf costume. And please oh please let me see a baby Gaga out trick or treating!

Happy Halloween!

5th Street Cafe Closed

5th Street Cafe is closed already. I've got to hand it to ol' A.D. Allushi, at least he isn't afraid to pull the plug on a losing proposition.

I'm sensing a trend...Apparently it's a very bad sign when I don't like a restaurant. I try to give new places the benefit of the doubt, but as of late two of the few restaurants that I ate at that left me disappointed have closed rather quickly. First Saskatoon and now 5th Street Cafe. See my original preview here. Apparently in this market, one so-so experience is enough for most people!

It's a nice restaurant space even if two restaurants have floundered there as of late. Wonder what will open there next?

Caketails for a Cause: Nov. 11 at Bloomingdale's

Share our Strength is at it again with another delicious event for a great cause...


From 6-8 pm on Thursday, Nov. 11, at Bloomingdale's at Lenox Mall you can enjoy:

• Dessert-inspired “caketails” handcrafted by mixologists of Bistro Niko, Bluepointe and Nava
• Bake sale featuring goods from Sweet Auburn Bread Co., Alon’s Bakery & Market, Highland Bakery, Buckhead Bread Co., Bakeshop, Chocolate Pink and more 
• Luxury shopping with Bloomingdale’s Friends and Family Week discounts
• Raffle for great prizes such as bakery treats and Bloomingdale’s merchandise

All proceeds from the event, including ticket sales, bake sale earnings, raffle tickets and 10 percent of all Bloomingdale’s purchases during the event, will benefit Share Our Strength’s dedication to ending childhood hunger in American by 2015.

For more information, visit www.greatamericanbakesale.org and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

$25 per person including open "caketail" bar and hors d'oeuvres. Visit www.strength.org/caketails to purchase tickets!

The Dish: Beer Cheese Soup @ Diesel Filling Station

Though we’ve driven and walked by it dozens of times, Lindsey and I had never stopped by Diesel Filling Station, one of the few restaurants in our ‘hood we’d yet to try.  Relaxing on the patio and enjoying pints of Decatur’s own Wild Heaven Beer, we were blown away by the beer cheese soup.  Simple and probably not too different from simply eating a bowl of liquid cheese, it’s the ultimate comfort food and a great match for Wild Heaven’s hoppy Invocation, a Belgian-style golden ale. 

After the soup, we gave our best effort on Diesel’s Oh Dear God! Burger, a venison patty topped with just about everything.  Finishing up with their over-the-top fried chocolate cake, we enjoyed a surprisingly good dinner at a place that had been hiding in plain sight.

The Oh Dear God! Burger with pickled okra fries

Diesel Filling Station

870 N. Highland Ave.

Atlanta, GA 30306

www.dieselatlanta.com

Restaurant Preview: Tin Can Fish House & Oyster Bar

Tin Can Fish House & Oyster Bar opened just a few weeks ago in Sandy Springs from the owners of Teela Taqueria, located right next door. Tin Can offers a casual seaside bar and grill atmosphere and a moderately priced menu of you guessed it, seafood.

Mr. AT and I are always suckers for fresh oysters, especially when they're priced so reasonably - $6.50 for a half dozen of the mignonette preparation. The oysters themselves were a bit on the small side, but for that price, you can afford to buy more!

As you'd find at most casual seafood eateries, much of the menu is fried. Fortunately, Tin Can gets more clever than just offering up plain ol' fried versions of different fishy offerings. Sure, you'll find the ubiquitous calimari, but they're also serving up conch fritters that truly reminded me of the islands. We also tried the increasingly common but always addictive bang bang shrimp. Seriously, I know they're bad for me and just about the same anywhere you get them, but they are pretty darn good!

Mussels were also a bit anemic, but the thai broth, redolent of coconut milk, ginger, and curry was heaven. It was served with bread, but I'd suggest that Tin Can get on the H&F Bakery train (just like nearly every other restaurant in town) because some of H&F's buttered toast points dipped in that broth would be bananas!

A shrimp and oyster po-boy was exactly what you'd expect and at $9 was plenty shareable. It was served with fries, and we added a side of sweet potato tater tots and fried green tomatoes. I've never had this take on the tot, but I must say I liked the sweetness of them to balance out all the other salty fried goodness. The tomatoes offered a great balance of tart tomato, salty crisp breading and a spicy dipping sauce. Their take on this southern staple was actually as good as I've had at most places.

Not content to be fried seafood gluttons, we added in dessert - a caramel and chocolate brownie. My expectations for dessert are typically low in a bar and grill environment, but this was much better than average and was quickly scarfed down despite our ever tightening waistbands.

There were of course more healthy options that we didn't choose include four different non-fried preparations of your choice of seven types of seafood.

I can't say that I get up to Sandy Springs very often, but I do think that Tin Can is a great entry into the casual dining mix in the land of OTP chain restaurants and strip malls. The menu is approachable, with a wide variety of options to suit any taste or level of healthiness. And in a town as land locked and seafood sparse as ours, a good inexpensive place to get fish, oysters, mussels or shrimp is always welcome!

Tin Can Fish House & Oyster Bar

City Walk at Sandy Springs
227 Sandy Springs Place
Suite 502
Sandy Springs, Georgia 30328
Tel: (404) 497-9997

Cooking for a Cause - 10/28 benefiting Children's Healthcare and Kate's Club

I'm always a sucker for a good cause, but in this case, Cooking for a Cause happens to be supporting two organizations I think especially highly of. A couple years back I spent some time working as a consultant for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and was impressed by the compassionate and hard working people I met there. They are truly doing a remarkable job caring for the region's children. And a friend who lost his own mother now works with Kate's Club, which helps grieving children and families deal with the loss of a loved on. Two very worthy causes worth supporting!

ABOUT THE EVENT

Atlanta’s STAR 94 (94.1 FM) and Ford Lincoln Mercury are teaming up for “Cooking for a Cause,” a charitable event benefiting two local Atlanta charities, Kate's Club and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta on Thursday, October 28, 2010 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Foundry at Puritan Mill. The fundraiser will showcase cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs Richard Blais, Linton Hopkins and Henry Chandler (winner of Nightline's "The People's Platelist" contest) as well as food tastings and a silent auction.

TICKETS TO ‘COOKING FOR A CAUSE’ may be purchased online at star94.com/cookingforacause or at the STAR 94 tent at Taste of Atlanta Oct. 23 & 24. General admission tickets are $35 and VIP tickets are $75 and includes VIP goody bag and meet & greet with all three chefs. Tickets to the event are limited. STAR 94’s Cooking For A Cause is a 21+ event. Doors open and silent auction begins at 6 p.m. with the demonstrations beginning approximately 6:45 p.m.

ABOUT THE CHARITIES:

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is committed to enhancing the lives of children. With three hospitals and 16 neighborhood locations, the pediatric health care system manages more than half a million patient visits and offers access to more than 30 pediatric specialties.

Kate’s Club provides grieving children and their families with an environment where they can re-engage in life and turn a potentially debilitating loss into a growth opportunity. By creating friendships with kids and young adults that share the experience, Kate’s Club guides children through their grief journey in a comfortable, safe and uplifting setting.

Shaun's closing Dec. 18

Last time I begrudgingly visited Shaun's, I found it exceedingly empty for a weekend night. So taking into account the relative popularity of his Yeah Burger! business, I can't say I'm surprised that Shaun's is closing.  Once a favorite restaurant of mine, Shaun's has long been dead to me after an epic New Year's disaster never to be forgotten.

Ooh, does that mean I can expect an exciting new restaurant in that spot? Please please please let it not be southern farm to table!


Here’s the press release from Melissa Libby and Associates:

Oct. 20, 2010 – Shaun Doty announced today that he is closing his four-year-old Shaun’s Restaurant after dinner on Sunday, Dec. 18. Doty plans to concentrate his time on the Yeah! Burger restaurants he and partner Erik Maier have opened in Atlanta.


“This was a hard decision in many ways,” Doty said. “But I believe it is better to focus my energy right now.”


“Yeah! Burger really speaks to my passion at this point in my life,” said Doty, the father of two sons, 7 and 11 months. “I like that it’s a place I can take my family and feel good about eating there. It has taken all the principles of the food at Shaun’s – fresh, quality ingredients purchased from people I know – and made it affordable,” he added.


Shaun’s will remain open with regular hours until the closing date. Doty does not rule out starting another fine dining restaurant or re-opening in the future.

Flip Opens a New Buckhead Location

Top Chef alum Richard Blais

The burger wars are in full effect. There have never been a shortage of good burgers in town. The Vortex has long served great ones. And Holeman & Finch can hardly be called a newby, but I'd argue the real burger wars began when Top Chef fave Richard Blais opened Flip way back in '08. This gourmet burger joint wowed me way back then, but I must admit I haven't visited much since. Since then, Yeah Burger, Farm Burger and many a meat-focused competitor has opened, but Blais' truly haute burgers still remain distinctive.

The new Buckhead Flip location

That's why I was so excited to get a preview of the new Flip Buckhead yesterday. It's open for business as of today, in the old Blockbuster location in the Tuxedo Festival Shopping Center in Buckhead. Turns out that each location - the original, the new Buckhead spot, Birmingham and the soon to open DC will have slightly different menus, inspired by the executive chef's own inspirations as well as locally available meat and produce. Little did I realize, but much of Flip's menu is locally sourced, but they don't tout it since they believe that's just how food should be. I wholeheartedly agree, so it's nice not to be hit over the head with a farm-to-table message.

Scrumptious fries and Potato Skins with Cheese Wizard and Bacon Marmalade

Blais himself was out in full force for the media lunch I attended, complete with a rather epic hairdo described as being his riding in a convertible look. The ratio of food to tablespace was a bit lopsided, so this was a crowded, crazy, gluttonous feast. Honestly, the food came so fast and furious that I was not always entirely sure what I was eating. And I dearly hope that none of my fellow bloggers has a cold because there was more germ sharing than I typically like to do with strangers - lots of hands on burgers as they were split up among attendees or shared milkshakes.

That said, I do love a good food orgy, especially when the food is as interesting and tasty as Flip's, so who am I to complain?  Blais describes the food as fine dining between buns and said he tries to create burgers that if reformatted into a non-burger form would be considered high end cuisine.

We sampled a smorgasbrod of burgers, apps, sides and shakes including new items such as carnitas burgers, venison burgers, potato skins with cheese wizard and bacon marmalade, lentil and plantain salads, and nut 'n honey milkshakes. I just left out quite a few dishes, so you can imagine the spread! As I'd expect, the burgers are quite good. Venison was  bit gamier than I'd prefer in a burger, but the belly melt, rBQ and carnitas were all interesting twists on the backyard favorites.

Flip's new Venison Burger

To me, though, it's the sides and shakes that really stand out. Maybe it's just that there are so many great burgers out there now, but for me a great fry or shake to makes a good meal a great one. The fries are crispy but light served with an addictive smoked mayo. The fried pickles and onion rings are neither dense or fall apart, and the sauces served with them - a beer hone mustard and buttermilk sriancha, respectively - made it hard for me to stop, despite being stuffed to the gills. The potato skins served with a Blais take on cheeze whiz were particularly compelling, although I wish there were more cheese and bacon marmalade to go around!

I would have indulged even more in the three delicious milkshakes at my table if I weren't concerned with the social quandary of how to effectively share a shake with a virtual stranger. Jonathan from citysearch seems like a lovely fellow, but I wasn't sure I was ready to swap spit with him! That said, what little I had of the nutella + burnt marshmallow was delectable in the classic thick chocolatey shake kind of way and the thai chai had a fruitier, almost creamsicle quality. Yum!

Cheerio inspired Nut 'n Honey milkshake

The new space has more distinct dining and bar areas but maintains the same funky upscale vibe as the original location. Creative molecular gastronomy style cocktails make this a perfect after-work or date spot. It was mid-day on Monday, so I didn't indulge, but a martini served with the vodka frozen and then broken up was a wonder to see, and another cocktail described as having orange juice that literally explodes in your mouth sounded fascinating.

Surveying the damage. This is after a bunch of plates were cleared!

Blais shared that he's also working on a non-burger concept for my 'hood, Virginia Highlands. With Yeah Burger opening in mere days (Nov. 4), I'm glad to hear it's not another burger joint. Pizza perhaps? Those wars have barely quieted down, and Everybody's is shutting down, so who knows?! Blais also shared a fact I've never heard - they're the only restaurant in Atlanta legally using the sous vide cooking method so popular on Top Chef.

All in all, if you haven't been to Flip in a while or never checked it out in the first place, it's definitely worth a visit. Creative, sexy and totally satisfying, it's a worthy entrant into the burger wars.

Flip Buckhead
3655 Roswell Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30342

Dinner Date: Sushi House Hayakawa and Netherworld

It's always hard to come up with a fun date night plan, so this is the first of an occasional series of dinner date suggestions.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, so first up...sushi and a haunted house! It may come as a surprise, but Atlanta is apparently home to the best haunted house in the country, according to people who'd know like Fangoria and USA Today. Netherworld is just off of 85 at Jimmy Carter Blvd in Norcross, and it's AMAZING.There are two haunted houses - Gargoyle and Dead Salvage Mangler 2. The former is much larger, but both are incredibly well done.

As you walk through each house, you go through a variety of gory scenarios with tons of creepy actors ready to scare the bejeesus out of you at every turn. They manage to keep the crowds spread out enough that you don't get your scares ruined by those just ahead of you. It's terrifying and hilarious good fun all at the same time.

I let loose no fewer than 20 blood curdling screams, so in my book, it was a very successful haunted house outing. It's not for the faint of heart of young children, but despite the fact that you couldn't pay me enough to watch Saw or the like, I loved every minute of Netherworld. And for a date, it's perfect. How can you walk through a haunted house without clinging to your honey?

It gets bananas crowded at Netherworld, so to avoid the lines, I recommend hitting it before dinner. Apparently there are a limited number of speed passes available, which given how the line can wrap around the building, might be a great investment. Regular tickets are $22 for Gargoyle and $27 for both.

Netherworld
6624 Dawson Blvd
Norcross, GA 30093 

Next up, head to my personal favorite sushi in town, just down the road - Sushi House Hayakawa. Sushi celeb Art Hayakawa is serving up the freshest, most authentic sushi in town. No mayo covered rolls for you and your sweetie! If you really want to show off, go for the omakase, otherwise, one of the sashimi platters paired with some rolls makes for perfect sharing. If after some sake, you're feeling rowdy, you can always head to the karaoke bar in the same complex or better yet, back to your place...

Sushi House Hayakawa
5979 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30340

Taste of Atlanta: October 23-24

Taste of Atlanta is right around the corner. Do you have your ticket yet? For just $25 in advance/$30 at the door, you get tastings, music, demos and more!

More than 70 local chefs will be there dishing up tastings and showing off their skills with demos. The usual suspects are there (e.g., Restaurant Eugene, JCT, Pacci), but so are some restaurants I've never seen at a tasting event, including Bhojanic (my fave Indian resto), Cafe Intermezzo (home to my first high school forays into dating),  Mediterranean Grill (our go to take out for gyros), and yes, even Waffle House. How many food events can offer you everything from liquid green tomato to pecan waffles?

The two day event includes three live cooking stages, with demos on the main stage from heavy hitters like Kevin Gillespie, Ford Fry and oddly enough Toni Braxton. On other stages, learn skills such as using a big green egg or farm to table cooking.

At Inside the Food Studio, you can pay an additional $25 to enjoy tastes and treats while learning. The Sunday 3:30-4:30 "The Secret Behind America's Best Burger" with  Executive Sous Chef Jason Paolini from Holeman & Finch Public House sounds pretty awesome. How much would I like to replicate that burger at home?! Not content with just eating and demos? Peruse the farmer's market or the silent auction.

If you're feeling fancy, a VIP ticket ($75 in advance/$80 at the door) entitles you to beer, wine and additional food tastings, seminars, and  the bartending competition.


Get directions here.

AT is on a health kick! Recipes: Green Smoothies

When Mr. AT is out of town, I loathe cooking. Somehow cooking for only myself just doesn't hold any allure. So what usually ends up happening is that I avoid making a decision about what I'm going to eat, until eventually I am starving and desperate.

So now that he's left for a whopping 10 days to galavant around Italy (whoa is me!), I've decide that when I don't have other plans, I'm going to try to eat raw. Not that I have any real reason why raw food seems like the right option. I just happened to read about green smoothies, and the idea of a meat and alcohol free week seemed like an appropriate detox from my gluttonous ways. More important, smoothies seemed like something I could handle without much effort.

So upon my return to the ATL from LA, I stocked up on smoothie ingredients and am now 2 full days in. Green smoothies are, true to their name, chock full of green leafy veggies. Never fear, though, they are roughly 2/3 fruit, so surprisingly enough, they don't taste bad at all.

Thus far I've concocted 2 recipes that were actually quite tasty.

Smoothie 1
1 cup blueberries
1 banana
tablespoon of flaxseed oil
handful of Kale
water or ice to taste

I know it sounds disgusting, but I swear it's not. I started with just a little kale and kept tasting. I ended up adding a large handful's worth and couldn't taste it at all. This green smoothie actually ends up being purple. One warning, I had this once upon making it, and it was great. The next day I brought some to work and drank it later. After sitting a while, it was both oddly thicker and chunkier, and turned a much less appealing brownish purple. Yes, it looked like poo, and yes, I still drank it. I don't think that particular variety keeps very well!

Smoothie 2
1 Avocado
1 banana
large handful of spinach
squeeze of lemon or lime juice
tablespoon of flaxseed oil
water or ice to taste

This smoothie turned out bright green and was incredibly creamy and mild flavored. Again, not a  hint of spinach flavor.

My breakfast remains my fave goat milk yogurt, fruit and flaxseed oil, and for my other meal of the day, I've been having raw salads packed full with flavorful veggies like corn, hearts of palm, jalapenos and garbanzos. As an avowed big eater and carnivore, I'm shocked to admit that I haven't been hungry at all. I mentally crave all sorts of goodies right now, but if I'm honest, I'm not actually hungry. Plus, kale is something I would virtually never eat, so this is a pretty good way to get some of the benefits without even trying.

I'm not sure how long this smoothie kick will actually last, but I'm glad to know that I can actually make a green smoothie that tastes good. I love a good sneaky way to get more healthy veggies in my diet!

I still wish I could be in Italy right now stuffing my face silly with pasta and wine, but if I'm going to be stuck home, I can at least indulge a health kick that Mr. AT would never go for!

Recipe: Grilled Sausages with Figs and Mixed Greens

I love me some figs. Alas, their season is short, and even then they're pricey as all get out. But when I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit, I couldn't resist. Lamb sausage and figs? Sign me up!

I wasn't sure I'd be able to track down lamb sausage, but Whole Foods actually carries two different kinds. I opted for a spicy version, which we grilled up outside. Other than slicing up everything else, assembling the salad was a snap.

Unfortunately the dressing was not quite as easy. As of late, pomegranate molasses seems to be showing up everywhere as an ingredient. Can't say I'd ever even heard of it before this year. I've tried to find it at stores, even on Buford Highway, but thus far no luck. i'm sure there must be a middle eastern market somewhere, but it seems like a lot of effort to go to for one ingredient. Instead I opted to make my own, by cooking down pomegranate juice and sugar. Even though I accidentally bought pomegranate grape juice, it still turned out well and made for a delicious salad dressing.

This salad was absolutely flippin' amazing. Seriously. The spicy lamb, rich creamy cheese, sweet dressing and figs - it offered an incredible amount of flavor in every bite and made spectacular leftovers, too. It also looked lovely on the plate and would have been the kind of dish I'd be proud to serve company. Figs are nearly gone from the stores, though, so try this recipe stat!

Grilled Sausages with Figs and Mixed Greens

Bon Appetit by Sara Tenaglia

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Active Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

6 fresh lamb sausages, spicy Italian sausages, or garlic sausages
4 1/2-inch-thick red onion slices
10 tablespoons Pomegranate-Cumin Dressing , divided
12 cups mixed greens
3/4 cup crumbled soft fresh goat cheese
6 fresh figs, halved
1/4 cup (packed) sliced fresh mint leaves

Prepare grill (medium-high heat). Brush sausages and onions with 3 tablespoons dressing; grill sausages until cooked, 15 minutes, and onions until charred, 10 minutes. Toss greens with remaining dressing; mound on plates. Slice 4 sausages (reserve 2 for pizza). Top greens with sausages, cheese, figs, and mint.

Quick Bites: The Bazaar by Jose Andres

Not content to sit around while Mr. AT jaunted off to Italy, I headed last weekend to visit my beloved friends, Paul and James, for a weekend in my former hood - Los Angeles. I lived there for several years and now love to visit my dashing pals for great food and even better company.

No trip to LA is complete without a sceney night out. Fortunately Bazaar combines all of the glamour you hope for in a LA hotspot with top notch molecular gastronomy small plates from renowned chef, Jose Andres. The restaurant is huge, loud and oh so swanky. The bar area comes complete with fascinating portraits that change from fuddy duddy old men into their simian counterparts. You just can't stop staring!

I was at a tableful of oh so fabulous men, so I ceded all menu control. The food came fast and furious and was universally interesting and delectable. One of the drawbacks of molecular gastronomy is that tastiness is often sacrificed in favor of surprise. Andres manages to pull off both.

One stand out was the  Cotton Candy Fois Gras which is just as weird as it sounds. It appears to be cotton candy but biting into it reveals its rich, creamy center. Even better was the "not your everyday Caprésé." It looked normal enough, but the mozzarella turned out to be liquified, literally bursting in your mouth - a pleasant and delectable surprise!

Photo credit: gastronomyblog.com

Papas Canarias were more traditional but no less successful. These tender, wrinkled potatoes are covered in crystallized salt, which is nicely offset by a mojo verde dipping sauce. Surprisingly given their intense saltiness, these little taters aren't salted, rather, they absorb the salt from their boiling water. Apparently they're easy to make:

Photo credit: Mylastbite.wordpress.com

Papas Canarias
Ingredients: 
2 pounds baby potatoes
1 cup salt, plus more as needed
Mojo verde, for dipping

Place the potatoes in a deep, medium-size pot. Add enough water to cover, and salt. Potatoes should float in the salted water; if not, add more salt. 
Place pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes are easily pierced with the tip of paring knife, 25 to 30 minutes. 
Drain water from pot, leaving just enough to cover the bottom. Return pot to low heat and cook, shaking pot until the salt covering the potatoes begins to crystallize, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover pot with a clean kitchen towel until potato skins have wrinkled, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately with dipping sauces, as desired.

Mojo verde (don't add salt unless you're serving it with something other than the potatoes)
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups well-packed chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons sherry-wine vinegar
Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic and salt to a smooth paste. Add cilantro leaves and cumin seeds; mash until well combined. Slowly drizzle in olive oil while continuing to mash, until all the olive oil is absorbed. 
Turning the pestle in a slow, circular motion around the mortar, drizzle in 2 teaspoons water and vinegar. Keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

But my favorite dish of all were the "Philly Cheese Steaks." They are of course not what they seem. Andres' take on the hearty classic uses air bread, which is essentially a light air filled bread akin to a roll without any filling. Injected into that is a gooey warm cheddar, and it's topped off with succulent Wagyu beef. Wow! I could eat a whole plate of these. It's love, really.

Photo credit: gastronomyblog.com

In the midst of all that deliciousness, I also managed to see Neil Patrick Harris. How's that for an LA night?

My only quibble is that Bazzar has a weird anti-knife agenda and everything has to be eaten with a spoon or a fork. Not always easy. They gave me one when I asked, but I find it odd that it's not standard there. Also a bummer was that our bill was split incorrectly, to my detriment. I realize that it's nice of them to even be willing to split the bill at all, but I'm not sure how the single girl at dinner ended up with the biggest share of a bill that was supposed to be evenly split. Oh well, it was well worth the extra dough.

Bazaar is both scene and substance, which is a rare find indeed! I'll be drifting off to sleep now dreaming of philly cheesesteaks....


The Bazaar by Jose Andres
SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills
465 S La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: 310-246-5567

Atlanta dining events round-up

As always there are lots of great events in the works. Here are a few...

Toulouse celebrates its 16th anniversary with $16 entrees and $16 bottles of wine. It's already going on, through Oct. 10.

Enjoy a complimentary cheese tasting of Rogue Creamery's best blues on Saturday, October 9 at the Virginia Highlands (11 am -1 pm) or Dunwoody (2 pm - 4 pm) Alon's with their cheesemongers and Brian McMillan from the Cheese Advocate.

Check out La Tavola's Abbondanza menu Oct. 13 - 23. $32 gets you a 3-course prix fixe menu that celebrates Italy's heartland with dishes such as wild boar salame, housemade venison sausage, and veal braised with sauerkraut. Sounds like perfect cool weather hearty fare!

Want Richard Blais' fancy schmancy burgers without driving to west midtown? You're in luck, Flip is opening a location in Tuxedo Festival Shopping Center in Buckhead this month.

Get your schniztel on. Petite Auberge is offering their special Oktoberfest menu through Oct. 30.

The Five Second Rule

I've seen the scientific studies that prove that there really is no such thing as the five second rule. The food hits the floor and immediately begins collecting all sorts of nasty bacteria and other assorted funk. And yet, I often subscribe to it anyway.

My rule of thumb is not that far off the diagram below. I typically invoke the five second rule when the item is either very delicious or very expensive and has fallen somewhere where I am at least not aware of deadly germs living. For example, I'll consider eating things of my kitchen floor if it's too near the edges where all the dirt seems to hide, but I don't eat anything that I've dropped in the sink (which is weird reasoning, I know, but I figure the worst of the worst is near the drain).

What's your personal five second rule?

So You Dropped Your Food On The Floor: Do You Eat it?
Posted by melismashable

Field of Greens

Shame on me. I hadn't paid much attention to the press for Field of Greens, held this past Sunday at Whippoorwill Hollow Farm. Then I happened to catch a tweet by Deborah Geering, food blogger for Atlanta magazine, and I managed to win tickets. Turns out this event was awesome and well worth the $15 in advance/$20 at the gate others had to pay for tickets. For those with families, this was one of the most kid friendly food events I've seen, too. Sunshine, King of Pops, and farm animals...what more could a kid ask for?



Compared to the often rather pricey fees for tasting events, this one was a bargain - especially on such a glorious fall day. These days I'm pretty snobby about food events, but this one had some of Atlanta heavy hitters, including Linton Hopkins, a rare site at such events.

Hopkins team from Restaurant Eugene was serving up one of the more intriguing dishes of the day - sorghum cake with ice cream and bacon peanut brittle. I always love a good excuse to baconize my dessert! We also enjoyed watching Chef Hopkins' friend chicken demo. Oh how I longed to try his fried chicken. Given the amount of pork, lard, and butter he threw into the oil before frying up the local Spring Farm chicken, I can only imagine that it would be epic.

My personal favorite dish of the day came courtesy of my friends at The Shed at Glenwood. Chef Lance Gummere was dishing up crispy, remarkably light pork schnitzel sandwiches topped with a dollop of wonderful local pear puree. Definitely a dish I hope to see at their Wednesday night slider nights!

 

Not content to just stuff our faces, we also wondered around the farm and checked out a variety of local vendors like Atlanta Fresh Artisan Creamery, and Pine Street Market. There are so many cool local food entrepreneurs these days. Makes a girl dream....

And oh yeah, as if that wasn't great enough, I got to milk a goat. Since I eat Redwood Farm Goat Milk Yogurt every morning, I now am fully in touch with at least one meal a day!