Taste of Atlanta 2011

On Oct. 22 and 23rd, hoards of hungry Atlantans descended on Midtown Atlanta. No, it wasn't the Walking Dead, it was Atlanta's most mass appeal dining event of the year - Taste of Atlanta!

The hungry hoards

You name it, and they were there dishing out samples requiring 1-3 tickets. I always struggle with this kind of set up because it requires me to decide what's worth my tickets, but I can only imagine with an even this size that the full scale sample eating frenzy you typically get at events would cause trouble. My advice? Just eat whatever sounds good when you see it rather than hoarding tickets like I did.

So 10 tickets in hand, I went in search of the best morsels. Before I could even take a bite, I fell in a pot hole on 5th Street. Not cool! But I dusted myself off and made a beeline for Morelli's. Nothing takes away pain (and mortification!) like basil ice cream with a candied tomato topping.

Next up, meatball sliders from new Adventurous Tastes fave, No. 246. Hard to go wrong with a meatball! My generous friend also shared some of 246's doughnuts, too. Hello, these were amazing! What was she doing sharing?!

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Taste of Atlanta is not all stuffing your face of course, there are also ample learning opportunities. We took in the global snacks Inside the Food Studio session, with host Tom Sullivan, the AJC's John Kessler, Miso Izakaya's Guy Wong, Sheik Burrito's Jahan Ostad, and Pura Vida (and Top Chef's) Hector Santiago.

Each chef talked about their favorite global snacks and showed the audience how to make several simple options. Samples were handed out so we could all sample the global snacks for ourselves. Guy Wong's stuffed rice ball (onigiri) with pickled plum sounded simple and tasty, so I was dismayed to bite in and find something oh so fishy inside instead of the plum. Bait and switch! 

Chef Santiago's shrimp dish was my favorite, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you how to replicate the dish since his demo focused on making a gelatin seaweed. Interesting to watch but definitely not going to be tried at home! For me a highlight was watching Tom Sullivan trying to banter continuously for an hour with fairly low key chefs. Someone give this guy a drink!

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"Global snack" from Sheik Burrito

Tom Sullivan is working hard here!

Hector Santiago's shrimp dish

Guy Wong's pickled plum stuffed onigiri

If you're going to attend Taste of Atlanta, I highly suggest springing for the VIP ticket. That is where you'll find ticketless nibbles and better yet wine and beer! From South African wines to Belgian beers, this tent had it all. And since the crowds are a little less intense inside the VIP area, you can sample your little heart out. I snagged Three Sheets grilled cheese and STK waygu sliders to soak up my many wine tastes!

I missed the VIP seminars, but steaks and cabernet with Kevin Rathbun and cocktails with a mixologist from Holeman & Finch sound pretty awesome to me. There's just so much to do at Taste of Atlanta, though, so it's hard to get to everything. Next year, I suppose!

One of many sampling tables in the VIP area

Sad you missed it? Just 355 days (give or take a week) until next year's event!

DBA Barbecue Harvest Moonshine Dinner - Oct. 27

I'm working my booty off these days, so suffice it to say it's all I can do to feed myself some nights (thank goodness for a hubby who's handy in the kitchen!) That's why I love a good food event - tasty eats that I don't have to cook? Sign me up. Even better if it doesn't break the bank. That's where DBA comes in....

I for one will be kicking it on my annual October LA pilgrimage on Oct. 27, but I must say I'm intrigued by a moonshine dinner. If you are, too, be sure to drink one for me!

Seattle Trip Report: Part 2 - Pike Market

It occurred to me today that I never actually got around to writing about the rest of my summer and early fall travels. So I'm going to try to share a bit more about my time in Seattle, Oregon, and New Mexico over the next couple of weeks.

Pike Market is so jam packed with tourists, you might want to turn away before going in, but if you did, you'd be missing out on a a pretty darn cool market. Just the flowers alone made me wish I lived in Seattle. As I informed the Mr., if he had access to stunning bouquets chock full of the lushest peonies you'd ever seen for a mere $10, I'd be expecting flowers way more often than just Valentine's and our anniversary! See those giant bouquets below? Yep, 10 measly bucks. So jealous of the lucky ladies of Seattle!

No trip to Pike Market would be complete without seeing someone throw a fish. Alas there were a lot of fanny pack wearing tourists elbowing me out of the way for the same view, so I had to settle for just scoping out some of the wares. I did see one fish thrown, but honestly it wasn't quite as exciting as you'd hope it would be. Given Atlanta's, shall we say, rather lacking seafood access, I was seriously wishing I had a kitchen in which to enjoy some of these gorgeous ingredients.

 

The famous Pike Fish Market

I'm not really sure how any local deals with the insane crowds, but it would be hard to resist the incredible selection and prices at Pike. Perhaps they have less famed and more local markets I don't know about. Mostly it was the flowers and raw ingredients that wowed us, so for our actual lunch, we headed across the street to an also very packed French bakery - Le Panier. It was just as cute and cozy, albeit far more bustling, as you'd ever hope to find. Everything looked delish, so we opted to share a sweet framboise croissant and a savory ham and cheese pastry. A perfect ending to a trip to Pike! And if you're feeling really intrepid you can battle the lines at the nearby original Starbucks.

Heavenly pastries at Le Panier

Pike Market
1st and Pike
Downtown Seattle

Le Panier
1902 Pike Place, Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 441-3669 ‎
lepanier.com

Restaurant Preview: Chicken and the Egg

Dining out in Marietta all too often means settling for a sea of chain restaurants. So it gives me great pleasure to say there's a new kid in town, and there's nary a bloomin' onion in sight. Chicken and the Egg is an actual honest to goodness independently owned restaurant serving up great food deep in suburban country.

Tucked away in an unimpressive strip mall, Chicken and the Egg wasn't at all what I expected. Instead of the cozy countrified environs I envisioned, it was an airy and, dare I say, hip looking dining room. And considering we went on a Sunday afternoon, it had a surprisingly bustling bar scene, too.

Farm to table is de rigueur ITP, but in strip mall country, it's still a fairly new concept. So I found it almost cute that the waitress explained to us their farm to table ethos. It may be old news as a trend, but I'm glad to know that the entire metro area can benefit from the wonders of seasonal, locally farming.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Cheese Fondue and Country Ham

With a choices like fried chicken with mac 'n cheese and crab cake benedict, we had to go big or go home. So we ordered both, naturally, and kicked things off with fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese fondue, country ham and tomato jam for good measure.

Fried Chicken, Collard Greens and Mac & Cheese

Crab Cake Benedict

Peach Cobbler

Great googly moogly, crispy and juicy tomatoes, salty ham, sweet tomato jam and pimento cheese are a match made in Southern-fried heaven! Diet food, no, but man, was it good. In fact, we enjoyed everything we ate, including a sampling of their fantastic desserts.  Add to that a long list of compelling cocktails and gracious service, and you've got a restaurant that might just be worth driving OTP for!

Chicken and the Egg
800 Whitlock Ave., Suite 124
Marietta, GA

Favorite Restaurant Ever?

The New York Times' Sam Sifton wraps up his tenure as a dining critic with a review of what he calls the best restaurant in NYC - Per Se. Having eaten at Keller's west coast restaurant, French Laundry, I can certainly imagine that Per Se might well be perfection.

So that has me thinking, what's my favorite restaurant of all time? Although meals at French Laundry, Le Bernadin and Bouley were all profoundly lovely, I cannot recall that much about them. The one that really sticks out in my mind is Moulins de Mougins, a Michelin starred restaurant in the south of France.

Moulins de Mougins

First off, you're in the South of France, so everything is inherently more sophisticated and luxurious than what you're used to. But even more importantly, the food, setting and service were so exquisite that even all of the years later, it still stands out in my mind.

Funny what you remember most sometimes. I couldn't tell you what was on our menu (although I remember it being so divine and plentiful that I felt food drunk and probably real drunk, too, by the end of it). No, what actually stands out and makes it so memorable was a small detail - when the bevy of eager staff came by after each course to change our settings, one noticed that I eat left handed. So by the next course, the silverware was reversed at my seat. Now that's attentive service!

And to throw some Atlanta love into the mix, the other meal memory that still gets me salivating was enjoyed sitting at the Holeman & Finch bar. We ordered their mussels and bone marrow, both heavenly in their own right, but when the buttery perfection of H&F toast points are dipped first in the mussel broth and then spread with the rich marrow, words cannot convey how incredible it was. A better indication of our enjoyment was that we groaned, no really, we emitting a moan of contentment and ordered another basket of bread.

So food lovers, what's your favorite dining experience of all time?

Taste of Atlanta - Oct. 22 and 23

Taste of Atlanta is right around the corner! On Oct. 22 and 23, more than 80 Atlanta restaurants will take over Tech Square in Midtown for a weekend of samples, demos and various and sundry food-lovin' fun. 

Scene from last year's Taste of Atlanta Festival

Tickets are $25 in advance, $35 at the door or $75 for VIP tickets in advance and $85 at the door. With regular entry, you get 10 tickets to use for tastes from the participating restaurants (bites cost 1-3 tickets). Being a VIP gets you 15 tickets and access to the Wine+Beer+Cocktail Experience which includes tasting and educational seminars. Additional tasting tickets will be on sale at the event.

This is the most wide ranging group of restaurants you'll find at a food event. From food festival regulars (Bocado, JCT, No. 246, the Shed at Glenwood and Rosebud) to local faves you don't usually see at this type of thing (Bhojanic, West Egg) to the downright unexpected (Waffle House, Johnny Rocket's). See the complete list.

VIP Tent

Learning opportunities abound as well with a full a schedule of demos and competitions. Events include:

• Barcraft Competition – VIP ticketholders can sample cocktails from Atlanta's best mixologists as they compete to be named Atlanta's best. 
• Family Food Zone – Offers demos and cooking lessons from national and local chefs in an interactive environment, including a Top Chef Kids Competition in which kids can get their hands dirty.
• Inside the Food Studio – This intimate experience hosted by Tom Sullivan gives guests the chance to enjoy food and drink while getting a behind the scenes look at some delicious pairings from local chefs. 
• Global Flavors International Stage – At this festival first, top chefs from the city’s diverse international restaurant scene will demonstrate what goes into their signature cuisine.
• Home Plate Main Stage – Renowned chefs will duke it out on the main stage in Iron Chef style competitions.

To celebrate the festival's 10th anniversary, they'll be kicking things off in conjunction with Living Social, with the first-ever Big Grill – A Midtown Block Party in Tech Square on October 21. Food Network’s Aarón Sánchez will join local celeb chefs such as Kevin Rathbun for a fun, food-filled evening. Fifteen select restaurants will be onsite that evening to showcase their signature cuisine in a fun-filled environment.

Get your tickets now!
Tickets are sold at locations throughout Atlanta including Cook’s Warehouse and Ticket Alternative outlets. Purchase online through Ticket Alternative at www.TasteofAtlanta.com. Advance tickets must be purchased by midnight, October 22.

Follow Taste on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tasteofatlanta
Become a fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tasteofatlanta

Cooking In the Time of Science

Don't try this with your iPad

The NY Times' details the creation of the e-book version of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking demonstrates the challenges in bringing cooking classics into the 21st century:

[T]he production staff had the entire book retyped by hand, since no electronic file of the book existed. The illustrations throughout the cookbook — tiny sketches of sauté pans and freshly julienned carrots — were scanned at a high resolution so they could be transferred to the e-book.

Making matters tougher was trying to replicate the unique two-column layout of Child's book, which set the effort back at least a year.  The payoff for all that work?  Features not unfamiliar to anybody who owns a Kindle or iPad, such as links within recipes to other related recipes and techniques, as well as an all-important pop-up dictionary to help those of us whose high school french lessons have been long forgotten.

At $19.99, the e-book of The Art of French Cooking is $5 cheaper than the print version.  I'm not sure that I'd find a Kindle very convenient for kitchen use, but the bright color screen of a tablet or laptop is great in the kitchen, particularly on a crowded countertop.  It's still fun to leaf through a print cookbook and admire the photography, but for actual cooking it's tough to beat having a recipe on-screen.

Fields of Green 2011 Recap

Field of Greens was this weekend and like last year it was a perfect excuse for a sunny day in the country. Congrats to Rosebud's Ron Eyester and the rest of the team who put together Field of Greens as well as Slow Food Atlanta for an awesome event!

Whippoorwill Farms was lovely; there was tons of great farm-fresh food from some of Atlanta's top restaurants, huge crowds, and lots of sunshine. I'm not going to lie, it was such a feeding frenzy that I wasn't even always sure who's food I was eating. Suffice it to say, there were too many tasty dishes to mention. The Shed at Glenwood, Local Three, Miller Union, and Farm Burger had a few favorites.

After stuffing our faces, we checked out stands such from vendors like Emily G's jams and High Road Craft Ice Cream and caught a little of the F'n' Chef Competition (forgive me, despite my best googling and twitter searching, I cannot for the life of me figure out who won. Inquiring minds want to know!)

Rather than wax poetic about things you'll have to wait a whole year to experience for yourself, I'll just share some pics to give a flavor for the day....

Seemed way more crowded than last year but still got to taste everything

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Adventurous Tastes favorite, The Shed at Glenwood's Chef Lance Gummere dishes out tasty bbq sandwiches with a local
pepper sauce

Another Adv Tastes fave - Linton Hopkins of my beloved Holeman & Finch. His fried chicken was HOT!

What's not to love?

Seriously, a baby mini horse? They were trying to kill me with cuteness

The chefs competed preparing local beef (yum!) and beef liver (not so much)

Judges sampling the competitors' dishes

F'n' Chef Competitors - Terry Koval (Farm Burger), Eric Ottensmeyer (Leon's Full Service), Nick Melvin (Rosebud) 

Restaurant Preview: Briza

I was sad when I learned Pacci was closing a while back. While never on heavy rotation for us, I had good experiences there and hoped to see the talented and likeable chef, Keira Moritz, succeed. Fortunately the new resto that has taken over the spot - Briza, at the newly christened Renaissance Hotel - is also helmed by a highly-skilled, creative female chef and may turn out to be even more exciting. 

Briza maintains Pacci's hip hotel restaurant vibe, although as its predecessor did, it will probably struggle with its vast size to not feel empty on less bustling nights. That said, it's definitely got the right ambiance for a hot date or entertaining guests or clients.

The Mr. and I were lucky enough to try a special media tasting menu recently. The menu we sampled strikes me as a bit more haute than the menu published on their website, but it was abundantly clear that new chef Janine Falvo has some big ambitions and abundant creativity.

Our Menu

Cucumber Compressed Melon Salad

Mozzarella Egg, Heirloom Tomatoes, Bacon

Halibut, Corn, Chanterelles, Tarragon

Duck Confit Roll, Fois Gras, Peach Marmalade

Veal Sweetbread "Parmesan," Basil, Garlic Chips

Lamb, Grilled Rattatouille, Olive Pistou, Red Pepper Custard

Old Fashioned Donut, Bacon Powder, Chocolate, Coffee Ice Cream 

If Falvo's name isn't familiar, it will be soon. She's on Season 9 of Top Chef, filmed in Dallas. Here's her audition video for an up close and personal intro. Recently relocated from Northern California Wine Country, Falvo is translating her California farm-to-table roots to what press materials call Briza's Southern farm to table menu. 

I'm very wary these days of that nomenclature, so I was happy to see there was nary a fried chicken or pimento cheese spread in sight. Although I love Southern farm-to-table, one does want to eat something besides just that now and then (can I get an amen?) That being said, I'd called Briza's menu more Southern inflected New American, with the Southern vibe coming in the form of seasonal ingredients and things like fois gras tater tots and peach dressing. 

I loved the creativity and aesthetic beauty of the dishes we sampled. The cucumber compressed melon salad was visually intriguing and literally burst with sweet flavor.The mozzarella egg was something right out of a Richard Blais playbook with food that resembles other food, and the crispy kale was a revelation. 

And of course no self respecting wine country chef can resist wine pairings, so each course came with an eclectic wine. Picks spanned the globe, from Napa to Alsace to Mendoza. With Briza's knowledgeable staff, a varied wine list and plenty of bottles under $50, you can drink very well there.

Other than sushi, fish dishes often leave me feeling very blah. Falvo's halibut, however, was rich and buttery and paired perfectly with summery sweet corn. I may have finally found a restaurant where I choose fish over meat. While the lamb we sampled was perfectly medium rare and well seasoned, I'd take the fish over it any day. It's just so rare for me to find a fish dish so full of deliciousness.

Don't mistake me for a pescatarian just yet, though, because the oh so decadent duck confit and fois gras dish was my fave of the night. Wow. Seriously. Salty and crispy and creamy and sweet and rich - oy, I'm drooling just thinking about it. I feel sorry for the world that this is not on their regular menu.  I suggest begging for it with sad puppy dog eyes. It will blow your mind. 

As far as I'm concerned Atlanta restaurants simply don't serve enough sweetbreads. People may turn their noses up at this little gland nugget, but done right, they can be incredible. Props to Falvo for offering up a unique "parmesan" style take. I don't see it on their normal menu at the moment, but don't miss the chance to try it if it shows up as a special. Simultaneously crisp and creamy, like the fois/confit combo, it is a symphony of textures.

I realize that our menu was oh so special, so I can't yet vouch for their regular menu. But what I saw left me very impressed. Briza was sophisticated, thoughtful and willing to take chances. Most important, though, we left full of very good food and wine. What more can you ask for?

Briza

866 W. Peachtree St. NW

Atlanta, GA 30306

678-412-2402

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