Inaugural Wine Dinner at the Colonnade
Yes you read the title correctly. The Colonnade hosted a wine dinner and they did it with style. As soon as I saw this event come through my inbox, I jumped at a chance to see their kitchen swing into full scale gourmet action. Chef Ryan Cobb often sticks to the tried and true favorites that have been drawing folks to the restaurant for decades but he also offers specials that showcase his culinary skill on a regular basis. This dinner was a chance for him to pull out all the stops. As I entered the back dining room, a favorite regular waitress handed me a glass of champagne and showed me to my seat. The tables were graced with white linens and fresh flowers (yes this is the Colonnade, it was surreal). I enjoyed my drink and introduced myself to others at the table. Mostly regulars also looking to see what they were up to. They have promised that this will become a more regular thing at the restaurant and also mentioned they are ramping up the cocktail and craft beer selection at the restaurant. We were in for a treat!
Duck Salad with Oranges
Champagne Sorbet
Tenderloin with Truffle Potatoes
Apple Panna Cotta
Enjoying Empire State South
I have to admit this one will be a treat for me as well! If you have not experienced one of the ACFB cooking classes, you should give them a try. They are typically hosted by Cooks Warehouse as a part of their quarterly schedule of classes. They showcase some of Atlanta's best chefs, prizes, enough food to call it dinner, and wine tastings. As an added bonus the proceeds go to the food bank itself. What a fun way to give back!
Although he has turned over the reigns of Executive Chef to Ryan Smith, Chef Acheson's strong influence is present in the tasty menu. After his recent James Beard wins, the dinning room was again packed with guests. We were looking forward to all of the great takes on traditional southern flavors.
To start, we chose the In Jars an amazing selection of tasty spreads presented in miniature mason jars. The choices included pimento cheese with bacon marmalade, smoked trout, boiled peanut hummus, ricotta with sauteed mushrooms, and a selection of house made pickles. The waiter laughed as we picked up the jars to scrape out every last bite saying, "that is how we know people like them."
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| In Jars |
For our next course we tried several of the Beginnings, a mixed green salad with duck bacon and a house made cheese puff, a warm vegetable salad with goat cheese, a fried shrimp salad with foraged greens and the farm egg served almost like bi bim bab over rice. The flavors were rich, but not over powering. These were imaginative takes on salads with a southern spin.
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| Fried Shrimp Salad |
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| Mixed Greens |
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| Warm Vegetable Salad |
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| Farm Egg |
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| Trout |
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| The Duck |
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| Pork Loin |
Great Article with an Atlanta Connection
I know I have not been doing very much this month, but I have been doing some great reading. Here is another great article with a connection to Staplehouse in Atlanta.
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/08/06/underground-supper-clubs/
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/08/06/underground-supper-clubs/
French Chocolate Heaven
As you walk into the shop, the smell of chocolate overwhelms your senses. You can dazzle your eyes at the chocolate counter and explore the cute packages of chocolates and treats and you can watch Robert and his family in action. When I was there for lunch recently, I was able to watch him hand dip chocolate caramel truffles! Finally don't miss out on the tiny but delicious lunch menu. We tried the turkey and brie sandwich served on fresh baked baguette, and the homemade spinach quiche. The breads and quiche are also made daily and are the closest to France I had tasted in a while. The quiche was light and flaky with eggs that were firm, but not overcooked something hard to find. They also offer them frozen so you can take one home.
Before leaving, we had to get some chocolates and try my personal reason for visiting, the macarons. These are very hard to find in Atlanta. Maison Robert offers about 10 flavors, each one delicate and full of natural flavors like sea salt and caramel and raspberry. The colors are so pretty and they taste amazing.
Watching the Pros Test the SFA Cookbook
Monday night, I had the pleasure of attending a cooking class based on the new Southern Foodways Alliance Cookbook. The recipes came to life courtesy of four fabulous chefs, Virginia Willis, Steven Satterfield, Angie Mosier, and Lynne Sawicki.
Chef Steven Satterfield has earned his fame recently at his amazing Westside hot spot Miller Union. Steven grew up in Savannah and has lived in GA most of his life. His contribution to the cookbook was a great recipe for a version of cheese straws. For our class, he chose a recipe from Louisiana, dirty rice and skillet greens!
The dirty rice was sinful featuring a combination of 3, yes three forms of meat! He started by sauteing chicken livers, in bacon grease! He added house made sausage (Boston butt), the bacon, red pepper flakes, and the "holy trinity" or "Cajun trinity" onions, green pepper, and celery. This mixture is cooked together. The rice is first sauteed in the fat from the meats, then cooked with water until ready. All ingredients were combined, and topped with green onion for an amazingly rich dish. This was offset by the crisp greens. Collards (of course) were sauteed with garlic, red pepper, and anchovies which were ground to a paste. This added a rich ans salty flavor to the bitter greens and cooled the heat from the rice. Amazing choice Chef Satterfield!
Up next was Lynne Sawicki. Chef Sawicki formerly of Floataway Cafe and Star Provisions now owns an amazing meat and provisions shop, Sawicki Meat and Seafood, in downtown Decatur. Lynne prepared another Louisiana influenced dish. It was a take on Osso Bucco, but using frog legs! Lynne sauteed the breaded frog legs in olive oil and set them aside. Then again added the "holy trinity" and a number of other veggies. She also added Merlot to the mix. The combination of the vegetables and the gelatin in the frog legs she explained, created a thick gravy-like consistency, perfect over rice or as we had it over biscuits!
The fabulous biscuits were made by Ms. Virgina Willis. Virgina is one of my favorite chefs in Atlanta. She has the culinary pedigree and the interesting scientific information that hits the mark for me. I guess you can say I am a groupie! She prepared a recipe from the cookbook of a simple buttermilk biscuit dough. She prepped the ingredients in a food processor, and showed us how to properly roll out the dough, and place the biscuits in the pan. I enjoy that she chose to use southern simple ingredients found on the shelf at anyone's grocery store. The biscuits buttered were light, fluffy and flavorful with a gorgeous golden top.
The frog leg osso bucco with a homemade biscuit!
Last up was Angie Mosier. Angie was the past president of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and she is a writer, baker, teacher, and food stylist. She chose to share with us her recipe from the cookbook which was a take on her version of the Rich's Bakeshop coconut cake! Angie also shared with us her tricks and tips for icing, baking, and styling a cake. She made it look effortless, but I appreciate her sharing her insecurities about her baking and her ease about imperfections in her product. She is a true role model for the home baker, and her cake was out of this world!
Coconut cake with buttercream icing!
The Southern Foodways Alliance is an important organization connecting Americans and the world with the old and new traditions in Southern cuisine. I am so excited that people care about preserving and promoting the tried and true as well as the innovating things happening with food in the South! Thanks to this organization and these chefs for keeping the movement going!
Craving Cocktails at H. Harper Station
On a cold Friday night a few weeks ago, I ventured out to H. Harper Station. They had a soft opening the previous Sunday, and I was curious to see the next restaurant to fill the long vacant Atlanta & West Point rail station in Reynoldstown. Walking in the decor had changed some from the look of Depot, the previous tenant. New retro green milk glass chandeliers and trendy Edison style filament light bulbs hung over the tables and an entertaining small plate prep area was located at the end of the lengthy bar.
Surprisingly, we were seated immediately at 8 pm on a Friday night. I assume that there is much more of a wait now, but reservations are available online at Opentable. We perused the cocktail menu and were pleased to see many old fashioned drinks along side some inventive takes on the classics. The bar was well stocked with numerous choices for rye, gin, bourbon, wiskey, bitters, and housemade mixers. I chose the amulet, Hendricks gin with apricot brandy, dolin dry, grapefruit, and pernod. My date chose an old fashioned. My cocktail arrived in a cute old fashioned champagne style glass, a nice touch to the retro drinks.
The menu ranged from small bites to larger plates with a lean toward the southern. We started with the relish tray, for two. A nice plate arrived featuring pimento cheese, pickled veggies, and deviled eggs. This seems to be popular at restaurants today, but I can hapily say the pimento cheese stands out as one of my favorites, and the deviled eggs were delicous, different from many I have tried (in a good way).
Next we chose to diversify our order and had the parsnip and fennel soup along side the chicken salad sandwich, and the Springer Mountain chicken and mushrooms. The soup arrived thick and creamy. Much better texture than I expected from the ingrediants. This was so warm and flavorful. A perfect start to a comfort meal on a cold evening.
The chicken salad sandwich was fine, but nothing to write home about. We southern women are particular about our chicken salad. The chicken and mushrooms however was perfect. The chicken was roasted and served under a puree of rosemary infused pumpkin and over carmelized onions, carrots, mushrooms and toasted pumpkin seeds. The flavors were rich and distinct and the texture of the smooth onions with the pumpkin seeds was perfect. This was the confort dish I was seeking.
Overall H. Harper Station is somewhere I will return. Next time, I think I will plan to plant myself at the bar and enjoy a few more of ther great cocktails, while trying out a few more items on the menu.
Surprisingly, we were seated immediately at 8 pm on a Friday night. I assume that there is much more of a wait now, but reservations are available online at Opentable. We perused the cocktail menu and were pleased to see many old fashioned drinks along side some inventive takes on the classics. The bar was well stocked with numerous choices for rye, gin, bourbon, wiskey, bitters, and housemade mixers. I chose the amulet, Hendricks gin with apricot brandy, dolin dry, grapefruit, and pernod. My date chose an old fashioned. My cocktail arrived in a cute old fashioned champagne style glass, a nice touch to the retro drinks.
Overall H. Harper Station is somewhere I will return. Next time, I think I will plan to plant myself at the bar and enjoy a few more of ther great cocktails, while trying out a few more items on the menu.
Fabulous Fall Dinner with Staplehouse
I have been waiting for months to get a seat at this dinner table! Prelude to Staplehouse is a supper club of sorts hosted by Chef Ryan Hidinger and Jen Hidinger. Ryan attended the Art Institute here in Atlanta after high school before returning to his home in Indianapolis to begin a career as a chef. That career took him from top restaurants in Indiana to Atlanta where he worked at Bacchanalia, Float Away Cafe, and finally Muss and Turners. Today the Hidingers are working on a new restaurant concept Staplehouse, which will feature fresh ingredients, craft beers, and a great bar. They hope to have great food in a comfortable atmosphere with a reasonable range of price points. The Prelude to Staplehouse dinners have quickly become one of the hottest tickets for Atlanta foodies. The moment an invitation goes out, hopefuls respond to the email invite and cross their fingers for one of the 10 seats. They have been hosting formal five course dinners, and some family style three course meals on an almost monthly basis. I tried for two months to snag a seat, responding three minutes after the email came out to no avail. Then finally I grabbed two spots for the October 24th family style dinner!
The fennel and apple salad was crisp and fresh, topped with goat cheese, nuts, and bacon (yes please!). It had the perfect balance of clean crisp texture and a rich fall flavors to complement the cozy meal. The boar loin was something I had not experienced. I have eaten wild boar several times in Italy and here in Atlanta, but typically had seen it served stewed or as a part of a ragu or bolognese sauce. The wild boar loin was tender, lean and ultra flavorful. It was served atop caramelized apples, onions, and sage with other fall root veggies. The meat was not too rich, and without knowing it was boar most would have though it was a heavenly marinaded pork tenderloin.
Finally the dessert, the pumpkin pie had a homemade crust, a real pumpkin filling (no canned pumpkin here) and was topped with a maple syrup whipped cream. This was paired fantastically with a pumpkin ale. The flavors washed together to create the perfect ending to a great meal. For some great pictures of the food taken by Jen as well as recap of the meal, check out their blog.
Ryan and Jen were such gracious hosts, welcoming us to their home, and sharing their fantastic food. Ryan took time to tell us about his concept, his cooking style, and the plans for the new restaurant. Today another dinner invitation came out, but sadly I will be out of town. So now, I wait poised over my gmail for the next invitation, and am eagerly awaiting the opening of Staplehouse.
What'll ya have?
Upcoming Foodie Fest
