Sweet Supper Club!
Travel Post- Winding Down 2009 in Los Angeles
I am trying to keep my resolution to post more frequently. Meanwhile I have been stockpiling great dining experiences to share with you. So indulge me as I recap the fabulous food of Southern California.
I took a quick trip to LA for New Years, and was guided through a series of culinary treats. From cheap fast food to high end dining, LA has alot to offer for a Southern girl on her first visit!
Day 1: In-N-Out Burger This West Coast tradition is fantastic, with juicy grilled burgers featuring carmelized onions and the crispiest fries I have eaten at this style of drive thru. My friends make it a family tradition to go there when someone new comes to town. I was pleased they showed me the ropes.
Day 2: Yamashiro I was treated to an amazing meal with an outrageous view of downtown LA. This restaurant has a fantastic history in LA. To quote their web site, "Yamashiro means “Mountain Palace” in Japanese. It was the dream of the Bernheimer brothers in 1911 to build a hilltop mansion 250 feet above Hollywood Boulevard." From this hilltop replica of a Japanese palace, you can see all of downtown LA. The seating is terraced to maximize the view through the glass walls. For those who are tired of the view the courtyard features an indoor/ outdoor garden and koi pond. The food was delicious. A perfect blend of high end California cuisine with traditional Japanese flavors. We started with perfect martinis and the Kurobuta Pork Carnitas. This meat melted in your mouth and was served with ascallion-risotto cake, hoisin reduction, and honey-mustard sauce. For my entree, I had the Loch Duart Miso Salmon this was served with asparagus, preserved-lemon smashed potatoes, fried capers, and a miso cream sauce. I cannot rave enough about the lemon massed potatoes. I have been searching the web for this recipe since arriving home.
I took a quick trip to LA for New Years, and was guided through a series of culinary treats. From cheap fast food to high end dining, LA has alot to offer for a Southern girl on her first visit!
Day 1: In-N-Out Burger This West Coast tradition is fantastic, with juicy grilled burgers featuring carmelized onions and the crispiest fries I have eaten at this style of drive thru. My friends make it a family tradition to go there when someone new comes to town. I was pleased they showed me the ropes.
Day 3: Phillipe The Original is the self tauted creator of the French Dip sandwich. Founded in 1908 it is one of the oldest restaurants in Southern California. As the story goes the sandwich was "invented" when one of the servers dropped a roast beef sandwich into a vat of the broth. The customer said they would take it anyway and the rest is "history". First of all this place is intimidating to newcomers, if you are from Atlanta think Varsity on game day. The crowd was huge, basically you fight your way to the front of one of 20 or so lines and place your order. While you wait the smell of roasted meat permeates the air. They have so many choices, beef, lamb, turkey, and pork. Our table tried it all. We sampled their pickled (not deviled) eggs, and a side of slaw. The sandwiches were heavenly. The meat was perfectly flavorful leaving no need for and condiments except for the au jus. We had our sandwiches double dipped to get the most out of our French Dip experience. The crusty French bread could handle the moisture and stayed perfectly crisp on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. The roast beef is the traditional, but for me the lamb took the cake. If you are willing to find your way, and face the crowd, this is certainly worth a try.
Dessert: Fosselmans Ice Cream Co. was rated by the Guardian among other publicationsas the best in the world for milkshakes. They were founded in 1919 and hold onto the old fashioned ice cream shop mentality. They have all the standard flavors like butter pecan and mint chocolate chip and some new ones like dark chocolate raspberry. After a dinner of pizza we headed over to sample the best. How can you not go there when its the best in the world and right down the street. I will have to agree with the hype. The consistancy, flavor, and selection of the milshakes was fantastic. The store was no frills. We tried so many flavors. I stuck with the simple strawberry which featured real strawberries so often lacking in other milkshakes. This is a little out of the way in LA, but in a city of highways certainly worth the stop.
I am looking forward to my next trip back to LA. I have not even begun to explore all of the food this city has to offer.
Happy New Year
New year's resolution 2010, actually take the time to post to my blog! I have been away for what was an eventful and busy fall. I have quiet a store of tasty places to tell you about. More tibits to come, and I promise more often.
An amazing meal at Abattoir
From the website Abattoir (meaning slaughterhouse in French) is the latest dining venture by chef-owners Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison with partner and executive Chef Joshua Hopkins opened on May 21st 2009. Abattoir utilizes locally-raised proteins to produce high-quality, affordable food.
I had the pleasure of first trying this restaurant as a guest of a birthday party for a friend. We ate appetizer style on the back patio. I was impressed with the decor and the staff. Everyone from the front entrance to those clearing plates were helpful and friendly.
At this party, I first tasted the menu item that had me coming back for more, the burger. As my friend described it, the first time she ate it she cried. I would say the same. This is no regular burger. Don't expect the greatness of the ghetto burger, or the Vortex this is something altogether different. The meat is a perfect blend of pork and beef. The patty is thick cut leaving it juicy. The taste is a burger, but distinctively pork. Served on a soft bun and accompanied by homemade pickles and fries, this is worth coming for any day of the week.
For my most recent dinner, I was focused on finding other dishes to offset the richness of the burger (which I knew I had to have). We started with an amazing fennel, watermelon, and ginger salad. The small cubes of ripe watermelon were dressed in shaved fennel and grated ginger. I love salads that do sweet and savory well. This one was delicious. Go quickly before watermelon is out of season. In the fall I plan to head back to try the figs.
We also tried the Lardo. Having had this before I was not surprised to get three crisp bread slices slathered with, yes you guessed it whipped pork fat! This taste is rich and creamy. The chef here off sets some of the richness with pickled onions a perfect combination.
For the second entree we chose the shrimp. I know I was wondering why order shrimp at a place named for a slaughterhouse, but we were not disappointed. The shrimp was served in a lemongrass flavored broth with Napa cabbage, red pepper, and mushrooms. The shrimp were large and tender and the broth made a delicious soup and was great for dipping our fresh bread.
The idea of Abattoir was intimidating at first, a Star Provisions restaurant, right behind Bacchanalia ( which I love) but you will find the prices and the menu much more approachable. The amazing burger only cost $12! As for the rest of the menu, you can meander through several interesting entrees, test your metal on some offal, and snack on a selection of new twists on traditional French, American, and Italian snack foods like roasted chickpeas, pickled cabbage or even homemade beef jerky.
Abattoir has become a new favorite in my book.
http://www.starprovisions.com/
1170 Howell Mill Rd NW # 100Atlanta, GA 30318
(404) 892-3335
I had the pleasure of first trying this restaurant as a guest of a birthday party for a friend. We ate appetizer style on the back patio. I was impressed with the decor and the staff. Everyone from the front entrance to those clearing plates were helpful and friendly.
At this party, I first tasted the menu item that had me coming back for more, the burger. As my friend described it, the first time she ate it she cried. I would say the same. This is no regular burger. Don't expect the greatness of the ghetto burger, or the Vortex this is something altogether different. The meat is a perfect blend of pork and beef. The patty is thick cut leaving it juicy. The taste is a burger, but distinctively pork. Served on a soft bun and accompanied by homemade pickles and fries, this is worth coming for any day of the week.
For my most recent dinner, I was focused on finding other dishes to offset the richness of the burger (which I knew I had to have). We started with an amazing fennel, watermelon, and ginger salad. The small cubes of ripe watermelon were dressed in shaved fennel and grated ginger. I love salads that do sweet and savory well. This one was delicious. Go quickly before watermelon is out of season. In the fall I plan to head back to try the figs.
We also tried the Lardo. Having had this before I was not surprised to get three crisp bread slices slathered with, yes you guessed it whipped pork fat! This taste is rich and creamy. The chef here off sets some of the richness with pickled onions a perfect combination.
For the second entree we chose the shrimp. I know I was wondering why order shrimp at a place named for a slaughterhouse, but we were not disappointed. The shrimp was served in a lemongrass flavored broth with Napa cabbage, red pepper, and mushrooms. The shrimp were large and tender and the broth made a delicious soup and was great for dipping our fresh bread.
The idea of Abattoir was intimidating at first, a Star Provisions restaurant, right behind Bacchanalia ( which I love) but you will find the prices and the menu much more approachable. The amazing burger only cost $12! As for the rest of the menu, you can meander through several interesting entrees, test your metal on some offal, and snack on a selection of new twists on traditional French, American, and Italian snack foods like roasted chickpeas, pickled cabbage or even homemade beef jerky.
Abattoir has become a new favorite in my book.
http://www.starprovisions.com/
1170 Howell Mill Rd NW # 100Atlanta, GA 30318
(404) 892-3335
Las Arepas de Julia
As those of you who know me know, I am always up for trying something new. At Georgia Tech, I have the pleasure of working with two wonderful women from Colombia Beatriz and Valentina. After hearing them talk several times about arepas, I had to try them.
Thanks to Blissful Glutton and the AJC for this fabulous tip on where to find them! Las Arepas de Julia sits quietly next to a Subway on Lawrenceville Highway just south of Pleasant Hill Rd. in Lilburn.
The storefront is unassuming. Several small neat tables dotted the small store. The colors were bright with Colombian travel posters dotting the walls. A television showed Spanish television. The patrons all seemed to be from Colombia, a good sign in my book.
As food arrived around us, I saw large plates of meat, rice and beans, a great looking chicken soup with rice, and a number of other fresh looking main dishes.
Thanks to my friends we ordered a wonderful sampling of Colombian snacks. We started our meal with fruit juices. Traditionally mixed with water, or milk these were delicious. We had blackberry, passion fruit, and one other traditional Colombian fruit flavor. We ordered them mixed with water. They were refreshing and went well with the food.
As an appetizer we chose the empanadas. These were different from any I had ever had. They had a thick and crispy cornmeal outer shells, that have some substance and crunch to each bite. The inside was filled with mashed potatoes and delicious meat. We tried both the chicken and the meat. I was instructed to eat them by hollowing out space in each bite for the pepper condiment which gave each bit a vinegary kick!
Finally what we were really seeking, the arepas... We chose three favorites the arepa con carne desmechada a tasty blend of shredded beef and peppers, the arepa de choloco con queso perfectly sweet and salty this was like an amazing grilled cheese sandwich only better, and the arepa con camarones and guacamole served with good size and good quality shrimp served in creamy salsa rosada.
We weren't quite full and my friends were excited to be having Colombian food, so we ordered one more dish patacones con hogao, fried green plantains smashed flat and cooked like latkas. They were served salted with guacamole and what seemed to be stewed tomatoes. They were crisp on the outside and warm and soft on the inside a perfect combination.
We finished our meal by grabbing some traditional Colombian candies Chokis from the counter. They sell other traditional packaged foods. My friends loaded up on some of their favorite snacks.
Overall a great meal and a great experience. I am planning to go back again soon. I am hoping others will join me as I plan to tackle the traditional and massive bandeja paisa, a mixed plate with a fried egg, rice, beans, avocado, plantains, ground beef, fried pork skin, pork sausage and an arepa.
4044 Lawrenceville Hwy Lilburn, GA 30047
(770) 559-4094
Thanks to Blissful Glutton and the AJC for this fabulous tip on where to find them! Las Arepas de Julia sits quietly next to a Subway on Lawrenceville Highway just south of Pleasant Hill Rd. in Lilburn.
The storefront is unassuming. Several small neat tables dotted the small store. The colors were bright with Colombian travel posters dotting the walls. A television showed Spanish television. The patrons all seemed to be from Colombia, a good sign in my book.
As food arrived around us, I saw large plates of meat, rice and beans, a great looking chicken soup with rice, and a number of other fresh looking main dishes.
Thanks to my friends we ordered a wonderful sampling of Colombian snacks. We started our meal with fruit juices. Traditionally mixed with water, or milk these were delicious. We had blackberry, passion fruit, and one other traditional Colombian fruit flavor. We ordered them mixed with water. They were refreshing and went well with the food.
As an appetizer we chose the empanadas. These were different from any I had ever had. They had a thick and crispy cornmeal outer shells, that have some substance and crunch to each bite. The inside was filled with mashed potatoes and delicious meat. We tried both the chicken and the meat. I was instructed to eat them by hollowing out space in each bite for the pepper condiment which gave each bit a vinegary kick!
Finally what we were really seeking, the arepas... We chose three favorites the arepa con carne desmechada a tasty blend of shredded beef and peppers, the arepa de choloco con queso perfectly sweet and salty this was like an amazing grilled cheese sandwich only better, and the arepa con camarones and guacamole served with good size and good quality shrimp served in creamy salsa rosada.
We weren't quite full and my friends were excited to be having Colombian food, so we ordered one more dish patacones con hogao, fried green plantains smashed flat and cooked like latkas. They were served salted with guacamole and what seemed to be stewed tomatoes. They were crisp on the outside and warm and soft on the inside a perfect combination.
We finished our meal by grabbing some traditional Colombian candies Chokis from the counter. They sell other traditional packaged foods. My friends loaded up on some of their favorite snacks.
Overall a great meal and a great experience. I am planning to go back again soon. I am hoping others will join me as I plan to tackle the traditional and massive bandeja paisa, a mixed plate with a fried egg, rice, beans, avocado, plantains, ground beef, fried pork skin, pork sausage and an arepa.
4044 Lawrenceville Hwy Lilburn, GA 30047
(770) 559-4094
Loving Big Oven
Thanks to a friend today I discovered a great website http://www.bigoven.com/. This site (which is also an iPhone application) has several functions that set it apart from typical recipe sites. First my favorite, the leftovers function. This handy tool allows you to enter three random food items that may be lurking in the back of your fridge or pantry and pulls from hundreds of recipes to find suggestions for just how to turn them into a meal!Second, is the whats in season tool. This has an excellent clickable list of what foods are currently in season that links you to recipes for the items that will be cheapest and most tasty at any time of year. Finally there is a great community function where you can share, try, and rate recipes. I have already added this to my website bookmarks. Give it a try!
Travel Post- A Table in Asheville, NC
I was born in Asheville, NC, but my family moved to Atlanta when I was in kindergarten, so it wasn't until my parents bought another home there 7 years ago that I got a chance to experience all the great things this city has to offer.
The food scene in Asheville is outstanding. There are a great variety of restaurants, the quality is outstanding, and the emphasis on locally grown/ raised food rivals many major cities.
I had ventured to Table, an eclectic downtown eatery, for a cozy dinner this winter and was not disappointed, but this weekend I decided to try the brunch. I was not let down! Table describes itself as market-driven, seasonal, new American cuisine. I call it deliciously creative.
The chefs and co-owners went to college in Asheville, ventured out for their culinary experiences and have come home with impressive training, and a great respect for what the region has to offer.
I ordered their southern version of eggs benedict featuring a biscuit, asparagus, and poached eggs. The plate arrived presented beautifully with field greens and the perfect amount of hollandaise. The eggs had a good consistency with just enough yolk to coat the biscuit, which stole the show.
My mother (a southern food queen) after one bite, was not offended by my declaring it the best biscuit I had ever eaten. Now I am a fan of biscuits, my grandmother's, my mother's, the original Flying Biscuit to name a few, but this flaky masterpiece highlighted the entire dish.
The menu features favorites like bacon and eggs, as well as a Table take on the croque monsieur and croque madame, house-made bagels and a delicious fried chicken with those amazing biscuits.
Table has an open kitchen and a friendly wait staff. The atmosphere reminds me of some smaller out of the way places I love in Atlanta or in the East Village in Manhattan. The dark walls and floor give it a great feel, and the staff are laid back in Asheville style, but remain attentive to your needs. It was quiet crowded when I had dinner there, but not overwhelmed by Sunday brunch. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone venturing into Asheville, but looking for a little big city spin on their southern mountain experience.
Table
48 college st. asheville nc 28801
ph: 828.254.8980
http://tableasheville.com/
Las Palmeras- A Tiny Cuban Treat!
I must say that I was saddened by the closing of Kool Korners Groceries on 14th. As a former Tech student, I was initated into the system of waiting in the line for great Cuban sandwiches while studying the random assortment of grocery items over 10 years ago.
I had been craving those sandwiches and continually dissappointed by other attempts, until I recently made a move to Midtown and discovered a gem right up the street from my house!
Hidden among the bungalows on 5th street Las Palmeras is a tiny storefront with alot to offer. This quirky Cuban spot is a true find. The staff are friendly and welcome you to thier small dining room or great patio. They are closed Sunday-Tuesday, but offer lunch and dinner the rest of the week. The menu features the traditional Cuban favorites, empanadas, vaca frita, great chicken, and of course the cuban sandwiches.
These sandwiches are fresh, the pork and ham have very little fat compared to other local sandwiches I have tried. The bread is authentic, and they come with pickles, mustard, cheese, and a hint of sauce. Delicious!
Lunch combos are reasonably priced to offer smaller portions that wont have you crawling under your desk for a nap. Pick up a half a Cuban with rice and beans, my favorite lunch treat.
I had been craving those sandwiches and continually dissappointed by other attempts, until I recently made a move to Midtown and discovered a gem right up the street from my house!
Hidden among the bungalows on 5th street Las Palmeras is a tiny storefront with alot to offer. This quirky Cuban spot is a true find. The staff are friendly and welcome you to thier small dining room or great patio. They are closed Sunday-Tuesday, but offer lunch and dinner the rest of the week. The menu features the traditional Cuban favorites, empanadas, vaca frita, great chicken, and of course the cuban sandwiches.
These sandwiches are fresh, the pork and ham have very little fat compared to other local sandwiches I have tried. The bread is authentic, and they come with pickles, mustard, cheese, and a hint of sauce. Delicious!
Lunch combos are reasonably priced to offer smaller portions that wont have you crawling under your desk for a nap. Pick up a half a Cuban with rice and beans, my favorite lunch treat.
Recently I made my way over for dinner. With the warm weather the porch was perfect. I ordered the pork with rice and beans. It was delicious with a tangy lemon and onion topping. To finish off the meal, I chose the mango cream pie, yes mango! This was similar to a key lime pie, but much more creamy and very sweet. Overall a great summer meal!
This is one spot worth leaving the office for, or making your way to from a Saturday afternoon in the park!
Las Palmeras
368 5th St NE
Atlanta, GA 30308
(404) 872-0846