Hot Dish Review

A RE-RUN ON THE EVE OF THE PIEDMONT PARK DINNER PARTY! Of course I’m attending….how could I not?

Exclusive, invitation only dinner parties held in secret locations, announced at the last minute, with a secret menu revealed once guests are seated. Sounds tantalizing, no?

The speakeasy of supper clubs, Dinner Party Atlanta is a hot ticket among foodies. The brainchild of Darren Carr and Patrick La Bouff of Top Flr, it’s a brilliant concept combining the element of surprise with culinary genius. Be prepared for anything as chef Shane Devereux, also of Top Flr, presents five courses, each with stunning precision and evolved flavors.

B and I had the dinner and the party last night! Held in the space on Edgewood that will soon house Darren’s and Jeff Myers’ new restaurant, Darren was reluctant to spill the beans about this project, although word is it is scheduled to open in March.

Upon arrival, Darren was on hand to greet guests and direct them upstairs where the future restaurant’s kitchen and dining room are located. Red brick walls were lined with gorgeous black and white photography by Craig Bromley. A long communal table set for twenty diners promised an evening of lively conversation and making new friends, although it was cool to see an old friend, OB, who happened to be in attendance as well. A sexy crowd, sexy lighting, and sexy staff, set the stage for some sexy food!

Each of us sipped a special rum cocktail shaken up by Paul, called The Hesitation, as we mingled. Once seated, the real excitement was underway. Sommelier Valerie Masten poured a semi-sweet riesling that paired perfectly with our first course of foie gras torchon with toasted brioche, apple miso butter and a tiny clump of watercress.

Ya know, I prefer my foie gras seared. The process of making foie gras torchon is a rigorous one which Devereux described in detail….TMI dude! Deveining goose liver is not an enviable task, but the result was a smooth and fatty disc. The sweet accompaniment and bread to cut the richness made for a classic starter.

Seated next to JR, a man with a palate that can detect a single molecule of an ingredient, made for an engaging discussion of each course, the second of which was a chilled leek and marcona almond soup, pureed with cream and garnished with a salad of lobster, chopped black grapes, almonds and a drizzle of pumpkin seed oil. It rocked, but B and I didn’t love the white Italian wine served with it.

Squab is a fancy word for pigeon. Not the NYC “flying rat” variety but a domesticated version whose meat is reminiscent of duck. This was the protein in our third course, the breast pan seared medium rare and a leg confit served atop fingerling potatoes and diced pork belly which added a touch of smokiness to the dish….delish. Valerie chose a Spanish red, Petalos 2007, which was my favorite wine of the evening.

Among chef Devereux’s technically difficult preparations was the sous vide saddle of rabbit, our fourth course. It’s like they read our minds (or my blog)….B and I love bunnies! But I had never tried it cooked sous vide, a method of slow cooking any meat in a vacuum sealed bag under water at a constant low temperature. Turnip puree with a touch of Greek yogurt provided a hint of bitterness against the surprise addition of golden raisins. Braised artichoke gave the dish an extra punch, a perfect study in contrast of texture and flavor. A dry Italian red worked well with it.

Dessert was far better than its description. A thin disc of almond cake was topped with pear mousse, then a soft mascarpone cheesecake spiced with cinnamon and allspice. The best fucking thing was the dried fig and pear compote alongside it. I ate mine and half of B’s too. Valerie chose an awesome auslese riesling to sip with the sweets.

It was a stellar experience and worth every dollar. Naturally, we headed to Top Flr for one last drink. My favorite anglianico was no longer offered by the glass so I chose Easton zin, an old standby. I don’t remember much after that, but my hair smelled of cigarettes this morning.

With a wait list of 700, they will be doing a large scale event on May 1st in Piedmont Park to seat 200 guests.

Dinner Party Atlanta is a kickass experience. I wouldn’t expect anything less from the guys at Top Flr!

Instead of the poisonous Atkins shakes I’ve been having for dinner, my nutritionist recommended this brand of vegan shakes made of hemp protein. She makes hers in a blender with water, a frozen banana, and some blueberries, with the chocolate flavored protein powder.

I promised to give it a try, using the same basic recipe, but I bought the berry flavor. The shakes also come in chai vanilla and plain. Whole Foods sells them in individual packets so one doesn’t have to make the commitment to a $40 container without tasting it first.

Apparently there are no artificial colors in this product. It was sorta green, becoming a unappetizing shade of greenish blue with the blueberries. I added some ice cubes to make it frothy. Honestly, the flavor was pretty good. Sweetened with stevia leaf and loaded with antioxidants and vitamins, Vega shakes are surely a healthier option than Atkins.

The comparative nutritional analysis:

Atkins….150 calories, 9 g. fat, 15 g. protein, 2 g. carbs
Vega….100 calories (w/o the fruit), 2.5 g. fat, 11 g. protein, 9 g. carbs

The big differences, however, are here: Atkins has 180 mg. of sodium, 1 g. of sugar and 2 g. of fiber. Vega has no sodium, no sugar, and 7 g. of fiber!

Plus, Vega incorporates nutrients like probiotics, omega fatty acids, and digestive enzymes. Atkins includes such scary ingredients as sucralose (fake sugar), sodium hexametaphosphate, and cellulose gel….yum!

With half a frozen banana and about a 1/4 cup blueberries the Vega shake comes in at around 160 calories, with the additional nutritional benefits of the fruit.

I will likely buy more individual packets in other flavors for experimentation! It’s just common sense.

Hello again, old friend! We sure did miss you, with your elegant good looks and playful staff. B and I finally made a long-overdue appearance at our old haunt, the Bar at Livingston.

A couple of glasses of A to Z’s Night and Day got us off to a lively start. Sous chef Zeb came over and said hello. He would send out a couple of dishes for us to try. Lovely! I was craving the short rib ravioli, but alas, it was gone from the menu.

Duck sausage accompanied by seared foie gras, which I’m assuming was also duck, came with cubes of fennel dressed in a slightly sweet black pepper gastrique rather than the standard toast and marmalade that often show up with foie gras. Zeb Stevenson, Mennie’s sous chef, has become bored with that presentation (and so have I). There was just enough sweetness to pair well with the rich meats without being cloying. For sausage and foie gras, the dish was surprisingly light.

A crispy cube of pork belly sat upon a puree of apricot and was served with two big Spring pea raviolis topped with chopped peanuts for crunch. We really liked this starter but would have liked it more had we not been spoiled by the short rib raviolis on prior visits. As we told Zeb over more wine on the patio, that dish was orgasmic! We begged him to put it back on the menu….please.

B and I lingered for a while, having an entirely inappropriate and entertaining conversation with Zeb. We’ll be back for another visit soon to reclaim our regular spots at the bar!

659 Peachtree Street @ The Georgian Terrace 404-897-5000

For the second year in a row I ended up at Shaun’s during the Inman Park Festival. Last year I made a reservation. My previous experiences at Shaun’s were not spectacular so I thought this was a prime opportunity for the restaurant to redeem itself, despite the burden of the festival crowds.

I’ve yet to be impressed. In fact, neither last year’s or this year’s visit was nearly as good as my first visit. I remember having the shrimp and grits then, seated in the front room by the bar when it was still used as a dining room. The dish was so incredibly rich that it almost made me nauseous. But it was impossible to deny that the shrimp were perfectly cooked, the flavors were pure Southern comfort, with a stick of butter.

Last year my companion and I, seated in the main dining room opposite the semi-open kitchen, shared the Sardinian flatbread that Doty has become known for since his Mumbo Jumbo days. Basically a huge cracker topped with arugula, cheese and olive oil, with occasional variations. Our flatbread was supposed to have goat cheese but we got parmesan instead….not even a reasonable substitution, but I chalked it up to their being so busy. We also ordered the Berkshire pork buns….sliders with pork. I can’t remember if it was shredded pork but I do remember that they were rather uninspired. Our entrees were so boring I don’t recall them at all. But I do remember the dessert, the sticky toffee pudding. A dry clump of cake doused with a cloying sweet (and I guess sticky) toffee syrup. Just plain bad.

Doty was one of the first young Atlanta chefs to re-introduce diners to liver. After 3 1/2 years in business (I swear it seems like 7) he still serves his chopped liver, East Village style, and the chicken liver fettuccini. I hate chicken liver so I won’t be sampling those dishes, although it is possible that my companion last year ordered the chopped liver, after all, he is a New York Jew.

This year LG and I stopped by purely by chance, hoping to score a table outside for a drink. It took me 20 minutes to get her mojito and my mimosa, but the weather was great and the people watching was entertaining. Promptly at 5:00 we were asked to move, so we took a table in the pretty, yet secluded, back patio. Seated on mod plastic chairs next to a wall of jasmine, the setting was very pleasant.

We ordered a bottle of Lambrusco bianco. Sold out. LG ordered a prosecco and I ordered another Mistral Mimosa. Sold out of anything sparkling. After years of being centrally located during the festival you would think they would have their shit together by now. How about a glass of tempranillo for me and the simply red for LG? Our server inadvertantly switched them, but we figured it out. She had already delivered a delicious sesame bread basket with butter.

It was Sunday which is pasta night at Shaun’s. For a mere $12 guests can dine on salad, pasta, and dessert. Chopped salad with buttermilk dressing, celery, and sprouts and your choice of goat cheese raviolis with wild nettle pesto, rigatoni with organic turkey bolognese, or spaghetti with marinara and pork meatballs. I almost went with the goat cheese raviolis. They did look good at a nearby table.

But instead, I ordered the roasted chicken. The menu description says “Benton’s smoked ham, black trumpet mushrooms, grilled ramps, smoked olive oil”. So I’m thinking it is perhaps a half skin-on roasted chicken with mushrooms and ramps. Uh, no. I asked if the skin was crispy and our server said “well….not really. But I can request that for you”. Bad idea. The chicken was boneless breasts stuffed with the mushrooms and ham served over a huge plate of polenta and turnip greens. WTF? The beige skin on the chicken was mushy….the farthest thing from crispy imaginable.

The overwhelming issue at Shaun’s is the misrepresentation of dishes on the menu. Or rather, unclear descriptions, substitutions, and missing ingredients. There’s just no excuse, really. Shouldn’t the chicken dish be described as “stuffed chicken breast with polenta and turnip greens”? Even the ramps were missing, but delivered in a side dish. They were scallions.

LG’s burger was ordinary. With Doty’s Yeah! Burger opening any day one would think the burger here would be kickass. Not so much. It was a thick hunk of meat on an ordinary bun with ordinary cheese. Even the promise of duck-fat fries fell flat. I can name lots of trendy restaurants with better fries, regardless of the type of fat they are fried in. I’m not looking forward to reviewing his new burger joint which is on my roster for an upcoming issue of Atlanta’s Finest Dining.

What’s good about Shaun’s? Doty is a trend-setter with his gluten-free dinners and an early supporter of Slow Food and Georgia Organics. That’s about it.

The service wasn’t bad. The food wasn’t bad. It’s just consistently mediocre.

A few days ago I found myself at Top Flr once again. TL met me at the bar where we shared some laughs and a few glasses of wine….Easton zin for me and a cab for her.

And, of course, we ate. Although the menu has undergone a few tweaks recently, I am still very familiar with most of the dishes from starters to entrees. We decided to share the white bean hummus. Served with toasted pita triangles and a dish of huge bright green olives and tiny nicoise, the hummus was a delicious start and remains one of their most popular menu items.

But I always forget how totally awesome their mussels are! I had them the very first time I visited with d years ago, and have had them on numerous occasions since. I ordered them as my entree Thursday with a side of crispy spaetzle with mushrooms. Bathed in a sublime coconut milk and soy broth, the mussels were particularly fat. A huge chunk of ciabatta waited to sop up every last drop of the broth.

It was hard not to order the mac ‘n’ cheese, but when asked, PLB recommended the spaetzle. Being a German chick I had to try it. A medley of mushrooms and roasted shallots lent an earthy element to the rich pasta.

TL chose light and healthy gazpacho and salmon.

As I polished off the last lonely shellfish, I finally handed over the long-awaited article to PLB, as promised, but not before he bet me a thousand dollars that I forgot to bring it. In lieu of the cash he offered two seats at the dinner party on May 1st in Piedmont Park. Even though they are technically only worth $190, they may prove to be priceless.

That’s the word, via text, from a very reliable source. Yes, the third endeavor of the lovely Darren Carr (of Top Flr and Dinner Party Atlanta)will open soon, surrounded by lots of silly speculation that he and his partners Jeff Myers (also a partner at Top Flr) and Karl Injex (no explanation required, I hope) are actually savoring.

The name is a play on the atmosphere, heavily influenced by the partners’ love of music and good food. Affordably priced dishes from chef Shane Devereux (also from Top Flr) will be served in the dining room upstairs (photo is of unfinished space). Downstairs the ubercool bar and lounge will feature DJ’s spinning some kickass tunes.

I can’t tell you what’s on the menu yet (other than it’s not Laotian….LOL), but as soon as I eat it and photograph it, you’ll be the first to know!

483 Edgewood Avenue www.thesoundtable.com

FROM MCCALL AT MELISSA LIBBY PR:

SAVING ROOM FOR DESSERT FILLS UP POCKETS AT SPICE MARKET ATLANTA

Sweet Treats Yield Complimentary Spa Treatments, Hotel Stays and Dining Discounts at the W Atlanta-Midtown

ATLANTA (April 20, 2010) – Beginning in June, Spice Market restaurant in the W Atlanta-Midtown will offer guests a fortunate finale to their meal. With the purchase of an entrée during lunch or dinner hours every day of the week, diners will receive a fortune cookie that holds one of many special discounts that can be used at the restaurant, the W Atlanta-Midtown hotel or the hotel’s Bliss Spa. The discounts are as fulfilling as the food at Spice Market – guests can even win a free night at the W Atlanta-Midtown!

These sweet treats come in unique flavors – green tea, chocolate and coffee – and hold coupons for everything from a 50% discount at Spice Market to a free night’s stay at the W Atlanta-Midtown to a complimentary Bliss Spa treatment. This offer begins on Tuesday, June 1, and will continue through the end of August.

Spice Market also just released new spring menus from internationally renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, so guests can enjoy a selection of Southeast Asian inspired dishes that reflect the season’s bounty before cracking into their cookie for sweet savings.

By the way, Spice Market has one of my all-time favorite desserts, Thai Jewels, check out my post!

In a word, disgusting. I don’t even like mint in toothpaste much less in a dessert! Mint chocolate chip ice cream is the biggest offender, its garrish mint green color studded with low-quality chips. Adding chocolate just adds insult to injury.

The trend of using traditionally savory herbs for ice cream flavors is much more appealing than mint, like Miller Union’s rosemary, thyme and sage. I remember a gorgonzola ice cream that accompanied a pear tart at Top Flr years ago that was delicious. And what about their tobacco flavor? That was all the rage when they first opened.

Junior Mints, peppermint, mint cheesecake, mint fudge brownies, I just don’t get it. By the way, I didn’t actually eat any mint products for this post. (photos care of murder Kroger)

I’m about to make some Aquafresh sorbet….anyone care for some?

One of my all-time favorite foods and a staple in my diet, basil rolls are light, fresh and healthy. I especially love Surin’s. Filled with vermicelli rice noodles, mung bean sprouts, shrimp, and basil leaves, they are not nearly as photogenic as they are tasty! I always order an extra sweet and spicy sauce topped with grated carrot and peanuts.

Stop by the original Virginia Highlands location and you are likely to find Phillip behind the bar, dispensing cocktails and good humor along with expediting to-go orders.

I make a batch of edamame sprinkled with coarse kosher salt to eat with the basil rolls. And maybe wash it down with a little Nigori cold unfiltered sake? Maybe.

810 N. Highland Ave. 404-892-7789

Hooray! For my official 100th blog post I thought it would be appropriate to clarify my stance on reviewing food and restaurants.

Hmmm….well. If you are a restaurant critic every restaurant manager worth a damn knows who you are and what you look like. Trying to maintain anonymity is simply silly and somewhat narcissistic. Are you really that important? Is writing about food really that serious? No.

In fact, the publication I write for on a regular basis prints write-ups, not reviews. There is a difference. The restaurants that I visit know I’m coming and that I’m doing a story. Generally, the food and often the drinks, are comp’d. Does that affect the service? Probably. And not always in my favor I might add. Maybe I make some servers nervous. To meet the chefs and be recognized by managers and bartenders all over town is not a bad thing. Being treated like a VIP is, in fact, awesome!

Are music critics held to the same standards? Or people that write book reviews? No, it’s just ridiculous.

What I write here is what I really think. Sometimes it’s not so nice. I blog on the same comp’d meals that I write articles on for AFD. I do the unthinkable and write after just one visit. Yes, that’s right. Often, an article is based on one enormous meal.

So what?

(I felt it necessary to use a photo of my child to maintain anonymity….I knew you would understand.)