Hot Dish Review

Lately, the only time I stop by Babette’s is to pick up a sinfully rich dried cherry tart….my very favorite dessert on the planet! But a recent Sunday night found us craving something different, yet in the neighborhood.

Babette’s charming atmosphere makes it the perfect choice for a romantic date. Located in a renovated house, the interior is rustic and charming with creaky, weathered wood floors and vintage fixtures.

The cuisine at Babette’s is mostly French influenced, puncuated with a few Mediterranean dishes. In keeping with tradition, I started with a glass of spicy Cote du Rhone. Surprisingly, LC chose the same which we sipped while nibbling on hunks of their freshly baked baguettes, delivered standing straight up in a little pail….very phallic. Very French.

A selection of small plates is usually the best way to go at this cafe’. After my lengthy absence, chef and owner Marla Adams had added some interesting new ones, as well as deleted a couple of old standbys. No worries, the entrees were calling our names, so we decided to split one and start with the (new) lobster spinach crepes, (old standby) artichoke and olive raviolis, and roasted cauliflower (new).

Not at all what I expected, the crepes themselves were made with spinach, simply filled with succulent chunks of lobster, delicately folded and resting in a light truffle butter sauce with a little mound of sauteed mushrooms on top. LC and I loved them!

The raviolis were as delicious as I remembered….about six pasta pouches filled with pureed artichokes and olives in a deceptively light wine butter sauce.

I think of cauliflower as white and bland, but the vegetable dish offered a small plate was the surprise of the evening. Roasted florets were drizzled with a bit of butter sauce and topped with slivers of toasted almonds.

For our entree we chose the pan roasted pork chop with onion sauce, paired with roasted Brussels sprouts and horseradish mashed potatoes. I ordered a second glass of wine as we waited on its arrival. The large bone-in chop was tender and flavorful, but the best part was the sauce….not a sauce at all but a generous helping of sweet caramelized onions. Brussels sprouts displayed an earthy, smoky flavor, although not quite tender enough. I don’t even remember the mashed potatoes but I’m pretty sure we cleaned our plate.

My second choice was the roast half duck with rutabaga compote and farro. Maybe next time, if the next time is soon, as chef changes her menu seasonally, and sometimes daily.

Which brings me to the dried cherry tart, a decadent treat only available in the Fall and Winter months. As if it wasn’t rich enough, we added a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream on the side. Dried cherries plumped up with liquor fill the crust made with crushed almonds. It is at once sweet and tart, chewy and crunchy….ridiculously amazing!

573 North Highland Avenue 404-523-9121

‘Tis the season to get fat…..
Few things are better than fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, especially on a chilly night. Served with an ice cold glass of milk, they are the antidote to the winter blues as well as that tiny bikini you think you’ll be wearing in a few short months!

Since I was a kid, my favorite has been the tube of dough, usually Pillsbury. Sure, I know it’s pedestrian. I can’t have Babette’s dried cherry tart with creme fraiche all the time!

The dough used to be dense enough to slice, then cut into quarters but they’ve changed the consistency so now it is best handled with a spoon (which often ends up in my mouth rather than on the cookie sheet!)

These days one can find all natural cookie dough at Whole Foods. And there are gluten-free mixes too (I think SAVI Urban Market might have some). Pillsbury and Tollhouse both make chocolate chunk, flavors with nuts, and ready-to-bake varieties but why mess with a good thing? I like the old-fashioned roll of dough. Baked until chewy and just starting to brown.

It’s cold outside so just snuggle up with a dozen warm chocolate chip cookies….f*ck the bikini, you can join a gym tomorrow.

It took a whole week to polish off last year’s tart so I only ordered three slices this year….still the best dessert in town!

MERRY CHRISTMAS HOTDISH READERS! MAY YOUR HOLIDAYS BE FILLED WITH CHAMPAGNE AND FOIE GRAS!

This is my favorite dessert of all time! Marla, chef and owner of Babette’s Cafe, is a food genius. The restaurant is among my top ten and the dried cherry tart ranks as the best dessert in Atlanta. Offered only in the Fall and Winter, I just can’t go to the restaurant when the tart is not on the menu.

I don’t know why I never did it before, but this year I ordered a whole tart for Christmas to take home to my family. The shelf life of the tart is several days so we split the leftover….no worries, I can polish it off! It combines tart, chewy dried cherries in a crisp almond pie crust.

Me and my Mom made homemade whipped cream (not so sweet, Deutschland style!) and I requested vanilla bean ice cream (Haagen Dazs Five,check out The Blissful Gluttons post) to top the tart slices. After Christmas Eve dinner at Red Lobster, we counteracted the white trash meal (I mean this in the best possible way) with the quintessential rich French/Southern tart.

Each tart is eight servings, however, we made it into 12. Damn, it’s good! The texture is amazing, the crisp nutty crust the perfect compliment to the sweet yet tart chewy dried cherries. I can’t believe I forgot to take a photo of the whole tart, but at least you can see half of it!

Coming from a chick that hates pie, this is not pie. You must try this!