Hot Dish Review

This place has great buzz. Over the years I have perused Haven’s menu online, salivating over a pork dish here, a salad there, and many of the small plates. So, it seemed the perfect place for PG and I to dine during her visit from LA. We both like to sample several dishes, tapas style.

However, upon examining the online menu earlier today, I realized the seasonal changes had eliminated my favorite accompaniments of sweet potato and fig (Ok, that’s not entirely true, figs and pecans garnish the bacon wrapped trout). Gone was the salad with goat cheese and frissee. Still, I had hope. Its convenient location and my relentless curiosity sealed our fate. We threw on our party dresses and headed to Haven.

The space mirrors the design of almost every modern Atlanta restaurant that’s opened in the last five or six years. Warm lighting, exposed brick, and dark wood were not unique but undeniably inviting. Reminded me a bit of The Shed at Glenwood. Haven is surely a definitive trendsetter in Brookhaven.

There is something to be said for consistency. Chef Stephen Herman has run the kitchen since the restaurant’s opening in 2003, drawing a loyal neighborhood following that has embraced his fresh, earthy approach, with a subtle Southern accent.

It was Friday night. Prime time, but there was one table available, near the semi-open kitchen, upon our unreserved arrival. The dining room was busy, the staff in absolute control. In fact, the service was completely on point.

PG ordered a glass of 14 Hands Merlot and I got an old favorite, the Dynamite Cab, $9 each. The wine list isn’t terribly creative, including recognizable names like Trefethen, Steele, and La Crema. Idiot proof.

We were all ready to be disappointed. Not finding a single item on the small plates list that intrigued us, PG and I opted for entrees. After much questioning of our ever-patient server, she finally chose the halibut. Being the duck junkie that I am, I was leaning towards ordering the bird. I asked if the skin was crispy and our server said the magic words “the fat is rendered, then the skin is pan-seared and crisped”. Bingo!

A basket of bread with sweet unsalted butter, good wine, great conversation. Dining with PG is always fun…two pisces food snobs!

Our entrees came out and they were lovely. Her thick chunk of halibut was served in a tomato water with local squash and a bean salad. Very light and summery. There was only a mere hint of tomato in the broth. A drizzle of pesto gave the mild fish a necessary dash of flavor.

My Sonoma duck breast was cooked medium and sliced thinly, fanned out around its accompanying braised red cabbage and brandied cherries. Almost German-style, the red cabbage imparted a hint of sweetness that works so well with duck. And the brandied cherries (brandied cherries!) made this one of my favorite duck dishes ever, almost as good as the now-defunct Globe’s Moroccan spiced duck with dried fruits and spicy yogurt sauce. There was literally no fat beneath the crispy skin of my duck at Haven….no small feat.

The dessert list didn’t thrill us with cheesecake, brownie, creme brulee and such. We chose the peach cobbler with blueberry ice cream. A huge individually baked dish was plenty to share, not too sweet, its crispy crust holding up well beneath the delicious ice cream. Good stuff.

Having watched him expedite orders all evening, we chatted with chef Herman after our meal, very nice guy. (For the record they had no idea who I was, the meal wasn’t comp’d, and no, I’m not being paid for this post!)

The verdict? I was thoroughly impressed.

1441 Dresden Drive 404-969-0700

Located on the gorgeous Capella Pedregal resort, Don Manuel’s is the centrally located restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. B and I tried all three meals during our stay.

With a candlit view of the infinity pool and ocean beyond it, the tranquil atmosphere set the stage for a relaxing dinner. Again, we enjoyed perfect weather as we chose a table in the bar area, listening to a duo playing acoustic guitar. I tried the spiced sangria while B ordered a glass of red wine. The fruit in the sangria was nice but the cinnamon and cloves were excessive.

Moving to a table on the patio, B and I split the Pacific red lobster soup to start. Our server brought out warm rolls and butter along with two pretty ceramic bowls with big succulent chunks of lobster and chewy hominy resting in the bottom. He then proceeded to pour a tomato-based broth over the top. Despite the tomato we both loved it….one of the best dishes overall during our vacation!

We shared the trio of tamalitos, or mini tamales, each with a different flavor, roasted duck, lobster, and huitlacochee….three of my favorite things! Unfortunately, neither of us could distinguish which was which, perhaps because they were small and could not contain much filling.

Most disappointing was the huitlacochee, one of my favorite delicacies. A fungus that grows on corn, huitlacochee is indigenous to Mexico and has an unctuous mushroom flavor and is nearly black when prepared. Three dollops of sauces did little to jazz up the drab steamed masa.

We got a bowl of arroz con leche (rice pudding) for dessert. Creamy and spiced with cinnamon, it was a perfect rendition of this traditional Mexican dessert.

With a full menu of Mexican dishes I would surely give Don Manuel’s another try if I’m ever lucky enough to return to Capella Pedregal!

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION: RECYCLING
After six months I find myself recycling everything from eggs cartons to magazines, I just can’t stand to throw these things in my regular garbage. It’s become a habit that I can feel really good about!

Occasionally, although it is rare, someone has a positive influence on me. My neighbor LG recycles. She has offered numerous times to take my bottles to our condo’s recycling bins but I’ve always refused. I just couldn’t ask her to carry my bag of bottles down the stairs while my lazy ass sat on my kitty-shredded sofa!

January 1st, however, all that changed. Well, sorta. Among my New Year’s resolutions was that I would recycle glass bottles, beginning with the wine and champagne bottles from that night’s celebration. They sat on my kitchen counter for weeks, the collection growing larger and more unmanageable by the day.

It took a man to carry them down….finally. And the same man then proceeded to assemble a new collection every day. Looking at it, I felt good knowing all of this glass wasn’t going to add to the mountains of trash in the landfills. He even began including plastic….why not? Pisces are so conscientious.

The photo above is of my current collection awaiting delivery to the recycle bin. Much of it was from last night’s Superbowl. I wonder who I can coerce into taking it downstairs?

One of my other New Year’s resolutions was to post a certain amount of blogs each month. I hit my goal in January, hurray! The beauty of a blog is that one can say whatever they wish. There is no censorship on a blog. But I do employ a bit of restraint (more at some times than others), unless I’ve consumed a bottle of wine, which brings me to the title of this post (which was originally “Don’t Drink & Blog”)

Apparently I responded to a few comments while under the influence last night. I just hope there weren’t any typos.

PS – The OJ wasn’t mine, I never touch the stuff.

Update! Trader Joe’s employee suggested putting frozen berries in the Lambrusco….keeps it cold and reminds me of a light, sparkling sangria!

My neighbor LG turned me onto this light, sparkling red wine from Trader Joe’s last year. Honestly, my wine snobbery would have precluded me from buying something so inexpensive if LG had not poured me a glass to try.

I have purchased it ever since! At only $5.49 a bottle (what what?), it is a fantastic bargain. Lambrusco goes great with the Tarte d’Alsace that I often buy at Trader Joe’s as well. It is light, as in low alcohol content, so one can easily drink the whole bottle without ill effect (disclaimer: OK, I can, perhaps you cannot).

The full name is Reggiano Lambrusco Rosso Dolce. Described as a “slightly soft red wine, fruity and fresh” on the back label, it goes on to say that “the bouquet is delicate and intense, with notes of fresh strawberries, cherries, and raspberries”.

Lambrusco should be served well chilled, like all sparkling wines. Go ahead, give it a try!

We have eaten at Nacoochee Grill in Helen many times since it opened about seven years ago. It has undergone a few minor menu changes but has remained relatively true to its original concept….Southern cuisine with uptown flair.

Set inside a renovated house, Nacoochee makes guests feel at home. Light green walls and country casual decor look shabby chic to us city folks. Probably makes the rednecks scratch their heads and wonder why they didn’t fix it up a little better.

Mom ordered a glass of riesling and I got the muscadine wine by Habersham, the winery right down the street. I left with a bottle of it.

My Dad usually gets grilled or blackened fish with collards and a salad on the side, but opted for grilled shrimp instead. He’s pretty particular about his seafood. His shellfish have to be thoroughly cooked until opaque. I tend to agree, I don’t like the weird texture of undercooked shrimp or lobster. Naturally, his shrimp were a little on the clear side so he sent them back to the kitchen.

Nacoochee Grill serves chicken, fish, and steaks, with an emphasis on their grilled selections, often heavy on the garlic. But don’t forget where you are….in the South. Practically everything is also available fried. Bread service varies, recently featuring cranberry scones and jalapeno cornbread or cheddar biscuits.

Mom almost always orders the Szechuan glazed salmon with a sweet potato and salad. True to form, even on her birthday.

Having had the French country salad several times for lunch I decided to order it with the addition of crab cakes for a lighter dinner. But I couldn’t resist the squash casserole which unfortunately contained more casserole than squash and was covered with cheese….way to make a vegetable unhealthy! My Mom also let me have a few bites of her sweet potato, served with cinnamon butter…..yummo.

The salad was great with field greens, pungent gorgonzola, chewy bacon, walnuts, and sliced apple. I requested it without the red onions and also substituted their house honey balsamic dressing for the bacon vinaigrette that regularly comes with the salad. Their honey balsamic dressing is delicious, so good they sell it. I was planning to buy some on this visit but they were sold out so I took home the leftover dressing from all three of our salads. Free….even better!

No desserts. I had bought a couple of pieces of hazelnut torte from Olde Bavaria Inn earlier. Regretably, they have a new supplier and it was just yellow cake with hazelnut icing….not a torte at all. It sucked.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Last weekend I made the scenic drive to Helen to celebrate my Mom’s birthday. I love dining outdoors on beautiful sunny days. The Troll Tavern, located by the river, offers the best patio setting, but we wanted to try something different. Old Heidelberg, nestled in the back of the square on N. Main Street has a tiny balcony off their upstairs dining room with four picnic tables and umbrellas. Perfect!

We ordered two different glasses of riesling, both semi-sweet spaetlase style. As we perused the menu and discussed lunch options the sky grew increasingly dark. Ignoring the menacing clouds I decided on the grilled bratwurst with sauerkraut, served on a bun with potato chips. I requested the bun be left off and substituted red cabbage for the chips to create a small wurst platter.

Mom ordered the goulash, a stew made with beef, peppers, onions, and potatoes, in a tomato based broth. It says SPICY on the menu.

As soon as our server delivered our food the rain started! We dashed inside. My Mom said “that’s alright, we’re not made of paper”….awesome quote!

In the frenzy I forgot to photograph the food. I tasted my Mom’s goulash and thought it was too tomato-y, and definitely not spicy. She seemed to like it OK.

Our server came by to inform us that the gentlemen at the neighboring table, who had just paid and left, had paid for our lunch as well. Thanks fellas! I ordered another glass of riesling.

My bratwurst and sauerkraut were very tasty, however, their red cabbage was a tad too sweet, overly spiced with cloves.

Old Heidelberg offered a complete selection of German favorites, from schnitzels to schweinebraten. I had dinner here years ago with a German friend and thought the food was solid.

I am curious about one of their dessert selections, homemade “Kaiserschmarrn”. Mom wasn’t familiar with it, perhaps it’s a Bavarian specialty? Made with eggs, flour, sugar, milk, almonds, and raisins, and served with applesauce, she thought it might be a sort of bread pudding. That settles it…..I will be trying it on an upcoming visit.

But first, I must have a totally-not-German, totally-white-trash funnel cake!

8660 North Main Street, Helen GA 30545 706-878-3273

After our enlightening educational tour of the winery with Bill, B and I chose to be seated on the beautiful deck outside at the restaurant, LeVigne, just next door to the tasting room. Views of the vineyard provided a stunning backdrop for our meal.

Chef Steven Hartman creates a special Sunday Supper menu each week. The restaurant serves lunch and its regular menu the rest of the week. On our visit the menu was a collection of small plates, ranging in price from $7 to $14.

Me and B are city chicks. We get the small plate concept. But this place is in Dahlonega. I don’t know if most diners here understand that a menu item described as short ribs at $14 isn’t a substantial entree. Maybe I’m just not giving them enough credit. Or perhaps Chef Steven Hartman is a touch out of his element here.

For a Sunday evening, the restaurant was far from packed, but there were quite a few tables occupied, especially outside.

We continued with more of the wine we had tried during the tasting, the Tormaresca from Italy, and proceeded to order two of the smaller plates to start. B was determined to try the Columbia River salmon tartar with chicharones, Meyer lemon, and red ribbon sorrel. Fancy sounding but when it came out B was perplexed about the sprinkling of crunchy stuff on top of the raw chopped salmon. It was the chicharones. They had no flavor but did provide textural interest. The dish was heavy on lemon for me, but I am not a salmon lover anyway.

Pea soup was a vibrant green matching the lush landscape of the vineyard. It’s flavor was unfortunately mediocre, the worst part being the mitake mushrooms on top. Seems like someone forgot to reconstitute these. Have you ever eaten dried mushrooms? I have. Difference is, these have no hallucinogenic effects. Too bad!

Chef Hartman does have my favorite, foie gras, on the menu but it is unfortunately prepared au torchon so I didn’t even go there. Instead we opted for the scallop, the Painted Hills beef short ribs, and the moulard duck breast.

The short rib was the most substantial of the trio. It’s hard to fuck up short ribs but I didn’t like the sauce on this dish and it was seriously salty. The sunchoke puree, asparagus, and morel mushrooms did little to balance it out. B really liked the scallop. I let her have most of it as it too was drowned in salt. The presentation was certainly beautiful, though, with its artichoke puree, bright radishes, and rainbow trout roe to garnish (maybe the roe added the extra saltiness?).

Cooked medium and served atop creamed leeks, fiddlehead ferns, and orange confit, the duck was my favorite dish of the three. Personally I wouldn’t pair citrus with duck but rather a sweeter fruit. What I really liked was the restraint used with the salt shaker.

After the cheese and charcuterie at the wine tasting followed by the five small plates, we still had enough room for a little dessert. We ordered the pear frangipane tart and the blueberry clafoutis. Both servings were huge compared to the savory dishes.

Served warm with vanilla ice cream, the rustic pear tart was absolutely delicious! I got turned on to clafoutis at Trader Joe’s. Somewhere between a custard and a cake, with fruit, they have a frozen cherry one that you bake at home. Although three times the size of the Trader Joe’s dessert, LeVigne’s version was fantastic, topped with sauce Romanoff and some whipped cream.

The two desserts turned out to be the best dishes of the meal. I needed the sugar-high to counteract the sleepy effects of a whole day of wine so I could find my way out of the Montaluce maze. And it was dark too. They don’t believe in street lights in small towns.

With B’s navigational assistance we made it back to GA400 and back to the city!

Talk about hard to find! From Helen, B and I made our way along the mountainous twists and turns through Dahlonega, trying to follow the directions from the Montaluce website. The lack of street signs was not helpful. We finally resorted to calling for directions.

We were a bit late but no worries. Montaluce’s Tasting Room is a long, cavernous space with a bar on the left and seating groups on the right. Hundreds of wine bottles decorate the wall behind the bar where Bill greeted us while setting up some glasses and describing Montaluce’s wines.

We started with sparkling Adami prosecco. (Hey, I’m not gonna turn down a glass of bubbly!) Bill recommended we try an assortment of cheeses and charcuterie….perfect with the reds we were about to sample.

Montaluce grows a variety of wine grapes including chardonnay, voignier, and cabernet sauvignon. Bill poured B and I a big taste of their viognier, a delicate white with hints of peach. I usually go for whites in the summer, usually a grassy sauvignon blanc or sweet riesling. The viognier wasn’t my style.

Regarding white wines, I am a snob. I will not even consider drinking a pinot grigio or a chardonnay…..too pedestrian. Naturally, Montaluce makes a chardonnay. Described as having aromas of green apples, pear, and lemon zest with nuances of smoke, walnut and honeysuckle. Damn, it was pretty good.

Montaluce’s Risata, Italian for “laughter”, is an aromatic rose, another light option for warmer months. Bill quipped “Rose is making a comeback” as B and I commented on its nearly-forgotten status among wines.

Our server, Desiree, delivered our selection of cheeses and charcuterie. Four cheeses included one of my new favorites, Cana di Cabra, a Spanish goat cheese with a crumbly center, semi-ripened near the rind, reminiscent of Humboldt Fog (without the ash). Paired with fennel jam, B and I loved it! The Pleasant Ridge Reserve was a semi-hard cheese, delicious accompanied by pickled golden raisins.

Sweetgrass Green Hill was a smooth soft cheese resting on a smudge of plum jam and topped with chopped Marcona almonds. Valdeon blue was the most pungeont of the group, accompanied by caramelized shallots and celery leaf….odd and good.

Two of the three meats are made in-house….the chicken liver mousse and the coppa di testa, otherwise known as headcheese. Not a lover of chicken livers, I actually liked it here. Not nearly as unctuous as it can often be, I found the pairing of pickled green tomatoes a wonderful compliment.

The headcheese was seared, ridding it of any unpleasant gelatinous goo one often finds binding the unidentifiable meats. It was, in fact, chunky with hunks of smoky pork. Topped with apple mostarda, it was a real winner!

Benton’s country ham was drizzled with vin cotto, a sweet red wine reduction. Awesome. Although I prefer bread and butter, crispy crackers and breadsticks were served with the cheeses and meats.

The red wines we sampled with the cheeses were Montaluce’s merlot and cabernet. I honestly could not tell them apart. Both were good but neither stellar.

Featuring many Italian wines, Bill poured us a glass of the 2005 Brandini Nebbiolo from the Piedmont region of Italy. Next we tried the 2008 Tormaresca “Neprica” from Puglia. My knowledge of Italian wines is very limited, mainly due to its ridiculously complicated system. Bill educated us on the categories and regions, although I think I would have to take a few more classes to be comfortable ordering Italian.

Next we toured the winery. Another glass of Neprica in our hands, B and I checked out the room where the grapes are de-stemmed and crushed. Then they are ready for two weeks of fermentation in the stainless vats on the lower level. The juice is pressed out and the resulting wine is pumped into oak barrels to age…..it all reminded me of the wineries I visited in Spain exactly a year ago (although some claim I wasn’t even there).

Bill was an encyclopedia of wine trivia. For instance, blends called “meritage” (derived from “merit” and “heritage” and pronounced like heritage) must meet strict standards, containing wine from at least two of the bordeaux grapes (merlot, cab franc, cab, malbec). That moniker, however, isn’t earned, it is purchased.

Our wine adventure was nearing an end. Dinner at Le Vigne, the winery’s restaurant, was next on our agenda. Desiree showed us to a table outside overlooking the gorgeous green vineyard.

Another glass of Tormaresca please. Would we ever be able to find our way home? Stay tuned and find out…..

Me and B must be the most optimistic bitches on the planet. Enduring 12 hours of trauma and drama, barely escaping injury, we still managed to laugh our asses off and made it home alive.

On our way to Helen to meet my Mom and go to the Taste of Sautee this chick opened her car door as we were driving by, effectively ripping off my passenger side mirror and scraping the shit out of my car doors. Awesome. Great start to the day!

I called the police to make a report. Her neighbor, who was not even a witness, kept trying to imply that I might be at fault. Ugly lesbians vs. hot blondes….guess who won. After obtaining a police report that clearly showed her at fault, B duct taped the mirror back on so it wouldn’t be flopping around as we drove north on GA400.

No more than ten minutes later, some dude had a blowout and was swerving out of control almost rear-ending us. We finally got to Helen and made our way to the Taste of Sautee.

Like a mini version of Atlanta’s many “taste of” events, Sautee’s weekend of food and wine featured tastings from several local wineries and restaurants.

Yonah Mountain Vineyards, Habersham, and Sautee Nacoochee each offered tastes of their white and red varieties. I really liked Habersham’s muscadine and I always enjoy their reisling. The best red was Yonah Mountain’s Genesis, a heavy spicy blend of merlot, cab, and mourvedre.

Entrance to the festival was only $15. We were hoping small bites were included but they were not. In fact, full-size sandwiches were for sale from Sweet Breads Bake Shop, tapas-size dishes from Bernie’s and Nacoochee Grill.

My Mom got the bean salad and pasta salad with cheese, olives, and bread from Bernie’s. B started off with a pasta salad from Sweet Breads, and I ordered the BBQ duck tacos from Nacoochee Grill. I didn’t care for the flavor of the sauce and there was too much of it, not to mention they were served in what seemed like store bought hard white taco shells. A dollop of slaw drenched with mayo topped the shredded duck. A smattering of cheese and lettuce was lost somewhere in between. My Mom’s plate looked like the best choice of the three.

Me and B sampled every wine, then we all shopped a bit. SS was blowing up my phone which was a bit odd. Turns out his 4 year old son had passed away the night before. He was crying and I was miles away sweating my ass off in the blazing hot sun in Sautee, of all f*ckin’ places.

A bit more food and we’d call it a day. B got the bean salad dish my Mom had earlier, while I tried a steak and caramelized onion sandwich on a mini baguette. Problem was the bread was hard and the plate was slippery. Each bite was a disaster, squirting the beef with copious amounts of sauce (seems to be a theme here) all over my hands, then to top it off the beef was hard to chew. Again, the bean salad dish had more flavor although it didn’t blow me away.

There were lots of artist booths with everything from jewelry to wooden birdhouses. B got one of those for her sister-in-law.

We had to pace ourselves on the drinking since B and I would be visiting Montaluce Vineyard for a tasting and a tour later in the afternoon, then dinner at their restaurant, LeVigne.

Sautee was just the beginning of our food and wine adventure….here we come Dahlonega!

Under normal circumstances I don’t care for re-runs. Here’s an exception: Saturday at the beach was practically a re-run of Friday, but even more fun! MM and I set up camp as the others gathered beers and supplies. The beach was followed by a brief pool visit, then intoxicated showering.

Seafood was in order and George’s was the place. A brief walk, again in heels, brought us to a quaint yet trendy restaurant in a renovated house. We waited a bit for a table since our group was large and ended up seated on the patio, complete with umbrellas decorated with tiny white lights. Cute.

JS and KS had mentioned their colossal frutta di mare quesadillas the day before, big enough for a meal for two. But for a group of nine, KS thought two would be perfect for appetizers. At $29 each, we could barely polish them off. Drizzled with a spicy aoili and topped with pineapple salsa, each quesadilla was filled with lobster, shrimp, crab, and cheese. Really tasty!

MC and KC, who live in a neighboring town, joined us. They ordered a couple of bottles of Shug pinot noir. ST got a glass of chardonnay and I also opted for white with a semi-sweet reisling.

Entrees were mostly seafood dishes like wild salmon with a cinnamon soy glaze or cioppino, the fish stew of mussels, clams, shrimp and fish in a tomato based broth (that I often find revolting due to my distaste of that combo). MC ordered the seared coconut scallops and gave me a taste. Three ginormous orbs atop a bowl of orzo. Although very nicely done, there were three. It was $27.

I opted for the lemongrass curry shrimp, hoping for 7 or 8 huge prawns since we were on the gulf, but was served about 15 smallish shrimp instead, along with lots of green and red peppers. Disappointing, but the flavor was passable. Again, not a bargain at $24.

Strangely, there were lots of Asian notes to the menu and with my relative expertise on Asian cuisine I should know to stay away from it unless I’m on Buford Highway or at an authentic Asian restaurant. But I rarely listen to my own advice.

Also on offer were lamb chops, spicy Mongol beef tenderloin, Kahlua pork tenderloin for strict carnivores.

Then there was the section of seafood bowls, all of which could be ordered grilled or fried. ST got the fried combo…..shrimp, grouper, and oysters. Served with, what else? Fries. Oh, and don’t forget the fried hushpuppies. The crunch of fried foods is practically irresistable, but it bores me after a bite or two. Batter just masks the flavor. I had an oyster and a fry or two (and maybe a bite of a hushpuppy).

A couple of folks got the grilled grouper bowl. My bite, from KC, totally lacked flavor.

They serve a full lunch menu as well with healthy wraps and spa inspired dishes like the toasted macadamia tofu on a bed of soba noodles which I bet has twice the calories you’d think. Soups, salads, sandwiches, all come in around $13.

No room for sweets, thankfully me and ST had dessert before we left the house!

Portions at George’s are big and so are the price-tags. But the food is solid and certainly worth a visit.