Chow Down Atlanta

I have been a fan of Chef Peter Golaszewski since The Epicurean where I tasted the best English peas risotto on earth. He’s now back as the Executive Chef at The Feed Store Restaurant down south close to the airport. While it may be a trek just to get to where he is, believe me, it’s worth the drive.

The scene

College Park. An area not known for food. Good food in particular. Driving down Main Street, it looks just like any other small town. A hardware here, a feed store there. A place you wouldn’t want to be alone in come dark time. But it wasn’t the vibe I got at all. It was quaint. And safe. With a lush park across the street.

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The facade looks just like an old feed store. But the minute I stepped in, I was transformed into a cozy, chic but comfortable space. With lots of character — exposed brick walls, concrete floors, high ceilings, cozy booths, hip bar, a quirky painting of a fancy chicken. It was elegant. Yet casual.

The meal

When I told my mom (who is well traveled, thus, has eaten everywhere and has exacting taste buds) that I was taking her out to eat somewhere in College Park, she wasn’t receptive at all. “College Park, what’s there? That’s too far. Why don’t we just go somewhere in Buckhead?” To make matters worse, we picked a stormy, rainy night. Traffic on 85 was horrendous and it took us an hour to get there. But I knew we were in for a stellar night. That’s how much faith I have in Chef Peter. Actually, that’s how good he is. And I was right.

We started out with an amuse bouche of cheese froth, beet caviar, walnuts, arugula served on a chilled spoon with a balsamic-based sauce. It was terrific. Lots of contrasting tastes and textures. The frothy cheese was creamy with just a hnit of saltiness to counter balance the sweetness of the beets. I loved the presentation, too. And was amazed at how the beets were like tiny pearls. Mom was impressed. So far so good.

Next came our appetizer: Deconstructed BLT: pork, tomatoes, arugula, house-smoked mayo, chili oil. This is a fantastic dish. The smoked pork was tender and the (literally) smoking mayo gave it a smooth finish. The chili oil added a slight heat balanced by the coldness of the tomato slice. Really, this would be a good main dish. It’s that good.

We then had the cheese salad with fried SGD feta cheese, beet salad, arugula, cucumber-sherry vinaigrette. My mom and I both loved this. We particularly liked the fried cheese with its buttermilk crust (gooey on the inside, crunchy on the outside). The texture was just amazing. Like eating a very tender chicken finger yet not as savory. The cheese was so mild that it went really well with the cucumber-sherry vinaigrette. I really liked the presentation of this salad — tall. Salads can be boring to look at because you can’t really do much except to pile it on a plate.Being the fan that I am, Chef Peter decided to give me the opportunity to taste everything on the menu. Of course, I’m game. So, ready… fight!

The Cornbread-stuffed Georgia quail with tri-colored carrots and red wine jus was delectable. The cornbread was the best I’ve had (this one’s without the overpowering taste of celery); the quail was just so tasty and perfectly seasoned, it was finger-licking good!

The Pan-seared Scottish Salmon with zucchini noodles was very light. Yet hearty and tasty. Refreshing, if you will. Fish is always tricky since it’s very easy to over or undercook. This one’s perfect — perfectly seared on the outside, cooked all the way through, yet still moist and tender. The zucchini noodles were a perfect accompaniment with its cool, mild taste. The pecan sauce gave a littly nutty flavor but did not overpower the salmon which was the star of this dish. My sister will go bonkers over this!

The Pan-seared scallop, curried crab risotto, and cilantro oil was the one entree I wanted to taste more than anything else. I have been a big fan of Chef Peter’s risotto ever since The Epicurean which, sadly, has closed down. So it was a must that I try this one. Another winner. Since the risotto is clearly the star of this dish, it was made to shine by making it heady, bold, rich but not too rich, and slightly on the salty side. It complemented the mildness of the scallop but did not take away from it. I. Love. It.

The Painted Hills Teres Major Tenderloin with pimiento cheese, mustard green potato mash, and bleu-cheese herb butter was simply outstanding. The melt-in-your mouth steak was fantastic. The inventive mash with pimiento cheese and mustard greens was a total hit. Like eating two things at once: mashed potatoes and mustard greens. I liked that the mustard greens weren’t bitter at all. And the mash was creamy and cheesy with a tiny hint of heat from the pimientos. The bleu-cheese herb butter gave everything a smooth finish. Loved this dish!

Springer Mountain fried chicken & duck confit duo with pepper jack macaroni and cheese, Coca-cola baked beans, and scuppernong bbq sauce: marvelous! This is one of my favorite dishes. The fried chicken didn’t have that jaw-breaking crunch/crust yet still had enough crunch. It was tasty and tender. Perfectly seasoned and cooked all the way. Contrast that with the crunchy duck to provide balance. The duck was delicious and cooked perfectly with a crunchy crust. The mac-n-cheese was so creamy and heavenly and had just a hint of spiciness while the baked beans were just superb. Not overly sweet and you can definitely taste the Coke. The scuppernog barbecue sauce did not overpower anything but provided a way to make everything taste good together. It had a perfect balance of sweet and sour. Everything we had were winners. But this one’s on my top 3.

My mom’s absolute favorite: Country-fried short rib with buttermilk mashed potatoes, asparagus, tomatoes, roasted shallot-whole grain mustard gravy. Also on my top 3. The buttermilk crust provided the crunch while the ribs was fork-tender and had that cooked-for-hours taste in it. All I can say is that this was fantastic. Gives new meaning to comfort food.

Finally, four desserts to cap off a night-of-food to remember. From clockwise: Chocolate Creme Brulee, Cheesecake, Banana Bread Pudding with fried ice cream, Rhubarb cobbler with vanilla ice cream. I love chocolate so the chocolate creme brulee did it for me the first bite. It was a far cry from the usual, boring, regular creme brulees. This one’s chocolatey. Real chocolatey. The cheesecake was creamy and not too rich. The banana bread pudding was absolutely the best. And the fried ice cream was a perfect combination. Really, you must leave room for this. You just must! The rhubarb cobbler was also a winner. It was not as rich and sweet as its usual counterparts (you know, peach, apple). Mom loved this one.I love that none of the desserts were overly sweet. I hate desserts whose sweetness gives you a sugar rush and then a headache. Believe me, nothing ruins a good meal than a sugar headache.It was an unforgettable evening. Food was fantastic and service was impeccable. John was the perfect server: efficient, informative, friendly, but not intrusive. And he knows everything about the food!

The verdict

It’s quite rare to find a restaurant where every single item on the menu is great. Everything we ate was simply fantastic. Our compliments to Chef Peter and his equally brilliant wing man Cooper Miller (formerly of Element). We had an amazing evening. And we’ll definitely be back.

Insider tip:
Avoid Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings. That’s usually when they’re at their busiest and will not even be able to accommodate walk-in guests. Reservations are strongly recommended.

Plenty of parking. Apps start at $7, salads at $6 and mains at $19.

Trivia: Emeril Lagasse came in one evening. All the way from Kennessaw. Alone.

The scoop:
The Feed Store Restaurant
3841 Main Street
College Park, GA
404.209.7979
Hours of operation to follow…

Technorati Tags: The Feed Store Restaurant, College Park, South, Atlanta, Atlanta Airport, fine dining, Peter Golaszewski, Cooper Miller

J Christopher’s has been one of my go-to places whenever I crave for breakfast. I like that you can expect the same good, quality food every time you visit. Service may be spotty at times and some locations just have it bad. But for quick breakfast stops, I head on over to this place especially now that they’ve expanded, the 2-hour waits have vanished.

I’ve been going to this place since 2000 so I’ve tasted everything on the menu. They’re all good. The skillets are fun because you get everything on one plate and, well, because they’re served on hot skillets. Now how cool is that?

But yesterday was the very first time I’ve ever tasted their Blueberry Crunchcakes. They are so wonderful. It’s like eating pancakes with a slight crunch thanks to the addition of crunchy granola. While I’m no fan of crunchy pancakes and I hate waffles because of the crunch, these crunchcakes are different. The texture is so unique. And the taste is amazing. You have to try it for yourself. It’s really, really good.Insider tip:
Open for breakfast, brunch, and lunch daily from 7am until 2pm. Their Tuna Melt is worth a try.

The scoop:
J Christopher’s
Several locations

Technorati Tags: J Christopher’s, brunch, crunchcakes, skillet breakfast, Atlanta

I wasn’t too keen on dining at home by famed chef Richard Blais too early in the game but my sister insisted we check it out as early as possible. home Restaurant and Bar, the newest venture of H2S restaurants, focuses on Southern flavors and a farm-to-table concept. The farm-to-table ideal uses local farmers to bring in the freshest fruits and vegetables (including meat and dairy) directly from their farms and on to the table. The guaranteed short distance these ingredients travel before hitting the pans (or plates) means better tasting food.

The scene

Our reservations were for a mid-week evening a few days after it opened. I usually try to go during mid-week whenever I’m trying out a (fine dining) restaurant for the first time to avoid harried servers and slammed kitchens. But on this very day, the place was packed. Not a single table was empty.

I have always loved Seeger’s old home. But home has made it more hip, more cozy. The bar area has these comfy love seats with pillows strewn all over. A nice place for a tete-a-tete before a meal; or just the perfect spot to hob-nob with friends. There’s an ample-sized bar from which you’re also able to eat a full meal in comfort. With a flat screen spewing out Top Chef episodes to boot.

But the main dining room is what makes home, well, feel at home. It doesn’t have a stuck-up feel to it. The upstairs area is as cozy with only a handful of tables. And a reminder — if you’re going to be seated upstairs in the big table, beware of the low ceiling. We were witness to heads being bumped all evening long. Perhaps they should move the table closer to the glass wall.

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The meal

I’m not sure if this is something we share with other people but my sister and I have a passion for reading menus. In fact, reading menus is a favorite past time of ours. On long flights, we arm our selves with menus. Before going to any restaurant, we look up the menus online, print them and read them again and again trying to picture the experience we would get from ordering a certain appetizer or a main entree. We picture the blend of flavors and ingredients and how it would taste like. So we already knew what we would order before we even arrived.

 

 

We were given biscuits and a trio of soft butter, stewed okra, and pepper jam as soon as we gave our orders. I love having bread before a meal. Not because of anything but because I just love bread. I found the biscuits a little on the dry side but nothing that soft butter can’t fix. I absolutely loved the pepper jam and also the okras. Nice touches, I thought.

 

 

 

 

We started out with the Chilled Oysters, the Silken Corn Soup, and the Tomato Soup. The Chilled Oysters came on a half-shell still with its own briny juices and topped with dots of horseradish. I love the presentation of this snack. Most of all, the oysters tasted so fresh with the horseradish adding just a little bit of heat to their coldness.

 

 

 

The Silken Corn Soup with Georgia Shrimp Toast and Lime was a light, frothy soup topped with dehydrated corn and a thin slice of shrimp toast. There was a little sweetness to this soup which was balanced by the saltiness of the toast.

 

 

 

The Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwich was also light and frothy. It was very tasty and came topped with a froth of horseradish and a small, thin grilled cheese sandwich. I really liked this soup. It was not as heavy as most tomato soups.

 

 

 

Next came the duck egg and the pancakes. The Warm Local Mushrooms with Grilled Toast and Warm Duck Egg was fantastic. The mushrooms were flavorful and had a nice texture to it. Unlike limp ones which I hate, these still had a bite in them. The duck egg was perfectly soft boiled. We are still baffled how this egg was done. It was served whole (round) but without shell. You can’t poach an egg and still have it come out round. Besides, from the looks and taste of it, it wasn’t poached. And everyone knows how tricky it is to peel soft-boiled eggs.

The Buttermilk Pancakes with Foie Gras Butter with fresh blueberries and blueberry syrup was clearly the winner of the evening. The pancakes, actually, more like blinis were soft, chewy and buttermilky. The Foie Gras butter was divine. It was creamy, buttery, saltish, and had a hint of foie gras. The explosion of flavors (salty, milky, sweet) and textures (chewy, crunchy, creamy) make this appetizer a great one. This is my favorite and I will order it again next time.

 

 

 

For our main entrees, my sister settled on the Florida Black Grouper with Local 5-bean Salad topped with Key Lime and Brown Butter. The fish was very fresh, very tasty, and perfectly cooked: seared on the outside and moist and tender on the inside. The local 5-bean salad was a good accompaniment to the fish but the over-dousing of butter made this dish very rich. I would have loved for the fish to stand out but it was competing hard with the bean salad for taste and texture. In the end, the butter won. Such a shame.

People were raving about the Crispy Fried Organic Chicken with Macaroni and Cheese so I got curious and tried it. I was a bit disappointed with this dish. I got two tiny pieces of chicken which really didn’t justify the price tag. The honey-vinaigrette coating on the chicken totally ruined it for me. Maybe because I don’t like my fried chicken sweet. Maybe I didn’t have a taste for anything sweet that night, entree-wise. In any case, I will never order this dish again.

I’ve also heard rave reviews about the Mac and Cheese. Even the people next to us kept brandishing superlatives about it. My take — I like Blais’ touch — with a tempura-like topping, huge shells, and creamy cheese. But it wasn’t fantastic. For $19, it wasn’t worth the price. I give points for the presentation, though, as the small cast-iron ramekins made it a very appealing side dish. On another note, I had a tiny incident with my chicken. On my second bite, after cutting it open, I saw red blood close to the bone. Now I may not be a (Top) chef (sorry, pun intended) but I know when Chicken is not cooked. Even the juices that came out of it were still pink. I don’t know about you, but I do remember “til the juices run clear” when it comes to Chicken. Our server tried to take the chicken’s side but relented and offered graciously to replace it. He even took it out of my plate and left me to at least nibble on the mac and cheese. He really handled the situation very well.

The accompanying veggies served family-style included mashed potatoes, pickled cucumbers, green beens with pearl onions, and sliced jicamas. I love the texture of the mash with its stretchy consistency. It had this elasticity in it that I’ve never found in any other mash anywhere else. It was also very creamy. The pickled cucumbers were very refreshing with its flawless balance of sweet, salty, and sour. I absolutely loved the stewed jicama slices. I love that they had retained their crunchiness despite being stewed. I love their sweetness which contrasted well with the saltiness of its sauce. The green beans were also good but what I really loved about them is the way they were sliced — quarter inch thin! I also liked the pearl onions that came with it.

 

For dessert, we got the Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Ice Cream and the Moon Pie with Coca-cola Float. The red velvet cake was a tad dry to me but the cream cheese ice cream rocks. It was so heavenly. This is something you must not miss when you go.

My moon pie was also a tad dry but the cream filling made up for it. It consisted of two cake-like cookies with a small portion dipped in chocolate sandwiched between a dollop of cream filling. Both the moon pie and the red velvet cake would have been awesome had they been moist. Being the Coca-cola addict that I am, my Coke Float was so awesome. Our server explained to us how it was scientifically created and the result was the best Coke Float ever.

 

The service

Our server was very attentive but not in the in-your-way kind of thing. He was friendly but not overly so. He handled my chicken issue very well — in a calm and professional manner. His name escapes me for the moment but I will ask my sister and see if she remembers it. I’ll then add it here, for anyone who is as good as he is deserves recognition.

 

The verdict

Richard Blais’ new project may not be as stellar as I hoped, but it has its own merits and can definitely stand up to the other “big boys”. I had a wonderful meal even though the snacks and appetizers over-shadowed the mains. I am not fan of sweetish entrees and if fish is not your thing, then you’re out of luck. I definitely would come back if not for the duck egg and the pancakes. Those were amazing concoctions. As they would say, inventive. Next time, I’ll even try the much hyped about short rib. Sweet and all.

 

Insider Tip:
Now open for Lunch and Brunch. Service is impeccable.

The Scoop:
home Restaurant and Bar
111 W. Paces Ferry Rd. NW
Atlanta, GA. 30305
Phone: 404.869.0777
Fax: 404.869.0065
Sorry hours of operation not available.

 

Technorati Tags: home Restaurant and Bar, Here To Serve restaurants, Paces Ferry, Richard Blais, fine dining, Buckhead

Now that warm weather is in the air, I’ve been stocking my fridge with my latest discovery: Snapple Antioxidant Water. With added vitamins such as Vitamin A, B, and E plus electrolytes, it’s literally like water on steroids! But the best thing is that it is so refreshing. Each flavor is so good that it’s difficult to just drink one bottle in a sitting.

This stuff is really great. The flavors are so light unlike regular juices.  My favorite flavors: Tropical Mango, Grape Pomegranate, Dragonfruit, and Agave Melon. I can’t wait to try the other flavors. The best part about these Snapple Waters: I can actually beat my soda addiction! Go try one now and let me know what you think~

Technorati Tags: Snapple Antioxidant Water, food finds

Just a reminder that the new McDonald’s chicken biscuits will be handed out next week for free on Wednesday, May 14th from 6-9am at 1404 Spring Street (parking lot of The Center for Puppetry Arts).  Rock 100.5 (my newest favorite station) will be on hand to make things lively.  This should be fun.

Incidentally, I’ve read good raves about this new comer.  Let me know what you think and see you there!

Technorati Tags: McDonald’s Chicken Biscuits, Midtown, free biscuits

I am starting a series here. Send me pictures of what’s inside your refrigerator and I’ll post the pictures here. Depending on how many pictures I receive, I’m planning on posting them regularly. Maybe once a month to start with. Don’t forget to include your name and email address. Send photos to Chloe@chowdownatlanta.com.

Now allow me to showcase the stuff in my fridge…

In the freezer side, there’s really no frozen stuff as I don’t eat frozen ready-made food. There’s a box of frozen tacos that was left by a friend during a recent potluck party and if she doesn’t claim it in a week, I’m tossing it out. There’s a box of Eggo waffles and pancakes which my 9 and 7-year old niece and nephew ate for snacks when they visited from Boston. I haven’t had the heart to throw them out yet. Sentimental reasons. There are different kinds of ice-cream, all of which are my sister’s, which I don’t touch since I’m not a big fan of sweets in general. There’s also a bunch of frozen edamame and tons of Japanese Yakult (which I’ve been drinking since I was 6 years old!).

In the fridge side, there are no take-out containers as you may notice since I absolutely hate left-overs. I have a big pot of home-made chicken broth (very handy and has lots of uses), and the usual fridge stuff (organic milk, sauces, dressing, condiments, flavored water, fresh veggies, etc) including three different kinds of soda which I’m addicted to. I also have a collection of cheeses and butter. The bottom drawer holds coffee beans from all over the world, as well as my photography supplies: 35mm and 120mm black & white film, and other chemicals that I use for processing my own film and developing my own prints.

So now it’s your turn. Show me what’s inside your fridge.

Technorati Tags: What’s in my fridge

A bunch of food events are happening around town. Check them out!

Taste of the Nation
May 1, 2008
Georgia Aquarium
Tickets at $250 and $350

Atlanta Taste for Life Wine Tasting
Maggiano’s Buckhead
May 1
7-10pm
$45

Taste of Sandy Springs
May 4
Heritage Sandy Springs Site
Admission Free ($20 for 10 food tickets)

The Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show
Cobb Galleria Center
May 3-4
Tickets $20 or $25 at the door
Appearances by Paula Deen and sons
Cooking shows (additional fee) throughout the day

McDonald’s Chicken Biscuit Celebration
Center for Puppetry Arts
May 14
6-9am
Free Chicken Biscuit Breakfast
FREE BISCUITS!!!

Taste of Alpharetta
May 15
5-10pm
Free Admission (food tickets $1-$3)

HENRIOT CHAMPAGNE DINNER
SERENBE FARM TOUR AND KUDZU SUPPER
WITH MUSS & TURNERS
May 17, 2008
3-8 pm
$160 and $150

Technorati Tags: Taste of the Nation, Taste of Sandy Springs, Atlanta Taste for Life, Kudzu Supper, free McDonald’s biscuits, Paula Deen, Taste of Alpharetta