Since this was a gift, what was my honey’s first question of the staff behind the counter as he hand-picked these chocolates that were being set aside for packaging? “Will these be packaged in a box?” With an affirmative, he went on to pick out 8 truffles and one chocolate cream filled buddha. When this teeny tiny clear bag appeared at the register he was surprised. Then, surprise number 2 was a bill of just over $25 dollars. Each little truffle was $2.50 and the buddha was $3.50. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t share the cost of a gift with me. But, he felt the humorously tiny bag required some explaining.
Twenty-five dollars is not an unusual sum for a small box (emphasis on box) of truffles. The shock comes when you realize that the teensy weensy clear plastic bag photographed above is slightly larger than a standard business card. The exact dimensions of our filled bag was 2 1/2 inches wide by 4 3/4 inches long. Many giggles & chuckles accompanied the measuring of this bag.
As pictured from top to bottom:
2 Peach Amaretto (hidden under label)
2 Coconut Dulce de Leche
2 Strawberry Basil
2 Fig Balsamic
1 Ginger Buddha
Enough already… How was the chocolate?
It was fine, but, flavors were almost hidden under intensely strong bitter chocolate. This is clearly good quality dark chocolate. But, it’s defining note is one of bitterness. One of us is a lover of all things dark chocolate… the other loves white chocolate. The white chocolate lover found them overwhelmingly bitter. And, the dark chocolate lover uttered words she thought would never cross her lips… they were a little too bitter. There was one exception.
The Fig Balsamic was knock-your-socks-off-stellar-good. LOVE IT!
The timeless question rears its ugly head… does size matter?
Cacao Atlanta Chocolate Co.
312 c North Highland Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30307
404 221 9090
Toasted Coconut & Cake Batter in a Waffle Cup
We love these flavors in theory. But, in reality they were a bit icy and gritty texture-wise.
Praline in a Waffle Cup
Surprisingly, this ice cream was much creamier and filled with lots of sugary praline bits and pieces.
Chocolate Dipped Twinkies
Kilwin’s LOVES to dip stuff in chocolate. Twinkies, pretzels of various sizes, rice crispy squares, nutter butters and…
Oreos!
It would be easy to mock chocolate covered Twinkies and the other mass-produced snack food items. However, we’ve both joked about a return visit. The primary goal of this visit would be to try that crazy Twinkie calorie bomb.
Two edible, yet, forgettable truffles
Caramel dipped Pretzel Stick
Fresh pecans and soft, chewy caramel made this the sweet of the day. More please. And, we’d happily visit again for the dark chocolate covered molasses honeycomb. Yum.
Kilwin’s
1280 Atlantic Drive Suite
Atlanta, GA 30363
404 817 7500
Lemon Ginger Sugar Cookie
Sometimes they’re a bit crispy…
Lemon Ginger Sugar Cookie
Other times they’re soft, tender and buttery with a touch of crispness around the edges. Prepared this way, you might say they’re close to perfect. Lemon zest and crystalized ginger perfectly highlight this sweet buttery cookie base. And, the tender pieces of crystalized ginger almost melt into the cookie and nearly dissolve on your tongue as you take a bite.
Still love em… but, they’re a bit inconsistent.
OK Cafe and Take-Away
1284 West Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta, GA 30327
404 233 2888
The Box
Could they make each little chocolate box more charming? We don’t think so. Each box comes half-wrapped and decorated with a stitched fabric label… simply charming.
The chocolates at Sugar-Coated Radical are flavored with Grand Marnier, anise, rose, coriander, crystalized jalapenos, chipotle, a variety of liqueurs and other spices. It was hard to choose from the lovely (and tasty) assortment of chocolate covered goodies. We settled on some dark chocolate covered figs stuffed with even more chocolaty goodness then garnished with walnut pieces. Squares of pâte de fruit with a generous dark chocolate shell, some delectable rectangles filled with Grand Marnier scented white chocolate garnished with crystalized orange, and a couple of dark chocolate cups scented with anise found their way into our box, too.
Knowing that new flavors will be appearing often and seasonal offerings add to that variety, we can see that many visits will be required to try all of the new and unique offerings here. The über-friendly staff and an ability to watch the built-from-scratch digs come to life around you only add to the appeal of this lovely little shop. This isn’t a shop oozing airs and pretension. It’s all about the chocolate… very good chocolate.
Thanks to Cliff Bostock for inspiring our visit.
Sugar-Coated Radical
680 Drewry Street
Atlanta, GA 30306
404 587 4912
Bread Basket
Pâté Maison Sandwich
Croque Madame
Île Flottante
How do you end a lovely lunch? Savor tiny bites of a pretty little floating meringue island swimming in a sea of crème anglaise. Drizzle it all with sweet caramel and garnish with toasted almond slivers for whispery hints of nutty bitterness. Close your eyes and enjoy the way it all melts away on your tongue.
Then, force yourself to head out the door…. back to the real world.
Bistro Niko
3344 Peachtree Road Northeast
Atlanta, GA 30305
404 261 6456
St Louis Style Ribs & Beef Brisket
How can we sum up our visits to Community Q? It just gets better every time. Is that possible? But, everything does seem to get a little bit better with each and every visit. The ribs were smoky and even more tender than our last visit. And, the brisket was just oozing with rich beef flavor, the right touch of smoke and almost melt-in-your-mouth tenderness. We always start with the brisket to be sure to eat it in its prime.
Smoked Sweet Potato & Kale and Mac & Cheese
Tender smoked sweet potato and (was it roasted?) kale, this was an utterly genius combination. There are no words to describe this perfect marriage of sweet and savory in a simple vegetable dish. We both could’ve made a meal out of this one. It’s the sort of dish that makes us think we could become vegetarians.
Pulled Pork & Smoked Chicken
The tender, smoky bark-encrusted pork was as good as it gets.
What a mediocre picture. It doesn’t do this piece of chicken justice. Every bite was so perfectly tender, there was an almost smooth and creamy quality to the moist, smoky meat. If Community Q keeps this up, Fox Brothers might have some real competition.
Community Q BBQ
1361 Clairmont Road
Decatur, GA 30033
404 633 2080
Smoked Pork Loin, Mortadella (without pistachios), Black Forest Ham, Bohemian Smokies and assorted Kielbasa
This would’ve been nice to eat on Super Bowl Sunday. But, at the rate that it’s disappearing, there won’t be anything left on Sunday. On this visit, we focused on the smoked meats. Not all of our purchases made it into the photo. We also purchased a couple kabanos, spicy Hungarian salami, and a version of the single smoked “Bohemian Smokies”. The Bohemian Smokies are smoked twice for an incredibly deep smoky flavor.
The andouille is visible in this shot and its possible to see the pepper in the kielbasa (center rear). The Ukrainian kielbasa was a favorite for both of us. But, the smoked pork tenderloin was the real jackpot. It’s shockingly tender. How can it be so moist and smoky at the same time? In a word, it’s divine. Without a doubt, it’s best smoked meat we’ve ever tasted.
Black Forest Ham on European Peasant Rye
We’re not sure of the proper name in Czech or Polish for this bread. But, in Germany, one of our father’s would’ve called it “Bauernbrot”. It’s a dense rustic rye that uses a sourdough-like starter that is made with rye flour.
This small array of food stumbled into bad lighting. We enjoyed all of it though, so, we must add this staggeringly bad photo. We’d hate to forget about the “dadu” a strangely labeled chocolate dessert cheese bar. The filling is reminiscent of chocolate cheesecake. Then, it’s dipped in chocolate. The first bite instigated intrigued looks at each other. By the end, we were fighting over the last bite. And, the Wendler “Nougat” bars were composed of a layer of marzipan wrapped around a cylinder of gianduja. Then, dip the things in chocolate and garnish them with dark chocolate swirls for kicks and giggles. Love Love LOVE this bar. It’s our favorite chocolate treat of the year… so far.
Patak Meat’s Sausage Chalet
It’s well worth the drive… every time.
(But, they’re only open one Saturday each month. When in doubt, call or check the website before visiting.)
Patak Meats
41o7 Ewing Road
Austell, GA 30106
770 941 7993
“A Comfort Pub”
We’d throw the word family in there. On this visit, every table was jam-packed with diners of all ages from toddlers to seniors.
Fried Jalapenos & Pickles
This is the second time we’ve ordered this. Just about perfect, each pickle and jalapeno was fried to a deep golden brown. We’re growing addicted to these… particularly the mildly spicy, tangy jalapenos.
The cocktails err on the side of sweetness.
We were mostly happy with this cucumber martini that would qualify as a drink and a half. (The martini glasses are a very generous size.) Decidedly sweet and easy to drink, one of us enjoyed it more than the other.
Fried Catfish
(on a bed of edamame succotash)
We both enjoyed this dish, so much so that someone was chastised for stealing bites.
Fried Shrimp
(with coleslaw & red dragon sauce)
These shrimp were very large and breaded with a delicate, yet crisp breading. Sadly, this dish suffered a bit from what we assume to be an overworked kitchen. They were a bit on the greasy side. But, that won’t stop us from trying these again. If the sweet red dragon sauce had more heat to it, we could grow to love these.
Napoleon’s Grill
2836 La Vista Road
Decatur, GA 30033
404 321 5000
$15.99 Roasted Whole Duck
Normally, we reserve visits to Hoa Binh for the quick staple pantry item runs. The years have not been kind to this little Asian market. The age and tarnish of many hard years clearly touch this place. But, this old standby has a few tricks left up its sleeve.
On our most recent visit, we wandered in as string of freshly roasted duck were being hung. The savory scent of roast duck and five spice hung in the air. It was too much to resist. For $15.99, we left happily with one whole roasted duck and a couple little condiment cups of jus. We drove home and dug into our little impromptu feast. The duck was perfectly crisp, tender, juicy and still warm from the oven. Jackpot! Leftover pieces of duck were tossed into a home-made “fried rice” for lunch the next day. We were amazed. Those leftover pieces of duck were almost equally tender on the second day.
If you’re willing to look beyond the weather beaten path that age has worn into the fabric of this market, it has a number of treasures to offer.
Hoa Binh Market
#116
4897 Buford Highway
Chamblee, GA 30341
770 457 3383
Are you feeling lucky?
That’s the question we ask each other before we head off to Farm Burger. More often than not, the answer to that question is yes. Yes, as a matter of fact, we are feeling lucky. And, we were very lucky on this day. The four plump chicken livers were tinted with a perfect blush of pink underneath their crispy batter. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
Then, you might ask yourself… What are these trashy looking McNugget-like things? If you ask Farm Burger they’ll tell you chicken pot pie fritters with apple date chutney and a sweet mayo. But, as ex-Floridians who used to live within minutes of Calle Ocho, we’d call them chicken croquetas. Our first bite was a pleasant surprise that brought us back to Miami. These little morsels taste much better than they look. Tender hunks of REAL chicken are blended with small pieces of carrot and a touch of something like gravy to keep it all moist.
The No 6
We’ve visited Farm Burger a number of times with mixed results. We were on the fence for quite some time. We had a couple of excellent Banh Mi burgers. Then, we had a string of bad luck. We were shooting 50-50. For every good burger, the other person at the table was less fortunate. On this visit, we can happily state that every plate was a winner. And, each and every element of both burgers was skillfully prepared. From the perfectly fried egg with its light dusting of salt and pepper to the golden brown bacon to the melty pepperjack cheese through to the glorious, juicy burger with crispy griddled yummy bits on the outside while still touched with pink on the inside.
Now, this is a burger we can sink our teeth into.
The No 5
A generous chunk of tender, silky pork belly is buried under that dollop of barbeque sauce. Pickled jalapenos and a giant beer battered onion ring complete the picture. We were skeptical on first glance. That’s a touch more barbecue sauce than we might normally apply ourselves. But, it all worked out in the end. Another rich, meaty burger… another happy ending… this time. What about next time? It’s a mystery. But, I think we’re feeling lucky.
Farm Burger
410b West Ponce De Leon Avenue
Decatur, GA 30030
404 378 5077
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