Karachi Chaat
Chat Patti takes snacking to new levels of delicious… and it’s kinda sorta healthy. Well, not really, but the chickpeas let me pretend this is a meal. Karachi chaat is the snack food of champions. Strips of fried dough are topped with a variety of sauces, one idly (fluffy rice cake) crowns the top and then it’s all generously garnished with a handful of freshly chopped cilantro. If nachos were this good… I’d eat them.
Samosa Chaat
Five different sauces top this veggie samosa (a fried pastry filled with potato, pea, onion & spice). So, when I say layers of flavor… I do mean LAYERS of flavor. YUM! This might not be the healthiest meal we’ve eaten this weekend. But, it was one of the best. This long-time favorite has managed to stay on our rotation of favorite quick dinner/snack spots for over 8 years.
The Verdict: We’ve been happily snacking here for 8+ years… and we still love it! LOVE it!
Chat Patti
1594 Woodcliff Drive NE
Atlanta, GA 30329
404 633 5595
New Orleans Spicy Shrimp
Over the years, we’ve established a list of favorites. Favorite restaurant foods that are mandatory on each and every visit. In Miami, we MUST visit Little Havana for the roast pork, Versailles for Cuban coffee and pastries, and La Carreta for our midnight cravings of super-hot & crisp guava pastries straight out of the oven. We also visit one particular tourist trap for Lobster Bora Bora and another for their epic stone crabs. We don’t want to… we have to. They have come to hold a sentimental place in our hearts.
If we ever move, Joey D’s New Orleans Spicy Shrimp will be added to this list. This dish of shrimp roasted in butter dosed with a good amount of spice, lemon juice and garlic is a regular craving that borders on addiction. We have visited New Orleans on a number of occasions and crave this dish from more than one restaurant in the city of this dish’s birth. But, Joey D’s handles this dish with skill and near-perfect consistency.
BBQ Beef Sandwich
This amazing sandwich is made of shredded beef tossed in a spicy-sweet & rich bbq sauce. The beef is shredded from the BBQ Beef Rib (another menu item). It is so freshly shredded that crispy bits of char crunch delicately with almost every bite. And, the soft hamburger bun gives this sandwich the taste of an upscale sloppy joe. Love it! This might be one of the best sandwiches in Atlanta. It will definitely be on our Top 10 Sandwich List.
Joey D’s Oak Room
1015 Crown Pointe Parkway
Atlanta, GA 30338
Duck Meatballs
Served on a bed of greens, the duck meatballs were melt-in-your-mouth tender and succulent. I could eat these every day of my life… truly. When we asked about the preparation, we were told they were poached. But, I’m thinking for tenderness like this… sous vide. And then, briefly pan fried in duck fat? They are worth every luscious calorie.
Fried Chicken Liver with fried pickles and red onion relish
Served with the perfect blush of pink in their centers, the super-crisp fried chicken livers were devoured in mere seconds. Acid and tang from the accompanying fried pickles and red onion relish brighten up the dish… Yum!
Shrimp with an Asian spiced broth
This is without a doubt the ugliest dish we’ve ever received at Abattoir. While, tasty, it was more than a little forgettable. When you are expecting Star Provisions quality, a dish that looks like this is more than a little disappointing.
Warm bread… mMmm
Abattoir
1170 Howell Mill Road
Atlanta, GA 30318
404 892 3335
One Perfect Pretzel
This pretzel really is a thing of beauty. From shape to flavor to texture, this pretzel hits all the right notes. Dense & chewy in all the right ways, while, still full of enough air bubbles to create the proper texture. With a near-perfect flavor, Bernhard’s pretzel dough has a richness that can only be achieved with properly matured dough. And, even though we arrived late in the day, our pretzels were supremely fresh. They never made it home… we devoured them in the car.
Poppyseed Custard Square
Perfection. Insanely fresh, the custard was delicate and mildly sweet with the perfect amount of poppy seeds dotting the interior for great flavor and texture. The bottom crust added decadence with a rich & lovely buttery flavor, but, possessing an almost cake-like tenderness. It literally melted in my mouth.
Rustic Rye
Super-fresh, dense, & incredibly rich with whole grains, this bread is divine. This predominantly rye loaf has an amazing complexity. The combination of rye, beautifully matured dough, and deep dark crust create a loaf that literally oozes smoky nutty goodness. It is unbelievably good.
Verdict: Bernhard’s Bakery is a real gem staffed with charming folks. I love it!
Bernhard’s Bread Bakery
1592 Atlanta Road, SE
Marietta, GA 30060
770 218 1153
St George
St George — Absinthe Verte
We first conducted a limited tasting of absinthe in June of 2008 with the candidates at our local wine shop. We tasted Lucid and Kubler. Now, every time we step into the shop, we see a new offering. St George will be next on our absinthe tasting list. We’d like to add one more label to the lineup list. And, our next tasting will include a revised tasting of the first two.
Creme de Violette
As a fan of old movies, the first scent out of the bottle brought back memories of my introduction and appreciation of classic cinema. In my teens, I had zero appreciation. The lack of color, hokey accents and magnified personalities were laughable to me. But, over the years, I’ve come to appreciate classic cinema. It transports us to a different time. A time that we will never know. But, we are granted glimpses into the past through cinema. A heightened, idealized version of the past… but, a version nonetheless.
Creme de Violette is a blast from the past. I can envision a time when this liqueur might have graced the shelves of every well-kept bar. A time when ladies of the past might have enjoyed cocktails laced with the sweet flowery scent of a perfume that once held favor.
Now, the art of crafting cocktails has re-emerged as an important element in dining and entertaining. Creme de Violette will fill a niche in a well-stocked bar. Straight out of the bottle it is overwhelming. Incredibly sweet and flowery, you can’t help thinking its edible perfume. But, used sparingly, this can add lovely elements to a cocktail. And, I can imagine any number of uses in the kitchen. Baking, preserving, and candy-making are a few that spring instantly to mind. Tonight, we’ll be trying The Toulouse. Vodka, vanilla and a hint of violet… I’m very optimistic.
The Toulouse
adapted from Haus Alpenz website (see link below)
1 1/2 oz Vodka
3/4 oz Creme de Violette (we’ll be using much less… maybe 2 tsp)
1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka
1 tsp Absinthe
ice
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Shake. Pour into a martini glass and garnish with a skewer of fresh blueberries that you’ve frozen.
Check out this website for more cocktails using Creme de Violette: www.alpenz.com
Shrimp Quesadillas
While we’ve been dining at Taqueria Los Hermanos for years, the shrimp quesadillas find their way to our table on at least half of the visits. The shrimp are tender, well-seasoned, and crispy golden brown at the edges.
Originally, the guacamole was little more than mashed avocados (just the way I like it). Now, they’re adding a hefty dose of tomato. I’m not a fan of tomatoes for my guac. But, it’s always perfectly fresh and we still order it on almost every visit.
If it wasn’t such a decadent sugar bomb, we’d order the tres leches cake topped with fruit on every visit, too. Luckily, the fear of being rolled out the door like the blue girl in Willy Wonka keeps us in check.
Taqueria Los Hermanos
4418 Hugh Howell Road
Tucker, GA
678 937 0660
Unagi Donburi
Unagi Donburi served with a sweet & spicy pickle and miso soup
It’s hard to believe that these photos illustrate a meal eaten at a food court. But, they are! Sushi & Hibachi is a small food court shop set in the back of the Assi Market Food Court. For $6.99, we were offered Unagi Donburi, a sweet & spicy pickle bowl and miso soup. Each meal was made to order. We found a seat. And, the lovely lady behind the counter called us over when our meal was ready. Shockingly good food… from a food court!
Sushi & Hibachi @ Assi Market Food Court
1630 Pleasant Hill Road
Duluth, GA 30096
HOURS: 9:00AM to 9:45PM
Mandarin Salad with blackened shrimp
The combination of strawberries, oranges, sugar roasted pecans, dried fruit and salad greens make a lovely base for the spicy shrimp. This is the sort of light & fresh lunch I’d love to eat every day.
Firebird Rotisserie & Sports
4719 Ashford-Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, GA
770 804 8288
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