Restaurant Eugene, Atlanta, GA (July 2011)

Several times over the last couple of years, when I was scrolling through the choices on Open Table, Restaurant Eugene has rolled across the radar.  I'd look at the reservation slots, pull up the menu on-line and think, "one day, we'll go there.  Just not tomorrow, or Saturday night."

Finally, last month, after seeing where Restaurant Eugene ranked (#2) in the Atlanta magazine Summer 2011 article, we decided to pull the trigger and go.

On a Saturday evening, we got a 6:00 pm reservation and headed over, with high expectations.   I don't know if you've ever been to a restaurant that managed to be both "white-tablecloth" yet feel comfortable at the same time, but for us such times are few and far between.  Prior to ordering, the chef sent out his "favor".   

Have you seen the show Extreme Chef?  Where, for the finale, they make the contestants prepare one spoonful of "whatever" to win $10,000?  That's what chef's favors equate to in my world.   Impress me...... This pre-appetizer was a cube of deconstituted melon, in a gelatin like state, with a fried basil leaf and a dollop of ricotta-like cheese.   I don't like melon at all, and this was good.  A fried basil leaf?  Who'd have thought of that? 

Then we went through the menu.  Simply divided into three categories, Fish, Vegatable and Meat and Game, running from small plates, at the top, to full entrees, at the bottom.  

For the appetizer piece, I chose an heirloom tomato caprese - heirloom tomatoes, house-made buffalo mozzarella and lemon-infused olive oil. 

This salad was excellent.  The tomatoes were well-mixed, from both a flavor and color standpoint.  The mozzarella - exceptional.  The olive oil - citrusy and light and a perfect complement to the fruit and cheese.

For the main course, Jo went with the vegetable plate.   The vegetable plate is one of the dishes that people always rave about at Restaurant Eugene.  When it came to the table, it was a mix of six to eight market-fresh vegetables in a skillet.   Working around the clock, from twelve clock-wise, she testified that every preparation was a winner.   

Being a pure carnivore, I went with the ribeye.

To quote the menu:

Iron Hills Painted Hills Beef Ribeye

rainbow chard, potato dauphine, chanterelle mushrooms, butterbean puree, tomato jam, veal jam.

To quote me:

Wow!  

The beef was spectacular.   The potato exceptional.   The accompaniments perfectly executed.

I can't come up with enough words.   Without a doubt, this was the best meal that Jo and I have had in the past year.   I'd highly recommend this place to anyone.  I have recommended it anyone.  And everyone.  You need to go.   We'll be back.

The Blind Pig, Jackson, GA (July 2011)

After the excitement of the Hickory Pig, the next barbecue place was bound to be a let down, but I didn't realize just how far that there was to fall.  Driving back home from Macon, I realized I'd have a chance to stop at the fifth best barbecue in metro Atlanta (from the June 2011 Atlanta Magazine article), the Blind Pig in Jackson, GA.  

Driving up US 23,  I had to drive by Fresh Air, one of the classic GA barbecue joints, always near the top of any top 10 lists.   As I got closer to the Blind Pig, I saw the first sign.  It was highly promising.  Clever even - a pig with sunglasses and a cane.   When I got inside, as it was mid-afternoon on a Tuesday, there weren't a whole lot of folks around.  I asked what was fresh off the grill and they said ribs and pork. 

So I ordered the ribs, with stew and fried potatoes.

The stew was, in a word, awful.   I'm not a huge stew fan, but this wasn't even tolerable.   The ribs were mediocre, at best.   As I sat there and ate half of my pricey lunch, all I could think was, "I could have gone to Fresh Air..."

Hickory Pig BBQ, Gainesville, GA (July 2011)

Sometimes you go to lunch.

Sometimes you have a "dining experience".  Friday, July 15 was definitely the latter.  It being Friday, and me being bored, I headed up to Gainesville, GA (about 70 miles northeast of Atlanta) to sample some barbecue.  You see, in May, 2011, Atlanta Magazine named the Hickory Pig in Gainesville as the best barbecue in Atlanta.  When someone makes that claim you just have to check it out.

 

I arrived at a place that looked like a hole in the wall, if there ever was one.  Inside the windowless room, there were three round tables and about fifteen chairs.  Here is the right side. On the left side was a doorway which led about 6 feet to a screened door going out back.  Halfway down that hallway was an opening into what looked like a kitchen from the late sixties.  Counters on both side, a small fridge and lots of pots.  The menu, such as it was, was on a chalkboard by the door.  I talked to the man in the kitchen, who turned out to be Phil (the owner and pitmaster) and told him I wanted ribs and brisket in whatever the best configuration would be.  He suggested a plate and I agreed.

The waitress said "Take a seat and I'll bring it to you.  Grab whatever you want to drink from over there."   Over there was an igloo cooler full of ice and a metal scoop, two twenty four packs (Coke and DIet Coke) and gallon milk jugs of sweet and unsweet tea and lemonade.  I took a seat at the table and eavesdropped on the three regulars sitting there.  They were locals, discussing gas prices and the local bank.

The waitress brought my plate - two ribs, two slices of brisket, a grilled bun, slaw and Brunswick stew.  I don't like Brunswick stew, generally, but this was good.  A good sign.   The brisket was moist, slightly fatty and tasty.   Then I took a bite of rib.  Damn!   So I took another bite.  Double-Damn!  These were the best ribs I've eaten in Georgia, ever (and I eat a lot of ribs). 

So I finished the plate and ordered some dessert - a half rack of ribs.   Waitress thinks that this all is funny and asks me where I'm from.  I tell her Duluth and she yells to Phil "He's from Duluth" (about 40 minutes away, although it might as well have been a light year).   "Where'd you hear about us?"  I tell her.  "He read the Atlanta magazine article." [Everything here in quotes is her yelling to Phil through the screen door.]

Phil comes out of the kitchen and sits down with Ben (my new friend) and starts to  talk about barbecue.   His take - "There is no secret.  No rub.  No sauce.  Just hickory wood.  Lots of it.  And a wheelbarrow.  Actually, it has to be a red wheelbarrow."   We talk about Georgia barbecue and some of the classics from the 70s and 80s (Melears, the old Sprayberry's in Newnan, Fresh Air before the kids took over, Harold's).  I LIKE this guy.   Ben, who had been eating a "parfait" (pork barbecue, with hot sauce, covered in slaw from a 16oz. cup) joins in.

"You ever been to place that had it's own theme song?"
 

"No, sir."
 

"Hang on then."

Ben walks out the door and the waitress asks me if I saw the article in Garden & Gun.  I did, but didn't remember that they were in it.  I ask what for.  "The pork sandwich."   I order one of those to go.
 

Ben walks back in with a guitar case, pulls out an Alvarez (80s vintage, looks like a Epiphone Howard Roberts Fusion) and starts to tune up.   We discuss his Snark tuner.   Then he sings, "Down at the Hickory Pig".  I finish the ribs.   He finishes and we're chatting, "You know, if you sing, your barbecue is free."  (Phil is shaking his head NO).  Being the shy guy I am, I take the guitar and sing something.   When I get done, I go to get my Diet Coke and there's a 6 oz bowl that appears to be full of whipped cream.  Phil had been sitting there when I was singing,  I ask him if he left it there and he tells me that I "need to try it".

It was "semi-homemade 'nanner pudding."  It was pretty close to Strawberries On a Cloud. I finish and ask him what the bill is, he walks over leans in and says "$20, and we'll call it even."   Triple-damn!

As I'm walking out the door, he catches me.  In his hand is a 12 x 12 piece of cardboard and a pair of scissors.   He then cuts me out a business card, telling me I might need it.

Best time I've had out at lunch in years.

Southern Soul Barbecue, St. Simons Island, GA (May 2011)

 So, over Memorial Day weekend, I had to be in Jessup on the Friday morning before, so we went down for the weekend.  It gave us a chance to visit with Colleen and a weekend at the beach (Jekyll).   After I finished up with my meeting, we were wandering through an Antique shop in Brunswick and I was finished browsing ahead of Jo.  

Chatting with the shop-keeper, I asked the important questions, about food:

"Where's the best burger around here?"

The burger answer was Five Guys, so that crossed that one off the list. Fine, but we've got those at home.

"Where the best [insert_local_food_here, this time] seafood around here?"

The seafood was a place on St Simons called the Frederica House.  We marked that one down for a later visit.

"Where's the best barbecue around here?"

The barbecue place was the one that caught my attention- Southern Soul.  It had recently been in Garden & Gun, according to the shop-keeper and I found the article when I got back home.    After asking some folks about it from the island, they told me that the place had been immensely popular, had burned down and their neighbors had helped them re-open next door to their original location.  They're in the traffic circle right by the airport on SSI.  

Right next to the giant pile of wood out front of the restaurant is the smoker.   This thing's is eight foot long and putting out some mighty fine 'que.   We arrived early (5:30-ish) on a Saturday night and the place was already starting to fill up.  By the time we left, it was packed.   I ordered the #7 - Southern Soul sampler, with ribs and pulled pork.  These burnt ends were very good, as was the pork.

And to top it all off, choices of three sauces, one to everybody's liking.   In my classic way of thinking, I'd refer to this as "fifty-mile" barbecue.  That means I'd drive fifty miles to get it.  There is only one classification higher ("one-hundred mile" barbecue.)   That designation is not given lightly <g>.

Smokin' Joes Rib Ranch and RV Park, Davis OK (April 2011)

Okay, on to one of my favorite barbecue joints in the universe - Smokin' Joe's Rib Ranch.  Let me go ahead and say this - I am biased towards this place.  The only times I go, I'm bound to be with my favorite people.   And these pictures are from visits in both 2010 and 2011. 

I heard about this place from this bunch of guys before I went.  They raved about the weekend ribeyes.   First we went on Thursday night.  Here are some of the guys (including me) in line, waiting to order.  It's quite a simple place.   Actually built in front of an RV park.   A couple of big tables and some small tables inside, picnic tables on the porch and in the side yard.  

To the food - other than Friday or Saturday night, I'd say order the ribs.   

 This is the rack of ribs and fries that Jo and I shared the first time that we ate there.  To put this in perspective, that's a lunch tray underneath the ribs.  

These are among the best ribs that I've ever eaten.  Meaty, moist and tender.   Jo says they are the best anywhere, and they've, frankly, ruined ribs for her anywhere else.  Note that everyone at the table is eating ribs.  There's a reason for that.  Only one of which is that it is Thursday.


The reason I said not to order the ribs on Friday or Saturday night, is because that is the night that they barbecue ribeyes.   $19.95 gets you a (minimum) 16 ounce ribeye, barbecued, with two sides.

Here's mine from 2010.  I'm estimating it was closer to twenty ounces.   This thing is off the charts.   One of the guys had one that was twenty-eight, if it was an ounce.


One more picture, of a Saturday night meal.  I believe that you can only eat SO many ribeyes, so this night it was the best of both worlds:

Ribs on the left, ribeye on the right.


Can't wait until next year.

Heirloom Market, Marietta, GA (April 2011)

A friend sent me a review of this "new" barbecue place in Marietta and asked me if I'd been.  The AJC only gave it two stars, but I kept it in mind.  So one Saturday night, Jo and I are over at Cumberland mall and decided to give Heirloom Market a try.  We drove by it.  Twice - once in each direction.  Then we couldn't find a place to park.  This is an odd place - in one end of a strip mall whose only other tenant is a convenience store.   Among the last spots in which I'd look for a barbecue restaurant.

The approach is unique - the two chefs have different backgrounds.  One was a Korean pop star who came to Atlanta to train to be a chef.  The other is a Texas-born, Tennessee-raised, Georgia-trained, self-proclaimed "hillbilly".  They worked together in the kitchen at Repast, and decided to open their own place.  The barbecue is Texas.  The daily side specials Korean-influenced:  kimchi;  roasted sweet potatoes; and cucumber and radish salad.  And the typical BBQ sides - fries, mac-n-chees, collards, baked beans and brunswick stew.

The first night we went, we tried a couple of samplers.  I had ribs, sausage and chicken.  Jo had pulled pork and brisket.  The brisket was the best of the lot, followed by the pork.

Since the first visit, I've been back twice for lunch.  I paid attention to what we noted on the first visit - I ordered brisket, fries and mac-n-cheese.

Super Pan, Atlanta, GA (April 2011)

For several months, I had been hearing about a killer new lunch spot in town, Super Pan.   Only open for lunch during the week, Super Pan is the brainchild of Top Chef contestant Hector Santiago, who owns Pura Vida, the Costa Rican tapas restaurant in whose basement this gem lies.  I finally had the opportunity to be in-town one day around lunch time and swung by for a bite.

I started with a very light salad, chiabatta bread with alfalfa sprouts, grapefruit and a citrus viniagrette.  More grapefruit than anything else, but once you got past that, it was good.

Looking over the menu, I decided on the Medio Dia, literally "the middle of the day", idiomatically "lunch".  Crispy roasted pork, ham, chayote pickles (held for me), swiss, habanero mustard (mmmmmm) on a steamed coconut bun.  

Wow!

Asheville, NC (March 2011)

The week before Savannah, we took Madison up to Asheville over her Spring Break.  On the way, we made a great burger stop at Northgate Soda Fountain in Greenville, SC.  

We had three major food stops in Asheville.

The first place was Tupelo Honey, off the downtown triangle.   One of our absolute favorite places to eat in Asheville.  The wait is always long and the menu is focused on locally sourced ingredients.  This night, we sat at the counter in the back and I ordered the Cheesy Grill & Tomato Soup - from the menu:

(Choose one of the following sandwiches, served on Texas toast with a big mug of tomato soup or your choice of a farm fresh side:
Classic Grill: Double Cheddar 

Downtown Grill: Havarti and Pimiento 

Uptown Grill: Havarti and Cheddar)

I went with the Downtown Grill.   EXCELLENT choice.  

Next stop, the next night, for dinner was Tingles Cafe.  This was an interesting place - checkered floor, home-made sodas, locally-sourced (again) ingredients.   Last time we were in Asheville (early July), they had not survived and the space was empty.  I was both surprised and not. Not, because there was no one there with when we were eating, and we saw few come in and out while we were there.  Surprised, because the fried chicken was excellent.

Third food stop, breakfast on the last morning, at Over Easy.  Over Easy is one of my favorite breakfast spots, anywhere.  We've been there four time in the last two years.   For me, it was the Huevos Rancheros - this creation is amazing.  Corn tortillas, black beans, farm fresh eggs, turkey bacon, homemade salsa, sour cream and avocado.

I'd drive the four hours back for this tomorrow.

Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room, Savannah, GA (March 2011)

For Colleen's spring break, we headed down to Savannah for a couple of days to scout for an apartment for her pending move.

Come Monday, we were making the requisite food plans and Jo wanted to go to Paula Dean's restaurant, Lady & Sons.  I had read about Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room for years, but we had only been in Savannah on the weekends previously.  This was the day.

We started the morning putting in our name for a dinner reservation at Lady & Sons, then made our way over to Mrs. Wilkes to wait in line there.  They open at 11:00.  We got there at 11:30 and ended up waiting about 90 minutes to get inside.   The view to the right is as you walk in the front door.  Mrs. Wilkes has been open since the 40s, originally as a boarding house.  It was converted into a restaurant and now has family-style lunches at tables for ten.

The table was covered in a veritable cornucopia of food - fried chicken, barbecue, roast beef, macaroni and cheese, green beans, field peas, butter beans, fried okra, squash, mashed potatoes, tomatoes, biscuits and cornbread, and at least ten more bowls. 

The result for me:

the biscuit?  okay

the fried chicken?  blue ribbon best, among the top 10 I've ever had

everything else?  Somewhere in between.

If you're going to have one truly Southern meal in Savannah, make it at Mrs. Wilkes.

c

Michael's Genuine Food & Drink, Miami, FL (February 2011)

In February, I had occasion to be in South Beach on business.  Coincident to this trip was the Miami Beach Food & Wine Festival.   So Jo and I decided to tack on an extra day or two to the trip.   Before we left, Jo had seen Michael Schwartz on "Martha" talking about his restaurant in Miami.  So after my meetings ended on Friday morning, we headed over to Michael's Genuine Food & Drink for lunch.  

We drove over to the Design District and found a place that was packed to the gills and absolutely crawling with people.  A combination of indoor and outdoor dining, we were seated at a table for two on the patio.  I started with some chili chicken wings.  Excellent.  

While we were enjoying the apps, we couldn't help overhearing the conversation at the table next to us: an older man, who liked like an extra from the Godfather II, talking with what we thought to be a  much younger man, with a giant belt buckle that read "NERDS" and his ball cap on sideways.  While we were there, several women kept walking up to them and telling the young man how much they liked his music.  

Curiosity couldn't be held back any longer and Jo leaned over and asked him who he was.  He turned out to the be the (extremely gracious) Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes and he then explained who he was.  What a genuinely nice guy.

  

After they left, a thirty-something man sat at their table and struck up a conversation about who they were.  He was obviously straight from the airport, based on his luggage.  He turned out to be the food editor for Esquire, so, of course, I asked all kinds of questions about restaurants.  He recommended a couple in Miami and we discussed the Atlanta restaurant scene.  I ordered a braised beef penne pasta.  Very well executed and extremely tasty. 

Jo and I decided to split a dessert, so she chose: basil panacotta with grapefruit sorbet and gelatin. She has raved about this dessert ever since we had it.  I think she'd drive back there for another tomorrow <g>.  

Local Three, Atlanta, GA (February 2011)

One of our favorite dinner / lunch spots is Muss & Turners in Vinings.  When we saw that they were opening a new restaurant with chef Chris Hall, Local Three Kitchen & Bar, we got excited.    They took over the old Jo-el space off Paces Ferry.   Our first visit was for dinner.

  

Very open space with (what I hear) is a fairly lively bar scene.   For dinner that night, I had pork tenderloin with spaetzle (kind of an egg noodle) with chard and vanilla pears.  The pork and pear combination was awesome - when Peter Brady's spoke of "pork chops and applesauce" he was onto a hot culinary creation.   Jo had the chicken pot pie, which IS quite tasty and this cream of celery soup that she talks about to this day.  A good bit. 

  

For dessert, a banana creme brulee with banana bread.   Very good.  

About two weeks later we went for brunch, for the first time.   I've been for lunch since and had their version of the Big Mac (awesome) with bacon mac-n-cheese (what could be wrong with that combination), but brunch is what we keep returning to.   It's the most unique presentation of a brunch that I've ever been to.  Follow the menu:

It's beautifully simple.  Enter the kitchen hungry (on the left).  Wander through the pastries, then find your way to the soup and salad (don't skip the pimiento cheese, follow that up with their traditional breakfast and finish with the brunch / lunch items.  Then you exit happy.

You're actually going into the kitchen and the chefs are cooking the food and placing it on the serving line as you pass through.  It is a beautiful  thing.   A properly executed kitchen pass resembles this:

(Clockwise from top left) - a sweet bun of some fashion, hot biscuit, housemade-sausage gravy, REALLY good bacon, chicken pot pie, mac n cheese and pimiento cheese.  Somewhere nearby is some lavosh for dipping in the pimiento cheese.   

There's also a sweet island out front, but this is one of the occasions where I skip dessert.   

And have more pimiento cheese and bacon.
  The best brunch in the city today.

4th and Swift, Atlanta, GA (December 2010)

Around our anniversary, we decided to give 4th and Swift a try.  It had been spoken of highly in the local press and made the top 50 in Atlanta list published by Atlanta Magazine in August 2011.   We went early (6:00 pm) on a Saturday night and the place was fairly dead.    By the time we left, however, it was hopping.   The crowd was an interesting amalgam of an older monied crowd mixed with the young and terminally hip.  We were somewhere in between.   

I started with a boneless short rib with harissa, over chard and an unnamed "root vegetable".  We asked several waitpersons and ended up with one of two possibilities: sanchuk (I could have sworn they said sanchuk, but when I Google "sanchuk", all I get are a series of links to peoples' Facebook pages from India) or celery root.  Let's call it celery root.  Either way, of the root I was not fond.  The short rib on the other hand was excellent.  Harissa has become one of my favorite food additions in the last year.  It was well utilized here.

I followed it up with a dish they called "Three Little Pigs" - pork belly, pork loin and house made saugage, with mac-n- cheese.   The pork loin and belly were both prepared extremely well.  The sausage was a little odd, but overall, a very good meal.

Douceur de France, Marietta, GA (December 2010)

We first discovered Douceur de France  last December when it was just a hole-in-the-wall off Glover Street in Marietta (old location photo to the left).  I had seen a note in the Cheap Eats edition of Atlanta Magazine recommending their croque monsieur.    

I googled the menu and saw Jambon Buerre Fromage (ham, swiss cheese and butter on a baguette) and put it down for a trip the next weekend.  You see, Jo and I went to Paris for our 15th anniversary and while seeing the sites there was great, we didn't love the city like some people do, but we fell in love with the street food.  Particularly the ham and cheese sandwich and the crepes.    It was a winner.

And then, as we got ready to leave, we saw the pastries in the bakery.  Particularly, the macaroons.   We picked out six - raspberry, two lime, pistachio, caramel and lemon.   Before we got onto Glover Street, two of them were gone.  We made it almost a mile before we ate the next two.  And the other two didn't make it home either.

I read that they had moved to a new location so we went back in July, 2011.  Much bigger kitchen, more seating, better parking.   But the food was just as good.  

This time I tried the croque monsieur.   How can you go wrong with Pullman bread, ham, cheese and sauce bechamel?  They didn't.  It was excellent.