The One Eared Stag - Atlanta, GA (April 2012)

1) Did you ever go someplace and when you got there felt like you've been there before?  As soon as we walked in to the One Eared Stag everything looked familiar (except for the eponymous animal head above the bar).  I started to wonder, have we eaten here and I just don't remember it?  Couldn't be.  It was on "To Go To" list, not my "Been There - Ate That" list.  Then it hit me.  Me: "Did this place used to be Shaun's?"  Waiter-guy: "Yeah, years ago."  Dilemma solved.

2) It was really easy to have this conversation, because there was NO ONE there.  11:45 on a Sunday for brunch and not a soul in sight.

They gave us the option to sit outside, which we took - kind of chilly, but at least we found other people there...

Okay, take my word for it.  There were actually other people there, you just can't see any of them in the photo.  Jo is actually in this photo, deep in the corner, but you can't see her either, so you'll have to trust me. The brunch menu seemed similar enough to their dinner menu to call this a fair sampling, so on to the food:

Jo ordered the shrimp & grits.  I love shrimp & grits, but she mentioned that she was ordering it AND we were heading to Charleston later that week where I was sure to have some.  When the food arrived, all we could do was stare at Jo's plate.

Isn't that the largest shrimp that you've ever seen?

There was one GIANT shrimp in the bowl. In talking with the barkeep, he said that they were tiger prawns.  "Most folks only let them grow to four to six inches", he said, "because as they get older, they get smarter and have to be caught by hand.  When they're thrown on the grill, they spread out like a lobster tail".  There was as much meat on this shrimp as on eight - ten large shrimp.  The grits were more of a grit stew, with a sweet andouille sausage, spinach and sofrito (a simmered mix of garlic, onions tomatoes and olive oil).  Not the shrimp & grits that I was looking for (I'm more of a fan of the Carolina Gullah style shrimp & grits), but Jo did the plate justice.

I went with the fried chicken, with black pepper biscuits and sausage gravy. 

As you can see, it was two biscuits with one giant chicken breast spread across them, covered in sausage gravy.  When I cut into them, I was amazed at how perfectly the chicken was prepared.  The skin was crispy without being burned and the meat was moist, tender and cooked uniformly.  

The black pepper biscuit was the most surprising thing of the meal.  As good as the chicken was, the biscuit was better.  

So good that every time I turned around Jo was stealing a bite of biscuit from my plate.  

So good that when the waiter came back and asked if we needed anything, Jo ordered a side of biscuits.  When the biscuits arrived, they came with pear preserves that were the perfect compliment.  

We each ate a biscuit top, covered in pear preserves for dessert.  We've already planned to return, and decided we could order an app and split the chicken and biscuits.  I'd also like to try lunch and dinner, in addition to another brunch.  What a great find.

Aria, Atlanta, GA (April 2012)

Over the last several years, Aria has kind of faded from the limelight of Atlanta dining.  Not because of a degradation of service or a decline in the quality of the food, but due to the overwhelming number of restaurants in Atlanta.  Maybe it was the change in the dining scene focus to New Southern (then to tapas, then to house-cured meats, then to food trucks, then....), but last August, Atlanta Magazine named the city's fifty best restaurants.  It was then that we (that should really be an "I", but I blame Jo also) made it a goal to get to all of them that we could. Aria made Atlanta Magazine's list, a list in which they ranked the first ten, and then listed the others, coming in at number nine.  Our visit to Aria took us over the fifty percent mark.

When we arrived, our entrance was the first challenge.  From the bright outside, into a dark interior with a step down that you couldn't see, almost had me falling into the maitre' d's stand. That obstacle conquered, we were led to our table.  Second challenge - the interior has my least favorite type of seating - tables against a wall with banquet seating on one side and chairs on the other.  This always leads to a situation for me: my table is inevitably too close to my neighbors; and I can't carry on a conversation comfortably because I feel like I am sitting at a table with strangers.  This night, to my left, was a mother and daughter.  Tidbits of their conversation:

"He took them to California? That's the WORST place he could have taken them."

"We know a lawyer there. She's actually a Federal attorney..."

"Mom - you know I can't make it for dinner at 3:30. It's a four hour drive from Savannah and I don't want to have to get up too early..."

"Do you want one of these scallop. Because you are going to share that spare rib, aren't you?"

The highlight - when it was time for desserts, the daughter ordered white chocolate martinis for both of them. Three minutes later the server returned with the news that they only had enough white chocolate for one martini. Three second pause.  "Okay, mom. What do YOU want?"

On to the food. Looking at the appetizers, nothing really lit my fire. There wasn't anything that I really "liked" - asparagus soup, seared foie gras, potato and goat cheese ravioli (the server said the ravioli was heavy on the asparagus), lobster cocktail, flash fried oysters and crab cakes. And four salads. Nothing thrilled me, so I ordered the scallops. 

I'm not a huge scallop fan.   That's a roma tomato in the middle, on a bed of spinach with madras curry, cilantro and lime.  Once, I was blown away by a scallop (at the Woodfire Grill - I swear they could have served me tennis shoe and they would have made it taste good), but most of the time they're just okay.  This was better than okay, but it wasn't anything I'd order again.

Jo went with the beet salad.

She was kind enough to share. Still tasted like beets to me, but she said it was very good.

Jo went with the sole with roasted cauliflower, potatoes, mushrooms and fiddleheads (yep, fern parts).   The fish was crispy around the edges and firm, yet flaky. Covered with capers in brown butter, with a tarragon and lemon sauce.

The server said that the spare ribs were one of the chef's specialties, so I went with that.  It was a single spare rib, served off the bone, topped with pickled ramps and trumpet mushrooms and served with whipped potatoes and a white corn and lady pea mix.  

I've always been the kind of guy that ate his way around the plate, one item at a time.  Always avoided casseroles and mixed vegetables, to the point of wishing that all of my meals were served on those quartered plates like we had in elementary school.  But in the last ten years, I've branched out and begin to eat crazily.  Salads.  Peas and mashed potatoes at the same time.  The spare rib was very good, but the real taste wonder was the mix of everything on the plate.   


It was our "big night out" and it was good.  I don't know that I'll rush back, but I'd recommend it to someone looking for a good Buckhead dinner spot.

Busy Bee Cafe, Atlanta, GA (April, 2012)

For the last several years, I've seen the Busy Bee Cafe on every list that was made about places to eat in Atlanta.  Since they close at 7:00 pm, they aren't an option for dinner out most nights, but on a random Thursday I was driving through town at 6:00 pm and looking for a place to eat and ended up at the Busy Bee.

When I got there, the place was so packed that I could barely get into the door.   There was a tour bus out front and apparently the entire bus-load was standing just inside the front door.  I did find a spot at the counter.  Every review had raved about the fried chicken, so that's what I ordered.

I thought that everyone there would be eating the fried chicken.  I may have made a mistake in my thinking, as the guy next to me ordered the smoked turkey legs with gravy and was nearly heart-broken when they had sold out.   

So here's the breakdown on the fried chicken: 

• The chicken was dry  
• The creamed corn was dry
• The cornbread was dry

The place was HORRIBLY unorganized.  It took twice as long to pay as it did order and eat.  And it took a while for them to figure out who was going to wait on me.  

Honestly, it was really a big disappointment.  I might try it again some time, but I'm not in a hurry to do so.

Community Q BBQ, Decatur, GA (April 2012)

Community Q BBQ is the orphan child of Dave Poe's and Sam's Barbecue #1.   Back in the day, Sam (of Sam's Barbecue #1) and Dave (of Dave Poe's) owned Sam & Dave's, where David (#2), of Community 'Cue, also spent time at the barbecue pit.   When Sam and Dave split up their two restaurants, David found a couple of partners and opened his own spot, Community Q BBQ, near Emory.   

There are considerable similarities between the three but, oddly,  when I looked back I haven't blogged on the other two.  I guess I'll do that on the next visit to those.   On the similarities, based on everything I'd read, the mac-n-cheese was the biggest commonality.   The mac-n-cheese from Dave Poe's and Sam's are both among my favorite sides in the city.  But how would Community Q stack up?

I went on a Thursday evening, kind of early and the place was fairly empty.  By  the time I left (6:45), the place was beginning to fill and the line was to the door.  They seem to do a brisk weeknight business, with most of the folks appearing to be from the neighborhood and many on a first name basis with the wait staff.

On to the 'cue.   My first thoughts were that it was okay, but really pricey.   This combo plate:

was $14.75 (this is a rib + one meat combo).  There is chopped pork underneath the four ribs, but only enough to almost cover the toast in a really thin layer.  The chopped pork was good - smokey and moist.  They have two sauces, one thick and sweet and the other thin and vinegar-based.

The fries weren't very good, at all.  Kind of over done and over seasoned.  The mac-n-cheese was as good as rumored - melty and gooey and fork-licking good.  The ribs were cooked well, but had a good taste.  The Community Q folks know how to handle their barbecue pit - both meats were moist and smoky, with just the right amount of char          

The biggest complaint, and what will likely keep me from returning, was the price.   I don't mind spending good money on food, but I like to feel like I received either volume or value (in terms of the quality of the food, etc).  At Community Q, for me, it was neither.

Pollos Asados Rio Grande, Odessa, TX (March 26, 2012)

As I was waiting outside Watt's Burger, I noticed the constant flow of traffic at Pollos Asados Rio Grande.  Roughly twenty cars in twenty minutes.   And since a) my burger was nothing to write home about (or to both of y'all about), b) I had two hours plus before my flight back through Dallas and c) I wouldn't be back this way in at least three months, I ought to give it a try.

The drive-thru at this place was hopping.  I decided to go inside.   The interior was all kitchen and grill.  In front of the counter, which seated three, next to the register, there was a high top shoved against one wall.   Inside seating for six at best.  There were two guys at the high top when I got there, so I sat at the counter.   

The menu was fairly simple.  Well, as simple as a Spanish menu can be, but it had REALLY big pictures.  I went with the grilled chicken.  It was served in a carry-out box with rice, beans, tortillas, lime and two kinds of sauce.  

The photo above is after I prepared my plate.  Note the Manzana Lift behind the container.  Manzana Lift is an apple-flavored carbonated drink from the Coca-Cola company that is only produced in Latin America.   But with "Mexican" Coke (produced with cane sugar instead of corn syrup) being all the rage, apparently you can get other Latin American drinks in some parts of the US.   We had it the first time in the Dominican Republic several years ago and have been looking for it, on and off, ever since, in the States.

The Manzana alone made the meal a winner.  The chicken had a hint of lime and was moist, despite being grilled.   I understand why there was a line - this would be some great chicken to carry home.

Dillard's Barbecue and Biscuits, Suwanee, GA (April, 2012)

Some day I'm going to learn to pay attention to obvious signs.   I always tell my kids (and co-workers and anyone that asks) that a parking lot full of pickups is a sign that a place has good food.  The laws of logic insist that the adverse must also be true.

Sign one: When I arrived at Dillard's Barbecue and Biscuits at 11:50 am on a Tuesday there was not a single truck, much less a car, in the parking lot.   Then I went inside.   This picture is from the back corner of the restaurant - you could have fired a shotgun and not hit a soul (the waitress was in the back getting me a Diet Coke at the time).  The entire time that I was there (about 25 minutes), not another person came in.

Sign two:  When the waitress came to the table, she had both cheeks pierced (like little silver dimples), was wearing lace leggings under a ruffle skirt and had a large number of tattoos.  She would have fit in well in the Highlands or Little Five Points, but a barbecue joint in Suwanee?  

Sign three:  When I asked her what was good, she said "everything".   At no place is "everything" good.  So my next question:  "How is the stew?  Is it thick?  Or thin?"  

She hems and haws.  "It's real full of stuff.  So it's thick."  

"Thick like tomato soup?, I say, "Or thin like vegetable soup?"   

"It's thick."

The soup shows up.  It is indeed full of "stuff", but the soup itself is the antithesis of thick.  This makes water look thick.   And the soup accompanies: chopped pork that looks like hash, two ribs covered in ridiculously thick sauce and french fries that, for lack of a better term, sucked.  The roll was good.  It was the only thing that was good.

 
That 73% of the people that ate here liked the food astounds me.  Hopefully, they all came for the biscuits, because I've had better barbecue from  the frozen food section of an Ingles.  

Kyma, Atlanta, GA (March 31, 2012)

To close out March, we went with good friends to Kyma.  We had an early (6:15) reservation and as we arrived they took us straight to our table.  The place was fairly empty, but it filled up to about 75% of capacity during our visit. I love when you're at a restaurant where the waiter pays attention.  As he comes to the table, he greets us, "Hello, Mr. Willoughby.  How are you all this evening?"

He explained the menu, made a few recommendations and left us to make some decisions.  Two of the menu choices were "tastings", one comprised of spreads + pita pieces and "mezes" (appetizers), the other tasting menu included the spreads, mezes and added fish.  Once we decided whether or not we could manage to agree on everything (and order for "the table") our first decision was whether or not we wanted a fish and what that would be.   It wasn't too long of a process, but we decided on lavreki (European Sea Bass).  More about that later.  We decided that there was one of the four spreads that none of wanted, so that decison was easy.  And it included four appetizers.  Four of us, four choices - this was going to work out well.

We started with the spreads. Roasted red peppers and feta (htipiti), something with yogurt, cucumber and dill (tzatziki sauce) and potato, garlic and olive oil (skordalia). I was partial to the red pepper and potato based ones, but we managed to clean 5 of the 6 containers.

The waiter had sold the octopus pretty highly, saying that it was the thing for which they were best known.  We discussed whether or not they still had the "suckers" on them and Yanni said that they shaved off the suckers.  (Can you imagine being the guy that has that job? We decided he was obviously the most recently hired....)  Don chose the octopus.

The octopus came to the table first, with one crispy tentacle on top.  Surprisingly, the larger pieces had the texture of chicken with a taste that was a cross between chicken and tuna.  It was actually pretty good - we finished most all of it.

Next out to the table was my choice. Since there were four of us, we actually got two servings of each meze.  I had been ready to order the pan fried kefalograveria cheese (saganaki), but Jo had changed her mind at the last minute, away from the herb crusted ahi tuna (after she and the waiter discussed the "rareness" of the tuna and he said that it was sushi-grade and best served rare).

I was now torn. But Yanni came thru, again, and said that the cheese was pretty strong and suggested that we "split" that meze between the cheese

and the herb-crusted ahi tuna.  The tuna was served on a bed of pickled mushrooms.  It was closer to "raw" than "rare", but mighty tasty.

Tina decided on the horiatiki, a summer summer salad of tomato, cucumber, red onions, peppers and a huge wedge of feta.  The tomatoes were the best tomatoes that I've had yet this year.  We asked from where they came, and found they were from Mr. Fresh in Florida.

(The lighting was just dark enough to make good photos elusive.)

And Jo went with the beet salad (oven roasted beets, butter roasted walnuts, manouri cheese and beet sorbet).

Aside from the octopus, the beet salad was the surprise hit of the table, primarily because of the beet sorbet.  It still tasted like beets to me.

Then came the fish

They showed us the fish, then took it back and prepared our plates.  The fish was served with capers and braised kale - one of the four plates had more than a bite of kale taken (and it was the beet culprit).

We had decided that we were going for gelato so we were going to bypass dessert, but we had mentioned that it was Mrs. Martin's birthday, so they brought a surprise to the table.   It was pistachio ice cream and some sort of baklava.  Even though we didn't want dessert, they cleaned the plate.

Collectively, we commented on the quality of the food and the exceptional service.  It was definitely a "big night out", but we would not hesitate to go back.

Pappy's Bar B-Q, Monahans, TX (March 26, 2012)

When I had a few hours to kill in suburban Midland-Odessa, TX, my thoughts immediately turned to "what's for lunch?"   Several months back, I discovered the Texas Monthly BBQ app so I consulted the Oracle for food choices, in terms of distance from MAF.   The app is fairly straight forward and I looked for the closest place with a review that didn't suck.  Being Texas, the closest place was 46 miles from where I was.  But it was at least in the right direction.   Odessa is 10 miles from MAF, and as I headed that way, Pappy's Bar B-Q got closer.  

There were several places listed in Odessa or Midland, but none of them had reviews within the app.   Since I was on I-20, and Monahans was on I-20, and I had three hours before my meeting, I drove the half-hour further West.

When I pulled up, a little after 11:00, I was underwhelmed.  It looked a lot like a Bob Evans.   I went inside and my "whelm" level didn't rise.  There was a steam table on the left side with tables and booths filling the rest of the space.  Old western movie posters on the walls.  And two other people there.  Not the best sign.

I decided on a three meat sampler.   When he reached under the counter and pulled a slab of sizzling brisket out of the warming oven and started slicing, my hopes raised.  Then he reached into the next oven and pulled out a slab of ribs (narrowly averting dropping a whole rack on the floor with a deft move of the fork in his left hand) and sliced off an end - they looked pretty good, too.  Then he pulled out a smoked sausage and started slicing that, too. 

The brisket was okay.  The ribs weren't very good either.  The smoked sausage was the best thing, but wasn't stand-out.

Two days later I was back at Thompson Brothers in Atlanta, GA (1,169 miles east on I-20, plus a short drive on I-285, of Pappy's) and ALL of the beef products beat the Texas version, hands-down.  Take a look at the feast that three of us shared there:

(These Oklahoma folks can show those Texans a few things about beef barbecue!)

The highlight of the visit to Pappy's, was actually the sign for their drive-thru that I saw as I was leaving.  I had to pull over to take the picture.

Woody's Famous Philadelphia Cheesesteaks - Atlanta, GA (March,2012)

So for about the last four or five years, I've driven by this giant sign for Woody's Famous Philadelphia Cheesesteaks on Monroe Drive and told myself, "Self, you've got to get one of those cheesesteaks." But every time that I drove by there (mostly on Thursdays, mostly between 7:00 and 8:00 pm), it was closed. The more times that I couldn't have this sandwich, the better I imagined it would be. So after hundreds of weeks, this cheesesteak had grown into a thing of culinary wonder. 

And then, the magic day finally dawned. I had been to the old time jam at Manuel's and was heading bank towards the Druid Hills area and I saw Woody's looming through the windshield - and the open sign was lit. [Trumpets blare] I tried three of their mini-parking lots before I finally found a space, but eventually saw one behind the giant sign.

From my table, on the porch

I went inside the screened in porch in front of the counter / window, which serves as indoor seating, and perused the menu. Cheesesteak. Turkey cheesesteak. Add mushrooms or peppers. Grilled sausage. Fat Dog Lay's chips. Drinks. And Jake's Ice Cream (this is a good thing to know. Jake's used to have 4 or 5 stores around town, but I thought they were down to the single location on Irwin. Good to know there's a back up, although the hours seem even odder.)

I decided on a simple cheesesteak, no onions. Gave the young man my name, found a seat on the wrap-around porch and waited. About ten minutes later I heard him call my name and went and grabbed my sandwich, wrapped in white butcher paper.

I'd been waiting five years to unwrap this sandwich, so I did so with great expectation. 

I took a bite   -   "Nyeeh"

Took another   -   "Kind of dry"

And a third   -   "Mediocre"

I guess good things don't always come to those who wait....