Tuesday, February 1, 2011

TASTES, TRENDS & FLAVORS

Buckhead Restaurant Week,
'Top 10s' and Hell's Kitchen

Atlantans can enjoy Buckhead’s best cuisine at exceptional prices during the upcoming Buckhead Restaurant Week beginning Saturday, February 26 and running through Sunday, March 6, 2011. The nine-day promotion will showcase the cuisine of the area’s best restaurants. Each will offer a prix-fixe, three-course menu consisting of an appetizer, main course and dessert for $25 per person (excluding alcohol, tax and gratuity). The second annual event will fuse international and local flavors, ingredients and cooking styles into one event as the neighborhood’s best chefs create menus that highlight their unique culinary styles. A complete list of participating restaurants and their menus will soon be available online at www.brwatlanta.com.
Congrats...
Southern Living Magazine’s ‘Best of the South Travel Awards’ (compiled from visits to 18 states) has named the latest winners among Southern Living’s favorite new sights, sounds and flavors across the region. Making the list of ‘Best New Restaurants’ is Miller Union:  “Modern Southern cooking, stripped of pretension. Here, the luscious regional bounty simply shines. Don’t-Miss Dish: Farm egg baked in silken celery cream or the seasonal veggie plate,” millerunion.com or 678.733.8550.  Among ‘The South’s Best Late-Night Burgers,” Holeman & Finch Public House makes the cut: “From the robust patties to the bread-and-butter pickles, Atlanta’s Holeman and Finch Public House shares what makes their burgers the best,” 2277 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, holeman-finch.com or 404.948.1175. And, lastly, in the ‘Best Food Trucks’ category, local frozen pop King, King of Pops, gets the honors... The guide to good life, Gayot (guy-OH), has named its ‘Top 10 Restaurants in the US’ and Paces 88 restaurant at the St. Regis Hotel on West Paces Ferry made the list: “The St. Regis Atlanta’s flagship restaurant is dramatic, and makes a fine backdrop for romantic dining and a good spot for a business meal. Longtime Atlanta chef Mark Alba opened the restaurant, and we know his cooking well. Presently, we think this restaurant is experiencing a classic case of too many cooks in the kitchen. Example: A well-executed chicken liver mousse comes with beautiful bread-and-butter pickles and Dijon mustard. Wait a minute! It’s a mousse, not a terrine, and those embellishments overwhelm its delicacy. Alba’s sense of balance is not here. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the days for specials, and that’s where Alba is on the case. The “deconstructed” BLT was a success. Sous vide-cooked pork belly is crisped to render out fat and served with romaine lettuce, lovely tomatoes and a house-made ranch dressing. As for mains, rack of lamb paired with lightly cooked butter beans and potato rounds was back on target.” Also making Gayot’s list is Linton & Gina Hopkins’ Restaurant Eugene, garnering a spot on the ‘Top 40 Restaurants in the US:’ “Chef Linton Hopkins and his wife/wine director Gina run one of Atlanta’s top restaurant destinations with both taste and conscience. They founded the city’s Peachtree Road Farmers Market, tirelessly support local farmers and are active with Slow Food USA. Atlanta native Hopkins’ classic cuisine is intuitively informed by Southern traditions; a house-made pantry drives a menu replete with local sourcing from over twenty neighboring farms and regional treasures including Savannah coast shrimp and wild Georgia hackleback sturgeon caviar.”... Making a list of a different sort, Zagat’s as announced its version of ‘The 10 Worst Burger Ideas.’  The Vortex Bar & Grill, with locations in Midtown and Little Five Points, caught their eye: “Throw caution (and common sense) to the wind by eating this Atlanta mini-chain’s ‘Super Stack Heart Attack Burger,’ which combines two half-pound sirloin patties, three grilled-cheese sandwiches, two fried eggs, eight slices of American cheese, 10 slices of bacon and plenty of mayo. Your move, Michelle Obama and Jamie Oliver,” ($25.95; 404-875-1667).
Cudo’s too...
Buckhead Life Restaurant Group’s Nona Sivley, line cook at Chops Lobster Bar, was recently named the winner of ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ season 8. After months of grueling competition and then more months of keeping mum about the results, the last episode finally aired and eccentric host, Gordon Ramsay, officially announced Sivley had beat out 15 other contestants to be crowned the winner. Sivley joins the ranks of other Buckhead Life alums on reality TV: Tracey Bloom, former sous chef at 103 West and Kevin Sbraga, former sous chef at Pano’s and Paul’s, both competed in Season 7 of ‘Top Chef’ and in the end, Sbraga was named ‘Top Chef D.C.’ Eli Kirshtein, former chef at Buckhead Diner and Michael Isabella, former sous chef at Kyma, were both competitors in ‘Top Chef Las Vegas’ with Isabella returning to Season 8, ‘Top Chef All Stars.’...   South City Kitchen Midtown Sous Chef Jeffrey Gardner has been tapped to appear on the Food Network’s competition show Chopped. You’ll be able to watch him in action when the episode airs at 10 p.m. on February 8.  Better yet, join a viewing party at The Original El Taco on N. Highland in Virginia Highland from 9 - 11 p.m. and watch the culinary battle on the restaurant’s five flat screen televisions. 
Dining Deals...
Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse in Phipps Plaza on Peachtree, is kicking off 2011 by offering new specials on Sunday and Monday nights.  Family is the focus, so in addition to its regular menu, Davio’s is offering a $20 three-course menu served family-style from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.  The restaurant is also offering all house wines like Stags’ Leap Chardonnay, Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon Decoy and Van Duzer Pinot Noir (served by the glass) at half-price. Steak is the star of the show on Monday nights.  Guests who order a prime steak off the menu will get a 24 oz. draft beer for free.  For more information, visit www.davios.com... Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar at Olde Perimeter Way in Dunwoody, is offering three courses for $39.95 (you have your choice of one of two appetizers and entrées plus the chocolate mousse cake with almond brittle and crème anglaise for dessert).  Start with either hearty mushroom soup or roasted pear and candied walnut salad then choose either the bistro steak with ratatouille and Cabernet butter sauce or crackling pork shank with mashed sweet potatoes and Asian barbecue glaze as your main.  Wine pairings are suggested alongside menu items or choose selections from the ‘Fleming’s 100’ list of 100 wines available by the glass.  The menu is available through March 29 for $39.95 per person (tax, gratuity and suggested wine pairings not included).  Fleming’s will also be debuting a new patio in the Spring. Visit www.flemingssteakhouse.com or call 770.698.8112 for details.
Happenings...
Chef Linton Hopkins, of Restaurant Eugene on Peachtree, will host Bill Shore (author as well as founder & executive director of Share Our Strength) for the third dinner in the ‘Eugene Author Dinner Series’ on Tuesday, February 22nd at 6:30 p.m.  Shore will share his new work at a four-course dinner with opening reception prepared by Chef Hopkins. The dinner ($105) includes not only the reception and four courses with wine pairings, but also a signed copy of Shore’s book, The Imaginations of Unreasonable Men.   Also for sale and signing after the dinner will be Shore’s other books, The Cathedral Within, Revolution of the Heart and The Light of Conscience... Due to an overwhelming response, Café Circa, on Edgewood Avenue in Atlanta, has added more ‘Dinner and the Blues’ dates with celebrated vocalist Francine Reed. The series of memorable Monday evening performances will include one in February and three more in March. Café Circa is also offering a two-course dinner special (choice of an appetizer or a dessert and an entrée) on the nights Reed performs created by executive chef Hopeton S. Hibbert for $20. Blues lovers are also invited to relax at the bar. Reed is slated to perform on Monday evenings from 7 to 10 p.m. on February 28th and March 7th, 14th & 28th. For more information or to make a reservation, visit www.cafecircaatl.com or call 404.477.0008... With two Atlanta locations (West Midtown and Virginia Highland), YEAH! BURGER is hosting a week-long fundraiser for Georgia Organics (GO)  in order to support the non-profit organization’s program to bring healthier foods to school children.  YEAH will ask diners at both locations if they want to donate $1 to GO from Monday, February 14th through Sunday, February 20th, for this farm-to-school initiative. Visit www.yeahburger for hours and locations... Friends of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has been throwing Dunwoody’s best-tasting party for eight years -- and each year raised more funds for not-for-profit Children’s.  This year, more than 30 restaurants are plating up samples at Taste of Dunwoody on Friday, February 4 from 7 to 10:30 p.m.  Between forkfuls, buy drinks at the cash bar, bid in the silent auction and groove to 70s and 80s tunes performed by Yacht Rock Revue.  This year’s VIP ticket ($70) includes two complimentary drinks.  General tickets are $50 and the event takes place at the W Hotel Atlanta, Perimeter.
News to chew on...
The Waffle House Museum, located at 2719 East College Avenue in Decatur, is typically only open to the public by appointment. However, on February 19th & March 19th, from noon to 3 p.m. the public is welcome and admission is free.  This is the site of the first-ever Waffle House restaurant that opened in 1955 complete with ‘55 decor and memorabilia from the restaurant’s 56-year history. The chain has grown to 1,600 restaurants in 25 states with about 200 of them located in the Metro Atlanta area. If you’re interested in visiting the Waffle House Museum at another day and time, call 770.326.7086 to schedule an appointment. 
For beef jerky lovers... 
White Oak Pastures now has their own beef jerky for you to chew on -- made from the farm’s grass-fed beef.  Kevin Outz of The Spotted Trotter, an Atlanta-based boutique charcuterie, is producing the jerky for them.   Each half-pound jerky-filled jar sells for $15 at White Oak Pastures’ online store.  To order and for more information, visit www.whiteoakpastures.com.
Travelin’ with Kevin...
Food enthusiasts hungry for a new travel adventure have the opportunity to experience a taste of Austria.  Chef Kevin Gillespie, owner/chef at Woodfire Grill on Cheshire Bridge will explore culinary Vienna, its neighboring wine regions and Budapest from March 24 to March 31, 2011.  Travelers will have an array of dining experiences from Michelin-starred establishments to Vienna’s most authentic and traditional restaurants.   The trip also includes a hands-on cooking class in the Schoenbrunn Palace, visits to private wineries and a full day in Budapest. For more info, call 404.347.9055 or visit www.woodfiregrill.com.