Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Unwanted Mail
So over the last few months I’ve been trying to reduce the number of unwanted catalogs and credit card solicitations I receive - it’s just such a waste of paper. I found some interesting tools to do this in the American Airline’s in-flight magazine. First I signed up with the Direct Marketing Association’s Consumer Assistance site which allowed me to opt out of mailings from the association’s members. I then signed up with the credit card companies’ opt out service. Then today I was listening to NPR’s most emailed stories and heard a story about a new service - Catalog Choice - which allows you to stop receiving some catalogs but keep others. I haven’t used it yet because it is quite specific and allows you to enter customer numbers and different versions of your name and address to make sure you’re as thorough as possible. Looking forward to my stack of mail getting a little smaller. Now all I have to do is stop the charity solicitations!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Atlanta Food: Part III
The last installment: Although Rathbun's was the best meal by far, there were some other highlights of the trip. Last night, Francesca and Erin and I were supposed to meeting Roohi and some others for dinner at a Tapas place about a mile from the hotel. We decided to go early and have a drink nearby so we choose Eno, which was mentioned in the ASC Guide to Atlanta Restaurants. Eno is a mediterranean wine bar/restaurant - we sat at the bar and all chose the house wine flight - 4 2 oz tastes. Erin and I had the red and Francesca had the white. I think we all enjoyed 3 of the 4 wines - they weren't anything fabulous but for $9.50, it was worth doing. We shared some olives and a delicious roman style pizza with chanterelles and ricotta salata - yum!
It was only when we were ready to leave when we found out the dinner plan had changed so we decided to ditch the others and go to the place they had chosen for dinner - Loca Luna. This was a neat tapas place just around the corner. The room was enormous with a little waterfall and sculptures - it was sort of like being outside. Decent sangria and food - the highlight for me was the sauteed spinach with pine nuts and raisins, and their trio of Spanish cheeses with fig cake and honey.
Last night I persuaded the ladies that instead of ordering breakfast in bed, we should go for a Southern breakfast so we set off this morning for Thumb's Up, apparently a local favorite. Instead of cabbing it we walked the 1.5 miles there and back. It's located in the historic 4th Ward and we walked past the King Center on the way (we were pressed for time so didn't get a chance to go in). I think Erin had the best breakfast - biscuits and sausage gravy with grits. I was too hungry to order smart so I had the heap - basically a huge hash with sausage and grilled vegetables, cheese and poached eggs. I also ordered grits with cheese (totally unnecessary!) I'm still full now, even after the walk back!
My final thought - grits are good, but they really need to spiced up - I think they are just too bland without adding to them - the country ham grits at Rathbun's were the best of the three versions I had here, although the soupy shrimp and grits were good too.
It was only when we were ready to leave when we found out the dinner plan had changed so we decided to ditch the others and go to the place they had chosen for dinner - Loca Luna. This was a neat tapas place just around the corner. The room was enormous with a little waterfall and sculptures - it was sort of like being outside. Decent sangria and food - the highlight for me was the sauteed spinach with pine nuts and raisins, and their trio of Spanish cheeses with fig cake and honey.
Last night I persuaded the ladies that instead of ordering breakfast in bed, we should go for a Southern breakfast so we set off this morning for Thumb's Up, apparently a local favorite. Instead of cabbing it we walked the 1.5 miles there and back. It's located in the historic 4th Ward and we walked past the King Center on the way (we were pressed for time so didn't get a chance to go in). I think Erin had the best breakfast - biscuits and sausage gravy with grits. I was too hungry to order smart so I had the heap - basically a huge hash with sausage and grilled vegetables, cheese and poached eggs. I also ordered grits with cheese (totally unnecessary!) I'm still full now, even after the walk back!
My final thought - grits are good, but they really need to spiced up - I think they are just too bland without adding to them - the country ham grits at Rathbun's were the best of the three versions I had here, although the soupy shrimp and grits were good too.
Atlanta Food: Part II
Foodwise, the second part of the trip has been much better. On Thursday night, the Vera crew - Mike, Jen, Roohi (and her boy) and I got in a cab and went to Rathbun's, located in an old warehouse. The room was striking - visible duct work with soft lighting and nice high ceilings. We were seated at a round table, which I love! The first thing I noticed about the menu was the wine list - all the wines were grouped by price, $24, $34 etc. to $64 and then "second mortgage" and "third mortage." We drank a couple of bottles of a $34 Pinot Noir, which was delicious.
Three of us started with the trio of soups - the mock turtle and garlic fennel were ok, but the cauliflower parmesan cream was spectacular - possibly one of the best soups I've ever had (although if I'd had more than just the espresso cup we got, my heart may have stopped beating!) I had read reviews before I went and many people talked about one particular dish: Sea Scallop Benedict on Country Ham Grits with Asparagus & Spiced Hollandaise . I went with that - it was fantastic - exactly as it sounded - there were four big seared scallops sitting in the hollandaise, which was as rich as you would expect but much thinner. It worked perfectly with the creamy grits. The others had brisket, lamb shank, trout, and tortelloni and all seemed to enjoy their dishes.
Dessert was probably the best part of the meal. The prices of the main dishes ranged from $17 to $23 so when we saw that the desserts were only $3.15, we thought they must be just tastes. We ordered a plate of four for $11, which is one of the best deals ever - they were normal sized! From the specials we had a gooey toffee cake, and from the regular menu had the Mini Chocolate Cube with Mexican Chocolate Mousse, a sweet potato pot pie, and homemade sorbet. I thought the gooey toffee cake was the best by far - an upscale version of the English Sticky Toffee Pudding. The chocolate cube was also delicious - a crisp chocolate shell with spicy chocolate mousse inside. The sorbet was nice, and the pot pie was one of the best presented dishes - it looked exactly like a traditional pot pie, except smaller and cuter!
We didn't do dessert drinks as we were pushed for time, but they had a nice list of ports and sherries. I'd love to come back... Overall, a wonderful meal and relatively good value - with tip it came to $260 for the five of us.
Three of us started with the trio of soups - the mock turtle and garlic fennel were ok, but the cauliflower parmesan cream was spectacular - possibly one of the best soups I've ever had (although if I'd had more than just the espresso cup we got, my heart may have stopped beating!) I had read reviews before I went and many people talked about one particular dish: Sea Scallop Benedict on Country Ham Grits with Asparagus & Spiced Hollandaise . I went with that - it was fantastic - exactly as it sounded - there were four big seared scallops sitting in the hollandaise, which was as rich as you would expect but much thinner. It worked perfectly with the creamy grits. The others had brisket, lamb shank, trout, and tortelloni and all seemed to enjoy their dishes.
Dessert was probably the best part of the meal. The prices of the main dishes ranged from $17 to $23 so when we saw that the desserts were only $3.15, we thought they must be just tastes. We ordered a plate of four for $11, which is one of the best deals ever - they were normal sized! From the specials we had a gooey toffee cake, and from the regular menu had the Mini Chocolate Cube with Mexican Chocolate Mousse, a sweet potato pot pie, and homemade sorbet. I thought the gooey toffee cake was the best by far - an upscale version of the English Sticky Toffee Pudding. The chocolate cube was also delicious - a crisp chocolate shell with spicy chocolate mousse inside. The sorbet was nice, and the pot pie was one of the best presented dishes - it looked exactly like a traditional pot pie, except smaller and cuter!
We didn't do dessert drinks as we were pushed for time, but they had a nice list of ports and sherries. I'd love to come back... Overall, a wonderful meal and relatively good value - with tip it came to $260 for the five of us.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Atlanta Food: Part I
So I've been in Atlanta for two days now and haven't been very adventurous so far, but I have reservations at Rathbun's tonight, which was recommended to me by a couple of locals and also Bill Telepan, who is the chef/owner of Telepan in New York. I'm very excited!
Tuesday Lunch: I was at an all day workshop and just grabbed a quick bite with a colleague at Atlanta Bread Company. It wasn't so different from Au Bon Pain - fine but nothing special
Tuesday Evening: My presentation was Wednesday morning so I was looking for something to grab quickly and eat in my hotel. It was hard to find anything interesting so I just got shrimp fajitas from Jalapeno Charlies. It was tasty but nothing spectacular.
Wednesday Lunch: Went with a few colleagues back to the Peachtree Center Food Court and thought I'd try Farmer's Basket - various meats and vegetables. I decided to be healthy so had collard greens, mashed potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. I was really disappointed - the greens were incredibly bland - not enough salt and I don't think they'd been anywhere near the essential ham hock!
Wednesday's dinner was at the conference reception - excellent shrimp and grits!
Thursday's lunch: One of my colleagues Mike went to Chick-Fil-A yesterday and it looked so good I had to try it today. I was going to get the grilled chicken sandwich but I then decided to screw the calories and go with the classic. GOOD DECISION - it was awesome - the chicken was moist and tender, and the breading was crispy and not too greasy - just enough to dress the bun. The pickle slices were a great addition. I understand why people become addicted! I have to say though, that the waffle fries weren't good at all - they weren't crispy enough and just tasted like oil.
Tuesday Lunch: I was at an all day workshop and just grabbed a quick bite with a colleague at Atlanta Bread Company. It wasn't so different from Au Bon Pain - fine but nothing special
Tuesday Evening: My presentation was Wednesday morning so I was looking for something to grab quickly and eat in my hotel. It was hard to find anything interesting so I just got shrimp fajitas from Jalapeno Charlies. It was tasty but nothing spectacular.
Wednesday Lunch: Went with a few colleagues back to the Peachtree Center Food Court and thought I'd try Farmer's Basket - various meats and vegetables. I decided to be healthy so had collard greens, mashed potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. I was really disappointed - the greens were incredibly bland - not enough salt and I don't think they'd been anywhere near the essential ham hock!
Wednesday's dinner was at the conference reception - excellent shrimp and grits!
Thursday's lunch: One of my colleagues Mike went to Chick-Fil-A yesterday and it looked so good I had to try it today. I was going to get the grilled chicken sandwich but I then decided to screw the calories and go with the classic. GOOD DECISION - it was awesome - the chicken was moist and tender, and the breading was crispy and not too greasy - just enough to dress the bun. The pickle slices were a great addition. I understand why people become addicted! I have to say though, that the waffle fries weren't good at all - they weren't crispy enough and just tasted like oil.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Great Pasta Recipe
I made this recipe (which I got from Fresh Direct) last night, and it was delicious. I'd highly recommend it - it's vegetarian but I think you could easily add a grilled chicken breast if you wanted to change it up.
A couple of thoughts: Add more basil; Also, I added the tomato mushroom mixture to the rest of the dish rather than spooning it on to and thought it worked great. Finally, I made it with penne, which is all I had, and I think because of the size of the vegetables, it's a better choice.
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