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.