Eating Atlanta
Jun. 16th, 2007 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zebralittle52Or what happens when a Foodie makes all the plans... and on the Big Boss' tab, no less.
The boss, a coworker and I arrived in Atlanta Sunday afternoon. After a couple hours on a cramped flight listening to screaming children, all we wanted to do was drop off our luggage and get lunch. So what was first on my eating itinerary?
Gladys Knight & Ron Winan's Chicken & Waffles
Unfortunately, we hit the place right when Church was getting out, so there was a good 45 minute wait, but we could tell just by the smells coming from the kitchen that it'd be worth it. And man, was it ever! The fried chicken was crisp, but not greasy, a sure sign that the grease was just the right temperature. The peach waffle didn't strike me as very 'peachy', but was damn good anyway. And after standing on the sidewalk clinging to what little shade we could find for so long, that was the best sweet tea in the world.
Then it was back to the hotel for a rest, which quickly turned into an adventure of finding a local manicurist that was open late Sunday afternoon and didn't need appointments. But! We persevered. The other girls also got their toes done, only to make the whole procedure mute by walking an hour back to the hotel. (*shakes head* Don't ask. It seemed like a good idea at the time.)
A quick shower, and then dinner time:
Restaurant Eugene
At first the girls were feeling a little off, the place was a lot fancier than thier jeans and tshirts called for, but the Big Boss' money was as green as anyone elses so I didn't care. The restaurant was beautiful, all muted tones, brown and orange, but candles everywhere. But it was the food I wanted to know about. The head chef had been on Iron Chef, so I really wanted to be blown away.
And I was.
We all ended up getting the Tasting Menu, where the chef basicly cooks five courses of whatever he wants to feed us, using ingredients from the menu and whatever he has in the back that he thinks we might like. Daring, true, the menu had sweet breads on it, but we were eager to see what would come our way. Each plate only had a little food on it, and at first I was afraid there wouldn't be enough to fill us up! But in the end we were more than satisfied.
Before the first course came out, the chef sent us a soup just because he wanted us to try it. Creamy Vadalia onions, so sweet it could have been a desert sauce.
Then the appetizer, grilled sardine on a bed of tomato, with toast and diced olives. I don't really like fish, but even I finished the plate.
Our second course, seared scallops. Simple but delicious. Not overcooked or rubbery at all.
Third, and my favorite food all weekend long, roasted pheasant with gnochi that melted in your mouth. Just a hint of game flavor, you knew this wasn't chicken, but not in any way tough or overpowering.
Fourth, beef tenderloin. By this time I was getting so full I nearly couldn't finish, but it was to good not to eat!
Fifth, and last, came desert. The pastry chef combined two desserts into one for us, an icecream sandwich with layers of bachlava-type dough with vanillia icecream inbetween, searved over a blueberry cake. A small enough serving we could finish it without exploding, and not overly sweet after all that rich food. It was perfect.
Every other restaurant had a high bar to match after that meal.
Monday morning the conference started, so lunch was confined to the hotel... blah. Still, I've had worse. Most of the seminars were pretty dull too, but the new Quark 7 really has the office buzzing.
Which brings us to dinner Monday night!
Emeril's Atlanta
How could I not? ^_~ Everyone who'd been said the ones in New Orleans and Vegas were better, but 1.) I was here and 2.) the company was paying.
The food was incredible. The restaurant itself was massive. But I still felt it didn't live up to Eugene. There was a "restaurant chain" feeling, highlighted by the fact that we wanted to do another Tasting Menu, but they only offerend one with an accompanying wine with each course. We weren't wine drinkers and they refused to offer it to us without the wine (ie, the price for the wine) included. So even though the mac & cheese was devine, the cornbread some the best I've ever had, and a bread pudding to die for, in the end it was just another corporate buisness. And that left me disapointed.
We had to fly back after the conference Tuesday, so I didn't plan anything. Hell, I figured we'd be lucky to grab a burger on the way to the airport, but in the end we all decided to skip the afternoon seminars and play hookie. The Georgia Aquarium is neat. At first I was all like "Fish...? *yawn*" but seeing a huge shark swim over you? Cool. We also hit the World of Coca Cola Museam. Talk about walking into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory! Trippy and fun, I think I enjoyed the Warhol exhibit the most.
Again with a long walk back, uphill, in the rain, but we stopped for a quick dinner before heading home. This time it was a restaurant right across from the hotel, where I saw fried lobster for the first time. I still can't wrap my brain around that one.
Now that's what I call a vacation!
The boss, a coworker and I arrived in Atlanta Sunday afternoon. After a couple hours on a cramped flight listening to screaming children, all we wanted to do was drop off our luggage and get lunch. So what was first on my eating itinerary?
Gladys Knight & Ron Winan's Chicken & Waffles
Unfortunately, we hit the place right when Church was getting out, so there was a good 45 minute wait, but we could tell just by the smells coming from the kitchen that it'd be worth it. And man, was it ever! The fried chicken was crisp, but not greasy, a sure sign that the grease was just the right temperature. The peach waffle didn't strike me as very 'peachy', but was damn good anyway. And after standing on the sidewalk clinging to what little shade we could find for so long, that was the best sweet tea in the world.
Then it was back to the hotel for a rest, which quickly turned into an adventure of finding a local manicurist that was open late Sunday afternoon and didn't need appointments. But! We persevered. The other girls also got their toes done, only to make the whole procedure mute by walking an hour back to the hotel. (*shakes head* Don't ask. It seemed like a good idea at the time.)
A quick shower, and then dinner time:
Restaurant Eugene
At first the girls were feeling a little off, the place was a lot fancier than thier jeans and tshirts called for, but the Big Boss' money was as green as anyone elses so I didn't care. The restaurant was beautiful, all muted tones, brown and orange, but candles everywhere. But it was the food I wanted to know about. The head chef had been on Iron Chef, so I really wanted to be blown away.
And I was.
We all ended up getting the Tasting Menu, where the chef basicly cooks five courses of whatever he wants to feed us, using ingredients from the menu and whatever he has in the back that he thinks we might like. Daring, true, the menu had sweet breads on it, but we were eager to see what would come our way. Each plate only had a little food on it, and at first I was afraid there wouldn't be enough to fill us up! But in the end we were more than satisfied.
Before the first course came out, the chef sent us a soup just because he wanted us to try it. Creamy Vadalia onions, so sweet it could have been a desert sauce.
Then the appetizer, grilled sardine on a bed of tomato, with toast and diced olives. I don't really like fish, but even I finished the plate.
Our second course, seared scallops. Simple but delicious. Not overcooked or rubbery at all.
Third, and my favorite food all weekend long, roasted pheasant with gnochi that melted in your mouth. Just a hint of game flavor, you knew this wasn't chicken, but not in any way tough or overpowering.
Fourth, beef tenderloin. By this time I was getting so full I nearly couldn't finish, but it was to good not to eat!
Fifth, and last, came desert. The pastry chef combined two desserts into one for us, an icecream sandwich with layers of bachlava-type dough with vanillia icecream inbetween, searved over a blueberry cake. A small enough serving we could finish it without exploding, and not overly sweet after all that rich food. It was perfect.
Every other restaurant had a high bar to match after that meal.
Monday morning the conference started, so lunch was confined to the hotel... blah. Still, I've had worse. Most of the seminars were pretty dull too, but the new Quark 7 really has the office buzzing.
Which brings us to dinner Monday night!
Emeril's Atlanta
How could I not? ^_~ Everyone who'd been said the ones in New Orleans and Vegas were better, but 1.) I was here and 2.) the company was paying.
The food was incredible. The restaurant itself was massive. But I still felt it didn't live up to Eugene. There was a "restaurant chain" feeling, highlighted by the fact that we wanted to do another Tasting Menu, but they only offerend one with an accompanying wine with each course. We weren't wine drinkers and they refused to offer it to us without the wine (ie, the price for the wine) included. So even though the mac & cheese was devine, the cornbread some the best I've ever had, and a bread pudding to die for, in the end it was just another corporate buisness. And that left me disapointed.
We had to fly back after the conference Tuesday, so I didn't plan anything. Hell, I figured we'd be lucky to grab a burger on the way to the airport, but in the end we all decided to skip the afternoon seminars and play hookie. The Georgia Aquarium is neat. At first I was all like "Fish...? *yawn*" but seeing a huge shark swim over you? Cool. We also hit the World of Coca Cola Museam. Talk about walking into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory! Trippy and fun, I think I enjoyed the Warhol exhibit the most.
Again with a long walk back, uphill, in the rain, but we stopped for a quick dinner before heading home. This time it was a restaurant right across from the hotel, where I saw fried lobster for the first time. I still can't wrap my brain around that one.
Now that's what I call a vacation!
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-17 05:50 pm (UTC)Anyway, one of the books I picked up I think you'd be interested in... It's a Bitter Little World by Charles Pappas (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781582973876&itm=4) All the best quotes from film noir over the last 60 years.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-18 04:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-24 07:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 03:20 pm (UTC)