Last week I had the brilliant opportunity to join Eating With Erica & YP (formally Yellow Pages) at The Luminary. YP is currently in the process of rebranding itself. Gone are the days of just a book of phone numbers. YP is now looking to connect with communities on a local level – to support local businesses that not just serve but uplift the community. The Luminary was a great place for their first event in Atlanta.
The view of my seat at the table. Not bad.
From The Luminary’s website:
Described by Kirshtein as an American brasserie with regional influences and named after Atlanta’s historic first newspaper, The Luminary features a classically inspired menu, large raw bar, craft beer and cocktail program and 400-square-foot patio space.
We were served a wonderful four course dinner but before I get into that, I want to address my absolute favorite thing about the night: the Pear Necessities.
This cocktail was made with Old Fourth Vodka, pear shrub, lemon & ginger beer.
The Pear Necessities.
Aside from being a light, refreshing and absolutely to die for – what I loved about this was in this ONE cocktail, The Luminary was able to encapsulate everything about this event. The vodka that was used was brewed by the first distillery in city limits in over (I think) 200 years. The distillery is actually only a five minute drive down the street and was able to come to fruition when members of the community helped get the owners started by donating to their Kickstarter campaign.
I mean, how freakin’ awesome is that? How often is the vodka in your drink made just down the street from where you’re enjoying your cocktail? Yeah, never. That never happens.
Dinner was also wonderful.
I started off with the Bibb Salad which was light and refreshing.
First course: salad.
Next, I had the Chicken Liver Mousse. I struggled with this dish a bit…I think in the end, I like my chicken livers whole! But I love that they offer something on their menu you don’t often seen anywhere else.
Chicken Liver Mousse.
For my entree I had the gnocchi in a foie gras sauce. The pasta was so light…like little tiny pillows of heavenly pasta fluff. That’s a thing – don’t question me. The sauce was delicious, but a bit salty due to it being a foie gras base, but I didn’t leave a bite on my plate!
Gnocchi in a foie gras sauce.
Last, but not least was the salty caramel ganache tart with milk chocolate sorbet. Yeah, so – the answer is YES. YES it tasted as delicious as it sounds.
Overall, I think that Luminary is worth a visit. They won me over with their super sleek decor, the delicious (AND LOCALLY SOURCED) cocktails and creative food options. The service was also impeccable. Our servers Ian and Addie were on point!
Thank you again to Eating With Erica & YP for hosting this event. Be sure to check out their sites to see what other YP events may surface around Atlanta!
I’m sure some of you have seen by now that I’m not shy when it comes to how I feel about “food snobbery.” I mean, there was this gem that got the attention of foodies & Kardashian lovers a like. But for those of you who don’t know: I loathe it.
I will never give anyone crap about ordering Papa John’s or Chinese food from their not so great but closer than the Thai place Chinese restaurant down the road. I do it sometimes. It is what it is.
HOWEVER – more often then not I’m making these decisions based on connivence and availability, not so much that I just adore take out food and I’m always hyper aware of the fact that what I’m eating just…isn’t that good for you. I wish there was another option.
Enter: CHRISTOPHE’S TO GO stage right.
Hmm. This looks familiar!
So here’s the deal. Christophe’s is a complete life saver. Sure, their site may pitch it as meals to go for people who can’t cook/don’t like to cook/don’t have the patience. But I think it’s also great for those of us who get SO BUSY that they don’t have the time to cook. I *love* being in my kitchen for an hour but sometimes I have three blog entries to catch up on and I don’t really feel like getting to bed at 1 a.m.
So here’s how it works:
Christophe’s To Go has a menu of different dishes that are a combination of the following:
Never frozen
Gluten free
Paleo friendly
Vegetarian
Curated by a French Michelin Star Chef (Chef Christophe! Duh.)
You can either pick up your dishes in store, you can order them ahead of time and have them dropped off at any of their cooler locations (for ex: if your gym has a Christophe’s To Go cooler, you can order ahead of time, they’ll drop it off in the cooler & you can pick it up on your way out of the gym) or you can order delivery!
A view of the cold case inside their store.
Each package is completely recyclable and also are safe to go in your oven or microwave (sans the top, obviously. I can’t even believe I have to say that but I’m not going to get sued when you messes melt plastic in your oven).
The to-go containers.
So here’s what I sampled & my thoughts:
Salmon on top of spinach topped with a mango chutney with a half tomato and half onion which were roasted:
The heating instructions were a bit off – all of the dishes are a bit under what they should really be to stop people from accidentally burning their food or over heating, which is really quite smart.
Of course what did I do? Over heated it. I’m not even sure how I dress myself in the morning sometimes, I swear. Anyways, this caused the fish to be a bit over done but it was still okay with the rest of the sides. The portion was the “medium” size – enough for 1…but I didn’t find it to be enough for me. So I actually heated up half of the curried cauliflower to go with it. That was a perfect combination and the cauliflower was out of this world. So delicious. I could have eaten that hot or cold.
The salmon dish.
Curry cauliflower.
I cleaned my desk just for all of you!
They recently changed up their menu so you can’t get the salmon anymore…but you can still get the cauliflower! So do it. Don’t be a fool.
The next day I had the Eggplant Parm for lunch. This medium portion was absolutely perfect for lunch. I didn’t burn it this time (gold star!) and I was surprised at how much I liked it.
Let me just…throw this out there: my grandmother’s eggplant parm is legendary. It’s so %#!*&$& good that when I was 16 and had jaw reconstruction my Mother and I experimented a few times until we figured out how we could BLEND THE DAMN EGGPLANT PARM SO I COULD DRINK IT THROUGH A STRAW. OKAY? THAT’S HOW MUCH I LOVE HER EGGPLANT PARM. I TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. DON’T YOU DARE OFFER ME EGGPLANT PARM IF IT’S NOT SOMETHING I’M GOING TO LOVE SO MUCH I WANT TO BLEND IT SO I CAN DRINK IT THROUGH A STRAW DAMMIT.
For that reason, I usually plan on hating any other versions that I try. 95% of the time I do. But Christophe’s held up. The sauce had great flavor, the cheese was at the perfect amount and I liked that they didn’t bread and fry the eggplant. It was indulging without feeling guilty.
Last but not least, was the Chicken Coq au Vin. I had this dish for dinner the following night and it was by far my favorite entree of the three. The flavors were super complex and delicious, the size (medium) was perfect for one.
So I’m sure you have some thoughts so let me just go ahead and answer them:
No, there’s no preservatives. Nothing’s ever frozen and at most there’s three lines of ingredients. Love that.
No, the food doesn’t have that weird gross taste that reheated food has sometimes. Maybe Chef Christophe is actually a wizard.
“But XYZ is cheaper” – not it’s not. Don’t play. Foodler usually has a $20 minimum plus tax, plus tip, plus delivery. For that amount of money I had two dinners and a lunch.
Yes, it’s okay to put this food on plates and pass it off to your date as home cooked. We won’t tell.
Yes, they have other things to offer…home made rubs for poultry (nom), gelato, bread, pasta sauces – a huge variety.
Regretting that I didn’t pick up some of this deliciousness.
The “Smoked Beehive Spice.”
If you have any questions about Christophe’s To Go make sure you visit their website and be sure stop in one of their stores. The staff is extremely friendly and would be happy to help you out. My location is the Brookhaven one. Hey guys!
Disclaimer: Christophe’s To Go provided me with the samples for my honest opinion of my experience. How do you know my opinion is honest? I didn’t just “over heat” the salmon, I brought it back to life and killed it all over again…then cursed it, then ate it. WOMP. Whoops!
RA Sushi
1080 Peachtree Street, Suite 8
Atlanta, GA 30309
Ph: 404-267-0114
This week I was invited to check out RA Sushi in Midtown. I was so excited to give this place a try.
I love sushi.
So much.
It’s probably one of my favorite things in the world to eatand one of my bucket list items is to go to Japan and learn everything I can about it. I digress.
The ambience of the venue is super sexy. The color scheme is deep red and black and it was quite crowded for a Wednesday night. It wasn’t just the after work crowd taking up room at the bar for Happy Hour (which they have and looks ah-mazing). The dining room was filling up as well. I took that as a good sign. We were showed upstairs to a large table and our servers quickly came over to greet us.
As far as service goes – it was fast and friendly. The poor server who kept getting my end of the table had to put up with my inability to sit still. I’m like a six year old when I’m sitting at a high top. I’m always dropping something, always accidentally elbowing the person next to me. I think at one point I accidentally hit her with my purse when I was trying to put it on the back of the chair. She just smiled happily and said it was fine. Ugh. Bless her.
Now before I get into the food I will say this – everything we got was sample size so I can’t really speak to the amount you would get when you normally order. So don’t look at my pictures and think that all of the plates at RA Sushi are tapas size!
They’re not. Thank goodness.
RA Sushi Menu.
Chili Garlic Shrimp & Lychee Margarita
The Lychee Margarita wasn’t bad. I’ve had lychee flavored drinks and candies before so I felt like I knew exactly how this drink would taste and I was right. It’s a subtle almost earthy tasting fruit. It’s not very sweet at all. I actually think this drink would make an awesome shot, but I’ve never been a fan of lychee in any form, so I’m not sure if I’d order the whole drink.
If you like lychee though you will be obsessed with this drink. If you’re unsure? I would sit at the bar and ask the bartender to make a bit extra the next time they make one for someone else so you can have a taste. Try it for yourself before you let me sway you!
The spicy shrimp were bombbbbbbbbbbbbb DOT com. They’re lightly tempura battered and tossed in a chili ponzu sauce and they’re served on top of sautéed bok choy and topped with crispy fried ramen. GIMME. I really enjoyed this dish. Just spicy enough, but not so overwhelming that it ended up being devoid of flavor.
Spicy shrimp.
Lychee Margarita.
Red Heart Roll, Passion Punch / Crunchy Yami Roll, Ty Ku Coconut Nigori
Okay, so the passion punch is a drink you want to order if you love sweet drinks. I mean it was delicious, but definitely for those of you with a sweet tooth.
The Red Heart Roll is crab, avocado and cucumber rolled and topped with crispy tuna spicy mayo and siracha. I didn’t find it as spicy as you might think it would be from all of that. What I liked most about this roll was that it tasted fresh. I’m not sure if some of you have experienced this, but once in awhile you can eat a maki roll that tastes like the rice has been
sitting out and it’s almost hard? That’s the worst. This was wonderful though, and I wish I had a full roll to eat!
The Crunchy Yami Roll had tempura sweet potato, cucumber and avocado rolled and topped with shredded sweet potato and tempura bits. This was an awesome take on a vegetarian California Roll. I’ve seen it done a lot down here in the south – incorporating sweet potato into maki. I think it’s a brilliant. It’s substantial enough to give you the feeling that you’re eating
something like meat. It’s not too sweet and frankly, I’d rather eat this roll over any ol’ California roll any day.
Oh, and if you like coconut water then you’ll love the Ty Ku Nigori. If you’re looking for a sweet coconut drink, this isn’t it. That really earthy tasting coconut flavor you get from coconut water is what you’ll find here.
Ty Ku Coconut Nigori.
Red Heart Roll, Passion Punch / Crunchy Yami Roll.
King Crab Salad and Blue Ginger
The king crab salad (pictured above) was super delicious and it was one of two dishes I wished I had more of. It consisted of king crab, avocado, cucumber and grape tomatoes tossed with mixed greens in a suehiro vinaigrette.
Suehiro – is a Japanese grain flavored distilled vinegar #TheMoreYouKnow
I loved this salad. I don’t often tend to order things with King Crab in it, just because I’d rather eat fish. But the ingredients were simple, fresh and worked SO well together. This would make an awesome entrée to have before heading out on a Saturday night. Enough to fill you up, but light enough that you don’t feel bogged down.
The Blue Ginger Martini was by far my favorite drink of the night. Ohhhh goodness. The perfect balance of sweet and not. You couldn’t taste the alcohol but when it goes down it gives you that lovely feeling that’s like you’re being hugged. It has blueberry vodka, shaken with crushed blueberries and fresh ginger. This is going to be what I order when I’m sitting out on that patio during the inevitable hot Atlanta summer nights.
Seared Ahi Tuna & Hot Sake
The seared ahi tuna was what I was looking forward to eating the most and also what I was the most nervous about trying. I really, really love seared tuna, but I rarely order it when I go out because I can’t stand the tiny little slivers of tuna I get! GIVE ME TUNA OR GIVE ME DEATH!
Ra Sushi did not disappoint (picture below). It was cooked perfectly. The middle was a perfect rare/slightly medium rare and the outside was rubbed with a black pepper and togarashi. It was seared and served on grilled asparagus with a shitake mushroom cream house.
Togarashi – Japanese for genus Capsicum, or specifically the species Capsicum annuum, and commonly translated as chili pepper. #TheMoreYouKnow
The asparagus was perfect. Grill marks? Check. Tender? Check. They make their asparagus the way I like to. Great minds, amiright?!
I would be interested to see how the shitake mushroom cream sauce comes into play on the regular size entrée. It was a bit distracting because it was SO good. I almost wished I had a small bowl of that sauce just to eat.
Perfectly cooked tuna.
The hot sake they served with this dish was the traditional sake you can find on their happy hour menu. I love, love, love hot sake and this one was no exception. I will have to reach out to management and ask what type of sake it is, because I need some for home when I’m unable to swing in for happy hour.
Overall, Ra Sushi is a win for me. The décor is perfect for having some well-mannered frivolity and with an extensive drink and food menu; everyone can find something they like here. I’ll be back for sure!
Disclaimer: I was invited to attend this tasting in exchange for an honest and transparent review of my experience.
So here is what I learned from my first attempt at diving into the list of recipes I’m aiming to cook through by 2016.
I can’t follow directions.
Let me elaborate here. I can follow directions, but I choose not to. It’s a problem. If they tell you to finely mince something, just do it. There’s not always a reason but usually there’s a pretty good one. AKA – when they say finely mince the pistachios, just do it! Or else it looks totally weird. Also when they say buy shelled pistachios, don’t think “oh it probably won’t take THAT long to shell a half cup.” It will.
2. Mom is the artist. I am not.
Case in point: I cannot mold cheese to look like fruit. What ever will I do for the rest of my life?
The season premiere of GIRLS was on Sunday, so I made like Marnie and pretended to be an adult while obviously struggling to exist and function on the most basic human level.
I decided to try and make the ‘Goat Cheese Pears’ to go on my already pretty basic cheese board.
#GIRLS
THE RESULT:
Somewhat odd shaped lumps of cheese rolled in crushed pistachios that were freakin’ delicious. If you have the patience: try the pear thing, it’s adorable when done right. If you’re not into that just roll the cheese into any shape you want and then coat in the pistachios. You can’t go wrong with the crunch of the nuts + the creaminess of the cheese. Total win.
‘A’ for effort?
‘A’ for effort?
“Fresh Goat Cheese ‘Pears’ With Pistachio Dust”
Cookbook: The Cheesemonger’s Kitchen
Author: Chester Hastings All italicized sentences are my own additions to the recipe…some additions are helpful. Some are not. You be the judge.
This recipe makes 6 pears – I adjusted and made 2.
Ingredients
½ cup of shelled pistachios (see point 1 above the cut – follow instructions and save the work, buy them shelled!)
12 oz of fresh goat cheese
6 fresh herb leaves, such as marjoram or oregano
Pulse the pistachios in a spice grinder until powdery fine. Depending on the size of your grinder, it might be best to do this in a couple of batches. Pulsing the nuts will prevent them from turning into butter, which, while delicious, is not what we’re going for here. If you do now own a spice grinder (Who the hell actually does? Seriously?) some ambitious knife chopping will do just fine. Pass the ground pistachios through a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl to create an ultrasilky dust (Dude, shut up.). Reserve the remaining pistachios from the sieve for cookies or cakes (or to eat in a bowl while you down the rest of the red wine you started drinking at 4 o’clock. I love Sundays. God said rest, not make cookies and cake with left over pistachios.).
Divide the goat cheese into six golf ball-size pieces. Shape the balls into free-form pears, remembering that nature refuses to make any two alike, so you shouldn’t try too hard either. (You over estimate my commitment to goat cheese sculpting.)
Roll the goat cheese “pears” one at a time, in the pistachio dust until well coated. Shake offany excess pistachio dust back into the bowl.
#ShakeItOff
After the cheese is coated, you can reshape it if needed (Except you told me not to stress about that, so what are you really trying to say here?) but the less it is handled, the brighter the shade of green it will remain. Use the small herb leaves to make the “pear leaves.” (I used sage.)
The “pears” are best served the same day and can be made several hours before serving.
p. 27 – Cheese Boards
This is Atticus. She is not impressed with my cheese sculptures.
Café Central
173 Bradford Street
Bristol, RI 02809
Phone: 401-254-6164
I can’t believe that I haven’t done a review of a Portuguese restaurant yet. Actually, that’s a lie. I can. I’ve been avoiding it only because I was unsure how to really articulate all the feels I get about something that’s so closely associated with childhood memories.
Anyhow, my family and I went to Café Central in Bristol for my Aunt’s surprise birthday. Café Central is a small venue whose bar may be the same size as the dining room. There’s no host, although it’s suggested you give them a call if you have a large party so they can hold a table for you. Otherwise you can walk in and grab a table.
Forca Portugal.
My parents made the observation that the long layout of the dining room reminded them of the garage restaurants in Portugal. The last time they were there, my Dad’s aunt and uncle walked him down an alley where they knocked on a door that only had a small window at the top. Someone slide the small window open, my Dad’s uncle chatted them up and they were brought back to a large garage where people were all seated and eating. Chickens were running amuck…I mean, it was like THAT. It’s a restaurant the way small rural towns in Portugal do them.
First things first – I ordered a Sumol. For those of you not familiar with it, it’s a Portuguese soda that comes in pineapple, passion fruit and orange flavors. I always get the pineapple; it’s my absolute favorite. It might be a little sweet for some palettes but it’s something I grew up with and something I try to treat myself to when I’m home.
Pineapple Sumol > All other Sumol flavors.
I ordered the camarão mozambique (shrimp Mozambique), my mom and brother got the bife a casa (house steak), and my father got the galinha alentejana (chicken with little neck clams). Of course, all of our dishes came with a choice of salad or soup. Let’s be real here, I ordered the caldo verde (kale soup). Listen up hipster foodies: I’ve been eating kale since before it was the “power food” of the century that you abuse by juicing it to death into smoothies which, LET’S BE REAL, you only PRETEND to like!
Kale soup.
Pao for days.
Most Portuguese dishes are served with two starches. So the bife a casa and camarão mozambique are always served with rice and fries. Fish dishes are only served with one starch – usually boiled potatoes. Oh and another note: bife a casa as well as a few other steak dishes will come with a fried egg on top. Don’t ask questions. Just ride the wave, man. Ride the wave.
Bife a casa.
LITTLENECKS. Not clams.
All the food was great. My dish had great flavor and was perfectly spicy. The Mozambique sauce is pretty much butter, saffron or parsley, chili sauce, lemon juice…and that’s all I’ll tell you. The rest is a secret because I don’t want to share. If you see it on a menu though: ORDER IT.
Shrimp Mozambique.
Café Central is known for being consistently good and affordable. You can’t really go wrong here. The service was pretty good too. Although my sister’s fried shrimp came out a while after everyone else’s food I chalk it up to her ordering the only not-so-Portuguese item on the menu. The wait staff was on top of it and between the bread, soup and appetizers we had my sister wasn’t too stressed out about it. She’s also 11 so she’s still pretty laid back about life.
Oh, to be young.
I hope to feature some of these dishes on the blog later on in the year. Except instead of talking about which restaurant I had them in, I’ll be posting recipes and chronicling my sad attempts at walking in my mother and grandmothers’ cooking aprons. Or shoes. Or whatever. You get the idea! Keep a look out!
Why do just one Foodie Spotlight when you can do two?!
This weekend is Taste of Atlanta and we jumped at the chance to ask Chef Suzanne Vizethann a few questions before the event. In addition to nurturing people through food by use of sustainable, local ingredients – we’d also like to throw out there that she was named champion on Food Network’s Chopped.
Boss.
We cannot wait to see what this force in the kitchen has in store for us this weekend!
Have you faced challenges in your career as a woman in a notoriously male dominated industry? What would be your advice to other young women hoping to break the glass ceiling in the food industry?
Suzanne Vizethann (SV): Yes, of course! It has been challenging, but I honestly think it just made me work harder. I also think when you are really passionate about something (as I am) it’s hard to fail. My advice to other young women would be to work hard and learn how to be tough.
What is your favorite dish to make when you’re at home?
My favorite dish to make when I am at home is pan-roasted chicken with salsa verde or my dad’s spaghetti with fresh pasta.
Who (or what) do you draw your inspiration from when you’re in the kitchen?
As simple as it sounds, most of my inspiration comes from local produce we receive at the restaurant. I love utilizing vegetables in unique ways, i.e. making Swiss chard dumplings or squash onion rings.
Photo from ButtermilkKitchen.com
What is your favorite place to eat in Atlanta (outside of your own restaurant of course!)?
I love the Kimball House, BoccaLupa and Rosebud.
What are you looking forward to the most at this year’s Taste of Atlanta?
I am looking forward to the Friday night kickoff party! I had a really good time last year and thought it was a great turnout.
On Friday I headed over to the Botanical Gardens for Atlanta’s second annual Cheese Festival.
Yes, I said cheese festival.
I took a friend and we both ventured in. This was my first time at the Botanical Gardens and loved having the opportunity to take it all in. They have their Halloween/Scarecrow exhibit up, so that was awesome to take in as we made our way to the vendors.
Botanical Garden sculptures.
Botanical Garden sculptures.
However this event was a miss for me – some of the reasons were completely out of the organizers control (weather, for one) but there were some aspects that I think could have been improved on.
Frankly, the number of people was ridiculous. There was no room, no rhyme or reason to how lines formed. I mean how could there be with over 100 vendors. I had to throw elbows to get samples and even when I found something I liked, there was no room for me to reach in my wallet to buy some, which was too bad (both for me and the vendors).
The humidity just made some of the cheese, err not as appetizing as how they would be normally. But that falls under the category of “can’t be helped.”
The positives? Some of that cheese was bomb! My favorite was a goat cheese topped with a fig preserve. There was also a ton of cured meats there that were to die for.
Goat cheese with blueberry preserves.
Atlanta Cheese Festival.
The most creative grilled cheese I ate that night (and probably the most exciting thing to happen the whole festival) consisted of the following:
Spiced Apple
Honey
Peanut Butter
Gorgonzola
Brioche
There were so many original creations.
There were so many original creations.
I feel like I’ll be making the Davio’s grilled cheese at home some time…but probably not the Krispy Crème Grilled Cheese. It’s one thing to eat that at a cheese festival it’s a whole other beast when you’re making that in your kitchen.
Overall, not bad. I’m not sure if I’ll be back next year but I would certainly encourage you all the check it out and see for yourself!
Great view of the city.
Disclaimer – I received a complimentary press pass to attend this event, but the opinions are 100% my own and not influenced by any outside sources.
Warning: This post might get a wee bit sentimental. But I promise to make up for it with lots of pictures of delicious food.
I moved to Atlanta in February. I had never been here (the city or the state) before I moved. I came with a few boxes and a ton of baggage. This might have been the hardest seven months of my life. There are times when it gets so hard I think about giving up and heading straight home to Boston. But then, there are nights like tonight where everything clicks and it just feels like…yeah Atlanta could be my place for a while.
Studio No. 7 is an art gallery/lounge/test kitchen that opened about two months ago. They invited us in to test some of their new fall menu items. What I really enjoyed about this venue was that every aspect of it was curated by the owners for their visitors. The artwork, the menu, the furniture, the events, the music (which sometimes takes them three weeks to finalize music for a single night!) – everything is thoughtfully crafted to create an engaging and inviting environment. I’ll be back for some of their art openings, but I think their food tonight was a phenomenal representation of how well their concept is executed.
Studio 7 door.
This space is unsuspecting from the outside, but when you walk in it’s huge! First there is a bar to your right, then as you walk in further, you walk there’s a bar in front of you that sits behind a large lounge area. You can then walk up some stairs where there’s a communal table and couches that look out a massive door that I think may have been a loading dock. Already the ambiance made me want to hang out for a few hours!
View from the upper level we were seated on.
The amazing open wall.
Did I mention they also do movie nights?
From their website:
The TEST KITCHEN is a signature piece of Studio No. 7 offering a delicious array of small plate treats. At our core the culinary concept is Latin American and Asian street food inspired. Our menu coincides with the current exhibit in the gallery or is an exhibit of its own. This allows the culinary and dining experience to remain fresh and inventive. Regardless of the concept that is being explored, you can expect quality dishes paired with brilliant cocktails.
Everything – I kid you not – every single damn dish they served was out of this world. I couldn’t believe that each dish got better than the last. That never happens! There’s always ONE dish I’m MEH about. But that wasn’t the case. Everyone seemed to agree.
Here’s a look at what we sampled. Please note: we were given sample sizes of each dish – so yours won’t look like this when you go! You can expect to get a bit more. They also have entree sizes.
The elote en vaso: charred corn, coconut cream, cotija cheese, habanero, lime zest, smoked paprika, portuguese sea salt – everyone devoured theirs!
Tomato Saffron Soup served with a Venezuelan cheese breadstick (known as tequeños). The soup was perfect. Creamy and not too acidic. Also one of those tequeños is not enough. Never fear, you can order them three at a time on the menu!
Shrimp and yucca; loaded mashed yucca, tomato braised shrimp, house made chorizo. Uhm. STFU RIGHT THIS MINUTE. Honestly, I had no idea yucca could be good. Whenever I’ve had yucca it’s been…yucka (trololol) but this was spot on. I licked the plate. Whatever.
Mini Quesadillas – teeeeeny tiny in size HUGE in flavor. House made scallion flour tortillas, seared veggies, pesto, cheddar, black beans, love.
“Don’t Trouble Me” – named as such because when I’m drinking this I’m gonna need you to “SHHHHH.” Blackwell rum, thai basil, lime juice, ginger beer.
Not pictured? The Thai Beef and fried rice…because I ate it so fast I forgot to take a picture. Hah.
“Festival” – named as such because that’s what’s going to be happening in your mouth. Or your pants. That’s how good they were. Fried cornmeal doughnut, powdered sugar, butter rum sauce and that’s all you need to take you to that next level. Super crunchy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside…not to sweet or oily. Little balls of heaven.
Disclaimer – I was invited as a member of the Atlanta Food Bloggers’ Society to enjoy a complimentary meal in exchange for an honest and transparent review. The above review is 100% my own opinion and is no way influenced by the restaurant.
This past Wednesday I joined the Atlanta Travel Massive group for their bi-monthly meet up at The Spence.
Travel Massive connects thousands of people around the world to meet, learn and collaborate in the online travel industry. This meet up was organized by my friend (and former Foodie Spotlight feature) Caroline Eubanks of Caroline in the City and This is My South.
It was a phenomenal opportunity to meet new people, especially in this field. Traveling has been (and always will be) a huge influence in my life. Most notably we had the chance to hear from Jason Seagle and his business partner speak about their new venture called VAYANDO. From their website:
Vayando is a community-driven tool connecting travelers with micro-entrepreneurs in emerging economies around the world. We promote households that have interest and motivation in sharing local knowledge, activities, experience, and skills with those visiting their area. Travelers get a homegrown experience while local entrepreneurs gain opportunity to build their own small business.
It was really a phenomenal concept that I can’t wait to watch grow and succeed! Be sure to check them out on Facebook and their website.
Now on to the venue!
I wasn’t planning on coming to this event to write a review to be completely honest, but after experiencing the food and service I couldn’t help myself!
The décor is pretty standard for most super trendy restaurants these days. Exposed kitchen, open spaces, metal and wood architecture. It’s like Restoration Hardware threw up in there and then your hipster girlfriend showed up and decorated it with her kitchy “flea market finds” that actually just came from Anthroplogie.
I walked through an outdoor patio to enter the venue and immediately wished we were going to be outside for this event! It’s a great space that allows you to enjoy being outside without being on the street.
We were then shown back to a private room that can be closed off by massive curtains or left open to be a part of the restaurant. Our servers that evening were on point. No one was without a drink in their hand for less than 30 seconds (heyyyy) and the passed apps were brought out in a cadence that was not overwhelming but also didn’t leave you ravenous and wondering where they had disappeared to. Some of the passed apps included a beet tartare, fried pimento cheese puffs and raw oysters on the half shell. Every single one I ate was so incredibly delicious. I have never been anywhere where the passed apps were that good!
I mean seriously when is the last time you had a passed app that has made you want to go back to actually try an entire meal? I feel like passed apps are the ugly step children of food…thrown together on a tray just to keep drunken partiers or conference go-ers from passing out.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The head chef is none other than Richard Blais, one of the winners of “Top Chef All-Stars.”
What can I say, I like keeping low expectations…it always makes the surprises just that much better. What I’m intrigued about is that their menu often changes daily since they use local and fresh ingredients. They also try to reflect what they’re “into at the moment” whether it’s an ingredient, band, chef or current event.
If I hadn’t had tried their food for myself you might see me rolling my eyes…but they know what they’re doing and I can’t wait to make a return there some time very, very soon.
Apologies for the picture quality. We had some camera issues so the pictures are not the best quality. However we didn’t want to post a review without any pictures, as we think even the blurry ones give you a good idea of what we were working with!
Zinburger
3393 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30326
Phone | 404-963-9611
Hours | 11 a.m. – 11 p.m. daily
I was invited to Zinburger to try the winner of their third annual Zinburger contest – The Honolulu Baby Burger. It’s priced at $12 and will be featured at all nine east coast Zinburger locations from September 15-21st.
The Honolulu Baby Burger consists of a Certified Angus Beef patty with charred pineapple, volcanic fire roasted red peppers, swiss cheese, mayo and a Hawaiian favorite – SPAM – all between two oven roasted bronzed buns.
All right, so let’s get this out of the way. The first time I heard about this I was slightly horrified due to the – you guessed it – SPAM!
I haven’t ever had SPAM. All I know about SPAM is that it’s creepy looking when it comes out of the tin with all the bright Mad Men type colors. But hey, if this burger beat out all the rest then I was willing to try it.
The burger came out and the first thing I noticed was that visually, the SPAM didn’t look anything like I thought it would. It just looked like Canadian bacon and it had a similar texture. The sweet from the pineapple and pepper combined with the salty of the SPAM and the savory from the burger patty?
ohmylifeshutthefrontdooritwassogood.
I ate SPAM and lived to tell the tale.
Of course, because Denise (of We Like 2 Cook) is a terrible influence she bullied me into ordering other menu items so we could get an idea of what the rest of the menu was like.
So, we ordered the Ahi Tuna sandwich ($10) which comes with coleslaw, avocado, tamari soy glaze & mayo, the Almost Famous Veggie Burger ($9) which comes with smoked mozzarella, avocado, pea shoots, tomato and mayo.
Both of these sandwiches were on point. The ahi was cooked rare, just like it should be and they definitely don’t skimp when it comes to the amount of tuna you get, which is always a nice change.
Side note: I hate, hate, hate when I spend like, $13 on an “Ahi Tuna App/Entrée/Whatever” and you get it and there’s like, two effin’ pieces on the plate the size of an return address label. So the fact they didn’t skimp is HUGE for me.
The veggie burger was “shut the front door” good. I really love vegetarian dishes but I tend to avoid veggie burgers when I go out. They’re usually paper-thin patties that you can still taste the freezer burn on. Not these! Thick, not at all dried out – these are made in house and fresh daily and you can tell.
Since the burgers are a la carte, we took it upon ourselves to get the truffle fries and zucchini fries. Both were outstanding.
By the end of the meal, we were stuffed…but our waitress convinced us to try one of their milkshakes.
Okay. If you insist.
We split the salted caramel milkshake and let me tell you, it made me blush. It was so good. Honestly – this is embarrassing to admit but I can see myself going back JUST to get a milkshake to go.
The whole experience there was top notch. From the atmosphere, the décor and most importantly the food.
I would highly suggest stopping in at Zinburger the next time you are in the neighborhood. Let us know what you think by tweeting us at @_GoodEats!
Disclaimer –I was invited as a member of the Atlanta Food Bloggers’ Society to enjoy a complimentary meal in exchange for an honest and transparent review. The above review is 100% my own opinion and is no way influenced by the restaurant.
Good Eats: Mundial 