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January 2008
Valentine Voo Doo
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Share some NECCO sweets with your sweetie on V-Day AP photo: Chitose Susuki
It’s almost heeerrree. One of the most dined out nights of the year (and we’re still recovering from the Holidays. OY!)
So who does that voodoo that you do so well for Valentine’s Day? Do you have a reservation at a local restaurant? Where? How many weeks in advance did you have to make the reservation? Is someplace new for you, or do you visit the same place as a tradition each year?
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Who’s got the best chocolates in town?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Valentine’s Day is coming up. If you’re buying chocolates this year, where do you plan to go?
Is there a local chocolatier you’d recommend? Several small shops turn out good chocolates here; we’d love to hear what your favorites are.
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Let’s Hear it For the (Sous) Chefs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Right Hand Chefs: Behind every great chef (pictured is Bacchanalia) is an equal and un-opposing sous chef. Photo: William Berry/AJC Staff
Do you know someone who kicks butt in the kitchen and might not get enough credit for it? Do you know a spouse, partner, boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, lovah or otherwise groovy individual who works as a sous chef or chef de cuisine who deserves a shout out?
Let’s hear it for Atlanta’s unsung kitchen heroes: I’d love to know more about the men and women behind the chef. Who’s your favorite sous chef?
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Sliding Into New Trends
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The sliders at Trois
photo: Louie Favorite/AJC staff
January is about to end, and a few trends, though not exactly new, are emerging in Atlanta’s dining scene that will make for fun eating in the next 11 months.
Mintel Menu Insights, a national restaurant-tracking service that spots and reports on national trends, has pinpointed one of the hottest: minis. No, not skirts. Not Dr. Evil’s sidekick. Mini versions of bigger favorites like burgers, wraps and cupcakes.
Minis not only satisfy the urge to order something snack like, they provide smaller portions that allow you to reasonably try more things from a menu. They’re also less expensive than their big brother counterparts. And dang, they’re cute.
Concentrics Hospitality’s restaurants seem to have the market share in the area. Two Urban Licks (which I wrote about last week) serves scrumptious po’ boy sliders of fried shrimp and tartar sauce, fired up with lettuce, tomato and Tabasco. And mini cupcakes of pistachio, chocolate and spiced carrot are on the bill for dessert. Trois serves terrific sliders at its chic bar downstairs — order a drink (gin is always nice with itty bitty burgers) and sink your pearlies into a hunk of halibut, coq au vin with a mire poix spread (that’s celery, onion and carrot puree) on a poppy seed roll or the best — beef short ribs on focaccia. Clearly these mini meat bites aren’t just for Krystal anymore.
One of my favorite things at Lola, in Buckhead, is a trio of mini ice cream cones set up sweetly in a sushi hand roll rack. Very clever. And fun. Seasons 52’s sexy stems of mini desserts are the best thing on the menu.
Are you seeing minis? Where? What have you tried?
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Two’s Company
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The salmon chips at Two Urban Licks photo: Jenni Girtman/AJC staff
With Scott Serpas out of the kitchen at Two Urban Licks, I wanted to check out former sous chef Cameron Thompson’s efforts at holding his own as the new executive chef at this mega popular Midtown restaurant from Concentrics Hospitality. Thompson took over the kitchen a few months ago, according to Serpas.
Dinner last night proved that the move was seamless — patrons who don’t consider themselves up on these types of goings on and eat there regularly I doubt would discern a difference.
The salmon chips are just as crisp, though frankly have a little too much salmon if that’s possible — it overpowers the peppery cream cheese, capers and red onions a little too much. I was happy to find and enjoy a dish of free form ravioli (something I thought might take hold at local restaurants the same way gnudi have with some chefs, but really just hasn’t). Bite-sized rock shrimp, a fresh-and-tasty diversion from their larger cousins, were enveloped in a just-right lemon beurre with wilted spinach and pop-in-your-mouth grape tomatoes, along with pillowy layers of pasta. The trio of cupcakes are still around for dessert, though presented on a plate instead of a plancha, which was much more appealing (and the pistachio cupcake was gummy to the point of weirdness).
I still really dislike the wine program, which houses the offerings in barrels rather than bottles, even though I think co-owner and bev man Todd Rushing is a bit of a local genius.
“Here’s the bottom line on Two Urban Licks: The folks behind it know how to please their market base: a young, in-town crowd that couldn’t care less that the tuna is slushy and the wine comes from a barrel. This crowd is out to have fun, meet new people, nosh a little and enjoy the eye candy that comes with all of the above.”
That’s what I said in my review of the restaurant with Scott Serpas as executive chef back in January of 2005, just after the restaurant opened in late 2004. And it’s still my bottom line three years later.
What do you think?
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Are These Two Top Chefs?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
photo: Blaising his way to glory: Richard Blais in the Kitchen at now-closed Element, prior to his stint on the upcoming season of Top Chef. Becky Stein/special to the AJC
It’s official, though we knew it all along: Richard Blais will compete with 15 others in season four of Bravo’s Top Chef, along with another local, Nimma Osman.
The folks at Bravo are pretty tight-lipped about the two, but we know who they are. The season, which doesn’t air until March 12, includes these two culinarians in a cook off to the finish — though how both fare will have to remain a mystery — neither are able to comment until Bravo gives them the okay to do so. Senior press manager for Bravo Communications Victoria Brody says the embargo for interviews will be lifted as the new season nears. Rumor has it that Osman gets cut pretty quickly, but that Blais makes it to at least the final four.
Blais, 35, became a force on the local dining scene back in 2004 when he created his infamous foie gras milkshake at his eponymous restaurant, Blais, which opened, then closed, in a half year’s span. It was long enough for devoted Atlanta foodies to take notice of his fresh take on molecular gastronomy, and stints at Bazzaar, One Midtown Kitchen and most recently the lovely-but-short-lived Element in Midtown garnered Blais a devoted fan base. He’s described on the show’s website as a “culinary designer” — something he’s been doing at Elevation in Kennesaw by designing and consulting with the new restaurant’s menu, which includes his vanilla panna cotta with Coca-Cola rocks and Cracker Jacks.
Osman, 26, is less known — she worked for Shaun Doty at Shaun’s in Inman Park and more recentlygarde manger and grill for Repast in Midtown for “less than a year” according to chef-owner Joe Truex. “she came to us with a good background and wanted a long commitment, so I was surprised to find out that she was auditioning for Top Chef.” Truex held Osman’s position for the five-week filming period, but says she gave two-week notice in December. “It was an extremely disappointing experience for us,” said Truex. “I’m not sure what Top Chef is looking for, but Nimma has a lot of ‘tude.’” Sous chef Mike Bacha agreed. “She’s a young chef,” Bacha allowed. “But we all wish her well.” According to Bravo’s website, Osman is from Peachtree City and is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and is listed as a “chef at Repast.” Ian Winslade, the new chef at soon-to-open Spice Market in Midtown confirmed Wednesday that Osman “has been extended an offer of employment,” though he would not confirm if it was in the kitchen, or working as part of the Jean-Georges Vongerichten concept’s front-of-the-house staff.
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Silver Midtown Grill is Alive and Kickin’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
photo: Hyosub Shin/AJC staff
Baaaaaaad phone company. If you’ve tried to call the new Silver Midtown Grill, you may have gotten a disconnection notice and wondered if the newly opened and rechristened Midtown icon had closed as quickly as it had reopened. Not so. Their new number is 404-817-9827. The disconnection notice is a phone company mix up. Viva la chicken-fried steak and gravy!
In addition to a new coat of paint and a sparkling new hood over the stove, the Grill offers a few additions to the menu, notably the all-inclusive breakfast. Who’s tried it? Is it Atlanta’s best? If not, where’s your favorite spot for eggs, biscuits and bacon?
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Red Velvet Revelations
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
photo: Ben Gray/AJC staff
It’s a bit of urban legend that attributes the origin of red velvet cake to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, where it was popular in the 1920s. Much like the Neiman-Marcus cookie myth, it’s unlikely that this ruby red cocoa cake, so lauded in the South, originated there.
Growing up Southern, it was my favorite birthday cake (though my mother often colored the cream cheese frosting purple, since that was my favorite color). I noticed my friends from Chicago, New York and New England had rarely ever heard of it, though. But about five to ten years ago, red velvet cake began to take hold all over the country. Jessica Simpson and Nick Lahey had one for their wedding cake (well, probably not such a good sign now that I think of it). And that’s a red velvet cake shaped like an armadillo for a groom’s cake in “Steel Magnolias.”
Suddenly, RVC was showing up everywhere — and it still is. My favorite in Atlanta? The simple version at Sweet Auburn Bread Company on Auburn Ave. or a slice from A Piece of Cake in Roswell or Buckhead. I’m working on an upcoming RVC piece for the AJC’s food section and I want to know: Where do you think the best red velvet cake in Atlanta is?
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Deconstructing Decanting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At dinner the other night friends were talking about the latest “trend” they’ve seen at dinner parties — decanting wine. Seems folks are turned on by turning their wines out into glass decanters before serving. My friends even mentioned that one couple “blended” their own wine at the table, adding a little bit of a more medium bodied-red to a full-bodied red to “round it out.”
I have to say I was pretty aghast at the latter — I think perhaps the “blending” should best be left to the vintner.
We ordered a Clos Saint-Jean Chateauneuf du Pape 2004 — a big, full-bodied, slightly jammy red that could have easily been decanted to allow it to breathe, but I find it more interesting in a younger wine to allow that to happen in the glass, unless, as is the case with many young Italian reds, the nose is heavy with petroleum until it’s opened up a bit.
Decanting is generally done to 1) separate the wine from sediment that may have occurred during the wine’s aging, or 2) to allow a “tight” wine to breathe. Lately I’ve noticed several dining rooms decanting wines left and right willy nilly. Ugh. Is the decanter becoming the peppermill of the double 0s? Are we soon to have every red we order decanted whether it needs it or not? Don’t get me wrong — it’s wonderful when a waiter knows when and how to decant.
Who’s experienced this at local restaurants? Do you like it? Or do you think it’s a perceived value-added fad?
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Steak Out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
photo: Jenni Girtman/AJC
I’ve never quibbled about where my favorite place for steak is — Bones. That type of statement can get you into trouble in a city where steak is more popular than fried chicken and biscuits.
For me, the steaks at Bones are great things of beauty — my favorite cut is their bone-in ribeye. Just finished a meal there this week and they are offering a new cut, a bone-in New York strip, which was almost as delectable as the ribeye, but not quite as marbled and juicy.
Couple the charred perfection of the steaks with a few grit fritters, some sauteed spinach and the colossal, sweet shrimp in a shrimp cocktail (plus that deep wine list), and Bones offers up one of the most hedonistic meals around. Plus there’s a free juke box, and it plays everything from the Zombies to Tony Bennett amidst all those kooky caricatures on the walls. You can’t beat this experience.
With so many steak houses to choose from, where do you go for a great steak?
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Latest PETA video focuses on Cumming chicken plant
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has just released undercover video taken at a Tyson Foods plant in Cumming, Ga., that claims to show acts of cruelty against chickens awaiting slaughter, and unsanitary conditions such as workers urinating on the plant floor around chickens.
The organization, which promotes vegetarianism and animal rights, is asking for Tyson to switch to controlled-atmosphere killing, a slaughter method it contends is more humane because it uses an inert gas to kill chickens; to fire employees if they abuse animals; and to hire undercover investigators to monitor plant conditions. The video also urges consumers to go vegetarian.
PETA is also urging consumers to boycott KFC, for which Tyson is a major supplier. You can read a statement about the chicken chain’s animal welfare policy on the web site for Yum! Brands, parent of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Long John Silver’s.
Tyson says it is investigating the allegations, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and that it is committed to animal welfare. In a statement, the company says it conducts regular animal welfare audits at its plants, including one in Tennessee where the PETA investigator also worked and taped video. The company said some images in the video warrant investigation, but contends that others are being sensationalized by PETA.
What do you think of PETA’s campaigns? Do you look for certification from animal welfare groups on meat or poultry purchased at supermarkets? Buy cage-free eggs? Do animal welfare concerns affect where you eat?
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Where to find locally grown food
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you want to buy directly from a farmer, in winter you can head to three markets still operating in metro Atlanta: the Morningside Farmers Market, on Saturday mornings; the Decatur Organic Farmers Market, on Wednesday afternoons; and the produce stall just outside of Star Provisions in west Midtown, on Fridays and Saturdays.
Thinking about joining a community-supported agriculture program next spring? Most CSA programs serving Atlanta start in late April or early May. Some programs start taking reservations as early as Feb. 1, and may fill up that day. If you’re interested in joining a program in 2008, you can search for one near you at Local Harvest, or by looking in the local food guide from Georgia Organics.
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Shop today, help local farmers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you shop at the Whole Foods Market in Buckhead today (Wednesday, Jan. 16), 5 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Peachtree Road Farmers Market and other organizations devoted to sustainable, local food and hunger prevention, including the Atlanta Food Bank, Georgia Interfaith Power & Light and Georgia Organics. Julie Adkisson Bartholomew, the farmers market manager, sent along an email to get the word out.
The store is at 77 West Paces Ferry Road, a block west of Peachtree Road, and is open until 10 p.m.
The Peachtree Road market, started in 2007 in the parking lot next to the Cathedral of St. Philip, is the city’s newest farmers market. It’s closed for the season, but will reopen in spring. Some of its vendors, including Via Elisa fresh pasta and sauces, and Sweetgrass Dairy cheeses, also sell products at Whole Foods stores around Atlanta, including Harry’s Farmers Market.
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It’s official: FDA says cloned animals safe to eat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Meat and milk from cloned animals is safe for human consumption, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. Rumors had swirled for more than a year that the agency would reach that decision, after giving preliminary approval in December 2006.
Clone products won’t be hitting store shelves just yet, if ever (the animals are too expensive to use just for food; instead, they’re breeding stock). The FDA is continuing a temporary hold on sales of food from clones, at the request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which must sell the decision to trading partners that might be reluctant to buy such foods.
But milk and meat from the offspring of clones can be sold immediately, the FDA said. The agency turned down requests to require that food from cloned animals note that information on labels. You can read more about the decision and its impact in this story.
What do you think about eating steak from the offspring of a cloned animal, or drinking milk from one? Where should science draw the line in altering the food supply?
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More Foodie Web Sites For You to Savor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Photo: Louie Favorite/AJC staff
A dairy goat from Sweet Grass Dairy in Thomasville, Ga.
There’s so much local talent in (and around) this town it’s hard to share it all, but two new sites are worth a look:
The first is a website developed by local chef/baker/entrepreneur/chief cook-and-bottle-washer Jeffery Dewberry (known locally as the man behind the biscuits — and counter — at Candler Park’s Flying Biscuit Cafe). Log on to Dewberry’s Seasonal Living and check out the homespun goodness of what cooking means to people who really love to cook. Christmas cookies and candies are featured right now, but the site promises soups and stews for later this month. Can’t wait.
The second is a new blog that’s part of award-winning Sweet Grass Dairy’s website: Sweet Grass Dairy. The Wehner family in Thomasville logs on to convey the ups and downs of making cheese. Fascinating reading for anyone who might want to “whey” in.
Do you know of a local foodie web site you’d like to share?
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Release Your Inner Critic
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Photo: W. A. Bridges Jr./AJC Staff
Will Bacchanalia remain the best? It’s up to you — not owners Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison (shown here in the kitchen of their award-winning restaurant).
Here’s your chance to rate Atlanta restaurants: log on to Zagat.com, where everybody can be a critic. Your responses will be part of the ratings for the next edition of the popular “people’s” restaurant guide which will publish later this year.
Most area restaurants are included in the survey, and voting takes place from now until January 27. For your efforts, you’ll receive a copy of the book, but to read the reviews online you’ll need to pay for a premium membership, at $24.95 annually.
Who’s the best? Where’s your favorite neighborhood spot? Who’s got the most bang for the buck? It’s up to you to decide…
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Julia Speaks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
photo: AP 1978
I rarely pass on magazine covers that hawk Johnny Depp, and this month’s issue of Esquire magazine is no exception. The issue focuses on interviews with celebs about “what they’ve learned” based on the ten-year anniversary of the “what do you know?” questions that started in 1998 with Rod Steiger.
Admittedly, this seems like an unlikely stopping off point for a blog about dining out. But sandwiched between Kirk Douglas and Faye Dunaway is an unlikely candidate for the topic: Julia Child.
Interviewed by Mike Sager in 2000 (child passed away in 2004), she confides many wisdoms our way, with a somewhat surprising femininity. Here are a few:
- Fat gives things flavor.
- There is nothing worse than grilled vegetables.
- Tears mess up your makeup.
- Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it’s done right. Even a pancake.
- Always remember: If you’re alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who’s going to know?
Finally, the green light for the five-second rule from the greatest of our culinary icons.
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That’s Alotta Mashed Taters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s how comedian Patton Oswalt weighs in on KFC’s Famous Bowl:
Have you ever eaten one of these? Are they even available in Atlanta area KFC’s? What do you think? From the sound of it, I think I would flee to the mountains if I had to eat one…
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Nuevo Laredo Cantina
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s print review of Nuevo Laredo Cantina has resulted in lots of emails my way — many agree with me; many don’t. This passionate story, sent to me by reader Riley O’Connor in Brookhaven, was something I just had to share. He’s obviously an Irishman who knows his Mexican food…
“Well, if you were looking for controversy, I’m sure that your review of Nuevo Laredo in today’s AJC will fill the bill. With the exception of the sugar-in-the-cornbread discussion, it doesn’t come much more passionate than that. So…..
When I was a kid, we lived in Brownsville, Texas, which I believe gives me the credentials to at least talk about this subject. At that time, there were two Mexican restaurants that my parents favored. One, in a tony downtown location, was very elegant and the dinner conversation amongst the adults almost always used to drift over to the matter of the ownership, both men, who were living together. Zippy stuff for the 1950’s. The other was a joint out on the edge of town that featured the requisite neon framed windows, etc.
Going across the border into Matamoros was always a treat, with places like the American Bar, Las Piedras Negras and others. Piedras Negras had gabrito splayed out in the front window, slowly grilling until the Yanquis arrived. American Bar was red hot, simply because that’s what people from the U.S. expected. I vividly remember on a Saturday night, standing on the town square with my parents, watching the young people walking around the plaza; the young men walked in one direction and the young ladies (and their Mamas and Tias) walked in the opposite direction. Afterward, we were walking down the darkened streets and came upon a bright light shining out from a building. Inside was a corn tortilla “manufacturing facility”; it was little more that an unfinished building, with bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. In one corner, a woman fed corn kernels and water into a electrically powered mill while other women would take the ground corn and make tortillas, flop them onto a gas heated griddle and make the staple food of the country. You bought them for a few cents, wrapped in wax paper and redolent of fresh cooked corn. When you went further into Mexico, either to Veracruz, Reynosa or Victoria, the food heat calmed down very quickly.”
What a memory. Thanks for sharing, Riley.
What’ your take on Nuevo Laredo Cantina?
Where’s your favorite Mexican in the Atlanta area?
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Who’s Dieting? I Want a Burger
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Love the EARL. Love the Vortex. Manuel’s is pretty good if you’ve got a hankerin’. The Ghetto burger rocks, but only if you have a half-day to spend waiting on it. Shaun’s burger is outrageous. Love the Burger slider at STATS. Heck, I even like the burger at Chili’s when in a very tight pinch and have a hangover.
Where’s your favorite burger?
Anybody been to the Beef O Brady’s in Grayson to try a Wack a Burger?
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Where to find locally grown food
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you want to buy directly from a farmer, in winter you can head to three markets still operating in metro Atlanta: the Morningside organic market, on Saturday mornings; the Decatur organic market, on Wednesday afternoons; and the produce stall just outside of Star Provisions in west Midtown, on Fridays and Saturdays.
Thinking about joining a community-supported agriculture program next spring? Most CSA programs serving Atlanta start in late April or early May. Some programs start taking reservations as early as Feb. 1, and may fill up that day. If you’re interested in joining a program in 2008, you can search for one near you at Local Harvest, or by looking in the local food guide from Georgia Organics.
Permalink | | Categories: Local Food
Have Your Cocktail and Drink It, Too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
photo: Jeff Moore
Yet another list for endings and beginnings is the Roper Reports summary of findings for alcohol consumption in the United States. GfK Roper Reports Worldwide, an independent consulting firm that specializes in consumer behavior, has listed its findings for 2007, and with few exceptions, the results are not that surprising.
Vodka, for instance, is the most popular liquor among American adults 21 and over. Out of the 54% of of adults who drink, 25% of them prefer vodka to any other liquor. Why? My guess is that vodka is flavorless and can be mixed with almost anything.
Beer floats to the top of the findings, though, as the most popular alcoholic bev; it’s also — shockingly (NOT) — consumed by more men (48%) than women (26%). Guys love to drink it while watching sports games or at parties, but its also ordered more at bars in general, rather than liquor. Glad they spent money on those findings…
The most interesting finding is that Americans apparently find it more appealing to drink at a friend’s house than at our own: 58% of adults polled felt more comfortable drinking at a friend’s house than the 47% who might drink at home with their families. Hmmm….. What do you think?
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Fast food takes a cue from YouTube
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chick-fil-A is promising 40 months of free food to the winner of its Biggest Fan Video Contest, which wraps up at midnight Jan. 15.
Frito-Lay is trying to boost Cheetos’ appeal to adults with a new ad campaign that combines scratchy video, fake news reports and a shadowy Orange Underground that’s touting cheese puffs for the college unification bowl.
Burger King tried a viral scheme with its Subservient Chicken, launched to promote new chicken sandwiches. It’s another shadowy site that lets users type in commands for a giant chicken to perform, sort of like, well, web sites that company policy prohibits using company computers for or even mentioning.
Even Delta has dipped its wings in online video, with a SiteSeer travel contest last year that paired professional video editors with travelers to put together the most compelling look at various Delta destinations in just two minutes.
Some companies offer premiums for looking and voting, like Delta awarding SkyMiles for SiteSeer votes. Others offer lame video and promise nothing more than a way to kill a few minutes.
What’s the coolest online food or travel video offerings out there? Who’s offering good premiums for viewing? Which ones are a waste of time?
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Chapulines and Other Crunchies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The folks at Tierra let me know that last week they were serving some chapulines — you know, grasshoppers? These crunchy little treats are considered quite a delicacy in Oaxaca, Mexico. They’re washed before seasoning, then usually toasted. Crunchy and savory, they’re actually quite good.
Are there any Atlanta Anthony Bourdains out there? Have you eaten chapulines in Atlanta? Where? What other “strange” foods have you tried?
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Krispy Kreme drops trans fats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Krispy Kreme announced Monday that it has dropped trans fats from its menu. That means its doughnuts and other foods and beverages contain less than a half-gram of trans fats.
But the original glazed doughnut is still a 200-calorie indulgence of white flour, sugar and fat, deep-fried in a blend of vegetable oil and palm oil that’s higher in saturated fats than the previous formula.
The bottom line: An original glazed doughnut still contains 200 calories and 12 grams of total fat. It now has 6 grams of bad fats (all saturated) rather than the 7 grams of saturated and trans fats that it had before.
The doughnut hounds in the newsroom didn’t notice any change in taste, although, of course, they complained that they were sampling cold doughnuts instead of hot ones. (It’s the first formula change for the original glazed since the ’80s.)
Does removing trans fats from Krispy Kreme doughnuts affect whether you’ll eat them? How about in other restaurant foods, like French fries?
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Would you consume milk or meat from cloned animals?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Wall Street Journal reported today, citing unnamed sources, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would announce as soon as next week that meat and milk from cloned animals is safe for human consumption. The agency had issued a preliminary ruling saying the same thing in December 2006, then opened its findings for public comment.
Biotech companies say that food products from these animals are safe, and that they’re essentially doing the same thing that farmers have done for thousands of years: Selective breeding to strengthen herds with offspring of animals that produce the most milk or the most tender meat.
Consumer advocates point to increased health problems in clones and say it’s too soon to rule that food from these animals or their offspring is safe. (Because clones cost so much to produce, likely any food products would come from their offspring, rather than from the clones themselves.) They also are pushing the FDA to require that food from these animals be labeled.
Want to learn more? The FDA has put together its studies and consumer FAQs. A coalition of consumer groups, led by Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, summarizes its position here.
Would you drink milk or eat meat from a cloned animal or its offspring? Should such food be labeled as coming from clones?
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Pizza Outside the Perimeter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rosa’s Pizza, the downtown model of mozzarella, opened a satellite restaurant in Cobb County this past fall. After 18 years in business on downtown’s Broad Street, owners John and Tony Rosa decided to expand closer to where they live, and give Tony’s son Joe an opportunity to learn the business, ya know what I mean? Forgettaboudit.
I ventured that way one sunny afternoon to check out the slices. I’ve made no secret of my love of Rosa’s downtown — a place where those of us who have spent more than our fair share of time in the Northeast can actually get a slice that tastes like somebody with a name ending in a vowel probably had a hand in making it.
I was really disappointed: the veggie slice was nothing like what I love about the original’s. The crust was too crispy around the edges and got soggy towards the center; the veggies completely overloading the slice yet adding no pith. Pepperoni faired similarly. What gives? Has anybody been to the new Rosa’s? What do you think?
Where’s the best slice outside the perimeter?
Rosa’s, 3605 Sandy Plains Rd., Marietta
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My Best of 2007
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A new beginning is always a time for reflection, and dining this past year held a plethora of passionate eating. Looking back on the reviews of last year, here are my favorite dishes of 2007. What are yours?
1. Early in 2007 I reviewed Shaun’s, from chef-owner Shaun Doty, in the perfect neighborhood setting — Inman Park. Lovely to look at, the restaurant exudes what’s right about today’s American bistro: it’s intimate, charming and serves the kind of meal we all wish we could make at home, right down to desserts. (Doty is actually one of the best pastry people in the city.) My fave: Doty cooks seasonally, but the Sardinian flatbread can almost always be found on the menu, providing a crunch factor at the start of a meal. Bartendress Lara Creasy goes to a lot of trouble to make sure her cocktails match the menu just right.
2. When you eat at Palomilla’s Cuban Grill House in Norcross, it’s not just the food — which is hands down the best Cuban in the Atlanta area — that lulls you into submission. There is a strong sense of community here, and it’s transcendent, as if that dish of grouper in salsa verde came with its own white dove and olive branch. One bite, and everyone is happy. My fave: masas de cerdo, chunks of pork so tender they shred from the fork with the tiniest of nudges. The thick chunks of pork are marinated just enough to give flavor and juiciness, then are deep-fried and served with a Cuban mojo sauce and lime.
3. Brothers Alex and Chris Kinjo have a big, beautiful second success on their hands with the newly opened MF Buckhead. No detail has been ignored - especially the quality and freshness of the fish. My fave: snow crab, asparagus and salmon roll with a creamy Japanese aioli. Omigod good.
4. An evening at Joël since its dramatic makeover this past summer is different, but change, as the bumper sticker professes, is good. Out of 30 dishes or so (many tried twice), I had one dish I didn’t like, leaving very little to complain about. Raving is easy: homey sides of buttered parsnips, beautifully dressed with salt and butter in a tiny copper pot? Unbeatable. And the grits? Made with cream and truffle oil, they’re the height of indulgence — such a seemingly effortless dish elevated so simply to creamy, savory transcendence. My fave: a bowl of fleshy chestnuts with porcini ravioli in a light cream sauce followed by a tiny tian of meringue swimming in a creme anglaise (like a tiny oeuf a la niege).
5. Tamarind Thai’s new location at Colony Square might not have as much character as the old locale, but the food is better than ever. My fave: fiery yum nuam nam tok (designated on the menu with only a two-chile heat rating, so a dish with four must remove part of the roof of your mouth). This beef salad, made with strips of sirloin tossed with lime, mint leaves, lemon grass and onions is laced (did I say laced? I meant loaded) with hot peppers. Order a beer. Do not drink water. Have tissues on hand.
6. Inspired by trips to Brazil, Riccardo Ullio (who is Italian) has brought to Juniper Street a small space with a big personality — the beautiful Beleza. It offers some of the best — if not the best — culinary cocktails from mixologist Lindy Colburn doubled with a menu inspired by Brazil but certainly not beholden to it. My fave: If I’m going to drink my dinner, it may as well be one of Colburn’s excellent acerola mojitos, made with the tart cherry native to South America and full of vitamin C, which is of course, ahem, why I drink it.
7. Brasserie le Coze moved downtown and morphed into FAB — French American Brasserie. Other than an overly large dining space that leaves me cold, the food is as good as ever, with many of Brasserie’s old standards. My fave: The skate wings are crisper, saltier and even bolder than before, scrumptious in their brown butter sauce with fat, Pantellerian capers.
8. When people ask me what my favorite restaurant in Atlanta is, I always respond La Oaxaquena Taqueria, which is actually in Jonesboro. The flavor of masa, formed into the various constructions the different regions in Mexico offer — tortillas, sopes, huaraches, gorditas and giant tlayudas — is irresistible, a musky, corn-flavored mass that seems to hold within it an entire culture’s history. My fave: tlayudas, a Oaxacan specialty street food, are things of great, messy beauty — a thin, griddled, oversized tortilla smothered in shredded lettuce, gobs of beans and spicy Mexican chorizo, fresh, ripe tomatoes, avocado, and string cheese from Oaxaca called quesillo.
9. One of the best things about dining out these days is when a pleasant surprise comes my way — something that happened when rereviewing Babette’s this past fall. Old friends are hard to keep, but Babette’s is a Poncey Hi gem. My fave: tufts of crusty French bread dipped into the balmy au jus of an exquisite bowl of roast chicken with juicy tomatoes, Nicoise olives, red bliss potatoes and shreds of grilled radicchio.
10. There are very few things Hugh Acheson of Athens’ Five & Ten does wrong. And one of his rightest, bestest qualities is a keen attention to detail — seasonally inspired offerings, a cherry-picked, extremely affordable wine list, and pickles. Yes, pickles. This guy can “put up” veggies better than your Aunt Mable. My fave: okra, green tomatoes and bread and butters. Add a serving of house-made pimento cheese with a glass of red wine and a meal is made.
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MF Buckhead Too Expensive?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most of the feedback from last week’s review of MF Buckhead has been positive, but with a caveat: Everyone feels that while they know how high end the restaurant is, they still feel it’s too pricey for what you get.
I couldn’t disagree more. Atlanta is happy to go to Bone’s or Fogo de Chao and drop a wad of cash for a steak, but when it comes to sushi, the small portion sizes of top-shelf fish just doesn’t rate. This is the freshest fish in Atlanta, bar none. And this restaurant has pulled out all the stops to get it here. It’s also prepared excellently, with less waste than a steak house.
Are there places in the city where you can get fresh fish for less? Of course. Taka has always been a favorite. Sushi there embodies the same simplicity and freshness that the brothers Kinjo of MF give their customers (well, with the addition of all those funky maki rolls).
But sushi is everywhere, and it’s become so Americanized that it’s sickening. MF Buckhead offers a Japanese experience incomparable in the Atlanta dining scene. Some things are worth paying for.
What do you think?
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Starbucks, Taco Bell lighten up menus
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that 2008 is here, we’re supposed to stop snarfing chocolate-covered everything and start dieting. It’s the American way, or at least, the cycle that the food industry puts together every year: Seasonal goodies, limited-edition candy bars, baking mixes and frozen casseroles, then a flood of dieting products, books and light menus in restaurants. Oddly enough, a market research firm that studies American eating patterns say we’re actually more likely to diet in March than in January, as we near bathing suit season.
What’s in store this year? Starbucks is offering lighter lattes under the “Skinny” name (Caribou Coffee offers something similar, called Northern Lite Lattes). They’re made with sugar-free syrup, nonfat milk and foam rather than whipped cream. A Skinny Mocha Latte or Cafe Latte weighs in at 90 calories for a tall. (A tall regular Mocha Latte is 270 calories; it contains 2 percent milk, whipped cream and mocha syrup.)
Taco Bell, which is advertising its Cheesy Gordito Crunch heavily and has been promoting its Fourth Meal concept of another eating occasion between dinner and breakfast, is rolling out a marketing campaign for its Fresco-style items. No cheese or heavy sauces, just salsa and less than 9 grams of fat. If it sounds familiar, that’s because Taco Bell rolled the menu out in 2003, but to a lukewarm reception. This time around, look for nine items instead of 15, and ads in women’s magazines that compare the Fresco items to hamburgers. (If you’d like to see how they compare to Taco Bell’s other offerings, the chain’s web site offers nutritional information.)
I tried the skinless grilled chicken breast meal at the new El Pollo Loco in Roswell the other night, and thought the chicken a little dry; still, if you’re trying to cut calories, it comes with a light, spicy cilantro dressing and a side of cauliflower, carrots and broccoli, with only 270 calories, so it’ll do the trick. The chain is expanding rapidly in Atlanta. Nutritional information on its web site is more helpful than on most, because it puts everything in context, classifying them good, excellent, moderate, high, etc. The small bowl of chicken tortilla soup that both of my children ate, for example, was a good choice for calories, but high in sodium with 1,050 milligrams.
Are you thinking about dieting now? Do you find these types of lighter offerings helpful? If you’ve got a favorite light menu item from a quick-service or fast-food restaurant, share it with us.
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