Atlanta Restaurants

 

I had training for HON Office Furniture in Atlanta this past week.  It just happened to be on Tuesday/Wednesday (which are Lance’s days off work each week), so he joined me for the work trip.  While I was in class, he wandered the city, and then in the evenings, we ate our way around town. 

On our way out of town, our flight out was delayed because of thunderstorms, so we enjoyed beers at the Cigar City brewery right in the Airside C terminal.  They brew beer right there in the airport– and even have some specialties that aren’t available at the other locations (I really liked the Tony Jannus Pale Ale – named for the world’s first commercial airline pilot, who flew from Tampa to St. Pete, Florida). 

We got to Atlanta Monday evening.  One of our all-time favorite restaurants is Canoe – we discovered it last time we were in Atlanta (read more about it on this blog post…)  The menu is innovative and perfectly executed, and the view is beautiful.  It is on the Chattahoochee River and has a beautiful garden behind.  Well, we couldn’t miss an opportunity to eat there again, so we took an Uber there for dinner (it’s a little drive from midtown/downtown Atlanta, so it would be hard to get there with public transportation). 

If you haven’t used Uber before, we had a great experience with it!  Our drivers were much friendlier than the taxi driver that we had from the airport, and if you go here or use my referral code amandan1158ue, you’ll get your first ride for free!  

Lance tried the Wild Heaven Eschaton Quadrupel based out of Decatur, GA, and I had their 4^th Sun Rising cocktail with Old Fourth Distillery, SOHO Lychee, lemongrass, lemon, and egg whites.  My drink was deliciously tart – but probably went a little overboard with the egg whites.  It was hard to get through the thick foam to sip the drink. 

We started with the peppercorn crusted kangaroo loin with caramelized onion tart, olive, and black vinegar gastrique (since when else will we have the opportunity to try kangaroo…)  If I hadn’t known any better, I would have just thought it was steak. 

For our main courses, Lance ordered the pork tenderloin and I had the lamb sirloin.  His actually came with multiple types of meat – the tenderloin, house made sausage, and braised pork belly, with apricot and natural jus.  Mine was served over English pea tortellini, minted tomato jam, and pistachio butter. You really can’t go wrong with anything you order at this restaurant.  We probably went a little overboard with the meat dishes that evening, but it was all fantastic. 

We were really full, but the dessert we had last time was one of the best sweets we’ve ever had, so we finished with their gourmet cracker jack sundae. 

I kept my receipt because it says I bought 1 kangaroo…

For summertime, it really wasn’t that hot outside and it was great weather for wandering their gardens.  There were fireflies lighting up and we visited the chicken coop where they get all the fresh eggs for the restaurant. 

After my training the next day, we visited the Wrecking Bar Brewpub.  We actually wanted to go on our last trip, but it was closed when we were there before.  It’s in the Little Five Points neighborhood in an old Victorian mansion.  The tables were set with pretty wildflowers.  Our waiter recommended the Corn Pups and the Georgia Duck, so we went with his suggestions.   

I’m not normally a fan of hot dogs – personally it just seems gross that it’s a mixture of all rejected meat parts.  But these were made from chedderwurst, battered in corn bread, and fried.  It was served with curry ketchup and yellow mustard – it was good, but would have been better if it was with a whole grain or spicy mustard. 

The duck was served with chioggia beets, red beet root, swiss chard, radish, chanterelles (a type of mushroom), and duck jus.  The presentation was very pretty, and the flavor was just as great as it looked. 

We finished with a peach crisp (which actually turned out to have blueberries as well).  It was topped with oatmeal streusel and vanilla honeysuckle gelato. 

Finally, the last day we had to fly back home, so we had a really early dinner around 4pm.  Several of my classmates from the training had eaten at South City Kitchen the night before and said it was amazing, but another set of people said it was so crowded, even on a Tuesday night, that there was over an hour wait.  We made reservations, but there really wasn’t a need for them when we showed up for such an early dinner. 

They didn’t start serving their full dinner until 5pm, but we ordered from their abbreviated bar menu, which had some of their specialties. I liked the Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan ale from Mississippi and Lance enjoyed his Hoplanta IPA – but I wasn’t as much of a fan of Terrapin’s Peach Farmhouse Ale (too sweet). 

We had the buttermilk fried chicken and the shrimp & red mule grits.  It seemed like we should get Southern specialties while we were in Georgia.  Both were really authentic dishes and very filling.  The red grits were a bit heavier than I’m used to – with poblano peppers, house made tasso ham, and smoked tomato gravy.  We didn’t have room for any dessert this time (and figured even if we did, dessert three nights in a row was probably a bad idea…) 

Atlanta has so many fantastic restaurant options – happy to have had the chance to try a few new ones this time!  But Canoe still tops the charts for me…definitely go there if you have the chance.      

Canoe is located at 4199 Paces Ferry Rd SE, Atlanta, GA 30339  and is open for lunch 11:30am – 2:30pm Monday through Fridays, for dinner 5:30pm – 10pm Monday through Thursday, and 5:30pm – 11pm Friday & Saturday, and 5:30pm – 9:30pm on Sundays.  They are also open for Sunday brunch 10:30am – 2:30pm. 

Wrecking Bar Brewpub is located at 292 Moreland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307 and is open 4pm – 11pm Monday – Thursday, 12pm – 12am Friday – Saturday, and 11am – 10pm on Sundays. 

Southern City Kitchen is located at 1144 Crescent Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 and is open 11am – 10pm Monday – Thursday, 11am – 10:30pm Friday, 10am – 3pm and 5pm – 10:30pm on Saturdays, and 10am – 3pm and 5pm – 10pm on Sundays. 

Patriotic Cupcakes

 

Our friends Tony & Katie hosted a 4^th of July potluck at their place this year, and I baked cupcakes!  The cupcakes themselves weren’t super sweet – more like a muffin – but I liked them that way since some cupcakes can be sickly sweet once you add the frosting and toppings. 

They were really easy to make, but it was a kind of chaotic morning.  I bought the ingredients a few days ago to avoid the rush of people at the grocery store that day, but realized I forgot cupcake liners (I know you don’t really need them, but they come out so much cleaner – plus my cupcake pans have so much permanent caked on food they’re pretty gross…)

I get back, only to realize that I’d left my baking pans at my parents’ place when we baked for our engagement party a few weeks ago.  So I stopped the oven from preheating again and ran by their condo to pick them up.  Then on the third try, I had all the ingredients put out, only to open the baking powder and realize it was empty.  I knew if I skipped it, I’d probably mess up the recipe.  My patience was wearing thin when a scooter going 15 miles an hour was in front of me all the way to the grocery store. 

Anyways, once I got all the ingredients, I was good to go!  I was excited for another excuse to use my KitchenAid mixer.  I topped them with blueberries, raspberries, and coconut in the shape of a flag.  While it was very pretty, it would have been nice to have mixed a few up and topped with all three toppings.  I’ve created a similar flag dessert before with blueberries and strawberries on cake (you can check out this post for a bunch of July 4th recipes!)

Patriotic Cupcakes (adapted from Good Housekeeping)

Ingredients:

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• ½ t. baking powder
• ½ t. baking soda
• ½ t. salt
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1.5 sticks butter (12 T)
• 1 lemon
• 3 large eggs
• 1 c. buttermilk (I never buy buttermilk – instead, fill 1 cup almost all the way with regular milk, then add a few squirts of lemon juice.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes before using it). 
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 c. confectioner’s sugar
• ½ pint blueberries
• 1 pint raspberries
• 1 c. sweetened coconut flakes 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Line 20 cupcake pan cups with liners.   

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. 

3. In a large bowl or with your KitchenAid mixer, beat granulated sugar and 8 T of the butter for about 5 minutes on medium speed until pale and fluffy, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula.    

4. Grade 3 tsp of peel from the lemon.  Reserve 1 tsp and set aside.  With the mixer on medium speed, add 2 tsp peel and beat about 1 minute. 

5. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the bowl. 

6. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, until just blended. 

7. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners.  I used a mini ice cream scooper to easily put the batter in the cups (a trick I learned from the Cupcakes & Cocktails class at the Epicurean last month).  

8. Bake 18 – 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  The cupcakes can be stored, well wrapped, at room temperature for 2 days, or in a freezer up to a month.  

9.  While the cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting.  Blend the cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, remaining 4 T of butter, and remaining 1 tsp of lemon peel on low.  Increase the speed and beat 3 – 5 minutes until pale and fluffy.   

10. Spread the frosting on the cooled cupcakes.  Top with blueberries, raspberries, and coconut.  

Sono Café at the Tampa Museum of Art

 

Between the new job and wedding planning, it’s been difficult to stay on top of the food blogging!  Believe me, we’re still eating delicious food, but I’m unfortunately posting about it a bit late now.  And if it’s a restaurant or recipe I’ve already posted about, I’m just sharing photos on the facebook page rather than writing a whole new blog post about it.  So if you aren’t already, follow me on there!

Tampa Restaurant Week had 70+ restaurants participate this year.   Each offered a $30 prix fixe menu – we got a sampling of it at their Meet the Chefs launch party at Coppertail Brewing.  Some of the offerings were $30 per person, and some were $30 per couple. 

My friend Maddie and I decided to check out Sono Café’s three-course prix fixe meal, which was one of the $30 shared meals.  The amount of food we got for it being $15 each was pretty generous.   

It’s located in the lower level of the Tampa Museum of Art - the modern architecture of the building is so unique in Tampa that it’s worth visiting.  The view of Curtis Hixon Park, the new Tampa Riverwalk extension, and the Hillsborough River is beautiful – and if it’s a nice day out, you can dine outside in the shade of the museum (although being mid-summer, we ate inside in the AC).  

We each had a cup of tomato soup for our first course.  We split the Four Cheese Grilled Cheese with provolone, white cheddar, goat, manchego, spinach and sundried tomatoes (which also included a side salad).  This was one of the best grilled cheese and tomato soup pairings I’ve had.  Then for our other Second Course selection, we shared the Artisan Cheese and Charcuterie Platter – with crostini, olives, mustard, and pickled vegetables. 

 

For the third course, we got to split a coconut gelato.  While it’s served in a small container, they do fill it well beyond the top and it was plenty to share after the large meal. 

I had only ever had the gelato at Sono Café when I’ve visited the art museum, but I was very impressed with the rest of our meal.  I’d definitely go back again!  Their food is well worth the trip, even if you aren’t already planning a museum visit (although if you haven’t been, you really should see one of their exhibits!) 

Sono Café is located at 120 W Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa, FL 33602.  They are open Monday – Thursday 11am – 6pm, Friday 11am – 8pm, and Saturday – Sunday 11am – 5pm.