Atlanta Trip Part 2 – Highland Bakery, Canoe & Point of View Lounge

 

Day 2 of our trip we started out with breakfast at Highland Bakery.  It is located in a nice neighborhood with a beautiful park across the street.  The walls were all painted different colors and were decorated with glass art (which was for sale).  The atmosphere is pretty laid back – the servers wear their everyday street clothes and weren’t pretentious at all (unlike the other waiters we had met so far on our trip…)

 

 

 

 

 

I ordered the Fried Chicken Eggs Benedict with a side of breakfast potatoes, and Lance had the Fried Chicken Biscuit with a ½ order of their Sweet Potato Pancakes (which was still 1 large pancake). 

 

 

 

I would definitely order my fried chicken benedict again.  And the pancake was wonderful – instead of syrup, it was served with warm caramelized brown sugar butter with toasted pecans.  Lance’s “bottomless” coffee lived up to its name – our waitress was very attentive and we never saw the bottom of the cup. 

They also had a bakery case filled with cupcakes, éclairs, and other sweet treats.  We were of course too full to try any, but they looked delicious.   

 

We spent the afternoon at Piedmont Park and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens (well worth a visit – it is the best botanical garden I’ve been to!) 

 

That night we had a fancier date night at the restaurant Canoe.  It was only a 15 minute drive from downtown Atlanta, but it felt very remote.  It is tucked away in the Vinings suburb northwest of town.  The homes we passed by on the way were all gated mansions with sprawling properties so I’m assuming that it is a pretty affluent area to live. 

 

The location was beautiful – behind is a lush garden that overlooks the Chattahoochee River.  The restaurant itself has incredible architecture – with a curved wooden ceiling that subtly feels like the interior of a canoe. 

 

 

 

 

Our waiter, Michael, gave us very thorough explanations of the dishes.  We started off with drinks – Lance had the Three Philosophers Quadrupel Ale, and I tried the La Dolce vita cocktail – which had gin infused with grapevine blossoms, lemon-lavender syrup, and topped with a sparkling red wine called brachetto.  It was sweet and tasted like sangria.  While we decided what to order, another waiter came and gave us our choice of breads (they had a variety to pick from – I tried a crispy flatbread and an olive loaf). 

 

 

Michael sold us on the house smoked salmon appetizer served on crispy potato cakes with Vermont goat cheese.  Wow it was phenomenal – and the presentation was well executed. 

At this point we realized that there were so many appetizers we wanted to try that we ordered a few more then 1 entrée to share.  Next came the Tea Smoked Duck Breast – served in a salad with Bartlett pear, confit duck leg, seeded mustard, and bleu cheese cream.  The menu didn’t mention it was a salad, but I was very satisfied with it. 

 

Next we split the charcuterie and cheese selection – with spotted trotter salumi, homemade chicken liver pâté, house cured meats, and bleu cheese.  We expected there to be several cheeses, but it was a meat-driven plate.  Usually with charcuterie platters, there is only a small sampling of the pâté, but this was actually half a glass full.  It was very creamy and perfect on the crispy bread.  

We split the Slow Roasted Georgia Rabbit for our entrée.  They were nice enough to portion it on two separate plates.  It was served with mushroom tortellini, house bacon, and candied garlic sauce.  It was very tender and the tortellini tasted fresh. 

 

 

At this point we were already full, but we had seen a dessert we really wanted to try – the popcorn ice cream sundae with homemade Cracker Jack.  The dessert was huge – served in a pint glass and loaded with caramel popcorn and nuts.  I love anything that is sweet & salty – I don’t know why it hasn’t ever occurred to me to have popcorn and ice cream together, but it was a great idea.  

We took a stroll around the garden afterwards (it was pretty dark at that point).  They have chicken coops outside and all the chickens were huddled together to stay warm.  I wish we were in town on Sunday because I hear they have an incredible brunch menu as well.  We’ve already decided that we’ll be visiting Canoe again anytime we’re in the Atlanta area. 

 

We finished the night with drinks at our hotel’s rooftop bar, the Point of View Lounge at the Hilton Downtown Atlanta.  It had a great view of the city from above and a beautifully displayed wine cooler, but overall the furnishings were a bit dated.  

 

 Lance ordered the American Beauty cocktail with gin, sweet & sour, ginger ale, and raspberry puree, but the bartender told us it had been months since anyone ordered that drink, so the puree had gone bad.  She instead made it with Chambord liqueur to give it the raspberry flavor.  I had The Alamo – with vodka, lime juice, pineapple, agave, and ginger beer.  

Nice way to end day 2 of our trip.  Check out the other posts to read about our other Atlanta dining experiences!  

Highland Bakery is located at 655 Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30312

and is open 8am – 5pm every day. 

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. 

Point of View Lounge is located at the Hilton Downtown at 255 Courtland St NE, Atlanta, GA 30303 and is open Tuesday through Saturday 5pm – 12am.