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June 2007
Barbeque: Which style is best?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is dangerous ground we’re treading here, but we must dive in to the barbeque debate.
East vs. West has new meaning when discussing ‘cue. If you haven’t read Drew Jubera’s update on the debate, read it here.
What do you think? Which style do you prefer?
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Does Zagat have it right on Atlanta’s best restaurants?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bacchanalia kept its top ATL spot in the latest Zagat survey released this week. (See our story.) Surveys, individual diners — and even our own crack restaurant critic — rarely agree on Top 10 lists, but such lists inevitably provide opportunities to renew debate … so tell us your personal favorites and vote in our poll here.
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Where is the best … wine bar?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WE WANT TO KNOW: Where is your favorite wine bar?
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Favorite potato salads for July 4
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Potato salads are perfect for Fourth of July picnics and cookouts, and there are a zillion different ways to make them.
I picked up a five-pound bag of freshly dug red potatoes at the Marietta Square farmers market last Saturday. Half is going to go into buttermilk-horseradish mashed potatoes this week, and half might go for potato salad next week.
What’s your favorite way to prepare potato salad?
Yummy grilled squash: Believe it, it’s real
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My garden is so cursed that we can’t even grow a decent amount of summer squash. Depending on how you feel about squash, though, that could be a blessing in disguise. Yellow summer squash is bland and nearly ubiquitous this time of year, along with its partner in crimes against tastebuds, zucchini. So a little less in the back yard is a good thing, because we’ve been getting steady supplies from our CSA, Cane Creek Farm. And local farmers’ markets abound with the stuff, as do co-workers’ gardens.
So: What to do to add some flavor and use up a bunch of it? We loved this vinaigrette for grilling, which adds so much more flavor than the marinade we’re accustomed to. Adding most of the vinaigrette to the squash right after it comes off the grill, while still warm, helps it absorb better. Zucchini works great too in this recipe from “Mastering the Grill” by Andrew Schloss and David Joachim (Chronicle, $24.95). And, yes, this is really good squash. It goes great with grilled meats. We usually use a vegetable tray for the grill rather than placing the slices directly on the grate, as the recipe advises.
Do you have a sure-fire recipe for squash or zucchini to share? I keep hearing about zucchini bread, but am not ready to go there yet. And I keep getting advised I need to freeze it for a soup mixture, but wonder if frozen squash would be even mushier and blander than it usually is.
Grilled Summer Squash Vinaigrette
6 servings
Hands on: 5 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds summer squash, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Oil for coating grill grate
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Heat the grill to medium high, for direct-heat cooking. Mix the vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cayenne, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Toss 2 tablespoons of this mixture with the squash in a medium bowl or plastic bag until evenly coated. Brush the grill grate and coat it with oil. Put the squash on the hot grill, cover, and cook until browned and barely tender, about 6 minutes, turning halfway through. Put on a serving platter. Pour the remaining vinaigrette over the squash and serve.
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News you can really bite into
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While we’re all holding our breath until Tom Colicchio’s Craft comes to Midtown as part of the Mansion on Peachtree and Maxim Prime tries to make a go at the Glenn, we’ve got plenty to exhale about — Kevin Rathbun has finally opened his heralded steak house, eponymously called Kevin Rathbun Steak. Rathbun et al. obviously opted on the “me Tarzan, you Jane” approach to naming the restaurant, which opened May 30.
Tamarind Seed Thai Bistro owners Charlie (from left), Eddie and Nan Niyomkul had a quiet opening in Colony Square June 10.
For all the big-name hullabaloo, what’s most exciting is the quiet opening of Tamarind Seed Thai Bistro on June 10. Located at Colony Square, this sleek spot is the reincarnation of Tamarind Thai Cuisine, the city’s best and beloved Thai restaurant that once rested on 14th Street at the Connector. We’ll all miss having to park across the street at the gas station and the funky quality the overcrowded dining room used to possess with its spice racks and framed photos of owner Nan Niyomkul with Tiger Woods. But perhaps parking at Tamarind Seed will be less drastic (though that’s debatable — have you seen those valet lines for Shout on a Saturday night?). The tiny space is rich in dark chocolate colors and black lacquer tabletops with glass cookie jars filled with tamarind (of course), palm sugar and dried galangal along the counter space. The menu has all the old favorites — thod mun pla, yum nam sod, larb and curries hot enough to take the hair out of your nose.
James Beard nominee and chef-owner Hugh Acheson of Athens’ Five and Ten talked recently on the phone about his new venture, The National, which is scheduled to open Aug. 1 at 232 Hancock Ave. in downtown Athens. Peter Dale, Acheson’s sous chef from Five and Ten, will be at the helm in the kitchen. The menu is a diversion from Five and Ten’s Southern slant, focusing on dinner and late-night options of small plates inspired by northern Africa and southern Spain and France. “Think [cookbook author] Paula Wolfert and you’ll have the right idea,” said Acheson of the new spot’s menu.
Linton Hopkins will be opening a new concept this fall located in the Aramore directly across from his Restaurant Eugene. Holeman & Finch Public House is partnered with Hopkin’s wife Gina Hopkins, his bartender at Eugene, Greg Best, and bartenders Andy Minchow and Regan Smith. Charcuterie will be the showcase, with house-made hams, sausage and salumi on the bill of fare, plus savory tarts and crispy chit’lins with mustard sauce and even Coke floats with cane sugar Coca-Cola. “I wanted to create a place for people who work in the restaurant industry to come after work,” Hopkins said by phone, “a place with great beers, good whiskey and good food that won’t break the bank account.” He plans to keep the kitchen open until 1:30 a.m. to accommodate.
OPEN: TAP, the American gastropub from restaurateurs Bob Amick and Todd Rushing (Trois, Two Urban Licks, One Midtown Kitchen, Lobby at Twelve, Piebar), on June 8. As offputting as the name is, the concept is fashioned after the gastropubs across the pond in the U.K., with an emphasis on above-pub grub and beer. In the kitchen is chef Todd Ginsberg, a CIA grad who has worked at Alain Ducasse in New York as well as the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead under former Dining Room chef Bruno Menard.
CLOSED: SAGA, the South African, Southern restaurant in Midtown, on June 1, according to the restaurant’s voicemail, apparently for the owners to work on an “exciting new concept.” No forwarding address on chef Drew Van Leuvan.
Tamarind Seed Thai Bistro, 1197 Peachtree St., Suite 110, 404-873-4888.
TAP, 1180 Peachtree St., 404-347-2220, www.tapat1180.com or www.concentricrestaurants.com.
If your restaurant is new, closing or undergoing changes, or you have a food related event, we want to hear from you. Send the information — including your name, phone number, e-mail and Web site if you have one — to Meridith Ford at mford@ajc.com or call 404-526-2788.
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Where is the best … ice cream?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WE WANT TO KNOW: Where do you go for a frozen ice cream treat? E-mail us at citylifedining@ajc.com.
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Where is the best … budget Mexican?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WE WANT TO KNOW: Where do you go for the best budget Mexican meal?
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Iced coffee fanatics
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Iced coffee is showing up everywhere, from coffee shops to book stores. Read the full story here.
Are you an iced-coffee junkie? If so, what’s your favorite?
Sugar snaps: They’re sweet, but they’re outta here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sweet, crunchy and easy to cook — what’s not to like about sugar snap peas? They’re nearing the end of their season locally, although you can still find them from other growing regions in grocery stores. I combined the last of the sugar snaps from our CSA, Cane Creek Farm, with some from the supermarket to get enough for this recipe, which serves six. We’ve been stir-frying the sugar snaps with a little garlic and olive oil for just a minute or so, but wanted to try something different to go with grilled burgers. What’s your favorite side dish for burgers? Does it change with the seasons?
Sugar Snap Peas With Red Peppers
1 pound sugar snap peas, rinsed and strings and tails removed
2 cloves garlic
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 red bell peppers, cut into long strips
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add salt to taste, then sugar snaps, and cook for just one to two minutes. Drain and immediately plunge into ice water for a few minutes to stop the cooking and preserve the pods’s green color. Drain and dry with a towel. Place the garlic, 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, salt and the balsamic vinegar in a food processor and pulse until well blended. Remove the paste and toss it with the sugar snap peas. Heat the remaining tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat and saute the red peppers just until soft. Toss in the sugar snaps and heat through. Season with salt and pepper and serve. — Adapted from “The New American Cooking” by Joan Nathan (Knopf, $35).
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Mmmm … baked goods
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Where do you find your favorite baked goods in town? If you need some prompts, read our story here.
Where is the best … vegetarian restaurant?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WE WANT TO KNOW: What’s your favorite vegetarian restaurant?
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the world’s best broccoli?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The drought is wreaking havoc with Georgia farmers, in obvious ways like crops that die or never get planted, and in less expected ways. I’ve bought some Georgia peaches that are barely bigger than a walnut, something caused by lack of water, although they are sweeter than normal. This week we’re cooking a bunch of broccoli. At our CSA, Cane Creek Farm, the dry weather caused all of the broccoli to mature at once, rather than over several weeks. My favorite way to fix broccoli is to just steam it for four minutes or so, until tender, than sprinkle it with a little salt and some garlic-flavored olive oil. My kids say it’s better than the broccoli at Pig-N-Chik, big praise from them because they love the Pig’s garlicky broccoli. I made a big batch of cream of broccoli soup, a good way to use up all the stalks as well as the crowns, but my pint-sized critics weren’t impressed. If we get any more, I’m thinking broccoli, bacon and raisin salad — everything’s better with bacon. What’s your favorite way to cook broccoli? Any secrets for kid appeal other than cheese sauce?
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