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Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Where do you go for fried green tomatoes?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fried green tomatoes used to be something your mama chopped up and mixed in with the okra when you couldn’t wait for the fresh tomatoes to turn red in the spring. Now they’re dragged through panko crumbs or decorated with goat cheese to be served up at the finest restaurants. See our latest In the Mood for some great places to get them — adorned and unadorned. Regardless of how they’re fixed up, fried green tomatoes remain a peculiarly Southern delicacy. Even if you’re not from around here, where do you go for your fried green tomatoes?
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Eat Your Veggies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AT RIGHT: Eating your veggies is easy at Restaurant Eugene, where the season brings a bounty of yummy offerings.
Photo: Joey Ivansco/AJC staff
A vegetarian colleague recently related a bit of a nightmare to me. It wasn’t about giant vegetables trying to eat her while she slept. It was worse: There really just aren’t that many great places to get a vegetarian meal in Atlanta.
And even worse than that, nice restaurants don’t offer vegetarian meals as an option. Okay, okay. Pipe down. I know the old “there’s-not-enough-veggie-joints” argument is so 70s, but the truth is — there aren’t.
Think for just a moment: if you, for whatever reason, don’t eat meat, what are your options at an upscale restaurant? Most veggie dining options in Atlanta, as my friend rightly pointed out, are ethnic options: South Indian cuisine, Thai cuisine, mezza, certain Latin options. Terrific, but every now and then a gal wants to go platinum.
Where’s the “V” in upscale dining? Why must vegetarians be relegated to ordering a series of side veggies as their meal (where half the time they’re brought to the table in succession, rather than as an entire meal, so you get to eat a bowl of mashed potatoes, then ten minutes later a plate of asparagus. Then ten minutes later a bowl of green beans).
Two excellent exceptions are the vegetable plates at Watershed, where creamed corn and spoon bread make a regal showing, and Restaurant Eugene, where the seasonal inspirations from the kitchen are highlighted by a spoonful of grits. Both are wonderful reasons to go to the restaurant, and exude the personality of the chef as much as any of the meat dishes.
Where’s good upscale vegetarian cuisine in Atlanta? Why isn’t there more of it?
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