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March 2009
Is it okay for restaurants to kick you out?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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CHECK OUT MY NEW BLOG LOOK!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Catch up with me and tell me if you’re a food snob at my new blog! I’m looking forward to keeping in touch with you via the new format — the web address is http://blogs.ajc.com/table-talk-blog/
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I’m Moving!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This Friday, March 13 ( a lucky day), my blog will be moving from a Movable Type format to WordPress — which means I’ll have lots more options when it comes to my blog roll and other goodies. All AJC blogs are moving to this format.
I’m looking forward to keeping in touch with you via the new format — the web address will be: http://blogs.ajc.com/table-talk-blog/
Please contact me via email (mford@ajc.com) if you have any trouble viewing the blog!
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MF Buckhead in Bon Appetit/TAP in Food & Wine
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SASHIMI AT MF BUCKHEAD: It will rock your world
Photo: Becky Stein
Atlanta is heralded once again in Bon Appetit in April — this time MF Buckhead is listed as one of the ten best sushi spots in the country, with the likes of Soto in New York (yes, that Soto, ie, Sotohiro Kosugi, formerly of the ATL, now on Sixth Ave) and Nobu in Los Angeles.
And TAP gets a one-line mention in this month’s Food & Wine’s picks for gastropubs.
For those of you who still think we’re just a meat-and-potato town, I’d have to disagree. The fact that Soto is making it in New York and never had more than a very devoted foodie following here is noted.
So don’t let our dine scene fade: Speaking with chefs/owners this past week, many were optimistic about the economy. Though Bob Amick, Shaun Doty and Riccardo Ullio admit their numbers are much lower than they were at this time last year, all three remain upbeat and positive. Ullio was offering diners a sip of his house-made limoncello at his Inman Park pizza palace, Fritti. “It’s my answer to the recession,” he said. “One sip, and you’ll forget all about it.”
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First Look: Miso Izakaya
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I tried a first taste of Miso Izakaya, the restaurant that seemed as if it would never open, last week. It was not what I was expecting.
Izakaya — think of it as a casual eating place where Japanese small plates — everything from robatayaki (the art of communally grilling) to yakitori (kebabs) — are served with sake, beer and shochu. In Japan you might eat on tatami mats, depending on the izakaya. The idea is to share and enjoy small plates.
Chef-owner Guy Wong, who’s from the same family as the folks at Chinese Buddha on 10th Street, has a menu that lacks many traditional izakaya dishes. Wong (who’s heritage is Chinese), studied in Japan. While a few dishes, namely asari buttered clams heavy with soy and ginger and potato krokke (yummy croquettes of beef and onions in a panko crust) are standouts, the menu lacks the yakitori, karaage (think chicken nuggets) and kushiyaki (grilled meat or vegetables) that are usually served.
There is, in true Atlanta fashion, a full sushi menu.
Miso Izakaya Restaurant, at 619 Edgewood Ave., Atlanta, 678-701-0128
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Have You Ever Eaten A Live Snake?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DUDE: WOULD YOU LIKE FRIES WITH THAT?
Photo: D. Aileen Dodd
Paul Kastin, a reader at Service Marketing, sent me (and 500 of his closest foodie friends) a gruesome video (too gruesome for our readers, I fear) of a cooking contest in China of chefs preparing live food — a snake and a fish, to be precise. OMG. I’ve seen some gruesome stuff, but I have to say I’ve never seen anything like this. It makes Gladiator look like Betty Boop.
I’ve heard of ikizukuri, the Japanese tradition of eating living fish in the form of sashimi. And Korean culture calls eating live octopus sannakji hoe — the tentacles are purportedly still wriggling around on the plate when served with sesame seeds and sesame oil. And there’s that old frat-boy ritual of swallowing live goldfish.
Ananova has a post of a Chinese man eating a live snake. He claims it’s how he relaxes. And Serious Eats takes a look at hot head Elyse Sewell (via YouTube) cattily slurping down live baby octopus in Soeul.
As for me, I’ll take my snake good and dead, please, and leave the live eating to Tony Bourdain.
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Serenbe Chef Resigns/Cookies and Cream
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SLOW DOWN, YOU MOVE TOO FAST: The Merc offers free cookies and milk this Saturday
Photo: Louie Favorite/AJC
Well, talk about a turn around — not two days after the NYT gives Nick Melvin (and everyone else at Serenbe a glowing review, word comes that the chef has resigned.
The Brigadoon-like hamlet in Palmetto has announced that the chef has received an “offer he just couldn’t say no to.” No word on where he’s headed. Or who will replace him. I just posted the link to the NYT piece yesterday. The pastoral community has been heralded for its relaxed, fresh take on living, but the Farmhouse, where Melvin was executive chef, has had trouble keeping someone in the kitchen — Melvin hasn’t even been there a year, and the restaurant has gone through 3 chefs in almost the same amount of years.
So much for keeping up. I’d rather slow down: Johnston Family Farms, just 48 miles outside of Atlanta, will be visiting The Mercantile this Saturday, with dairyman Russell Johnston on hand for a bonafide milk tasting. And what goes better than anything with a slurp of fresh-from-the-farm milk? Cookies, of course. The Merc will have free cookies and milk beginning at noon.
Where’s your favorite cookie?
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Serenbe Hits NYT Travel Section
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WALKIN’ ON SUNSHINE: Serenbe Farms’ farm manager Paige Witherington got a great write up in Sunday’s NYT
If you missed Sunday’s NYT, I’ll briefly catch you up on a delightful travel piece, heavy on dining, of Serenbe.
Writer Kevin Sack had nothing but wonderful things to say about Steve and Marie Nygren’s hamlet just 30 minutes south of Atlanta in Palmetto, Ga. He raves about chef Nick Melvin of the Farmhouse and Hilary White of the Hil.
All things we already knew, but glad to see this “serene place to be” get this kind of press.
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More Signs of The Recession
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Editors, colleagues and readers have been quick to ask me if I’ve noticed signs of the recession while I’m dining out. I answered with a blog many weeks back — I’m seeing packed dining rooms at Craft, Market, BLT, a first peek at Leon’s Full Service this past Friday.
And yet.
A birthday dinner at Ecco for my sister proved the same: the dining room was elbow to elbow, and running on all cylinders throughout our evening.
But there is a recession lurking beneath that dinner napkin: Beverage manager and sommelier deluxe Vajra Stratigos of Fifth Group tells me that while people are obviously still dining out, numbers are off because “a couple who used to order a bottle of wine has down-sized to two glasses. Everyone orders the less expensive entrees.” Ditto appetizers and dessert, which are sometimes are sells anyway. The real blow for Stratigos is the halt of his cherry-wood veneer wine labels — written by him and given to the guest as a souvenir (and a signature idea for Ecco and Fifth Group). We received one of the last on Saturday.
“They’re just too expensive to keep,” he sighed.
Other recession notes: The ink on chef Joel Antunes’ dismissal notice from the Oak Room in NYC was hardly wet when Joel Restaurant, through a publicist, released a press release that basically says “good luck, but we don’t know you. Even though that’s your name over the door.” More facts in Food and More, but I gotta say, this is a move that just wasn’t needed. Sure, everyone was wondering if Antunes would return to Atlanta — perhaps even to Joel — but most of us with our ears to the ground knew that the jargon that he still had a hand in his former namesake restaurant was just that — jive.
I was pretty incensed to find him leaving so soon after a five-star review last October. It’s sort of hard for a person to be in two places at once (ie, NYC and Atlanta), and I figured Joel’s second hand man, Cyrille Holata (who is now the restaurant’s chef and managing partner) had been the one doing most of the cooking anyway. Still, that’s no reason to kick a chef when he’s down.
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