Monthly Archives: September 2015

Atlas

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Atlas, Buckhead

I always love when my mom visits. One of the MANY reasons is that we often go to one special dinner; one that can never be repeated nor would I ever go to on a whim. This time I made reservations at Atlas, the new restaurant at the St. Regis in Buckhead. It opened this Spring and the Chef de Cuisine is Christopher Grossman who most recently worked at The French Laundry in Napa. From the moment you walk in you don’t think you’re in Buckhead let alone Atlanta. The use of rich mahogany and deep hunter green elevate the space. The dining room is quiet and while the kitchen is open it is not the main attraction but rather adds to the ambiance. I had heard they do a chef’s tasting, however, it was not listed. I decided to ask our server, Hugo, anyway. He explained that they do have a chef’s tasting you get to select how many courses (it starts at 6 and can go up to as many as you want) plus specify any preferences or dietary concerns you may have then the meal curation begins! I’m not sure about you but this was very exciting. We also choose to get the wine pairing.

I will admit I was one of those people who took pictures of the dishes but I pinky promise the flash was off and I was discrete.

FullSizeRender 4 First course: cured yellow tail hiramasa // Delamotte Brut, Blanc de Blanc, NV

IMG_1008 Second course: young sprouts salad // Thermen Moser, Gruner Veltliner, Per Due, Krenske 2012

FullSizeRender 2 Third course: tomato soup with roasted tomatoes & a seared cubed of cheese // Schloss Schönborn, Riesling, Rheingau 1997

FullSizeRender 5 Fourth course: pan seared halibut // Garaudet, Meursault le Limozin, Burgundy France 2012

FullSizeRender 3 Fifth course: grilled beef tenderloin with a truffle potato pierogi dumpling // D’Arenberg Dead Arm, Shiraz Australia 2010

FullSizeRender 6 Sixth course: milk chocolate mousse with peanut butter cremux, feuillentine crisp, & blueberry // Smith Woodhouse 20 year Tawny Port

I treasured every minute of this dinner due to the care of presentation, finesse of pairing, and dedication to service. It will always be a meal to remember.

Cooks & Soilders

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Cook & Soldiers, The Westside

I’ve had Spanish food and enjoy tapas style dining immensely but never had the opportunity to try Basque cuisine until recently. Cooks & Soldiers is a new restaurant on the Westside and apart of the Castellucci Hospitality Group (Iberian Pig & Double Zero). I try to wait at least 2 months before I go to a new restaurant since I think it best for the restaurant to work out their growing pains. Went on a busy Friday night and was glad I made reservations. Another thing to note is that this restaurant does get a little loud. Our server was great and made sure to hit all the highlights and review the best way to order– be sure to share! By the time she was done I knew what eight plates I wanted all I had to do was convince the other two members of the table, but don’t worry they were on board 🙂

IMG_0993 Hongos y Setas: coal roasted mushrooms with goat cheese & black truffle

  Beats & Peaches: grated red beets, Pearson’s peaches, raspberry, & pistachio, house ricotta

  Atún y Frutas: seared tuna, heirloom tomato, melon, buttermilk crème fraîche, watercress, port gelée

  Bikini: white American grilled cheese, Jamón Ibérico, black truffle, white bread

    Special for the night: house-made pasta, mushrooms, ricotta, pea purée

IMG_1001  Veal Cheek: Rioja braised veal cheek, potato purée, peas, carrots

IMG_0999   Lomo de Cerdo: Berkshire pork tenderloin, hazelnut romesco, swiss chard, quince-sherry jus

IMG_1002  Chocolate & Corn: Valrhona chocolate tarte, sea salt caramel, house creamed corn, Horchata meringue cookies, corn gelato

All dishes were fabulous but the two dishes you CANNOT miss are the veal cheek and the bikini. It was the second time I saw chocolate and corn together for a dessert recently so I’m not sure if this is a new thing but both times I was surprised it worked out, the sea salt caramel didn’t hurt either!

Mamak

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Mamak, Buford Highway

I’m not often close to Buford highway but took advantage after playing soccer at the Silverback’s Park. Mamak has been on my “short” list for a while and was excited to finally check out Malaysian street food. As soon as we got the menu I knew I wanted to order the Roti Canai and Chicken Satay skewers for the table. The roti with curry sauce really hit the spot. When I looked further down the menu I wasn’t exactly sure what anything was so our table asked A LOT of questions before settling on Chow Kway Teow (wok fried flat rice noodles with shrimp, squid, egg, bean sprouts, soy sauce & chili paste), Hokkien Mee (wok fried noodles in special soy sauce with pork, shrimp & squid), Assam Pomfret (pomfret fish in a tamarind chili sauce), & Chicken Curry Loh (egg noodles toss in curry sauce, with chicken).  A good thing to note is that food is served when ready and not all at once. I also recommend going with a group so you can try more than just one or two dishes. The place is small but food comes out quick and the service is very friendly and trust don’t mind all the questions.

Kiri Ricebar

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Kiri Ricebar, Midtown

Always looking for a dinner place after work that is close, on the quicker side, and affordable. While I love cooking there are sometimes during the work week that it’s just not going to happen. I’ve seen Kiri across the plaza from Trader Joe’s for three years now and often ignored it until one recent Tuesday where I just decided to go. The restaurant is pretty small but there is outside seating. I might have taken advantage of this but August in Atlanta can be hot so I opted for inside. The menu is split up roughly half Japanese and half Korean. Went with Tom and we ordered the Gyoza to share. I then ordered the Bulgogi with steak and Tom created his own Bibimbap. The portions were HUGE so we were both able to take leftovers for work the next day, which is always a plus. The service was great we had a rotation of three servers. I’m not too familiar with Korean food so definitely want to go back to try something else although a plate with seared steak & fried rice may be hard to beat.