Tag Archives: Tapas Style

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!

Gunshow

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Gunshow, Glenwood Park

I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard so much about a restaurant before I got to go; from Esquire to friends it was one of the few Atlanta restaurants anyone could or would talk about towards the end of 2014.

The restaurant itself has a different feel. It is totally open, unpretentious in all the right ways, and you don’t order like you would at another restaurant. Picky eaters seriously don’t come and take a coveted seat– had to make reservations a month in advance (was 100% worth the wait)! Kevin Gillespie along with six other chefs concoct two dishes each, come to your table, and try to “sell” you on their creation. If you’re thinking of dim sum you’re right on the money. The menu does change frequently and on average each dish is on the menu for a couple of weeks.

My tablemates and I went with wide eyes and empty stomaches, which was a great thing since we ordered 13 out of the 16 dishes being offered that night. While some dishes are a little larger I’d say most are sharable small plates just like tapas. So without further delay below are all the dishes we devoured.

  • New Mexican style cheese enchiladas. short rib peccadillo. crema*
  • Goat cheese agnolotti. wild mushroom. beet. truffle
  • Middle Eastern style pizza
  • Lobster roll… like in Boston
  • Crispy pork belly. marinated octopus. charred scallion. chorizo vin
  • Ceviche made like they do in Peru*
  • Smoked Berkshire pork loin. creamy polenta. coke braised figs. broccoli
  • Falafel. tahini sauce. house made pita. skoog
  • Olive oil poached halibut. orange braised endive. citrus. olive. fennel
  • Vietnamese style chicken wings
  • Warm old-fashioned banana pudding (always on the menu as it was Kevin’s grandmother’s recipe plus it’s just the BOMB)
  • Chocolate bread pudding. pecan pie innards. bourbon, candied bacon
  • Chocolate-peanut butter cheese cake. pretzel

the * annotate Kevin’s dishes and while you shouldn’t skip on any definitely don’t miss his!! You can tell all dishes are perfected but it didn’t stop with the kitchen as the bar is a worthy opponent. Cocktails have two categories: “while you wait” that are made behind the bar and “from the cart” literally a cart comes to your table and you see it made right there. I didn’t ask what the difference was but I had one from each and both were delectable.

There are flavors from all over the world and the style of eating can be compared to a variety of places, it may not be totally new but in Atlanta it is a breath of fresh air. If I could only choose one restaurant in Atlanta not to miss this surely would be my pick.

This was also a farewell dinner to a close friend. I’ve shared many tables and even more charcuterie plates with Kiffy but am glad we got to partake in one more restaurant together. Best of luck in Birmingham!