I took a few days last week to go down to Atlanta to soak in some southern hospitality, good food and a type of fancy we don't manufacture up here.
I fell in love with Atlanta despite this "road block" that started in LaGuardia Airport.
What is this world coming to?
From the minute I got off the plane, I got a chance to see how great the food scene is in Atlanta. For Atlantans, what I'll talk about here may not thrill you but I come from a time when any city outside of New York was good for a decent restaurant or two, not a "scene" by any means. Like many other cities, Atlanta has grown a really great one. I didn't even get a chance to skim it.
The first place I saw, in a moving car (just so you get how drive-by this trip was) was here:
Gato Bizco Café in Candler Park
It's a true hole in the wall but for two days a month, a guy from the band Deer Hunter hosts a pop-up dinner there, flying chefs from all over. It's call the BATON supper series. (www.baton-limited.com)
Today and tomorrow my buddy, Michael Laiskonis will be cooking. Last month was Brooks Headly of Del Posto and Carlo Mariarchi of Roberta's.
Here's a photo of my first meal in Atlanta:
The bacon isn't burnt. It's covered with something that is likened to the bacon version of whatever they put on curly fries. You know, that weird coating that makes you take a face dive into it?
Well, they've come up with something like that for bacon. Not that bacon needed it. I loved this place. It's called Sun In My Belly.
Good website too. Unlike many other restaurants, it really has the vibe you see on it's website. That's a good thing in this case.
Here's what the rooms looked like that morning.
Next up, was the visit to the castle that is the world of Anne Quatranno. She is the chef of the Atlanta epic Bacchanalia. Attached to Bacchanalia is her store Star Provisions.
I want to live in Star Provisions.
Here are a range of photos:
She's got a farm room:
Huge farm fresh asparagus
Total Farm Porn
She's got a great bakery....
A charcuterie room....
...a butcher shop....
While there are those of us that love butcher shop anything, I realize that some of my readers may not. I have a thing for butcher paper. I also have a thing from great tile floors
I find this photo very satisfying.
...fish market....
Where they also keep their fresh pasta
Which I dig but wouldn't the pasta smell like those crab cakes?
The mind reels.........
So, back to the cheese cave....
and the Butters Of The World case...
And now that I'm working with our friend Claire Marin at Catskill Provisions, I had to show her the honey situation down South.
So this all comes to the conclusion that
a) Anne is way too cool for school
b) Atlanta has one up on us for space
c) Even they give more love to the ladies of food
Anne has a great farm as well. I hear it's right outside the city (for a driver that could be a days ride. for a strap hanger, a week and a half trip as the crow flies).
The other love of my life during this trip was the restaurant group that houses Holeman and Finch. They have a great casual dining place called Holeman and Finch Public House. Which only makes 25 hamburgers a night.
You have to sign up for them early in the evening and wait until 10. They announce it and then you can eat. We got there right before 10 unaware of this but we sat next to a New Yorker who was on the list and he let me try some of his. It was really that good.
Sooo, another thing Atlanta has on us?
d) The H&F burger.
They also have a fine dining restaurant, Restaurant Eugene. A liquor/wine store, H&F Bottleshop, a bread bakery and farmer's market.
Each business is really fabulous and sustainable. Loved everything about them. Perhaps it was the wisteria in the air.
The only photos I have are really dark and it's of a partially eaten steak tartare and partially eaten cheese plate.
It was a long night.
And as a parting shot, here is what my host cooked for me on my last night in Atlanta. Yes, that's pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon.
The South may rise again....in a kinder, gentler, greener way.