Local Chocolate for Valentine's? Hit up Cacao

While I fully comprehend that Valentine's Day was created to sell cards and things covered in hearts, alongside frightfully overpriced red roses, sometimes it's really wonderful to receive a little gift from someone you love, right as the winter doldrums start taking their toll. Since this item is on my Valentine's wish list, I wanted to share the goodness.
Cacao Laboratoire opened in 2009 as the storefront of Chef Kristen Hard's chocolate company K Chocolat. Chef Hard had sold her artisan truffles wholesale for 5 years before opening the delightful Inman Park boutique, sharing those truffles with the general public. The chef spent years researching chocolate, mainly from the Caribbean, and is now hailed as the first southern bean-to-bar producer.
So, as I'm sure you've realized at this point, this is not a quantity-over-quality-Whitmans-box-o'-chocolates type of place. Each piece of chocolate is carefully conceived and handcrafted. They are precious, but the outstanding flavors are worth it. They are special treats to be savoured with a cup of tea, or a mug of coffee, or after a delicious meal.
Favorites so far have been the: Lemon Curd, not the first chocolate-citrus combination that comes to mind, but is wonderfully bright tasting; the Fig Preserve and Balsamic, the fig comes through first with a delicate sweetness, and then you get the faint tang of the balsamic; and also, the Blueberry Beet, which is very subtle, sweet with the slight spice of the beet coming through at the end.
If you're thinking chocolate, I recommend giving Cacao a look. It's really wonderful to have something locally produced and that is so lovingly created.

Another Awesome Neighborhood Joint: H. Harper Station

The Fox Confessor

Reynoldstown is a small neighborhood just south of Little 5 Points, and it now also happens to be my neighborhood. I spent my entire childhood in the suburbs of Atlanta, a short 20 minute drive from the city, but never knew that Atlanta had these amazing unique communities all over the city.
Reynoldstown began as a community of freed slaves after the Civil War, who worked for the railroad. The neighborhood is named after Madison and Sarah Reynolds, one of the first families to settle in the area. The community has deep, southern roots and the residents are proud to be a part of such a rich, historical district.
Reynoldstown suffered alongside the decline of the railroads in the 1950s, but currently it is undergoing a revival. Old homes, like mine, are being repaired and loved, and best yet, great businesses are moving in. There's Wonderroot, a local arts co-operative, and there's hope of Eye-Drum coming, as well. It is also the home of the Trees Atlanta amazingly eco-friendly headquarters.
About a month ago, H. Harper Station opened on Memorial Drive. H. Harper Station is the newest venture from Lush Life Group: Chef Duane Nutter, Reginald Washington and Mixologist Jerry Slater. The old train depot has been respectfully re-fitted with moody lighting, heavy oak and deep comfy booths. The menu is full of local southern comfort food, and there are over 40 signature cocktails.
Some of my favorites on the cocktail menu are: the Amulet, which is Hendrick's Gin, Apricot Brandy, Dolin Dry, Grapefruit and Pernod Absinthe; the Fox Confessor, which is Karlsson's Gold, Muscadine Shrub, Black Pepper Syrup and Peychaud's Bitters; and the Calexico, which is Don Diego Reposado, Pineapple, Jalepeno Syrup, and Aztec Chocolate Bitters. Every drink I have tasted has complex flavor; combining sweet, bitter, sour and fragrant notes together in a clever way.
On the food menu, I'm always a fan of cheese, and I love that their cheese board is from Georgia. We have wonderful local producers of cheese and it's great to see someone showcasing the delicious dairy products. I also enjoyed the country ham plate on the starter menu. My favorite entree has been the pork belly with crawfish over creamy grits. It's not so much bacon that you feel ill after eating it, and the crawfish are wonderfully saucy over the starchy grits. My family loves the burger, which comes with a huge helping of crisp tater tots.
If Reynoldstown is undergoing a revival, H. Harper Station is just the sort of congregationalist that I am hoping we will draw.

Pacci's Caesar of a Different Color

One of the great things about food blogging in Atlanta is the amazing Atlanta Food Bloggers Alliance. There is something really lovely about the camaraderie that exists between people who have true passion about food. Yesterday, I was able to join the AFBA at Pacci.
Pacci is run by Executive Chef Kiera Moritz. She has a simple, straight-forward approach to classic Italian cuisine, stating that there are rarely more than 5 ingredients on a plate which leaves her kitchen. While simple, the dishes we tasted were fresh, and flavorful. We started with a Grilled Caesar Salad (pictured above,) followed by Strozzapreti (gnocchi,) and finished with Brown Butter Pear Crespelle (the Italian version of Crepes.) It was a pleasure to watch chef and her team work in harmony to prepare each dish.
Pacci was very generous and shared with us their recipes for the dishes we tasted. I have posted the Grilled Caesar here, because it was my favorite. I really love the char taste from the grill with the amazingly fresh Caesar dressing.

Pacci's Grilled Caesar Salad

Dressing:

Ingredients:

1 Coddled Egg (An egg that has been placed in boiling water for exactly 1 minute)
1 Clove Garlic, Chopped Finely
8 Anchovy Fillets, Chopped
1-1/2 Tablespoons of Worchestershire Sauce
1 Teaspoon of Dijon Mustard
Juice of 1 Lemon
1/3 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Fresh Black Pepper to Taste

Preparation:

In a bowl, mash the garlic with a fork or pestle. Add in the anchovy, Worchestershire, mustard, lemon and egg. Stir until completely incorporated. With a whisk, whip the mix while adding in a slow, steady stream the olive oil. The dressing should have a creamy consistency. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

To Prepare Salad:

Slice Romaine heads into halves, and place on grill or broil on high until the edges have a light char. Drizzle dressing across, add shaved Parmesan and croutons and you are ready to dig in!

Burgers Straight from the Farm

So, with freshly clogged arteries from all the Thanksgiving excesses, I'm thinking what everyone is craving is a hunk of beef! My husband and I went to Farmburger again a few nights ago, and it was just as fantastic the second time around.
Farmburger opened a little less than a year ago in downtown Decatur, and have been cranking out quality burgers ever since. People who know me, know that I don't eat burgers, but over the last couple of years, I have come to make exceptions for the really excellent variety. Farmburger fits that bill.
They only serve 100% grassfed beef at Farmburger, and source as many local and sustainable sides and toppings as possible. Also on offer, a quinoa burger and a chicken burger, two great options for the non-beef lovers. Each week, the menu offers six blackboard burgers of Chef Terry Koval's creation, which are delicious combinations like: house cured-bacon, a sunny side up egg, pepper jack, and salsa verde.
The other burger option is to create your own from a large variety of sustainable and local options. Here's the burger I created this time: 100% grassfed burger, pickled jalepenos, smoked paprika mayo, crispy red onions and Sweet Grass Asher Blue Cheese. The tangy saltiness of the blue cheese with the spicy jalapenos and crunchy onions combined beautifully with the buttery beef. My favorite side has been the fried okra, but the fresh french fries are also pretty tasty.
Farmburger is a model for which other burger joints should aspire: good food, locally and sustainably sourced.

Amazing Cupcakes!

Last Sunday, I had the wonderful opportunity of joining my fellow members of the Atlanta Food Blogger's Alliance at the lovely Chocolate Pink. Chocolate Pink began 5 years ago as the brainchild of Pastry Chef Christian Balbierer and Michael Goodrich. They were driven to create a dessert shop of quality, hand-made, from scratch pastry available to the general public. They have definitely succeeded.
The AFBA was invited to participate in the first ever Chocolate Pink Cupcake Tasting Contest. Everyone present was able to taste 8 amazingly inventive cupcake flavors: Chocolate Fudge, Sweet Potato with Brown Butter, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate Nutella, Dulce de Leche, Pumpkin Maple with Bacon, Strawberry Pop-Tart, and Cookies 'n Cream. Incredibly enough, they offer even more cupcake flavors on their everyday menu!
Of the eight flavors, I thought Strawberry Pop-Tart was outstandingly original, and it tasted just like a Pop-Tart's sophisticated city cousin. The icing was light and airy, but creamy and buttery, as well, because Chocolate Pink uses a Swiss Meringue Buttercream (which I have to learn to make!) The strawberry jam swirled beneath the icing evoked just the right amount of tartness, and the cookie on top added a great crunch. Another favorite was the Chocolate Peanut Butter, which tasted just like a certain peanut butter filled cup. There was a layer of creamy peanut butter buttercream, with a layer of chocolate ganache below and a roasted peanut on top. The textures were fantastic together, and this cupcake won the vote for Best Overall Cupcake. My other two favorites, while the flavors may seem odd, were Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Maple, which I loved more than the Chocolate Peanut Butter!
Another cool thing about Chocolate Pink Cupcakes are the variety of icing and cake base combinations. There are 7-8 different types of cake bases used. These are not your grocer's boxed cupcake mix!
So...enough waxing on about all those cupcake flavors. I have good things to share! I am posting a coupon below for one free cupcake, no purchase required, with an additional 25% off anything else you might like to purchase in the store AND the recipe for the amazing Chocolate Pink Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake! They were so generous to share this with us and I hope that you will enjoy this in your own home!

Super Delicious Pan-Latino Sandwich Shop

I have decided that the very long name, Super Pan-Latino Sandwich Shop, is just not long enough. Maybe it should read: Super Heavenly Pan-Latino Sandwich Shop, or Super Amazing Pan-Latino Sandwich Shop. I just can't make up my mind, but I have decided that the food at Hector Santiago's tiny sandwich place is off-the-charts good!
The first time I visited, I went straight for the specials. I had a smoked trout tostada, with trout caviar, dill creme fraiche and habernos. It was salty, tangy, spicy, and even a little sweet from the caviar; a wonderfully balanced sandwich. In addition to the tostada, I added a the salad special which consisted of avocado, jicama, coconut shavings, jalepenos and watermelon. These ingredients seem mildly shocking to the tongue, heat and sweetness combining with the creamy avocado, but they were mixed by a master. I have also had the pork buns, and I really enjoyed the sweet heat of the pork belly marinade on an unbelievably soft, fluffy bun.
I have only been twice so far, but I dream of it each week. The flavors are really inventive and extremely fresh and for under $10 you can have a stand-out Top-Chef lunch in Atlanta! They are open Tues-Fri 11:30-2:30. I suggest going earlier or later, as it can get crowded very quickly. Run, don't walk!

My Garden Delights

So, I feel I have been a bit remiss in my storytelling on this blog. One of the things most important to me about food, besides taste, of course, is sustainability. All of my friends hear me constantly harp on organic and local food, but I'm not sure that I have conveyed that passion here. Let me correct that mistake.

I love food, but it's so important to me that I eat organic and if possible, locally grown food. I belong to a great local, organic co-op (see previous post on Vegetable Husband) and in the past couple of years, one of my favorite past times has been toiling away in the garden for the freshest, most local food I can get. I'm out there almost every morning with my faithful guard dog, who has also gotten very fond of our gardening routine, checking each plant, trying to decide what I should do next, scouring for a fresh vegetable that might be ripe for plucking.

This year, my most successful so far, I started my seeds, most from Seed Savers Exchange, from scratch in the office under a fluorescent light. I found myself tending to those seeds more carefully than some people would a baby. They had to have a heater, and a certain amount of light each day. I almost cried when I had to thin them out.

Then, once the last frost was over, I tenderly began planting them into the gorgeous raised beds that my husband built right in our tiny front yard. We learned last year that while our backyard has the most space, it also has the least sun. I started listening to WHYY's You Bet Your Garden radio show, I read Organic Gardening from cover to cover, and I even started listening to the BBC's Gardener's Question Time podcast (which, admittedly, is a bit silly considering the growing conditions are so very different, but I just love those British accents!) I cannot get enough information about the very best way to grow perfect, organic produce.

And this week, all that hard work and knowledge has started to pay off! I harvested some green Ponderosa tomatoes to fry up for my family this past father's day, and today, I harvested my very first ever okra, along with some lovely, tiny Gold Rush tomatoes. The okra is so handsome, it's an heirloom variety, called Red Burgundy. I cannot wait to fry some up!

It really is so very exciting to step out of your front yard and pluck something ready to eat, and more importantly, you learn to appreciate the enormous amount of work and resources that go into every single bite you consume. Food is one of our most important investments, we eat it every single day, it keeps us healthy and strong, and without our health, we have nothing!

The Shed at Glenwood

One of my favorite restaurants in town is The Shed at Glenwood. I'm always quick to share the restaurant with my friends if they're looking for a fantastic local joint. Chef Lance Gummere uses local produce and meats as much as possible, and often, there are meats that you won't find in other Atlantan restaurants. He is a self-professed lover of fried chicken hearts!
My favorite night, and many others' favorite, is Wednesday night Slider Night. Chef Gummere offers an ever-changing seasonal menu of $3 sliders. On a recent visit, I tried a barbecued goat meat slider. I know a lot of people would be squeamish at the idea of eating goat, but you really cannot go wrong with a good barbecue. The meat was tender and delicious, with a flavor very similar to lean beef. I also recommend the fried green tomato, the white truffle chicken salad, and the chicken liver sliders. I love it when chefs take parts of an animal, which are thrown out by most people, and turn them into something delectable.
If you are a true locavore, I recommend Thursday night's Harvest Night. The Shed selects a variety of farm fresh, local vegetables from which you can choose 4 for $10. It's an excellent value and I've had amazing things like buttery sunchokes and heirloom tomatoes. I think it's one of the best vegetarian meals you can get in the city.
Last, but certainly not least, please save room for the Homemade Ding Dong, (the name of which I'm sure the waiters bemoan endlessly.) The cream center is cold and rich, surrounded by moist chocolate cake, and covered in thick ganache. It's one of my all-time favorite desserts!

Unusual, But Delicious Quesadillas

One of my new favorite neighborhood joints is Pure Taqueria. The Inman Park location isn't the original, but it's pretty new, and the food is fantastic. In my eyes, it's hard to beat your local cheap Mexican restaurant. It is the quintessential comfort food; hot and spicy, flavorful and delicious. And while Pure is a little pricier than the local cheap place, the fresh ingredients and original dishes make it easier to rationalize the extra costs.
The margaritas at Pure are great, I like the house margarita as much as the specialty mixes. On the appetizer menu, the fish ceviche is fantastic. The citrus is almost effervescent, and combined with celery for a zesty, crunchy combination. My favorite entree is the chicken quesadilla. At a lot of restaurants, the quesadillas can be a major let-down, they are soggy and unappetizing, but at Pure, it's more like an empanada, with crispy fried dough, then it's piled high with salsa verde and sour cream. It's completely worth every calorie.
If you are in Inman Park next weekend, for the annual Inman Park festival, and feel like some delicious Mexican food, stop by Pure. Just ignore the super loud clubby music they play at night, the food should make up for the auditory discomfort, or better yet, stop for lunch, before they crank it up!

Uncommonly Good Cocktails

Inspired by John Kessler's article, (link posted below; a great read) about specialty spirits, inspired me to go check out Leon's Full Service. I'm always interested in inventive cocktails. The new wave of rare liquors and liqueurs that have been making their way into casual pubs and bars are so exciting. Artisanal drinks are now available to the common man; gone are the days of Pucker soaked Appletinis, much to my delight!
Leon's, a hip garage-like-space in downtown Decatur, has a long, long list of local farms from which they source their menu, but I was interested in the drinks. I had a 'closing argument,' which consists of beefeater gin, fresh lemon, lillet blanc, luxardo maraschino, housemade grapefruit marmalade. It was bittersweet and effervescent and fantastic!
Some great mixologists have educated me recently on the excellent combination of grapefruit juice and gin. I highly recommend it, especially to those, who like me, don't particularly enjoy gin in other drinks. The bitter acid of the grapefruit perfectly cuts through the floral notes of the gin. They make a really fine pair.
So, if you haven't been out for drinks in a while, I highly recommend trying something new and inventive. My 'closing argument' was worth every penny, almost a meal in itself, and an experience to be repeated!

John Kessler's article: Specialty Spirits Run Dry in Atlanta

Southern Comforts

I've been sick this week, with the worst cold. I'm not a good sick patient, so it's pretty excellent that I am rarely taken ill. However, when a bug does strike me, it always makes me nostalgic.
In 4th grade, I had the worst teacher (I didn't know at age 9 that she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.) I would constantly call my grandmother to come and pick me up from school because, "I wasn't feeling well." Nothing could make my troubles go away faster than my grandmother's recipe for an upset stomach: a good book, rest, saltine crackers and a Red Rock Ginger Ale.
Red Rock Ginger Ale has been bottled in Atlanta since 1885. The slogan is "just the right bite," and they're not kidding! I love the way the first sip takes your breath away and makes you almost cough! It's good stuff. Babe Ruth even endorsed the soda in 1939. The cola is also delicious, both sodas are sweetened with cane sugar instead of corn syrup, and the flavor is so much richer than mass marketed sodas.
Red Rock Ginger Ale is one southern comfort that I hope lasts for a very long time!

What's Not to Like About Gastropubs?

Since moving back to Atlanta from New York City, I have been on a quest to find food that is both affordable and amazing. Two years in, and I have not been let down; Atlanta's restaurant scene has improved exponentially since I left. The Porter Beer Bar is one of my favorite haunts. Run by former Seeger chefs, Nick Rutherford and Molly Gunn, the Porter is an amazing jewel shining in the rough. The beer list (though I don't drink beer, I can appreciate the artisanal efforts which go into the making) is hundreds long, and my favorite, they offer several ciders, especially Samuel Smith's Organic Cider, which is dry and appley.
The best thing about Porter is the amazing food at amazing prices. I love their black bean burger, piled high with feta, homemade pickled onions, and a delicious red pepper mustard. The arugula salad is a great combination of spicy, sweet and tangy, due to additions of sweet golden beets and creamy goat cheese.
But my favorite things about the Porter are the seasonal menu specials. A few times back, I had a chicken liver mousse terrine. The liver mousse was thick and creamy, and the bitterness offset by drizzled honey, to be spread on perfectly toasted crostini. Fantastic! I don't even really like liver that much, but this was a success. I really admire chefs who are returning to a holistic food approach: the whole animal is put to use, the ingredients are seasonal, condiments and sides are freshly made, etc, and chefs Nick and Molly go to extra lengths to offer that kind of food on their menu.

Iron Chef in My House Every Week

Today was our day for our weekly delivery of local, organic produce by Vegetable Husband. My husband and I have been looking for an organic local co-op to join for a long while, but the problem we had with most co-ops is that you have to pick up your food at a certain place and time each week. This is just not an option for our schedules. We work late, or have plans and almost always are running around like maniacs on the weekends trying to squeeze everything we couldn't do in the week into two short days.
Then, one magical day, last October, a colleague told my husband that she had found a local, organic co-op which delivers directly to your door! We joined almost immediately, and have found that we are not spending any more on produce than we were previously. Even though we joined in the winter months, we have been enamored with the variety of vegetables that have come our way. This week we have: sweet potatoes, sunchokes, carrots, roma tomatoes, collards, green peppers, kale, and thyme. And though the roma tomatoes and green peppers came from Florida, due to the hard frost we had this past week, everything else is from Georgia! It's an incredible feeling knowing that a large portion of your food is going directly to someone in your backyard.
So, this is sounding a bit like an ad for Vegetable Husband, but what I really want it to be is an ad for local farmers. Every week we are presented with this amazing basket of surprises from our home state, and it is a new and exciting challenge to figure out what to make for dinner. I never knew that broccoli greens were edible and delicious! They taste just like broccoli heads, but look similar to collards. I removed the stems and made one of the best broccoli casseroles I've ever had.
I'm very excited this week to have sunchokes; they are an amazing vegetable that you rarely see in your supermarket. They taste like an artichoke mixed with a potato. Slice them and saute them in butter and you will have an amazing treat. However, in fairness, I do get the occaisonal thing that I am not excited about, i.e. collards. Luckily, I can leave them all to my husband!

Burgers and Blais

When my brother was in town this holiday, we decided to stop by Flip Burger. I have been a fan of Richard Blais, creator of Flip Burger, since my uncle regaled me of his Tang concoctions, once tried at Blais' first Atlanta restaurant, the aptly named: Blais. My uncle also took me to One Midtown Kitchen for a Blais tasting menu, and mostly, I only remember that the experience was wonderful. I mean, who could go wrong with lamb lollipops?
It was a true joy to watch Blais' rise to the top on Top Chef; my husband and I were just devastated by his loss at the end, but couldn't wait to have him back in Atlanta. When we went to Home Restaurant, Blais' first restaurant venture post-Top Chef, we were both disappointed. The portions were huge and clunky, but also the food lacked the innovative Blais hallmarks, so we were just thrilled when he departed from Home and Flip was announced.
I should add a disclaimer here: I don't like hamburgers. In principal, I find it odd to grind something, only to smash it back together. 9 times out of 10, the results are flavorless and fatty. However, there are always exceptions to my rules. Star Provisions' fois gras burgers, for example, are completely amazing.
For our first Flip Burger experience, my aunt, Jeni, and her boyfriend, Justin, took my husband and I there for my husband's birthday. We couldn't have enjoyed ourselves more. Jeni and I both had a 5 Alive cocktail; a delicious, fruity gin mixture, which was a good pairing for my lamburger and fried okra. I finished the meal with the Krispy Kreme and Spicy Chocolate Mole milkshakes (split 2 ways.) The burger was fantastic. A moist, rich burger countered by tart yogurt sauce. The highlight of the meal for me was the Krispy Kreme milkshake. Imagine a delicious Krispy Kreme with a delectable thick, cream finish. Heaven.
I just couldn't wait to share the experience with my brother, who has grown up in fine foodie tradition, and appreciates all manner of food! I posted pictures of what we ordered below.



My brother, who is a pescatarian, had the crab burger and the homemade bread and butter fried pickles. The pickles were so scrummy (scrumptious and yummy!) Golden and crispy, sour and sweet all together!

I went for something non-traditional this visit, the tuna tartare burger with a sous-vide egg on top! The creaminess of the egg and avocado were a wonderful accompaniment to the briny tuna. It was a bit messy in burger form, but fun, nevertheless.

Our dessert treats: the pistachio-white truffle milkshake and the nutella and burnt marshmallow milkshake. My husband is a huge nutella fan and enjoyed this shake immensely. The pistachio was also amazing; it was definitely more pistachio than white truffle, if you're wondering, but the flavors were great together.