Entries from The Amateur Gourmet tagged with 'Atlanta'
Thoughts to Atlanta
How strange that less than a week after we returned from Atlanta, the city was hit by a devastating tornado. Our thoughts are with everyone there, especially those in Cabbagetown which, according to friends, was hit particularly hard. Our sincerest wishes for a speedy recovery....
Richard Blais
Anyone who watched the season premiere of "Top Chef" yesterday will have taken notice of Richard who charged out of the gate with his deep dish peach pizza and finished the episode in the top four. What you may not know is that one of the most memorable meals I've ever had in my life was a meal that he cooked at his now-closed eponymous Atlanta Restaurant, Blais. The entire meal--a 31 course tasting menu--is documented in my archives here and reading about it again, I'm still blown away. The fact that he's on a reality show and having his food evaluated by Rocco "Bertolli" Dispirito is a little disturbing, but perhaps this show will earn him the national recognition he deserves. I'm glad I got to eat his food before he really makes it big....
An Atlanta Lover's Guide To Atlanta
Dear Matthew, You are the director of my show The FN Dish and you are a smart, capable, likable fellow with good sense and judgment. Except, when it comes to one subject, you are a big dumbass. That subject is Atlanta. You may remember that a few weeks ago, there was a plan for us to go to Atlanta to shoot a segment with Guy Fieri and possibly Alton Brown. You told Rachael, who also works on our show, "To get us in and out as fast as possible, I hate Atlanta." It's entirely possible that when you said those hateful, hurtful words you'd forgotten that I'd spent 7 years of my life in Atlanta and that it still holds a very dear place in my heart. "Matthew!" I said. "Are you nuts? Atlanta's awesome--we should stay there as long as possible." "Yuck," you replied. "No thank you, you can have it." Strangely, I felt like I understood your misguided vitriol. I, myself, once had a very limited view of Atlanta. Back in middle school, I'd visited Atlanta with my JCC Teen Tour (yes, I was a Jew nerd) and we stayed downtown, ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and took a tour of the Coca Cola museum. Atlanta, for me, was much like what New York must be to the tourist who stays in Times Square, visits the M&Ms store and sees "The Little Mermaid": a giant, soulless, corporate entity with no life, no quirk, no spark. I'm pretty sure that's your slant: you came to Atlanta for work, you stayed in an ugly chain hotel, and ate your meals in sterile silence. Well, Mr. Matthew, consider this e-mail your gateway to a whole new Atlanta. I will show you, in the next thousand paragraphs, everything you missed and why you are indeed such a dumbass. In fact, I'll write you a guide. Here's how to enjoy Atlanta the right way, a proven way. How is it proven? Craig came along with me this weekend for his first Atlanta visit. He was wary at first--"Atlanta?" he asked from the couch when I suggested it, "I dunno"--but, by the end, he was in love. Seriously. He's doing the dishes right now, let me ask him. "Craig, what do you think of Atlanta now that you've been there?" "It was funky and edgy and reminded me of Seattle." Which is high praise because Seattle is where he's from and he loves it. So here we go: An Atlanta Lovers Guide to Atlanta....
Atlanta Meet-Up: Dancing Goat, Decatur, Saturday 3/8 3 PM
Here's the address: 419 W. Ponce de Leon Avenue Decatur, GA 30030 (404) 687-1100 Hope to see you there! Adam...
An Arty Banner & An Atlanta Meet-Up
First things first, please clear the cache of your web browser and reload the page and behold the fun and fantastic new creation from my fun and fantastic design team Erin, Leah and Justin. I smile just thinking about. Second, it's been almost FOUR YEARS since I left the birthplace of this blog, Atlanta, GA (here's the post about my farewell dinner at The Flying Biscuit) and, even though I lived there for SEVEN YEARS, I never went back. All of that changes tomorrow when Craig and I fly into Atlanta (his first time) for the weekend. I'd love to see you, my Atlanta base, and I'm working on a meet-up for Saturday in the afternoon, let's say 3 o'clock. Any suggestions for where? And are my Atlanta readers interested in coming? Let me know and look for a follow-up tomorrow with a specific time and location. See you in the ATL!...
