February 19, 2004 1:48 AM | By Adam Roberts | 10 Comments

Blais Restaurant (Atlanta)

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Let me spill the beans right away: after tonight's 26th course a man with spiky hair and a white soccer jersey came over to our table.

"How was everything?" he asked.

"Wonderful," I said.

"Amazing," said Lauren.

"Good good. Well," he continued, "I'm Richard Blais." He shook our hands.

For a sense of how accomplished Chef Blais is, check out his profile on the Blais Atlanta website. He has worked at the finest restaurants in the world: The French Laundry, Chez Panisse, and El Bulli to name a few. Now he was hovering over our table.

"It's so nice to meet you," Lauren said.

"Everything was delicious," I said.

Now up until this point, we had the sneaking suspicion that the restaurant thought I was a food critic. Granted, in a very minor way I am a food critic, but writing a few reviews on the internet seems incredibly minor compared to the work of our nation's real food writers: William Grimes, Ruch Reichl, John Kessler. We thought the suspicion stemmed from the fact that I was taking pictures of every course as it was brought out.

Lauren continued: "It's really great how laid back it is here. Everyone is so friendly."

"Yes," I said. "Just a few months ago I went to Charlie Trotter's in Chicago and had an awful meal; everything was so formal."

"Yes," said Chef Blais, "I know."

An awkward pause.

"How do you know?" I asked, incredulously.

"I read your review on eGullet," he answered.

My stomach was in my throat. Say what!?

You see, several months ago--after our Charlie Trotter's disappointment--I wrote a somewhat scathing review on eGullet--that launched a 12 page debate over the merits of my amateur perspective on fine dining. As exciting as this was, it always seemed a very contained esoteric debate in a cultish foodie world. Now this star chef was saying he read my review?!

"I actually read it to my staff here when we opened," he continued. "So that they wouldn't be so formal."

Lauren burst out laughing.

"We also told the waiter not to follow you to the bathroom tonight," he laughed, "even though we usually do that, because you wrote about that in your review."

My ego, at this point, floated out of my body and began dancing the dance of the cocky monkey.

"Stop it, Ego," I said.

Chef Blais lingered a little more. It seemed clear that he knew I would be writing a review. Was he nervous? Did he fear me? How powerful I had become!

And yet he had nothing to worry about. Lauren and I both found everything up until that point (and after) to be beyond spectacular. Our dinner at Blais was among the best I've ever had, and surely the best meal I have had in Atlanta. I say that having eaten at Seeger's (which was cold and overly formal) and Bacchanalia (a vague distant memory that conjures very little in the way of nostalgia). Each course was a magical sensory experience--the most dazzling flavors melded together in ways so imaginative that each tiny course was an event.

"Well," I said, "I'm kind of freaked out right now, but thanks for reading my writing."

"No problem," he said as the waiter placed down our 27th course.

"I'll let you finish your meal."

* * * * * *

So with that ego-trip out of the way, let us shock you with our food consumption. According to our waiter (who, by the way, was also fantastic: incredibly friendly, helpful and informative--appropriate since the chinese tattoo on his wrist is the word for "teaching") the kitchen was shocked that we ate everything. "They were taking wagers back there," he said, "as to when you would conk out."

"Not us," said Lauren, "we're troopers."

And for your visual pleasure, I captured every single course in the 31-course line-up. If you do the math, I think it will fall a little short but that's only because some of the courses were served at the same time. And to be honest, I could not have put another thing in my mouth if they paid me. Since describing each course to you would take an eon, I will simply label each picture and let you enjoy the visual stimulus that was our meal. Suffice it to say, dining at Blais was an incredible treat and a dining experience that I highly recommend. And I'm not just saying that because I know the chef.

THE 31 FLAVORS MENU

Quail Egg, Maple Flavor
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Crispy Chicken Skin, Gravy, Pickled Collards
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Shrimp, Polenta, Amaretto
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Asparagus, Parmesan, Caramel
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Sweet Tea in 3 Textures
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Caesar Salad
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Salmon Eggs, Vanilla Caviar
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Oyster, Cocktail Sorbet
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Tuna Belly, Frozen Wasabi
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Veal Jelly, Vermouth, Horseradish
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Sweet Potato, Ranch Ice Cream
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Fried Squid, Smoked Paprika
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Sangria
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[Not exactly sure. The menu they gave us says "Inflated Salt Cod" but I think this is a clam.]
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Barely Smoked Hamachi, Yuzu
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"Vitello Tonnato"
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Sea Scallop, Edamame Ravioli
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"Impasta"
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Turbot, Almond Gnocchi, Orange Rind
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Wild Striped Bass, Short Ribs
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"Pink" Duck Breast, Aromatic Vapor
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Slow-Cooked Lamb Loin, Cashew, Coconut
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Cheeseburger, Foie Gras Milkshake** (This was the highlight of the meal! So funny and absolutely delicious.)
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Egg Cream, White Truffle/White Chocolate, Sesame Creme Brulee
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Olive Oil, Lemon Sorbet
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Warm Parsnip, Ginger (Sorry, I started eating this one before I realized I hadn't taken the picture yet)
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Oozing Chocolate, Black Olive, Red Wine (and Birthday Well-Wishes)
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And, the final note struck was perfectly charming and perfectly funny. A square of gelled Tang floating on a white plate.

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Thus ended our birthday meal adventure. Excuse me now while I keel over and die a happy death.

10 Comments

Hi, Adam, sounds like you had as good a time on your birthday as I did! That's hilarious about Chef Blais reading your review on egullet! Who knows what other chefs you've unwittingly influenced?

Can I just say that "Sweet Tea in 3 Textures" freaks me out?

oh, I can see he worked at "el bulli" alright... what did you actually pay?

Ah, I forgot to mention that. Here's the thing: on the phone they said 31 courses for $70 which seemed way too good to be true. As it turns out, it was $90 a person which Lauren and I both gladly paid. I still think that's a bargain for the experience we had.

Good thing you had the cash so you didn't have to pay by dish-washing. Can you imagine what that dishroom must look like?

Not only that, Giddy, but every time we got up they would replace our napkins. And there was a new fork and knife with every dish. Lauren asked the waiter about the dishwasher and he said: "It's crazy. On busy nights we have two bus boys and two dish washers and they're flying." He also told us that the dishwasher was specially built and that it had compartments for all the funky dishes. But, yes, there were a lot of dishes involved!

I've been lurking around here for a few days and have done a little back-reading - you're a funny guy!

I also checked out your review on CT at eGullet along with a couple of pages of the comments (obviously I don't have enough to do with my time). Some of those people were extremely condescending, absolutely brutal and are quite possibly experiencing bouts of irregularity.

On the other hand some of that crowd seem like pretty fine people.

Review on, brave young man. Better you than me!

I wandered over to read the egullet review, too. The one thing I wondered as I was reading the posts was if they even considered that you were not being frugal with your beverage budget, you just might not have wanted wine? Not everybody likes it with a meal!

$90??? That's, what, about €70... that is a value meal! And I read egullet as well... Some comments were true (atmosphere, wrong time etc..) but it is THEIR JOB to make you feel good and if they really started with "can I take the lady's coat or sweater or whatever", I would have walked out. (Have been to some star restaurants in Europe) Did he really say that?

I also went to Blais on my birthday 1/6/04 and totally enjoyed it. I guess now we won't be the only ones in on the secret since they've been reviewed so well!

I am hazppy to report that no one followed me to the bathroom either on my visits...

Keep up the good work!

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