While our superstar moving helpers--Zack's mom and my mom--were in town, we took them to Home, a cute restaurant in a renovated cottage. Home gained fast fame in the city when Top Chef runner-up Richard Blais took over as its chef, but a chat with our waiter revealed that Blais had parted ways with the place a week before we dined there. Still, "snacks" like deviled eggs topped with duck confit and falling-off-the-bone lamb ribs were a lot of fun, and we spied (and tasted) Blais's touches of molecular gastronomy throughout the menu. My scallops with "broccoli and cheddar" came atop a custard-like broccoli puree with a dollop of intensely-flavored cheddar cheese foam. Sure, everybody hates on foam (thanks to Top Chef's evil Marcel) but it really was delicious.
Scallops at Home (not my home - maybe once I master some culinary skills!)Holeman & Finch was another spot I'd been yearning to try ever since it was named Best New Restaurant of the Year by Atlanta Magazine along with a mouth-watering short review. I'm doing some writing and blogging for Atlanta Mag, so I met with their terrific dining editor this week. We spent lots of time talking food (obviously) and she continued to sing the praises of H&F. Naturally, when I got home from the meeting, I declared that we had to go there that night for dinner.
Zack, his friend "the Kansan", and I headed over dressed casually in jeans and flip flops, since H&F calls itself a "public house" and a casual younger brother to the owners' fine dining spot across the street, Restaurant Eugene. The rest of the crowd was dolled up for a night out and the place had a decidedly swanky vibe that Thursday night, but the service couldn't have been friendlier nor the food more down-to-earth. We shared lots of small plates, including a heaping pile of fried oysters with fried pickles (yum!), pimento cheese with house-made saltines, pork belly with grits, and griddled hen of the woods mushrooms with polenta served in a tiny skillet. Then, around 10, our waiter told us about the off-the-menu burger. Apparently they start serving them at 10 pm every night and run out in minutes. How could we say no to sharing one? We were glad we didn't resist when we bit into the double-patty sandwich, amazingly juicy and draped with melty cheese and those outstanding house-made pickles.
Holeman & Finch's off-the-menu burgerYesterday I went to Le Cordon Bleu to meet with the director and was fitted for my uniform. Yup, I'll be wearing a chef's jacket and houndstooth-check pants every morning. Pretty cute! Maybe I'll post a picture of myself in full culinary school garb for your amusement. Nonetheless, my visit made me even more excited about the first day of school on Monday. Full report to come...
