Texas Meets Atlanta at Fox Bros Bar-B-Q

I love Bar-B-Q. My stomach, on the other hand, has issues. But that’s besides the point. Atlanta is a city that thrives on Bar-B-Q. I mean, c’mon, we’re in the South. Every single town in the entire state of Georgia has a Bar-B-Q joint that claims to be the best around. For some of those towns, that’s certainly true. But when you enter the city limits of Atlanta, things become competitive. VERY competitive. We’ve got Carolina-style, we’ve got Memphis-style, heck ,we even have Korean-style. How does one really discern which style of Bar-B-Q is the best? It all seems to be down to a matter of opinion, and as any true Atlantan would say, I certainly have my own opinions as to where to find the best and greatest of all Bar-B-Q in the city. And that, my friends, is Fox Bros Bar-B-Q.

Located across the street from a never ending stretch of railroad tracks and next to a slew of buildings that seem to have a new tenant every other week, twin brothers Jonathan and Justin Fox have managed to build a loyal (and dedicated) following and permanent location in the Candler Park neighborhood of northeast Atlanta. Since 2007, the Texas-born brothers have been dishing out their Bar-B-Q to the masses, and there is absolutely no sign of them ever letting up. Their Bar-B-Q, which has won accolades from Atlanta to Texas to New York City, is in a class all of its own. From the slow-roasted, melt-in-your-mouth ribs to the ridiculously creative sides that come out of the belly of the kitchen, this is some serious Bar-B-Q. Really, this is the kind of Bar-B-Q that makes you go “Holy sh*t, where have I been eating?”

Hoof & Ale: Marietta’s Hidden Gem for Burgers, Brews, and More

Sometimes, eating out isn’t about dressing up, going on a date, celebrating an experience you normally wouldn’t empty your wallet for; sometimes, eating out is just about going out after a long day and enjoying a burger and booze. I love destination dining, but there is something to be said about exploring what exists in your own backyard.

My girlfriend lives in Marietta near the 120 loop, and about two stop lights and one turn around the corner sits a little joint that we had talked about dining at for the past 9 months. Of course, the fact that it took us 9 months to eat at place that is literally a stone’s throw from her apartment puts a little shame in my step, but sometimes it’s better late than never for such things. Hoof & Ale, described as a place “Where Craft Food Meets Craft Beer,” sounds like some offshoot of an Englishman’s favorite pastime, yet it might just be the best neighborhood tavern in Marietta and the surrounding area.

The Board

Situated in a Kroger shopping center, Hoof & Ale sits off in a corner, secluded from unoriginality and the day-to-day drummings of the rest of the world. The minute you step through the door, the first thing you notice is the giant chalk board on the wall that connects from the front of the restaurant all the way up to the bar. In brightly colored chalk, all of the craft beers available on draft and in bottle are listed based on style, as well as the food specials of the day. The bar looks in on the kitchen, which has enough space for around a half-dozen people or so. The entire restaurant has enough space for probably 30-35 patrons, which definitely works for the local feel of the space. It’s a nice setup that makes this place comfortable and personable. 

The Traveling Salesman Edition: Carpe Diem – Charlotte, NC

I don’t get out-of-town much, so when I do, I always like to dine somewhere either new or exciting. Each city has its share of fine restaurants that really do stand out for what they bring to the table and the ways in which they establish themselves amongst the rest of the pack. As I found myself thinking about this, I decided that I shouldn’t limit my blog to only the dining and food scene of Atlanta. So, whenever I visit another city, I will take it upon myself to blog about what can be found by both locals and visitors alike. Thus, The Traveling Salesman Edition is born!

My brother lives in Charlotte and, fortunately for me, is a chef. He works as a sous chef at this fantastic restaurant over off Elizabeth Avenue in the downtown area called Carpe Diem. The restaurant, which is owned and operated by two sisters, has been serving the people of Charlotte for over twenty years! The menu caters towards American cuisine and the use of local and regional ingredients, presenting diners with standard favorites as well as rotating special and seasonal menus. My girlfriend and I were in Charlotte recently, and along with my brother’s wife, we decided to stop in to take advantage of the fantastic cuisine and drinks the restaurant has to offer.

Carpe Diem has a great bar selection, including a finely chosen wine list, a decent selection of beers, and a seasonally changing cocktail list. I had the Fashionable Southerner, a riff on an old-fashioned that used Bulliet Rye Bourbon, Chipotle maple brandy syrup, Rhubarb bitters, and a cherry garnish. The drink was exceptional; the Chipotle maple brandy syrup did a wonderful job of adding a touch of heat and sweet to the rye, and the Rhubarb bitters worked effortlessly as a subtle admirer to the cocktail as a whole. My girlfriend had the House Bulldozer Martini, a delightful homage to the Screwdriver that included ginger syrup, fresh squeezed orange juice, and a splash of St. Germain Elderflower liqueur. Again, another delicious drink that was equal parts sweet, tart, and floral.

The Fashionable Southerner

House Bulldozer Martini

Battle of the Brews!

It sucks being in transition. I say this because, for the past three weeks, I have not had a stable place to call home. I ended my lease at the end of July with the full intention of moving in to a new place, yet like dominoes, they have been falling down one by one. So, what does one do while in transition? They keep going. They move on. So, while I do that, I thought to myself: What other things could I blog about since I have nowhere to formally cook? Beer! So, ladies and gentleman, I present… Battle of the Brews!

Atlanta has a great beer scene. It seems almost monthly now that a new brewery is opening its doors for business. As a frequent supporter of all that Atlanta and the surrounding area has to offer, I have decided to present a challenge, of sorts, between some of the heavy hitters in the area. Going into the end of summer, I had to decide on what beers best represent, in my opinion, the culmination of the heavy heat that permeates Atlanta during this time of year. For me, I could see no better option than both the Hefeweizen and the India Pale Ale, or “IPA”, style. With that being said, it is time to unveil the challengers. Onward!

The Challengers!

In the left corner, representing the IPAs, Red Brick Brewery’s Hoplanta and Terrapin’s Hi-5 IPA! Red Brick describes their IPA as “Hoppier than a frog in a buggy summer.” Let’s see if they can live up to their claim! Terrapin has this to say about their IPA: ““Hi-5″ California Style IPA leads you down a road of pure adrenaline and beauty.” Is it truly a rush? Only time will tell!

Tin Roof Kitchen: Gluten-Free Goodness in Downtown Alpharetta

When I think of my ideal meal, it usually involves something breaded, on bread, wrapped in bread, etc. In other words, I love bread. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who cannot eat bread, either due to a disease like Celiac or some other form of gluten-intolerance. When my mother, who has recently become gluten intolerant, recommended Tin Roof Kitchen, a gluten-free restaurant, for dinner last Friday night, I had my hesitations. If everything I love involves some form of gluten, could there really be food out there that is just as good?

It turns out, there is.

Located in downtown Alpharetta, Tin Roof Kitchen is located in the space that used to house Slice Cafe and 52 Bistro. The restaurant focuses on providing local, fresh, and seasonal foods that are completely gluten-free. The owner, Robyn Rowles, maintains that while everything is gluten-free, you won’t be able to tell the difference. Not only was she right, but the food ended up being better than we could have imagined.

The Coyote Salmon, dressed with a red chili honey glaze and paired with a roasted poblano, black bean, corn, and pepper salsa, was phoenomenal. The salmon was cooked perfectly, pulling apart easily with a fork, and the glaze had just the right balance of sweet and spicy. The skin of the filet was completely removed, making for an easier eating format for the meal. The salsa underneath almost stole the show. The poblano was charred just enough, the corn was as sweet as could be, the black beans were wonderfully cooked, and the pepper added a wonderful heat that really brought the salsa together. This was a great dish, one that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys fish with a sweet heat to accentuate it and a fresh salsa to back it up.

Coyote Salmon

Cardamom Hill: Gone, But Not Forgotten

Cardamom Hill is one of those Atlanta restaurants that has no equal. Or, I should say, was. It was sad to see last Monday that the restaurant plans to close tomorrow after two and a half years of service to the Atlanta market. I would be lying if I said that my heart didn’t hurt a little, as this was one of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta. So, as a farewell of sorts, my girlfriend and I decided to venture to Cardamom Hill one last time to enjoy and reminisce a restaurant that will be gone, but not forgotten.

Asha Gomez, the executive chef and owner, brought her native Kerala style of cooking to Atlanta with a Southern gusto that could not be found anywhere else in the southeast. Kerala, a state in the southwest region of India on the Malabar coast, offers cuisine that is uniquely Indian with influences from both Europe and Asia due to Kerala’s prominence as a major spice trading port. The menu of Cardamom Hill reflected Gomez’ upbringing heavily, yet found new-found expression in the cuisine of the South. While some dishes were purely Kerala in style, others were a beautiful mixture of both Kerala and the South, fusing together in a harmonious balance of East meets West.

Curry Chicken Puff

Sweet Corn Pudding: An Obsession Worth Having

I have a weird obsession with some things. 2% milk is probably my biggest one. Usually around midnight, I find myself craving at least a pint of the stuff. Another one of mine is corn pudding. Every Thanksgiving, corn pudding happens to be on the table, and every Thanksgiving, I end up eating more than my fair share. I can’t help it; the delicate sweetness of the corn, the crunch of the bread crumbs, it’s too much to handle! Anyways, we all have our little obsessions. Mine just happens to involve food.

 

I think that corn is one of those foods that can be consumed without hesitation during the summer. At its peak during this time of the year, corn is at its best; sweet, succulent, and incredibly indulgent. I had made a sweet corn pudding earlier in the summer, pulling again from John Currence’s Pickles, Pigs, & Whiskey, but it didn’t turn out quite like I had hoped. It lacked the molding to hold it together, becoming more of a corn dish with flakes of breadcrumbs and vegetables spread throughout. I decided to try again last Friday, hoping that I would be able to satisfy my desire for a perfect corn pudding this summer. This time around, something was different.

 It was perfect.

Spicy Hill Country Meat Pies, Georgia-Style

 

A few years ago, I found myself in New Orleans with my best friend during what had to be one of the hottest Julys on record. Wandering through the muck on a sunny Sunday morning, we found ourselves in the French Market, taking in all of the amazing smells emanating from within. Being hungover definitely didn’t hurt, but for the most part, I’ll never forget the Cajun aromas from that market or the salivation that came with it.

 

As this blog is about Atlanta and the food it has to offer, I couldn’t really wrap my finger around what I would consider “Atlanta Cuisine.” Is it biscuit-y? Does it include some sort of meat? Are Vidalia onions involved? When it came down to it, I guess I realized that there are many different things that make food “Atlanta” in name. As a melting pot of the South, Atlanta has a whole range of foods and ingredients to make it its own.

 

Last Christmas, I received a copy of John Currence’s cookbook Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey: Recipes from My Three Favorite Food Groups (and then some). A James Beard Winning Mississippi Chef, Currence cooks a variety of foods that originate (and in some cases, can only be found) in the South. Like a little Southern soul guide, Currence’s cookbook has taught me how to really cook Southern. Flipping through its pages, I came across a recipe where he talked about spending time in New Orleans after Katrina and the foods he encountered while there. Feeling as though my path was set, I decided that his Spicy Hill Country Meat Pies were going to be my Sunday feat to conquer.

As this recipe literally took me all day to prepare, the end really had to justify the means. I was not disappointed. Sweet, spicy, salty, herbally, this recipe had it all. The crust was delicately flaky, while the filling had just the right ratio of meat to vegetables. I went into this simply expecting to be happy with my results. In the end, I emerged from my Southern endeavor more connected to the South then I think I have ever been. While the experience lasted all of ten hours, it was definitely worth it. Meat pies, once only known throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas, now have Georgia to call their home. If you have the time and aren’t afraid of wasting your entire day, I suggest you make these little Heaven pockets. But be warned, they may not make it through the night.

Vinings’ Canoe a Beacon of Fine Southern Cuisine

Along the banks of the Chattahoochee, situated somewhere between serenity and salutations, lies a restaurant that manages to take my breath away every time I step upon its pristine grounds. Canoe, located just off Paces Ferry Road behind the backdrop of Atlanta, is a restaurant that manages to represent both the old and the new in their approach to fine dining and Southern cuisine.

My girlfriend and I spent our first “big” (as we called it) date at Canoe back in 2012, and we saw it only fitting that we should return for our second anniversary this past Friday. The ambiance of Canoe is mesmerizing; the restaurant looks equal parts rustic and modern in its approach to an atmosphere that is uniquely elegant in a city that is constantly changing. As you step outside the rush of the restaurant, you come upon a beautiful landscape interwoven with trails, an outdoor bar, and an expansive garden that grows all of the vegetables used by the restaurant in their dedication towards sustainable sourcing. As the waters of the Chattahoochee flow by, you can feel all of your anxieties and worries float away with it as you take in what can only be described as “The Canoe Effect.”

The natural feeling of the restaurant translates effectively well towards the cuisine of the restaurant. While not entirely modern by today’s standards, Canoe never feels dull in their approach to food and drinks. The wine list, one of the best in Atlanta, is updated often with new and exciting labels from all over the world. The cocktails feel both classic and modern at the same time; the Ward Eight, a classic rye cocktail blended with lemon juice and orange juice, is updated with a house-made pomegranate molasses that takes the drink to another level, while the B & E sour reinvents the whiskey sour with shaken egg whites and a splash of ruby port. Neither cocktail is new by bar standards, but the simple tweaks make them feel as if you are tasting them for the first time.

Ward Eight

B & E Sour

Cranberry-Walnut & Sourdough Bread

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you wait for you meal to be served, freshly-made breads are never more than a basket away, as hosts glide from table to table to offer you a refresher before each course. The service and attention to detail is extraordinary, as you are never left with an empty plate by your side and your water glass can never be more than half-full before it is filled again without you even realizing it. While the service makes it a priority to make you feel welcome, it is sometimes a bit too grandiose a gesture when your waiter or waitress is trying their very best to explain every formality of the restaurant as you try to order your meal. If you hesitate for even a second in ordering, you may find yourself waiting longer than expected as the same routine is being described to five other tables.

When the food does arrive, detail and skill play off of each other as each course becomes a culinary triumph, yet there is still the occasional hit or miss. The grilled Australian octopus would be a delightful appetizer to start with, yet is was heavily weighed down by the horseradish tomato broth and broccoli rabe that came with it. The bitterness of the broth and broccoli was too much for the mildness of the octopus, and the chorizo that was mentioned on the menu was barely noticeable. It was nice to see that the dish was affectionately split for my girlfriend and I, which again goes to show how well Canoe takes care of their guests.

The Iberian Pig Brings a Taste of Spain to Decatur

Ah, Decatur. Once another troubled suburb of Atlanta, this city is in its cultural renaissance; locals now frequent the many unique restaurants and shops lining Ponce de Leon that really highlight how far this city has come in recent years. The Iberian Pig, a local restaurant serving modern Spanish cuisine and tapas, has had its delicious meaty arrow lodged in my heart for years. My birthday was this past Saturday, so I decided it was time to return to my happy place with my girlfriend and two close friends along for the ride.

On a typical Saturday evening, the restaurant is bustling with activity; diners converse happily over tapas plates, cocktails, and glasses of wonderful Spanish wines while servers move around tables like some kind of synchronized dancing act. On the right side of the restaurant, the bar staff are busy making incredible cocktails while a leg of beautifully marbled Jamón Ibérico, a cured meat made from the famous black footed Iberian pigs of Spain, is expertly sliced into thin slivers. That night, we had the benefit of eating on the second floor balcony overlooking the restaurant floor, giving us an intoxicating view of the restaurant in action. Unhealthy things were about to happen that night, but man, did they taste so good.

On one’s birthday, a cocktail is always in order. I had to go with the Iberian Old Fashioned, a signature cocktail made with bacon infused rye whiskey, organic maple syrup, Angostura bitters, orange and lemon twists. This is one drink I could never get tired of; the  smokiness of the bacon infused rye with the syrupy sweetness of the maple syrup is one of the most amazing collaborations in the history of the cocktail. Everyone should try this at least once in their life. The white sangria is a must try as well if wine is more your style. Using a crisp Spanish white wine, this delicious wine cocktail is blended with brandy and muddled with apple and lemon, making it a perfect refresher for the evening.

The Iberian Old Fashioned

As The Iberian Pig is all about tapas, attention to detail is one thing this restaurant does not skimp out on. From imported meats and cheeses to a wide variety of brilliantly prepared small plates, every dish that is put in front of you looks and smells as if it came directly from Spain. The prices of each dish ranges from around 5 dollars to upwards of 20 dollars, depending on what you order and what ingredients are used to make it. As we pondered over the menu, deciding on what to order, we knew we had quite a few rounds to get through before we even began to contemplate ending our meal.

Jamón Serrano and Monte Enebro