What I Ate (Last) Wednesday

July 27, 2011 By Laura

Happy WIAW!

In lieu of telling you what I ate this week, I’m going share my dinner from last Wednesday night. (You’ll understand when you see this deliciousness.)

My foodie friend, Corinne, and I attended another installment of the Summer Chef Series @ ONE Midtown Kitchen. (Remember the 1st one with Chef Hugh Acheson and the 2nd with Chef Bruce Logue?)

This was a special edition, as it was Corinne’s birthday! Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you…

This night we brought along friends to help celebrate. Including my hard-core friend Kathleen who miss my b-day due to breaking her writst via rollerblades. Hi Kathleen! 🙂

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Chef Ford Fry from JCT Kitchen was the guest tonight.

Sadly, he did not bring his guitar.

Ford is the chef facing the cameras with the guitar. Yes, this is local chef band - 5 Bone Rack.

The night began with a crisp Chenin Blanc. Actually, it began with a couple of glasses and bread basket since the kitchen was running behind. ~~We didn’t complain.~~

They print out the menus – one of my favorite parts of the night is the menu reveal.

My inner fat kid spends the day dreaming about what might be on the night’s menu.

Amuse:

Crispy Pork Trotter with fois gras and beatrice eggplant caponata

It was heavy for an amuse, but good. Trotter still creeps me out though.

1st Course:

Heirloom Tomato Ceviche with lemon verbena, white chocolate, & horseradish granita

Love, loved the ceviche. The granita wasn’t bad, but there was a lot of it and chef Drew has done that granita a lot lately.

2nd Course:

Maine Lobster with Carolina gold rice “risotto” and buttered pullman toast

…or if you are allergic to shellfish (or think the alternative sounds good), you were presented with a mushroom risotto.

Really, really good; however, my bad because it didn’t get as well with the Pinot Gris pairing. The lobster risotto was amazing (Corinne gave me a taste).

3rd Course:

Roast Black Bass with tiny tomatoes, tomato water, and herb salad

This was probably my favorite course of the night. The fish was perfectly cooked – meaty rather than fishy. The tomato water was a little much but that herb salad was fantastic with the fish.

The red wine pairing was surprising. It was a nice Merlot, but didn’t wow.

4th Course:

Housemade Heritage Pork Sausage with crisp belly, Benton’s bacon-wrapped fig, and brown butter jus

The pork belly was some of the best I’ve ever had. The texture was melt-in-your-mouth good. The bacon wrapped fig was also delicious. Perfectly crisped bacon!

The only thing keeping this from being my favorite was the sausage – it was so salty I couldn’t eat more than a small bite!

A South African wine paired with this was our favorite of the evening – it was a bigger, more complex red, my palate’s sweet-spot.

5th Course:

Warm 70% Chocolate with almond crisp, raspberry pate, and vanilla lime sorbet

Wellll… chef’s aren’t bakers. That warm 70% chocolate hardened before it made it out of the kitchen and the almond crisp was more rocky that crispy. I could have taken a bowl of that sorbet though!

The sherry pairing was too thick and rich for the dessert. On it’s own I really enjoyed it. It would have been a great one to serve between 4 and 5 courses ~~or in lieu of the dessert~~.

Overall, we left sated and happy. Most importantly, Corinne had a happy birthday!

***

Of course, I have another supper club-like even this Friday. It should be epic!

Are you sick of hearing about these things yet?

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten as of late?

Chef Summer Series – Bruce Logue

July 1, 2011 By Laura

Wednesday’s dinner was so good I woke up still in a food coma.

Yes, I realize that makes no sense.

The best way to recover from a massive dinner is a run. The reason I love a morning-after run isn’t due to excess calorie intake. The purpose of the run is to sweat out the stuff my body hates.

See, I LOVE dining out. I like rich foods. I like red meat. I like wine ~~a lot~~. My body can’t stand those things. I actually woke up in the middle of the night in a full sweat as my body rejected the aforementioned.

Today’s run was to sweat it all out.

Stats:

Distance – 4 miles
Time – 32:17 mins
Pace – 8:04 mins

In today’s heat, sweating was not difficult.

The most important part of the morning-after run is to strike the “I’m a bad ass” pose.

What deliciousness brought on the morning-after run?

My friend Corrine and I attended another of ONE Midtown Kitchen‘s Summer Chef Series. (Remember the first one with Chef Hugh Acheson?)

This week’s guest was Bruce Logue from La Pietra Cucina (my favorite Italian place in Atlanta).

Chef Bruce Logue

The amuse, 1st and 5th courses are done by ONE’s Chef Drew Van Leuvan and courses 2-4 are by the guest chef. Each course is served with a pairing.

The Menu

As we waited for all of the guest to arrive, we were treated to crisp glass of sparkling wine that I wish I knew the name of. It was light and refreshing after coming in from the heat.

Amuse

One of my my favorite dishes of the night – Potato Zeppole wrapped with a charred beef and dusted with rosemary and freshly ground pepper.

1st Course

This was my favorite. We learned as the dish was being served that Chef Drew used to own a pasta making company.

That was apparent in the perfection on this Sweet Corn and Mascarpone Tortellini. It was served with a tomato that had been roasting for 3 hours, smoked cream, and lemon verbena.

All of the flavors we good, but the perfection of the pasta made the dish. It was so light it almost melted in my mouth.

The pairing was great as well. A glass of Borgo Conventi, Collio Sauvignon 2009. It was ok on it’s own, but paired with the dish the flavors grew and we discovered this was an incredible multi-layer, complex wine. Brassy and floral, then a super-juicy melon, followed with a clean ending. Cheers.

2nd Course

This was the only problem of the night. The planned course was to be a burrata, but it apparently was delayed in it’s arrival from La Pietra. Therefore, we were served the 3rd couse.

The Cavatelli with green garlic, asparagus, and a white bolognese. Cavatelli is similar to gnocchi; however it is made from flour, semolina, and water (no potato like gnocchi).

It was quite good – chewy pasta, rich bolognese, crunch scapes.

The pairing was excellent… and is now my favorite Italian beer! Menaerea Ambe. The beer was a nutty, surprisingly light amber with a touch of honey

The problem was the order – this rich pasta dish following another intensely-flavored pasta dish was too much. We needed the lighter course and sparkly beverage originally planned here to rest the palate.

3rd Course

The originally planned 2nd course came out next: Whipped Burrata with summer squash, cherry tomatoes, and pesto genovese.

I love burrata, so whipped burrata seemed like a good idea and it would have been at a 2nd course. Unfortunately, by there time we got to this we were ready to keep going to the meat. The table agreed that it was like being brought down too soon at this point.

Don’t get me wrong – it was still tasty and the whipped burrata was interesting. Almost ricotta-like. The pesto was the highlight of this dish – not too cheese-reliant, allowing the basil to shine.

The pairing was not the best. It was called a Ruby Slip: Absolut Ruby Red, Prosecco, and Lemon. The drink itself would have been a great starter, but was wayyyyy to light at this point in the meal.

4th Course

Milk and Fennel Roasted Pork Arista with a warm broccoli salad and truffle chips.

Truffle chips are just as good as they sound like they would be, FYI.

Arista is just a fancy way of saying pork loin cooked in milk. It is extremely moist and flavorful without being too rich.

The pairing was a Due Torri Pinot Noir. I was more than ready for a good red and this fit the bill. It was full of berries on the palate and finished with a hint of spice.

5th Course

We were stuffed at this point. They brought out dessert and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. It was a HUGE Blackberry Tart.

Thankfully, there is a whole other part of the stomach for dessert.

It wasn’t actually berry-heavy. The tart was filled with a couple of blackberries, pecan cream, and… gorgonzola granita. ~~I finished it like a champ.~~

The gorgonzola granita stole this show – a salty, cheesy, ice cream topping.

The pairing was weird. It was a deep glass of Tenuta Lodola Nuova, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2004. I get where they were going, matching it to stand up to the granita. However, it was way too intense for any bite that didn’t have the granita. The smoky, leathery taste and chewy tannis overshadowed the tart filling… it was really good with the Pinot I had left for the previous course though!

See why I woke up in a food coma?!

***

One of my favorite parts about these dinners is meeting new people, as seating is communal-style. I promised the people at out table a shout out: Hellooooo! 🙂

What is your “cure” for over-indulgence?

Is your body less of a fan of certain foods than your palate is?

Chef Summer Series – Hugh Acheson

June 3, 2011 By Laura

Before I write about yet another ~~gluttonous feast~~ delicious dinner…

Let’s talk about running in 90 degree temps.

I took off today a little later than planned (see the last pic in the post for an explanation). It was already closing in on 90 when I got outside to run. Nothing like a little sweat. My original plan was 7 miles.

My Reality:

Distance – 5 miles
Time – 41:58
Pace – 8:32

A good pace, but I think it’s just because I hauled it home at the end just to get it over with. Seriously.

I have NEVER felt like I might puke during a run before.. Until today (no, it wasn’t the champagne, thankyouverymuch). It was so hot and I was sweating so hard… not pretty. I need hot weather running tips. Or I need to wake up earlier.

There was a treat waiting for me when I got back. The vegan SunWarrior Protein Powder I ordered arrived! Vanilla flavor.

Still sweating, I got to work making a huge green vanilla-almond shake with my new powder.

I wanted SO badly to like it. The ingredients/nutrients are awesome.

It’s chalky and not-so-tasty. Any one want a full (minus one scoop) bag of this? I’ll ship it to ya!

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Let’s talk about something much more delicious! Wednesday night was a dinner of epic proportions.

One of the new friends I met while going solo to the Food and Wine Festival and I went to the first in a Chef’s Summer Series put on by ONE. Midtown Kitchen.

The series of dinners consists of 5 course meals with pairings prepared by some of Atlanta’s best chefs in conjunction with ONE’s chef, Drew Van Leuvan. Last night’s meal with Hugh Acheson from Empire State South was outstanding!

James River Oyster with limoncello and lemon verbena

L to R: Summer Squash, Warm Bucheron, Veal Sweetbread, and Weisswurst all over Salsa Verde

Beets, Radishes, Arugula, Nasturtiums, and Pickled Ramps with a Charred Vidalia Cream

Beef Tartare with Cured Local Yolk, Crisp Tendon, Baby Fennel, and Tomato

Riverview Pork Loin with Braised Belly, Mixed Bean Escabeche, Sorghum & Green Tomato Chow Chow

Tres Leches with Blackberries, Lime Sugar, and Vanilla Lime Sorbet

The food was amazing. Except the oysters. I do NOT like them, Sam I Am. ~~Other than the ocean food,~~ I can’t even choose a favorite course.

The flavors on each plate were spot on – they played off of each other such that each bite was better than the last. Well done, Hugh and Drew!

Did I mention each course had champagne pairings?!

The champagne pairings were interesting. I thought by the end they were a bit of a stretch (5 champagne pairings = HARD). ~~And I probably more champagne last night than I drank in all of 2010 combined. Ouch.~~

My favorite by far was a Chateau St Michelle Luxe. It paired really well with the tartare, something I didn’t think a sparkler could effectively do. At $20/bottle, it’s a get deal too!

We are planning to attend a few more. June 29th with Bruce Logue from La Pietra Cucina is next on my list. La Pietra is one of my top 5 restaurants in Atlanta!

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Talk about a champagne high! I’m going to take a teensy break from drinking. At least until Supper Club Saturday. Supper Clubs and Dinner Series are really popular here.

Do you have a lot of dinner events/clubs in your area?

Do you like the sweeter champagnes or dry? Or do you care (mimosas anyone)?