Last Post of the Year!

So I wasn't intending on this being the last post of the year, but my lazy bones took over and I didn't eat out as much as I had thought I would due to too much holiday spending, but after all is said and done I thought Top Flr would be a great way to tip my virtual hat off to the year!

I have been to Top Flr once previously and fell in love with their tuna tartar flat bread, so I knew I HAD to order that appetizer as well as their infamous mac and cheese because for some crazy reason we didn't order it last time.  So I met my friend on a rainy night at this lovely establishment right next to Merry Macs on Ponce.  We arrived a little earlier than usual because my friend was coming from work in midtown, but usually if you stay a little later the place can get hoppin, with their delicious drinks and good music, but I don't think to the extent of their sister establishment, Sound Table, which I have yet to go to because every time my friends and I try, there is some cover that no one wants to pay for.  Maybe one day it will happen.  So back to the rainy night.  We spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out what kind of wine to get because I am the most indecisive person besides my friend sitting across the table from me who is THE most indecisive person, so put us together and you get...nothing.  No decisions.   So I just lied because we finally decided not to get a bottle of wine until they told me they were out of the freaking Tempranillo!! Deja freaking vu.  So then we decided to get a half bottle of wine.  Whatever.  Let me get to the happy part of the meal. 

Finally our appetizers arrived!!  We chose the pork skewers just because we couldn't help ourselves and they sounded so good.  Oh and also I forgot to mention we had a $60 Living Social coupon, so we went a little cray.  I always find skewers hard to eat.  Food always seems to end up being shot across the room because I'm trying to get those suckers off the damn sticks.  I wish someone would come up with a way to make them slide off easily but until then I will just eat as much as I can get off the skewer.  I had a couple lost souls but nothing extreme, so I was happy, and the pork was covered in a delicious Asian spicy sauce that was also kind of sweet.  They were pretty tender, but that sauce was really good.  

Now this was what I had been dreaming about the whole day knowing I was going to this restaurant.  The tuna flat bread.  It was tuna tartar atop a very thin crispy flat bread with avocado, Thai miso pesto, and lime aioli.  So freaking good!!!  The flat bread is sooo thin that all you can really taste is the yummy spicy tuna and the aioli but it still gives it texture with the crispiness.  It all goes so well together and is so delectable.  I could eat two of those by myself, but I will move on. 

  

I had a hard time deciding on my main course, but I eventually chose the sea bass which came over a cauliflower puree and a sweet raisin sauce.  The fish was pretty good.  Honestly, it wasn't that memorable as I'm writing this a week later and I can't remember how it tasted, but I remember it being good enough to eat a whole fillet, but not enough to take the other home, plus I have a thing about reheating fish.  Just doesn't seem very appetizing to me.  I did really like the puree though.  It was very subtle and light and went well with the fish.

My friend had the grilled chipotle chicken which came with kim chi and a sweet soy reduction.  I thought it was a nice, very tender piece of chicken with a nice Asian sauce, but.....it was a piece of chicken.  Nothing too exciting.  I don't eat chicken too often for dinner just because I think it can get kind of boring (unless its Chickfila, duh), but I give them props for how juicy and tender it was.

Last but certainly not least, we had a side of the sharp cheddar, smoked Gouda, and spicy panko crusted mac and cheese.  Do I need to say anymore?  Well, I will.  It was so creamy with a little spice to it which I loved.    I mean who can't love Gouda.  Who can't love saying the word goouuudaaa.  Simply divine.  What you should know about their sides though is that they are meant to be shared.  They come a la carte, but are definitely worth the additional cash. Considering how full we were, we probably could have shared the mac and cheese with another person, but we didn't so we just ate it instead.  

I honestly think the best parts about Top Flr are their appetizers and sides (I had the kale at my previous visit and it was delicious), so maybe next time I have a coupon, I will make a meal of apps and sides.  You live and you learn.  

I must give a disclaimer for the next couple of months.  For all my 5 readers, I must let you know in the upcoming months I will be most dedicated to my job as an accountant and therefore will be hooked to my work computer making wonders in excel and will most likely not have much time to blog.  I know you are probably thinking, "Well, it's not like you blog frequently anyway."  Well, you can shut it.  But I will try my hardest to eat and write, but until next time...holla!

Alma Tell Yo Mama!

Like in most cities, Atlanta has become home to a few different restaurant groups, which own a collection of restaurants throughout the city.  Hopefully you are familiar with the most well known, Concentrics, who own One Midtown Kitchen, Two Urban Licks, Parish, Murphy's, etc, and of course there is the Fifth Group, who I have mentioned before in my post regarding Ecco.  Well Fifth Group decided to grow their company by one more restaurant adding a Mexican flare to their repertoire, a place called Alma Cocina in downtown Atlanta.  My friend and I were lucky enough to get a reservation, well sort of and I shall explain later, by giving a generous donation from yours truly to @fifthgrouper, who I follow on Twitter of course, for his Movember campaign.  In return, I received a reservation for 2 before the restaurant even opened and everything was complimentary! Shall I say that is the most divine way to eat!!

So a couple Friday nights ago, my friend and I head off to the not-so-frequented down down downtown area where we eventually see Alma in the 191 Peachtree building.  Our next feat...finding a parking spot.  Since we rarely venture that far downtown, we had a little trouble finding a place to park, but we eventually came to a correct entrance of a parking deck and rationalized the $5 fee to what we would have paid a valet (plus a couple more dollars).  Once we finally weaved our way back to the front of the building, we see the restaurant and the ever so cute patio in the lobby of 191. At first it kinda had a mall restaurant feel to it just because everyone was sitting in a huge indoor patio with greenery and Christmas lights surrounding them, but once we got inside, it felt a lot more cozy.

We had our first hiccup though when we arrived at the hostess stand and they could not find our reservation, but the host added us to the list and we went to the bar to have ourselves a yummy margarita. We both chose the Just Wear Black margarita that was made with fresh squeezed lime juice and agave syrup and of course some good tequila.  It was very simple, which is just the way I like my margs, and it was super delicious!

As this was a pre-opening function, the full menu was not available, however, each table had a different selection of options to choose from and while the suggestions we received from the bar were not on our menu, specifically the chicken mole, our meal was quite good.  We started off with not 1, not 2, but 3 appetizers not only because the meal was free, duh, but also because it was about 9:30pm at this time and I was freaking starving.  And also because we couldn't decide what not to get.  The first app was fried avocado taquitos with poblano pesto and roasted tomatoes.  Not really much I need to say about this dish.  Give me pretty much anything fried and I will probably like it.  As you can tell, the avocados were perfectly fried, and it had just the right amount of crispiness.  I have never had fried avocado, but I fell in love.  I also liked how the tortilla was extra crispy since the avocado still had a soft consistency and the pesto and tomatoes topped it all off.

Next came the yellowtail ceviche with pickled mango in cucumber-serrano water.  When we were given this dish we were given pretty specific instructions as to how to eat the ceviche. We were told to get a piece of fish, slosh (technical term) it in the cucumber juice, and then add the mango and pepper all in one bite.  I have to say those were pretty specific instructions but I was glad I followed them!  The fish was less of a ceviche and more of a hamachi sashimi if you know what I mean.  Either way, I thought it was amazing with the mango and the cucumber water or juice or whatever it was.  Some of the best sushi, I mean ceviche, I have had in Atl.

The last of the appetizers was a grilled salad.  It enticed us with the goat cheese notion and our waiter told us the lettuce was actually grilled, so we just went for it.  This was probably my least favorite dish.  I guess when I read the menu I didn't assume the "grapes" that were referenced would actually be olives, and the entire dish was covered in some type of olive vinaigrette.  Seeing as I am not a fan of olives, I did not take well to this app, but it's all in personal preference.  Also, the fried goat cheese balls just were in no comparison to the balls at Ecco.    

On to the main course.  As we just wanted to get the best food on our menu, we relinquished our power to our waiter and he told us to order the Chile en Nogado and the Red Snapper Mole Amarillo, and with my vast spanish knowledge I can tell you Amarillo means yellow (see picture below).  Damn I'm good.  The chile was made up of poblano chile, winter squash, raisin apples, cranberries, walnut sauce, and pomegranate seeds.  I think I need to read my menus a little more closely, because this dish was just that, a mix of veggies and fruit.  It was a lovely mixture of winter foods, but I was just glad we had ordered a crapton of apps and another entree because I do not see how that could be a main course.

The red snapper on the other hand was better than expected.  It was cooked just right and the mushrooms in that sauce with the swiss chard on top just warmed you up from the inside out.  I honestly don't think of mushrooms or swiss chard when I hear mole, but it all just worked and the swiss chard was cooked just right in my opinion, not too mushy.  The entire combination was super scrumptious, especially when you piled all the components on to your fork for one great bite!

Even though we were full to the max, we of course ordered some dessert, but due to our late eating, the dessert that was recommended to us, the grapefruit sorbet, was all sold out, so we ordered the flourless chocolate cake instead.  The first bite was so chocolately and yummy, but then you waited and the after taste became super spicy.  Not my favorite chocolate cake ever.  Maybe I'm a wuss, but I just like my chocolate cake to be rich and milky, not really spicy, but to each his own.

All in all, it was a really fun experience.  The food was great, the margs were delicious, and the servers were really enthusiastic which made me more excited!  Obviously this is a new restaurant so I was not super harsh about my missing reservations.  I don't know how many times my friends and I will venture downtown to eat since we like to stay in our little bubble, but maybe on special occasions we will fight the tourists at the Hard Rock and come back.

Eclipse de Luna

I assume if you have lived in Atlanta for a while you have been to Eclipse de Luna, and, therefore, you are asking yourself, "Why is Frugalfoodie writing about a place that has been around for forever and that is not particularly what you would call a 'foodie' spot. "  Well my friend, Eclipse just happens to be a fine good staple in the good ole Atl.  My friends and I have been going to this Spanish tapas restaurant for years now and it is one of my good friend's favorite restaurants in Atl, and since she has moved away to the Nation's capital to become a famous basketball star, I always go to Eclipse with her when she visits home.

My friends and I have eaten at this establishment so many times we know exactly what we want to order without even looking at a menu.  One thing I have to say is this past time they were out of the $6/glass Malbec, and I was quite disappointed.  I expect a Spanish restaurant to keep their Spanish wines in stock,  but I sucked it up and just ordered the $6 Pinot instead.

Back to the food....our order consisted of the potatoes, tomatoes and mozzarella, calamari, shrimp, mussels, ribs, and a deviation from the usual, fried bananas.  Not sure of the official Eclipse names on the menu, but they knew what we were talking about.  We got that Eclipse lingo.

We usually get 2 plates of these delicious fried potatoes because I myself could probably eat an entire plate, but what is quite essential to this dish is the sauce that accompanies the taters.  You must dip and then eat and then you will say "mmmmmmm."

I love the tomato dish because the maters are always so think and juicy and then the mozzarella in between each slice is the perfect proportion.  The cheese doesn't overwhelm the tomatoes and vice versa.  Then the fresh basil and the balsamic vinegar top the whole thing off.  So good, which you can see because someone already started to cut them before I had taken a picture! Not cool when eating with Frugalfoodie!

Now my friend who I mentioned earlier LOVES her some shrimp and we all love these as well.  The sauce is buttery, garlicky, and spicy!  You have to sweep the shrimp in that yummy sauce and then just put the whole thing in your mouth (less the tail).  I actually forgot how spicy they were, but it just makes it so much better!

Said friend was not a huge fan of mussels, but I love them and as did another person at the table, therefore, these clam cousins were ordered.  Not really much to say about mussels.  They are drenched in a delicious buttery sauce that you want to drink down but would be looked down upon so you just dip some bread politely.

The calamari pic came out a little blurry, but that is not to say it is an underwhelming dish.  This is one of my favorite dishes at Eclipse, which is probably why the pic is blurry as I am most likely trying to stuff my face and picture take at the same time.  That is the problem with tapas places.  Food is coming every which way and there's so much excitement going on and so much to look at that I forget that I must blog with these pictures!  I digress.  I love the fried calamari because it is nice and crispy without being overly fried and you can still taste the fish.  Also this dish comes atop a sweet tomato sauce that you dip the calamari in. It is soooo gooood!!

 
Because we are mature adults, we allowed a dish we had never tried to be ordered, the fried bananas, which were actually quite tasty!  Don't know if I would keep them in our rotation, but it was a nice little sweet surprise.

Last but not least, we also had their ribs, which unfortunately I did not get a picture of because I guess we ate them too quickly.  They are so tender and marinated in a balsamic vinaigrette sauce that is so fingerlickin good!

This was a great Eclipse de Luna venture as they all are, and it was great to see my famous basketball star girl.  Can't wait until she comes home for Christmas and we can go again!!

Brunswick Stew

One of my favorite things to do on Twitter is enter contests for some free goodies, even though I never usually win anything.  So one day I saw a chance to win free tickets to some chef demo at Bloomingdales with chef Virginia Willis.  It seemed interesting so I retweeted @AtlEvents' tweet and 5 hours later I somehow was the winner of these tickets!! I didn't really know the details of this event at all, but I just showed up with my friend in the Home section of Bloomy's and just went with the flow!

When we got to the event, we saw tables around for wine tasting, so we tried some different kinds of wine and walked around in awe of all the different kitchen appliances.  I wanted so bad to be able to buy every single thing in that store! I mean who doesn't need a 5 slotted toaster with 15 different settings for your toast?!  So we eventually found the area where the cooking demo was to be performed and watched hungrily as the Chef cooked up some sweet tea brined pork tenderloin, sweet potato grits, and mushroom ragu.  After we got to sample the wonderful food, I was able to purchase her lovely cookbook where all this goodness was documented and I was able to talk with Chef Willis and have her sign the book!  Turns out she was from Georgia and even studied history at UGA!! Go Dawgs! So this whole long story brings me to Virginia Willis' Brunswick stew recipe.

As I was flipping through her book looking at the pictures, I freaking fell in love with the pic of her BBQ stew.

It looked sooooo good and I knew it was going to be the first recipe I tried from her book.  So here we go!

2 Tablespoons of canola oil
1 onion chopped (preferably a Vidalia)
1 poblano pepper or a green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 teaspoon of paprika
1/2 cup dry white wine
8 fingerling potatoes
6 cups of chicken or beef broth (I used beef)
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes with juice
2 cups of fresh of frozen butter beans
2 cups of corn
Bouquet garni which is 8 sprigs of flat leaf parsley, 6 sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves, 10 whole black peppercorns tied together in cheese cloth
1 pound boneless, skinless breasts or thighs cut into 1 inch pieces (I used thighs)
1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into medallions

I started off by making the Bouquet garni.  It may be hard to find the cheese cloth in the grocery store, but it's pretty cheap and you get a lot for what you pay for.  It can also be good for straining, which I will be doing while making my thanksgiving dishes!  Anyway, make your little bouquet of herbs and set aside.

Next, I cut up all my veggies, the onion, pepper and garlic, and set aside so it can be ready to throw in the pan.  I like to cut the veggies before the meat so I don't have raw meat germs everywhere, so now you cut away at your meat and set that aside as well and start heating your oil on medium to high heat in a large pot.

When the oil is simmering, add the onion and pepper and season with salt and pepper.  Cook the veggies for about 5 minutes until they are soft then add the garlic and paprika and cook for another minute.  Now add the vino and cook until it is almost all evaporated, about 3-5 minutes.

Next, add your potatoes, beef stock, tomatoes with juice, beans, corn, and your bouquet garni.  Let this come to a boil and then decrease the heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes until the beans and potatoes are just tender.

Now season your meat with salt and pepper and add it to your soup and continue to cook for 5-7 more minutes or until the meat is done.  I also like to add a little more pepper to give it some more spice since it is Brunswick stew.  Before you serve, though, remember to take out that bouquet of herbs!

I love this recipe because it is so easy and doesn't really take that much time, and, of course, the finished product is so delicious!  I also made some cornbread because I just have to have some when I'm eating any kind of stew, especially Brunswick stew! Hope you enjoy!

Taste of Atlanta

A couple weeks ago my friend and I went to the 10th annual Taste of Atlanta.  If you don't know, this event hosts a crap-ton of restaurants from around the Atlanta area from Iberian Pig to Morelli's to even Waffle House (sorry no pics of cheese n eggs here).  The streets are blocked off around the Georgia Tech square in midtown, and booths are set up for each of the restaurants to serve tastes of food.  When you purchase a ticket, you receive 10-15 taste tickets depending of whether you paid for general admission or VIP.  These taste tickets are what you use to "buy" tastes from each of the restaurants.

This was my 2nd year attending the annual Taste of Atlanta and of course the second year I found a deal for tickets.  Last year my twitter scouring led me to a $10 discount for general admission tickets, which my friend and I were very excited about.  However, as it was our first year attending, we were not aware of the perks of having VIP tickets and we quickly realized our naivety.  Therefore, we decided the next year we would find some way to afford the way better, more expensive tickets and indeed did we find that way!  Turns out if you test drove a Cadillac at any of the Atlanta Cadillac dealerships you could get a pair of VIP tickets for FREE!  So I hopped right on that free train and didn't actually end up test driving anything, but was just given the free VIP tickets.  It was pretty awesome.  So moral or the story...follow me on Twitter and I will lead you to the land of freeness (@frugalfoodiejg).

Back to TOA and the food.  So we get to Taste of Atl early in order to beat all the lines and make sure none of the food has sold out, but since we went on a Sunday, we couldn't get in the VIP tent where all the free alcohol was until 12:30 because of the stupid blue laws!  I won't go into politics, but....blue laws are dumb!  So we went to the restaurants first and started off with a Korean BBQ pork slider from Takorea.  This was pretty delish, but give me Korean bbq  any day because I always love.  This actually won best taste for Sunday, so apparently I was not in the minority liking this dish.

Another trick I want to share that my friend and I figured out last year was to combine our taste tickets and just order one item from each restaurant and split each sample.  This way we were able to try double the amount of food! Yeah, I bet we were the only ones to think of that.  We so smart.

Next we had the s'more doughnut from Sublime.  I had yet to try one of the Sublime doughnuts, but had wanted one for a long time, and this definitely lived up to my expectations.  It was so airy and light and the chocolate and mellow were sooo goooood!  I wanted to eat a dozen, but I had to move on.

Then I see the little Iberian Pig sign and I get all giddy!  We got the pork taco and the only thing I didn't like was that it was so tiny.  I liked the crispy taco shell and the guac, but it was just so small even though this picture makes it look the contrary.

At Rosebud we got 2 of their samples because they both sounded so good and my friend is crazy and isn't a fan of grits.  The first taste was slow roasted pork shoulder with creamy grits and the other was a chicken slider with slaw.  The grits were delish and the pork was tender, but the bun on the slider was a little too hard for me.  The slaw was great too, but the bun just made the slider hard to eat.  Also it seemed EVERYONE had made sliders, which makes sense because of the eating standing up situation, but it just got a little old.

Next we had some amazing pork and polenta from Strip.  The flavor was so rich and again I love me some grits/polenta any day of the week, and this dollop was very yummy!

The next restaurant we tried, 246, which is the new Italian eatery in Decatur, was a place I was also really excited about.  I have not yet been to the establishment, but love Italian food and have heard so much hype about the Ford Fry (JCT Kitchen) and Drew Belline (Floataway Cafe) collabo.  From their samples we tried the meatball slider and the meatball was sooooo gooooodd!  It was so juicy and a little messy but worth the sticky fingers.

So now it was time for a little dessert break and of course we went straight to Morelli's, and I was floored when they told me they had a bacon brittle ice cream flavor.  I was so excited to try it that my mouth was watering as they were scooping it into the cup, and boy, did it live up to the hype!  The bacon crisps were like candy.  Well, I guess it was kinda like brittle.  You don't say! Any who, it was scrumptious and not greasy bacon tasting, but sweet with a slight yummy bacon taste.

The last place we tried before we headed to VIP was Urban Pl8.  We decided to go the vegetarian route and had the veggie burger because I thought it looked pretty good, but it turned out to be a ball of mush.  Not appetizing at all, and we couldn't even finish it.  So on we went to bigger and better places.

Now not only did we get free wine tasting (there was also beer, but I just stuck to the wine), but we also got free food only for VIPers.  Inside the tent was the new Italian place that is opening next to the new STK, Cucina Asellina.  This Italian restaurant also had meatballs, but just as a tre tre by itself and this did not need ANYthing else.  They put some fresh grated parmesan on the top and I just dug in.  If you remember, previously, I called 246's meatball slider "sooooo goooood" but this meatball was soooooooooooooooooooo gooooooooooooood!!  Get the picture? Ha- get it...down below....

The last place we came upon was Three Sheets and at this point I could hardly walk up-right because I was so freaking full (not because of too much vino), but I pushed through for the the cherry on top.  Three Sheets had both grilled cheese sandwiches and deviled eggs.  I mean who doesn't like grilled cheese, and I could probably down half a dozen deviled eggs in one sitting, so I thought this was a pretty good ending to a delicious day.  This deviled egg wasn't any kind of deviled egg; it was a truffle deviled egg.  Nuff said!  The sammie was an applewood smoked cheddar grilled cheese that was creamy and crisp.  

All and all I thought the food was pretty good this year.  I did feel there were more restaurants last year, but I still walked/slouched away full and happy as a clam.  Hopefully next year Cadillac, the best car dealership EVER, will be doing the free VIP tickets next year and we can all go for free!

Shrimp and Grits

One of my favorite southern dishes is shrimp and grits.  I didn't always like or even understand the concept of the dish, but I have grown to love it and have finally decided to make it.  The first time I heard of the dish was many years ago when my parents were throwing a dinner party.  As always it was craziness in the house before the guests arrived.  People were yelling, pots were clanging, and I was sitting there confused over this shrimp and grits mixture.  My step-dad, Jack, was the chef for the night, and he was such a great cook.  He was more of a throw-something-together-sort-of-using-a-recipe kind of chef, and he used his creativity to make great meals, but in return, left the kitchen a huge mess, which did NOT make my mom a happy camper.  Thank goodness kitchens have doors and none of the guests had to witness this debacle!  (I believe I learned all my cooking attributes from that smart, crazy man)  I remember hearing that we were having shrimp and grits for dinner and being so confused.  "Why would you eat grits that you eat for breakfast with shrimp?!"  I did not understand it and being the picky, stubborn child I was, I did not eat it.  Years later, though, I have learned to love this dish, and now I think of this moment every time I eat shrimp and grits and think how I missed out on one of Jack's great meals (lesson for all those picky eaters out there!)

So now here I am wanting to spread the love of this special southern meal with this recipe.


Grits
3 cups of milk
1 cup of water
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1 tablespoon of butter

1 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits

1/3 cup of shredded Parmesan

1/3 cup of mozzarella or  any other type of cheese (I also use Gouda)

Shrimp

5 slices (or 10 whatever your preference) of bacon

1 pound of shrimp

1 cup of thinly sliced onion

2 cups of grape tomatoes halved

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon of sriracha

Start off by making your creamy, cheesy, delicious grits!  Mix the milk, water, salt, pepper, and butter and bring to a boil.  Keep an eye on the milk and stir occasionally as the milk will stick to the bottom of the pan when it starts to cook.  Once the milk has started to boil, stir in the grits slowly and turn the heat down to low.  Let the grits cook for about 5 minutes and stir in the cheese until it melts.  I like my grits super cheesy, so you can add as much cheese as you like.  Just be careful with the salt content because the more cheese you add the more salty the grits will become. 

Now comes the best part! BACON!  Cook your bacon in a big fry pan and take in that yummy smell of cooked bacon.  I like mine pretty crispy especially for this dish, so I cook mine for about 7 minutes on the first side then flip and cook for about another 3 minutes on the other side.   Once cooked, take out the bacon and crumple it all into pieces and set it aside for later.

Pour out the bacon grease (but not into your sink, duh), but leave about a tablespoon in the pan because....you will be cooking your shrimp in that heart healthy grease!  Add your shrimp to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes on each side and then set aside the shrimp.

Now add your sliced onions and halved tomatoes to the same pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until tender.  Add the garlic and cracked pepper and cook for another minute.  Now add the shrimp and bacon back to the pan and pour in the sriracha.  I like my shrimp pretty spicy, so I tend to add about 3 squeezes of the hot sauce (real technical measurements here) until I taste enough spice.  Only cook until the shrimp are warmed up because you don't want to over cook them.  Now just spoon the shrimp mixture over your yummy grits and you are ready to chow down! 

  

I hope you enjoy and maybe you too will now think of my step-dad whenever you eat this dish!  Go Jack!

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Ecco For My Birthday!

This past Saturday was my 26th birthday and because I had plans to watch football and drink and go out dancing with friends the night of my bday, my mother and I had to have my traditional bday dinner earlier in the week, and I knew exactly where I wanted to go.  I had purchased a $40 for $20 coupon to Ecco a while back and the deal expired the night before my bday, October 7th, so needless-to-say, this was a must use, and plus I just love the restaurant!  In addition (no, I'm not done yet with the deals) I have a Fifth Group frequent buyer card and coincidentally you get $20 off your bill the month of your bday.  Again, needless-to-say it was a must use! So after all this thought and consideration, I Opentabled that biatch and made us a res.

One of the things I love about this place is the atmosphere.  The bar at the front of the restaurant is huge and is always hopping, even on a Wednesday night when we attended.  The hardwood floors and the dark accents and the loud environment makes it feel very New York.  We were immediately taken to our seats and along came our waiter, Chris Brown.  Not the Hide your Wife Chris Brown obvi, but it did make for some lame jokes that I'm sure he's never heard before.  Anyway, I digress.

We first ordered the fried goat cheese, which are infamous at Ecco, and we were persuaded by CB to also order the Piquillo Peppers that were stuffed with braised beef.  I was so glad we listened to him!

If you have never had fried goat cheese, you are really missing out!  Especially these little balls of heaven!  They are fried, but the coating around the cheese isn't heavy at all.  It's more like a light wind breaker.  Then these wind breaker wrapped cheese balls are dipped in honey and topped off with some peppercorns.  It is freaking amazing!  The trick, though, is to dip them in the honey at the bottom of the bowl, and it is just such a succulent little cheese treat!  The peppers were delicious as well.  The beef had such deep flavors and was so tender while the peppers were sweet and juicy.  Very yummy!

For those of you that don't know, I love love love Italian culture and most of all Italian food.  I literally could eat pasta everyday of my life if my body would let me.  Last year for my birthday we visited Sotto Sotto in Inman Park, which if you have never been and love Italian food, you need to go NOW!  So while I branched out this year, I just could not hold myself back from getting the pasta and I was not disappointed!

For my main course I chose the Chili-braised Pork with Garlic and Pappardelle.  The pasta was delicious!  You could definitely tell the pappardelle was homemade, and it was perfectly al dente just the way I like it.  The pork was tender and juicy and I loved the fresh basil.  It was def right up there with Sotto Sotto.

My mother took a different route for her main course and ordered 2 more small plates.  She chose the squid which was grilled with capers, chives, and lemon and the winter squash fritters with chive aioli.  I had never had grilled squid before and was a little nervous to try it, but I have to say it was pretty delicious!  You could really taste the lemon, and the capers just gave it a little boost in flavor so it didn't taste as fishy as I thought it would.  You could tell the squid was fresh and with all our heavy food so far, this was a nice, light dish.

Speaking of nice and light...I think the wine had gone to our heads a little at this point because I didn't realize the squash FRITTERS we had ordered would be deep fried until they came upon our table in a nice, rich, battered, and fried form, and we both sighed in utter defeat.  Because I HAVE to try everything we order due to this little blog I run, I had a tiny/medium sized bite and that was all I could muster.  While it was surprisingly very moist on the inside (ugh I hate that word and I can't believe I just used it-the "M" word that is) and the chive aioli was a great accompaniment, I couldn't eat more than a bite.  It was just too rich for me.

Finally, it was dessert time.  Due to fullness of the bellies, I didn't think I could eat anything else, but Mr. Brown thought otherwise and brought us some more balls, but this time they were of chocolate.  Champagne truffles to be exact.

Yes, those are my teeth marks because that is all I could eat of the truffles.  Not that they aren't delish because they are, and I am a deep lover of chocolate.  I just thought one more bite and you might as well just roll me out like the purple girl in Willy Wonka.

It was such a great dinner and I always have so much fun with my mama (especially when we are eating and drinking wine).  Best 26th bday of my life!!