Local Three

This week my friend, Sophia, from Birmingham was in town for work, and as we both love to eat, I got to pick out a restaurant for dinner while she picked up the tab using that wonderful corporate AmEx.  I always turn into a 5 year old kid in a candy store when I get to choose a restaurant for dinner even if I'm not even going!  I am just happy someone I know will be enjoying great food that I have been eager to try myself.  So I went through my list of places I have yet to visit and we finally decided on Local Three!  

Local Three is owned by Chef Todd Mussman and Ryan Turner of Muss & Turners in Vinings and Chef Chris Hall, who coincidentally grew up on my old street Peachtree Battle Avenue! They focus on all things southern and even have a whole Bourbon section in their drink menu.  I mean you can't get more southern than that!  

The restaurant was in a bit of an odd location I thought.  I found it on the bottom floor of some random luxury condos off of Northside Drive near West Paces.  You walk into a very modern lobby and turn the corner to see this wooden, speakeasy looking door that was so unexpected.  I almost couldn't even find the door handle! So I made my way into this hidden place and played with the toys in the basket on the floor which I guess is meant for kids, but we found them quite entertaining for the little wait we had.

We started off the night with some delicious deviled eggs, again, so southern.  They were dusted with paprika and little bacon bits which just added a great crunch to the softness of the eggs.  It had me at bacon, duh.  Next, we ordered the boiled peanuts that caught the apple of Sophia's eye when we were previewing the menu earlier that week.  They were perfectly salty and hot and they just added to the southern feel of our meal thus far.  Too bad we didn't have a bourbon drink, but I think that might have just put us over the edge, and her and I would have started screaming "Roll Tide!" and "Go Dawgs!", respectively.

For my main course I chose the pork chop that came with roasted potatoes and swiss chard all immersed in a cipollini onion agrodolce sauce.  Agrodolce is a sweet sauce, which in this case, was made from caramelized cipollini onions.  I thought the sauce had a great taste especially with the pork, but I did think it became quite sweet as I kept eating especially the swiss chard since it was underneath the pork on the plate and had soaked up a lot of the sauce.  The chop itself was insanely huge! I swear the thing was 4 inches thick and was the size of my head, but the other amazing part was how tender and juicy the meat was.   For a piece of meat that size, I would think it's rather difficult getting it perfectly pink in the middle while not over cooking the outside, but I have to say this was a finely cooked pork chop.  Due to the enormous size of this steroid chop, needless to say I did not even come close to finishing the plate, and I made a whole 2nd meal of it the next day!  They don't call me frugal for nothin people!

Sophia chose the almond crusted flounder for her main course which was served atop a spinach and sunchoke risotto with yellow beans to top it all off.  Of course I tasted her dish!  The fish was fluffy and the crust on the outside was not too dried and hard.  The risotto was so creamy and went well with the almond crunch.  I don't think I paid much attention to the menu because the whole time we were eating our entrees I though the yellow beans were very long skinny versions of some ziti pasta, so when I reached over to grab what I thought would be pasta, I was shocked when it was actually a veggie!  That is such a strange feeling when you eat something thinking it is one thing and it is actually something totally different.  Even if the taste is so familiar, your taste buds and brain are so confused you cannot think what you could have possibly just put in your mouth.  Is that just me? Anyone? Oh well, on to dessert!

While I wasn't really thinking we would be getting a dessert, Sophia just happened to be eavesdropping at another table and heard some mention of a snickers bar as a dessert choice.  As I love me some snickers which is proven at every Halloween when I buy a bag of them and use the holiday as an excuse and I have no children to blame the empty wrappers on, we both decided we would have to get this dessert.  If you're a big Top Chef fan such as myself, you probably have heard them utter the word, "deconstructed," from time to time.  If I were Padma, I would have to say this would probably count as Local Three's version of a deconstructed Snicker's Bar.  It was simply amazing.  The outside consisted of chocolate mousse with a dark chocolate inside and caramel sauce and candied peanuts on the plate.  Once you got all the components on your fork it tasted like a gourmet freaking snickers bar!  Incredible.  Brought me back to the CVS where I get my $3 bags of those mini candy bars. Good times.

All in all this was a great experience.  We had good service, good food, and good wine and it was so great seeing my girl who also loves to eat as much as I do!

Do the Dew!

This past weekend my mother, aunt, and I went back down to their hometown of Mobile, Alabama for a family birthday party.  I grew up going to Mobile to visit my grandparents who lived there and of course going to Mardi Gras every year where it was born.  No, Mardi Gras did not start in New Orleans where everyone associates the bead throwing, and yes, I like to tell that to as many people as possible.  See, you learn something new everyday! Another hidden secret about this old, southern city that I must share with you is the establishment called The Dew Drop Inn.

From this picture I'm sure you're thinking, "Hark, Oh foodie one! What is this B.C. (before Christ) Inn you speak of?!"  Well, not only is this not an ancient motel with dancing men in tights (tight tights!), but it is home of the most famous hot dog in Mobile, Alabama!  The restaurant was opened in 1924 by a man named George Widney and the dogs have been hot ever since.  What is even more unique about this place is that all their wieners are a bright red color.  I'm not really sure of the reasoning behind this wiener glow, but it just makes the whole experience even more special!  I mean how many times does one get to eat a red wiener?!

What is great about this kind of old establishment is that you can tell nothing has really changed over the years.  Even the homemade chili recipe that they have made in-house since the day they opened in 1924 is still the same.  I even asked our server about how it was made and she quickly told me it was a house secret and no one would ever know. Not even FrugalfoodieJG!! The place is small where you can order at the counter to-go or you can seat yourself competing for one of the coveted booths.  Also the menu has only slightly expanded to serve hamburgers and HUGE onion rings, but I don't know who orders a burger when the place is famous for their hot dogs.  To each their own I guess....but I will still judge you.

The original Dew Drop Inn hot dog, which is of course what we ordered, consists of homemade chili, sauerkraut, mustard, ketchup, and a pickle slice.  Like I have said in my previous post, I am not a fan of sauerkraut usually, but after my last 2 experiences with it, I am beginning to think otherwise.  This whole combination of the red weeny, chili, and kraut was amazing!  The reason I mentioned before I asked about the chili recipe is because it was not like your typical watery, soupy kind that makes the bun all mushy that you find on most chili dogs.  The meat was finely ground and while it wasn't runny, it was still flavorful and not too dry.  Just perfect for this hot dog.  When I was younger and was a much more picky eater, I never got this combo and just stuck to the ketchup for the dressing, but I have to say I was missin out!  Also, I am a sucker for some french fries.  My favorite are ones that are slightly crunchy on the outside but mushy on the inside, like crinkle cut or steak fries and low and behold does this mighty little Inn bring me some big freaking steak fries! They were enormous and I couldn't lather them in ketchup and take them down quick enough!

The Dew Drop Inn's hot dogs are so well renown it was the main food act at the birthday party Saturday night!  As the birthday honoree was a born and bred Mobilian, it was only fitting to have the dogs brought in special.   As we knew these would be a hot commodity at the party, we took it upon ourselves to visit the restaurant in person before the event to insure we got ourselves an original dog and of course so I could blog about it!

Dinner with the Dead

Earlier I wrote a post about Ron Eyester or the Angry Chef, who is the chef and owner of Rosebud restaurant in Virginia Highland, and of course I follow him on Twitter.  I had heard about the 4th annual dinner he was hosting at his restaurant called the Jerry Garcia Dinner, which celebrates the singer's accomplishments in music.  Along with an 8 course meal, you are enthralled by music from the Grateful Dead and the Jerry Garcia Band played by my friends Parker Smith and Michael Chesin.  Sounds amazing, right?!  So being a Twitter fiend, I see a tweet from the dear Angry Chef asking a blogger to come to the dinner and take pics and eat gratis.  I quickly tweet him back while still auditing in excel of course (in case work people are reading) and let him know I would love to come to his dinner! After a few quiz questions about Jerry and his guitar, he concedes and I quickly go back to work in a very happy mood.

So I start off my meal with a little cocktail du jour called the Terrapin Station Shanty.  I'm not a huge beer person unless I'm tailgating or watching football, but the ginger beer was very enticing.  It was a simple drink of just Terrapin Hopsecutioner, ginger beer, and lemon that was so light and tasty.  I could just tell I was on my way to becoming a Dead Head!  If only I had worn my tie-dye!

We start the meal off with a dish so apropos for this hippie evening. The first course was an amuse bouche-like mushroom toast with a wasabi pea sauce.  While it was a little bigger than bite-size, I was glad there was more after I took my first nibble! I loved the crispy outside and the soft, sweet inside of the shrooms and then there was a slight kick from the wasabi.  Short and sweet and on to the next course!

This was a sweet potato risotto with an espresso glaze.  If you've ever watched Top Chef, you know risotto can be a tricky dish to make and has been the end to some chefs on the show.  However, the soft pieces of sweet potato went so well with the creamy risotto, and the richness from the espresso sauce complimented the warm feeling of this dish.  Risotto is great comfort food for me, so this was such a treat!  While this dish was so good, I knew if I finished my plate of the filling Italian rice I would be full before the 4th course but leaving food on the plate was freaking hard!

The third course was Ahi Tuna Tostada with avocado, corn, and radishes.  Apparently this was a dish that was on the Food 101 menu which was the restaurant that inhabited the same building before Ron made it Rosebud.  He brought it back for this dinner, and I'm so glad he did!  I mean I love me some ahi tuna and when you combine it with avocado...Oh Lord, you had me at hello!  The tuna was perfectly seared on the outside and raw on the inside.  The tuna on top of the crispy tortilla with the sweet corn and the sharp taste of the radishes was a great combo.

This next dish came with some power heat which you know I love because all Koreans love spicy food and I am so Korean now.  These 3 jumbo shrimp were cooked with a spicy pepper rub and had a BBQ, smokey taste to them.  They were definitely spicy and not meant for the timid, but the contrast of the sweet cherry tomatoes with the spice made you realize a gulp of ginger beer was not necessarily needed right away.  After this course I was wide awake and ready to take on whatever came next!  

The fifth course was a smoked ham bone chicken stew with okra and peppers.  After a couple courses came out, Ron would talk a little about the dishes we just ate and how they relate to the Grateful Dead and what not.  This soup he related to the song Iko Iko, which he ended up singing at the end of the night and not in a tone-deaf karaoke kind of performance either I must add.  Anyway, I learned that the song had creole roots and, therefore, this stew was meant to emulate that culture.  I loved how small the pieces of chicken were, yet you could still taste the flavor of the meat.  It was just as if the veggies were the main act and the chicken was to accompany.  Also the stew had somewhat of an Asian persuasion; hence the wonton pieces.  The broth was so light and fresh that I didn't mind eating it after such a hot summer day.

At this point I was getting close to being very full, but I just kept on truckin because we hadn't even had the main course yet!.  One thing I did appreciate was that all the portions had been small.  There was no way I would have been able to make it to the end if the first courses had been bigger because I still would have eaten all the food on the plate due to my lack of self control.  The second to last course before dessert was a petite loin chop over corn sauerkraut with a wine reduction.  Although you can't really tell from the picture, I swear this was the cutest piece of meat I have ever seen! It was like a miniature pork chop that someone had shrunk for Remy in Ratatoulle.  There was even a little bone in the mini meat. So cute, but I will move on.  I have to admit I am not a huge fan of sauerkraut, but this kraut with the corn was awesome!  I think I'm offended by the strong vinegar taste of SAUERkraut, but this was not too overpowering at all and the corn helped balance out the flavor for sure.  The chop was great as well.  I was so tempted to pick up the bone and bite the remaining meat with my teeth, but I held off and reminded myself I was pretty full to be doing something like that and my mom would probably not approve.

Finally the last course before dessert arrived! And while it was the main dish, I was glad to see it was still a small portion as I was so full (in case you hadn't noticed).  This was probably the best dish of the night!  It was a short rib on top of a cheese and potato croquet with vidalia onion chow chow.  The meat was extremely tender and had such a rich, smokey taste, but was also somewhat sweet.  The croquet was perfectly breaded and creamy on the inside.  And the chow chow was just icing on the cake when you mixed it all together in one bite.

At this point I was so full and ready to be rolled to my house like the purple girl in the Willy Wonka Factory.  I couldn't tell if I was tipsy from the wine or the food, but I was surely on the way to a great night of sleep.  Yet, there was still dessert to be had!

We finished the night off with some Very Cherry Jerry ice cream from High Road, a local ice creamery.  Funny how full I was, but I ate about half off that huge cup of ice cream.  Needless to say it was delicious and a perfect ending to a long, wonderful, musically driven meal!