Food Trucks

If you have been following my blog/are friends with me, then you know how much I love the food trucks of Atl.  While my work usually hinders me from being able to venture to the food trucks for lunch in midtown and at the Stoveworks, I finally was able to find time to go to the truck stop in Virgina Highlands.  A couple months ago the trucks started gathering every Wednesdays in the parking lot right next to the CVS and across from the American Roadhouse on North Highland, and last Wednesday a few friends and I met up in said parking lot to feed our faces.

We started off at Yumbii (the old faithful) because they really are the first food truck I knew of in Atl before the fad exploded in this city.  I am such a fan that I tweeted them almost every day for a few weeks or so to try and get them to drive waaaaay OTP to John's Creek where I work, so I could get some yummy tacos, but unfortunately my witty, charming tweets was not enough to haul ass out to the JC.  So after Yumbii's brutal game of playing hard-to-get, I finally conceded and came to them and got me a pork taco. And boy was it delicious.  I honestly don't remember what all was on the taco because I was soo hungry and as you can see above the line was insanely long, so by the time I ordered, was complimented on my ring (smile), and rushed to get my taco when I heard my name called I devoured my food just slow enough to savor the tastes.  The marinade on the pork was so sweet but also spicy and I added some extra sriracha to kick it up a notch.  It was a simple pork taco but with such deep flavors that made me want 5 more tacos, however, I had other trucks to go to and only so much room in my stomach, so I powered on!

The next truck we tried was new to the lot and called Ibiza Bites.  From what I could tell by the menu and obviously the name, this place had a Spanish influence.

My eyes immediately went straight to the fried green tomatoes on the menu, but after we stood in the second long line of the night and we were 2 people away from ordering, the dreaded "Sold Out" sign was laid over the FGT, and I about cried!  So I pulled myself together and decided to order the Ibiza Signature Bite which was basically some beef brisket over some yummy, creamy stone ground cheddar grits.

I have to say the dish was much more than a "bite," which was good since I paid a whopping $7 for it, but it wasn't the best brisket ever.  Everything was cooked perfectly, but I think it could have used a little more spice and the grits could have been a little more cheesy.  I like my cheese grits super cheesy and creamy like one of my favorite restaurants in Athens, The Last Resort, which has some of the best grits I've had and these just did not cut it.  But next time I would REALLY like the try the FGT.  Let's make that happen people!

So of course the next stop was dessert and I really wanted a cupcake, but that food truck was all sold out too!! Not a good night for me, but again I sucked it up and headed over to Honeysuckle to get some gelato.  I got a scoop of the Dock of the Bay which was salted caramel and a scoop of the Chock Full which was roasted hazelnut gelato.  I liked both, but you just can't compare to the salted caramel from Morelli's.  There is simply nothing else like it.  Period.  But I still enjoyed the gelato and finally had to stop eating because I was so full.

I hope to have another food truck night out soon and next time I will have to get there early to avoid the crazy lines and to get the food that I want!

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!

The Angry Chef

As you have probably noticed, I am a little obsessed with Twitter and one of the people I follow is Ron Eyester or The Angry Chef.  He owns 2 restaurants in the Virginia Highland area, Rosebud and The Family Dog, both of which I love.  The Angry Chef is known for his not-so-nice yet hilarious complaints about his customers and their crazy requests like asking for eggs whites only in their eggs benedict.  I mean if you are tryin to be healthy why you order eggs benedict is beyond me!  Just order a freaking caesar salad and be done with it!  Anyway (people like that annoy me), some people find his remarks offensive because he is legit making fun of the people eating in his restaurants and essentially paying his bills; however, I believe that those rigid customers are most likely not on Twitter and don't know enough to follow Eyester.  What they don't know won't hurt them, and his comments make me laugh, so more power to ya!

Now you may be thinking, who are you to defend Ron and his antics, and I have to admit the only restaurant job I have had was being a hostess at Spondivits Seafood Bar and Grill in College Park.  This was back before a lady died due to their seafood and they went bankrupt (too soon?) when things were hoppin with a 2 hour wait 3 days a week and Ludacris and T.I. were pulling in every so often.  

I also worked through high school and college at retail businesses that required working with customers all day.  Needless to say, I have had my fair share of people being rude and demanding to me while I talk crap about them once they leave, so I can totally relate to Eyester's comments.  He is only saying what every other chef, waiter, bartender, and hostess are probably thinking in their heads.  

Fried Mozzarella at The Family Dog

When I eat a meal at a restaurant, I think of the plates as the chef's work of art.  It's the same as a painting  is to an artist.  It's a person's creative outlet using food to make something beautiful and delicious, so when you disrupt someone's work by asking to remove a certain ingredient, to me it's like telling them to their face, "I don't like your art."  I understand people have different tastes, but when I go out to eat, I put my trust in the chef because I have never been to culinary school, and I think they probably know a whole lot more about flavors than I do.  Eating out to me is about taking chances and trying new things.  I may not like everything, but how will you know if you don't try?  One of my favorite feelings is when you try something new on the menu and are a little timid until your taste buds go into shock at how delicious the first bite is.  Why would I waste my money at a nice restaurant if I just ate food I would buy and cook myself?  I'm just saying, next time you go out to eat maybe just have faith in your chef and let him lead you to something that may be quite wondrous on your palette.