Neptune Oyster

No text needed for this homage to Neptune Oyster in the North End (Boston).

 

Clam Box

I used to escape to Ipswich when I needed a break from the myopic and insular world of medical school. Only 45 minutes' drive north of Boston lies this refreshingly real and unpretentious seaside town with some of New England's best fried clams. 

Blue Hill Grills at Stone Barns

Mid-winter outdoors barbecue grill complete with fire and snow at the Blue Hill at Stone Barns' third annual Blue Hill Grills.  The custom-made grill, a modified Argentine asado from GrillWorks, burned wood on one side, away from the food. After the wood turned into charcoal, it (sans fire) is moved to the other side to cook and smoke the meat.  Because the meat is never grilled over direct fire, it has a lovely smoked taste without any dry bitter black burnt crud.  All the dishes had at least one main ingredient that was grilled, even the grilled apple strudel dessert and the smokey-flavored vanilla ice-cream (how the heck did they do that?). 

Communal seating meant we ate with John and Nathalie Fischer from the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park.  Because many of the staff at BH@SB graduated from CIA, they worked hard to please their former mentor.  Our entire table benefited from this extra TLC from the staff, although I have to say the ballet-like synchronized serving was kind of weird.  The 4 waiters would circle our table of 8 diners, wait for the head waiter's cue, and then place our plates on the table in perfect unison.  It was like watching synchronized swimmers - fascinating, but kind of weird.  Also at our table was Greg the Farmer.  Except Greg the Farmer could also talk in depth about carbon footprint, how to turn lobster shells into charcoal, and sustainable farming issues.  There are only 3 official farmers at Stone Barns, and it appears being a scientist/genius is a prerequisite.    

Billy's Dream

Why are there so many Billy's Bakeries popping up all over NYC?  Regardless, this is to all our benefit, as their cupcakes are phenomenal, and you can go to their store(s) without running into the annoying Sex In The City Tourists who throng the lines at Magnolia Bakery.

Pat La Frieda, Burger Genius

Now available at the Delta terminal at La Guardia airport - Pat La Frieda's own custom burgers, a heavenly blend of brisket-chuck-short rib-skirt steak.   You can grab one of these on the way into NYC and another one (or two or more) on the way out of NYC.  In fact, given that there are no Pat La Frieda burgers in Atlanta (and nothing close to it), I should've bought a dozen and brought them back to Atlanta with me.  Pat La Frieda is the genius who quit Wall Street to reinvent the burger (read more in this fascinating article from New York Magazine). These burgers at the Delta terminal are AS GOOD AS the burgers he supplies to Dan Meyer's Shake Shack, and I'm still waiting to try his Minetta Tavern burgers.  

Farm 255, Athens (Georgia, not Greece)

Sunday Thai Street Food

I ate here thanks to a review on EatBufordHighway. While I normally stay away from restaurants with the words "sushi bar" in its name, I went to try the Sunday Thai street food special at Thaicoon & Sushi Bar. On the special menu (and not on the regular menu) are comfort staples such as rice noodle soups, grilled chicken/pork with sticky rice, crispy pork belly & spinach with rice, and green papaya salad. Thaicoon was definitely a solid choice if you're hankering for a more authentic and simple taste of Bangkok on a wintry Sunday afternoon in Atlanta. Of course, all this pales in comparison with the incomparable SriPraPhai Thai Restaurant in New York City, but hey I am stuck in Atlanta (for now).

Mission Chicken

Much to my delight, Pollo Campero, the deliciously addictive Guatemalan fried/grilled chicken chain, has opened on an outpost here in my far-flung corner of the world!!! 3389 Buford Highway in Atlanta, to be precise, which is only 5 minutes north of my office! Now THIS is fried chicken/fast food worth supporting, unlike the anti-gay evangelical chicken fast-food chain Chick-Fil-A. I loved Pollo Campero during the three months when I was working in rural Guatemala back in 2001. Weekend trips to Antigua or Guatemala City inevitably involved a pitstop at Pollo Campero for its delicious crispy on the outside & juicy on the inside fried chicken or lime/citrus-infused herb grilled chicken. And I am happy to report that the Atlanta incarnation is just as good as the pollo I remember from Guate. I'm also (not so) secretly delighted that the Guatemalans may be beating the American fast food chains on its own turf. Hooray for Pollo Campero! (and boycott Chick-Fil-A!).

Han Il Kwan (Yes, in Atlanta!)

Oh yay! There is real Korean food in Atlanta! Lindsay Kim, my Energizer-Bunny friend, took some of us to this Korean BBQ joint, Han Il Kwan, off Buford highway in Doraville (5458 Buford Hwy). I had the dol sot bibimbap (돌솥 비빔밥), which is a savory medley of beef, spinach, bean sprouts, carrots, seaweed, and fried egg over a bed of rice served in a sizzling hot stone bowl. I was so happy, I almost thought I was back in K-town in NYC. I kept taking big sniffs of my clothes afterwards for wafts of that yummy soul-satisfying Korean BBQ aroma. Thank you Lindsay! Atlanta is finally starting to feel a little like home...Now I just have to find good sushi here (which may just be mission impossible, since I will not cheat on Sushi Azabu).

I love Sushi Asabu

I just can't get enough. I just can't get enough. Alaskan King Salmon sushi pictured below. Oh, you soft little pillow of perfection, you.

The Fat Radish

Andrew took me to The Fat Radish for brunch - a gastropub on the lower east side that takes its vegetables as seriously as its meats. We did not see a lot of the beautiful people as described by Amelia Lester in the New Yorker, but perhaps that was because we were there at 11:30am on a Sunday morning - too early for the fabulous peeps. Sunday brunch doesn't really start until 1pm in NYC anyway. We did dine with a lot of hipsters all dressed in the obligatory wool beanies (worn erect, just so there's a bit of room at the very top, and not slouchy which would be soooooooo 2009), Moscot glasses, and Steven Alan plaid shirts obligatory for the Winter 2010 Hipster Season. Or maybe those were the hipster-waiters. But I digress. Here is the place and its yum yum yum yummy food, nevermind the scene. From top to bottom: Deep fried egg with panko crumbs with candied bacon and squash spaghetti. Peekytoe crab with homemade linguine, waaaaaaarm banana bread with homemade blueberry jam and butter on the side (heavenly!). And we had a delicious sample of the beet and radish juice and another of the Kale/Celery/Apple/Ginger juice, which was deliciously satisfying despite what seemed like an odd combination of vegetables and fruits for a juice.
Addendum Feb 1, 2011: Sam Sifton reviewed The Fat Radish in The New York Times today!

Fat Matt's Rib Shack

Atlanta has stopped functioning because of a piddly 4 inches of snow. Apparently, the city only has 11 snow plows, and cannot cope with the "inclement weather." Hundreds of flights have been canceled. To my benefit, this meant that the second leg of my friend Dan's flight from Guatemala to NYC via Atlanta was waylaid, and I had a chance to catch up with an old friend. Since this was Dan's first time in Atlanta, we went to Fat Matt's Rib Shack to check out the famous Atlantan BBQ joint (between a dry rub BBQ and wet-sauce-dripping-everywhere-Texan style BBQ) and the local live blues scene. The succulent ribs were so deliciously tender that everything (and I mean EVERYTHING: meat, cartilage, etc.) all fell off the bone upon the first bite. Oh, and the live blues band kept ROCKIN' despite the snow storm!!

BTW, if you have time to read this blog, you should really be spending your time reading Dan's new book, instead: Outrageous Fortunes: Twelve New Trends That Will Reshape the Global Economy. Available now via Amazon (and in Kindle version too). And if you end up making shitloads of money after reading his book, please come back and take me out to lunch at Per Se.

Table 1280

Haute shrimp n' grits is available at Table 1280 next to the High Museum of Art at the Woodruff Arts Center. A perfect place to stop by for brunch and then wander over to the High Museum to check out the contemporary pieces on the top floor. And if you haven't seen it, go check out the Dali exhibit at the High - this weekend is the last weekend to see this show. I'm not usually into surrealism (too egocentric, literal and illustration-y for my tastes) but the later Dali pieces (i.e. sans boring dripping clockfaces) were interesting and kind of breathtaking- especially when he reinterprets religious imagery in a surrealist fashion. I never really thought that religion and surrealism would pair well together...they're odd fellows to be in bed together, and yet it kind of works, kinda like shrimp and grits.

Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Dan Noodles!

Two of these bowls are from Atlanta (Chong Qing Hot Pot and Peter Chang's). One of these is a bowl of genuine dan dan mien served at Chuan Ban (川办餐厅) Beijing's best Sichuan restaurant, located inside the Sichuan provincial government representative office at 5 Gongyuan Toutiao, Jianguomennei Dajie, Dongcheng District (东城区建国门内贡院头条5号). I'll leave you guessing. Bwahahahahaha! p.s. if this is torture to you, you can click on the photos to find out. The photo that links back to this post is the best bowl of 担担面 I've ever eaten, 2 blocks down the street from my old office in Beijing.

Jackpot! Chong Qing Hot Pot!

Woohoo! I found another decent Chinese restaurant (food court, actually) in Atlanta! Chongqing Hot Pot on 5385 New Peachtree Rd is located inside a Chinese strip mall on the north side of Atlanta. The chef hails from Chengdu, Sichuan and the shuizhuyu 水煮鱼 ($7.50) is just heavenly. I asked for extra ma-la numbing spice on mine, and slurped and gulped down half the heavenly fish and cabbage before I couldn't eat anymore. Took the rest home and heated it up with more of my personal stash of ma-la and finished it all the same day. Yummy!

Peshawri, Mumbai

Husbands should not be allowed to travel to India by themselves and then go feast on lobster tandoori and send photos of said lobster tandoori back to their wives. That is simply cruel and unusual punishment. My 135-pound husband managed to fit all of this food into his stomach (note the lamb mutton above the lobster). I'm beginning to think that he must be a distant cousin to Takeru Kobayashi. Andrew definitely won that solo competitive Indian eating contest hands down! P.S. Thank you to the globe trotter Emily for this restaurant recommendation. Please go buy some Colgate toothpaste to support Em's employer so she can continue traveling around the world to save people's teeth and give us more restaurant recommendations in the distant corners of the world!