Monday, February 25, 2008

PARK 75 CHOCOLATE BUFFET

He says:
When I first heard about the secretive, limited-time only “Chocolate Buffet” at the Four Seasons Hotel restaurant, Park 75, I knew I had to take Uptown Girl there for Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately the buffet isn’t actually inside the restaurant as I was informed, which is a shame since Park 75 was named the best old school restaurant by Creative Loafing. Instead it occupies the space just outside the restaurant’s entrance, overlooking the hotel’s bland, airy lobby. And while Uptown Girl and I were dressed to the nines, some of the other folk were clearly hotel guests who decided to plop down in their pajamas and flannel shirts for a midnight snack. So much for my attempts at romance! <heavy sigh>

She says:
Wow, Downtown Boy makes it sound like we were slumming it on our V-day date. That hardly gives credit to the fact that we spent the evening at a chocolate *buffet* (as in eat-as-much-dessert-as-you-can) concocted by the Four Seasons’ pastry chef. It wasn’t exactly the Cheesecake Factory.

Each of the 15 or so desserts were portioned into bite-size samples, so we were able to try everything without going overboard, and then get seconds on our favorites. The sweets ranged from smores (lavish graham cracker base with a layer of decadent milk chocolate and a slightly crunchy marshmallow topping) to traditional chocolate mousse and bites of chocolate-chunk brownies. We agreed that our favorites were a gooey chocolate bonbon filled with a crunchy hazelnut filling and a chocolate cake that was flavored with chili and other mouth-tingling spices. I also enjoyed the cardamom cheesecake; Downtown Boy compared it favorably to the Indian dessert, burfi. As if so many scrumptious desserts weren’t enough, they also had a chocolate fountain, an endless cascade in which we dipped strawberries, pineapple, angel food cake, fried dough, and rice krispie treats!

We say:
If Park 75 could bring the buffet inside, they would have an unabashed winner on their hands. Fortunately, between the waterfall of never-ending chocolate and the platters of creative and opulent desserts, you’ll forget everything else soon enough.



Chocolate Buffet at Park 75

9pm-12am, Friday & Saturdays through March, $20
75 Fourteenth Street, Atlanta GA 30309
http://www.fourseasons.com/atlanta/dining.html

Sunday, February 3, 2008

WATERSHED

He says:
I would say that Atlanta’s best-kept secret is the off-the-menu fried chicken served every Tuesday at Watershed, but I don’t think it’s much of a secret these days. Although you’ll never see it on their menu, I’ve heard about it from numerous friends, and just last month it was featured in Delta’s free in-flight magazine Sky. And when we visited Watershed earlier this week, the hermetic fried chicken was sitting pretty on everyone’s plate. There’s a reason for it too … it’s really good!

Chef Scott Peacock puts the chicken through two soaks: a brine bath to retain the chicken’s moisture, and a buttermilk bath to tenderize and flavor it. And it works because his fried chicken is some of the juiciest around. I was especially impressed by the breast meat; most chicken joints deep-fry their breasts into a hard, stringy oblivion. Not so at Watershed, where it remains soft and moist. As for the exterior, the Virginia-style lard and butter frying fat produces a superior crispiness without being too oily.

She says:
I think Downtown Boy pretty much summed up the excellence of the chicken. I can’t say that I’ve had any better.

When you order the fried chicken, you get all the fixings along with it: green beans, mashed potatoes, and biscuits served with honey. They are all delicious. The beans are firm and crisp, the potatoes unbelievably smooth and buttery, and the biscuits acceptably good (still no match for Flying Biscuit, though). We had hoped to end our delicious Southern meal with some good old banana pudding, but alas, it wasn’t on the menu.

The rest of the “new Southern” menu certainly looks appetizing, so we’ll have to go back someday and try something besides the chicken.

We say:
We can’t really comment much about Watershed’s menu since we only ordered one dish, but as for the fried chicken, we highly recommend it.



Watershed
406 West Ponce De Leon Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030
http://www.watershedrestaurant.com/