Saturday, June 19, 2010
MILLER UNION
Saturday, May 1, 2010
LA PIETRA CUCINA
He says:
La Pietra Cucina sure is an ugly restaurant. Located in the middle of Uptown among the strip malls, traffic lights, and exhaust of passing MARTA buses, it is unhappily situated in the lobby of an office tower. Everything from the walls to the booths is a murky, brownish red, as if the restaurant were trapped inside a human liver. The tables are dim and the artwork is dreary. If the décor needs lightening up, the service needs toning down. Our waiter was so enthused about the daily specials I thought he might jump on our table and start doing a jig.
Fortunately, the food is worth dancing about. In a city with a surprisingly weak Italian scene, La Pietra Cucina stands apart for the freshness of its ingredients and the novelty of its entrees.
She says:
The Prosciutto di Parma is a great sharing appetizer. Generous heaps of prosciutto are piled atop flatbread and are accompanied by in-house ricotta and a sweet pineapple mostarda. The combination has it all – sweet, salty, creamy – and I promise that by the time the last fleck of prosciutto is gone you’ll be planning your next visit just to get more of that incredible ricotta.
La Pietra Cucina is also known for its handmade pasta, which is made fresh daily. They really do get it right, with their delicate noodles coming out perfectly al dente. My dish was a mushroom lover’s dream, five different types of mushrooms mixed with a very light cream sauce over tagliatelle. For such rich ingredients it was surprising light, though my umami tastebuds were in hyperdrive.
He says:
The black spaghetti is a striking dish, not only for its squid ink-colored pasta, but also for the intensity of its flavors. Chunks of hot Italian sausage provide a rich, satisfying burn with every bite while the plentiful rock shrimp offers a chewy, textural contrast. This is an excellent dish, but it’s not for the weak of heart – if you can’t handle spice, you might want to avoid this entrée.
The lemon custard is terrific. Citrus desserts are often too acidic – think key lime pie with too much lime – but this custard softens its edges perfectly, extracting the full flavor of the fruit while cutting out the tangy finish. It’s a marvelous trick and I couldn’t get enough of it.
We say:
Ugly restaurant, but beautiful food.
La Pietra Cucina
1545 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.lapietracucina.com/
Thursday, March 18, 2010
WOODFIRE GRILL
- We love you for solidifying Atlanta’s place on America’s gastronomic map through your amazing performance on Top Chef.
- We love you for centering your restaurant’s fare on local, sustainable, organic food and humanly-treated animals.
- We love you for being insanely sweet and humble even though you are totally famous.
- We love you for putting bacon in everything, even your desserts.
- We love you for indulging our doe-eyed admiration, for taking a picture with us, and even signing our menu!
ROLLING BONES
Saturday, February 27, 2010
STONE SOUP KITCHEN
He says:
What is it about Grant Park and awesome brunch spots? Chances are if you threw a rock from Oakland Cemetery you’d probably hit one. Just three blocks from my favorite brunch spot in Atlanta – Ria’s Bluebird – is another darn good one, Stone Soup Kitchen. Its breakfast dishes aren’t quite as innovative or delicious, but it’s also more relaxed and its outdoor patio is as good as any place in Atlanta to enjoy a beautiful Sunday morning.
She says:
Stone Soup Kitchen is a very welcoming place. Its brightly-painted interior literally glows with yellows and oranges and greens. Sunlight streams through the windows of the greenhouse-like patio. This past Sunday it never got too crowded and the background noise was perfectly muted. After all the rain and snow of the past winter, it was the perfect place to spend the first truly beautiful morning of the spring. The menu is dominated by savory dishes, leaving those with a morning sweet tooth unfulfilled, but the variety of egg dishes will appease most. I went with one of the special egg scrambles of the day – the Gringo – and thoroughly enjoyed the mix of salsa fresca, chicken, cheddar, and avocado.
He says:
I went for the special of the day, the arugula and prosciutto frittata. The prosciutto was rubbery and bland, almost like cheap ham, and the clear notes of arugula I was expecting were lost among the tomatoes and eggs. Overall, I wasn’t impressed. Fortunately the dish was saved by its sides, a dense, chewy biscuit and a cup of cheese grits, that, while not as fluffy as the ones found at Flying Biscuit, were almost as tasty.
We say:
The food at Stone Soup Kitchen isn’t as good as Atlanta’s other best brunch spots, but thanks to its patio and slow pace, it’s just as pleasant … if not more so.
Stone Soup Kitchen
584 Woodward Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA 30312
www.stonesoupkitchen.net