MILLER UNION

He says:

Miller Union is Atlanta’s version of Cakes & Ale. Like that popular Decatur restaurant, Miller Union revitalizes classic dishes with top-notch ingredients, simple preparation, and a singular focus on flavor. While Cakes & Ale’s New American offerings are more worldly (much like Decatur itself), Miller Union stays grounded in tradition. From shrimp & grits to fried okra to low-country grouper, this restaurant has the Deep South infused in its menu.

She says:

Using seasonal ingredients from local farmers seems to be a la mode for new restaurants these days, and, happily, Miller Union is no exception. The real sell, though is the monthly Harvest Dinner. On the third Thursday of each month, the chef serves a three-course family-style supper. What could be homier than enjoying rustic, farm-to-table dishes with a bunch of strangers? It turned out to be one of the most fun dining experiences I’ve had in awhile. By the time the entrée was served, we were cracking jokes about dirty uncles and the eccentricities of rural Georgia.

The chilled potato leek soup was a standard, yet vibrant, rendition of this classic. One of the most outstanding dishes was the arugula salad, with notably fresh greens, cucumber, and crumbles of feta doused in a robust vinaigrette.

The entrée – frogmore stew – was a smorgasbord of potatoes, onions, shrimp, sausage, and corn on the cob. The simplicity of the dish seemed promising, but it was somewhat of a disappointment, mostly because the unpleasantly smoky flavor of the sausage overwhelmed everything else.

He says:

I actually enjoyed the smokiness, but I agree the stew was a one-note dish and a missed opportunity. If you’re going to let the ingredients do the talking in a minimalist stew, then some of the other flavors have gotta sing.

Of the two side items – field peas with heirloom cherry tomatoes and hush puppies – the latter was superior. Fried to a deep golden brown perfection and paired with two dipping sauces, our table couldn’t get enough of them.

However, the night’s true standout dish was the blueberry crisp. The blueberries were bold and the crisp was a buttery, crunchy, brown sugar delight. With a dollop of silky cinnamon ice cream on top, this dessert is reason enough to visit Miller Union.

We say:

Miller Union is a welcome addition to the booming West Side. It’s a tad too expensive, and like Cakes & Ale it doesn’t challenge the palette, but it also might be the best true Southern restaurant in Atlanta. And, damn, that is some awesome blueberry crisp.

Miller Union

999 Brady Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30318

http://www.millerunion.com/site/

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/

WOODFIRE GRILL

She says:

Oh Kevin Gillespie, how do we love thee? Let me count the ways…

• 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!

But mostly, we love you for your cooking. After months of anticipation, we finally ate at Woodfire Grill this past weekend. Our expectations were high. We weren’t disappointed.

He says:

After much hemming and hawing and deliberating with our excellent waiter, who assured Uptown Girl the red meat dishes could be substituted for vegetarian ones, we opted for the five course chef’s tasting menu. Apparently it changes every night, and even from hour to hour, depending on the ingredients available, so we were completely at Kevin’s mercy.

A bite-size pimento cheese profiterole started things off. The pastry crust was flaky and buttery, but the cheese filling of this amuse bouche lacked nuance.

Fortunately the sliced raw scallops that followed were excellent. They were incredibly silky, and the lemon oil and pink pepper added just the right amount of zing. A stellar peekytoe crab salad completed the dish.

The second course of sautéed California morels was even better. Fungi of this caliber can change the way you think about mushrooms. They were remarkably earthy and smoky, and further enriched by a roasted chicken glace. A huge dollop of duck foie gras mousse threw off the balance of this dish, but after I spooned half of it aside, the resulting union of fat and mushrooms was splendid.

She says:

I was impressed to learn that the artisanal foie gras was “cruelty-free” (rather than force-feeding the animals, they are kept in an environment of constantly available food to fatten them up). Even so, I opted out. Kevin supplied me with a perfectly cooked risotto with morel mushrooms and broccoli. Although rich in all the right ways, the most noticeable characteristic of this dish was the freshness and intensity of the veggies.

He says:

Every great meal has a standout dish, one that you will recall years later because it redefines that what a chef can achieve. For me, Kevin’s slow-roasted pork belly was that dish. Glistening with fat, it melted on the tongue in all its buttery perfection.

The spiced lamb wasn’t quite as marvelous but it was much more inventive. Accompanied by tandoori yogurt, lentil sauce, and a tomato-ginger-cauliflower and potato mash, it’s Indian home cooking masquerading as a fine dining entrée. And plenty fine it was, with spicy and cool notes mingling with the gamy lamb.

She says:

My vegetarian entrée just happened to be the same one that Kevin used to win the vegetarian challenge on Top Chef! A mix of potatoes, Hen of the Woods, and morel mushrooms were prepared on the woodfire grill. Each head of the Hen of the Woods clusters were grilled to a slight crisp, and they paired beautifully with the smokiness of the sautéed greens. A smear of a tangy cream sauce cut the saltiness and rounded it all out.

Dessert consisted of a dense tres leches banana cake topped with three wallops of chocolate mousse and a thin bar of milk chocolate. Next to the cake was a banana sorbet. The sorbet, only mildly sweetened and sprinkled with marcona almonds and sea salt, provided a needed contrast to the sweet cake. Overall, it was a very well balanced dessert.

We say:

Woodfire Grill ranks among the top restaurants in Atlanta. Most dishes were very good, and several were spectacular. In Atlanta’s fine dining scene it is second only to Bacchanalia. And did we mention that we love Kevin Gillespie?

Woodfire Grill

www.woodfiregrill.com

1782 Cheshire Bridge Road

Atlanta, GA 30324

ROLLING BONES

He says:

Atlanta has some pretty awesome barbecue. Daddy D’z. Fox Brothers. DBA Barbecue. Joining this list is Rolling Bones. This isn’t a new BBQ joint, but it is under a new management team that has been getting positive press from local papers and food blogs. The buzz is warranted.

The pork ribs are incredibly smoky, chewy, and huge. With the $12 half-slab you could easily feed yourself for two meals. Meanwhile the barbecue sauce might be the best in town – it negotiates a fine balance between sweetness and acidity better than any other ‘que sauce I’ve tried.

If you prefer your BBQ pork fatty and tender as I do, then skip the half-slab and order the rib tips. Carved off the end of the bone, these shanks of tendon and meat are softer and more flavorful than the rib meat. At $9 it’s a terrific bargain.

She says:

Their smoked chicken also finds that equilibrium between moistness and dry smokiness.

The “maple butter sweet potato” is a disappointment, however. Rather than a mash oozing with butter and syrup, it’s a whole sweet potato, barely cooked through. I had to go back to ask for the maple butter, and received a frozen scoop of butter on top of my potato. Cold lard … yuck.

He says:

Rolling Bones has its flaws. As Uptown Girl hinted at, the few side items offered are terrible. A bland potato salad comes in a plastic tub straight out of the refrigerator. The dining area also leaves much to be desired. While DBA has gone the upscale route and Daddy D’z has ghetto fabulousness to spare, Rolling Bone’s spartan white interior, four rickety tables, and uncomfortable chairs don’t do the barbecue justice. This is not the kind of place you want to linger with friends. Plus, everything the restaurant serves comes in a Styrofoam container. You could kill several manatees with all this junk.

We say:

Great barbecue but the eating experience is lacking.

Rolling Bones

377 Edgewood, Atlanta, GA30312

http://www.rollingbonesbbq.com/index.html

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

LEON'S FULL SERVICE

She says:
Poultry is boring.

This is a lesson I’ve learned the hard way over and over again, and yet it never seems to stick. My mistake is usually born out of boredom with the single uninspired vegetarian option on a menu, and so I begin eyeing the poultry dishes, fantasizing about crispy skin, succulent meat, some new and bold sauce it will be paired with. Somehow this is never the case. The poultry is inevitably safe and boring, the option for people who’d rather be at Applebees. You’d think I’d have learned this by now.

Nope, I did it again.

Leon’s turkey sandwich is the exactly what you’d slap together at home – slices of turkey, cheddar, lettuce, mayo. The bread is better than your typical sandwich bread, but otherwise, there is absolutely NOTHING interesting about this sandwich. What was I expecting? Maybe something warm?

Perhaps my expectations of Leon’s were too high. The first time I went, I had the most creative and delicious cocktail of my life (the specialty cocktail that day) and an incredible bowl of roasted red pepper soup, showstoppers that made their cold roasted-veggie sandwich a pleasant distant memory. My last visit boasted a good, but far less zany, cocktail, some decent Pub Frites with a dipping sauce (the goat cheese fondue) that couldn’t be tasted over the salt of the fries, and the aforementioned turkey sandwich. Perhaps the “mains” are more amazing, but for a gastropub, the cheaper options are underwhelming.

He says:
Underwhelming, indeed. Leon’s is a latecomer to Atlanta’s burgeoning gastropub scene, and it falls short of the standard set by the Porter and Bookhouse Pub. On our waiter’s recommendation I ordered the “excellent” grass-fed burger with Tillamook cheddar, and found it less than stellar. The patty was mushy and tasteless.

More surprising was the soup of the day: a potato-leek soup with crumbled bacon bits. The soup I received was bright orange and tasted strongly of curry. It was only after I inquired that the waiter realized the soup of the day was, in fact, a carrot curry soup. Thanks for the heads up, dude.

She says:
Despite the mediocre food and service, Leon’s does succeed as an inviting, attractive bar with a killer location and fantastic patio. This restaurant serves central Decatur much better than the former antique shop it replaced. Now if they only got into the spirit of things and served their food on hubcap plates and poured their drinks from gas cans.

We say:
Better than it once was and not as good as it should be.




Leon's Full Service
131 East Ponce De Leon Avenue, Decatur, 30030
http://www.leonsfullservice.com/

ANTICO PIZZA NAPOLETANA

He says:
How does a city with such a terrible pizza scene end up with the best pizza parlor on the planet? Atlanta never ceases to amaze me.

After years of Johnny’s, Little 5 Points, and Cameli’s, I had all but given up on pizza in this city. Everywhere I went the slices were too cheesy or too saucy or too mealy. Topping overload was rampant. I’d given up -- better, I thought, to cure my pizza fix on my annual jaunts to New York City. But now Antico Pizza Napoletana has arrived in the grungy West Side like a thunderbolt, and pizza in Atlanta will never be the same again.

If this sounds like hyperbole, then you haven’t tried the pizza at Antico. It is revolutionary: worlds better than anything else I’ve tried in Atlanta – and NYC for that matter. For those who have never eaten a true Neapolitan pizza before, the crust is baked thin but remains softer and chewier than a standard New York pie. It’s blistered and puffy and sublime. The Margarita pizza (pictured above) comes with San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh basil, and buffalo mozzarella so silky and buttery it’s like tasting mozzarella again for the first time. Even better is the lasagna pizza, which comes adorned with gobs of creamy, homemade ricotta and meatball chunks. I don’t recommend the Pomodorini as highly because the extra cherry tomatoes bleed too much water into the crust. In general you have to eat Antico’s pizza very quickly, or else that wonderful crust will get soggy. But that’s a small price to pay for a slice of perfection.

She says:
Dishing out great pies is Antico’s singular focus. The place is like a well-oiled machine, with a battery of dark-haired men tossing dough into shape, applying toppings, and shoving the pizzas into wood fire ovens as opera music blasts through the kitchen. None of this is a mystery, since you can sit at a foldout table in the kitchen and watch them work. Your pizza is delivered by one of these men on a huge jellyroll pan, and then you eat. No plates, no forks, no knives, it’s just you and the pizza.

We say:
Pizza perfection.




Antico Pizza Napoletana
1093 Hemphill Ave NW Atlanta, GA 30318
www.anticopizza.it

CHENNAI GARDEN

He says:

I’ve been given all sorts of advice about dining in New York City, but this one is probably the best: When eating Indian food, trust the Indians. My mother heard from an Indian friend (who heard from her Indian friends) that Chennai Garden has the best dosas in the city. You know what? They’re right.

I’ve often found the dosas in other Indian restaurants dry and tasteless. Not so at Chennai Garden. Their golden-brown dosas are crispy and delicate, like thin, oversized crepes. Folded inside is an excellent filling of potatoes, fried onions, and spices. My potato filling came mashed together with mushrooms and was utterly sublime. I haven’t had an Indian dish this remarkable in years. The curry soup on the side is terrific for dipping. Even better is the coconut chutney, which provides a sweet, creamy counterpoint to the potato filling’s spiciness.

She says:

It’s true, the dosas are delicious, and you really can’t go wrong with the filling. Mine had spinach and was great, but even better was Downtown Boy’s mother’s selection, the Mysore Dosa, which had an extra kick of spice. We finished off with an order of kulfi (excellent) and rasmalai (decent).

We say:

If you don’t believe us, believe the Indians: these dosas are dynamite.

Chennai Garden

129 E 27th St, New York 10016

(212) 689-1999

IPPUDO

He says:

I love ramen.

I love its simplicity. I love how it fills you up, makes you warm inside. I love slurping up the last bits of soggy noodle from the bottom of the bowl. I ate the instant kind several times a week growing up, and not the tepid Cup-O-Noodles that everyone else eats, but the good Japanese stuff, Sapporo Ichiban. Later on I found ramen houses where the udon and miso broth arrived fresh instead of inside a plastic wrapper. I was in heaven. For the past several years though, I’ve suffered a ramen drought. Part of the problem is living in places where ramen houses are scarce. The other part is finding the good ones because excellent ramen is hard to come by.

But now there is Ippudo, and I am a happy man.

Earlier this year the New York Times’ Frank Bruni declared it the best ramen house in the city and ever since it’s been at the top of my NYC hit list. Fortunately, it’s just as good as advertised.

The Shiromaru classic features a translucent white broth that is salty, creamy, rich, and clean. There are hints of miso, pork, and chicken stock in there, but I cannot tell for sure – it’s like culinary black magic. I do know the noodles are springy, neither too limp nor too chewy. Thin slices of pork belly, “elephant ear” mushrooms, soy-sauce flavored hard-boiled eggs, and scallions make up the rest of this mysterious concoction. The only certainty with this dish is that I slurped up the last remnants of noodle from the bottom of the bowl. It’s the best ramen I’ve ever had.

She says:

Being declared the best anything in NYC guarantees one thing: there will be an excruciatingly long wait to get in. On a Monday afternoon, we waited an hour for a table at lunch (granted, it was during the holidays). At least we received a warm welcome when we were finally seated. As each new guest enters the dining room, the entire staff yells out hello in Japanese.

Our waitress was very helpful. When I tried to order ramen without the pork (they all contain pork), she suggested I try the vegetarian ramen, an off-menu item. The veggie ramen noodles are slightly thicker than the classic ramen, and the broth is a clear, non-creamy broth filled with mushrooms, greens, scallions, and tofu. The complex flavors of Ippudo’s broth is what differentiates this soup from other Asian noodle soups. Like Downtown Boy said, it’s a bit of mystery what makes it so delicious, but delicious it is.

We say:

On cold winter afternoons, nothing can beat ramen at Ippudo.

Ippudo

65 Fourth Avenue, New York, NY 10003

http://www.ippudo.com/ny/

LUPE TAQUERIA

He says:
It was a sad day in Atlanta when the U Restaurants Group closed Cuerno earlier this year. It was a vibrant Spanish restaurant with delicious tapas and a warm, handsome interior. In fact, it might have been the best eatery in Midtown. Unfortunately it didn’t survive the economic downturn. U Restaurants recently opened Lupe in its place, and while it’s not as good as Cuerno, I can see it being more successful. Why? It’s pretty simple, really. Lupe is much cheaper. And it serves tacos. In times like these, that’s as sure a bet as you can ask for.

She says:
One thing that hasn’t changed is that it’s still a gorgeous restaurant. Sadly, Cuerno’s remarkable life-size bull sculpture, which was pieced together from colorful scraps of metal, has been removed. But otherwise, the small interior is the same: dimly lit, with smooth lines and rich dark colors. A surfeit of candles gives the place a romantic feel. Aside from the considerable noise level, Lupe is a great date spot.

A testament to this is their menu for two. For $25, you get an order of queso dip, 6 tacos (3 per person), and dessert. You might be able to find cheaper tacos at Tacqueria del Sol, but you’re not going to get this kind of ambiance or quality of food. Poblano peppers give the queso a bit of a kick, and the dip comes with freshly made (and still warm!) tortilla chips. The tacos also come wrapped in homemade corn tortillas. Of the three I tried – chicken, portabella mushroom, and shrimp – my favorite was the mushroom, which also included corn, poblano peppers, and cotija cheese. The flavors of all three tacos were far more complex than what you usually find at a taqueria, and the ingredients were noticeably fresh.

He says:
Uptown Girl had better luck with her choices. Of my three tacos, the lengua was the most disappointing; a well-prepared beef tongue should have a soft, silky texture, and Lupe’s definitely did not. The barbacoa de chivo taco was only slightly better. I expected the slow-braised goat meat to fall in the tender, slide-off-the-bone category, and once again it was tougher than it should have been. It also tasted more like bland beef than goat. The slow-cooked pork of the cochinita pivil was the best by default. Sadly the tomatillo salsa and jalapenos on all three of these tacos masked the meats’ flavors instead of heightening them. In the future I need to pay more attention to the sauces since they tend to dominate the platters.

She says:
The only disappointing thing for me was the dessert, an orange soda float, which I felt was a total throwaway. But for just $25 for a filling dinner for two, I wasn’t complaining.

We say:
Judging from the lively crowds since its opening, Lupe has a better chance at survival than Cuerno ever did. Considering that it’s cheap, close to our house, and serves above average tacos, we’ll be back.




Lupe Taqueria
905 Juniper, Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.sottosottorestaurant.com/

DYNAMIC DISH

He says:
Oh, Dynamic Dish, I’d like to love you. I really would. You’ve gotten so much great press in the local papers and magazines. Everyone says you’re the best vegetarian restaurant in town. Your menu changes daily based on what’s in season. You use fresh, local, organic ingredients. Your décor is bright and airy, like a farmhouse in the Midwest. You have a charming, no-frills website. We should be completely in love right now.

But, you know, it’s just not working out.

Maybe it’s your wacky schedule. We tried to visit you multiple times in the past but have been cruelly turned away. After all, you’re only open for dinner three nights a week. And you know I don’t work close enough to Edgewood Avenue to see you for lunch. The long distance thing is difficult.

Maybe it’s your service. When we last visited you, there were only eight other people in the restaurant. But it took forever to get our water glasses filled. Questions about the tea list went unanswered. Check-ins were infrequent. I really wish you would pay more attention to me.

Maybe it’s the menu. Everything looks delicious. It really does. We were excited for tasty vegetarian dishes. It’s so hard to find the good ones in Atlanta. Alas, it was not meant to be…

She says:
Things started out pretty well... When that bowl of ginger pumpkin soup (which the server happily split for us) came out, I felt that fluttering in my stomach that only comes with a new crush. What a splendid, creamy soup! The zing of the ginger and the crunch of the toasted pepita garnish had me grinning like a fool! I admit, my interest was piqued.

Then I tried the Flammkuchen. It sounded rustic and hardy, but what came out was a delicate flat bread pizza covered with carmelized onions, fennel, and a smattering of cheddar. It was a nice dish, but I have to admit I was a little bored.

Which is nothing compared to the way our vegan friend was feeling, being forced to order salad. Salad!! That’s the ultimate insult, the fallback dish when no other options are available. The tempeh burger with vegan eggplant remoulade seemed like a possibility, but the burger was made with egg. Why? Why even bother offering a vegan remoulade when a vegan can’t eat the burger? It’s like false advertising. And then, like a slap in the face, the only vegan dessert – a sweet little chocolate cupcake just begging to make our friend a happy man – disappeared before we finished our dinner.

He says:
For better or worse, I kept hanging around. My trout was wonderful – fresh and flaky with a clear, smoky flavor. It paired wondrously with the horseradish cream and Georgia watercress. The earthiness of the potato salad gave the dish some needed heft. Its dishes like this that made me think we had a future.

But then our other, non-vegan friend had the tempeh burger. It was fine, but unfortunately it sat on a desiccated bun.

Oh, dear. You do so much so well and yet get the little things wrong. Maybe we can try this again in a few years, when you’ve had some time mature. I hope we can still be friends.

We say:
It’s not you, it’s us. Well, maybe it’s a little bit you.




Dynamic Dish
427 Edgewood Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30312
http://www.dynamicdish.net/

KYMA

He says:
Everything about Kyma is boring and white. Take the décor of this Buckhead dining mainstay. Traditional white linens cover every table of the dining room without offering an ounce of personality. Or take its well-heeled patrons. On a recent Friday night, the entire restaurant was filled wall to wall with old white people. It’s hard to find such a homogeneous crowd in a multicultural city like Atlanta, but hey, there you go! Finally, take my $30 entrée of dorado. Lightly sautéed in butter and garnished with a few capers, this soggy white fish is average-tasting at best. At worst, it’s an awful value.

She says:
That’s not the only mediocre thing at Kyma. For a Greek eatery that specializes in seafood, there is a surprisingly lack of variety on the menu in terms of preparation – all filets come lightly buttered with capers. Apparently you are supposed to glean knowledge from descriptions like “clean” and “moist” to choose your fish dish. We went the more challenging route and chose our dishes based on the sustainability of the fish, using our handy sustainable seafood pocket guides. This narrowed our options down to a measly two choices.

The barramundi does indeed have a “clean mild flavor” and is “flaky” compared to the slight chewiness of Downtown Boy’s dorado. So it’s a nice, fresh-tasting, boring white fish. For $30 you’d think they would add a serving of saffron rice, or roasted potatoes, or something to the plate (something besides the slop of indecipherable wilted greens, that is).

If I went back to Kyma, I’d probably focus on the appetizers, as they fare much better. The wood-grilled octopus is extremely tender and tasty, and the spanakopita has a fantastic flaky crust, though the interior is too salty.

He says:
Kyma handles its red meat decently well. Their lamb shank is plenty big, and the slow-braised meat slides right off the bone. The wood-grilled lamb chops have a decent gaminess, but the preparation is inconsistent. One of the chops I tried was cooked medium while the one right next to it was rare.

As for Kyma’s dessert list, well, you guessed it … it’s boring.

We say:
Kyma is the worst kind of bore – an expensive one.



Kyma
3085 Piedmont Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30305
http://www.buckheadrestaurants.com/index2.html

FLIP BURGER BOUTIQUE

He says:
I didn’t think it could live up to the hype. I really didn’t. Soon after Richard Blais’s fabled run on Top Chef, the buzz surrounding his latest Atlanta project, Flip, reached hysterical proportions. When it finally opened in December of ‘08, the crowds were ready, and they were crazy. One of my coworkers had to drive over three times before she could even get a seat. Another stood in the parking lot for over 2 hours to get inside. And all this for a “glamburger”? Speaking from personal experience, gourmet hamburgers don’t usually hold a candle to greasy, old-school ones. They are too refined when they should be primal, too complex when they should be bold. Do I really want olive tapenade on my lamburger when a slice of bacon on a Five Guys Burger will do the trick?

As it turns out, yes, I do.

Flip is the real deal … a fun, trendy, and most important, delicious place to eat. It starts with the all white decor – white booths, white tables, white floors, white walls. Hell, even the TVs behind the bar are framed in white. Right off the bat, you know this place is not your usual burger bar. This place is different. And not in a zany, self-indulgent manner that afflicts restaurants like Two Urban Licks. It’s a good type of difference, one that suggests post-modernity, the deconstruction of the hamburger, and its reassembly at the hands of a sous vide ninja. Belying this stark minimalism though, Flip throbs with energy. Lively chatter bounces from the walls. Music videos blare from the TVs. The open kitchen bustles. This is a seriously fun place to eat.

She says:
Our adventure began with the liquid nitrogen milkshakes. The wacky flavors, ranging from krispy kreme to fois gras, reflect chef Blais’s imaginative bent on food. We appreciated his work early on at Element, where items like liquid nitrogen margaritas and carbonized octopus were the norm. I was definitely sad to see Element go. Happily, with Flip, Blais is still pushing the boundaries of fine dining.

The spicy chocolate mole milkshake is a rich and satisfying treat, the quality of the chocolate coming through with every slurp. The mole leaves the subtlest tickle in the back of your throat. As chocolate milkshakes go, it’s about as good as it gets. The nutella and burnt marshmallow milkshake is on another level. The sweet hazelnut chocolate ice cream is outstanding, particularly when coupled with the taste of a perfectly roasted marshmallow. (You know what I’m talking about… when the exterior is just barely burnt while the inside is soft and gooey?) A whole pile of torched marshmallows sit atop the shake like Marie Antoinette’s wig.

He says:
Indeed, the milkshakes began to undermine my tenet that simplicity rules in burger joints. My belief was fully shaken when I bit into the lamburger. So often lamb is overcooked and loses its flavor. Not this burger. Grilled medium-rare, the “lambiness” comes through loud and clear. Its fatty juices are balanced by the minced olive relish and fresh mint, which is in turn cut by the sweet raisin ketchup spread over the buttered brioche bun. Rich, salty, and sweet in perfect proportion, this is the finest glamburger I’ve ever had. It’s complex all right, and it works beautifully.

By the time I got to the fries with two dipping sauces, I was converted. Why dip such terrific spuds in plain old ketchup? Good God, man! Such simplicity is blasphemy! Instead, pair those golden brown fries with the smoky mayo for one of the best side dishes in Atlanta.

She says:
The tempura fried butternut squash are equally amazing. Like the fries, the squash is beautifully fried to get that satisfying crunch, plus it has the whole sweet/salty thing going on. The shrimp po boyger is executed more effectively than any real shrimp po boy I’ve had. The shrimp are chopped up and adhered together to form a dense patty that achieves a thick, burgery texture while maintaining the flavor of fresh shrimp. A slice of fried lemon and a slathering of mayo and Tabasco round out the dish.

The only thing that could possibly make this meal more perfect would be a sighting of the culinary wizard himself. You know, to brag to our friends about.

And then there he was, in a red t-shirt and his trademark spiky hair, delivering a plate of starters to the next table over. As soon as we saw him, Downtown Boy and I caught each other’s eye in excitement. A delicious meal and a celebrity sighting all in one lunch – does it get any better?

We say:
Believe the hype. It’s glamburger time.




Flip
1587 Howell Mill Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30318-7648
www.flipburgerboutique.com

ACROSS THE STREET

She says:
If I were to create my perfect neighborhood business district, it would look something like this... a funky independent coffee shop with fabulous baked goods, a romantic little Italian bistro, a cozy pub with yummy chowders, a cheap Pho shop, and a cute Mexican restaurant with a sunny patio that serves great summery drinks. Across the Street happens to be that cute Mexican restaurant. It’s the perfect neighborhood joint, right down to its appropriate name. (When Downtown Boy asked where it was, I answered “it’s across the street from Highland Bakery).

Across the Street has a small indoor space decorated with local art, but the patio is where the action is. With an outdoor bar, an overhang to protect against sudden rainstorms, and a pleasant view of the Freedom Parkway running path, it’s a terrific place to enjoy a margarita and mojito.

He says:
And that mojito is pretty darn terrific too. With fresh mint and lime, and a hypnotic balance of vodka and sugar, it’s the best mixed drink I’ve had all summer. Even better was the queso dip. Neither too goopy nor too thin, it comes with a hint of chili-infused heat that lifts it above all the other cheese dips I’ve tried in Atlanta. Along with the freshly made tortilla chips, I could eat it all day and night, it’s that good.

The chicken chimichanga is yet another winner. What it gives up in originality it more than make up for in size. Stuffed to the max with the usual suspects – black beans, corn, cheddar cheese – it’s roughly the size of a Chihuahua. I found the chicken breast within unusually tender, which was another plus.

She says:
I didn’t love the shrimp enchiladas, mostly because they are smothered in the exact same cheese sauce as the queso dip. It's good, but unoriginal. However, we both enjoyed the tres leches, a sweet, moist white cake made with three types of milk.

He says:
I admittedly have not been to many Mexican restaurants in Atlanta, but so far this place is my favorite.




She says:
The entrees may be hit or miss, but if we could transport Across the Street closer to our neighborhood, we’d be sitting on their patio every beautiful summer evening with summery drinks in hand.




Across the Street
668 Highland Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30312
http://across-the-street.com/default.aspx