Woodfire Grill in Atlanta

Taking a break from all the puppy talk to finish this post here. Before John and I went to Atlanta for New Years, I looked up Top Chef Kevin Gillespie's restaurant in Atlanta, Woodfire Grill. I knew that this was another Atlanta restaurant we had to try. I was perusing their website, checking out the menu, when I saw that they were offering a 5-course tasting menu for New Years Eve. I don't usually do anything for New Years Eve, but this was the perfect way for me to ring in the new year.

We immediately sent out emails to John's family to see who wanted to come with us. Since Sarah and Chris had already left, and Matt wasn't in Atlanta, there were 6 of us: me, John, John's parents, sister Christina and her boyfriend Joe.

That is a damn tasty menu, isn't it?


Blurry photo of the amuse, a black-eyed pea and rice fritter. A spin on Hoppin John for the new year!

Foie gras on a salad of wilted greens. Tasting menu portions are often tiny and vertical. But with such delicious food, you really don't mind. Christina said she doesn't really care for foie gras, but she liked this one.

A Lauren Thompson photo, as my friend Christine once said. I like taking table-eye view shots.

Also, did I mention that we did the wine pairings for each course? That could explain some of the blurriness.

I think it's a law that every tasting menu must have a scallop, right? Have you ever NOT had one on a tasting menu? Regardless of ubiquitousness, this one was fucking delicious.

Christina and John's mom didn't get the oyster course, they got this veggie shooter thing. I can't remember what it is exactly. (see: alcohol)

But these were the oysters! I remember one time we went to Sandbar with Sam and Kate and Kate and I got East coast and West coast oysters and tried to taste the difference. I can't remember what the difference is, but they were both good. So was this oyster. Thanks for dying and not being cooked so I could eat you, oyster!

Our delightfully gooberish waiter knew we were Top Chef fans, so he came over to tell us that Kevin was now in the part of the kitchen visible from the dining room. There he is!

He has cut his hair. And is very intense about food.

Pork loin and belly, with braised shoulder and skin with farro rissotto. I like farro, though I don't have it much. I've never had such tender farro before.

Pretty little antelope with pancetta. They said all of the meat from this menu was local except for the antelope, which comes from South Texas. Hey, so do I!

Desserts! Banana wafers with dulce de leche mousse. John got this one, naturally, because he loves bananas and chocolate.

Fruit galette with apple cider ice cream. Mine, naturally, because I love fruit and pastries.

Oooh, a Lauren Thompson dessert shot! Aren't you lucky!

John's parents, John and Linda. They recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. I told them to tell the waiter that, to get some free stuff. Sure enough, they got free glasses of champagne and some truffles!

This was in the bathroom. It says
"Kevin = #1
Tricks and foams may break my bones,
but bacon will never hurt me!
Grace Schneider, 10
Morningside resident"

How cute is that? Bacon will never hurt you, Grace. Except it will clog your arteries and kill you. Hahaha, I kid!

More Kevin! We were hoping to talk to him, but, as you can see, he was knee-deep in some antelope. The waiter said that, unlike some chefs, Kevin prepares the food in his restaurant, so you don't usually see him talking to diners. I'm glad we got to see him though.

Everyone had a pretty good time and a damn good meal. We got home pretty early, put on PJs, and watched a movie until midnight. Perfect New Year's Eve!

Flip Burger Boutique in Atlanta

When John and I decided to go to Atlanta during the Christmas break, I knew one of our stops would have to be Flip Burger Boutique. The chef there is none other than Top Chef Season 4's gastronomy-loving, faux-hawked Richard Blaise.

We went there on a Wednesday for a late lunch. They don't accept reservations and it's a small place, so we were told we had a 45 minute wait. We drove 30 minutes to get there, so we waited. It gave us a chance to people watch and study the menu. The burgers are on the smallish side, so we had to choose carefully. There are a lot of intriguing things on the menu: a kobe burger, a foie gras milkshake, sweetbread nuggets. There was so much to choose from. There was a korean bbq burger with kimchee ketchup that I was this close to getting.

Ultimately, I settled on the ossobucco burger with french fries and a Nutella milkshake. They were totally worth the wait. The burger was juicy and flavorful and the milkshake had burnt marshmallows in it! It seems like all the burgers have something different about them. My burger had fried onions on it, and braised ketchup.

Christina got the same burger as I did, but with potato salad.

John got the venison burger and jalapeno slaw with a spicy chocolate mole shake. His burger was good, but not as good as mine. The slaw was delicious and not too spicy. We saw someone send their spicy mole shake back while we were waiting, claiming it was too spicy. But I thought this shake wasn't spicy at all. It tasted like a mild mole to me.

Success! I love a good burger, and these were some great burgers. And I'm always glad when other people enjoy our culinary adventures. I know not everyone loves trying weird and different foods as much as John and I do, but it's always good when they like it.