Well-Seasoned Chef at the Botanical Gardens (and Tomato Soup Recipe!)

Last month my bestie-best scored us some extra tickets to the "Well Seasoned Chef" series at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  Each week they highlight a local chef and do a little cooking class in the middle of the garden with several courses from the chef's restaurant and free booze.  So you know I was there.

As opposed to your other besties, a bestie-best knows significantly more about things such as your bathroom habits and irrationality.  My bestie-best happens to volunteer at the garden on her 23 minutes of free time each week and was super sweet enough to also volunteer her wallet for the occasion and get me and another girl friend front and center seats to the fat show.  Right where we belong.

The chef came from Cook Hall this time, in the W in Buckhead - used to be called Market, and luckily I was too busy slurping wine to do my usual foot-in-mouth routine of blurting out how much I disliked the crap food at Market.  Even though it was Jean-Georges, it was pretty blah.  Turns out it's the same head chef... 

 Happy to report his al-fresco-chefing was top notch.

It was four courses of delicious and fun, and we got to poke around the gardens afterwards checking out the Halloween contest awards and the beginnings on their lights for Xmas.  

Cook Hall menu and goodies

The best tomato soup you've ever had.  Recipe is below!

English pea gnocchi

Duck confit taco

Butterscotchy puddingish amazeballsness

La-la-la-lights.
Not sure why I thought neon and leather was appropriate for the garden.
At least bestie-best has some class.

T + C

The garden requested a likeness of my animal to create her, in grass.  She's so hot right now. 

Yes I made her pose like the grass in order to get her dinner.
This is Finnley's "shove it, Mom" face.

Cook Hall Cream of Tomato Soup, Sourdough, Basil & Chedder

Reprinted with zero authority to do so.

For Soup
2 each #10 can tomatoes, pureed with burr stick (um, what?)
1 qt cream
1 large onion, sliced
20 gr olive oil (I googled this for you, it's about 2 Tbs)
salt
Sweat onions in oil and salt until tender.  Add tomatoes, simmer slowly for 40 minutes.  Add cream, return to simmer, then immediately remove from heat.  Puree in vita prep until smooth and strain through chinios (not sold at Gap).

For Grilled Sourdough
Drizzle bread with olive oil and season gently with salt and white pepper; grill until crispy.

For Cumin Oil
15 gr cumin seed, toasted, ground fine
350 gr olive oil
salt
Combine toasted, ground cumin, salt and olive oil.  Bring up to gentle simmer and remove from heat.  Cool at room temp.

To Serve
6oz soup
Chiffonade basil
Micro planed aged cheddar cheese
1 piece sourdough
2Tb cumin oil
Heat soup, aerate with a few drops of olive oil.  Top grilled bread with micro planed cheddar, then plenty of chiffonade basil.  Hang off the side of the bowl.  Put cumin oil in the bottom of the bowl.  Serve soup on the side to be poured tableside.

Foodspotting: Instagram for Your Belly

Just because nobody on Facebook gives a shit what you ate for lunch, doesn't mean I don't give two of them.  Turns out someone smarter than me made an app for that.

Foodspotting is like Instagram for your face.  Yelp without all the wanna be foodie critics begging to attend their first UYE ("Unofficial Yelp Event", I'm admittedly jealous).  #foodspotting if you're of the Instagram variety.

It's a happy place for you and all your photog-contortionists-at-the-table friends to share each other's meals with the world.  Complete with voting, badges and the ability to "Want/ Tried/ Love" the dish.

[Side note: I just realized I talk like Anthony Bourdain in my head while I type this crap.]

The app compiles dishes per restaurant, is pretty good about not duplicating dishes and let's you group sections of dishes into specific Guides.  For instance I saw an "Atlanta: Bahn Mi" Guide that a girl put together of... suprise!  Bahn Mi dishes around Atlanta.  

Follow me and my delicious dishes: rachunkie

Cucina Asellina

This past weekend we ended up in Midtown and stopped by Cucina Asselina, an Italian modern/industrial-claiming-to-be-rustic spot by the One Group (of STK ownership).  P was actually the project manager in charge of building both restaurants, and while we've been lucky enough to eat at STK on several occasions this was our first time at Asellina.

Lucky for us, it also happened to be the Oysterfest weekend in Atlanta just down the street, which meant a nonstop flow of absurd and awesome people watching.  

The food was pretty good, small plates with big flavors - we were definitely there at a weird time (who eats at 5pm?  hungover people like us, that's who) so I don't think they were rocking their A-game on the cuisine side.  However, we learned a new shot, thanks to some teen-somethings next to us, and for that, we thank you underage drinkers of Atlanta.

The Breakfast Shot

2/3 Jameson and 1/3 Buttershots

Orange juice chaser

Pancake Shot!

Tastes like a McDonald's pancake.  No joke.  You don't even need the OJ, and I freaking hate Jameson/all brown liquor, but I'm telling you - amazearama in your mouth.  Screw Bloody Mary's and PBRs, this is the way to go.

Aforementioned teens had 4 of them back to back on Sunday at 5pm.  Oh unemployment, I do miss you occasionally.

Until the bill comes...

Oh yeah, the food:

Saffron Strozzapreti with shrimp, spinach and butternut squash (front) - could've done without the tiny little uber briny shrimpettes - totally blew out the saffron flavor I was really hoping for.  Strozzapreti is exactly like German Spaetzle if you've ever had that.  Super dense.

I can't remember what the one in the back was, but it had some awesome little lamb meatballs and was otherwise forgettable, apparently.

Wine-O Wednesday: Cune

P and I lucked out and got a surprise phone call and visit from a super good friend in Greenville who was in town for a conference.

She was staying in downtown (as in downtown, downtown since you have to specify in Atlanta) and we picked a great place to scoop her up and go to dinner in the area that is super gluten-free friendly, which is always difficult for her to find.  Luckily Alma Cocina is great about it and has an entire menu, almost the size of the regular, that she could choose from!  And it's Argentinian, which is where Jessica celebrated her honeymoon just over a year ago!

Jessica is a wine lover too, and we picked out a Rioja we hadn't had before, got a taste and two bottles later I think this may be a staple in our house!

Cune (C.V.N.E) was founded in 1879 by two brothers and is still run by their direct descendants in Northern Spain.  We sampled a 2009 Crianza, which is 80% tempranillo and totally velvetted (is that a word??) out by 10% granacha tinta and 10% manuelo (which I've never heard of).

From Winex.com: dark ruby/purple color, loads of fruit (black currants and cherries), licorice and forest floor notes, a supple texture, medium body, and considerable flavor authority as well as character.

I really did find it velvety and fruity, with almost no spice or tannins, which I love.

Birmingham Bites: Brick & Tin

Brick & Tin is one of those industrial-meets-rustic-with-local-ingredients concepts that actually doesn't come off as pretentious as a lot of them do these days.  We get it, everyone likes sourcing from local farmers.  Everyone likes exposed brick and reclaimed wood.  But these guys do it in a really non-presumptuous way, with legitimately yummy seasonal lunch options that don't go crazy and don't have too many choices.

For lunch there are 6 sandwiches, a few salads and a couple of soups to mix and match.  A great side option of deviled eggs with shaved country ham and some daily desserts I haven't stuck my fork in yet...

While I'm really missing their knock-out fall menu (butternut squash & prosciutto sammy?  Daily!) they have some fun options on the winter block right now.  My most recent lunch consisted of a gratin of white beans, Alabama collards with fennel, onions and root veg, and a cup of potato-fennel-leek soup.  My squash obsession of the fall has migrated to a fennel one apparently...

That perfectly crunchy gratin is going to be recreated in my kitchen, for sure!

The Tuscan panini is really great as well, but I suggest substituting the ciabatta for the bread.  And there's always the "B-ham Mi" if you're feeling froggy.  

Wine-O Wednesday: Ken Wright

Ken Wright Cellers offers a really great, reasonably priced Pinot noir.  Their 8 vineyards run throughout northern Oregon and all get consistently good reviews online.  I had the Canary Hill on this particularly lovely evening.

I tried this in Birmingham at Chez Fonfon, which is a great place with upscale French bistro-style cuisine.  Bombshell escargot (seriously, you can't go wrong with escargot... it's an unidentifiable chewy something drenched in butter and smothered in cheese...).  Their menu changes weekly (even online!) and is really playful for Birmingham.  Includes fun things like duck confit, southernized charcuterie, and great daily seafood specials.  I should save this for a Birmingham Bites session...  I last had grilled scallops with a blood orange, pistachio and fennel relish suggested by the waitress and I could've eaten a second one.  Movingggg on:

The website describes the Canary Hill as "Fruit focused (blueberries and cherries), with a modest structure, light tannins and bright acidity." 

I found it very light and fruity with almost no bite/spice to it.  Didn't quite go with my scallops, but that's what my French 75 was for :)  Oui oui!

Wine-o Wednesday: if you see kay

This is a weird wine to be blogging about as my first favorite.  There is nothing cutesy or sweet about it, but it is seriously damn good.

P and I got our first taste of this stuff at a little neighborhood gem called Baci in Brookhaven (which, side note, is totally under-acknowledged and has become our date night go-to).  The owner, Nellie, is a super cool girl with an awesome menu of worldly influences and Mediterranean cuisine.  The sea bass is just awesome, and this is literally the only, ONLY mac and cheese I have ever liked.  Loved, really.  It's got lobster and 3 kinds of fabulous cheese - no runny crap... The perfect ratio of lobster to cheese to noodles (70-25-5, in case you're counting).  So yummy!

But I digress.  The second or third time we went there we were perusing the menu for a glass of wine each and the waiter asked what we liked.  I described my usual: medium body, with some spice and fruit... more sweet than dry.  He suggested the most expensive glass, as they do, so of course we were suspicious.  But he promiseddd we would love it and even coerced us into trying a sip.  We bought the $50 bottle.  We have every time.  It is fabulous, and so worth the price.  Once you get over the bizarre labeling:

Sound it out slow: if you see kay.  That's right, just as classy as Miss Britney herself.  So strange.  And with a tatted up, braless hipster chick in a bizarre car throwing a Hawaiin shaka sign...  I cannot explain.  There's an even weirder description here about Kay being some ethereal open-throttle chick, named after the Odyssey. Yes, as in Homer's Odyssey classic.  

The owners describe the wine in a story form of bizarro (as in... "kay is a creature, she is an embodiment of a lifestyle... womp womp), but basically it's a super juicy, smooth Cab from the Lazio region of Italy (near Rome) with just one year to its name: 2010.

Even weirder was when I saw the brand for only the second time (outside of Baci)... in Birmingham at a total divey hipster college bar, on $1 liquor night.  Yes, I was the girl drinking $9 glasses of Cab on $1 liquor night (a phenomenon I  haven't see since college, appropriately nicknamed "Well, Hell" night, I'm told).  The real issue isn't me drinking wine in a clearly non-wine location, it's that this place had the bottle at all!  I'm guessing the owners went solely on the name/look, because I promise I was the first to crack a bottle there, ever.  Cartoonish comic book looking website for proof.  Well Hell night is Wednesday, by the way.  I should be there right now...

Go find kay.  The crazy bitch is my favorite and it's worth the quizzical looks.

Birmingham Bites: Bettola

After six months of eating on the road 3 meals a day, I've sampled a large number of restaurants and had a good deal of the great dishes in Birmingham.  I have to say, I was more than pleasantly surprised to find out what a vibrant and diverse eating scene there is here!  Michelin and James Beard awards a-plenty!

Last night my coworker and I tried a new place and it was absolutely phenomenal!  We worked up an appetite after our iPhone sent us deep into the ghetto (the ghetto here seems to be mixed in with enormous, although devastatingly run down, antebellum homes... very sad and southern).  

Finally we arrived at a Bettola, a pretty new spot in the Ham and definitely one that deserves some serious acclaim, as if getting a nod from Food & Wine for Best New Chef James Lewis isn't enough...

It's located in an old Biscuit manufacturing building - very chic and warehousey, with pretty decor and a bench seat that runs the length of the restaurant facing the open kitchen.  Wide selection of Neopolitan-style pizzas (my fav) and an assortment of modernized yummies, with a small but great wine selection.  I suggest the cocktails, as the bartender was on point!  

The smells coming from this place were just amazing.  I think we asked the waitress 3 different times what we were smelling!  The hand made wood fire oven was made in Naples and shipped to the Ham and is really just stunning!

Gorgeous wood fire brick oven from Naples - miss Piggy roasting on an open fireeee

Awesome gin cocktails.  With rosemary and fairy booze dust.

This is going on my top dish list for sure!
Crostini di Carciofi - fab crostini with artichoke puree, roasted artichokes and
tomatoes, covered in gooey mozzerella and topped with an herb pesto.  Couldn't get enough!

Neopolitan style Bietola pizza with pecorino, fontina & mascarpone with sausage (we subbed in pancetta),
local spinach and a sunny side up egg!
Couldn't wait for a photo before digging in!
This is on par with Antico Napoletanta in Atlanta, for sure!  Amazing!

The drinks got the better of me and I forgot to take a picture of our third course - kale salad and gnocchi.  The gnocchi was definitely not my favorite, which was unfortunate, but the kale salad was something new I hadn't tried before!  Pretty good!

Wine-O Wednesday: Antinori Vineyards

Considering my seemingly endless supply of material for this weekly idea, I figured it would be fun to discuss various wines as consistently as I consume them.  Hiccup...

I don't know a whole heck of a lot about wine, but my parents introduced me to the stuff at a relatively young age and taught me how to discern some of the more basic flavors.  I hated it.  A whole wine cellar full of delicious bottles and I didn't really want anything to do with them.

Until sophomore year of college when I discovered white zinfandel.  At Sam's club.  By the magnum.  Makes my lip curl thinking about it now...  My favorite brand: Sutter Home (ie, more fondly and accurately, Stutter Home).  Foul.  Just foul.

That excuse for wine opened up a whole world for me, eventually, as I made the typical female route from pink wine to Riesling then on to Pinot Grigio/ Sauvignon Blanc and finally moved to my now favorite neck of the woods, the big reds.  Zinfandels and Pinot Noirs are pretty much my go-to these days, but I still can't say no to a citrus-crisp glass of Sauv-Blanc on a sunshine drenched patio.  Oh Spring, I miss you.

On to the Wine

My first wine-o entry should be dedicated to this past weekend, when P and I went to a local wine tasting at the amazing Tuscan resty, Antica Posta in Buckhead (an under-acknowledged gem and definitely one of the best in Atlanta)

The event was hosted by an Antinori sommelier, a 26 generation strong vineyard in Tuscany.  They served some fabulous apps like sea bass puree on a biscuit (believe me), house made veal sausage, classic bruschette and mouth watering seared scallops.  Divine.  If you go for dinner, their gnocchi is seriously the best I've had in the states.

The whites line-up:

Vermentino Bolgheri 2011 - light table wine, nothing too special

Bramito Chardonnay 2011 - very light and fruity, the opposite of 

what you typically expect from a Chardonnay!

Cervaro della Sala 2010 - 93 points - smooth buttery flavor without 
oak notes, which I found unusual.  Loved the richness of this guy.

The red line-up:

Il Bruciato Bolgheri Rosso 2010 - apparently not memorable, literally

Chianti Classico Riserva villa Antinori 2010 - literally just came to the US last week!  
Quite spicy with a nice, short finish leaving you wanting more.

Chianti Classico Riserva Badia a Passignano 2006 - 89 points - deep, smooth

 flavors and a really, really long finish

Tignanello 2009 - holy bajeezus this was fabulous.  94 points.  

$100 bottle or I'd be after this daily.  Flavor punch to the faceroo.

Our favorite ended up being the very reasonably priced Chianti Villa Antinori at $29/bottle!  Spicy with a short finish and the coolest part is it's only been in the US for a week and a half!!    We scooped up half a case, for us and for a few friends as gifts :)  

"Road Warrior" Workout

Only six months in and I despise the term "Road Warrior" already.  What is that?  That implies those of us that frequent the skies/freeways are fighting some kind of magical battle with the travel Gods.  Which actually, may be kind of true...  Upon Googling, I found out there is an entire underworld of blogs and forums devoted to the topic.  There's even a website devoted to those of us who live out of a 22" x 14" x 9" closet and can happily exist for days, if not weeks, with only that and a good Platinum Lounge.  

I have no right to gripe as I don't currently have to fly.  I can pack an entire bottle of contact solution right next to my pair of sharpened scissors without a care in the world.  I can even purchase a bottle of wine and bring home the remnants (remnants... silly concept) at the end of the week.  Anyone have leftovers?  Send them home with me!  No big deal Officer, I'm just smuggling half of Birmingham's best restaurants across state lines...

Which brings me to the real issue, which is the consumption of obscene quantities of undeniably delicious fare from distant lands.  Three times a day.  There are only so many lunch options within walking distance, and only so many driveable locations worth visiting.  And when you have the entire menu staring at you, it's just plain impossible to order a side-salad-add-chicken and smile through kale-coated teeth at the would-be heavenly treats at Gianmarco's or Chez Fonfon.  [Sidenote: behind Gianmarco's is their Wine Bar.  Retail wine prices with a corkage fee, and the full GM menu in a cutesy little shack where you eat around wine barrels.  Fabulous.]

So, jumping jacks and I have started a little romantic tryst.  I apologize each morning to my downstairs neighbors as I hop around in pajamas doing my routine.  Jumping jacks, crunches, push ups, the whole nine yards.  These are the best routines I've found, which I switch up and mess around with (read: unabashedly cheat) while trying to work off my jiggles in an effort to make caloric room for the absolute best thing in town, the elote asada at @elbarriobham (my fiance refers to it only as "the corn place" because I talk about it so much).  Mmmmm chipotle-cilantro-mayo drenched corn yummies...

Thursday blows most.
Source: Back on Pointe

This is me.  Ha!
Lower Ab Dominator - pulse ups, reverse crunches and V-sits, oh my!
Source: UberExercise