So, tell me… White Chocolate Peppermint Pringles. Sound yummy? Cinnamon & Sugar? Pumpkin Pie Spice?

Sweet and savory combinations work so well: salted caramel, chocolate pretzels and so forth. I’m sure that’s what the research and development team for Pringles thought of when they developed these new holiday flavors.

When I first heard about them, I can’t say I was especially enthusiastic. Yet, I was curious enough to seek them out. And when I couldn’t find them, it became a challenge.

A friend of mine mentioned on Facebook that she’d seen them in Walmart. I checked every Walmart in the metro area to no avail. I checked local grocers, Target and other retailers. Nada. In the end, my friend who lives in Hoschton mailed me a package containing two of the flavors.

After trying both, I’m undecided. I wouldn’t buy them again, but they aren’t quite as unappealing as I thought possible. And, if I actually liked Pringles to start with, they might satisfy that …

Continue reading Coming soon: Holiday-flavored Pringles »

Bantam + Biddy, Shaun Doty’s new fast-casual chicken restaurant in Ansley Mall is now open. Chefs Doty and Lance Gummere, most recently of The Shed at Glenwood, are cooking up some locally-pastured bird for lunch and dinner.

The restaurant offers meat-and-three plates with a quarter ($10) or half chicken ($14) or Niman Ranch pork ($10) plus three sides from a lengthy list of daily and seasonal options. Other entrees include pork schnitzel ($14), meatloaf made with White Oak Pastures ground beef ($10), salads and sandwiches. And to keep it interesting, daily blue plate specials (starting at 2 p.m.) will bring items like chicken and dumplings and fried catfish with Creole sauce. The menu also includes a number of gluten-free items, as did Doty’s menu at Yeah! Burger.

Breakfast, which starts next month, will include dishes made with pastured eggs and poultry. Look for chicken and waffles, chicken liver hash and eggs, eggs Benedict and more.

Bantam + Biddy’s …

Continue reading Shaun Doty’s Bantam + Biddy now open »

Cho Won Buffet, a Duluth Korean restaurant at 3635 Satellite Boulevard, saw its perfect health score drop to a 45/U during a recent routine inspection because of poor hand-washing practices by the staff and other risks of bacteria contamination.

The Gwinnett County health inspector said the restaurant’s food safety manager was not providing the proper employee training or supervision on health procedures.

One employee handled a trash can, then went to the grill to remove some egg pancakes without removing gloves or washing hands.

An employee switched from handling dirty dishes to clean dishes without washing hands. Another employee did not use gloves when chopping raw vegetables and crab meat for the buffet.

Also, the proper hand-washing method that ensures cleanliness wasn’t being followed by employees, the inspector noted.

In other violations, cartons and bowls of raw eggs and some white rice, which had been removed from the cooler and left in the prep area to be …

Continue reading Restaurant inspections, Cho Won Buffet »

Le Puy lentils (credit: Wikipedia)

We had some family in town this weekend, which made for good food times.  There were no projects, dinner parties or complicated recipes anywhere in sight. Instead, we stocked up at the Morningside Farmers Market and Whole Foods and then just hung out in the kitchen, chopping vegetables and drinking wine.

One dinner started with a bright salad of radicchio, Honeycrisp apples, toasted pecans and goat cheese in a rice wine vinaigrette, then we had some pan-roasted salmon with lentils. Not just any lentils but the mighty green le Puy lentils of France, which keep their beady integrity long past the time brown lentils turn to mush.

As the lentils cooked in chicken stock, I sauteed diced onion and sweet farmers market carrots with a sprig of thyme. I added a squeeze of double-concentrated Italian tomato paste (which comes in a tube and is available at Whole Foods) and let that sizzle and nearly brown before deglazing the pot with a hearty glug of …

Continue reading Great Lentils Highlight of Cooking Weekend »

With the help of hosts Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison of Star Provisions/Bacchanalia/Abattoir/Floataway Café, the James Beard Foundation took over the Westside Provisions district on Sunday night for an all-star Sunday Supper.

The third annual Sunday Supper South, inspired by the “Sunday Supper” series at the Chelsea Market in NYC, brought together a staggering list of Southern James Beard award-winning chefs, nominees, and semi-finalists for a four-course family style meal. The event benefitted the James Beard Foundation Scholarship Program, benefiting aspiring young chefs.

The list of chefs and their dishes was overwhelming in the best way possible. Just as I’m wrapping my head around a mouthful of lardo and duck gizzard ballontine, a platter of grilled octopus crudo passes in front of me. It was hard to keep up, but fun to try.

There was too much good food to detail everything we ate last night, so here are some snapshots of the evening.

Sweetbread Eggrolls. …

Continue reading James Beard’s Sunday Supper South »

Sugar Island Jerk, a newly opened restaurant in Snellville, has had early problems getting its employees use to food safety procedures and failed its first two inspections.

The Caribbean restaurant at 3400 Centerville Highway opened last month. It scored a 59/U on Oct. 12, then a 64/U on a follow-up inspection Oct. 18.

Manager Doug Isidore said some of his employees have poor food safety habits, then they get nervous when the inspector shows up and make mental mistakes. Gwinnett County’s health inspector recommended Isidore have a staff meeting to address gaps in food safety training and practices.

During the latest inspection, employees were careless when handling food without washing their hands between glove changes. And a cutting board and knife used in the prep area were rinsed but not sanitized before using.

Among other violations, raw fish fillets and raw beef steaks were stored together in the same metal pan. Though both were wrapped separately, fluid from fish and …

Continue reading Restaurant inspections, Sugar Island Jerk »

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Occasionally a restaurant must reinvent itself to stay current and viable, particularly in places where new restaurants continually spring up to steal all the buzz and some of the clientele.

Parish is one of those restaurants. Housed in a century-old, stand-alone brick building situated just over the bridge in Inman Park, Parish began its existence as a Creole restaurant. It later switched chefs and trended towards a more traditional pork-centric Southern menu.

Now, with new chef Edward Russell, who joined the team last spring, the restaurant describes its food as regional American fare with local influences.

Parish is owned by Concentrics Restaurants, which also owns One Midtown Kitchen, Two Urban Licks and, mostly recently, The Spence. Like its sister restaurants, Parish has a highly styled interior. Its neutral color palette composed of exposed brick and weathered tin ceiling tiles provides a backdrop for the brilliant glowing red lamps set at regular intervals down the …

Continue reading Atlanta Revisited: Parish restaurant review, Inman Park »

courtesy of The General Muir

May 2011: Cousins Properties approach Jennifer and Ben Johnson, owners of West Egg Cafe, to discuss opening a second West Egg location at the Emory Point development on Clifton Road. The Johnsons consider a delicatessen as an alternate concept.

June 2, 2011: The Johnsons stumble upon an interview with chef Todd Ginsberg in which he confesses to having the dream of opening a delicatessen.

June 15, 2011: The Johnsons text Ginsberg to set up a meeting.

That’s how The General Muir, a partnership between Ginsberg, the Johnsons and Shelley Sweet (General Manager at West Egg) got its start.

The General Muir, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, will be more than just a traditional deli. According to co-owner Ben Johnson, “We don’t want people to think too literally about it, expecting us to recreate Katz’s. There will be classic dishes on the menu, but we are not pigeonholing ourselves as just a deli. Todd is an amazing and creative chef and will …

Continue reading The General Muir to open late December »

Credit: Atlanta Beer Week

Attention beer and prix fixe menu lovers: In case you have not taken advantage of it yet, there are still three more days left of Atlanta Beer Week to go.

I’m not one to usually get too caught up in all of the “weeks”, usually designed to give new diners a chance for an introduction to a specific neighborhood with affordable and approachable prix fixe menus. However, Atlanta Beer Week is a metro-area wide collaboration between restaurants, watering holes, growler bars, and breweries from around the southeast and the world.

With the big upswing in new Georgia-based breweries, featured heavily in the ABW line-up this week, and Sweetwater’s continual march to world craft dominance, Atlanta’s beer culture has blossomed in the last few years. The AJC’s Bob Townsend gave a great preview of this year’s Beer Week over on the Drink blog.

So, even though more than half of the week has passed you by, there are still plenty of events to attend …

Continue reading Atlanta Beer Week continues through Oct. 27th »

Truly Living Well market (courtesy of Truly Living Well)

I like to think that every day is Food Day, but tomorrow really is Food Day. An event created by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, it exists to raise awareness of food issues and to advocate for policies that support good food distribution and awareness.

Slow Food Atlanta send over this handy-dandy guide to all the events scheduled around town tomorrow and Thursday to observe Food Day. You can help work a community garden and enjoy a potluck lunch. You can go to a wine tasting. You can listen to music. You can do/eat/drink lots.

On Wednesday:

Food Day Eat-In: Celebrate Food Day by shopping at the Decatur Farmers Market on Wednesday, October 24! Bring a blanket or chair, grab some delicious picnic food and walk across the street to our Food Day Eat-In outside of the First Baptist Church and enjoy your fresh, local food with fellow Food Day supporters. Local musicians will provide entertainment. Decatur …

Continue reading Events to celebrate Food Day »