One of the bonuses, when moving to a big city has been the number of new restaurants to try. As much as I would like to make a list of the places I want to try, I can’t quite do it as I always find one more. So I just wait and whenever we are looking for a specific style of food, I do a quick research and happily try whatever comes up. Now, to be fair, despite what is shown in this post, my husband and I don’t often go for the fine dining experience. We’ve been known to walk to the closest Taco Mac for after-work dinner and drinks, and regularly get delivery from small Thai or Chinese restaurants. I guess I’m just not that picky, I simply like to eat. Which is a blessing and a curse, really.
I wanted to showcase a few of the restaurants we have enjoyed since we moved, in no particular order of preference.
Last August, Jeff and I went to check out the Dragon-Con parade in Downtown Atlanta. We arrived late and barely got to see anything. When the parade was over, we started walking and somehow ended up here. They had a pig roast going that day but we went for drinks, burgers, and one of the most decadent desserts I’ve ever had: Grilled donut ice cream sandwich. Needless to say, it was delicious.
I originally wanted to go there because it is also the name of a restaurant we used to go to in Charlottesville. After a quick walk through the Piedmont Park Farmer’s Market, on a sunny September morning, we ended up there and for some unclear reason, a huge plate of Pulled Pork tater tots made sense. Was it too much? Yes. Was it ridiculously tasty? Absolutely.
Through the years, my husband has shared his love of charcuterie with me. We’ve tried the cured meats and cheese plates at many restaurants, in most cities we’ve been. A friend suggested this restaurant so we tried it out for Jeff’s birthday. This was by far one of the best charcuterie plates I’ve had. There were a couple meats that I could have kept eating every day of my life. We also enjoyed a few small plates, including rabbit empanadas and veal shank raviolis.
This past weekend, as a rare treat, we enjoyed two finer dining restaurants. We usually try to space them out but two opportunities for dinners with friends came up and we couldn’t resist.
The first one, One Midtown Kitchen (no pictures, I was too busy destroying my plate) was just casual enough, yet the food was wonderful. The menu reminded us a little bit of our favorite Charlottesville restaurant, The Local. I enjoyed a lobster ravioli appetizer and also ended up eating a lot of Jeff’s crispy Brussel sprouts. We both had a delicious steak frites entrée and ended with a homemade Kit Kat Bar, a decadent dessert of praline, milk chocolate, caramel and sea salt. We are absolutely going back…there were too many other dishes I wanted to try!
The second restaurant we went to, Empire State South, was a tad bit more exciting, only because I knew it was one of Hugh Acheson’s restaurants and I had really liked this fellow Canadian on Top Chef. It was my first time going to the restaurant of a well-known chef. The food did not disappoint. We had the most amazing beef tartare appetizer. I could have eaten a full plate of it. Then, Jeff and I shared the lamb served with pickled vegetables and a cumin-garlic sausage. The picture below is only half of the dish as they were kind enough to make us two separate plates. For dessert, I had the pineapple meringue tart and, although I usually go for anything chocolate, I was in no way disappointed in my choice. The restaurant offers a $80 tasting menu and I told Jeff I would love to try that either for my birthday or for our anniversary.
It is very difficult to find the right balance between exploring the city’s many restaurant options, yet being monetarily reasonable and making sure we still eat most of our meals at home. Not only does it get pricey if we eat out all the time but it also isn’t the healthiest thing to do. We do have a few good home-cooked meals planned for the upcoming week. Let’s see if we can stick to it… 🙂
The Hungry Quebbie 