A Warm Welcome to DC at Graffiato

by EP

Last week, to welcome me to DC, my wonderful friends Mark and Craig (you might remember them from the amazing trip to Chicago last winter to celebrate Craig's birthday) took me out to dinner.  We went to a restaurant I'd be hearing about through the DC bloggers for years it seems: Graffiato.  Graffiato is owned by Mike Isabella, of Top Chef fame, and I had heard absolutely wonderful things about it and was pumped to finally go for myself.

I met Mark, Craig, and Craig's aunt Jeannie in the bar area while we waited for a table.  Of course, we enjoyed some bubbly while we waited - what kind of fool waits without a cocktail in hand?!  After a brief wait, the hostess lead us to our table (and even took our drinks for us so we wouldn't spill as we walked up the kinda-steep staircase). 

Our waiter was adorable and wonderful, and he had been Mark and Craig's waiter before in the past -- he even remembered that Mark had a nut allergy!  He was friendly enough to the ladies at the table, but truth be told his energy and enthusiasm were geared towards the gentlemen.  This is when we realized he was very likely gay and was totally flirting with Mark.  No matter, we used it to our advantage and had a great time and great service.

Mark and Jeannie, ready to eat!

Chicago Noms, Part 1: A Girl, A Goat, and 22 Bottles

by EP

At the end of January, 15 people came together in Chicago - yes, Chicago in January - to celebrate a special friend's 30th birthday.  That friend is my dear friend from college, Craig, who you might remember from such posts as this and this.  I was so pleased and honored to be invited to this event, a "destination" birthday party in a fabulous city with an amazing and flourishing food scene.  I had been to Chicago once before back in '04 for a chilly "spring break" road trip from St. Louis, but I was eager to get back and check out the city and the food I'd heard so much about (mostly from Twitter and Xani's various visits).

I will be blogging soon about my other eats with another buddy, Alex, but this post is dedicated to the fabulous meal and overall experience we had at Girl and the Goat, the brainchild of Chef Stephanie Izard, Top Chef Season 3 winner.*

Table 21 at VOLT: 21 Courses of Voltaggio Goodness

by Erin and Xani



This is the post you've all been waiting for! For those of you who don't know (not sure how - both of us tweeted and Facebooked the crap out of this news), we scored a reservation at Table 21, the chef's table at VOLT. VOLT is Chef Bryan Voltaggio's restaurant in Frederick, MD, and as we all know, Bryan is one of the 3 finalists (and quite possible winner!) of Top Chef this season. What an exciting time to go to this restaurant!

Getting a rez at Table 21 is kind of difficult, especially these days as Chef Bryan's fame grows exponentially (we heard they are currently booked through October 2010). So, it was a huge surprise when friends Emily and Josh couldn't use their reservation and offered it to us - what amazing friends! We gratefully accepted and the excitement started to build...

Friday night was the big night. Neither of us ate very much during the day in preparation for the ridiculous meal that lay before us. We left plenty of time for the drive to Frederick so we wouldn't be rushed. Needless to say, we were excited!!







In front of VOLT! The lady who took our picture was like "Oh, you're actually eating in there??"

We arrived in adorable downtown Frederick and gave the hostess our name (well, Emily's name!). She coolly replied, "Table 21. Right this way." SO A-list. We were led into the kitchen and seated at the 4-person table tucked away in a corner, with a perfect view of the happenings of the kitchen, including Chef Bryan! He was working away, quietly directing his staff and plating dishes; he even presented several dishes to us throughout our meal!







There's the Chef! Second from the left.


Anyway, let's get to the FOOD, shall we?? This meal was 21 courses and took us approximately 3.25 hours to finish. Each course was beautifully presented and, since we didn't order any of these dishes and therefore didn't know what to expect, our server would describe each dish as it arrived, kinda like they do on Top Chef (or Iron Chef). Eek!



Course #1: Housemade ginger ale, absinthe foam, CO2



This cocktail was our first course. The homemade ginger ale with bourbon was served warm, and the absinthe whipped cream was served cold. The flavors surprisingly worked so well together, and the hot and cold together made it even more interesting. A great kick-off to the meal!

Course #2: Proscuitto chips, potato dip



The best chips and dip we ever had! The potato dip was more like a foam and had SO much potato flavor - this would be a theme in the coming courses. The "chips" were dehydrated pieces of salty, yummy Iberico ham that went so well with the potato dip.

Course #3: Tuna tartare, avocado, wasabi whitefish roe



This dish had a lot of wonderful flavors going on: tuna, avocado, spice, wasabi, tobiko, cilantro. Plus, it was texturally very delicate - everything was soft and went so well together. We were huge fans of this dish!

Course #4: Trio of macaroons



You Top Chef fans might recognize these macaroons! Chef Bryan made these on one of his earlier episodes (maybe the Bachelor/Bachelorette ep?) and they are as interesting as they sound. The white one was filled with guacamole with dehydrated corn on top. The green one was filled with caesar salad dressing (and the shell tasted like romaine) - we toasted to our wonderful mom as we ate this one since she is famous for her caesar salad. The last one was beet flavored outside with foie gras on the inside. Obviously anything with foie gras will trump - it was so good! The others were really good too - the outside was crunchy but then sort of melted, and the fillings were very flavorful.

Course #5: Shiitake, pine nut, chili oil, basil



For some reason, I cannot stop thinking about this dish! This was a creamy pine nut veloute with chili and basil, plus it had gelatin-encased pockets of maitaki mushroom soup! They were sort of like egg yolks but with a thicker outside-- they burst when you put them in your mouth. Again, everything tasted so much like itself - pine nuts, mushrooms, chili. Mmmm....

Course #6: Chicken wing presse, lobster noodle, coconut



Xani called this "the best chicken of her life." It was a crispy, pressed chicken wing (which as we all know has the most skin & fat: meat ratio, atop "lobster noodles" with celery pudding and coconut "air". Wow. The noodles were so interesting - they were essentially liquid that had been turned to gelatin and pressed out into noodles. While they did taste like seafood in the end, both of us had the initial impression that the noodles tasted like our mom's chicken soup! There was a strong celery flavor too, but I say that in a good way, for once!

Course #7: Cherry Glen Farm goat cheese ravioli, butternut squash



This was another dish that scored high high marks from us! This was an awesome goat cheese ravioli covered in a brown butter and butternut squash puree, topped with sage foam. Ridiculously good! The tang of the cheese cut through the richness of the squash and brown butter, and it was a great and unexpected addition to the classic combo of squash, sage, and brown butter.

Course #8: Scallop, lentils, cauliflower



While neither of us are huge scallop fans, we both enjoyed this dish. The scallop was perfectly seared and served with lentils and multi-colored cauliflowers. That's microplaned purple cauliflower on top!

Course #9: Sturgeon, ruby quinoa, black trumpet mushrooms, prosciutto nage



This was one of EP's favorite dishes. The sturgeon was firm and crispy on one side, and the ruby quinoa went so well with it and the mushrooms. There was a prosciutto nage (I just learned what "a la nage" meant here) which went well with the fish. Also on the plate, "variations on salsify", meaning several different preparations of salsify in the dish. The little white round on the side of the quinoa was cooked (baked, poached?), the white frill on the top was dried salsify (entangled with the black trumpet mushroom), salsify in the sauces, etc. Several of the dishes had variations on some ingredient. The scallop dish had variations on cauliflower.

Course #10: Sweetbreads, lemon, olive, caper



Now we're getting into the meats! This was a breaded and deep fried sweetbread served with a variety of delicious flavors: kalamata olive, meyer lemon, golden raisin. It was perfectly cooked and as one former Top Chef winner once put it, "it tastes like a really great chicken nugget."

Course #11: Slow-braised pork belly, calypso beans



This dish was interesting because the pork belly was rolled up (as you can see) and not too fatty. Also, there was some sort of cure on it that made it taste a little bit like corned beef. It wasn't a favorite of ours, but the crispy pancetta wheel alongside was A-okay.

Course #12: Hudson Valley duck liver, seckel pear, vanilla brioche, pistachio soil



This foie gras was very good: rich, fatty, buttery, and served with pear butter and pistachio alongside a sweet brioche (toasted, of course! and buttered!!). However, the foie didn't really taste like foie/liver - it tasted like butter. And while we love butter, it was a little disappointing not to get a stronger classic foie gras flavor out of this dish (especially since so many of the other things we'd eaten had tasted so strongly of themselves).

Course #13: Longenecket Farm rabbit, hernandez sweet potato, lavender



This dish had rabbit prepared 4 ways - wow! The first was a pancetta wrapped loin (that hot dog shaped piece in the pic), then a braised rack (you can see the tiny bones...sad), then a sous vide leg with bacon, and then a final piece prepared like a little schnitzel. They were all served with mashed sweet potatoes, super-yummy braised brussels sprouts, and some other sauces we can't remember. The sous vide leg was the best part - tender with a little bit of fat in the cut, with a lot of great rabbit flavor. Hoppity hop hop...

Course #14: Lamb, curry yogurt, cauliflower



This dish had a seared lamb loin with spinach, a curry yogurt, edamame, cauliflower, and "garlic transparency." The lamb was well-cooked, though it didn't have a very lamb-y flavor, which we would have liked. The spinach was very strongly flavored, as was the garlic transparency - SO garlicky! Poor Xani got it stuck to the top of her tongue, like one of those mint films for breath freshening. This was the opposite.

Course #15: Pineland Farm striploin, ratte potato, broccoli, dragon carrots



This beef dish was one of our favorites of the whole night! The meat was intensely seasoned on the outside and perfectly cooked through (as you can see), plus it had excellent potatoes, broccoli, and you see that thing that looks like an egg yolk? It's another one of those gelatin-encased sauces-- this time, carrot juice. This was an outstanding end to the meat portion of the evening.

Course #16: Cheese (Monocacy Gold), tarragon, orange gelato, balsamic



Cheese course! This was a great palate cleanser before we got into our dessert courses. Our dining companions were familiar with the Monocacy Gold cheese (from Cherry Glen Goat Cheese Co.) and schooled us on this great line of cheeses. The cheese was a soft and creamy goat cheese, almost like a brie. It was served with orange sorbet and a balsamic sauce.

Course #17: Dulce de leche, granny smith apple




Awww yeah, this dessert was our favorite of all of them! This was a super-rich and creamy cheesecake with granny smith apple sorbet and dulce de leche powder. The intensity of the flavor in the sorbet was unbelievable, and the dehydrated caramel turns to liquid in your mouth!Out of control good - we could have eaten many more of these little cheesecakes (er, maybe not at that point of the meal, but you know what we mean).





We ordered coffee and espresso during our dessert courses. I thought the little sugar lump holder looked like Tick Tock from "Return to Oz".





(Flying) pigs and coffee - BCD girls' favorites!


Course #18: Coconut, vanilla, lavender




This was a very interesting dish because it was all white - kind of trippy that way. The coconut sorbet was excellent and was sitting in a cup made of frozen coconut milk, which was very rich and fatty. Next to it was a lavender dust, and there was also a vanilla custard, both of which worked well with the coconut flavors.

Course #19: Chocolate peanut mousse, tonka bean




This was our final official dessert, which was a peanut butter brownie with a super crispy, crunchy crust on the bottom, which was surprising and a great texture contrast to the thick, rich brownie. There was also a tonka bean ice cream and a tuille cookie. The little green blob you see on brownie was "cilantro pudding"- but we didn't taste much cilantro.

Course #20: Ice cream sandwiches



Our last little bite of the evening: mini ice cream sandwiches! These were adorable and amazingly, we found room for them even after 19 previous courses. We were so impressed with how clean and beautiful these were, considering the one time we tried making ice cream sandwiches with cookies, they came out significantly less...beautiful.

Course #21: Muffin to take home



So classy they are at VOLT! Each of us got an orange-ginger muffin to take home to have for breakfast the next day.

We finally looked at the clock after the meal and it was almost midnight! We gathered our things as we struggled with whether we would bother Chef Bryan for a picture. We thought he might come over to talk with us at some point during the meal but he didn't. In the end we decided we would play it cool and not ask for a photo with him - sorry folks!

What a meal! We will both remember this for a very, very long time. Truly outstanding, surprising, delicious, and fun - thanks Chef Bryan and staff! Also thanks to Emily and Josh, and to our wonderful parents for giving us this dinner as our Hanukkah presents. So, you could say we didn't get 8 presents this year, we got 21!!

Good luck to Bryan as we head into the Top Chef finale part 2 - it's only fair to root for him now that we have tasted his food! Go Bryan!!

Cheers,

EP & X

Top Chef 4: FINALE!!

by Xani and Erin

Well folks, its all over, and a new champion has been crowned. All hail (spoiler alert)... Stephanie!

OK, so maybe it wasn't so much of a surprise. BCD and many of our loyal readers have been saying Stephanie was the best chef all along, right?!? But, as Bravo always does, they edited the show so that there was no way of knowing who would come out on top until the very last minute!

Unlike other season finales in the past, this year all three chefs went head-to-head on a traditional four course dinner. The twist was that each chef would be paired with a hugely successful sous-chef (Eric Ripert, Dan Barber, and April Bloomfield (chef at the Spotted Pig - remember when EP went there?)). Each sous-chef comes complete with a variety of luxurious proteins. Padma mentions that they planned to have the chef with the most wins pick their sous-chef/proteins first, but since Richard and Stehpanie are tied (cut to shot of Lisa looking cranky), they pull knives to see who picks first. Advantage Stephanie-- and she picks Chef Ripert. Richard chooses Dan Barber and so Lisa and April Bloomfield are paired together. Into the kitchen to begin prep work. It's interesting to see the Top Chefs work with the bigwigs, especially when Stephanie nitpicks Ripert's fileting technique! Richard has brought liquid nitrogen as his "special ingredient" and gives an impromptu cooking demo which draws the attention of chefs Ripert and Bloomfield but of course Lisa thinks its all gimmick and not "simple" like food should be. We trust Chef Ripert more than Lisa though, right?!

The next day, the chefs are informed by Chef Tom that they will have NO help from their sous-chefs today. RUH ROH! Personally this would be my downfall-- I plan a menu knowing exactly who is doing what task, and when. To suddenly have twice as many tasks for one person would be a huge setback. It's a testament to their skills that Stephanie, Richard, and yes, even Lisa managed to overcome this hurdle. Although Richard seems extremely flustered when Tom asks about his menu ("it's abstract...") and Stephanie is freaking out about her dessert, they seem more composed when its time to serve dinner. Lisa, by the way, is strangely calm throughout. The 9 dinner guests include the judges' panel, the sous-chefs from day one, plus Puerto Rican chef Alfredo Ayala and Tim Zagat (I was glad when Padma introduced him, so now we all know how to pronounce his name!).

For the chefs' four course menu, they had to do the traditional progression of fish, poultry, red meat, and dessert. Chef Tom was sure to remind everyone that they really did have to make a dessert; no beef shortribs for dessert a la the "movie inspiration" challenge. For their menus, Richard's theme is "abstract" and none of the course names are helpful to the reader (e.g., "Be the bacon" and "Which came first?"). Stephanie's theme is just good clean flavors. Lisa is of course going Asian mafia on everyone.

While they were eating the meal, it was interesting that Padma and Gail and the others would ask the sous-chef about the dish and whether they had assisted in the dish and/or whether they knew the chef was going in that particular direction. In most cases, the sous-chefs were kept in the dark. Eric Ripert was a great cheerleader for Stephanie for most of the meal, except when it came to her dessert.

After all was said and done, it appeared that Stephanie and Lisa were the ones in the final running, with Richard sadly lagging behind. Clear winners were Lisa in the second course for her Tom Kha Gai soup with dumpling, and Stef in the third course for her very interesting lamb dish with maitake mushrooms, braised pistachios, and blackberry and olive tapenade. Richard's dishes were okay but the girls seemed to outshine him. (For a good recap on each of the dishes and what the judges had to say about each during the meal and at judges' table, check out this Serious Eats post.) This reminds me of when Casey choked during the Season 3 finale and was not even considered for the title in that awkward live show where they named the winner. Remember that?

After the meal and the deliberations at Judges' Table, let the dramatic editing begin! My guess is that there wasn't much actual drama going on, and Stephanie was a pretty clear winner, but you know how Bravo likes to get us all riled up! What's the fun in watching a show that doesn't make you curse when they throw in a commercial (or five) at crucial moments?

In the end, it's our girl STEPHANIE who takes the cake! Hooray! She is the first female Top Chef (or as Bravo is calling her, "The First Lady of Top Chef"), and she totally earned the title. We can't wait to see what she does next! As for Richard, it's sad that he didn't win, since he worked so hard and is truly a unique chef. But, I think the chances of him doing extremely well in the rest of his culinary career are high, so I'm not too worried. As for Lisa....well, she'll be interesting at the reunion show next week ;)

Final Take: We are both thrilled that Stephanie won and have had so much fun having Top Chef be a part of our blog! The Fafarazzi game was a lot of fun - thanks to those who played along!

And now for some favorites:

Xani's favorite episode: Wedding Wars

Erin's favorite episode: High Steaks (butchering and then steak restaurant challenge)

Best Andrew quote: "I have a culinary boner right now"

Most awkward moment: Either when Blais said he wanted to go home and make babies, or when Lisa made the really bad joke about being Jewish while butchering a pig

Favorite guest chef: Tony Bourdain, of course! Other favorites included Ming Tsai and Eric Ripert

Thanks to all our readers for watching along with us and commenting (sometimes heatedly!) with your reactions to the show. And thanks for your patience with us to get these posts up! It's been pretty crazy lately for us, so thanks for bearing with us. Stay tuned for more BCD posts soon!

Congrats to Top Chef Stephanie!

X & E

Top Chef 4: TC does PR

by Xani and Erin

Well, here we are folks-- almost to the end of season 4 of Top Chef. It's been a good run, and aside from a little (ok, two week) slip up we actually managed to post about most of the episodes! Who says this generation has no attention span? And did you see the previews from the next season of Project Runway last night?? Wait, what was I saying...?

Anyhow, let's get to the show. We're left with two superstars, Richard and Stephanie, and two "ho-hums", Antonia and Lisa (not that they are hos, but you know what we mean). They all arrive in San Juan after the hiatus ready to cook and compete. In no time they are faced with their Quickfire Challenge, to create frituras, or little fried treats, for the judges to enjoy with beer. The twist is that they must make two different preparations and each must feature plantains, a staple ingredient in Puerto Rican cuisines. Wilo, the guest judge, is a big-time chef in PR, but has no connection to the movie Willow, as far as we know. Antonia prepared a fried yellow plantain with spicy slaw and some crispy oysters on top of a cilantro plantain jam. Lisa made a plantain and chorizo fritter and a tostone (smashed piece of plantain that is fried) with duck and mango-papaya salsa. Richard prepared plantain chips with plantain salsa (served in a measuring cup, to boot!), and little pork meatballs with a plantain sauce. Lastly, Stef made pork and shrimp fritters with lime and basil and tostones topped with seared tuna. Yum!! But, Richard and Antonia end up in the bottom, mostly due to their use of uncooked plantains, which can have a slimy texture. Stephanie and Lisa come out on top-- and then Stephanie gets her very fist quickfire win, and a "very special" advantage in the Elimination Challenge.

After a pointless (and at times awkward) scene at a welcoming party, we head to the main event. For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs are presented with their main ingredient-- a whole pig! They must create at least two dishes out of the pig for a cocktail party the next night, and to help them, out come four of the eliminated chefs: Spike, Dale, Andrew and Nikki. Stephanie's advantage is that she gets to assign the sous-chefs. She takes Dale for herself (eliminating a whole mess of potential drama right there), Richard gets Spike, Antonia gets Nikki and, ruh-roh, Lisa gets Andrew! Then the chefs are told that they must remain in the kitchen with butchering duties, while the sous-chefs go to market to pick up all the fresh ingredients. They're not all that happy about it, but luckily they've got 60 pounds of pork to take their aggression out on! The hack, saw, chop, and carve the piggies into component parts. Then the sous-chefs return and everyone gets to cookin'! After a few hours of prep, they pack everything away... OR DO THEY?? In the harsh morning light, turns out Dale left Stephanie's pork belly un-refrigerated all night. He's totally horrified and frustrated with himself, completely devastated, as he should be. Stephanie seems (understandably) shaken by this, until Dale comes up with an idea to save the day: salad with chicharrones (crispy pork skin). (This begs the question: What salad is complete without a serving of pork skin??) All the chefs are hard at work and finally, evening rolls around and the party begins!

As the judges tastes all the chefs' creations, you can already see them identifying the highs and lows. They like Stephanie's salad and the plantain blini, as well as Richard's Malta-glazed ribs and pressure-cooked pork belly. We can already tell Lisa and Antonia haven't made as good of a showing-- the sauce on Lisa's relleno dish is too sweet, and Antonia's pigeon peas are undercooked. There's blood in the water (not literally).

No surprises here, Richard and Stephanie get called back as the top two (hey, don't they usually switch it up one episode and call back the losers first to shake everything up? I don't remember that happening this season), both are praised and then Richard is announced as the winner! And he's won a new car! I half expected Bob Barker and his (litigious) Beauties to come out and pose by it!

Then Lisa and Antonia face the judges. Lisa didn't make the pork the focus of the dishes, and her tostones were poorly cooked, in addition to having the overly sweet sauce. Antonia had those undercooked beans (although I can sympathize with her preference for "al dente" beans-- I like mine that way too Antonia! Love, Xani) as well as a "rustic" plating style that Chef Tom obviously hated. Cue the dramatic theme music... Antonia must pack her knives and go. Gasp!

Post-elimination drama is minimal, but Lisa does give Richard and Stephanie a hard time for not congratulating her. AWKWARD! Since when does the one who doesn't get kicked off get congratulated?? And we're off to the finale next week!

Xani's take:

Well, I earned 12 points this week in our Fafarazzi game, but honestly its looking like a lost cause at this point-- I'll never catch up to Kit and EP!

Really enjoyed this episode-- I mean, fried treats with beer AND pork, what's not to love? I was glad to see Andrew back and wished they would have highlighted more of his craziness (him speaking spanglish at the market was funny, but I wanted something along the lines of the infamous "culinary boner" line). I cringed when Lisa made her forced attempt at a joke re: Jews cooking/eating pork-- I hate her! And I can't believe she is in the finale. WTF?! You know?

Dish I wish I were eating: So many good choices! Probably Richard's pork belly, because I am a major sucker for pork belly. Or, Stephanie's pork satay on sugarcane, which sounded absolutely delicious. I was eating a second helping of "leftovers fried rice" (with asparagus, bacon, peas, shallots, white rice, bulgur, and other assorted random bits... this is because I'm moving in ONE WEEK. When every item you don't eat becomes something you have to move or throw away, you find ways to get them eaten!) and was drooling over all the delicious pork creations.

Favorite Chef at the moment: My pick for the big winner is Stephanie-- she's likeable and obviously a talented chef. I certainly won't mind if Richard wins, either, b/c I also like him and now that EP has been to his restaurant, I like him even more! I will be FURIOUS with Bravo if Lisa wins... she's unbearable. "I want to punch her in her eyebrow ring," as a wise person once said to me.

EP's Take:

This week I earned the same 12 points as Xani since we picked the same people: Stephanie, Richard, and Antonia. I'm still in second place in the league, which is fine with me. I don't mind being second to Kit!

I/we earned points for Stephanie's Quickfire win and some cursing on her part, plus points for Richard's win, but those were cancelled out by Antonia's loss (though I earned three points for Antonia's crying!). Overall, I really enjoyed this episode and thought the chefs produced both creative and incredibly delicious-sounding and -looking foods. Having to butcher a whole pig is something we've never seen on the show before, and it was great! Interesting that Stephanie had never butchered a whole pig before and yet still came out on top! She's mighty good, folks.

I shuddered with awkwardness when Lisa made the Jew joke - gives us all a bad name! Also so awkward/sad when Dale left the pork out overnight...you could just feel his heart sinking. But, the fact that he and Stephanie worked together to think of something amazing to make with the remaining pig parts proves that they are Top Chef material. I loved watching Dale cook again - I'm sad that he's not in the finals!

One thing I'm confused about is whether they will kick off one more person (ahem, LISA) and then have the final two duke it out like in Season 2 (Marcel v. Ilan), or whether they will have the three chefs go head to head like in Season 3 (Hung v. Casey v. Dale)? I would guess the latter but sometimes those Bravo producers can throw a curve ball!

Dish I wished I were eating: All of the fried delicious snacks in the Quickfire looked pretty awesome, especially Stephanie's pork and lime fritters with lime, basil, and brown butter. Gimme!! The mains looked great as well: I would have loved to try Richard's Malta-glazed ribs and Stephanie's salad with chicharones. Speaking of chicharones, we order these whenever we go out for Salvadoran food (my most favorite of the Latin American cuisines), but it's not pork skin, but instead it's tough little pieces of (often fatty) pork, served alongside fried yucca. Anybody know what I'm talking about here? In any case, I would have eaten pretty much anything the chefs prepared - everything looked so delicious!

Favorite chef at the moment: I'm admittedly torn between Stephanie and Richard. Now that I have tasted Richard's food for myself, although it was not as innovative as what he produces on the show, I feel I have a bit more of a connection to him. He seems like a very smart chef and I really like him and his style a lot. On the other hand, Stephanie is so cute I want to shrink her and put her in my pocket! She's also one hell of a chef. Her flavor combinations are almost always a hit and she is calm under pressure. I'm jealous of my cousins and uncle who have eaten at her restaurant!! I am going to bet that Stef takes the Top Chef title, although I would love if Richard won too. If Lisa wins, I will never watch Bravo again! (Oh who am I kidding?? I can't resist Project Runway and Step It Up and Dance!)

We look forward to your comments!

X & E

ps. Any word on when the (presumably QUITE heated) reunion will be??

Atlanta Eats: Part 2

by Erin

After our day and night of fun in ATL, we woke up late and discussed all the good times we had the night before at the BBQ, just like in college! But this time, there were no crazy hook-ups, fights, or crying like in college - a bonus, if you ask me.

Anyway, we soon got all ready to go to brunch at a restaurant called Home Restaurant and Bar, a Richard Blais restaurant! That's the Richard from Top Chef!! I was so excited to eat at Chef Blais's restaurant, and I was so hoping he would be there and I could add him to my "List of Top Chef Contestants I've Met," which currently consists of only Michael from Season Two. (I still love you Mikey!) Unfortunately, when we asked the waitress if he was around, she informed us that his wife had just had a baby three days before, so he was a bit busy with that. Mazel tov to the happy couple! I guess he went home and fulfilled the promise he made to viewers in the "Common Threads" episode that he wanted to "go home and make some babies"...eeew.

Anyway, onto the review! From the outside, Home looks like a real home! It's obvious that they gutted the whole thing and left the charming outside in tact, so you really feel comfortable walking in.

There is a lovely bar and lounge area, a dining room on the main floor (that's where we ate), a dining room upstairs, and a private dining room and wine cellar in the basement. There were also portholes where you could look into the kitchen and watch the chefs in action. I couldn't resist taking a peek. The kitchen was huge but had windows all along the walls, letting in a ton of sunlight. I feel like whenever you see industrial restaurant kitchens, they are all stainless steel and flourescent light, but not at Home!

Okay, onto the food. We decided to share the Fried Green Tomatoes with Buttermilk Dressing as our starter. The tomatoes were not sliced but rather cut into sections and breaded in a crunchy crust (cornmeal, perhaps?). Instead of being served with buttermilk dressing, it was served with buttermilk ice cream! The ice cream was savory and had herbs (chives, I think) in it, and it added a whole other level of texture and, of course, temperature to the dish. A wonderful way to start out the meal!

For our mains, Tori ordered Buckwheat Pancakes with Maple Foam and Caramel Butter, Rachel and Lisa each ordered Shrimp & Grits with Andouille, Citrus Salad, and She-Crab Butter, and I ordered the Crispy Fried Chicken, Cauliflower Mac-n-Cheese, and Honey Vinegar.

The pancakes were very good - a little dry (is this due to the buckwheat?), but the maple foam was very maple-y and light, and the caramel butter was rich and intense. Put them all together and that is a tasty little bite!

The shrimp and grits were also quite good, and perhaps my favorite dish of the meal (even though I only had a small bite). The dish had edamame and a citrus salad of grapefruit and oranges, plus big cubes of fried up andouille. The grits were creamy and delicious, and the whole dish worked so well together. It was definitely a unique and upscale version of an old down-home classic.

Last, there was my fried chicken. I had seen someone else order it and I couldn't resist it! It was perfectly cooked - delicious, crispy skin on the outside, and moist, yummy meat on the inside. The skin had a slight sweetness to it, presumably from the honey vinegar. The cauliflower mac-n-cheese was good, though the pasta was a little overcooked. It was tasty, but not as good as the truffle mac-n-cheese we had in St. Croix!

Then it was time for dessert! We were all pretty full so we got one dessert to share between the four of us. Although all of the desserts looked awesome, we ordered the Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Ice Cream (the other choices, FYI, were: Moon Pie with Coca-Cola Float, and Sour Cream Pecan Cake with Sweet Tea Ice Cream).

This was a wonderful dessert! The cake was very dense, and there were lots of layers so you always got a bite of the classic cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese ice cream paired with a bite of cake was a bite of heaven! It was such a wonderful match and probably the best Red Velvet Cake experience I've ever had. This makes me think maybe I want Red Velvet cake for my birthday cake next month...

It was a great experience at Home, although the service was not as great as we would have hoped. I would definitely go back though, but probably for dinner. I asked for a copy of the dinner menu (because I am nosy and annoying) and some of the dishes look absolutely irresistable: Beef Short Rib with Corn Cream, Vidalia Onion Rings and Whiskey Jus; Buttermilk Pancakes with Foie Gras Butters and Blueberry Syrup; Fried Okra and Shrimp 'Po Boy.' YUM! The menu also says that the veggies are served family style and are "farm to table vegetables" - yay eating local!

Anyway, after chatting away over more coffee (mostly about whether we thought Richard had won or not and if so, whether he'd told his wife) and a brief photoshoot in the lounge, we left Home and headed to the Georgia Aquarium! Apparently, the Georgia Aquarium is the largest in the world. Who knew?? We had a great time at the aquarium (the otters and Nico, the beluga whale, were my favorites), and a great time overall! Thanks again to Lisa and Alex for having us. We will see you next year at the WEDDING!

Post-brunch photoshoot

BFFs!

Happy upscale/down-home eating,

EP