View Buford Highway in a larger map

Bistec a Caballo – La Casona

La Casona is one of my fallbacks – solid comfort food and a friendly staff make it an easy choice when a day has been too long. Their Bistec a Caballo is quickly climbing my list of great dishes along Buford Highway (no, it’s not horse meat…). Carne asada topped with tomato sauce and fried eggs are perfect for the pseudo-winter we’ve been having around here.

Platanos maduros – Las Casona

“Mini” Bandeja Paisa – La Casona

Yeah, that’s the “mini” version of the classic Colombian Bandeja Paisa – a multi-thousand calorie (a full badeja paisa averages around 3000 calories) gut-bomb suitable for hangovers or bad days in general. Carne asada, chorizo, chicharrone, arepa, platanos, avocado, frijoles, arroz…

Pollo Asado & Frijoles Charros – Home

Home. Like, at my house. Like, yes, I do eat this way every day.

Pico de gallo w/heirloom tomatoes – Home

A quick salsa fresca seems to go with anything coming off the grill (see Pollo Asado above).

Rescoldo – Home

I love grilled meat so much that we’ve been toying with the idea of a trip to Argentina to truly experience cooking a la parrilla. I’ve cooked rescoldo (burying food in embers) in the past, even though I didn’t know it had a name. That pile of coals is hiding an eggplant, onions and sweet potatoes.

Cơm đặc biệt – Pho 24

Another go-to place, made especially handy by being one of the few 24 hour restaurants on Buford Highway (I have a reputation of getting kicked out of restaurants along Buford Highway at closing…). Cơm đặc biệt (đặc biệt = special) is a sturdy offering – Vietnam’s answer to the Bandeja Paisa of Colombia.  At a minimum it includes thịt nướng xả (grilled pork chops with lemongrass), cơm tấm (broken rice), chao tom (shrimp on sugar cane), bi (shredded pork skin w/toasted rice powder), bi cha (steamed pork cake),  do chua (pickled daikon & carrots), fried eggs and I’m sure a few other things. Pho 24 does a respectable Ga Xao Xa Ot (chicken with lemongrass and chilies) as well.

Lahmajoun – Mediterranean Bakery

I won’t even try to place a nationality on lahmajoun, as pretty much anywhere in the Middle East will claim it, but I know it as a Turkish thing. Minced meat, onions, peppers and other good stuff on a thin crust. A squeeze of lemon gives it just the right about of sourness.

Fatoush – Mediterranean Bakery

A simple salad with fried pita bread, but fair warning, Mediterranean Bakery occasionally goes a bit too far with the sumac and this salad can become way too sour.

Pulled Pork – Home

I’ve been smoking quite a bit of meat over the past couple of months – trying to revive a family tradition. Boston Butt, spare ribs, chicken, bacon.

Pulled Pork Sandwich – Community Q 

Spare Ribs – This Is It!

Ponkan

What the hell is a ponkan? I asked the same thing, and I’m from Florida – where this specimen likely originated (obviously picked too early). Ponkans are a variety of Mandarin oranges – more closely related to the tangerine. Beautiful fruit – keep your eyes open for it.

So where to begin? It’s been a busy Spring (that’s me under the CAFE sign there) and I’ve had a hard time keeping up with the bloggin’. So here’s the quick rundown, complete with oversights and omissions and quite a few crappy phone pics….

Thiên Thanh

Clowns make me sad (and freak me out quite a bit). Now, unfortunately, Thiên Thanh (where the above clown now resides) makes me sad as well. I wrote about Thiên Thanh a while back and was excited about the promise this placed showed. No more. A. & I stopped in a few weeks ago for a quick lunch and were shocked to find that the Vietnamese menu (and my beloved bún mọc) had been replaced with “Cajun” seafood in an obvious attempt to follow in the footsteps of Crawfish Shack. Disappointed, we left and found solace elsewhere (Bo Bo Garden, across the parking lot). Feeling a little guilty, I returned for dinner recently with my buddy @TowerATL in tow. I feel bad saying it, but the best part of the meal was strategically choosing a table so that the Creepy Clown was looming over @TowerATL the entire time. The food wasn’t bad, it was just “sad” – mealy, damp crusts and off-flavors. I want my  bún mọc back…

Cafe Sinaloense

Tasty, competent pollo asado are what Sinaloense is all about. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if their location (in the old El Mustacho space next to Cafe Mozart) is a great one. The spot has been empty (or a scary biker bar) for so long that I’m not sure that it will capture attention…

El Rincon Latino

Tasty mojarra frita for dinner one night. Definitely going back for this – in my mind it’s every bit as good as the whole fried catfish Tom Catherall sprung on us years ago at Azalea, and that’s still making the rounds (Kaleidoscope in Brookhaven has it on their menu).

Loroco

Not really a revelation, but I was happy to stumble across a 2 lb. jar of loroco at Carniceria 3 Hermanos on Roswell road. El Rincon Latino (above) makes pupusas stuffed with cheese and loroco. Tasty.

Atlanta Food & Wine Festival

I was privileged to lead a tour of Buford Highway for the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. As such, they let me run amok through the festival. I only took a few pics as I was too busy eating. Can’t wait for next year!

The Rathbun brothers cooking steaks (would have been quicker to throw them on the pavement – was about 900 million degrees out there…).

Kevin Ouzts of Spotted Trotter gave a fantastic presentation on charcuterie as well as a great sampling of his work.

Cooking

Yes, I’ve been cooking quite a bit recently. Still working on refining my pollo a la brasa recipe. Getting it right is a royal PITA.

And here’s the fishy ribs (brined in fish sauce & palm sugar). I really like this. A. can’t stand it…

Bibim Bowl

A. & I hit up Bibim Bowl for a quick dinner one evening. Not bad for fast food Korean.

The fried mandoo were tasty. Definitely worth a visit.

North Georgia Wine Country

Did a research trip up to North Georgia Wine Country for Atlanta Culinary Tours along with @FoodGodtess & @Suburbanwino. Beautiful, early Spring weather, too much wine and a stop for lunch at La Vigne (Montaluce Vineyards).

Cauliflower Soup

Smoked Trout

Barbecue Chicken Sandwich

Dessert – I’ve forgotten what it was, but I loved it…

Moon Pie with RC Cola Shooter

Another dessert I can’t remember…

Beer

I’ve also taken to drinking a lot of heavy, pricy beers lately…

No, there’s no Sichuan food at Sweet Auburn (that would be awesome though…), but I just want to mention that we have some really cool things going on over at Atlanta Culinary Tours.

Most importantly, a portion of the ticket price of all tickets sold will be donated to the Red Cross to help the recent victims of tornadoes that jacked up the South. Our tours are a lot of fun (and a  lot of food) and now you can feel even better about coming along, knowing that you’re also helping out those in need!

Sweet Auburn Curb Market

Our tour of Sweet Auburn Curb Market is coming up on Saturday 5/14. It starts right after the Urban Picnic, so you can check out the street vendors before taking our guided tour of the market.

We’ll tell you how the market came to be, introduce you some of the amazingly friendly vendors throughout the market, give you some behind the scenes info on Southern & soul food cooking, and we’ll feed you to no end (much like this sentence…). Seriously, you’ll beg us to stop feeding you. We’re relentless – we’ll even feed you dirt (seriously). And you’ll be so happy on this tour that you’ll eat that dirt – and you’ll enjoy it (YMMV).

Your can read more about our tour of Sweet Auburn Curb Market here and here. Tickets to Sweet Auburn Curb Market Tour are available here.

Sichuan: Beyond Málà

Speaking of relentless, check out Sichuan: Beyond Málà. Another brutal culinary tour-de-force where we pass 11 dishes that run the gamut of Sichuan cuisine – from cooling vegetarian dishes like xiao bai tsai w/xiangu (baby bok choy with fragrant mushrooms) to blazing chao shui yu (mouth-watering jumping fish). You’ll also get to hear me yammer incessantly about the ingredients, cooking techniques and history that go into this important (and delicious) cuisine. We wrap this dinner up with a tour of Chinatown, including the gift shop, Dinho Supermarket and dessert & tea at the World Journal Bookstore.

The World Journal had nice things to say about us here. Trust me. Tickets to Sichuan: Beyond Málà are available here.

So you want to know how lazy I’ve become? I visited Heirloom Market BBQ for the first time a couple of weeks ago and took my time writing about it. Then one Tuesday morning I decided that I’ve become too lazy and I set about working on this post.

Not 10 minutes later, Gene over at the AJC posted on their Korean barbecue pork sandwich and I decided “eh”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not Gene’s fault – it’s just when your enveloped in a shroud of ennui, it can get the better of you.

That being said, I can now get over myself. So – HX and I ventured out one evening and with only one misstep found our way to Heirloom Market. I won’t get into their backstory. Their website paints the picture. We decided to share the unfortunately monikered Texas Trinity – brisket, ribs and sausage (…you ain’t got no horns…). I’m not much of a brisket fan, but I’ll admit – this stuff could convert me. I’m not sure how they go about cooking it, but it seemed to me a combination of a braise and smoke. Don’t know, but it was moist and tender – very different than what I’ve had before.

Ribs were tasty, if a little dry – but I’m not blasting them on this. I’ve mentioned many a time before how hard it is to hold ribs at serving temp without them dying out. I’ll have a better idea after another visit (yes, I’m going back).

Sausage… HX wanted to try the Texas smoked sausage, and all I can say is that it struck me as an overcooked, oversized, too-smokey hot dog. Pick a different one…

This place is tiny – one communal table in the middle and some narrow ledges along the windows. It’s also a bit hard to find (look for the Akers Mill Food Store sign) - but do look for it. A fine addition to the local barbecue scene (don’t doubt me…).

Heirloom Market BBQ
2243 Akers Mill Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30339

Roasted Garlic

More pics from an afternoon in Inman Park – these from Park’s Edge, a little spot hidden away on Bernina Avenue, overlooking Freedom Park. Chef Jorge Pacheco turns out an eclectic array of small plates and entrees.

Crispy Wontons with Chevre & Spinach

Asiago Pressato, Proscuitto, Lomo

Park’s Edge
913 Bernina Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30307

When I first moved to Atlanta (by way of Boston) in 1989, I remember trying the barbecue at Old Hickory House at their now defunct location on Piedmont Road in Midtown Atlanta. To say I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. The fact that I have not darkened their doorstep in 21 years attests to the impression they made.

Be that as it may, the lack of decent, cheap breakfast locations (notice I did not say barbecue locations) in the Dunwoody area drove me to give Old Hickory House another try. So on a rainy Sunday AM, HX and I ventured out to fend for a table at the Dunwoody location (down to two, the other is located in Tucker).

Despite the high blue-hair quotient, the service was friendly enough and relatively efficient (I say despite, because this is usually a key driver for long-winded, pointless conversations holding up the wait staff, along with overly complicated and indecisive orders. I’m not hatin’ on old folks – stereotypes exist for a reason).

Soon after ordering, substantial portions of country-fried steak and eggs, sugar-cured ham and biscuits made their way to our table. For the most part, the food was good and a pretty good deal (2 people, big breakfasts – about $10). The biscuits (huge) were disappointing – the interior was light and tasty, but the crust was thick and chewy – kind of a biscuit jerky.

Old Hickory House
5490 Chamblee Dunwoody Road
Dunwoody, GA 30338-4129

After a recent hike up Stone Mountain, HX and I stopped for a quick lunch at Community Q in Decatur. Somewhere (maybe on Google Maps) I seem to have read that the folks at Community Q were on a mission of some sorts (I don’t really recall – locally sourced, sustainable, something like that?), but I really haven’t hunted that info down.

If that is the case, more power to them, I was there to eat and don’t really have a problem with eating just about anything…

We shared a combo plate with pulled pork and brisket. The pork – good flavor, lots of bark. Brisket – some was a bit dry, the rest had a good balance of fat & moisture. Nice, soft texture. Won’t hold it against them – the dilemma that most BBQ restaurants face – how to hold meat at temp without it becoming dry. Maybe it’s because I’m a Florida boy, maybe because my grandfather had a hog farm at one point, maybe because his joint only served pork – but no matter how much I’d like to, I just don’t get brisket. Don’t get me wrong, I love beef and this is no negative to Community Q, but brisket always disappoints me…

Macaroni & Cheese made with rigatoni – good tasty, sticky and substantial.

Baked beans – different that I’ve had before. Tons of onion (minced?) added sweetness and characteristic flavor. A little too sweet to eat much, but I’d order again.

Community Q
1361 Clairmont Road
Decatur, GA 30033

A couple of things have stopped me from visiting Crawfish Shack until now. I spotted it pretty early on, even before they opened, but by the time they did open it was off my “route” along Buford Highway. Then the levee broke (no pun intended – really, I didn’t catch that until way after I wrote it) and the hype machine started. And nothing says “stay away” to me more than overblown hype (especially if the Yelp-weenies are behind it).  So I gave it some breathing room and after some of the noise subsided it was back on my list. Then came what is probably the biggest problem I can find with this place – they close at 7PM most days. When I leave the house to hunt for dinner at 6:30, I’m just not going to pick a place that will be kicking me out 15 minutes after I arrive.

So on a recent Friday afternoon, I found myself working from home and decided it was finally time to give Crawfish shack a try. The menu reminds me of the fish camps we used to frequent when I was a kid in Florida and South Carolina. Fish, shrimp and oysters, either fried, fried or broiled. Hushpuppies or fries. Place your order and sit.

The grouper was fried perfectly, the hushpuppies were tasty, if small, and the shrimp were a bit overcooked. But I’m not complaining. A large group (10+ people, maybe more) was noising up the place and acting like boors (even asking for a discount, as it was their first visit!), but the staff continued to smile and remained attentive to every customer there. Pretty amazing, all things considered…

Have yet to try the chả giò (this place is Vietnamese, by the way). Saving that for my next visit.

Crawfish Shack
4337 Buford Highway
Atlanta, GA 30341