Am I a slacker? Yes. Yes, indeed I am. We haven’t done an “EatUp” since September, 2010. So where to this time? Pho Dai Loi #2 is my go-to for a quick Vietnamese fix. Yes, there are probably “better” Viet restaurants for specific dishes, but PDL2 has a lot going for it. Good pho, tasty cơm, rocket fuel cà phê, a paint scheme that screams “Vietnam”. Even better, the last time we went, A. said it “smelled good”.

This is a free, informal gathering. I’m not going to ask people to sign up – but if you think you’ll attend please let me know in the comments. It also doesn’t matter if you’re a blogger, a reader, or just curious. Pho Dai Loi has a ton of room and there are some pretty long table setups, so I don’t think space will be a problem. Plus, they’re used to crowds.

The When

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
7PM – til they kick us out

The Where

Pho Dai Loi #2
4186 Buford Hwy NE # G
Atlanta, GA 30345

The Fine Print

The is an open social gathering. There is very little planning, no management and no control. The meeting place is public – the environment is what it is. When I did the first dinner I posted a few rules (some people told me they were pretty harsh), but they were intended to minimize the discomfort of meeting strangers in a strange environment. They don’t all apply here, and I’ve softened them for this “eat up” but some are common sense.

1. Have an open mind and be willing to explore. If you haven’t been to Pho Dai Loi #2 before (or you aren’t familiar with traditional Vietnamese food), it may be a bit confusing – things have funny names, there’s weird Portuguese letters interspersed on parts of the menu, multiple menu items have identical descriptions. Don’t worry – the waiters are friendly and some of us may be able to help – a bit.
2. Big one here – pay for your own food (CASH is ALWAYS accepted!). Pho Dai Loi #2 accepts cards, but cash is king. Also, I’m not providing food, etc. I’m just meeting people with some common ground! This event is Dutch. My previous rule was: “If you show up and forget to bring cash – you work it out with the owners/cops – I don’t know you.” You know, as a group we’d probably help you out, but don’t put your new friends in that position… BRING CASH (or some valid form of payment)!
3. Please – no whining. If you like the place and the food (and I hope you do), great. Even better – write about it. If you hate it – enjoy the company and help me pick out a different place for the next one!

Check out some of our past EatUps:

Chinatown Food Court

La Casona (Colombian)

Shoya Izakaya

Atlanta Culinary Tours has announced a new event – Sichuan: Beyond MáLà. This is a multi-course Sichuan dinner provided by Chong Qing Hot Pot, with a discussion about some of the ingredients that make Sichuan cuisine unique. It will also include dessert and tea at the new tea room at World Journal Bookstore. There will also be time to shop and explore Chinatown.

Seats are limited (and are only $28!). Sign up now!

You see, this is why you don’t want to miss the Buford Highway Blogger EatUps. A few pics from the Chinatown Food Court last week. Stay tuned for information on more upcoming Eatups.

We visited the food court at Chinatown Square a little less than a year ago for the first Buford Highway Blogger’s EatUp. Despite horrific weather and the proximity to the holidays, we still had a nice turnout. Now it’s time to do it again. Atlanta’s Chinatown is a minor heaven if you like “real” Chinese food, and even if you don’t – there’s a place that sells all the fried rice and chicken wings you can handle.

This isn’t limited to just food bloggers – we’ve got some devoted followers and food fanatics that hang out with us online and you’re welcome too.

This is a free, informal gathering. Please SIGN UP HERE if you think you’ll attend – let me know if you have to cancel (there aren’t any reservations here – it’s a food court, but it will help to know how many people will be there).

The When

Tuesday, September 14, 2010
7PM – til they kick us out

The Where

Chinatown Food Court
5385 New Peachtree Rd
Atlanta, GA 30341

The Fine Print

The is an open social gathering. There is very little planning, no management and no control. The meeting place is public – the environment is what it is. When I did the first dinner I posted a few rules (some people told me they were pretty harsh), but they were intended to minimize the discomfort of meeting strangers in a strange environment. They don’t all apply here, and I’ve softened them for this “eat up” but some are common sense.

1. Have an open mind and be willing to explore. If you haven’t been to the Chinatown Food Court before (or you aren’t familiar with traditional Chinese food), it may be a bit confusing – some menus are only written in Hanzi. Don’t worry – the vendors are friendly and some of us may be able to help – a bit.
2. Big one here – pay for your own food (BRING CASH!). None of the vendors accept cards of any type. Also, I’m not providing food, etc. I’m just meeting people with some common ground! This event is Dutch. My previous rule was: “If you show up and forget to bring cash – you work it out with the owners/cops – I don’t know you.” You know, as a group we’d probably help you out, but don’t put your new friends in that position… BRING CASH!
3. Please – no whining. If you like the place and the food (and I hope you do), great. Even better – write about it. If you hate it – enjoy the company and help me pick out a different place for the next one!

I’m not sure who had more fun at the first Si Fang Cai (Secret Supper) – me or the guests. The menu was based (mostly) on Asian hawker food – or “street” food.

The weather cooperated, allowing for drinks and cooking outdoors, before moving inside for an intimate dinner peppered with great conversation.

Hawker Menu

Cocktail
Basil Watermelon Caiparinha *

1st Course
Bulgogi Wan-ja with Tamarind Ssamjang (Korea)
Butabara Kushiyaki – Shio & Tare (Japan)
Xinjiang Chuanr (China)

2nd Course
Dan Dan Mein (China)

3rd Course
Gado Gado (Indonesia)

4th Course
Gang Ga-ree (Thailand)

Dessert
Turon w/Macapuno Fozen Custard (Philippines)

Beverages
Cha Yen (Thailand)

Beer
Tsingtao (China)
Chang, Singha (Thailand)
Kingfisher (India)
Kierin (Japan)

* The basil-watermelon caipirinha is from No Recipes.

Escabeche de Pescado

From the pictures, you’d be excused for thinking this was a Peruvian festival. This just happened to be my first time trying food from Machu Picchu in more than 15 years. I didn’t like in on my first visit. What I tried at the festival blew me away.

The escabeche was by far my favorite, followed by the Peruvian tamale (surprising, given my obsession with papas a la Huancaina). Yes, there was a lot of food there, from many other countries – I was just too busy eating to take too many photos…

Papas a la Huancaina

Cuzco Maize

Peruvian Tamale

Macchu Pichu

Brazilian Sausage & Cuzco Maize

Puerto Rican Carnival Mask

Starts with an “m” – can’t remember – Los Andes Bakery

Flan – Los Andes Bakery

I have a dilemma. I received the message below from the Food Network the other day, asking for help publicizing their casting call for “Worst Cooks in America”. To the best of my knowledge, every blogger in Atlanta got the same. I know they’re just running a list and not really reading any of the blogs, because they posted this message on our old site – completely ignoring the prominent post on the old site that we’ve MOVED. Now, no offense to Sarah – she’s got a job to do, and I doubt it’s an easy one. So I’ve copied her message below.

Hello,

My name is Sarah and I am on the casting team for the second season of the Food Network’s hit series about disastrous home cooks, Worst Cooks in America. Our casting team is headed to Atlanta to find all those people out there who have a hard time in the kitchen and really need help!

We know that most of your readers are probably excellent cooks, but we thought that they might know some people who need serious cooking help! We’d greatly appreciate it if you could help us spread the word about our search in Atlanta – please see more information below:

Who: We are asking people to nominate themselves or someone they know who is a hopeless home cook. We are seeking people with a genuine inability to cook, but a need and desire to improve.

What: Worst Cooks In America is the high stakes elimination series where the “recruits” (worst cooks) will be put through culinary boot camp to learn one of the most important life skills – how to cook!

When: Saturday, May 1st, 10am to 3pm

Where: The W Atlanta Midtown, 188 14th St. NE Atlanta, GA 30361

Why: There are truly are a lot of people out there who don’t know how to cook, and are dying to learn. We believe that your readers will be interested in this great opportunity to work with the best chefs in the country, and to learn to cook like professionals.

To Apply: Those interested in attending the casting call can e-mail us at worstcooksatlanta@gmail.com. Tell us why you (or the person you are nominating) are the most disastrous cook in the country. Include name, age, hometown, occupation, contact phone number, and a recent photo of the hopeless cook.

We’d greatly appreciate it if you could help us spread the word about our search in Atlanta by posting this on your blog. I have attached our flyer and any other information you may need is available at http://www.worstcookscasting.com.

Thanks for your time and we can’t wait to meet everyone!

Warmly,

Sarah

If you’re interested, get in touch with Sarah, and best of luck! And one more thing – READ NO FURTHER!

If me and the Food Network were married, I’d be this guy. I’d spend my days telling the Food Network to get back into the kitchen learn how to cook. Shut your pie hole and bring me another beer.

It will probably come as no surprise to any of my regular readers, that I am not a fan of the Food Network. And it’s not for lack of trying. Let me be honest. I watched a couple of episodes of “Worst Cooks in America” last season, and it invoked some pretty strong emotions. One of my thoughts was, “I should dig out that 18″ Calphalon sauté pan (yes, it’s huge) – the one that warped the first time I used it, and fly to where ever these people are, and try to beat it back into shape on one of them.”

Not very nice, I know. But give me a break. This is a horrendous concept for a television show. If you suck at cooking, it’s because you don’t give a s**t about cooking (or you have a serious inability to learn new skills – which probably qualifies as a disability and I believe that’s the domain of TLC, not Food Network… See, now there’s a concept for TLC – Shitty Little Cooks. All rights reserved, EBH.com – all their shows have little people in them, get it?). Seriously, if you cared, you’d put in the effort and learn.

Basic cooking skills are not that hard to learn. However, standing someone in front of a stove and bitching at them to “copy me, and do it fast” does not teach them how to cook. These people are going on TV to cry about how bad they suck simply because it gets them their 15 minutes.

Let people that want to learn how to cook watch someone with true passion and it will start to sink in. And when I say true passion, I’m talking about the guys who practically stumble over themselves, they are so excited by what they are doing (and do not mistake Food Network’s hyped-up, “character” pitching with passion). Food Network should replace this disaster with reruns of Julia Child’s The French Chef, The Frugal Gourmet with Jeff Smith, The Complete Pépin with Jacques Pépin…

Sorry, but you tell me where the real passion for food is…

I’m not saying that the talent on Food Network isn’t in to what they do, but come on – Julia Child would have stuffed Rachel Ray in an Igloo cooler and left her in the sun on the back porch given half a chance. It takes passion to make sure people don’t make a mockery of your world.

Atlanta area food bloggers (actually, it doesn’t matter where you’re from) are invited to get together in a casual, informal environment, grab a bite to eat and get to know each other. Pretty much a similar deal to the last one, just a different location and I’m no longer using the words “Eat Up” (this was co-opted by someone else after our last event :< ). This isn’t limited to just food bloggers – we’ve got some devoted followers and food fanatics that hang out with us online and you’re welcome too.

Details are after the jump…

The What

Again, you’re invited to meet face to face, prove you exist in the physical world, grab some good food and get to know some of your compatriots.

The When

Wednesday, April 21, 2010
7PM – whenever

The Where

Doh! We have changed venue. It appears that Bamboo Grill is closed on Wednesdays (probably explains my inability to get a hold of them on Wednesday…). We’re going to invade Shoya Izakaya!

Shoya Japanese Restaurant
6035 Peachtree Road
Suite A-101
Doraville, GA 30360
http://www.shoyaatlanta.com

One of the great things about Shoya – it’s an izakaya, meaning we get to do some mid-week drinking!

How Do I Find You?

Because this is an informal gathering and I’m not holding your feet to the fire, I don’t make reservations – I’m just not sure who’ll show up. If you guys are all really good and confirm through the comments (and don’t back out at the last minute ;>), it will help. I’ll let management know we’re there and I’ll try to be there a little early – I look a little bit like the scary guy pictured over here or here. Just walk up and say “Hi”.

The Fine Print

The is an open social gathering. There is no planning, management or control. The meeting place is public – the environment is what it is. I’ll hearken back to a post I did a while ago to encourage people to meet for dinner (here). Back then I posted a few rules (some people told me they were pretty harsh), but they were intended to minimize the discomfort of meeting strangers in a strange environment. They don’t all apply here, and I’ve softened them for this “eat up” but some are common sense.

1. Have an open mind and be willing to explore. If you haven’t been to Shoya before (or you aren’t familiar with Japanese pub food), it may be a bit confusing/overwhelming. Don’t worry – the proprietors are friendly and some of us may be able to help – a bit.
2. Big one here – pay for your own food (BRING CASH!). I’m not providing food, etc. I’m just looking to meet people with some common ground! This event is Dutch. My previous rule was: “If you show up and forget to bring cash – you work it out with the owners/cops – I don’t know you.” You know, as a group we’d probably help you out, but don’t put your new friends in that position… BRING CASH! The restaurant accepts cards, but don’t make them run a bunch of small transactions. Just bring cash and make it easy on everyone.
3. Please no whining. If you like the place and the food (and I hope you do), great. Even better – write about it. If you hate it – enjoy the company and help me pick out a different place for the next one!

I hope to see some of you there! Ping me on Twitter (@EatBuHi) or leave a comment here if you think you can make it.

The second annual Latin American food festival, sponsored by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of commerce will be held at Atlantic Station on May 1, 2010.

Participants include:

• Brazilian Bakery
• Costa Verde Peruvian Restaurant
• Coco Loco Cuban Restaurant
• Eclipse de Luna
• El Azteca
• Frontera Catering
• Lime Taqueria
• Los Andes Bakery
• Machu Picchu Peruvian Restaurant
• Raul’s Catering
• Sausage World
• El Toro Mexican Grill
• The Iberian Pig

There will be a People’s Choice Award for best dishes along with cooking demonstrations.

Degustar
Atlantic Station
Central Park
Saturday May 1, 2010
11:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Admission: $5.00