View Buford Highway in a larger map

Sometimes, I feel a little guilty. I blather on and on about food – ethnic food in particular. I advocate for Buford Highway as a dining destination, a place to explore. People solicit my opinion about the restaurants there. And occasionally, they’ll ask, “What do you think about _____?”. And I have to admit that I’ve never eaten there. “But it’s been there for years – everyone I know has eaten there…”. What can I say?

Stale chips (for the orphans) & a watery graveyard for tomatoes…

So it is that we came to eat at Pancho’s. Pancho’s, in addition to being “Home of the Monster Drink” has the distinction of being the first restaurant you will encounter as you drive North on Buford Highway from downtown Atlanta. And it’s my firm belief that, for many, it may be the only restaurant they will ever encounter on Buford Highway. The clientele seems to be a mix of Buckhead outliers and hipster hippies that desperately need a place where they can smoke while they eat.

Special Dinner

That being said, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with Pancho’s – a lot of people seem to like it. It is what it is – pedestrian Tex-Mex. Lots of melted white cheese and flavorless ground beef. Portions are substantial and they do have a full bar (a rarity on Buford Highway). The “Special Dinner” included a chili relleno, tamale, enchilada, taco, rice and beans. Could be wrong, but I’m guessing the relleno was a bell pepper rather than a poblano and the taco was of the “Old El Paso” variety. Guacamole was little more than mashed avocado. I’m not a fan of guacamole anyway, but this stuff was screaming for some acid.

Tacos al Carbon

Tacos al Carbon were again a substantial portion and wrapped in a proper tortilla, but nothing to write home about.

Probably the biggest draw that I see to Pancho’s, beside the bar, is the large patio/deck out back, graced with a huge, old elm tree (you’ve probably seen this deck from 85 South many a time.

Panchos
2641 Buford Highway
Atlanta, GA 30324

If you’re serious about ethnic cooking, there comes a point where a mortar & pestle will become a critical part of your kitchen arsenal. The more you cook certain styles of food (Thai, Peranakan/Nyonya, Mexican, etc.), the more you will find that modern shortcuts – coffee grinders for spices, food processors for grinding pastes – remove a level of control in working ingredients and can actually negatively impact flavor.

Tossing spices and liquids into the Cuisinart is an afterthought. Pounding a rempah to be used in a curry is a deliberate act. You have to take the time to think about each ingredient as you add it to the mortar – you watch the texture change and smell the aroma develop as oils are released. With practice you learn how subtle changes in the way you pound and grind affect the final product.

I’ve been working without a decent mortar for a while now (my old one is garbage) and my frustration got the better of me. I finally found a granite mortar & pestle that I liked (not too deep and wide enough to be able to work with a decent amount of ingredients). I’ll go into more details about working with it in future posts – this post is about seasoning a new mortar.

Think of a granite mortar like a cast iron pan – you have to season it before you can use it. It’s not difficult  but it does take a little bit of time. The upside is that you get to spend a little time familiarizing yourself with the tool in the process.

Step 1

The first step is obvious – wash it out with plenty of water (like cast iron – NEVER use soap).

Step 2

Throw in a few cloves of garlic (peeled) and pound them into a paste. This is a good time to get a feel for how you are supposed to work with a mortar. Don’t start pounding the crap out of everything – you’ll have garlic everywhere – your hair, on your cabinets, floor, ceiling. Everywhere. Start off gentle. Hold the pestle at an angle and work your way around the bottom. Pay attention to the ingredient – it will tell you when to pound harder or more gently.

You are working toward a fine paste – get it up onto the sides of the mortar. You want to cover the entire inner surface. Once you have the whole surface covered – leave it. This sounds weird, but just let it sit on the counter (12-24 hours). You can cover it with plastic wrap to keep things out of it (and the aroma down), but leave it be.

Step 3

After the garlic as set for a while, wash the mortar and pestle again. Remember – water only. The garlic in mine had taken on a greenish hue. Don’t worry about it – just rinse it out really well. Now it’s time for rice. Take a little wet rice (uncooked) and add it to the mortar. Remember that part in step 2 where I said to be gentle? Now is where we see if you were paying attention. Gently begin to pound and grind the rice. If you’re careful you’ll only lose a few grains of rice. More likely you’ll lose quite a bit.

The idea is to work the wet rice into a fine paste, again coating the entire interior surface.

Take your time. Uncooked rice is hard, so it’s going to take a while to get it broken down. Don’t worry if you don’t feel like you’re doing it right. You get to do this again (and maybe again). Your first batch of rice will turn grey. What you’re doing here is grinding loose grit out of the mortar and the rice paste is picking it up.

Wash the mortar again (water only) and do another batch of rice. Repeat this process until the rice paste stays white. Remember this step, as this is how you will clean the mortar if you get food sticking to it or if you use a strong or heavily colored ingredient (like achiote).

Step 4

Getting closer. Rinse and dry the mortar, then add some coarse salt. I used sal grosso.

In this step you’re grinding – you want to work the salt around the mortar, grinding it as fine as possible.

Step 5

Rinse and dry the mortar again. Your mortar is now ready to use. You can grind a few other spices in at this point, but in my mind they don’t really stick around as “seasoning”.

These are white and black peppercorns. Remember that part about gentle? This is good practice for that. You need to coax the peppercorns to crack before you can really start working with them.

Tamale de pollo en hojas platano

Admit it – you’re glad I go into these places. Even though I’m not quite sure why I do it, I’m glad I do, because it often leads to something tasty. La Chiquita Mic doesn’t give you the warm fuzzies from the outside. Hell, it doesn’t give you a warm feeling once you’re inside (unless you count that flush feeling you get from a flight response).

A. & I ventured in one afternoon in search of a cortadito after Pan-American Bakery next door told us they were done for the day. The window promised “Productos de Cuba”, which they do stock to some extent, but the self-serve Nescafé machine quickly discouraged us. However, a small sign on the counter did catch our attention (can you see it in the photo above?).

That’s it – tamales de pollo en hojas platano. Cuban? No. But we were peckish and tamales are always worth a chance. And for a$1.50 a pop, they were worth it. A hand-sized tamale of nicely seasoned masa, with a slight sheen of lard greeted us beneath the plantain leaves. Inside was a chunk of chicken thigh and bone – I would have preferred a little more meat, but what I had was flavorful enough. For our Cuban fix, we partook of Iron Beer (I cannot pronounce it like A. does – the Cuban accent is fascinating and frustrating to me) and Materva while we browsed what few shelves the store has.

La Chiquita Mic is a bizarre, Mexi-Cuban bodega. Hidden behind the counter is a serious domino table. 4 Cuban men would alternate between smoking cigars in the parking lot and playing and arguing over the table. The owner (and I believe he’s only recently acquired the shop) is from Mexico. The previous owners are Cuban. I think…

Am I recommending you visit? Eh – you’re on your own on this one. Because trust me on  this – your mileage may vary. A lot. But if you’re in a mood to explore and the tamale sign is hanging, you might want to give it a try.

La Chiquita Mic
3671 Clairmont Road
Chamblee, GA 30341

Huitlacoche has a wonderful name in English: “corn smut”. The Aztec word “huitlacoche” is even better: “sleeping excrement”. It’s actually a blue/black fungus (think mushroom) that grows on ears of corn. And with cheese on a grilled tortilla it’s surprisingly tasty. Some marketing geniuses have taken to shilling it as “Mexican Corn Truffle” for $30+/lb…

Sopa de 7 Mares

Now for the boring stuff:

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. El Rey del Taco is spacious and stays open late (might be 24 hours – don’t remember off hand). Plus, they’re used to crowds.

The When

Wednesday, February 15, 2012
7PM – til they kick us out

The Where

El Rey del Taco
5288 Buford Hwy NE
Atlanta, GA 30340

The Fine Print

The is an open social gathering. There is practically no 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 most are common sense.

1. Have an open mind and be willing to explore. If you haven’t been to El Rey del Taco before (or you aren’t familiar with traditional Mexican food), it may be a bit confusing – some things have funny names, it’s definitely NOT Tex-Mex. Don’t worry – this is about exploration. The waitresses 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!). El Rey del Taco 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 or some acceptable way to pay for your meal – 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, tell all your friends. If you hate it – enjoy the company and help me pick out a different place for the next one!
4. One new one – we occasionally end up with a big group. Be patient with the staff – we’ve never had an experience where a restaurant has done anything but bend over backwards for us – and they don’t even know we’re coming! If the kitchen is slow, eat more chips or order another beer (or if you have your food, share some with others – they’ll do the same). Relax, have fun, and make some new friends!
5. Another new one – not a lot of places on Buford Highway have alcohol licenses, but El Rey does. I don’t care how much or how  little you  drink (if at all) – but if you do drink and you’re a sloppy, mean or rowdy drunk – please stay home.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Check out some of our past EatUps:

Chinatown Food Court

La Casona (Colombian)

Shoya Izakaya

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 a few months ago A tells me she’s discovered this great chicken place and we have to go – turns out, it’s El Norteño at their new location.

El Norteño moved about a block east from it’s long standing location on Buford Highway (at the corner of Chamblee-Tucker Road) a while ago. In it’s original location, I was never much of a fan (I wrote about it here 3 1/2 years ago). There was always a thick cloud of white smoke billowing from the back and drifting down Buford Highway. As a barbecue guy, I can tell you nothing good comes of thick white smoke. It always smelled like plastic burning to me.

But it turns out that things have improved. While it’s a little inconsistent, the chicken is much improved. The marinade is subtle – ancho, garlic, cumin, oregano and vinegar are obvious, but every recipe varies and I’d be lying if I could tell you much more than that. The acrid smoke is gone, which probably helps as well.

The menu is large and varied – not limited to pollo asado. HX tried out a couple of tacos – lengua and barbacoa. He’s a fan of lengua (tongue), but didn’t care for the large chunks served here. Smaller bits charred on a plancha are preferred. The barbacoa is decent – slow-cooked and with a nice flavor.

The salsa bar made the journey down the street as well and is a little worse for wear – it doesn’t seem to be as well stocked at the new location…

The decor is bright and colorful, but be warned – more attention was paid to how it looks than how it fits normal humans. I’m 6’2″ and I feel like a little kid at the too tall tables.

El Norteño
Located on Chamblee-Tucker Road between Buford Highway & Shallowford Road

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

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…