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…

This post was originally posted on Naked with: Cooking 2/1/2010. Am I being a tad lazy by reposting it here? You bet. But I kind of liked this post…

My kitchen kind of looks like this right now – only not really….
I’m moving into a new house soon and I find myself dreading one thing more than any other – packing my kitchen. Every time I move find myself putting it off until the last minute. I keep convincing myself that if I pack something too early – my world will collapse. I just know that in the next two weeks, in spite of my packing, errand running and collapsing on the sofa with a beer and fast food because I’m just too damn tired to cook – I will absolutely, definitely, with no doubt whatsoever need the ceramic-bladed truffle slicer that I haven’t used in the two years since I bought it. Never mind that I don’t have any truffles.

I used to think I must have some kind of disorder, but this seems to be a rather common problem. I’m thinking that it must have something to do with the kitchen defining a particular place as your home. There are plenty of places you can sleep at home – in the bedroom, on the sofa, in the backyard. When we travel, we sleep on planes, trains and in cars. We rent hotel rooms to sleep in – but we never think of them as home. (Sleep is an unconscious activity – as long as you feel safe, you can pretty much sleep anywhere.) But when it comes to our food – where we keep it, clean it, prepare it, even create with it – our kitchen and the things in it seem much more personal. The kitchen is usually our first destination after waking and the last before sleeping (I’m trying to keep the bathroom out of this – that’s for another blog). It’s where (as people with food problems) we have some great successes and disappointing failures, where we often take bigger risks than we will elsewhere in our lives. It can be the most public place in the house and the most private. I think I just need to accept that this place will no longer be home – time to pack. [image: Rick McGinnis | via BlogTO]

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

Pork Adobo – vinegary & fork-tender

I’ve always been a bit puzzled by the lack of Filipino restaurants in Atlanta. There is a Filipino community here, and the food, while unfamiliar to most Americans, is a delicious amalgam of Hispanic, Malaysian, Chinese and who knows what else.

With the arrival of Fil-Am Star Cafe & Bakery, Atlanta now has (unless I’m mistaken) exactly 1 (one) Filipino restaurant. And I’m glad to say (especially after my experience with the last short-lived attempt at the Hong Kong Supermarket food court) – this is a good one.

Sinigang – Sour tamarind broth

Our meal started with sinigang,  a sour broth flavored with tamarind. I’ve never liked this soup before – it’s always been too sour, even lemony (a shortcut maybe?). Fil-am’s version was dead on and addictive. I’m not much of a soup eater and I kept going back to the bowl.

The pork adobo was my real barometer. Far too often you’ll end up with overcooked, stringy meat and a pasty sauce with the texture of bad rendang. Our pork was fork-tender and moist with just a hint of vinegar – I would have preferred a bit more.

Fried chicken – adobo marinated chicken, deep fried

Fried chicken is a simple preparation – the chick is marinated in vinegar and garlic and fried. No breading. This can result in the chicken getting a little dry, but the sweet garlic dipping sauce makes up for any loss of moisture.

Guisado Monggo – mung bean stew with pork

This is comfort food for many – a simple stew of mung beans (monggo), meat (pork in this case), garlic, vegetables – whatever you may have on hand. Rich, thick and surprisingly tasty, just not my cup of tea. If you’re into lentils, you’ll really dig this.

Fil-Am Star Cafe & Bakery is located in the space formerly occupied by Saigon Cafe in Asian Square. They have a website, but they update their Facebook page regularly with specials, etc.

Fil-Am Star Cafe & Bakery
5150 Buford Highway NE
Suite A-170
Doraville, GA 30340

Beef, lamb and sausage chuanr

I only know a few characters of Hanzi, and this is one of them 串 (chuàn). It has several meanings, but the one that’s important to me is “skewer”. As in, food on a stick.

Chuanr is so appealing to me that I even hunted down and bought a chuanr grill last summer. So I was pretty excited to learn about a new spot specializing in just that.

Even the floor is in Chinese…

The seasoning on the meats is distinctly Northern Chinese/Dongbei, with cumin and chili (they will adjust the level of spice to your taste). I’ve not had a chance to fully explore the menu, but what I’ve tried is good – and cheap. Skewers range between $0.50 & $1.00, with a few hitting $2.00. They also have a few cold dishes and entrees ranging from $2.00 to $6.50 (steamed pork buns, lamb & tripe soup, hot spicy beef tripe, etc.). I’m am, however, thinking of offering to help them with some of their translations (“string” = stick, “Napu” = nappa, “Chicken Jane” = ?, “Mixed Flower Food” = ??, “Rot Bamboo Mixed Decay” = ???).

Shrimp ball, woodear, shiitake

Edamame

Open kitchen

Te Wei Chinese Kabobs
5090 Buford Highway
Suite 103
Doraville, GA 30040
770.455.8388

Gai Yang (BBQ Chicken with sticky rice)

You may well know that I’m a PITA about Thai food. I’ve pretty much given up on thinking that there is anything even passable as Thai in Atlanta. Years ago, a Thai friend pointed out that Thaicoon had a special Sunday “brunch” menu of actual Thai street food. Skeptical (go figure), I checked it out and found the food I had been missing.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I ventured back and discovered that they still offer the Sunday menu – a pretty large selection of “street food” and “authentic” Thai dishes that you just won’t find anywhere else. I’m still shocked that they don’t offer this type of food all the time. Even the waitress got excited when describing the dishes. All I can say is give Thaicoon a try on Sundays (special menu is here). Ask for the pandan tea as well.

Moo Krawp (Crispy pork belly with basil leaves)

Thai dumplings (หอยจ๊อ – translates as “Shell Jordan”?)

“Three Friends” – fish (smelt?), squid and crispy pork skin salad

Melon with tapioca pearls

Thaicoon & Sushi Bar
1799 Briarcliff Rd. Atlanta, GA 30306
(404) 817-9805

I’d started to think things were getting a little boring with the Vietnamese restaurant scene around here. The old favorites were still there – Quan Ba 9, Yany Express, Phở Dai Loi, Phở #1, but I was craving something new… The problem with that is that with Viet cuisine, “new” often translates to “more of the same”.

My first impression on walking in to Thiên Thanh (blue sky), was “more of the same”. Phở, phở and more phở. Then I found myself knee deep in the hủ tiếu section of the menu and I knew this place had the potential to get on that list of favorites. I’m not going to even try to give an accurate definition of what hủ tiếu is. The term is used for multiple things in Vietnamese cuisine (dry noodles, soup noodles and just the noodles themselves).

What caught my attention was the variety of proteins:

Hủ Tiếu Đặc Biệt: Noodle soup with shrimp, squid, pork meat, pork heart, pork liver & quail eggs.
Bún Riêu: Spicy vermicelli noodle soup with pork blood, pork foot and crab meat.
Chao Long: Rice soup with pork blood, heart and liver.
Bún Bò Huế: Two ways – “Vietnamese style” and “International style” (with blood & feet or without).

And on and on…

Now understand – I’m not a huge fan of offal. I’ve tried quite a bit, but I’m big enough to admit that it’s just not my thing. But I do know that guts and gore require a bit of skill to cook well, so when I see  them on a menu I take it as a good indicator that the rest of the menu may bode well.

So I went for the bún mọc – vermicelli noodle soup with pork sausage loaf, pork paste balls and pork spare ribs. The pork broth was a welcome change from phở and not gamey, as I expected. On the side was bean sprouts, lime, Vietnamese mint and shredded pork skin. Lots of porky goodness. A. went for the phở gà (chicken noodle soup) and I’m assuming it was good, as she killed everything in the bowl…

We also tried the bánh mì thịt nướng (grilled pork sandwich). I’m definitely going back for verification, but this may be my favorite bánh mì yet. I’ll have to grab one from here and one from Quốc Hương soon to do an A/B test… I’ll get back to you on that one.

Of note, the menu also has a pretty extensive section of “Mon Nhau”, or “Drink-Friendly Food” and Lẩu (Vietnamese hot pot):
Xoài xanh: Green mango salad.
Chim cút rô ti: Soy sauce quail.
Cánh gà chiên nước mắm: Chicken wings.
Ruột Heo Xào Cải Chua: Pickled vegetable with sausage.

Thiên Thanh
5219 Buford Hwy NE
Doraville, GA 30340

*** Added bonus – Open 24/7! ***