Two Licks

The entrance is unassuming. The atmosphere is unexpected. The food is good. The atmosphere is flawless. The live music sets the tone. The hustle bustle of the open kitchen echoes through the lofty warehouse. The wine pours out of their very own barrels. The meat smokes as you eat the product. The pace has been set and its a truly unique dining experience. Two Urban Licks, another Concentrics venture. So far, I can't say enough about the restaurant group and what they have to offer. Their menu changes daily with a few staple items remaining the same. I have been already, twice and will continue going back. Its the perfect place to take visitors as it shows Atlanta off. I felt like a show off when I brought my mother there. She fell in love and it was the perfect background for old friends and great conversations. Now getting to the food, I always over indulge when I am there.

Since the menu is dripping temptation, we opted to order practically all the appetizers they had to offer. This included, salmon chips described as short smoked salmon, chipolte cream cheese, capers and red onions on toast points. Simple and scrumptious, served on a raised wooden board. We had the thai tuna tartare which is described on the menu as, avocado, mango, sriacha aioli over wonton chips. Yum. We had the empandas, they were huge and stuffed with braised beef, feta, pico de gallo and chipolte aioli. We had the shaved calamari, which, as you know, isn't my favorite thing since its just so over done and boring. Fried calamari, is fried calamari. We had the fried green tomatoes with shrimp tartar sauce and avocado. Simple and crispy. The lamb flat bread was a personal favorite. Just picture tiny gyro sandwiches. It was their very own rotisserie lamb with spicy cucumbers, lemon yogurt and feta cheese packed into a small pita. It was awesome. We of course had a cheese plate, which didn't present itself beautifully but, thankfully, the tastes were perfect. It consisted of manchego, san jaoquin gold (loved it), humbolt fog and thomasville tomme with lavash bread and orange jelly. We moved on to sharing the bronzed scallops served over gouda grits, a smoked tomato broth and pico de gallo. The scallops melted in my mouth, they were perfectly cooked for sure. We finished off with two desserts, my favorite being the spicy molten chocolate lavacake with espresso ice cream and a raspberry sauce. The next time we went we ordered braised rabbit chips served on a board and also split a half of a chicken. Which was fun to pick on while sharing with a big party. We loved the first one so much, we got another! A super fun experience that left an amazingly loud, booming, thrilling first (and second) impression. A MUST GO. 820 Ralph McGill Highway Atlanta 404.522.4622

STAR PROVISIONS-CHEESE

Okay Atlanta, I know I am behind, but I am slowly discovering Atlanta's power-house restaurants and best kept secrets. Star Provisions is one that I have been dying to explore, along with their well known and acclaimed restaurants. Like the new, Abattoir, which I am simply dying to go to. Star Provisions calls itself "A Cook's Marketplace". I'm all over it. They offer meat, seafood, cheese, sundries, a bakery and top notch restaurants. So I strolled in on this lovely morning and started off by purchasing some cheese and wine. My two favorite things at my new favorite spot. I beelined to the back of the shop, to the cheese counter. The lovely, extremely knowledgeable woman behind the counter helped me out immensely. I started off by asking her which cheese was her favorite. She responded with Cabot's Clothbound Cheddar. Cabot? Cheddar? "No effing way", is what I'm thinking. So I tried it and ended up coming home with half a pound of it! It was so close to being like my favorite PRIMA DONNA cheese, which I've been searching for high & low. My mother is coming to town this week so a great cheese plate, made by yours truly is in high demand. I didn't stop there. I continued trying and purchasing. Finally, I opted to buy a Robiola... Robiola d'introibio. I also grabbed a bottle of 2007 evodia granacha. Star Provisions will now be a shop to be visited in my weekly routine. 1198 Howell Mill Road Atlanta GA 404.365.0410

ACROSS THE STREET- MEXICAN

BEST MANGO MARGARITA- comes served in a frosty 16oz glass with rim perfectly salted. The atmosphere is packed with Mexican novelties. The outdoor bar has a coral beaded chandelier hanging above, and a wall lined with colorfully painted masks staring at you. Without getting into the entrees, we ordered three appetizers. The goat cheese enchiladas: Blue corn tortillas stuffed with creamy goat cheese, mango and fresh herbs, served on a puddle of creamy black beans with mixed greens. Fresh mango salsa and crumbled queso fresco with a sour cream garnish. A great combo between the soft creamy goat cheese texture and the crunchy corn. Definitely a different spin on enchiladas. Next up was the oh so simple, but perfect, Maduros: Sweet ripe plantains, quartered and sauteed in butter, with sour cream and queso fresco garnish. I couldn't have done it better myself and I'm pretty damn good at cooking up plantains at home. It has become a staple food in my household! Finally, we ate the Grilled Corn: Fresh corn, grilled and rolled in aeoli and cheese and finally dusted with chili powder. They were served on popsicle sticks. It was a refreshing take on boring corn. I loved it and could see myself making it at home. Quaintly called, "Across the Street", located in the Old Fourth Ward and set directly on the Freedom Parkway bike trail, with outdoor seating and comforting, hospitable bartenders & servers, I would absolutely go back to try their acclaimed brunch! And please, don't go there without ordering a mango margarita. 668 Highland Ave. Atlanta GA 404.781.0931

LOBBY @ THE TWELVE

Chris will be embarking on another restaurant journey, this time, with the very well known, Concentrics Restaurant Group. They boast restaurants like Lobby, Two Urban Licks, TAP, STATS (All 4 which we've been to and have fallen in love with) among others, like Trois, One Midtown Kitchen, Max's & Room, just to name a few. As soon as we caught word of this opportunity we hit up Lobby, located in Atlantic Station at the Twelve. We opted to sit at the bar. You know you're going to love a place when you see one of your favorite wines featured by the glass! Conasur Pinot Noir, thank you very much, I'll have 4 glasses (which ultimately, I ended up consuming). We were in an appetizer mood so we ordered the seared scallops with creamed corn and smoked gouda. The scallops melted in my mouth and had a salty hint, the creamed corn with smoked gouda offered a sweet taste, together equalling heaven. I haven't scraped a plate in a while, I found myself scraping away! At the bar, we were seated directly across from the wood burning stove which automatically put us in the position for thin crust pizza. We gave in and ordered one with pineapple, shrimp, tomatoes and mozzarella. One turned to two as we were informed that it was "all you can eat pizza" night. Lobby always has a happy hour special. Thin crust pizza was tonight's option. We also ordered the fried calamari with hot peppers, which is always a good combo. To me, fried calamari is fried calamari. It's boring. It was my first favorite dish at the ripe age of 2, so it was what it was. Stuffed from the 2 thin crust pizzas, we stopped at the calamari, but I will certainly return to complete the menu! Next time I'd prefer sitting at the Chef's table, or maybe in the lounge, or maybe in one of the two dining rooms. It seems as though Lobby can offer different types of atmosphere's with the same food, which I think is important because it always leaves itself as a dining option. I will certainly return. 361 17th Street Atlanta GA 404.961.7370

RA ATLANTA

Let's start here: I never want to dine while Journey's "Don't stop believing" is maxing out the speakers. I recall the last time I heard that song... I believe I was popping a squat in the back room behind our college bar, Delanos, while pumping my fist with one hand, with a mind-eraser in the other. In all seriousness, the atmosphere (minus the top 40, BLARING) was a 10. Dark, Asian, wooden decor with bails of tea hanging from the ceiling. It was a large space with the floor to ceiling windows, jacked open, allowing the perfect nights air in- It was friends & family night and their first night of opening the doors. Starting off with cocktails in the lounge area, I had Sake Sangria. It was not to my liking- it had too many hints of cherry, and I am no fan of cherry. Next drink, a mango margarita. Quite possibly the worst mango marg I've ever had. Okay so I stuck with water thereafter and focused on the food. We first tried the Lobster spring rolls which boasted "lobster mixed with garlic mango sauce, cream cheese & mild peppers wrapped in wonton paper & lightly fried". Since the chef was not liberal with the lobster, they were very standard. The fresh mango didn't really come through either. Nothing special. We took on the Blue claw crab cakes and the Scallop Dynamite dish. Both of which, again, did not impress. Crab cakes were blah and the Scallop dynamite dish was doused in cream and just not dynamite. So we moved on to the sushi, which looked amazing. Taste was again, standard- and did not deliver. All the ingredients were clever but, you couldn't taste the separate freshness which is what I was looking for. The Viva Las Vegas Roll is what I looked forward to the most: Kani Kama & cream cheese rolled in rice and seaweed, lightly tempura battered & topped with spicy tuna, crab mix & sliced lotus root, finished with eel sauce and spinach tempura flakes. We ordered until we couldn't breath hoping we could find something through the loud music that would make us sit back and go "ahhh this is it." but we didn't find that. The Spicy lobster roll was probably the best roll we got, "lobster, cilantro, jalepeno, lettuce, avocado & cucumber wrapped in soy paper. We also ordered sashimi which did the trick. Overall, RA was disappointing! The servers were spunky, fun and quick and with time will surely be extremely on point. Since it IS indeed a chain restaurant I don't see the drinks or the food getting any better, as I'm sure they have to follow a strict corporate recipe- If I was to go back, I would stick with Sake bombs and sashimi. The simple stuff, because it really can't be messed with. 1080 Peachtree Street Atlanta GA 404.267.0114

NEXT STOP? RA SUSHI

My job forces me to meet a lot of cool people and a lot of uncool people, on an everyday basis. A cool person I came across, just about a week ago, handed me an invite to friends & family night at RA Sushi, which is prior to the grand opening of the Midtown Atlanta location. The invite boasted, "ANY FRIEND OF SUSHI IS A FRIEND OF OURS" Tonight, Chris and I will attend and look forward to being served up a full menu of their signature sushi and Japanese fusion cuisine- Very cool. Even cooler that it's free. I also look forward to Sake martinis and the like... Stay tuned for my take on RA Sushi.

MY TAKE ON LAKE LANIER

It was a typical hot day in Atlanta. It was my day off. If I was home in Boston I would already be on the road to Gloucester with a cooler packed with oysters & clams to shuck on the beach and a pitcher of Bloody Mary's. But I had to check myself on this very hot day. "You are in Georgia. The ocean is 4 hours away. You must go to the lake. You must go to the lake." So we've been told by the heat surviving, native Georgians. So we went to the lake. Lake Lanier, 45 minutes North of Atlanta. Yes, we were in the sticks. Yes, these houses on the lake would be $2 mill back home (probably $250G's here). Yes, it was picturesque. But, still we felt as though something was missing. Lake Lanier is 39,000 acres of water, with 692 miles of shoreline and 8 million annual visitors. It boasts it's 2 resort hotels, golf course and water park. We still weren't impressed. I found, that it was the kind of place that you have to have a boat to TRULY enjoy. For some reason, we went there with intentions of smelling salt water, hearing the waves crash at the shoreline and a slew of people with umbrellas and coolers, reapplying sunblock. We found none of that. Were we in the wrong spot? We'll never know. We left as quick as we got there but stumbled upon a lakeside grill that called itself the Dockside Grille. We strolled onto the wooden porch and chose a table based on where the sun was at the very moment. Our server was busy, as she was the only server working, but she worked her tables well. It was a dockside grill, very laid back, one of those places you don't expect much from, just wanted to suck on a Bloody Mary and sit in the sun, I really didn't care what the service was like or how long my food took, I was just hangin' out! So I ordered my Mary, expecting it to come in a little plastic cup with no garnish, I was surprised to find it in a glass with a flowery celery stick garnish. It had a nice burn at it's finish, as I requested. We soaked some more sun and ordered to please our hunger. I opted for the grilled grouper with rice, beans and veggies. Chris went with a simple burger. The view could have been better. We were sitting, looking at the mucky-ish shore lined with minots and turbo fish topped with meandering ducks. The docked boats were a nice touch though. As my face was in the sun, with my back to the water, I told Chris I didn't want to turn around, because, with the Jimmy Buffet music and sun in my face, I could almost imagine that, behind me, was the ocean. We obviously miss the ocean. The food came. The food runner decided not to place our plates in front of us, but instead, dropped them at the very edge of the table. So we had to physically get up from our seats to claim our food. At that point, I didn't even care, I was so hungry and relaxed... I wasn't taking Lake Lanier very serious at this point anyway! The food was great. Exactly what I was looking for at least. Fresh tasting simply blackened grouper, with a mound of rice and a mound of veggies. Nothing spectacular, but perfectly fine for where we were. I took a bite of Chris's burger and it was cooked to both of our liking. It was a nice thick, juicy burger. I think my Bloody Mary made surrounding tables crave one, because when I ordered my 2nd Mary, I was told it would be a while. 10 minutes later I found out why, both tables next to us (both parties of 6) ordered Mary's. When I finally got mine, 2 came to the table, we told the runner we only ordered 1, but I told him I was totally fine with 2. Bring it on. I sucked them down, we paid our bill and drove back to the city. We probably won't go back to the lake just simply based on the fact that we would rather drive 3 more hours just to get to the spot we really want to be: The ocean.

GRITS BITS

When in Georgia, do as the Georgians do, right? I am a new fan of grits. I've eaten cheese grits, I've eaten plain grits, I've eaten them in biscuit form, I've eaten blue grits. I have always enjoyed a 'gritty' texture. I learned that, just like anywhere else, if the cook sees you adding salt, pepper, tobasco sauce, etc... they will truly frown upon you. Whenever I feel the need to do so, I cover my plate with my hand and try to be as discreet as possible. Don't ever want to offend the creator! Recently, I stumbled upon Grits Bits, Baked Cheese Biscuits. Popped one in my mouth and at first, experienced a very simple, "Cheez-it" like taste, then I bit into it and felt the grits unfold from the inside and it finished off with a crunchy spice. Surprisingly excellent! Pick some up, online, at their website I seeked out for some good ol' Southern gourmet bites!