Southern Fried

I am not a fan of the South. Well let me rephrase that...I am not a fan of the modern South with its endless sprawl and affinity for generic chain restaurants. Now there is the South of New Orleans, Charleston, and Savannah all beacons of how to properly fuse the old with the new. Charleston and New Orleans are world class food cities with great culture and history to match. Then there are cities like Charlotte and Atlanta with their massive metros, god awful traffic and generic eats. The restaurants worth eating at are few and far between in Atlanta where the dining scene is more geared to pleasing business travelers rather developing a unique food scene grounded in local culture. On a recent trip ATL, I got to witness this first hand as a semi national chain restaurant with frozen ingredients had a 40 minute waiting list while a reasonably priced local restaurant struggled to fill up their dinning room. However not all is lost as some restaurants have found a way to fuse traditional southern cuisine with modern food trends such local ingredients and head to tail eating. Here is a breakdown of my recent experiences in the "Dirty South"

Head to Tail at Holman and Finch:

I first went to Holman and Finch back in 2009 when the whole head to tail eating trend was hitting full steam. It featured dishes you just didn't see on menus like Fried Rocky Mountain Oysters (lamb testicles) and a lovely veal brains spread. But the cooking featured a distinct southern sensibility with emphasis on fried preparations and lots of pork. During our most recent visit we just tried three dishes as we knew we would be eating at a friend's (then) restaurant later that evening. We got the aforementioned lamb balls, a new dish which was a pork skin noodle/shiitake mushroom soup and a GA shrimp roll done in a lobster roll style.  All three were excellent. The lamb testicles were perfectly fried and came with a delicious mustard based sauce. They melted in your mouth just like a good ball should...(I tried to convince my wife that my testicles would be just as enjoyable later that evening to no avail...:) The GA Shrimp tasted just like a lobster roll but with fresh shrimp and as we know from my last post I love a good lobster roll.  The Pork Skin Noodle was the real winner in my book. I was initially wary as it sounded more Asian than southern with shiitake mushrooms. However the finished product was definitely a nice rift on a classic Japanese Ramen with the pork skin taking the place of the noodles and the pork broth featuring a smoky flavor that was invoked both the east and the west. A classic Asian fusion dish (maybe if all of those 90's Asian fusion dishes were as successful a few more those establishments would still be around...RIP Cafe KATI, Grasshopper, Eos..etc).  To me Holman and Finch is the quintessential restaurant that other Atlanta restaurants should be looking to. A must try for any foodie while visiting the ATL (probably on a god awful business trip).

Lamb Ball!!

Gastro Pubbin' at The Drafting Table:

The next stop on this tour was The Drafting Table where our friend was working at the time. Even though he no longer works there, we did get a comped meal and in my book that means a mention in my blog. The Drafting Table is in an odd part of town that is not downtown(though very close), not Little Five Points, not Grant Park, not Cabbagetown. You know one those niches between neighborhoods like the Upper Market stretch near the Octavia on-ramp..not the Castro, not Hayes Valley and not the Mission. Anyways the Drafting Table had a nice space in a new urban condo complex that used to be a pencil factory or something like that. The inside was a little sparse but did have an inviting vibe. The menu was less adventurous than Holman and Finch but featured some interesting choices. We went with the 50/50 burger and the Curried Oxtail for entrees plus the Beer Battered Cauliflower to start. The cauliflower featured a nice batter but the addition of the house made chouchou elevated the dish. The pickled mix was sweet and not too briny and made nice addition to the hot tender cauliflower. The 50/50 burger was good with a nice smokiness due to its better bacon half. The burger was a little over cooked but I guess with bacon you are not looking for a medium rare center. The Curried Oxtail was mammoth plate filled with a spicy curried oxtail that was tamed by the addition of bitter sauteed greens and wintery mashed sweet potatoes. The meat was tender and I found myself going to town on the bones to get as much as I could. Overall a good meal especially if you are staying downtown which is a food wasteland.

Curried Oxtail with Spiced Sweet Potato Mash

Good Country Cooking in 'burbs-the Chicken and the Egg

With the exception of Decatur, the food scene outside of Atlanta is hopeless. Chain restaurants rule the day with their similarly uninspired eats. However, my in-laws had eaten at a relatively new farm to table restaurant on the outskirts of west Marietta called the Chicken and the Egg. The space was in one of those unnecessary strip malls that they couldn't build enough of in the last decade. Smack dab in the middle was the Chicken and the Egg. The inside was much more impressive with a nice bar and large interior. The decor was a little Hiltonesque but given the setting I don't know if there was much more they could do with the space. The menu featured country classics with local ingredients and everything was made from scratch. The mother-in-law got the meatloaf, my wife got the flat iron or hanger steak (boring), and I got the country fried steak(which I can never resist) and we started with black eyed pea hummus. The black eyed pea hummus was delicious with smooth texture of good hummus but the kick of a black eyed pea. A another great example of fusion pulled off successfully. The meat loaf had a smokey taste and lush texture with no hint of dryness. My country fried steak was exactly what I was looking for with a loose crust, well seasoned non-collaguated gravy, and a tender steak. It's probably a good thing that I cannot find a suitable specimen here in California otherwise I would be 300lbs! Overall an excellent, well priced meal from a locally owned restaurant.    

Hand Crafted Country Fried Steak with Traditional Sides..Yum!

Now their are plenty of cities like Atlanta out there and spread of bad food is not just confined to the South (I am looking at you Ohio...). But by not eating at a chain restaurant and trying out that new farm to table place or a long time local holdout, you help reverse the trend. If you travel for work, I would recommend making the effort to search these places out. Otherwise, there will just be an Olive Garden and Applebees world in our future.