Guest Post by Cindi Kurczewski

With gas pushing $4 a gallon, think of this as your Spring Break staycation. The second annual Atlanta Hotel Restaurant Week (AHRW) runs from March 31 to April 7 and gives us a chance to eat like a well-heeled tourist at some of the city’s best restaurants that just happen to live inside some of the city’s best hotels. There are 10 eateries in this year’s lineup (full list below), each offering three courses for just $30 (excluding alcohol, tax and gratuity).

I was pleasantly surprised at the variety in the week’s menus. Most venues offer a choice between two or three appetizers, entrees and desserts, which almost leaves Spice Market’s just-one-choice-in-each-course menu in the dust. Cheeks are in this spring as BLT Steak tempts with braised veal cheeks and Livingston is doing a balsamic pork cheek. I’m also telling friends who were just talking about their lamb craving to check out the spring lamb ravioli at Room at Twelve Centennial Park.

Salmon fans will find it grilled (The Mansion on Peachtree, Room at Twelve Centennial Park and Lobby Bar and Bistro) roasted (Southern Art) and parmesan crusted (Paces 88 American Bistro). Park 75 offers scallops, Spice Market’s only entree is a thai basil cod, while BLT Steak includes a sauteed branzino, not found on its regular menu, in its AHRW options.

I’m a big fan of appetizers, so I plan to try the cauliflower soup at either Southern Art or Livingston, grilled asparagus with egg at Room at Twelve, the smoked trout salad at Southern Art and definitely the chicken and waffles with maple syrup and tabasco at Lobby.

Dessert? Oh, I couldn’t! Well, it’s included in the deal, so maybe the THIN apple tart at Eleven. Like the aftermath of any vacation, my staycation $30 indulgences will require some extra time on the treadmill.

Atlanta Hotel Restaurant Week’s website advises that reservations are highly recommended. Visit the site to check out the menus and book early to make sure you get in on this yummy event.

2012 Atlanta Hotel Restaurant Week participating restaurants:

* Park 75 at Four Seasons Hotel
* The Mansion on Peachtree
* Room at Twelve Centennial Park
* Livingston Restaurant + Bar (Georgian Terrace Hotel)
* Lobby Bar and Bistro (Twelve Hotel & Residences Atlantic Station)
* Spice Market (W Hotel Midtown)
* Paces 88 American Bistro (St. Regis Hotel)
* BLT Steak (W Hotel Downtown)
* Eleven (Loews Atlanta Hotel)
* Southern Art (InterContinental Hotel Buckhead)

As you would expect, the decor is pretty country-fied. The menu is a mix of Southern favorites like Fried Chicken, Meatloaf and Country Fried Steak as well as Greek specialties such as Mousakka, Souvlaki, among others. Choose two sides, corn bread or Texas toast, and a drink with your meal for just under ten dollars. At lunch choose from sandwiches for around six dollars or combo with side and a drink for eight.

Having a hankering for fried chicken, Mr. ARB and I both ordered it on the night we visited. However, he’s had both the meatloaf and country fried steak and extols his love for them on a regular basis. On this night, the fried chicken plus onion rings and mac n cheese really fulfilled my need for comfort food. The onion rings are some of the best I’ve had and the chicken was huge!

Owner, Nick Tiliaeous, a gregarious and chatty person, I observed, gets to know his customers rather quickly. He spied me taking pictures and wandered over. Before long, he was telling me all about his Greek heritage, his disdain for Yelp employees, his plans for expansion and new service to be added soon along with a tour of the private party rooms as well as the secret ingredient that makes his biscuits so craveable.

Nick told me he has been approached by Yelp and asked to take down his religious fixtures, but he refused. He feels he is being punished by Yelp as they “hide” most of his positive reviews. It is curious how so many of Come N Get It’s reviews are hidden. Perhaps there is something to that…

Personally, if a restaurant’s religious beliefs are not forced on me and don’t hurt anyone, I don’t care what religious propaganda they want to display. I just care if the food is good and the service is friendly. And they were. Nick even says he tries to source from local suppliers whenever possible. Chicken is sourced from Tip Top Chicken and vegetables are sourced from various local suppliers too. Always a plus in my book.

Before leaving he insisted we try his Baklava. It was heavenly. Nuts, honey and phyllo all blended together perfectly and it wasn’t overly sweet as sometimes Baklava can be.

There’s so much more on the menu I want to try – Mousakka, Lasagne, Country Fried Steak. I did make it back to have the Gyro and give their biscuits a try. Pretty darn good. Oh and that secret ingredient in the biscuits? Greek Yogurt.

1409 Church St Ext
Marietta, GA 30060
Come n Get It
770-423-0010
Come N Get It Website

Babette’s Cafe, located in Inman Park, has been around for years, run by Chef and Owner, Marla Adams. Adams named the restaurant after the movie, Babette’s Feast. I hadn’t eaten at Babette’s Cafe in over a decade. Back when I was in college, I dragged some friends out there to have dinner. They both had very tasty and substantial entrees. Mine, on the other hand, was somewhere between four and six shrimp on top of some green beans. Needless to say, I left hungry and disappointed. To this day, that evening is standing joke between us.

I felt as though it was time for another visit, especially since I was writing Food Lovers’ Atlanta. The renovated house has a rustic charm to it. Love the scuffed up walls and hardwood floors. It was quite busy on the Friday evening when I visited, so I’d definitely recommend rezzies for a weekend visit. Although don’t bother trying to make them on Open Table, as they are consistently blocked off. Just call Babette’s Cafe directly.

There’s a section of soups / salads and small plates and I truly believe this is where the winners are. Well, those and the desserts. Starting things off with the Corn and Crab chowder along with the salad with hearts of palm, we then added to the order the mussels and Piroshkies.

I just ordered a tasting of the chowder and it was good, with definite chunks of crab in it, but I’d rather have shared the salad and had two orders of the Piroshkies. These guys are small (about the size of a steamed dumpling that you get at most Chinese restaurants) and one order comes with two Piroshkies. They are full of pork and veal and served up with a Tarragon butter sauce – simply amazing. Oh and the mussels we had were delicious too, served in an unusual strawberry /serrano broth, I couldn’t tear off the bread from its loaf fast enough to sop up all the yummy broth.

For entrees we sampled the Veal Piccata and the Pork with Gnocchi. The veal cutlets, pounded think had some sort of Mediterranean sauce with capers. Mr. ARB thought it was quite tasty. The Sauvignon Blanc he chose to pair with it, was quite exquisite. My pork was decent, but two out of the three pieces were almost pure fat. As far as the Gnocchi, I was expecting potato dumplings, but theirs is actually more like a polenta in taste and texture than Gnocchi. It was good, just not quite what I was expecting.

I was all for skipping dessert, but when Mr. ARB heard there was house made pistachio ice cream for dessert he couldn’t resist, ordering not only that but a side of the Date and Pistachio cookies too. This ice cream was indeed heavenly. The warm cookies were a nice addition to our dessert too.

Tip: There’s a prix fixe menu available Tuesdays through Fridays (including choice of appetizer and entree) for under $20.

573 North Highland Ave.
Atlanta, Georgia
404-523-9121
Babette’s Cafe Website

Midtown Restaurant Week is back beginning August 27th, until Sunday, September 4th. Dine on 3 course Prix Fixe meals for $25 to $35. See the lineup of participating restaurants below.

4th & Swift
Abattoir
Atmosphere Bistro
Briza
Cypress Street Pint & Plate
Dolce
Ecco
Eleven
Escorpion
Goin’ Coastal
Gordon Biersch
The Livingston
The Melting Pot
Oceanaire
Park 75
Pasta da Pulcinella
Pozole
Ra Sushi
Rosa Mexicano
Serpas
Shout
South City Kitchen
Spice Market
Steel
Straits
Strip
Table 1280
The Nook
Veni Vidi Vici

For more information about Midtown Restaurant Week and to see menus, click here.

Savi Urban Market has been open for about a year and a half in Inman Park. This upscale market is part grocer, part fresh foods, part specialty wine and beer market. Basically, Savi Urban Market caters to those folks who are looking for an tasty and healthy gourmet meal that they can heat up at home instead of going out to a fancy restaurant. And perhaps pick up a bottle of wine or craft beer to compliment said dinner. Savi Urban Market sources seasonal ingredients from Dillwood Farms in Loganville, Georgia. Besides having house-roasted and cured meats and an on-site cheesemonger, Savi also cooks their food using the sous vide method of cooking.

The Sous Vide method of cooking involves cooking food in vacuum sealed packages at very low temperatures for long periods of time. Made popular in the 1970s, the idea is that dishes, whether meat, seafood or vegetables are more flavorful, tender and delicious when cooked with the sous vide method.

And what would a yummy dinner be without some tasty wine to go with it? Savi is one of the only markets in the area to have an Enomatic Wine Machine (pictured below right). It allows patrons to sample up to 16 wines for a small fee. You can get a taste, a half a glass or a full glass – just insert your prepaid card into the machine and choose your wine.

After perfecting his menu for over a month, Executive Chef Don Trimble prepared a lovely meal for a select few of us lucky enough to be invited to preview his sous vide cooking technique. I have to admit, I knew nothing of Savi Urban Market before this dinner and went into it with zero expectations. Sometimes that’s when you have the best experience, right?

I’m fortunate in that I get invited to a bevy of menu previews and tastings, but this often leaves me pretty hard to impress. But the creative and adventurous menu blew my mind. Loved that the presentation and thoughtfulness of the sides were not neglected either. It was hands down one of the best meals I’ve had in quite a long time.

Menu:
Bone Marrow
Scallop, Lardo, Rhubarb
Octopus, Squid ink Gnocchi
Veal Cheeks, Ramps
Black Bass, Sapelo Island Clams
Piedmontese Strip Loin, Sweetbreads
Pork Belly, Szechuan Pepper Ice Cream

I’d never had Bone Marrow before, but was eager to try it, and the sweet and creamy fritter was so yummy, I’d have easily eaten ten of them if they were put in front of me. And the perfectly prepared scallop just about melted in my mouth.

The third course, Octopus, prepared sous vide style, was tender and full of flavor, not at all rubbery as Octopus can be if not prepared correctly. Fourth course was the Veal Cheek also prepared sous vide – so tasty and soft, I could have easily spread it on a slice of bread. My pictures of these two items didn’t turn out the best or I’d have posted them. But believe me when I tell you pictures and words cannot describe how sensational this meal was.

As if we all weren’t thoroughly impressed with the meal so far, there was more loveliness to come. That was in form of Black Bass with Sapelo Island Clams and Strip Loin (both pictured above) – again both prepared using the sous vide cooking method. If I had any doubts as to the sous vide cooking method locking in the rich flavor of foods, this rid of them.

Dessert: Pork belly and bacon has been done to death in recent years. But this unique technique with pork belly pairing with ice cream and spicy szechuan peppercorns was a definite departure from more of the ho-hum pork belly preparations.

Savi Urban Market offers pre-packaged sous vide entrees which are $6.99 for a protein or $9.99 for a protein plus two sides. Two could easily be fed a superb meal for under $20. Thanks to Savi Urban Market and owner Paul Nair for hosting me for this tasting. Look for Savi Market to host more sous vide dinners in the future. You won’t want to miss them.

Savi Urban Market
287 Elizabeth Street
Atlanta, GA 30307
404 523 3131