Farm-to-table restaurants seem like all the rage right now, especially in Atlanta anyways.

Sprig is a “scratch kitchen” restaurant in the Oak Grove neighborhood of Dectaur, Georgia. Owners, Anthony & Jennifer Tiberia, live in the area and opened the restaurant when they saw a need for more dining choices in the neighborhood.

After staring and almost memorizing (and drooling over) the contents of their new menus. I was excited to finally taste some of the menu items, which I had been carefully obsessing over the layout of for the past week or so. Here’s a sneak peek at the new menu designs:

One of my favorite things about attending restaurant press events is getting to see my fellow foodies and writers. Seeing old friends and meeting new ones, and enjoying mighty good food with them. Just look at the photo of the great, big fun table. Us foodies love a good time!

First up on our meal at Sprig Restaurant were the appetizers. We tasted the Pimento Cheese, Sprig Rings (onion rings) and Smoked Trout Dip with homemade potato chips. While all three were delicious, my favorite by far was the smoked trout dip. It wasn’t overly “smoked” and you could still taste the trout. Yummo!

Since Sprig is a neighborhood restaurant, complete with a kids menu, you wouldn’t expect them to have such a great cocktail selection. But after tasting these signature cocktails, I was sold.

First is the Poinsettia, a mix of Prosecco, simple syrup, St. Germaine (elderflower) and cranberries – delicious. Then the Juni-Pear Fizz, Gin, St. Germaine, Muddled Pears, Prosecco, Patron Citronge. I loved the pear wedge, made the drink look that much more special.

For my entree, I selected their Cloud 9 Pasta with shrimp.

What can I say? I love Italian food.

Plus, I’ve kept my eye on it while designing the new menus. How could I not try something that has been given “Cloud Nine” status? Not overly creamy, full of flavor, fennel and grilled shrimp. Very, very good bowl of pasta.

And what would a complete meal be without dessert? First up, my two favorites that we tried off of the menu: Apple Crisp and White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake.

I’m not a big, big chocolate person and prefer my fruity desserts so these were right up my alley.

The apple crisp was something special. It’s gluten-free with a crust made from rolled oats and quinoa, tasted just like a warm apple pie. And the white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake was not rich at all (score!) and with only a slight pumpkin flavor, just enough to taste it but not overpowering like pumpkin pie can be.

So, if you’re in the Oak Grove area of Dectaur, heck even if you aren’t, do make your way over for a meal at Sprig.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

I adore Italian food. In fact, it’s my favorite right after Asian cuisine.

There’s just something warm and comforting about Italian food, I love all the ingredients, the smells and the tastes. That may be why I tend to make so many Italian inspired dishes.

When I was invited to the soft opening of a new Italian restaurant, Cibo E Beve (pronounced Chee-boh e Bevay), in Sandy Springs, GA I was giddy with excitement. This new restaurant is the new venture of 101 Concepts, serving up authentic Italian dishes made with local produce and ingredients.

I arrived early at Cibo E Beve since we had a 6pm sharp seating, and I’m freakishly paranoid about Atlanta traffic. Since I was a few minutes early, I happily took a seat at the bar and had a quick chat with a couple of their bartenders. Can I mention how cute they are? If you get a chance to go to Cibo E Beve, make sure to visit Justin Hadaway at the bar – he is one brilliant mixologist!

Speaking of cocktails, I didn’t know what to order (I’m more of a wine girl), so the bartender mixed up an Aviation for me (shown below on left). I’m usually not a huge fan of gin, but this cocktail was delicious and refreshing, made up of gin, Crème de Violette, Luxardo marschino liquor and fresh lemon juice. On the right is the Speakeasy Sour: bourbon, egg whites, fresh lemon, simple syrup, and a thin layer of red wine on top.

I must mention how good the service was. Our waiter Erdem was fantastic! He was really knowledgeable about the menu and was very attentive. He was also just a really great guy, we loved him at our table!

On to the food! I ordered the Caesar salad, on the surface it may seem a bit boring compared to the local figs wrapped in prosciutto, mussels and lamb belly selections but since I am pescetarian, my menu choices were a bit limited. But, let me tell you about this Caesar salad. It made of two different ages of romaine lettuce (baby and teenage) and topped with a poached farm egg crouton. Usually poached eggs make me queasy, but on top of this salad, it worked. And it was awesome.

For entrees, many of us chose the Roasted Alaskan Halibut Genovese, served with toasted baby yukon potatoes, baby carrots, pignoli (pine nuts) and lemon verbena basil butter. It was amazing. Quite possibly one of the best fish dishes I have ever eaten. Granted, it was a bit dry but I like my food less saucy than most people.

My favorite part of this meal: dessert. Now, I would choose savory over sweet any day, but these red velvet zeppole were heaven in little balls. Dip them in the white chocolate mascarpone cream and just, wow.

I didn’t know what zeppole were, but it was my lucky day, I was sitting next to Rossana who grew up in New Jersey and knew all about zeppole so I got a fascinating lesson about these delightful fried balls. Now, getting a bag of zeppole on the boardwalk at Coney Island is on my bucketlist. Here is Rosanna snapping a quick photo of my zeppole.

Getting to share this experience with new and old friends only made this dinner better. New friend, Monica, also ordered the red velvet zeppole. Gotta shake that bag up so that the zeppole is covered well with powdered sugar!

Cibo E Beve is going to be a delightful addition to the Sandy Springs neighborhood. I will be visiting again, next time with Paul in tow. He loves Italian food more than I do and I’m looking forward to introducing him to Cibo E Beve.

Cibo E Beve
4969 Roswell Road
Atlanta, GA 30342

Full Disclosure: Thank you to Cibo E Beve for the dinner, drinks and hospitality. And thank you to Patricia Tinsley of Goliath Consulting Group for the invitation.

I can’t believe this was the first time I’ve stepped into this wonderful place known as Antico Pizza. This pizzeria opened in Atlanta’s Westside neighborhood in Fall 2009 right after we moved 40 minutes out to the suburbs (boo). Needless to say, I was beyond ecstatic when my friend Patricia Tinsley invited me to one of her Tinsley Tasting events, this time at Antico Pizza.

Their famous woodfire ovens are easily seen from the seating area at Antico, one of the many things that makes their pizza so mouthwatering.

If you haven’t been to Antico, after placing your order, you pull up a seat at a table in their kitchen where you have a great view of the Italia pizzaioli putting together and baking your pies  in the ovens. Here are Owner Giovanni and Luca making up some pizzas.

Time for the food. We had the pleasure of enjoying an Italian family-style meal with some dishes not on the Antico menu. First up, the Margherita pizza (on their menu).

Rosemary focaccia. This is a dish that they eat at family meals. I’m going to have to figure out how to make something similar, it was so so eye-rolling-into-the-back-of-my-head good.

Fresh gnocchi with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Melted in your mouth.

Woodfire oven roasted red snapper that Patricia brought back from her fish monger in Florida.

Shyni and Cara taking photos and tweeting & facebooking. Wouldn’t expect anything less from these peeps *grin*

Here Asha‘s son, Ethan, wondering why I’m taking so many pictures while everyone else is enjoying the food.

Pasta carbonara through the eyes (eye?) of an iPhone.

Giovanni serving up Capricciosa pizza – mushroom, artichoke, prosciutto cotto and butala. Oh we were spoiled, yes we were, served authentic Italian pizza by Giovanni himself.

And what would an Italian meal be without cannoli for dessert? In 8 different flavors no less.

I will be bringing Paul, the husband, back to visit Antico Pizza very soon. He saw these photos and was very, very jealous. Sorry dude, that’s what you get for having a 9 to 5 job – ha! Pasta, pizza, bread and cannoli – pretty much his ideal meal. And as epic as this meal was, I can’t blame him.  Hats off to Patricia, Giovanni and the Antico family.

Antico Pizza
1093 Hemphill Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30318

Sufi’s Atlanta is a relatively new Persian restaurant in the heart of the Buckhead area of Atlanta, GA that just opened in November 2010. The restaurant has a very warm, romantic atmosphere, complete with pillows piled along the booth seating area.

The meal started off with a traditional Persian breakfast. This consisted of cucumbers, radishes, olives, walnuts, two types of cheese (one is feta, the other I don’t remember), butter and an assortment of herbs. You take your choices from this plate, wrap them up in some warm pita bread and enjoy.

If you’re a fan of eggplant, heck even if you don’t think you are, you must try Sufi’s Special (pictured below on the left). It is spicy sauteed eggplant with onion, garlic, chick peas in a slightly spicy chili sauce. It’s vegetarian friendly, very tasty and was the hit at our table!

Sufi’s does not have their liquor license so they don’t have alcohol for sale. However. Don’t be discouraged, use this to your advantage: BYOB. Bring your own bottle, or bottles of wine. Sufi’s will happily provide you with wine glasses, and even uncork your bottles.

This next dish, the dolmeh, is not the prettiest to look at (yes, even this food photographer is saying it and I hate it when people say “it tastes better than it looks“), but apparently it is one of Sufi’s more famous dishes. It even made it onto this list. The dolmeh is grape leaves stuffed with rice, ground beef, chives, tarragon, parsley, cilantro and raisins.

On to the main course, we ordered the Sufi’s Kabob Platter for Four. This was a monstrous amount of food that easily fed 6-7 people at our table. You choose four kabobs and then a big tray of rice comes with the meal. This was probably my favorite part of dinner, the rice. Along with the regular saffron basmati rice, you also get baghala polo (rice cooked with dill and fava beans) and my personal favorite zereshk polo (rice cooked with barberries, pistachio and almonds).

What would have made it better for this vegetarian (and occasional pescetarian) would have been either a veggie kabob, or more vegetables served along with the four kabob meal. I had some of the salmon kabob this particular evening, which was cooked quite well.

And rounding out this meal is dessert. A house-made saffron & rose water ice cream, topped with pistachios. Deliciously amazing.

And it came in such a big serving (for me at least), as if I had not had my fill of sweets for the week!

Sufi’s Atlanta
1814 Peachtree St.
Atlanta, GA 30309

Full Disclosure: Thank you to Patricia Tinsley of Goliath Consulting Group for inviting me to enjoy dinner.

Yesterday marked the end of a long dear-to-my-heart tradition at my alma mater, Georgia Tech.

When I was a student at Tech, I worked long days at the multimedia studio in the library and would frequently take the 5 minute walk over to Junior’s Grill to grab a hamburger or their famous chicken tenders, always served with their amazing seasoned french fries and washed down with sweet tea.

The line of students and alumni waiting to get the last bit of food that Junior’s had to serve winded out the door and came close to the stadium. We should’ve known, but by the time we got to the front of the line they were out of their incredible french fries and were only down to gyros, fish sandwiches and veggie burger entrees. So, Esther settled for a gyro and I got a veggie burger, both with a side of potato salad. Somewhat disappointing, but we were still happy to have been able to eat at Junior’s on their last day open. Even the soda machine was running low.

Although Junior’s Grill had been in business since 1948, the recent openings of chain restaurants (Subway, Waffle House, Starbucks, etc.) nearby had taken away much of the business that Junior’s used to have. As an avid supporter of small, local businesses this saddens (and somewhat enfuriates) me even more.

Now, you can’t have an article about Junior’s Grill without mentioning Tommy Klemis, the operator of Junior’s. He is such a nice guy. Especially for the restaurant being a school owned, Tommy would always make you feel like a part of the family as soon as you entered the door. Or well, usually due to the long lines, as soon as you saw him.

Even though Esther and I met long after we were both done with college, we sat and reminisced about the “good ol’ days” of being in school at Tech and going to Junior’s Grill for lunch. The longer we sat at that old, blue booth with the sounds of student and alumni still waiting in line for a last taste of Tech tradition, the sadder we became as we realized that this is the last time we will be sitting at Junior’s.

Goodbye Junior’s! I’m glad you were around while I was in school at Tech and I’m glad that I was able to say good-bye on your last day of business. And thank you Tommy for the wonderful memories. We will miss you!

At first glance, Five Seasons Brewery looks like just a great place to drink locally brewed beer. But look closer… the restaurant’s beautiful interior draws you in, you sit down at a table and order up one of their signature in-house brewed beers. We choose their Venus beer, which is a Belgian white beer brewed with orange peel and coriander.

Then you notice the menu. From produce that comes from local, organic farms the chefs at 5 Seasons create incredible dishes, with inspirations from Asia, Europe and America. Some items include their grilled pizzas, sandwiches on housemade bread and their plated entrees.

This is one of the few times when I will make an exception to my vegetarian diet: 5 Seasons’ Organic Salmon, served with a spicy red Thai curry sauce, vegetables and organic rice. Unfortunately, this photo does not do the taste of the dish justice. The spiciness and and flavor of the curry, paired with the vegetables and pan-seared salmon is a wonderful combination.

Paul choose the Georgia Organic Beef Burger, he says that this is one of the (two) best burgers he has ever had. Served with sweet potato fries.

And here’s the best for last: the Goat Cheese Cheesecake. We got this dessert the first time we visited 5 Seasons. Actually, our lovely server gifted us with the goat cheese cheesecake on our first visit. And what can I say? We fell in love. With the cheesecake.

The goat cheese gives the cheesecake a slight tangy flavor, when mixed with the rest of the ingredients makes for a light, delicious dessert. The cheesecake was served ontop of a polenta chip, which gave it yet another different texture than your typical cheesecake.

Be sure to check this place out, the service is great and you’ll feel at home right away. And feel free to visit in jeans, because as elegant as the food is, the atmosphere is anything but pretentious.

5 Seasons North
3655 Old Milton Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30005

As a recent vegetarian convert, I’m always on the hunt for great vegetarian eateries in Atlanta. When I found out about World Peace Cafe, I was so excited and anxious to sink my teeth into one of their veggie burgers. We finally got the chance to venture over to Roswell Road and taste their vegetarian & vegan menu this past weekend.

One of the things that really struck me about World Peace Cafe, was that not only was it a vegetarian restaurant, it served a greater purpose than just creating mouth-watering dishes. All of the proceeds from the restaurant go to support meditation classes and special events by the Rameshori Kadampa Buddhist Center.

The people who run World Peace Cafe are dedicated to making the world a better place by serving organic, fair-trade coffee, using biodegradable take-out packaging and supporting local businesses by purchasing their produce from local farmers markets.

Now, let’s get to the tasty stuff…

My husband, Paul, and I were in a burger mood so that’s what we ordered off of the menu. I got the Classic Peace Burger and Paul ordered the Southern Cheeseburger (complete with pimento cheese).

The Classic Peace Burger

I just have to say, the burgers were amazing. Amazing. It may have something to do with it being an organic, vegan burger made with oats and savory vegetables, and topped with rosemary mayonnaise.

I have never seen my omnivore of a husband devour a veggie burger so quickly. That should tell you something about the food.

World Peace Cafe
220 Hammond Drive, Suite 302
Sandy Springs, GA 30328