Earlier this month I got together with Brad over at Creative Loafing for a little fried chicken. Check his post on it.

Shamefully, the only fried chicken of the five I’d previously tried was Carver’s. On the plus side, I had no predisposition to any of these chickees. Brad and I pretty much agreed on everything, though I could see that some people could easily feel differently based on the experience they are seeking. Chicken to go? High quality bird? Star Provisions was the clear winner; affordable too.

Star bird too small? Looking for an honest country vibe and outrageously sized breast? Carver’s it is.

Many people visit Colonnade for the sake of tradition and ambience, but damn the chicken was good. By far the hottest and crispiest and most tender; not a touch of dryness in the breast – the only time I could say that of our tour. Large portions too.

JCT was terrible. So bland and soggy, the texture of the meat was pulverized like it had sat in brine for too long, which doesn’t make sense as it was devoid of salt. It’s worth mentioning that the mac and cheese they served with it was a shameful mess of soggy noodles sitting in a unnecessary pool of warm cream. Years ago JCT was my go-to spot on that side of town – the last two years have seen an odious, unfortunate decline.

Smothered chicken – Busy Bee

Fried chicken – Busy Bee

The Colonnade

Chicken fried chicken with gravy - The Colonnade

Fried chicken - The Colonnade

JCT Springer Mountain Fried Chicken

Unfortunately, no photos from Star or Carver’s – forgot my camera!

We tried the kumamoto and beausoleil oysters, ankimo, lobster roll, salt and pepper shrimp, uni pasta, and rabbit cavetelli.

My photos are extra terrible because it’s darker than Mordor in there. For a real review, check out Besha’s post. But for haiku’s describing what I ate, read below.

briny and well shucked
fairly priced taste of the sea
beasoleils bested

the oceans pate
roe pops across silk liver
it was sort of bland

the musk of butter
chilly crustacean delights
I don’t deserve this

oh plump crispy prawn
you’re overcooked though piquant
slurp the pungent head

gonads I crave you
lovely fresh pasta so sweet
but not quite funky

chicken and dumplings
but pasta with cauliflower
bested the classic

(Click here for Flickr slideshow) or click the image above for full size shot.

Moving on from Cooking and Booze, these are some of my favorites dishes from 2011. Similar to last year, it’s a solid mix of Atlanta and out-of-town dining, with NYC and my honeymoon heavy in the rotation. I’ve been blessed to have consumed, digested, and excreted a crap ton (nice visual, huh?) of stunning food this year. I still spend more money than I should, but I love dining, talking about previous dining experiences, planning my next dining trip, and even talking about the next course to come in the middle of dining. And that’s why I blog – all my friends are tired of hearing about it in person.

Most people have been going with nine or ten favorites, but I’m going to cruise through 36. Yeah, it’s a lot so I’ll be brief. And I’ll try not use to the word delicious more than twice.

Oh and check out these lists from friends, there’s some good stuff here.
-Decatur Wine & Food Dude’s Top 11
-Besha’s Top 9 Dishes
-Gene’s Top 10 on the AJC International Beat
-Jeff’s (Green Olive Media) Top 12 Meals

1. Matzo ball Tom Kha soup at Baan Sawan
2. Cauliflower at Eleven Madison Park
3. Nigiri at Soto in NYC
4. English breakfast with blood sausage at The Breslin, Ace Hotel NYC
5. Margherita Pizza at Jim Lahey’s Co. – NYC
6. Nucci at Varasano’s – still the best in Atlanta
7. Crawfish Shack Po’Boy – It’s not NOLA, but it’s pretty damn good
8. Heirloom BBQ – Everything, especially the brisket
9. Ikura at Sushi Huku
10. “An evening in Kerala” 21 course vegetarian dinner by Asha Gomez, whose Cardamom Hill opens next week on Northside
11. Chicken confit at the Glass Onion in Charleston
12. “California style sushi at Sushi Huku – I love it when Jey-san gets creative
13. General Tso’s sweetbreads at McCrady’s
14. Mirza Ghasemi (eggplant/tomato puree)at Sufi’s
15. Crudo at Customshop, Charlotte
16. I dined many times at Waffle House this year, but this moment was the best. Runner up Waffle House moment: seeing Bill Bellamy at a Columbia location around 1:30AM.
17. Wine dinner at Park 75. They killed it.
18. Blue tilapia at Pura Vida
19. Dessert at Double Zero
20. More awesome Cuban food at Arco Iris
21. Macaroons from Pierre Marcolini, Paris
22. Our forward and fun meal at L’Agape Substance, Paris. This “Caprese salad” rocked.
23. Cabbage root at L’Arpege, Paris
24. Veal wrapped in seaweed risotto at Le Chateaubriand, Paris
25. Spicy potato tapas on the beach at Pez Vela, Barcelona
26. Tuna tartare at Comerc 24.
27. Bean and quinoa bowl at Cakes & Ale Bakery
28. Chicken liver mousse at One Eared Stag
29. Most everything at H&F. There are still occasional misfires, but I always greatly enjoy my meals there. Charcuterie roxed it this particular night.
30. Japanese snapper nigiri with sea salt at Tomo Buckhead
31. Carrot Cake at Ocean Prime
32. Trout/potato/salmon roe pastry at M. Wells / BATON
33. Kimchi fried rice at Miso Izakaya
34. Lamb soup at Xi’an Famous Foods, NYC
35. Eponymous “Fuoco di Napoli” spicy pizza at Fuoco di Napoli
36. Octopus and marrow fusilli at Marea

I drank these. At Woodfire Grill.

After sampling some serviceable but unimpressive sushi at Nakato, I walked next door and the friendly bartender asked, “you eating or drinking or both?”

I slammed my fist on the table, and said “Daggumit, I’m drinking whiskey”.

He replied, “Giddyup.”

Note - None of this actually happened. 

The first drink may have been my favorite – the Indian Summer. Named for the week at hand (it was 70 degrees in Atlanta), the deft touch of chartreuese was perfect. The second one above is the Gentleman Scholar – rye, Lillet Blanc, Cocchi Torino vermouth, apple vinegar. I quite liked the vinegar, but found it a touch sweet.

I can’t recall the name of this one. My one area of feedback is the repetitive use of lemon peel. It tends to dominate the aromatics, I would have liked a variety of garnish.

The owner of All 3 Sports was dining next to me, and they bought me this final drink when I told them I purchased my bike racing wheels at their shop. Google Zipp 1080 and you’ll see why they offered. (That price is for one wheel, mind you). The drink was appropriately named the Bitter End.

An Amaro tasting.

Blake the bearded was my guide for the evening. Not to be confused with the other Blake, the bar manager. He took a lot of time to prepare my drinks and explain certain components. The bar wasn’t too crowded, an ideal situation for a good educational bourbon session. Thanks Blake.

Fuoco di Napoli is now open, with pies made by Enrico Liberato, formerly of Fritti and Antico. Recommended to all you pizza crazies.

Interesting fact – Enrico told me he uses no added yeast in his pasta (dough). Which results in a pie without dough bloat and all flavor comes naturally from the 48 hour ferment.

Full photo set here:

Victory Sandwich Bar. I took photos, you can view them.

“What’s that sign say?”

“No bare feet!”

“What’s that sign say?”

“No fighting.”

Quotes from Caddyshack. If you didn’t get it, you’re fired.

Creamy ricotta dunked in olive oil.

“Beast on yeast”, pot roast sandwich. Excellent!

Chorizo/queso fresco (I forget the cute name). Not a bad selection, but a touch too greasy.

Vegetarian sandwich. The bread was perfect, but the red pepper spread was not for me.

Castro (Cuban – a fine choice) on the far left, Lamborghini on the bottom (pressed Italian with pesto, my favorite), and cold ramen noodles on the right (pass, go for more sandwiches instead).

Show me potato salad!

Not sure what this was. It wasn’t mine. The waiter dropped it down, I took photos, then he realized he had delivered someone else’s order and took it away. Looks good though!

Last night Katie and I tried the new Bell Street Burritos on the Westside. It’s near Flip in the old Social House space, where I once had a stunningly bad breakfast.

Willy’s has been our go-to place on Howell Mill for a quick meal for a long time; It’s close to our home, I think they use fresh ingredients, they’re consistent, and the burritos and beer are inexpensive. This particular location also has a full bar.

The throne is in jeopardy. Not since my last visit to Anna’s in Boston have I day-dreamed of a burrito.

What’s that? You’d like an iPhone photo of a partially eaten pork and green chile burrito? Well tip ‘o the cap to you sir, proceed!

The packed to the brim tortilla is appropriately steamed, dense, chewy and substantial. The shredded pork is tender and moist. Just a hint of heat from the chiles. But the beans! The tender yet firm pinto beans are astoundingly good. I rarely order pintos as they are so often mushy, but these were clearly prepared properly, which is to say, with a watchful eye. The rice was a tad overcooked but one could argue it assists in cohesion. The burrito is massive, by the way, not for the faint of appetite.

We tried the cheese dip and salsas too. They made a good chip selection, substantially thick but not heavy. The cheese dip…is cheese dip, and the green salsa is pleasant, but the thin style red salsa is really fantastic, so flavorful, it’s on point son!

I don’t know if a liquor license is in the works, but if they start offering beer, Bell Street will definitely be up there on my neighborhood rotation.

I quite enjoyed this ramen at Sushi Huku the other day, though I wasn’t clear on the origin of the style. I asked chef Jay and he said it was a pork broth, though it’s not the creamy tonkotsu style where the marrow is released and the collagen breaks down to gelatin and emulsifies with the broth. It was a relatively clear, lighter broth, which was a nice break from heavy tonkotsu ramen. Though, this dish isn’t completely free from sin – the thick, braised pieces of pork shoulder contained a lot of great fat that melted away with each bite.

I don’t know enough about ramen, does anyone know if this is a regional style of ramen, or just a quick and easy take on tonkotsu?

While this ramen definitely constitutes a full meal for less than $9, I couldn’t help but sample a few pieces of sushi. Huku continues to impress. The ikura and uni gunkan maki…oh my.

Earlier today I thought of this lunch when reading Eric Asimov’s article on Sushi Yasuda, his last as NY times restaurant reviewer. He discusses the experience of dining on sushi alone, how it can change and improve the experience, a point I completely understand. The meal turns into an isolated conversation between me and the sushi master. When I’m not screwing around on my iPhone between courses (gotta check those tweets!).

Ocean Prime opened this week in Buckhead, across from Fogo de Chao. I was lucky enough to be invited (lol) to a special twitter tasting at the Cameron Mitchell restaurant, where we sampled some small bites and cocktails. Not really menu items, just some riffs on dishes they offer. I was curious to see what this Ohio based chain was bringing to the table, as it’s not really the best moment for high overhead, carbon copy restaurants in Atlanta. Anyone know how Shula’s is doing? What about that restaurant, what’s it’s name, the place from Boston that sells $40 steaks and frozen Philly cheesesteak egg rolls or some crap. Yeah. I don’t hear a darn thing about those places.

But sometimes these upscale chains have the ability to open all over the country, and low and behold, they are a success! I’m sure the devil is in the details.

Ocean Prime is a seafood and steak restaurant, feeling somewhere between Chop’s and Atlanta Fish Market. High quality ingredients, crafted to your liking. But their hallmark, I was told, is service. The old, “yes is the answer, now what is the question?”. Everyone likes to say they have superlative service, but to maintain it at a high level within a national chain takes a strong and clear culture with an effective chain of command. We saw some of the training, and I talked to the location chef, the regional chef, and we saw the training floor manager commanding her troops. My impression of Ocean Prime was very positive in this regard, and would personally give them a shot at earning my business for this reason.

Though I sometimes make snap judgements as to the viability of a restaurant (see my post on the recently closed LeRoy’s), I never wish a restaurant anything but success, and hope the same for Ocean Prime.

But you should go. Embarrassing for our city, there were walk-in table available. But if necessary, I’d wait for a table. Jen’s already posted on this (she was there a few hours before me, I didn’t see her there), so check her site for more details.

Oyters, coffee sabayon

Apples, cheese

trout, potatoes

foie bread pudding

beef heart tartar

beef tongue pot pie

livers and onions

bread pudding chômeur

Please go and support BATON, and check out M. Wells, whose cuisine was deliciously not like anything Atlantan.