Skip to main content

White House Diner

One of the few benefits of the highway disaster is the excuse to drive through different parts of town and try different places. If all the roads are terrible, I may as well mix things up a bit. The White House Diner is on Peachtree in Buckhead, nestled in the middle of a tiny strip mall that dates from Buckhead's days as a sleepy enclave on the edge of town. The parking lot was packed as I came in with just one spot left. Inside, the place was bustling with activity: customers fueled up and discussed their businesses with each other; servers and cooks moved quickly to prepare the meals. The décor was classic modern Greek diner, complete with pictures of beautiful Greek beaches.

Here is my breakfast: veggie omelet, grits, whole wheat bread. Everything was good. The vegetable selection in the omelet was one of the best I've had in awhile. The tomatoes were a special hit with their tartness. My server was friendly and smiling and kept the coffee coming.

Buckhead is in the middle of a radical transformation from prosperous suburb to something more like a cross between Rodeo Drive and Century City in Los Angeles. Not everything has changed. The White House is still here; you can still take a short stroll after breakfast to shop for guns and stereo equipment. I hope that the future doesn't completely steamroll the past in Buckhead. Some things are good just as they are.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eating Around Georgia Tech: Ecco

Our Texas Instruments colleague Cathy Wicks was gracious enough to host several of us at Ecco tonight. This is one of those restaurants that has been on my list for a long time. Even though it is within easy walking distance of Georgia Tech, I hadn't made it there until tonight. The menu is a combination of Italian, Spanish, and French that make use of some local Georgia ingredients. The combination of those three countries is sometimes a little forced, although the georgia ingredients (fruit, cheese) were all great and perfectly appropriate. We started out with a meat and cheese board. This actually reverses the French tradition, where cheese usually follows the main course. Everything was excellent. The Georgia cheese was a big hit, as was the French cow/goat cheese. I thought the sauscisson was very subtle and very good. The waitress said that the roast pork pasta was their signature dish, so I had to try it. It had traditional broad pasta (fresh, of course) ...

DCA: Cava Mezze Grill

Cava is a DC area chain with light Mediterranean food. Saibal encouraged me to try lunch at their airport location and I was very happy with the experience. I ordered falafel on SuperSalad with assorted other toppings. The falafel was tasty. The SuperSalad was light, flavorful, and very easy to eat. Overall, a healthy and enjoyable lunch, something you can't always say about airport eating.

Pressure Cooker Candied Ginger

I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...