Chamblee: Cafe 101

Cafe 101 is very well-known among both the Chinese community in Atlanta and the general eating public. It has a Taiwanese spin, which particularly shows up in the desserts, as we will see in a minute.

My favorite dish there is the basil chicken. It's a pretty subtle dish: the basil and some sweetness in the sauce are counterbalanced by heat from peppers and astringency from garlic. As you can see, it's served in a hot pot, so you get some sizzling action as well. I've never seen this anywhere else and I really enjoy it.

Although I didn't get dessert today, I've had their desserts on many occasions. This is where the Taiwanese spin is most visible. Taiwan, because of its warm climate, has wonderful fruits of all varieties. Cafe 101's desserts combine various fruit slices with shaved ice, tapioca, and condensed milk. It's extremely refreshing and should be healthier than your average dessert.

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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)

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