Denver: Guard and Grace

I enjoyed my lunch at Guard and Grace which allowed me an imaginative variety of tastes in a relatively short time and without blowing out my arteries.

I started with a three cheese plate. My favorite was the bleu cheese but all were wonderful; they showed a pleasant variety of textures as well as tastes. The accompaniments included green onions and almonds. The bread had just a bit of char, giving a wonderful charcoal aroma. The texture and smell of charred food was a consistent theme throughout my meal, which was a very astute point of presentation for a steak restaurant such as this.

Guard and Grace mercifully provides small portions of steak at lunch. This was my 4 ounce strip. It was perfectly cooked at medium rare.

My brussel sprouts continued the charred theme. The fuji apple strips on top were a great idea---the provided a great contrast with the brussel sprouts in color, texture, and moistness.

I finished off with an espresso...

And this cheesecake. The graham cracker crust was just a little too thick for my tastes but overall it was excellent.

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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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Pressure Cooker Candied Ginger

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Atlanta etc.: Marilyn Wolf's Food Blog and Restaurant Blog

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