Flowery Branch: Fini's Pizzeria

Fini's is a delightful surprise on I-985. It's located in the mall near the highway in Flowery Branch. The menu and atmosphere are that of the kinds of restaurants I used to eat at in New Jersey. In the Northeast, many pizzerias also offer a full menu and table service in a homey atmosphere. The owners, as it turns out, are from Italy. Italian-American food culture is distinct from Italian food. I suspect that the owners made a stop in the Northeast before moving down here. The staff was very helpful and friendly.

I forgot to take a photo of my salad. It was very fresh with non-iceberg lettuce, vegetables, and nice little tomatoes. The oil and vinegar dressing was light and refreshing.

My server also brought out some bread knots with sauce. The sauce was very good; it nicely balanced sweetness and tartness.

Here is my eggplant parmesan. The eggplant was very tender on the inside. The crust was nice and crunchy. The portions were very neatly cut and coated. I used my sauce from the knots on top. This was a very satisfying meal. I will make this a frequent stop on my trips to the mountains.

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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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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

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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.

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

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