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

I took an early morning walk down Waikiki Beach to enjoy the sunrise. It was a very enjoyable walk. Hawaiians rise early, the better to enjoy the surf. I stopped for breakfast at LuLu's, just across the street from the beach. The second floor location gives a superb view. My veggie omelet was homey and satisfying. This is good, coffee house style food. And what a view...

Anne, Chris and I enjoyed a superb dinner at Alan Wong's. When we asked the hotel bellman for a cab to ALan Wong's, he said "Wow, that's the best restaurant on the island." He was certainly correct. The exterior is very, very low key so don't be surprised when you arrive. The elevator to the third floor restaurant gives you a peek at what awaits. Anne and I ordered the tasting menu while Chris went with a risotto. We were offered a choice of two breads to start; of course I had to try both. The first course was a small pork sandwich with a cup of tomato soup. The sandwich was a perfect little slider. Anne shows us the second course, a wonderful combination of lobster and shrimp. The next course, a red snapper, was truly spectacular. The fish was perfectly cooked, most likely sous vide. The sauce combined ginger and coconut to create a taste that was both striking and rich. Here is Chris's silky risotto. The short rib's soy-based s...

Chris, Anne, and I relaxed after CVPR with views and appetizers at The Signature. This is the rooftop restaurant of the Ala Moana Hotel. The views of Honolulu Bay and Waikiki made a nice change after being in meeting rooms all day. We sampled two appetizers. First, the raw tuna was delicate and kissed with soy sauce. Second, the calamari was very tender on the inside with a light but crispy coating on the outside.

My cab driver from the airport recommended Wailana Coffee House. His recommendation turned out to be outstanding. It is in a low-key setting across from the Hilton on Waikiki. Inside, it is classic mid-century coffee shop. The food is excellent and the service everything you expect from a coffee shop experience---warm and generous. My cab driver also pointed out an organic papaya tree growing next to the highway so I decided to try some here. I don't eat papaya often and I really enjoyed it. Like all great fruits, it combines sweetness and acidity in the right mix to give a bright, clean taste. The texture was soft and inviting. My omelet was perfectly cooked. The green peppers were the standout filling---clearly very fresh with a nice snap and vibrant taste. The potatoes were excellent as well. I enjoyed my experience so much that I went back for dinner the next day. My Portugese soup was hearty with a nice taste of beans. My pork tenderloin was just right, crun...

This has been a big year for cherries and the large crop has stimulated my curiosity. I decided to make cherry turnovers, something I haven't tried before. The turnover dough is a pie dough with the addition of sour cream. The result is a very rich and soft dough. Here are some turnovers being assembled. And yes, I didn't make these very regular. I probably should have sealed them a little more thoroughly, too. But boy, they sure taste good. I made some right away for a breakfast treat. The rest went into the freezer for future breakfasts, one of which happens to be today. My beauty is cooling as I type.

Eating breakfast at airports is a hit-or-miss affair. The majority of airports have very limited options, notably carb-heavy, for travelers who arrive for early morning flights. A happy exception to this rule is Seattle. I recently ate breakfast at Anbthony's, located in the central hall at SEA. My veggie omelet was very fluffy; the home fries gave the perfect balance of carmelization and creamy centers; and the blueberry coffee cake was a great. Now consider my sad little morning repast at San Jose's airport. I did arrive a little earlier to SJC but I saw no indication that my options would have been substantially better an hour later. Why so many minimal, not-so-good breakfasts at airports? Isn't breakfast The Most Important Meal of the Day? Am I the only person who wants a balanced morning meal with protein as well as carbohydrates? Do all those road warriors who crowd the hotel gyms at 6 AM put up with these unhealthy breakfasts? Or do they perhaps carry s...

Tom and I decompressed from our all-day meeting with an outstanding dinner at Original Joe's in downtown San Jose. This restaurant is distinct from the Original Joe's which sprang from San Francisco and spread across the Bay Area. It is a classic Italian steakhouse: wood paneling, padded seats, gracious service, big steaks. The place was packed; the clientele was not the computer crowd but seemed to be the more traditional residents of San Jose. Original Joe's has been here for over 60 years and clearly remains a favorite of the locals. I visited here once many years ago and my fond memories brought me back. The bread was very good. Tom and I both went with a double dose of fat: butter plus olive oil. I ordered what I have dreamed about for the past week, a rich, thick ribeye steak. I added on the fresh mushrooms; the spaghetti was my choice of sides. The steak was of very high quality, marbled with fat, and nicely broiled to medium rare. The mushrooms were out...

I wanted to get out a little for breakfast and get an early start on the day. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Flames. I found that it is a classic coffee shop---comfortable casual booths and tables, hearty American food, lots of coffee, friendly service. Here is my spinach and mushroom omelet. It was nicely done and very satisfying. The hash browns were nice and crunchy. The sourdough bread gave a nice chew. It's good to see that the coffee shop tradition hasn't totally faded away.

Social Policy, a.k.a. So/Po, is in the heart of downtown San Jose. I'm not sure where the name comes from. Their menu includes a big range of coffee drinks plus light, healthy foods. I went with a quinoa oatmeal bowl. As you can see, it was sprinkled with walnuts and a few other goodies. The taste and texture were very different from a straight oatmeal bowl. The quinoa was a star ingredient, not just an add-on. Overall, it was both healthy feeling and tasty. After a transcontinental flight, a little healthy eating feels good.

A beautiful weekend seemed to be a good time for me to check on the state of north Georgia agriculture. The frost that descended across Georgia and South Carolina earlier this year damaged quite a bit of the fruit harvest. Jaemor seemed like a good place to survey the state of the crops. It may be easy to dismiss Jaemor as touristy, but behind that big stand is a big spread of all sorts of crops. And who can pass up their fried pies? This beauty was filled with dried peaches. The result was a marvelous variation on the standard. The dried peaches gave a more intense flavor and denser texture. When I made it over to the produce section, I found that they had good stocks of several varieties of peaches and a big crop of blackberries. I consulted with one of the Jaemor staff, who was very knowledgeable and helpful. Given that my destination for this fruit would be pies, he pointed me to some bargains. The blackberries were labeled as overripe and priced 40% off. The peaches we...

I greatly enjoyed my visits to the Pike Place Market during my visit to Seattle. My breakfast visits taught me that few stalls are open at 7 AM, meaning they don't serve the professional kitchen community. This beautiful display of salmon is at the stall famous for throwing salmon back and forth. I was tempted to ship one of these beauties back but I wasn't sure what I could do in a short amount of time with a fish so big. This plaque honors the Japanese-American families who were removed from the market to internment camps during World War II. I ended up taking home two items I love. First, a pound of hazelnuts. My first idea for these is layered with chocolate on a white cake. Second, three pounds of Rainier cherries. These are subtly sour, just tangy enough. As soon as I arrived home, I used them to make this delicious pie.

I enjoyed the view, the service, and the food at Cutters. Located at the edge of Pike Place Market, it possesses an outstanding view framed by a low-key, modernist interior. This sourdough bread possessed a crispy interior and soft center with that hint of ripeness from the sourdough. This is wild salmon, not raw. It gives itself away by the richer, fuller, slightly gamy taste which I love. Wild salmon is much more common in Seattle than in other parts of the country but even here not all places take the effort to find a wild salmon provider. I appreciate Cutters' authenticity and I really loved my fish. Those greens are garlic stems---who knew? Very thin and delicate with a definite green flavor but no hint from the flavor of their eventual product. My berry cobbler was superb---rich local berries, not too sweet, just enough crust to contrast the fruit.

I enjoyed my breakfast at Daily Grill. I particularly appreciated the fact that they open at 6 AM, allowing me to get an early breakfast to stave off jet lag. My veggie omelet was very well prepared. I ordered it as a straight omelet with mushrooms and tomatoes. The home fries were very well executed, brown and crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

I was in the mood for a quick, easy dinner around the Pike Place Market. My visit to Beecher's fit the bill. They have another location in New York as well as a few in Seattle. They make their own cheese on site and have a variety of cheesey dishes. This is what they bill as the World's Best Mac and Cheese. It was quite good. At least two types of cheese gave a nice combination of smoothness and a bit of tang. The sauce was very creamy without the roux in any way interfering with the cheese. I gobbled it down as I watched the cheese curds swirl in a giant bin in front of me. Overall, this was a touristy experience, but one that was both fun and nourishing.