Athens GA: Savannah Room

My University of Georgia colleagues took me to a wonderful lunch at the Savannah Room in the UGA Hotel and Conference Center. The service was very good and the room was the perfect spot to discuss work and academic life. Lunch started with a delivery of rolls; when we demolished this first basket, another promptly appeared. Each basked offered a variety of rolls. I went for one with a soft, pillowy texture.

Next, we shared this huge cheese plate. All of the three cheeses were outstanding. I always enjoy a good blue and this one definitely caught my attention. The plate also showed off Georgia peanuts, Georgia pecans, and a small slice of Georgia honeycomb.

My main course was the excellent mahi mahi on a bed of kale and quinoa. The fish was great and the quinoa bed really hit the spot.

I had to try the room's famous strawberry ice cream pie. Everything about it was outstanding, starting with the homemade, flaky crust. The pie itself is made of a very rich ice cream with a very subtle strawberry flavor. The Georgia strawberry topping brought the strawberry home and played off very nicely against the ice cream. This was a huge piece of cake. I didn't come even close to finishing it. I clearly owe the UGA campus another visit to concentrate on this wonderful pie.

Comments

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)

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

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.

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

Search This Blog