During a gas stop at Green River, I discovered that this town is the world melon capital. Keep in mind that this part of the country isn't just desert---it is so forbidding that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid used this territory to hide from the law. Of course, I had to try some. Vetere is a long-standing grower with a stand very convenient to the highway.
The proprietior was very friendly and encouraged me to try samples. She explained that the melons are picked every day; workers unloaded the truck while I was there. These are, quite simply, the best melons I have ever had. I bought a Crenshaw because I don't think I had ever tried one before. Once I arrived at my hotel room, I devoured half of it immediately and saved the rest for the next day. The melon was sweet but not overpowering, juicy, and very silky in texture. The texture as much as anything else signals the freshness of these melons.
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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