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

Today was my day to try The General Muir across from NIH. It's an upscale deli---an interesting concept. Te menu is full of traditional deli items, some with a twist. The décor is bright and sunny, a far cry from the flouresent ambience of a New York deli like Katz's or the Stage. The service was a little reserved but efficient. I tried the veggie Reuben, one of those deli-with-a-twist items. It has two kinds of cheese and sauerkraut. The role of the meat is played by sliced beets. It's a pretty inspired idea; the beets give a meaty taste and texture. The only drawback, and it was a minor one, was that the beets, being much more slippery than meat, kept sliding out of the sandwich.

I dropped by the new BurgerFi location near Emory, across from NIH. It's been open for about two weeks. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The menu has the upscale burger components: a build-your-own-burger section plus some standard combinations to relieve the burden of burger construction planning. But they also have several unusual categories for a burger bar: cupcakes, milkshakes, and beer and wine. This is my basic burger and onion rings. The burger comes with tomato, lettuce, and a mayonnaise-based red sauce. You can't see it very well, but the bun is topped with a BurgerFi brand. The burger experience is pleasantly meaty and satisfying. The onion rings were the star of the show---huge and delicious. How huge? Just compare them to the burger. The owner stopped by and pointed out that the crust doesn't chip off as you eat the ring. He explaine that they use a buttermilk batter to coat the onions. The crust was very crispy and very well seasoned. T...

I've been to Ann Arbor several times over the years but never managed to make to Zingerman's for anything more than a flyby. I was convined to eat there on this trip. Breakfast was my opportunity. And what makes a better breakfast than a reuben? This is the Brooklyn reuben with pastrami substituted for corned beef. I have had the original Reuben at Reuben's in New York. Zingerman's execution is simply at a higher level. "Melts in your mouth" is a cliche but I can think of no better description of my experience eating this sandwich. The cheese and dressing give the foundation of that creaminess, but everything in the sandwich simply melts together into an experience that is really very differen than the sum of its parts. The meat, bread, cheese, dressing are all there but the tastes and textures all combine in a way that is simply more than a sandwich. I was holding it in my hands, but my mouth experienced something closer to a casserole or a roas...

Trev, Jan, and Karem took me to a wonderful evening at West End Grill located, appropriately enough, in the West End. The restaurant still has its old tin ceiling festooned with stained glass chandeliers. I was too hungry to take a picture of our appetizers: crab cakes and bleu cheese tarts. The crab cakes had just a bit of heat to them, something you don't always find in a crab cake but which worked very well. The bleu cheese tarts lived up to their intriguing premise, rich and tangy. This is my caprese salad. The mozzarella, tomato, and basil were all outstanding. The balsamic vinegar had been very well aged, giving it a thick consistency. My main course was tuna, perfectly prepared to a medium well. The tuna left just enough room for a chocolate lava cake paired with decaf coffee. The cake was rich and moist. I kept scraping my plate to be sure I retrieved all of the chocolate.

Chai Pani is the new south Indian spot located in the old Watershed location in downtown Decatur. It's a large, well-lit space that gives the feel of a moderately upscale restaurant, coupled with the casualness of chaat. The service was friendly and very helpful. I started with the matchstick okra fries, which were my favorite. The okra was cut paper thin---I'm very impressed with their slicing technique---and fried to melt in your mouth. The okra flavor comes through extremely clearly. Overall, the taste of fresh vegetables was the consistent theme of the restaurant. A typical chaat restaurant is making fast food and the flavors can get a little lost. The artisanal approach to chaat gives the old standards some real punch. This is a mixed vegetable uttapam. The pancake is thicker than a French crepe and a little thinner than an American pancake, resulting in a hearty meal. The mixture of fresh vegetables on top popped out with vegetable flavor, making a great combinat...

Lunch was my opportunity to try the new Highland Bakery on the Georgia Tech campus. It's located on the back side of Tech Tower. It seems to have already taken its place as a favorite stop for prospective students and their families. The decor is modern, relaxed, and spacious. Although the soup was tempting, I had to try something with bread, so I ordered the caprese sandwich. The bread was perfect all the way down to its light toasting. The cheese and tomato were excellent; a few leaves of basil added a nice contrast. It was filling without being heavy, just what I had hoped for. I also had a sweet potato biscuit for my afternoon snack. It was superb: great sweet potato and nutmeg taste without losing the biscuity texture.

I went back to Ledet for the first time in awhile. It is one of the several Ethopian restaurants on what I think of as Ethiopian Corner at Clairmont and Briarcliff. The service, I must say, was spotty and the bathroom fixtures in need of major repair, but the food was quite good. Ethiopian food has an amazing variety of ways to prepare both meats and vegetables, all with emphasis on sauces. I had the vegetarian platter. The dishes included lentils, beets, leafy vegetables, and one or two things I couldn't identify. Everything was great. The vegetables were all cooked to the proper texture, not too soft and not too chewy. The sauces were all spicy in the best sense, flavorful but not overpowering. And I finally figured out that you can reuse a piece of bread several times, thus saving a little on starch intake.