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

Fairmount Bagel is a classic bagel bakery---you walk in, order, pay, and walk out with a bag of bagels. That is, you stand in line, patiently waiting for your chance to buy these bagels. The line afforded me the chance to watch the bagel-making process. The wood fired oven is carefully tended. Bagels sit on long, thin boards so they can be put in and taken out quickly. The bagel maker stood in front of a huge mound of dough almost as big as he was, cutting it into strips, then into pieces, and rolling them into shape. I watched as he took the long, thin piece of dough and twisted it into a circle with one hand, then effortlessly twisted the ends together. Practice does, indeed, make perfect. I was very impressed with this bagel. It has just enough of the taste of the wood-fired oven to delight the tongue. The crust is very crusty. The inside is soft and tender while maintaining the essential bagely chewiness. The onion on top was a wonderful savory complement to the bread...

St.-Viateur in the Mont Royal district is a busy, thriving bagel café. Their woodfired oven turns out a constant stream of bagels. I decided to eat in and have a light meal. This is the classic, with salmon, cream cheese, and a healthy dose of capers. The bagel itself was a pretty classic bagel, slightly chewy but still very soft. The salmon was of excellent quality and with a very subtle taste. It's amazing that the capers didn't stand out more, so I guess they got the dose right.

I used to live in Cranford back in the 20th century. Back then, it was a nice, sleepy little town. It has evolved into a bit of a foodie town with a restaurants offering a variety of cuisines. But a trip to New Jersey these days demands a pizza run, so I headed to Emma's. It's a fun family-oriented spot. Perhaps this is the future of New Jersey pizza: nicely appointed surroundings serving good pizza at reasonable prices. This is my margherita with sun-dried tomatoes. (Note that the pizza stand is built into the table. I haven't seen that before and it's a nice touch.) The wood-fired oven gave it a nice crust, although a little more char would have been fun. The sun-dried tomatoes gave it a very nice zing. This puppy didn't last long.

I landed at the airport and needed a bite to eat. I was pleasantly surprised by Chickenuevo, a family restaurant masquerading in fast food guise. The service was a little confused but the food was tasty and very well priced. This is my red chile chicken burro. The chicken was very moist and tender. The red chile sauce had a great flavor, a great chile taste without being overly hot. It was pretty big, too.

Why didn't I know about this place? I found out about it from the Alton Browncast, a podcast that I highly recommend. The factory store is located just off the perimeter. It's a real factory, so the location in an industrial park is pretty low key. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the store features tasting and to-go pints of ice cream; don't expect to drop by for a sundae. I tried three flavors. The banana chocolate had a wonderful banana taste; the coffee was a much more subtle coffee taste than I've ever had in an ice cream; and the vanilla sel de mer was sublime. In addition to superb flavors, the texture was perfect. I happened to visit during a factory tour, so I hopped on. It was led by the chef and very enjoyable. This is very much handcrafted ice cream. They also spend a lot of their time on custom orders for local restaurants and we heard some very interesting stories of unusual requests. We also got to try yet more ice cream straight out ...

I've been waiting for Yum Bunz to open---the "coming soon" sign has tempted me for months. So I was happy to give the place a try. The interior has great graphics---is that a must in restaurant design these days? The staff was helpful and the service efficient. My bun was filled with chicken. Although it was perfectly OK, this was the part of the meal that I found least inspiring. The filling had a little too much sauce for my taste; it was advertised as spicy but I didn't find it to be noticeably hot. The dumplings were extremely fresh off the pan. The filling was fine but not exciting. Overall, I would rate this as a good local lunch stop but not a substitute for the Chamblee dim sum scene.

I was predisposed to like Chick-a-Biddy but I was a little disappointed by my visit. The space, located in a prime part of Atlantic Station, was very nice, with lots of windows and a good graphic design. Gallon jugs of Tabasco sauce decorated the kitchen shelves. The service, unfortunately, was disorganized and scattered: getting a table took far too long; my request for a utensil took several iterations, starting with a server who told me he would get it and then never returned. I tried the grilled chicken skewer. The skewer is barely visible under the salad, but trust me it's there. I like the concept of this dish, but something about the buttermilk salad dressing---the dill, perhaps---wasn't too my taste. The chicken itself was fine but I wish it had been just a little more succulent.