What I Ate in Atlanta

Hey guys!

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!

As always, a big thank you to the gorgeous Jenn for hosting our weekly party! Be sure to head over to Peas & Crayons and check out everyone else’s link ups this week!

Oh, and can I get a round of applause for actually posting on the right day this week? Sorry about the confusion last MONDAY…I blame it on the zombie brain!

As promised in yesterday’s post, I will tease you no longer…it’s time to see all the deliciousness that was my Atlanta trip this weekend, butΒ I’ll warn you…you may want to grab a napkinsponge…mop! πŸ˜‰

Laura did an amazing job of introducing Allie and me to a wide variety of eats this weekend, but I have to say out of everything, the most memorable was our dinner at Pushstart Kitchen on Friday night…

Remember that mouth-watering menu?

Well, like I mentioned yesterday, before the meal even got started, my mind was already blown!

These masa cakes were more than just fried corn flour with a mayonnaise dipping sauce… soft on the inside, crisp and crunchy on the outside and the spices in the tomato aioli were the PERFECT compliment to the buttery flavor!

And the starter cocktail was perfect as we came in from the chilly night air…a mix of rum, honey sauce, and lemon which was combined with hot black tea!

First course: Bacon & Apple Fritters with pickled apple, white cheddar, and shaved fennel

The fritters again satisfied my love of contrasting textures with a soft pillowy inside surrounded by a crunchy exterior that still provided enough give to soak up the swirls of sauce and cheese!

Served alongside a glass (or two) of chardonnay. πŸ˜‰

Second Course: Seared beef flank with burnt shallots, crispy potatoes, romesco, and dandelion chimichurriΒ 

The steak was SO tender, the shallots SO sweet, the potatoes moist and delicious…and I swear I could have drunk a gallon of the romesco!

Served alongside a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon which I was surprised that I liked. I’m really more of a white girl…like seriously, you should see me dance! πŸ˜‰

Third Course: Coffee tires leche with Evan Williams ice cream, candied macadamias, and hot fudge

I am a tres leche virgin NO MORE! And for this to be my first experience? Oh my gosh, I’m pretty sure I had an out-of-body experience with this one! The coffee addition was perfect…not overpowering to the other flavors at all. I loved how the whiskey-spiked ice cream soaked into the cake and meshed with all the flavors. And the candied macadamia nuts? I don’t even like macadamia nuts, but these were on a whole other level!

Served alongside a glass of sparkling wine.

And just when I thought the meal was over…

Fourth Course: Cajeta de coco (Costa Rican coconut fudge)

Soft and truffle like on the inside with an outside covered in crushed vanilla cookies it was enough to put me over the top…so I had TWO! πŸ˜‰

Served with (some REALLY strong) apple moonshine.

The next night, Allie wasn’t feeling so well, but she urged Laura and I to continue with our dinner plans for the evening. With assurances to rush home with tummy pills if need be, we headed out to Barcelona Wine Bar for a night of tapas…

Grilled okra in chorizo oil and fresh bread

The okra had that fantastic burnt flavor you get from a well seasoned grill and paired with the spicy chorizo oil? Well, we may or may not have lapped it up with our bread instead of using the olive oil that was given to us! πŸ˜‰

Ceviche
(Red snapper and shrimp)

My first ever…tasted like cocktail shrimp, but the sauce it was in was beyond amazing…a little sweet, a little spicy…the perfect compliment to the cool temperature of the dish.

Caramelized brussel sprouts with bacon, shallots, and thyme and grilled hangar steak with black truffle sauce

Those were the best damn brussel sprouts I’ve ever put in my mouth! And a bite of steak and the brussels at the same time? With the truffle sauce? HEAVEN!!

For our “dessert”, we decided to keep it light…

Idiazabal cheese with red grapes and quince jam

The cheese had a fantastically smokey flavor that went great with the sweetness of the grapes and jam.

Of course, Mr. Hot Bartender had other plans for how we ended our meal that night…

Neither one of us is a huge fan of flan, but we each had a couple of bites…because c’mon, you never turn down free dessert…especially when it comes from a Paul Rudd look-alike!

Before Allie and I headed back to Tennessee on Sunday, we all decided to hit up
Dulce Vegan for lunch…you know, just to balance out all that carnivorous fare! πŸ˜‰

Allie ordered the tempeh-based chicken salad:

Which she raved about.

While Laura and I decided to split the soup and sandwich combo.

Butternut squash soup with a few dashes of Chohula
(which I am now addicted to…thanks Laura!)

TLT (Tempeh Lettuce & Tomato)
with chipotle aioli and a side of apple fennel slaw

The slaw was just okay…I think it could have used a bit more spice, but the sandwich was incredible…the chipotle aioli was perfect next to the smokey tempeh!

And of course, it was even better dipped in my soup! πŸ˜‰

Then Allie and I picked out a scone and tea for the road and we were off!

Lavender chocolate chip scone and cherry amaretto tea

I’ll admit, after a couple of bites, I was already thinking of ways I could turn this scone into a panCOOKIE! πŸ˜‰

Β What’s the last NEW food you tried? Did you like it?

What is your favorite ethnic dessert?
I’ve always loved sopapillas but I’m definitely going with tres leches now! πŸ˜€

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30 Responses to What I Ate in Atlanta

  1. So I was going to write a food recap on Friday… but can I just cut and paste you post? LOL! Thank you again for letting me drag you around on food adventures all weekend. You were SO much fun to dine with. Just let me know when you’re ready for round 2. I’ll even make you another “special” tea. πŸ˜‰

  2. Tres leches? I’ve heard of it before but never had it. Maybe you should turn that dessert into a pancake/panCookie ;)?!

    Hm, as for my favourite ethnic dessert – though I’m not sure if it qualifies – I’d have to go with Apple Strudel. But only the “real” one with a suuuper thin pastry so the filling shines through – and I know how much work that is having tried it myself.
    But if ice cream in general counted as ethnic Italian food I’d totally go with that one :D.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Mmm, now THAT would be one hell of a stack of pancakes! Of course you’d probably slip into a coma with all that sugar first thing in the morning! LOL

      I have a secret…I’ve never tried apple strudel. And ice cream is most definitely ethnic…Italian = Gelato! πŸ˜€

  3. Some amazing eats…the coconut fudge sounds amazing!!! Good call on the soup and sandwich combo, love splitting lunch with friends..more room for snacks! πŸ™‚

  4. Wow, you sure ate really well this weekend, although given your company, it should be no surprise. I think I would have died and gone to foodie heaven. It all looks great, especially Mr. Bartender. I hope you got his number. πŸ˜‰

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Ugh, I got his “facebook”…I swear I’ve been out of the dating loop for too long…is that how we do things now? Because now we’re facebook “friends” and I have no idea what to do! Lol

      PS, I think I actually DID die a couple of times…especially after my first bite of tres leches! πŸ˜‰

  5. Wow! You girls can EAT!!! Looks like great fun!

  6. Jessie says:

    I don’t even know what to say.. yes, i’m at loss of words! All I can say is DELICIOUS! I mean really, just look at all those awesome dishes!!!

  7. Yay, Atlanta is my home town! πŸ™‚ Everything looks delicious! Glad you had a great time!

  8. katie says:

    So happy you got it right this week, haha! πŸ™‚

    Looks like you ate VERY well in Atlanta! Loving all the food pics!

    Last new food I tried, nothing new sadly! Maybe soon? πŸ˜‰

    Happy Wednesday love!

  9. Ang says:

    Those dishes look amazing. I’m not a meat eater, but the food still looked great. πŸ™‚

  10. Mmmm, sounds like foodie paradise! Of course, sometimes I’m sort of plain, like today – I have to admit that just the cheese and the glass of cab are what’s got me drooling. haha

  11. Oh my gosh you guys ate some good stuff over the weekend! That coconut fudge looks so good… you should try to recreate it! πŸ˜‰ Also that steak from the wine bar looks perfectly rare – just the way I like it!

    The last new food I tried was a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte yesterday… I was really excited to try it, but I didn’t really like it! It was soooo sweet and tasted really fake! πŸ˜›

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Even BETTER…I got the recipe! I’m hoping to try it out this week for Thanksgiving! πŸ™‚ And the steak was beyond perfect! I swear I can STILL taste it!

      Starbucks let me down on the PS lattes a while ago…I got tired of the disappointment so now I just make my own! πŸ˜€

  12. Lee says:

    I took my mom to Barcelona Wine Bar the last time she visited. It was delicious. I need to go back.

  13. Kristina says:

    I wish I could have been there – sounds like you all had some fun and good eats. that cajeta de coco… Mmm…

  14. Allie says:

    Still bummed I had to miss OKRA. Ah, well, I’ll just dream of masa flour and aioli instead–and keep my mop handy while I do so. Can’t wait to see the pancake version of that scone–I’m so in love with the idea of a lavender pancake now. Definitely feel like that needs to be served with some classy tea. Maybe you can come make them in Nashville ;D Not so subtle hint…

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Heck yeah! I’ll trade you lavender pancakes for a good drag show! πŸ˜‰ And yes, there must be some classy tea involved!

      Mmmm, masa cakes! Man I need to learn how to make those!

  15. Farrah says:

    Wow, everything looks amazing. I made some tres leche cupcakes for my sisters birthday a few weeks ago. So good!

  16. Gee – I think I just had an out-of-body experience while reading this post!! Sweetgoodness, hallelujah for all this amazing food! πŸ˜› πŸ˜›

  17. Wow. Just wow! Everything looks so good, and the coconut fudge? Be still my heart.

  18. The tempeh chicken salad looks so much like the real thing! Happy WIAW!:)

  19. Jennifer says:

    Happy WIAW! Wow! It all looks so good. The butternut soup looks tasty. I feel the same way about flan, I am glad to know I am not the only one. πŸ™‚

  20. Seriously, no joke, I cannot choose just one thing. They all look amazingly divineee! Talk about good eats girl! Fave ethnic dessert: hm, I’m stumped! I wonder if chocolate lava cake is any country’s signature dish? I’ll have to check into that πŸ˜›

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  22. I remember my first tres leches experience…it happened to be on a yacht on the Panama Canal, but you know, we can’t all be jet setters. πŸ˜‰

    SO much deliciousness…yum to ceviche! When I was in Costa Rica, I pretty much exclusively ordered whatever ceviche was on the menu. I have, even in my vegan ways, veered off of the herbivorific path for a ceviche…

    And romesco! YUM. I need to make that again.

    I can just keep going through every photo and writing commentary, or I can just end by saying I wish I could have been there, too. πŸ™‚

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Ahhh, to start a story with…”That time I was on a yacht in the Panama Canal…” I hope you had on a flowy scarf and oversized sunglasses! πŸ˜‰ And you’ve been to Costa Rica? Sheesh, I need to get out more! Haha!

      That was also my first romesco experience…annnnnnnnd I’m pretty sure it has crack in it! πŸ˜‰

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