And so it is Wednesday.
And on Wednesday, we talk about food, right Jenn? I know I said that this past weekend was so much more, but what kind of food blogger would I be not to showcase some of the amazing eats Laura introduced me to while in Atlanta? And even if my wine-clouded memory doesn’t serve me so well, I’ve still got pics that are burning a hole in my pocket computer! 😉
We started the weekend right with a meal at Chateau de Saigon, a Vietnamese restaurant in Atlanta that I kid you not has a TEN PAGE menu! I’ve already waxed poetic about this sweet and sour soup so I won’t repeat myself…oh YES I WILL! You guyyyyyys, it was amazing! I could’ve eaten the entire pot (that was seriously the size of a small child). Good news is, the lovely Sarah with her amazing multicultural abilities did mention she might attempt to recreate this beauty. Now I just need to go all Fun with Dick & Jane and steal me some elephant ear plants from the church up the street. Don’t worry, God will forgive me…it’s for a good cause! 😉
Luckily (surprisingly?) I was able to practice some restraint and only served myself up a little bowl because the entree that Laura and I ended up sharing was a thing of beauty!
When we checked the reviews online (because of course we were Googling stuff trying to figure out what it was! Ha!), the Shaken Beef came highly recommended…and it did NOT disappoint! Juicy bits of filet mignon sautéed with scallions and onions and simmered in some sort of soy-based sauce that was incredible…and the pickled cabbage and carrots were pretty damn tasty too!
We also ordered a side of “burnt” rice. Though I’m not a big fan of rice, after hearing Laura describe it (and knowing she’s not a big fan either), I couldn’t help my curiosity. Verdict? Umm, it tasted like burnt popcorn! Haha!
But as delicious as this dinner was, it doesn’t even BEGIN to compare to what went down on Saturday night!
After picking up Sarah and “The Professor”, we met up with Sarena and her husband, Tony aka “The Illustrator” at Brick Store Pub where it literally took me TWENTY minutes to make a drink selection (seriously, the bottle menu was about 20 pages AND leather bound…they don’t play around with beer here, folks!!). Later on that night, we made our way down the street to No. 246 for dinner. It was a bit of a wait, so we decided to order some appetizers (and wine) to help pass the time.
Toasts with meats: Prosciutto (I STILL can’t spell that right on the first try!), sausage, and bresaola and cheeses: a pecorino and two types of goat cheeses. It also came with some ahhhhh-mazing balsamic-glazed onions, mustard, and pickles which are on the other side of Sarena’s salad…
Arugula topped with strawberries, dates, marcona almonds, dressed with balsamic. It also came with chevre but they gladly omitted it for our Non-Dairy Queen! 🙂
And did I mention that we ordered some wine?
It ended up being every bit of the hour-long wait we were told, but honestly with the good food and the good company (and the bottle of wine), time flew by! Once we were seated, we met Neil, our waiter, entertainer, the target for drunken flirting for the evening. 😉
Laura and I ordered the house special to share: S-shaped pasta topped with ground octopus (yeah, I was JUST as intrigued!), breadcrumbs, and some green stuff. Honestly, I was pretty underwhelmed with this dish and I can’t remember what Laura thought, but the next thing I know, I’m looking at THIS…
That my friends would be agnolotti pasta with PORK BELLY, candied kumquat, and chives(?)…yeah, I’m pretty sure those are chives! All I remember is literally having to catch my breath after the first bite! Let it be known, I am editing my previous claim of never being a fan of pasta because I am totally a fan of (and would make love to) HOMEMADE pasta…especially when there’s BACON!!
The rest of the night was a whirlwind of laughs, cheers, and a vague recollection of having “breakfast” at Waffle House. Basically…one HELL of a night! I may have paid for it the next day when I had to go to WORK 😯 , but hey, you only live once right?
Be sure to hop on over to Peas & Crayons and check out all the other food-loving link ups today, but I’ll doubt they’ll be able to compete with all this food porn! 😉
What’s the best thing you ate last weekend?
