Empire State South - Atlanta

Super Food with hangar steak.

For my farewell lunch in Atlanta my Atlanta office dined at Hugh Acheson's Empire State South in Midtown Atlanta. I am so glad I had the chance to try this place before we left because it was great and it was a really fun place for a group lunch. The highlights for me included the Super Food salad plate - available with the standard hangar steak, chicken or fish. The farro and radishes on the plate particularly shined but everything really worked together well. The pimento cheese with bacon marmalade was truly out of this world also - a must-try starter. Everyone enjoyed their meal and we enjoyed sharing several desserts to top it off. The brownie ice cream sandwich was a bit too sweet for me but I like how they have baked goods available in the center of the restaurant for eating in or take-out. Several in our party also tried the specialty sourced coffee, which proved to be tasty. The atmosphere here is versatile with an airy, inviting dining space suitable for business, friends or family. I hope to have the chance to have dinner here when I am back in town visiting. Breakfast is also served.

Pimento Cheese with bacon marmalade - delicious!



The bar.



Fish po-boy.



Super Food with Tilapia.



Bratwurst with chips.



Phatty cakes, strawberry cupcake and chess pie.



Ice cream sandwich on brownies!

Cookshop - Great Chelsea Brunch

Butcher Board.

During our stay in New York, we enjoyed a tasty brunch at Cookshop in Chelsea with our fabulous hosts. Even better, we were able to walk to the restaurant from their apartment. After brunch we checked out the High Line Trail and Chelsea Market where I found all sorts of holiday goodies to take back. What fun! The butcher board was my favorite part of the meal. It included country pate, liver mousse, Virginia ham, rabbit rillette and assorted mustards - delicious with warm toasty bread on the side.

The menu.

Poached eggs & housemade pork sausage. Cookshop is big on the pig!

Huevos Rancheros.

Cookshop scramble with smoked salmon.

Der Biergarten VIP Opening Event

Der Biergarten, brings German cuisine and the beer garden atmosphere to Marietta Street's Luckie District. I was invited to the restaurant's grand opening a couple of months ago and really enjoyed the food, special music they had for the event and the atmosphere. This is definitely a unique addition to the Atlanta scene. The restaurant offers over a dozen German draft beers including some cider that I particularly enjoyed.

The food was better than expected!



Too funny to pass up!

Crepes and Sausages - More from Prague

Sausage stand in Prague's Old Town Square.

One of the great things about traveling is trying the local street food, which in Prague, included lots of sausages. We kept thinking about trying one of these tasty-smelling puppies from the street vendor in the old town square, but somehow we never tried one. Calvin did try a sausage from another street vendor elsewhere in Prague and we were underwhelmed at the quality. For some reason I think we'd played up the sausages or else we did not go to the right place.

On the other hand, the crepe place we found and tried one day for a late lunch, was quite tasty, although not up to France standards. I thoroughly enjoyed my dessert crepe and stole a few tastes of the savory crepe also. I promise to post about another destination spot soon!

Crepe with camembert, ham and olives.



Crepe with ice cream, nuts and chocolate sauce, with whipped cream.



Crepe Menu.

Authentic Czech Meal - Doba in Prague

Rustic plate at Doba in Prague. Included pork, sausage, potato pancakes and bread dumplings with two-toned sauerkraut.

Prague was the first stop on our central/eastern Europe tour; we flew directly from Atlanta and arrived in time to find a drunken Irishman (Paul) in our apartment. Things already off to an interesting start. However, considering we were early and Paul was staying there the night before, it was not all that shocking. Still, we've had a good laugh from it - especially the part where he kept repeating to us how it sounded when we rang the bell!

In Prague we had some great food: heavy traditional dishes and some Mediterranean flair from an international cafe. We also found some terrible tourist traps - at one they tried to charge us for potato chips we did not eat and even had the nerve to say they had us on camera! Think again - we argued until they finally removed the charges.

Overall Prague was a very walkable, yet large, city with many sites. In reporting on my trip I will include a few non-food highlights as well as document the spectacular culinary finds. First up, the traditional Czech restaurant, Doba. I found this through Internet research and we found it to be a great choice overall. The main dining room is underground, but there is a garden patio where we sat - a beautiful evening. We tried the dishes pictured and enjoyed each one. The beef, very tender in it's rich gravy, was complemented perfectly by the cranberry sauce - not sure about the whipped cream! We adored the garlic soup, both being huge fans of garlic and the pork platter (called the Rustic Plate) was also tasty. I would definitely recommend getting off the beaten track and finding this place if you are in Prague and want a reasonably priced authentic meal. Read another review here.

Garlic soup.

Beef with gravy, cranberry sauce (yes, it's under the whipped cream) and bread dumplings. Filling and delicious.