Rooftop Fun at Six Feet Under Westside

Fried Okra platter.

Not long ago I was invited to a fabulous networking event on the rooftop deck of Six Feet Under - Westside. I had not been to this location previously and truly enjoyed the experience. The food and atmosphere was delightful as was the good company. The spicy rat toes were especially tasty as was the horseradish-dill sauce served with the addictive homemade potato chips. The view of midtown Atlanta is spectacular (sorry - no photo!).

Spicy Rat Toes - that's baked jalepeno peppers stuffed with shrimp and wrapped in bacon, served with Ranch dressing.



Housemade potato chips with delicious horseradish-dill sauce.

PP Event at Buckhead Westin

Calvin's new favorite celeb: Lizz Winstead.

Calvin and I were lucky enough to attend the Planned Parenthood Living Legends Celebration at the Westin - Buckhead. In addition to a lovely meal, we were treated to the hilarious political comedy of Lizz Winstead, co-creator of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show". Boy was she funny and I think Calvin has a new favorite celebrity!

We were served a delicious dessert including an edible chocolate cup that I found blog-worthy.

Truffles Birthday Lunch

The cutest creamer!

My law firm celebrate several birthdays at the new Truffles Cafe, formerly Ruby Tuesday, on Lenox Road across from Lenox Square. While I am usually hesitant about chain restaurants, Truffles made an overall good impression. While the restaurant is owned by the same parent company that owns Ruby Tuesday, there are only four locations - three of which are in the Hilton Head area.

The Atlanta location offers valet parking and includes a nice bar. The place was pretty crowded when we visited, a popular spot for business lunches. We had excellent service during our visit and the food was surprisingly good, although nothing too out of the ordinary. The coconut shrimp were quite tasty and I loved the frozen Oreo pie. Otherwise the food I tasted was OK but not great - the sweet potato fries were not piping hot and one person who ordered the chicken pot pie declared it bland.

We admired the cow creamers so much the manager let one member of our party buy one at a very reasonable price - very nice! Overall I recommend Truffles for those who are not very adventurous or for a group or business meal. I have not tried their dinner service so if I do I will update this post.

Coconut Shrimp.

Spinach salad with Chicken.

Crab cake with Sweet Potato Fries.

BBQ Chicken.

Chicken Pot Pie.

Key Lime Pie and Oreo Ice Cream Pie.

Googie Burger at Centennial Park

Several weeks ago I was able to take some of my co-workers to Googie Burger's opening media event. Googie is inside downtown Atlanta's Centennial Park and provides a nice alternative to the nearby CNN food court. My favorites: the Flyin' South chicken sandwich and, believe it or not, the veggie burger. The chicken sandwich has a kick to it, with spicy batter, hot sauce and blue cheese slaw on top. A definite winner. The veggie burger was better than most renditions I've tasted, prepared in house and topped with BBQ sauce and pepper-jack cheese. The hand cut fries were not bad either.

The burgers were tasty, too, although the beefy pig was a little too hefty for me, with smoked pork and bacon on top! One complaint from my entire table involved the iced tea: the sweet iced tea was too sweet, with little tea flavor and the unsweetened tea was watery, with little tea flavor. Some improvements should be made here.

We did enjoy three varieties of milkshake: a perfectly passable vanilla, a delicious peach and a wonderful peanut butter and jelly, although not much jelly could be tasted. The PB&J tasted even better frozen at home and eaten like ice cream. Googie also serves beer, wine and spiked milkshakes, a unique offering.

Googie's name comes from a distinct type of architecture, which features a bold look and wild angles. If you're in Centennial Park, you won't miss it!

Yours truly with Googie Burger's chef.

BBQ in Heflin, Alabama

BBQ, slaw and Brunswick Stew.

A few weeks ago I found myself meeting with someone for work in the middle of nowhere - midway between someplace in Alabama and Atlanta. With a little research, I came up with Marie's BBQ House as a good meeting point.

For this area, not a bad choice. I really liked the Brunswich stew more than the BBQ and wished I had ordered a bowl instead of the plate. The slaw contained too much mayo for my taste and the pulled pork was not memorable. They have homemade looking desserts, including something I've never heard of - a boiled cookie - but after eating the above I did not have room for dessert.

Cafe at Pharr Update - Still Delicious and a Lunch Favorite

Trio of chicken salads. I like it when I can share the curry and walnut.

I was invited by fellow blogger Malika to sample the delicious and healthy lunch options from Cafe at Pharr with her a few weeks ago at the original location on Pharr Road - see Malika's post here. I've posted about this place before here and it is still as good as ever! We spoke with owner, Johnny, about the cafe's growth and including additional locations in Buckhead and Brookhaven.

The croissant is heavenly! And those yogurt rolls still hit the spot - just the right touch of sweetness to finish off the meal. everything here is so fresh - that's why I love it! The chocolate chip cookies are great, too.

Curry chicken salad sandwich on fresh bread.

GAWL Annual Dinner at Atlanta's Il Mulino

Antipasto table - yum!

This year's annual dinner for the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL) was held in the atrium outside the entrance to Il Mulino, a fairly new outpost of the New York Italian restaurant that opened in downtown Atlanta about a year and a half ago.

The best part: the do-it-yourself bruschetta and the Parmesan chunks. Apparently these items are delivered to regular diners at their tables inside the restaurant as well. The bread selection was also good and I enjoyed the dessert sampler platter - especially the tiramisu.

As for the rest of the food, it was fine, but certainly fell victim to the problem most restaurants encounter when serving a plated dinner to a large group: the food tasted and looked like it had been sitting. For awhile. Still, I really enjoyed this venue and appreciate the creativity of the team that chose this place over other more commonly used locations. I'd like to try a meal inside the restaurant sometime to see how their usual service/menu/food presentation differs from the large group meal.

Caesar salad - decent but nothing special.



Sole and chicken in a lemon sauce - unfortunately sitting a little too long before being served - typical when dinner is being served to a large group.



Dessert selection including good tiramisu.

Lunch at Miller Union

Seasonal vegetable plate.

We recently celebrated an office birthday lunch at Miller Union in west Midtown. The focus here is on seasonal, local ingredients, so the menu changes frequently. We all enjoyed our choices for lunch, especially the oyster po' boy rendition, which I believe has been replaced with shrimp thanks to the oil crisis and the roasted pork sandwich. The radish and Feta cheese snack is a fresh, colorful way to begin the meal and the vegetable plate pictured above was so colorful and full of taste. The space is rustic, with high ceilings and a nice long bar. I also liked the homemade soda option - and the rhubarb was just different enough but still sweet in a way that embodies the quintessential summer non-cocktail. Service was a bit haphazard and we waited far too long to order - at dinner I don't mind a slower pace but for a work lunch, it should be obvious that we can't stay all day. I look forward to trying Miller Union for dinner, including their monthly communal Harvest Dinner, held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

Entrance at the corner of 10th St. and Brady Avenue in West Midtown.

Homemade rhubarb soda.

Chicken salad sandwich.

Chilled watercress soup and radish and Feta snack.

Fried oyster sandwich (now replaced with fried shrimp).

Roasted pork sandwich.

We also sampled cinnamon and chocolate ice cream sandwiches for dessert. So simple, yet so satisfying - a perfect end to a birthday lunch.

Rosebud

Buttermilk Fried Springer Mountain Chicken.

I am very pleased with Rosebud's transformation since it changed from Food 101. While some of the same dishes remain, the menu is revamped and in my opinion, offers much more than before. I've been for brunch and lunch now, and both meals were pleasing. The folks in my office celebrated at Rosebud for lunch when I took these photos. I definitely plan on returning soon for another meal. I also like that they have floats and Mexican Coke - a real treat!

Blue Plate Special: Slow Roasted Chicken with green beans and mac and cheese with dried cranberries - sounds odd but was very tasty.



Soups, from left: New England Clam Chowder, Butternut Squash Soup and Sweet Potato Soup (actually not sure which is which, but both were delicious).



Fried Egg Sandwich with good Fries.



Seared Scallop and Local Arugula Salad - yum, and glad they are concentrating on the "local".



Drunken Cherry Bread Pudding - look at the cute milk pitcher!



Mexican Coca-Cola Cake - delicious.

OK Cafe

Mushroom, green pepper and onion omelet.

This Buckhead classic is a rush in the early morning with business meetings - I had no idea there would be a wait at 8 AM! OK Cafe's egg dishes and bacon were tasty, although the omelet lacked the flavor I was hoping for as the filling was not cooked well enough or with enough seasonings. I'm also not a fan of pancakes without real maple syrup. Enough said. Still, I liked the down-home atmosphere and we had a pleasant business meal. Service was also prompt once we were finally seated. A nice touch: they give you a small tootsie roll with your check!

Pancakes with bacon.

Basic breakfast: potatoes, eggs and bacon.