Rosa Mexicano's Foods of Baja

Conejo de Fideos - deliciously different!

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to try Rosa Mexicano's special Foods of Baja menu, which features culinary advisor Jonathan Waxman's special Baja-influenced menu from now until July 1. I dined at the Atlanta location, which recently welcomed Executive Chef Brad Weideman to the team. Foods of Baja features a fun menu with several really interesting dishes worth trying. My favorites include the lump crab meat tostadas - so much crab meat with interesting flavors that add just the right amount of flavor without being overpowering - and the fideo pasta - special Mexican dried pasta with rabbit, chicken and portabella mushrooms in an wonderfully spicy habanero chile-roasted tomato salsa. This entree is delicious and unusual - definitely a good choice.

All three desserts that we tried were fantastic as well, including the special Baja menu dessert of plum and blackberry compote with crema catalana - very creamy and fruity with crunchy crust bits on top. The churros are seriously one of the best things I've eaten in quite some time (see last photo, below). Calvin also really enjoyed the special drink (Miel de Toronja) with its unique smoky flavor and we had wonderful service from Ramon - what a great waiter! If you are looking for something different to try during the rest of the month, definitely check out the Flavors of Baja menu at Rosa Mexicano.

The Miel de Toronja (left): Herradura reposado tequila, Vida mezcal, honey, fresh grapefruit and lime.



Amuse bouche of seared scallop with slow braised beef short rib - Mexican surf and turf.



Tostada de Jaiba con Coco. One of my favorite menu items!



Zucchini a la Parrilla. Loved the most chile cornbread.

Tacos de Camarones de San Felipe (shrimp tacos)



Our expert guacamole maker.



Spicy guacamole - you can't eat at Rosa without ordering the guacamole!



Salsas and bottomless rice and beans, which accompany every meal.



Compota de Ciruelas y Zarzamoras - tasty plum and blackberry compote with crema catalana.



Pastel de Queso - apple cheesecake with cajeta and candied pecans.



Churros.

Awesome churros with three dipping sauces: chocolate, caramel and raspberry guajillo. We almost didn't order these but luckily Ramon talked us into it and we were not sorry - these are very good. The presentation is also nice - the churros come in a bag with cinnamon and sugar which Ramon shook table side to ensure each churro was coated with a nice layer of sweet goodness. The caramel sauce was my favorite but I also love that the raspberry guajillo has a serious kick!

Disclosure: The meal described in this review was complimentary.

Menchie's Frozen Yogurt

Menchie's mascot.

Menchie's is the closest place to walk for frozen yogurt in our neighborhood. I had seen Menchie's in Atlanta but never actually tried it until we moved to Charlotte. Menchie's offers more flavors that many yogurt shops (flavors rotate) and has franchises in almost every state, Canada and in quite a few other countries. Many of the flavors are certified Kosher, which certainly makes it a popular destination in the Toco Hills section of Atlanta. I prefer the tart yogurts and recently enjoyed some plain tart with fruit from Menchie's. I wish Menchie's would offer a green tea flavor - my absolute favorite! Kids have fun here piling on the toppings and enjoying visits from the mascot! At this location there is even a room for a birthday party. I'm sure we'll be here plenty in years to come - although, a new fro yo place is opening soon less than a block away. Stay tuned.

Leroy Fox - Fried Chicken Heaven!

Fried Chicken Salad - hits the spot.

Leroy Fox (no relation!) is a recent addition to the Cotswold dining scene, occupying the space which previously housed Hotel Charlotte. The focus here is on chicken and from the above fried chicken salad, Leroy Fox has their chicken recipe spot-on. I also tried the shrimp wrap, which included chopped tiger shrimp and bacon. To me the bacon overpowered the shrimp a bit too much but it was delicious nevertheless and the zucchini fries are really something to try. For dessert I tried the tasty brownie sundae with ice cream - a great choice for sharing. I look forward to coming back soon for the whole pieces of fried chicken. Leroy Fox also offers a kids menu and a gluten free menu. They are open late, serve brunch on Sunday beginning at 10 AM, offer live music Thursday through Saturday nights and have wine, beer and cocktails including special brunch cocktails. Next time I might just have to purchase one of their cute fox shirts too!

The old Hotel Charlotte location... transformed into Leroy Fox.



Shrimp wrap with zucchini fries.



Butterscotch brownie sundae - need I say more?



Bar/dining area.



Patio with TV included!

Anntony's Caribbean Cafe

Quarter white meat with rice & peas and cole slaw.

Anntony's Caribbean Cafe on 7th St. was a favorite of my youth. Back then the dining room was much larger but now the restaurant focuses on catering and take-out with a few tables indoors and on the patio. The tangy sauce here is SO GOOD. The waitress told me they had to take the bottles of sauce off the table because people were taking the whole bottle! I love the combination of rice, slaw, sauce and chicken here. So good. Calvin enjoyed his curry chicken as well although the corn bread was a little dry. Try the swank - a tasty nonalcoholic drink that tastes like a combination of lemonade and iced tea. Wing platters, pork chops, pork ribs, collards, and mac & cheese (Monday only) are also offered. Glad to be back in town so I can come back to Anntony's often!

Curry chicken with calypso rice topped with black beans and potato salad.

Fern, Flavors From the Garden

The Fern Salad.

I recently tried Fern, Flavors from the Garden, a purely vegetarian restaurant on Central Avenue. My mom was very excited to bring my grandmother here since she keeps Kosher and does not eat meat when she goes out. Fern is owned by the Something Classic / Halcyon folks. Halcyon is on my "to-try" list and Something Classic is great for lunch - love their new location on East Blvd. and their awesome take-home products and baked goods. Fern's dining room is fairly small, with plants (including ferns of course!) providing a calming decor. Hanging mason jars add to the homey, farm-inspired ambience.

Our experience with Fern was mixed. We wanted to much to love this place but we ended up leaving feeling disappointed. Of course this is based on one meal and I would like to try more of the menu items offered but first impressions mean a lot. Our party of three tried several things, taking recommendations from our somewhat aloof server.

The highlight for me was the fresh Fern salad with cashews and a delicious herbed vinaigrette. Suggestion: serve some bread on the side. With the addition of avocado and cheese (available to add at additional charge) and some good bread, this would really hit the spot. The roasted cauliflower was my second favorite menu item we tried. The pistachio-pepper brittle added a nice sweet crunch and the squash/sun-dried tomato purees provided additional highlights. You can sense the chef's creativity here, which I appreciate.

The disappointments came with the veggie burger and the eggplant/zucchini parmesan. To me the veggie burger was just not that flavorful. I've had veggie burgers made with nuts that tasted so much better. Also the bun was so huge you could not eat this as a burger. I ended up giving half the bun to my mom (to have with her salad) and cutting the rest with a fork. This could easily be fixed with a smaller bun. The NC Hoop cheddar did add a nice flavor to the burger so if you are not vegan I definitely suggest cheese. The quinoa salad tasted like quinoa with lemon juice to me - the balance of flavors was off.

The eggplant/zucchini parmesan sounded so delicious but there were a couple of problems. First, grandma had a really hard time cutting it up in the bowl it was originally served in. The problem was that the eggplant skin was tough to cut and getting to it in the bowl was difficult. We finally asked the waiter to put the dish on a plate which he hesitated to do because "it would ruin the presentation". Well.... since she could not eat it that way I don't think the presentation really mattered anymore! The dish was also underspiced to me and although there was ample cheese it did not seem well incorporated with the dish - either you got a huge chunk of cheese or veggies with tomato sauce.

There are several other menu items I'd like to try at Fern including the beet tagliatelle and the Tribal tacos as well as the arancini. There is really a wide variety here so hopefully next time we will have better luck with the food. In May a Farmer Dinner was offered which sounds fun as well - perhaps they will offer this again soon.

Ferns!



Roasted Cauliflower.



OM Burger with NC Hoop Cheddar and quinoa salad.



Deconstructed roasted eggplant and zucchini parmesan.

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!

Nikko Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar

Tempura shrimp roll and California roll - lunch special roll combo.

Nikko and I go way back to the time when the restaurant was located in the much smaller space in the building just north of the current location, which is in the pink high-rise on South Boulevard. At that time owner/sushi chef Joanna was there most of the time and I dined often at the sushi bar for the spicy tuna roll, the "Trust Me" roll as well as the "Super Crunchy Roll". Since then, Nikko has expanded into its current huge space with a full bar and lounge area. The menu has also expanded to include many traditional Japanese dishes as well as sushi.

I recently had a quick lunch here on my own and enjoyed it. The sushi rolls were good as usual and the salad with ginger dressing is always pleasing. I look forward to returning soon, but I do miss the intimacy of the original location. Still, I'm glad to see Joanna doing so well and it's great to have good sushi in the neighborhood.

Salad with delicious ginger dressing.

Dominican Restaurant and Bakery - Lilburn, GA

Stewed goat (left) and platter with oxtails, beans and rice and side of potato salad.

After playing some mini golf recently in Duluth we headed over to check out Dominican Restaurant and Bakery in Lilburn. This place has lots of items ready to go along with menu items that are prepared to order. We tried some of each. The above plate came from the food line and everything was really delicious. The oxtails and goat were simmered in a thick gravy that went very well with the rice/beans. We also had an order of mashed plantains which is great for gravy soaking.

The below seafood soup was made to order and boy was it good! There is a spice in this that I am not familiar with but it made for very pleasant slurping and the seafood portion was generous, with shrimp (large and small), mussels and faux-crabmeat. This is a neat place to try if you've never had Dominican food before - definitely authentic.

I also tried a piece of their flan to go (not pictured). It was creamy and delicious and contained coconut. There is also special Dominican cake that looked really good but I think most people are too full!!

Seafood soup.

Libretto's Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen

Eggplant Parmesan lunch special.

Soon after arriving in Charlotte I dined at Libretto's Pizzeria & Italian Kitchen for lunch with a family friend who works in a similar field. There are two area Libretto's: this one is in Ballantyne and the second one is uptown at the EpiCentre. Additionally, there is a NYC location and a fourth location in Jacksonville, Florida.

Libretto's serves a full Italian menu with specialty pizzas, salads, soups, traditional entrees and pastas as well as heros, wings, calzones and desserts. For lunch there are some great specials including the eggplant parm special that I tried. To start, we shared some of the delicious, buttery, garlic knots served with tomato sauce for dipping. These are truly worth the carbs and were great with the salad that comes with the lunch special (salad not pictured). The eggplant parmesan includes choice of pasta with sauce and it's a huge portion! I took half home for later. The dish itself was quite pleasing, with a well-balanced tomato sauce, lots of cheese and plenty of eggplant goodness. The pasta was also tasty with that same great tomato sauce.

I had one odd thing happen when I went to the restroom - I won't go into great detail but let's just say that the restroom needed some real attention! I mention this mainly because as soon as I told our waiter about the problem we noticed that the staff shut down the restroom for cleaning - a good sign that they actually checked out the issue when I brought it to their attention. Service was actually quite good overall, which is always welcome.

I really enjoyed my visit to Libretto's and I look forward to trying them out again soon for another lunch or for dinner. They are also prepared for folks who want takeout also as you can order pizza near the door and take it to-go. I will be back!

Garlic knots.

Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint - Atlanta. Coming soon to Charlotte

Portobello Pesto Pizza.

Just before leaving Atlanta I ventured into Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint to use a free pizza coupon. Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint epitomizes the "fast-casual" option that is popping up frequently now in Atlanta.In addition to pizza the restaurant serves salads and toasted paninis. You order at a long counter where you create your own pizza or choose a specialty pizza combination, pay and a server brings your food when it is ready. Drinks, silverware and other items like parmesan and red pepper flakes are all self-serve. For me this place is best enjoyed by families. There were tons of kids there when we went and as a result the noise volume was high. There is a patio available also at this location, which might be a way to enjoy a quieter meal.

The food was pretty good overall. Our salad was fresh and I enjoyed the goat cheese on the special spinach/strawberry salad. The pizza was tasty especially with the addition of specially requested garlic. Unfortunately the workers making the pizzas/salads were not very enthusiastic, perhaps because just before we ordered a party of 8 including kids took forever to make up their minds. I am also not a huge fan of this style of dining but again, I think it's great for families. Uncle Maddio's also serves Rooster 14 cookies - who can resist one of those to finish off the meal right? Apparently Uncle Maddio's is expanding significantly with franchises opening in Charlotte in the near future.

Strawberry spinach salad.

Greek Isles - Charlotte

Arni Psito - roasted leg of lamb with Greek potatoes and green beans.

Greek Isles is a lovely Greek restaurant located in Charlotte's historic South End. Lucky for me this is very close to my office. Last week I had a lunch meeting here and thoroughly enjoyed the above lamb special, offered every day during the week for $10.25. I opted to add a Greek salad also for $1.95 (not pictured), which was very good with high quality feta cheese. The lamb was juicy and covered in tasty tomato/onion gravy. Other lunch specials including braised lamb shank, oven roasted white fish and stuffed tomato and pepper are offered on various days of the week. The full lunch/dinner menu includes all of the traditional dips, the flaming cheese and traditional favorites like mousaka and pastitsio, among many other offerings. I like that this place is not loud and that the booths are roomy - great for actually talking with the person you are with! I look forward to returning to Greek Isles again soon.