Classic Diner

Salvation Army Doughnuts

2005-06-15T12:10:00.000-05:00

The Salvation Army now sell donuts. My opinion of the organization is mixed, (homophiobic but they feed a lot of hungry people) I didn't let politics keep me from a fried pastry. They are sold in boxed of six. Using the standard Krispy Kream measure, (full dozen, hot = perfection) I'll give the box of SA donuts a 2. These are very, very, very heavy. They are cake style donuts, with a thick glaze. Breaking one in half for dunking is sort of like breaking a bar of soap.

Wedding Shower

2005-06-14T08:46:00.000-05:00

Two friends of mine who are getting married in the fall had a wedding shower on Friday. "P" and I were late, about an hour late. I'm never late like that, but we thought we'd have time for a slice of pizza before the party. Transmetropolitan was very slow and set a cranky tone for the rest of the evenign. The shower was not particulalrly well attended. Everyone there worked in A's office, or was on the board of directors. The hostess prepared a cheesecake for dessert. The knife she provided had a poorly attached handle. "A" served the cake without the crust. "P" came back and ate 1/2 of a cake wort of crust as if it was a giant cookie.

Kymaerica

2005-06-13T13:23:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday I went to one of the most bizare art lectures I've ever attended. Eames Demetrios gave an hour lecture to an audience of around 30 people (1/2 were from a special school for learning/developmentally disabled people). He has created a fictional world to help sell his art. The Georgia Museum of Art just bought some of it. The photos were nice enough, but creating these stories to hawk the art is pretty clever.

Dinner on the Farm (Review)

2005-06-06T13:53:00.000-05:00

It was hot. I mean after a week of rain and cold weather, the sun came out and steamed everything. Everyone was sweating by the time the champaigne was served before the tour of the farm. The farm is amazing, but a little hippy for my tastes. Organic farming and land preservation are very important to these folks. The various green houses were filled with produce and fruit in different stages of production. The strawberry house has an amazing smell. I wish we could have had drinks in there. The meal was very nice. We all felt sorry for the staff from the 5&10 because they had to carry the food so far from the prep area to the dining table. The first course was amazing. Just the right amount of lobster and tomatoes added to the chilled corn soup. The tuna in the second course was so pink it was almost red; perfect. I don't really care for olives which is my same minor complaint of the main course of quail. I've never seen polite people clean plates the way these folks did. Everyone's plate had a tiny pile of cleaned leg/thigh bones by the end of the course. Hugh (the chef) really likes cheeses and his choices were wonderful. Lastly the dessert. I was not really looking forward to it. I thought a melon soup was too simple for this kind of meal, and a second chilled soup would be strange. The Tokaji was the perfect compiment. I've never had a Tokaji before and was smitten. It is a thick, sweet, honey flavored wine with a beautiful golden color which glowed in the sunset. With so many wines served, and Joe making sure I had a little extra of the Tokaji, I was a little light headed as night came and the candles were lit. Athens foodies were impressed, and there should be some buzz for Woodland Gardens and their special dinners.

Dinner on the Farm

2005-06-04T16:15:00.000-05:00

I scored a free ticket (suggested retail $150.00) to a fund raising dinner for AIDS Athens. So far the dinner isn't working out quite as the planners & chef had expected. Only 18 of a projected 80 have purchased tickets. It certainly isn't like the one last fall which had chefs from Atlanta, and guests driving/eating their way across the country. The menu is below, I'll post a review later.

Chilled corn soup with lemongrass, tomatoes, and lobster

Champagne, Delamotte, NV brut

Olive oil poached tuna with vegetables, quinoa salad and olive tapenade

Chardonnay, Girard, Napa, 2002

Grilled quail with chimichurri, poached leeks and micro greens

Pinot Noir, Willakenzie, Oregon, 2003

Guffani cheeses with poached pear and

Georgia

honey

Cab-sangiovese, Collazzi, IGT, Tuscany, 2000

Melon soup with strawberry panna cotta

Tokaji, the Royal Tokaji Company, Five Puttonyos Hungary, 1999