Not a bad day

Red velvet cupcake.  Just the thought makes my stomach grumble.  As it is a creation of the south, it definitely made sense for me to get an "authentic" red velvet cupcake while I was in Atlanta.  Jen took me to her favorite place to get red velvet - Highland Bakery (which, happily, was just a 10 minute walk from her place).

Since Jen was able to take the day off (story about that later), we leisurely took our time and headed out to a late brunch (basically lunch) at Highland Bakery.  I got the Cilantro Corn Pancakes that came with 2 eggs, sour cream, salsa and cheese.  Jen, of course, got something with bacon.  Who can blame her?  Bacon makes the world a better place!

As in true Southern fashion, the portions were large.  I probably could have eaten my pancakes for one full day.  Besides, I had to save room for my red velvet cupcake, which I might add, was probably the best red velvet I have ever had.  It was perfectly moist, not too chocolately, not too sweet, and my God, the cream cheese frosting was AMAZING.  It was definitely more cream cheese than sugar, which I prefer.  I believe the ratio of frosting to cupcake is about 3:1, but hey, I sure didn't mind.  If you are ever in Atlanta, definitely stop by Highland Bakery for some red velvet.  Although, you may not be able to enjoy another red velvet again since nothing will be able to compare.

Jen and Jessie's Amazing Day continued as we headed back to the Georgia Aquarium.... so we could dive with FOUR whale sharks.  The day before, I had headed back to the main viewing area to sit and watch the sharks in awe.  I saw a gentleman with a dive flag and decided to ask him how much the dive was (even though I already knew).  He told me that if I really wanted to do it, he could give me the dive for a discounted price.  That was all it took.  I was immediately on the phone with Jen giving her great reasons why she should do it with me:

1. she hasn't gone diving in the 2 years since she moved to Atlanta

2. when will we ever get this chance again?  I don't live in Atlanta, and she doesn't know anyone who dives in Atlanta

3. whale sharks!  four of them!

Needless to say, it didn't take much arm twisting.  The best part was her recounting how she asked her boss for the day off.  She said she went into his office and said, "Dan, I have a strange request, but I respectfully request tomorrow off as I have the opportunity to dive with whale sharks."  According to her, he placed both hands on his head and exclaimed, "That is awesome!  I didn't even know you can do that!  Of course you can take the day off!"

The experience of diving in a 6.3 million gallon tank with four whale sharks, four manta rays, a couple of hammerheads, and about 6000 other fish was beyond words.  Having such majestic animals swim literally two feet away from you is something I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life.  It was just an overwhelming sensation of awe and surrealism.  It was definitely money well spent, especially when we learned that all the money they charge actually goes to shark research and the Georgia Aquarium is a nonprofit.

Our day of awesomeness continued at Kevin Gillespie's Woodfire Grill, where Mr. Todd LaBerge and Jen's friend Naomi, joined us.  The open kitchen was really fun to see, especially the actual wood fire grill and oven that they use.  We chose the 5 course tasting menu, which was just the right amount of food.  We started off with an amuse of local radish, a touch of butter, compressed celery and tarragon.  It was definitely a nice balance of flavor and a good way to awaken the palate.  Our first course was a shaved fennel with tahini salts, tangerine slices and pomegranate seeds.  It was an overall very light and fresh start - the fennel was not too strong, the pomegranate added just the right about of tang, and the salt balanced out some of the acid. 

The second course was a day boat scallop that was buttered and pan seared.  It was served with sunchoke cream, local radish, lemon, chestnut and pecan browned butter, and a roasted apple.   Everything just melded together in perfect harmony.  The scallop was fresh, the sear was perfect, the butter and hint of lemon was the perfect touch.  We were then served another small dish from the chef - a Moroccan spiced sunchoke and celery hearts.  That little bite packed quite a punch and was very tasty.  Our next dish was a pork loin and pork belly, with charred broccoli, red pea ragu and a red pickle and onion salad.  The pork belly literally melted in my mouth.  It was amazing - perfect portion, perfectly cooked, and the charred broccoli was a surprisingly nice touch.

 

 Our other main entree was a lamb loin, squash, greens, rutabaga, and quince.  The lamb was perfectly cooked and not gamey.  It was all so perfectly seasoned.  For dessert, we had a maple marscapone cheesecake.  I especially liked that they give you a french press when you ask for coffee at the end of the meal.  Apparently, they have their own coffee that they ask the roaster to roast the beans to their specifications.

 

It was just the perfect meal to end a pretty amazing day.  It was definitely not a bad day.  

and.... Commence Fat Fest

As I mentioned previously, my first full day in Atlanta consisted of me wandering around the Georgia Aquarium and then the Coca-Cola museum.  I also spent a good deal of time convincing Miss Jen to do the Whale Shark dive with me :)

Interesting fact about the whale sharks that are in the aquarium - they are ALL from Taiwan!  AND they were UPS'd over to Atlanta.  Yes, UPS.  Seriously. 

After meandering through the Aquarium and Coke Factory, Jen took me to Restaurant #1 - Bacchanalia, a Star Provisions restaurant that is hailed as one of Atlanta's top restaurants.  Its seasonal menu is created through ingredients from the chefs/owners own farm.  The four course prix fix menu consists of an appetizer, an entree course, a cheese course and dessert for $85/person.

Between Jen and I, it was very easy to decide on which plates we would order and share.  Our amuse consisted of a brioche with taragon gelee and a vidalia onion soup with pomegranate.  We both thought the brioche was a bit bland and the taragon was overpowering, but we both enjoyed the vidalia onion soup very much.  It started off with a strong sage flavor, but ended nicely with the pomegranate seeds.  For our appetizer course, we started with the Confit Foie Gras Torchon and the Kumamoto Oysters:

You really can't go wrong with Kumamoto Oysters, there was just enough acid to balance out the "sea."  The foie gras came with a side of brioche that was perfectly buttery, and added an additional depth of richness to the foie gras.  Off to a good start!

For our entrees, we ordered the Nantucket Bay Scallops and the Tennessee Moulard Duck:

  

The lightly cured duck came with cranberry beans, cippolini onions, black trumpet mushrooms and persimmon.  It was probably one of the best cooked ducks I have ever had.  It had just the right about of salt and seasoning, and together with the sweet persimmon puree, it created an amazing succulent dish.  The scallops came with cauliflower, brioche, celery and black truffle vinaigrette.  I had never been served scallops that were already pre-diced for me.  I didn't enjoy this dish as much simply because it was too salty.  With that said, the scallops were nicely done though and you can tell they were fresh.

For our cheese courses, we chose a shaved parmigiano-reggiano with medjool dates and a fresh goat cheese with roasted beets and beet sorbet:

In my opinion, the dates were a bit mooshy (probably not the "best" technical word to describe food... but hey, it's the truth) and made me not enjoy them as much.  The goat cheese dish though was superb.  The goat cheese had amazing flavor but not so strong that a non-cheese lover would not enjoy it.  The beets also perfectly balanced out the flavor of the goat cheese.

For a mini palate cleanser, Bacchanalia gave us a mini hot chocolate with sweet cream and cinnamon.  Cinnamon!  I am definitely adding cinnamon to my hot chocolates from now on.  It was such a surprising twist, but added such an amazing aroma.  For our dessert courses, we chose a Georgia Persimmon Pudding and a Cranberry Souffle:

Every souffle I have now, I compare it to one I had in Bali - where the souffle was so perfect it literally melted in my mouth.  Bacchanalia's was right on the money - it melted perfectly, almost like cotton candy.  I also love it when restaurants add fruit at the BOTTOM of the souffle dish, rather than into the souffle itself.  The cranberry was at the bottom, and it was perfect - not too sweet, not too tart.  The persimmon pudding had a very nice "fall" flavor to it - hints of maple and walnut.  There was not a heavy persimmon flavor, but there was a nice bourbon taste to it.

My only complaint about Bacchanalia?  My my are the portions LARGE in the South... by dessert time, Jen and I were about to burst at the seams.  Then, they decided to give us home made Madeleines and chocolates.  We kindly asked them to bag them for us to take home. 

And... so commenced Fat Fest 2010:  East Coast Edition. 

Fat Fest 2010: East Coast Edition - Atlanta

The moment I confirmed with Miss Jen about visiting her in Atlanta, she, in true foody fashion, immediately began making reservations at various Atlanta eateries for us.  I, in true nerd form, began a Google Excel sheet to keep track of all of my upcoming eats.  Note:  There is nothing else on this spreadsheet besides where we are eating for each breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The day I chose to fly into the durty south was rather eventful.  Being THE coldest day Atlanta has had in 95 years (12 degrees), my flights were delayed delayed delayed, and both of my planes skidded on the runway upon landing.  THAT was definitely interesting.  I ended up taking MARTA into Inman Park where Jen then picked me up.  There were over 1000 accidents on the road that day and so Jen decided it was best for her not to be on the freeways.  Thank goodness for free wifi on Delta flights!  Jen and I were able to email each other back and forth on the best way for me to get to her place.

My first full day in Atlanta took me to the magnificent Georgia Aquarium, which has the world's largest aquarium that is able to hold 6 full grown whale sharks.  It is one huge 6.3 million gallon tank.  As I sat there in awe and amazement, I realized I can actually DIVE in the tank with the 4 whale sharks, 4 manta rays, 2 hammerhead sharks, and about 6000 other fish.  I then proceeded to spend the next 2 hours convincing Jen that the $250 was well worth it.  For those of you who don't dive, $250 for 1 30 minute dive is RIDICULOUS.  Usually, a boat dive is around $100, but you get TWO dives.  However, we felt much better about our decision knowing that (1) this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to dive with FOUR whale sharks, (2) we probably won't ever have this chance again, and (3) all proceeds to towards shark research as the Georgia Aquarium is a non-profit.

Here are some shots I took at the Aquarium on my phone:

Every couple of hours, there is a mermaid show, where they dance and "sing" along to Christmas music




One of the 4 whale sharks in the Aquarium

The Happiest Place on Earth

Christmas time at Disneyland is one of my favorites - the Christmas decorations, the cheery people who work there, and of course, the Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion.

::tip:: Instead of paying $68 for a 1 day 1 park pass, or $91 for a 1 day park hopper pass, go to sweetvacations.org and buy a "shared" 1 day park hopper pass for $55.

First thing we did when we got to the park was grab a locker so we could store our jackets.  At 80 degrees in December, it definitely got a little warm during the day.  After running around like maniacs, we grabbed a fast pass and proceeded to spend 14 hours in Disneyland.

I brought my SLR thinking I would want to take pictures of the rides, parade and fireworks.  Well, the rides move way too fast to get a good shot, even though I was shooting with a fast lens.  We missed the parade, and the fireworks got canceled due to high wind. =( Next time, I'm putting my SLR in the locker and just carrying my P&S with me through the park.

Regardless, here are some shots I got during our day at Disneyland: