FoodieBuddha.com

Two establishments, one building, and one curious story.  That’s the deal with two new eateries going in at Renaissance Walk, a struggling (aka foreclosed) downtown condominium complex just a few steps from Georgia State.  One Café and Yoeshi are siblings spots that have been in production for quite sometime.  If recent grumblings (spurred by self-promotion) are to be taken at face value, then the two newborns will say hello sometime in mid-February.  Still, details are muddled.

Tucked in at the corner of Auburn Ave. and Piedmont, the location for these two restaurants is not nearly as ideal as one would think.  In that same location, several restaurants have opened and closed faster than you can say recession.  Still, that hasn’t stopped one restaurateur from trying to open not one, but two, fast casual concepts.

One Café is purportedly set to offer a mind-boggling array of cuisines with everything from burritos to burgers and all the way through pastries.  They’ve actually named just about every restaurant in Atlanta as their source of unoriginality inspiration.  Speaking of names, according to the Renaissance Walk website, the name of the restaurant is actually spelled One Caffe.

As for that other gig, Yoeshi will serve Japanese street food as well as Japanese pastries and desserts.

According to their own musings, these will be a walk-up and order establishments with no service staff.  They have a chef, but no word on who that actually is at this time.  Anywho, there y’all have it.

One Cafe / Yoeshi Address:
171 Auburn Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30303-2552

My readers are full of great info! Dianne Reinhardt and the folks behind the Magnolia Bread Company (website) have decided to launch their own food truck!  Aptly named “The Green Van,” the just launched website is chock full of good tidbits.

The truck will feature a short and sweet selection of sandwiches, seasonal salads, and desserts.  Joyfully enough, all of them will be constructed from organic goodness.  No word yet on exactly where they’ll try and set up  – but I suspect their twitter account will have the deets.

All Hail Stephanie – whomever you are!!!

Sorry for the dearth of posts lately.  I had family in from out of town; thus, my free time was pretty much usurped the past five days.  Luckily, we got in a couple of noteworthy food stops … no small feat with my little brother – the kid has a seriously restricted palate.  What the hell is up with that Shorty?

Anyway, I’m almost defiant in my love of savory foods.  To get my sweet tooth salivating, someone needs to really throw down.  Luckily, Morelli’s is just such a place.  Though it sits on the outskirts of East Atlanta, the place is all sparkly glowy.  You’ll find it on the corner of Ormewood and Moreland Ave – tucked in with a Little Azio and the new Spoon location.  I managed to wrangle the crowd up at the idea of Atlanta’s best ice cream.  Morelli’s didn’t let me down.

Part ice cream parlor, part hot dog stand (no seriously – they have ‘em!) … they put Howard Johnson’s Ice Cream Parlor to shame.  Who’s with me?  Anyway, the great thing about this place is their selection.  While I’m almost always a “less is more” type of guy – I am sold here on the plethora of options.  Morelli’s manages to offer something for the traditionalist and for the adventurist.  Case in point, my mother ordered a scoop of sweet potato pie ice cream.  It was seriously perfect.  They managed to capture the essence of a sweet potato pie without taking away from the main star: it’s ice cream.

I played both sides of the fence.  For my traditional flavor – I went with cookie dough.  To get out of my element, I went with a scoop of Dolce de Leche Chunk.  The flavors were pronounced and freaking delicious… I hear Homer Simpsons salivating over my shoulder.

Morelli’s keeps things fresh and will rotate some of their more adventurous flavors.  Their ice cream options will sometimes push the envelope; however, I have yet to be disappointed.  The sweet scoops always seem to hint at decadence while reminding you that you are eating something made from high quality ingredients.  I wish I could extrapolate on the mixtures a bit better … but ice cream ain’t usually my thang!  Oh yeah, according to the sign … show up after 6pm on a Monday … smooch your significant other … get a discount.  Sure … kick us single guys while we’re down.  Let’s get it on:

And now … for some sparkly glowy … just cus it’z awesome:

Atlanta Foodies On Morelli’s Gourmet Ice Cream & Desserts:

• Amy On Food On Morelli’s (03.16.09)
• Creative Loafing On Morelli’s (05.21.08)

Morelli’s Gourmet Ice Cream & Desserts Restaurant Address & Information:
749 Moreland Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30316 // P: 404.622.0210 // Morelli’s Website

I’m a little late with the news on this, so I do apologize.  Between now and the 12th of March, all Godiva Chocolatier locations are serving up one free mini brownie to all visitors.  The catch?  You have to tell them what you would like to see dipped in chocolate.  A pretty stupid requirement, but I say suck it up and go get some chocolate.  It’s not valid in department stores, but I’m pretty sure all four locations sit outside of that area.  Find the nearest one to you on the Godiva website.