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So yeah, this is a little like beating a dead horse, but here’s the latest on Empire State South, Hugh Acheson’s much discussed Atlanta endeavor.

After multiple delays, the Midtown restaurant is now scheduled for late August.  This is stated on their website … but last time they did that, you know how that ended up. Frankly, I’m a little worn out on restaurants putting an opening date on their doors/websites/press/etc… when there is no way they can hit the date.

Also, Nick Melvin, who many know from his time at Parish in Inman Park, is set to run the kitchen.  We’ll see how that shapes up.  To date, I have yet to find Melvin’s food worthy of any real praise.

Other than that, the bocce ball court seems all but finished, there’ll be a coffee bar, and the rest is brew-haha and he said/she said.

Empire State South Restaurant Address & Information

999 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 // Empire State website

On the last season of Bravo TV’s Top Chef, Atlanta made some real headway.  We were fortunate enough to have three local chefs make it on to the hit reality TV show.  Since then, the city hasn’t stopped buzzing.  Many moons ago, Kevin Gillespie, pork tats and all, was kind enough to make an appearance on our weekly series, Inside The Chef’s Kitchen.  Now, thanks to Hector Santiago of Pura Vida, we welcome the second of those three chefs.

Stupidly exiled from Top Chef after a French themed challenge (in which the one French chef on the show represented suck-tastic), Hector is back in our city and doing his thing.  Puerto Rican through and through, you can find him slinging pans most any night at his tapas restaurant in Virginia Highlands.  Appropriately located just off Ponce De Leon Ave (Ponce de León himself played an important role in Puerto Rico’s history … he brought them rum amongst other things), Pura Vida is one of the long standing Latin restaurants in the city.

What better way to end this beautiful week with a mojito and some light reading.  And with that, welcome to ITCK!

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Sauced, Ria Pell’s new fusion soul food venture in Inman Park Atlanta, has been motoring along for several months.  Though the restaurant came up for a brief breath of air in 2009, it actually opened for real in early 2010.  Soon after, Spark Plug and I made it the appetizer stop on one of our habitual dinning excursions.  Though it’s taken me a while to recap the less than stellar experience, ATLiens have been treated to several reviews during my hiatus thanks to some of our mainstream media brethren (linkage at the bottom).  It seems I’m not alone in my total lack of fandom for Sauced.

Sauced itself is Pell’s attempt to offer entry-level fine dining.  After building up her eponymous Ria’s Bluebird to the point where it’s one of the more well-known breakfast places, Pell is now serving "inspired” soul food in the midst of a late 60’s-esc dinning hall.  I use the words inspired here loosely because the only true inspiration seems to be coming from the servers.  In the world of take it or leave it, this grub is definitely a leave it.  To put it another way, it’s never a good thing when someone spends the first part of a review talking about something other than the atmosphere or the food itself.  In the case of Meridith Ford Goldman, she talked about the bathrooms.  Not a good sign.

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Ladies and gentleman, vegetarians and pescatarians of all ages, get ready to check out BaconFest 2010 this Saturday, March 27th.  Hosted annually by Dad’s Garage Theatre Company in Inman Park, the fundraiser features the predictably awesome combination of beer, bands, and bacon!  Admittedly, I’m not such a big fan of the first part, but it’s still a hell of the combination.  The party starts at 1pm and goes until 5pm (which is when the improv show starts).

Amongst the musicians that you’ll find on site, Mike LaSage of P’Cheen will be serving up jalapeño-infused bacon while playing tunes with his band.  You’ll also be able to hear the Fingering Brothers, Bases Loaded, The Jaguars, and Nine Inch Neils.

Here’s the deal on tickets:

• Big Pig – VIP Fest + Show Tickets: $45- Includes admission to BaconFest from 1-5pm, game tickets, UNLIMITED BEER & BACON, and admission to the 5pm improv show.
• Medium Pig – Festival + UNLIMITED BEER & BACON: $35 - Includes admission to BaconFest from 1-5pm, game tickets, and (yup, we’ll say it again) UNLIMITED BEER & BACON.
• Lil’ Pig – Fest Only: $15 – Includes admission to BaconFest from 1-5pm, game tickets, 1 draft beer, and 1 pork-tion of bacon.

If you hurry, you can buy your tickets online!!!

Dad’s Garage Information

280 Elizabeth Street, Atlanta, GA 30307 // 404.523.3141 // Dad’s Garage website // Dad’s Garage twitter // Dad’s Garage on facebook

Recently I had the opportunity to try out Two Urban Licks, a restaurant owned by the same folks that run One Midtown Kitchen and Trois.  Self described as ‘fiery American food,’ Two Urban Licks offers a diverse menu that changes daily, and offers hearty seasonal dishes with options that even fill up gluten-free bellies.

I went with a group of friends on a Friday night to Two Urban Licks and it was quite a happening place.  With high ceilings, live music, full tables, and the kitchen located in the center of the restaurant, surrounded by glass, there’s action everywhere.  Being that it was a weekend night, it was particularly loud and I was glad that our table was far away from the band.  (Does that make me old and lame?)

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If you take a trip down to the corner of Edgewood and Waddell, you’ll find yourself smack dab in front of one of Atlanta’s newest southern food spots, albeit a slightly modified one.  Sauced, a new rendition from the gang at Ria’s Bluebird, is just about ready to rock and roll.  As you’ll see from the image above (taken from the Sauced website), they’re really going to get it started on NYE.  However, they were open for a bit at the end of August and have already started letting people in the door over the past few days.

In the news as early as this past January, Ria Pell’s newest venture is a step towards the high-brow.  Keep in mind, that is a statement of relativity.  The food is cost conscious and there is a lot of focus on the sauces.  That said, I don’t believe they’ve employed a saucier (that’d probably be a little too fru fru anyway).  While you sip on your Courvoisier, you and the Ladies Man can chilax on the big couch in the midst of the brown and cream space.   If you are heading down there in the next few, make sure to be liquid – it’s cash only.

I’ll wax-foodetic once I work through my back log.  In the meantime, check out their facebook page, as it already has quite the following, and get ready to munch away.

Sauced Restaurant Address & Information

753 Edgewood Ave, Atlanta, GA 30307 // 404.688.6554 // Sauced website // Sauced on facebook

Chef Shaun Doty has long been at the forefront of the Atlanta dining scene.  For the past three-years, he has been the man behind Shaun’s Social Club.  Before that, he headed up things at establishments like Table 1280 and MidCity Cuisine.  Now, he’s primed to open the city’s next burger joint, aptly named Good Burger.

Doty maintains his cool while putting out straightforward, ingredient driven dishes.  Friendly and approachable, the chef has taken the time to step out from behind the burner to drop in here on Inside The Chef’s Kitchen.  In it, he professes his continued love for a particular rendition of fried chicken, manages to sneak in the word “wankers,” and declares … why settle for one when you can have both?  Alright y’all, let the good times roll!  And with that, welcome to ITCK!

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The  north end of Inman Park is packed with small businesses, a few markets, and a number of restaurants.  Amongst them, the Albert has been a long standing member of the community and the area’s requisite watering hole.  While it might not seem worthy of a foodie review, I can assure you it is.

The restaurant itself sort of meanders back and forth between a dive bar and a pub.  The majority of seats in the place are either at the bar or at a booth; and, a handful of offbeat pieces of artwork, a Golden Tee machine, a pool table, and a few TVs will keep you entertained.

The food is straight up bar fare with chicken fingers, wings, burgers, BLT’s and the like as your options du jour.  It’s all decent, given what it is, and the prices and portions are more than reasonable.  A fixed rotation of daily specials can make a trip to the Albert down right ridiculously cheap, and the chilled out vibe will almost always guarantee a good time.

Mind you, it’s a place for the everyman, where tattoos, button downs, and everything in between, are welcome.  Sure, sometimes the food is a little overcooked, and you might catch a few too many lit cigarettes if you’re a non-smoker, but as a hangout spot, the Albert is well oiled.  They aren’t trying to offer the beer menu of The Brick Store or the gastro-inspired food of The Porter, they’re just trying to be themselves.  Though I’ve never actually grabbed a table, the staff and service are always friendly, and I’ve never left feeling fleeced or cheated.  Similar to The Local, The Albert has become a popular hang out, and for good reason.

Note: The picture, starring Todd the bartender, came courtesy of the Albert website, hopefully – they don’t mind

The Albert Restaurant Address & Information

918 Austin Ave Atlanta, GA 30307 // 404.872.4990 // The Albert website // The Albert menu
The Albert on facebook

As I mentioned yesterday, I recently had the pleasure of attending one of the seasonal cooking classes offered up by Kevin Rathbun and his staff over at Rathbun’s.  While we hope to have a full-fledged recap posted in the next couple of days, I thought this was as good a time as any to talk about the classes and give you guys and dolls a heads up on how to secure a spot.  The most important thing to remember is that they go on sale on October 1st.  Last year, I had to call back twice just to get through … so get your redial finger ready.

Coming in at $350/duo (one cook + one guest), these aren’t for the faint of heart.  The deal is that the person doing the cooking shows up at 1:30, is tossed into a group, and then spends the next 3-hours jumping around the Rathbun’s kitchen.  Three-hours later, your guest shows up for apps (which you help serve).  Then, everyone sits down, has a little drink, and dines on a gluttonous dinner.

Without spoiling the post, I will tell you that these are not your traditional “chef talks and chops” type classes.  Rather, these are throw yourselves to the wolves sort of events where by you really get to get in there.  Don’t worry – the staff keeps thing very well organized and you will have one of a bevy of top notch chefs at your disposal for teaching and discussion.

The available classes are as follows:

• Southwestern Cooking Class: Sunday, January, 18, 2009
• Greek Cooking Class: Sunday, March 15, 2009
• East Meets West Cooking Class: Sunday, May 17, 2009
• BBQ – Grilling & Smoking Cooking Class: Sunday, July 19, 2009
• Farm to Table Cooking Class: Sunday, September 20, 2009
• Southern Holiday Cooking Class: Sunday, November 15, 2009

Full details are available on the Rathbun’s Cooking Class Website, but all you have to do to reserve is call 404.524.8280.  I guess the only other mission critical piece of info is that Rathbun’s sends you a gift card that serves as your ticket – DON’T LOSE IT!!!!!!!!

This past Sunday, Adam and I went to Rathbun’s in Inman Park for their farm-to-table cooking class.  There is a whole lot to say about this as I have about 200 pictures and a notebook full of scribble.  Luckily, the two videos I shot came out half-decent.  While they are nothing close in quality to the videos put out by Rowdy Food, I was reasonably pleased that my camera skills didn’t completely suck.  As for the audio … well … it is what it is.

While there is a whole mess of stuff to say on this (so be on the look out), I thought we’d start ya’ll off with a few short videos.  The star of the shows is chef Adam Williams, a 24-year-old wunderkind, who helped take Team Two to the promise land.  In his spare time, Williams serves as one of Kevin Rathbun’s devout minions chefs.  Enjoy!

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