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It’s party time ATL. Serious Eats, that kind of awesome food blog, is throwing a big ole hoedown all across the USA and Atlanta has been invited. [Aside: Tell me I shouldn’t be working in PR with that type of puffery!].

Anyway, on Saturday, February 25th, 2012, people who are fans of Serious Eats will have the opportunity to get together, grab some grub, and get all chatty.  If you don’t live in Atlanta, check out the post on the mother ship for all the details about where to find the party in your town.  Otherwise, read on to get all the dirty dirty.

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It’s not unreasonable to say that San Francisco’s Mission Chinese is currently the most buzzed about Chinese restaurant in the entire country.  Seriously!  Head cookmeister Danny Bowien has taken a dumpy, otherwise un-notable Chinese eatery, hidden himself in its kitchen, and promptly turned the food world on its head.

Right around the time I dropped in on San Fran, Bon Appetit declared Mission CF the second best new restaurant in the entire country.  By then, New York based Serious Eats had already gone gaga and the NYT had said its piece.  Long after my visit, Bowien himself showed up in Martha’s kitchen.

As is usually the case before an initial restaurant trip, I had not actually read what had already been written of  MCF.  However, by the time I left Atlanta for my West Coast trip, I was well aware of the chatter.  Mission Chinese was hot … and I knew it … and so I waddled in there (literally in fact) as the clock ticked down on my San Francisco stay.

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Todd Brock, who handles all things Atlanta for the crew at Serious Eats, just posted his thoughts on Burger Tap, a restaurant I checked out a few weeks back.  Brock was a little more jaunted by the unusual and somewhat quizzical shape of the burgers than I; but he went on to say:

That shape is mirrored in the buns, the true rockstars of the Burger Tap menu. Super squishy and slightly sweet, the flat-out spectacular buns hold up exceptionally well to the sometimes-heavy toppings.

He also gave the menu a full run, something I did not do and I think he hit on some excellent points that I did not focus on during my one trick pony write-up.  Give it a read, he knows what he’s talking about.

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[via A Hamburger Today]

Super blog Serious Eats just published a list of burgers they say are worth the hype.  The list includes 11 restaurants from all over the country and sure enough – Atlanta got two nods.  Both Holeman & Finch and Ann’s Snack Bar scored spots on the coveted list.  What’s more interesting is that Atlanta was the only city to get more than one place on the list.  NYC and SF sort of did – as Shake Shack and Umami Burger showed up – but those are chains.

Anyway, here’s what Serious Eats had to say:

Holeman & Finch

Holeman & Finch’s burger has been hailed by Food & Wine and Epicurious as one of the best in the country. I chose it as my favorite burger of 2010 for good reasons, reasons that I’ll just copy and paste here: "The juicy patties are simply exploding with a beefiness that sings freshness. The bread and butter pickles, ketchup, and mustard are all impeccably made in-house and are joined by melted American cheese and red onions. The whole thing is served on an unsweetened brioche made next door at the company bakery, which Bon Appetit just named one of the 10 best in America. I’m hesitant to call any burger perfect, but improving this thing does not seem possible." —Daniel Zemans, Chicago correspondent

Ann’s Snack Bar

I’m not sure any burger in Atlanta (even Holeman & Finch’s now-iconic double-stack) has been more hyped over the years than the Ghetto Burger at Ann’s Snack Bar. (A shout-out from The Wall Street Journal calling you the best in the US will do that.) At first blush, it sounds like it can’t possibly be a pleasant experience: a sketchy neighborhood locale amidst razor-wire chainlink fences where you’ll likely endure a crazy-long wait for one of only 8 seats and then risk getting yelled at by the sexagenarian proprietor for anything ranging from using a cell phone to cursing… all for what amounts to a double bacon cheeseburger with chili on it? But, yes, this sloppy one-pound-plus behemoth is that good. Like, last-meal-on-earth good. —Todd Brock, Atlanta correspondent

If you’re interested in some more burger porn – check out my Ann’s set on Flickr or watch Ann make her ghetto burger!

We at Roaming Hunger do our best to keep up with what’s going on in the food truck world (Follow us via @RoamingATL and @RoamingHunger).  Thankfully, our job is often times made a bit easier thanks to the work of guys like Todd Brock, the ATLien who moonlights over at Serious Eats.

Brock just posted a little food truck slideshow featuring some of his favorite Atlanta food trucks and street vendors.  In all, 11 vendors that encompass everything from popsicles to Korean tacos are featured.  Brock took it upon himself to snap a shot of each listed vendor and do a little write up in case you need the 411.  Check out who made the list after the jump!

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A Hamburger Today is the “all things burger” outlet for Serious Eats, a big time food blog most everyone into food should read.  Atlanta is fairly well represented on the blog thanks in part to Todd Brock, a local ATLien who moonlights as a foodie.

A few weeks back, Brock wrote about his stuffed burger at The Nook.  He didn’t enjoy it.  However, he did take time to make note of Battle of the Burgers, a charitable food festival dedicated to gluttonous glory by way of the burger.  I was one of the inaugural judges; however, I’m on vacation right now and I won’t be back in time to reprise my role. While you wait on me to give the event its proper write up, you should visit the BotB website and get yourself ready to attend.  The event is scheduled for October 1st, 2011.

Soon after The Nook post, Brock paid a visit to Houlihan’s, that slowly dying food chain.  Then, just as we wiped the juices from our grubby hands, Brock hit us yesterday with an opus to the Bocado burger.  It’s a double stack delight that I adore even though I have less than stellar things to say about the rest of the food/service/etc.  On the way out the door, Brock mentions the similarities between the Bocado burger and the Holeman + Finch burger.  It’s a comparison chef Todd Ginsberg will continue to hear even if he refuses to acknowledges his rendition’s eerie similarities to that late night treat.

Bocado wisely employs the H+F bun and perhaps even the pickles.  Even if it is a near copy … it’s a damn fine piece of meat.  Big ups to Bocado for making this thing available all hours too.  Personal feelings aside, if you are hankering for a double patty burger during regular eating hours … Bocado is your best bet in Atlanta.

[that delicious looking bite above is in fact the Bocado burger and comes courtesy of MelissaLibbyPR.com]

So the Slice pizza blog, powered by the gang at Serious Eats, took some time yesterday to recap all things pizza here in the peach state.  While a good bit of focus was given to Atlanta’s pizza scene, Slice actually took the time to cover the entire state.  It’s by no means a comprehensive list, but they do make sure to hit up all the big hitters (aka Varasano’s & Antico Pizza).  If you have a few minutes to kill, you should definitely check out their post.

[via Slice]

In a tragic move of epic journalistic failure, Slice, the ever popular pizza blog from the gang at Serious Eats, just undermined their years of good work in one fell swoop.  In an attempt to unlock the Rubik’s cube that is frozen pizza, one of their bloggers posted the results of a frozen pizza taste test.

Shamefully, the competition was limited to DiGiorno, Red Baron, Freschetta PizzAmore, Tombstone, and the Whole Foods house brand.  What a crock … there is just no way to talk frozen discs of goodness unless you mention Totino’s … it’s ridiculously cheap, amazing delicious, and just the best damn frozen product on earth.

To make my ire known to others, I have penned this post and shamed serious eats on their blog!  Rise up and join me!  Viva La Frozen Pizza Revolution!

(image via now public)

Last week, I mentioned that a well respected NYC foodie and a local heavyweight were scampering around town to try some of the best Atlanta has to offer.  Yesterday, Ed Levine, the NYC dude of Serious Eats fame, posted a writing by John Kessler, the AJC’s food dude.  Topics included the delicious pizzas that we all talk oh so much about.  Yes, that’s Varasano’s, Antico Pizza, & Fritti, for all you rock dwellers.  Though there isn’t a great deal of “review” details in the post, the article does seem to tip its hat in the direction of Antico.

Kessler goes on to discuss Atlanta’s burgeoning farm-to-table scene, BuHi’s Korean BBQ and ramen, and checks out with a tip of the hat to Woodfire Grill’s Kevin Gillespie and The Hil’s Hilary White.  I’m not sure if Levine actually went anywhere other than Antico and V’s, and his opinion is notably absent from the piece.  Still, it’s great to see Kessler pushing us on the national scene, and it’s a well-written summary piece for anyone trying to get a lay of the land.

[via Serious Eats]