FoodieBuddha.com

This is a story of one steakhouse (Morton’s), one man (Peter Shankman), and Twitter (you know what that is).

So Peter Shankman (@petershankman) is a fan of steak and a fan of Morton’s Steakhouse.  He’s also a bad ass, or perhaps just one lucky dude, or perhaps both.  A few months back, Shankman was getting on a plane headed for Newark Internat’l Airport, known to the common man as the world’s worst airport in the armpit of all armpits.

So what’s this have to do with a food blog?  Well, a lot actually.  Apparently, Shankman in what surely was just an attempt to be humorous, tweeted this:

Hey @Mortons – can you meet me at newark airport with a porterhouse when I land in two hours? K, thanks.

Morton’s didn’t say anything back and this nice little funny tweet destined to go down in the backlogs of twitters immense databanks, never to be read from again.  Well, not so fast.

Turns out, when Shankman got off the plane, a tuxedo sporting Morton’s server was there to great him .. WITH steak, shrimp, a side of potatoes, bread, two napkins, and silverware.  That is just awesome.  While not every brand needs to go to such extremes to use twitter effectively, Morton’s just demonstrated how to use twitter like a boss.

Thanks Morton’s, you’re doing it right.

Another day, another day closer to true street food here in Atlanta.  First up, The King of Pops.  Apparently, his cart arrived last Friday, though I totally missed the news!  Today, he’s back at his first location (Buddy’s Gas Station at the corner of North Ave & North Highland) from 3pm until 7:30 (or so…).  Hit him up … and quickly … cuz these $2.50 popsicles sound too good to last.  If you plan on visiting his mobile popsicle stand, you’d best give Steven a follow on twitter, which is where I stole (borrowed with the hope that i don’t piss off the King) that picture.  Anywhere, go try some!

UPDATE: I was originally under the impression that The King of Pops would be able to move around to a couple of locations; however, it appears he’s only licensed for the spot he’s currently in.  For now, his plan is to be open every afternoon at Buddy’s, but we’ll just have to see how that goes.  If you’re in the area, I highly suggest you go … I just had one and it’s FREAKING GOOOD!!!

King of Pops Mobile Popsicle Cart
King of Pops website // King of Pops daily location // King of Pops twitter

 
Just wanted to drop in and let everyone know that I started a twitter list for Atlanta area restaurants, chefs, and other professional foodie personalities.  You can find it here and us it to see what’s going on in and around the city.  I’ll be busy over the next few days adding to the list (currently at 75); however, you can hit me via @foodiebuddha if you know of a place that needs to be added.  Cheers y’all!

Those that read this know I’m just a techie moonlighting as a foodie.  Knowing how to download music for free, especially MP3’s, is a hot topic in the technology world these days.  So while I like to keep things here focused on food, I can’t help but venture outside my plate a little.  After mentioning this tip via twitter, my inbox just blew up … so I’m going to save myself the trouble and show everyone how to do this … COUGH COUGH … completely legal and legitimate activity.  I’m not in any way telling you what is or is not legal, only what is possible.

For those of you on Firefox or Chrome, you just need to create a bookmarklet (explained on wiki).  If you’re still using Internet Explorer, ditch it and ditch it now (okay, I lied, this will still work, but get away from IE anyway).  All you need to do is click on the link that follows and drag it to the bookmark bar: Music Download

As I know my site isn’t geared toward the techies out there, if dragging this to your bookmark bar is confusing, do not be deterred.  If you use chrome, here’s a video for you.  If you use Firefox, here’s another one.  Note about those videos, all you need to do is the first part of it where you see the link being dragged.

Last but not least, I did not write this – I don’t remember where I saw it … hit me up if you know where I did.

Y’all remember that post on the South East Barista Competition … right?  To catch you up if you didn’t:

* Barista is that fancy name for the person who makes your coffee (or tea)
* The one’s at Octane Coffee kick ass
* There’s this competition every year, and last year, Octane kicked ass and took names

Okay, now that we all know what we’re talking about … here’s what little I know.  Octane Coffee mentioned on their twitter feed that Redding Hill was making a documentary.  Well, the Redding hill website seems to be just a landing page and their twitter feed makes some reference to the endeavor.  Nothing earth shattering here.  Rather, it’s more of an interesting tidbit that might develop into something more notable.

Now this is one hell of a great idea!  RoamingHunger.com is a site dedicated to those lovely little food trucks we’ve heard so much about.

While these little wandering snack shacks are noticeably absent from Atlanta’s dining scene (since the demise of Via Elisa), this is a great site for the foodie on you. [sic ]  Roaming Hunger is a glorified twitter aggregator that tracks the daily location of roughly 200 trucks.  It comes complete with user ratings and little tidbits about each truck.

Food trucks are a trend that has grown from underground “coolness” into on the cusp of being overdone.  I’m sure it will definitely hit here sometime … but for now, we have Ketel One vodka’s alcohol-free truck on the loose.  Top Chef’s Ilan Hall is behind the wheel on that.  Meanwhile, Taco Bell got busy, and Ingrid Hoffmann (of the Food Network) is doing it up Miami style.

[thanks FC]

Big ups to Atlanta Magazine’s Bill Addison … who dropped this jewel on us via twitter.   Apparently, Dynamic Dish, everyone’s favorite healthy eating spot, is scheduled to expand in the spring.  According to Addison, DD will do away with their BYOB policy as they are due a liquor license.  More interesting, is the idea that there will be a semi-standard menu in place.  I’m not so sure how people will react to that point.  Some people love that DD is different everyday, other’s hate it.  I’m sure it’s hell on owner/chef David Sweeney and this will almost definitely help him streamline his business.  Congrats to DD, and if you haven’t been … get there now!

[via @BillAddison]

Dynamic Dish Restaurant Address & Information
427 Edgewood Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30312 // 404.688.4344 // Dynamic Dish website

In case you haven’t heard, we’re in a recession.  Okay, after dropping that shocking nugget of the obvious on you, we have some interesting findings to discuss.  Yesterday, Thomas Minchella, the executive chef at McKendrick’s Steakhouse, linked (via twitter) to a very interesting article from entrepreneur.com.

Amongst other things, the article includes discussions with a number of restaurateurs who have shown balls of steel the past year and change.  I’m not 100% sure I agree with the idea as a whole.  Certainly, the recent activity in the ATL seams to support the authors premise.  Ultimately, regardless of the economy, the best time to open a restaurant is when you are ready.  There are no shortage of successful food stops in the city … however … there are no shortage of those closing up shop.  The cream always rises to the top!

I’m starting to think that I should do most of my writing after the witching hour … it’s amazing what you see late at night.  As I ho-hum here and poke around the net, this tweet showed up in my twitter feed.  My goodness, maybe twitter isn’t completely useless.  For those of you who don’t want to do a lot of click hunting … here’s what all that translates to.

Todd Mussman, the former in the tagline Muss & Turner’s, has been called into action at Grindhouse Burgers in Downtown’s Sweet Auburn Curb Market.  With the help of Grindhouse’s owner Alex Brounstein, Mussman will be chopping up an entire lamb for your viewing and educational pleasure.

Full details are available here, but the short of the long comes after the jump!

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A lot of people have postulated as to why Hankook Taqueria, the one part Korean cafeteria and one part taqueria, has opened on the Westside.  Whatever the reason, the addition of a Korean inspired restaurant over yonder helps to expand the culinary landscape.  While there are a handful of establishments that serve Korean cuisine, not a single one of them is in ears shot of Hankook.  Further to the point, I’m pretty sure this is the first foray into Korean tacos in the ATL.  These facts alone make HT a valuable addition to the neighborhood, even if the food isn’t anything wonderful.

The man behind Hankook is Tomas Lee.  Lee, an accomplished chef, has already tried his hand as a restaurateur.  Unfortunately, his eponymous Tomas in Norcross and Wok-In Wok-Out in Lawrenceville are both a thing of the past.  Now this former Buckhead Diner executive chef finds himself much closer to the heart of the city in a very unassuming location.

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