A few weekends ago, Michael and I traveled to Atlanta. The main [sole] purpose of the trip was to watch the Kentucky Cats play some basketball. That we did (in case you have been living under a rock, they’re the National Champions).
But we also made the weekend just a tad bit about food (we always seem to, don’t we?). We visited two restaurants of former Top Chef contestants. Both were good, and both I recommend.
FLIP Burger’s Peanut Butter Captain Crunch Shake, Krispy Kreme Shake, and Nutella Burnt Marshmallow Shake
The first restaurant on was Richard Blais’ FLIP Burger Boutique. Blais was the winner of Top Chef: All-Stars and came in second place during the fourth season of Top Chef. He’s known for his sense of humor in his cooking and for molecular gastronomy. He molecular-gastronomied the crap out of the milkshakes we ordered. The Krispy Kreme milkshake was spot-on donut flavor whirled into a thick milkshake. The Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch shake brought me back to my childhood. (side note: Michael calls sugary breakfast cereals “Man Cereals”). We ordered a third milkshake because, well, because we could. The Nutella Burnt Marshmallow did not disappoint. Oh, and we had some burgers too. I walked away from this meal feeling a revived sense of creativity. The shakes made me want to re-create some of my own desserts so they’d conjure up some nostalgia or at least play up some fun childhood flavors.
FLIP Burger’s Barnyard Burger and Truffle Mac & Cheese
FLIP Burger’s Barnyard Burger and Truffle Mac & Cheese
The second Top Chef restaurant on our list? Kevin Gillespie’s Woodfire Grill. Kevin, a contestant during season six of Top Chef, is one of Michael’s favorites from the show. Michael made sure to get us a reservation at Woodfire Grill almost as quickly as he purchased the Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight tickets (almost). The restaurant was good. In our usual style, we chose to go big or go home, ordering the seven-course prix fixe menu. A couple of the plates were good, but not overtly memorable, but a couple of them were stand-outs. The baked north carolina trout course was one of these. It was served on a bed of simply-prepared olive-oil fried potato cubes. The potatoes were perfect cubes of potato hash goodness. Michael’s favorite part of the dish was the sauce: a basque style farm egg, sweet corn and parsley sauce. The sauce was an interesting pairing with fish, but one I’m inspired to re-create at home. My favorite course was the pan roasted georges bank scallop. The sweet corn succotach and corn mousseline made the dish good enough for royalty, and the scallop was seared to absolute perfection. I only wish I could eat this dish over and over (and I normally don’t prefer scallops! Consider me a convert.)
Kevin Gillespie, Woodfire Grill
Aside from the basketball and the food, the trip was a chance to take a break from our darling Adelaide. It was tough to leave her for three days, but she was in good hands (thank you Gigi and Papa), and the fact that the trip spurred some food creativity in me made it all worthwhile. The fact that the Cats secured a National Championship is pretty cool too.
