Cakes & Ale - New Location + Bakery

Fabulous fried okra.

After reading several wonderful reviews of the recently relocated Cakes & Ale in Decatur, I decided to try it out with my dad during his visit to Atlanta. We had a lovely dinner with gracious service, delicious food and a wonderful setting. The new space includes a large bar/table area, another large dining room and the attached, quaint cafe/bakery where breads, pastries and coffees as well as lunch are available. Many of the plates are small, sharing plates, which works just fine for me since you get to try more this way. I can't wait to return here to try more - the menu changes daily so there is always more to try!

Vermont burrata cheese with roasted broccoli, arugula and cherry tomatoes in a light dressing. The cheese paired perfectly with the house-made bread.



The delicious bread selection kept coming. You can buy whole loaves in the bakery as well. They also made me a lime/ginger "mocktail", which was delicious.



Squid stuffed with farro, frisee & feta, beet & frisee salad - one of my favorite items.



Gnocchi with rabbit ragu and mustard greens.



Roasted squash with rosemary - delicious and not too strong of a rosemary flavor.



Top: Pecan Tart with Cinnamon Ice Cream; bottom: brioche donuts with squash ice cream & pumpkin seed brittle - really unique. Both were sublime.

Last NYC Post: Billy's Bakery

Treat case - I'll take one of each!

Near our friends' apartment in Chelsea is a Billy's Bakery, specializing in - you guessed it - cupcakes! We tried the yellow cake with chocolate buttercream, the red velvet with cream cheese frosting and the chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream. I'm drooling at the memory! If you are anywhere near one of their three NYC locations, this is a definite snack stop. We tried to go twice just after closing - we were up much later than our usual 9 PM bedtime while in NY - so finally enjoying their delicious cakes was truly satisfying.

Out side Billy's.

Putting the icing on the cake!

High Cotton Bakery

Blueberry Muffin, Chocolate Chip Cookie and Oatmeal Raisin Cookie from High Cotton Bakery.

Recently entrepreneur Virginia Abell, operator of High Cotton Bakery, invited me to try her home baked goodies, currently being sold at the Irwin Street Market. I arrived on a Sunday morning, hungry for something to go with my morning coffee. The blueberry muffin is truly outstanding - very moist, with just the right amount of texture on the top and juicy blueberries throughout. It didn't hurt that is came out of the oven minutes earlier. I also enjoyed the cookies, especially the chocolate chip. If you're a raisin lover you'll love Virginia's oatmeal cookies, too. High Cotton Bakery is currently interested in selling baked goods to businesses and at other retail locations, including a Muffin Luvin' combo, including a muffin, fruit or yogurt delivered to your office. If you are interested please contact Virginia at virginia.abell@gmail.com, visit the Muffin Luvin' blog or look for her on Twitter as HighCotton_ATL.

Restaurant Eugene

Cured trout tartare and citrus, chili blood orange emulsion, fennel, benne wafer.

My first visit to Restaurant Eugene was a wonderful treat, the result of a gift certificate given to me by some very sweet clients. The meal was special not only because of the solid food and elegant atmosphere, but also because our friend Judith, who runs Love is Love Farm, works there and because we were lucky enough to be invited to take a kitchen tour.

We started with drinks: complimentary champagne given to every guest in April to celebrate the restaurant's anniversary as well as Fever's Cure: Prairie Vodka, Psycharud's bitters, strawberry-rhubarb chutney and Fever Tree Ginger Ale - delicious! Later in the meal I also tried the Eugene homemade ginger ale, which is outstanding.

After an amuse bouche combo of radish and strawberry - interesting but not very memorable - we started with the cured trout tartare and the foie gras tasting - both so delicious in different ways. The trout light and a bit tart, the foie gras rich and sweet. The powdered foie gras is definitely something unique - and while I preferred the roasted version, the powdered really is amazing.

Foie Gras Tasting: roasted, terrine, hibiscus, honey, brioche.



Awesome bread basket and soft poached bantam egg, farro, crisp vidalia, tasso, nettle-black tea.

The famous Holeman & Finch bread as well as the service, stood out as most exceptional to me. The poached egg with farro was interesting and creative with its use of tea as its liquid, but this dish turned out a bit bland for my taste.

Wild morel and nameko fondue, fiddlehead ferns, turnips, garlic confit, mint. Pan roasted duck breast, artichokes, turnips, rhubarb, farro.

The wild morel and nameko fondue was interesting. I suppose I thought with "fondue" we would be dipping the wild morels and namekos into the cheese sauce. This dish, recommended by our waiter, was probably the most disappointing items we ordered - too salty and not containing the cheesiness I was looking for. The duck was solid - very tender meat, served nicely rare.

Pan Roasted Monkfish, Swiss chard, maitake, preserved citrus, fennel puree, morels.



Backstage tour of the kitchen! Amazing what all goes on back here!



Peanut butter pudding with candied bacon, chocolate tuile, whipped buttermilk and cherry ice cream.

I enjoyed the combination of peanut butter, bacon and chocolate - you have to try it before you judge! The ice cream was also quite tasty.

Goat Cheese Cheesecake - specially made compote for us! We also really enjoyed the goat cheesecake.

Restaurant Eugene has made quite a name for itself in a short time. In my opinion it's a stop every Atlantan should make at least once for a special occasion - the bread alone is worth it! I've also heard great things about the bar and the Friday Night Flight, which reportedly "will soon be reaching a new altitude" after tonight.

The Grateful Bread Company

Mini Cheese Danishes.

Several weeks ago I was offered a complimentary box of breads from The Grateful Bread Company in Smyrna, which supplies wholesale breads and sweets to area restaurants. In addition to what is photographed specifically, the box included mini-chocolate croissants, foccacia kaiser rolls, ciabatta squares, jalepeno rolls and a large foccacia bread. The jalepeno rolls and the challah (pictured below) were my favorites. I made some delicious French toast with the challah and enjoyed sharing all the breads with my family during the holidays.

Bread basket!



Challah and walnut raisin torpedo (cut).

Big City Bread Cafe - Athens

Berry tart - delicious!

After an early morning court hearing in Athens, I ventured to Big City Bread Cafe at the recommendation of Take Thou Food. I really enjoyed this place's vibe, including all of the solitary diners reading newspapers and the cute courtyard in front. Everything I sampled was tasty - and it got me back on the road to Atlanta! I'd love to come here again for a more substantial meal 0r to purchase some of the delicious-looking bread, available in whole loaves for purchase.

Smoked salmon and egg biscuit - it really hit the spot!



Outside of the cafe there is a cute courtyard with tables.

Serenbe Trip including Brunch at The Hil

Entrance to the farmer's market.



Idyllic market.

Last weekend my dad visited and we rode out to Serenbe in Palmetto, Georgia on Saturday morning. This community had been on my radar for several months but I had not yet taken the time to check it out. Finding the place is a bit tough, so definitely take directions. There is not a lot of signage on the way, which is a good thing for residents who do not want excess traffic in the area. We found out that the founder of this planned community linked the two words "serene" and "being" to form the community name, Serenbe. The idea was to create a community of residences and businesses, without the urban or suburban sprawl that so often comes as a result of development. Thus, the residences are focused in clusters, leaving lots of open spaces and trees.

One of the highlights of the visit was the farmer's market, where produce grown right on the property is sold. Baked goods, homemade soaps, plants and other gifts were also available. We lucked out and had a chance to sample some barbecue, a special tasting going on just this week.

Map of the community.



Path through the woods.

After we perused the market and bought some items for dinner, we walked along several trails and drove around the whole community. At this time of year the heat made too much walking unpleasant but this place will be great come fall. I was a little perplexed as to how the shops make it here - the restaurants I can see since there is an Inn (see below) but I wonder what sort of business the shops experience. We stopped in the Blue Eyed Daisy bake shop, which also serves breakfast and lunch sandwiches. Everything looked delicious but we held out our appetites for brunch at The Hil.

Tasty treats.



Horses - we saw donkeys and goats, too.



The Inn at Serenbe.

On the property there is a quaint inn, offering various rooms and apartments. Near the Inn is another restaurant called The Farmhouse. This is a definite pick for a one night getaway from Atlanta.

The Hil restaurant.



Brunch menu from The Hil.

Our brunch was very pleasant as we dined in the airy restaurant. I tried the smoked salmon flatbread with goat cheese and my dad ordered the chicken salad open faced sandwich. What stood out the most were the tomatoes - so fresh and tasty. The Hil highlights produce grown in the community and dinner is also offered Wednesday through Sunday.

Overall I recommend Serenbe as a Saturday or multi-day excursion for those who like low-key, outdoorsy yet high-class destinations. I will certainly be back!

Smoked salmon flatbread.



Chicken salad sandwich with egg and green salad - great tomatoes.

Highland Bakery Revisited

Cilantro Corncakes

With friends in town we decided to try the newly renovated Highland Bakery for Sunday brunch. This is one of my favorite places (along with West Egg Cafe) for brunch in Atlanta (see my previous post here). The new space shows off a much larger bakery with breads, pastries, cakes and more. Samples of bread were available, making the short wait pleasant indeed. Perhaps the new space has something to do with the wait being shorter as well, which is a major plug for this place as West Egg can be downright impossible to get into in less than an hour on the weekends.

With several people, we tried a variety of dishes including the above-pictured corncakes, which were tasty, but not as flavorful as I expected. The crabcake benedict, on the other hand, tasted great, with just the right amount of seasoning. The accompanying potatoes were also solid, especially when dressed with Calvin's favorite addition (sour cream!) For some reason I was more in the mood for lunch, so lucky for me, there is a full line of sandwiches and salads along with the brunch items. I tried the Caprese sandwich (below), which was tasty, although a bit more oil and balsamic (yes, I know about the balsamic debate re: Caprese salads, but on a sandwich I'm a fan of including it to moisten the bread and create a flavor contrast) would have been appreciated. We had to try the grits pie after seeing it in the pastry case while we waited. It tasted like pecan pie without the pecans and really didn't taste much like grits - oh well, we liked it anyway and the key lime pie was tasty too. Service was noteworthy, especially because it was so busy and because we sat outside, which I imagine could be a problem sometimes. It did take a few minutes for our food to arrive but our waitress was extremely accommodating and pleasant for the entire visit. Way to go!

Crabcake Benedict with potatoes.

Caprese Sandwich with fruit salad.



Grits Pie (left) and Key Lime Pie.



Mini-cupcakes one of our guests bought to take home.

Shoya Izakaya & Dessert at Bakery Cafe Maum

Yakisoba Noodles with pork and picked ginger.

After hearing all the hype about Shoya Izakaya, I tried it last Friday. It's located behind BrandsMart USA in a new shopping center. In addition to the photographed dishes, we also tried the fried oysters, miso soup, some nigri sushi and some yakitori Japanese peppers (both delicious). I had not tasted yakisoba since I lived in Japan six years ago (I studied abroad as an undergraduate and lived with a family in Hirakata City, near Osaka). The one problem was the this single dish took about 20 to 25 minutes to arrive; it was the last thing we ordered. Hopefully the kitchen is getting these kind of kinks worked out as I am sure this place is bound to thrive, especially with the new SuperHMart opening in the same shopping center soon. The salmon sashimi tasted fresh and pure, really hitting the spot. We also tried sea bass sushi, which I don't remember much about and scallop nigri, which I always love. The miso soup was fantastic - I think they use red miso instead of white as the broth had a distinct color. This is a place I would definitely like to visit again as their menu is huge (100+ items); however, it was fairly expensive - we spent about $65 for two people.

After dinner we headed to Bakery Cafe Maum, which is further out Buford Hwy. than I have ever ventured before (it's actually in Gwinnett County). I did not take any photos but we sampled some delicious, fresh and not too sweet strawberry watermelon juice, some rosemary cookies (again not too sweet), a walnut tart and a cream bun. Yum! This place also has a really nice atmosphere, with a fireplace and plenty of seating. I will be back soon.

Out front.



Pickles.



Salmon sashimi.



Mushrooms sauteed in jalepeno butter.