If you'll pardon a little whining... I got sideswiped this evening while driving home on Clairmont just north of Buford Hwy (where the QT is). I was going south in the left lane, and suddenly, WHAM! I was knocked partly into the center turn lane. The other driver and I turned off into the parking lot of a chiropractor, who, surprisingly, did not immediately run out and offer assistance (they were closed). So now my back and neck are sore, and luckily I've got some good stuff left from my surgery. I'll be seeing my own chiropractor tomorrow. If anyone happened to see a gold Honda Civic get bumped by a large green truck in the location described above at around 7-7:15 this evening, I'd love it if you'd contact me: cecilia(AT)ceciliadominic.com The other driver swore he was "going straight in his lane." I don't think so, not if he knocked me out of mine.
Okay, on to the fun stuff...
I follow Hudson Rouse of Two Friends Import Company on Twitter (@2FriendsImports), and he was kind enough to come introduce himself to us when I was in the blogger's tent at the Decatur Book Festival. I've been curious about the Macedonian wines he distributes (if I recall correctly, his business partner and best friend is Macedonian). He poured three last night at a tasting at Saba in Oakhurst. All three came from the Popova Kula winery, and all are the 2005 vintage. One thing that we noticed was that the nose was always harsher than the wine itself and mellowed out with swirling.
1) Vranec, a native grape varietal that should make Pinot Noir fans happy
Bright fruit/sharp cherry nose; smooth cran-cherry with a light butter finish
Rating: Very Good
2) Merlot:
Clove, cedar, and dark fruit nose; dark cherry and tobacco, dry with a mildly spicy finish. I thought it was really interesting and complex. Macedonia was outside of the area of the phylloxera epidemic, so these are non-cloned Merlot grapes.
Rating: Very Good
3) Cabernet Sauvignon:
Blackberry nose; dark fruit, and not really oaky; less complex than the Merlot, but would probably go really well with food
Rating: Good
To be fair, Hubby and I disagreed on the last two. He liked the Cab better.
We stayed for dinner after the tasting. No, I don't turn my nose up at reviewing places that could be considered chains because every restaurant has its strengths and weaknesses.
Saba in Oakhurst, unlike the now dead and departed one in downtown Decatur, has full table service. The mixed green salads are, as advertised, mixed greens tossed with an orange vinaigrette that balances out the bitterness of some of the greens. Hubby had the spaghetti and meatballs. I had a bite and was surprised by the amount of fennel flavor in the meatballs. I had the special Chicken Parmesan, and although the chicken itself was a little overcooked, the cheese used tasted like it had a good measure of Parmesan and not just some sprinkled over Mozzarella. The generous chicken breast was served with spaghetti and marinara sauce, and the pasta was cooked to "just right" al dente. We each had a glass of Da Vinci Chianti, which is a good Chianti with enough acidity to stand up to food, but not enough to put in batteries like some table wines. We finished with the chocolate chip Cannoli, two small crispy shells with Italian cream and chocolate ships, and Red Velvet Cake. Both desserts were finished and were good representations of their respective dessert genres (yeah, sorry, I've been doing a lot of writing lately).
Score card:
Atmosphere: Cozy; pretty much the same layout as the space's previous incarnations (Oakhurst Grill, Calavino's), but darker
Food: Good to Very Good
Wine list: Good -- has something for every taste
Wait staff: Very Good
Desserts: Very Good
Vegetarian friendly? Yes
Kid friendly? Probably
Would I go back? Yes
So, thanks, Hudson, for doing the tasting and for introducing me to wine from a region I was not familiar with! I'll definitely seek out Macedonian wines in the future.
Showing posts with label Saba. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saba. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Oenophile at Large: Restaurant Reviews
It's been a crazy busy week for the Oenophile and Hubby.
I had one of those marketing lecture thingies that happens every so often in my "other life" (see: job I get paid for) on Wednesday evening. This particular adventure took me to Nan Fine Thai Dining at the corner of Spring and 17th in downtown Atlanta. I had been looking forward to it because everyone I mentioned it to responded with something like, "Oh! That's supposed to be the best Thai food in Atlanta!" I'm still trying to decide if it lives up to the hype, and it's probably not fair of me to say one way or the other since I didn't have access to the whole menu. I was able to sample the Chicken Satay, Fried Shrimp, and Vegetarian Spring Roll appetizers, all of which were very good. The Fried Shrimp were essentially tempura battered on sticks, and it was funny watching people try to eat them without using their fingers (they usually gave up). The spring rolls seemed more like the egg rolls you'd get in a Chinese restaurant with the thick skins rather than the crispy layered spring roll skin I'd expected. All appetizers were served with good sauces. I chose the Thai Salad for my first course. It was served with peanut dressing and egg and had some sort of crispy element to it, tofu, I think. I liked it. My main course was the Pha Sham Rod, or "fried snapper filet with three-flavored chili sauce." Like the shrimp, the snapper was fried in a tempura style, but thankfully not on a stick. It came with fried okra and some other sort of starchy vegetable. The sauce was spicy, but not overly so. I eschewed the green tea ice cream for the blueberry pie and homemade ice cream in my fridge.
Score card:
Atmosphere: The main dining room is light and airy, almost temple-like. The side room where we were got the afternoon sun and tended to be stuffy, especially with the door shut.
Food: Very Good
Wine list: Good, from what I could see (again, had limited options)
Wait staff: Good, at least the two we had for our group
Desserts: Hard to say. I saw a good-looking chocolate thing come out of the kitchen as we waited outside the room for the talk to start, but alas, I didn't get to try it
Vegetarian friendly? Not really, at least not from the online menu
Kid friendly? No
Would I go back? Yes
Thursday night was a wine tasting (notes in another entry), and Hubby and I were running late because the meeting I had after work that "would only be 10 minutes, we promise!" lasted 40. We decided to try Saba, an Emory restaurant that just opened another location on the square in Decatur. I had the Wild Mushroom Ravioli, which was served with tomato sauce, feta, and fresh herb vinaigrette, and Hubby had the Four Cheese Ravioli with kalamata olives, tomato sauce, and pureed herbs. We both started out with a mixed green salad with herb vinaigrette. Both meals were big enough for two, so we have lunch for one day this week. We both were impressed with the food and with the fellow diners, many of whom were under eight and well-behaved. Well-behaved children in a Decatur restaurant? Isn't that one of the signs of the Apocalypse?
Kidding (ha! that pun really wasn't intended, I promise!) aside, this is definitely a place we'll keep in mind even when we're not running late.
Score card:
Atmosphere: Nice, reminded me a little of a coffee shop.
Food: Excellent
Wine list: I didn't try any, but although it's short, it goes beyond the Chianti one typically sees at a pasta place and actually has a Lodi zin on it
Wait staff: ?? It's a walk up, order your food at a counter, and wait for someone to bring it to you kind of place
Desserts: Unknown
Vegetarian friendly? Yep, lots of options
Kid friendly? Yes
Would I go back? Definitely!
Today we joined our VERY pregnant friends Logic Boy and Grammar Girl (their blog is here if anyone is interested) at the Peachtree Diner in Roswell for lunch. We're looking very forward for the kid to be born so that Grammar Girl can join us for wine again. This menu is incredibly varied, and they told us that they bring people there because there's something for everyone. The menu is spiral bound, and I've read novels that are shorter. You could see the variety in our meals. I got the Moussaka (yes, there's a whole Greek page), which was excellent. The Greek spices, tomato sauce, and Bechamel sauce were well-balanced, and it was served with a Greek salad that was a little heavy on the onion, but also very good. Grammar Girl got the Mediterranean Salad, which looked like fried onions and eggplant parmesan atop a salad. Hubby got the blackened Prime Rib grill, and Logic Boy got the open-faced roast beef sandwich. Everyone said their food was delicious. Logic Boy is a fellow chocoholic, so we took a field trip to the dessert case that looks like something out of a sugar addict's dream. I got a piece of the chocolate cream pie, which was a little heavy on cream and not so much on chocolate, and our fellow diners got the Caramel Cake, which has layers of chocolate mousse, vanilla mousse, two kinds of cake, and layers of caramel between all of it as well as a creamy light chocolate icing. I had a bite (for the blog, of course), and it was fantastic.
Score card:
Atmosphere: Busy, but the tables are set up so that you're not bothered by other diners or ambient noise
Food: Excellent
Wine list: Good, even if the whites are divided into "Chardonnay" and "Other Whites" The impressive thing is that everything is available by the glass.
Wait staff: Although the restaurant seemed short-staffed, everything was handled very efficiently, and we never felt neglected
Desserts: Wow
Vegetarian friendly? Fair with a few options
Kid friendly? Yes
Would I go back? Definitely!
I had one of those marketing lecture thingies that happens every so often in my "other life" (see: job I get paid for) on Wednesday evening. This particular adventure took me to Nan Fine Thai Dining at the corner of Spring and 17th in downtown Atlanta. I had been looking forward to it because everyone I mentioned it to responded with something like, "Oh! That's supposed to be the best Thai food in Atlanta!" I'm still trying to decide if it lives up to the hype, and it's probably not fair of me to say one way or the other since I didn't have access to the whole menu. I was able to sample the Chicken Satay, Fried Shrimp, and Vegetarian Spring Roll appetizers, all of which were very good. The Fried Shrimp were essentially tempura battered on sticks, and it was funny watching people try to eat them without using their fingers (they usually gave up). The spring rolls seemed more like the egg rolls you'd get in a Chinese restaurant with the thick skins rather than the crispy layered spring roll skin I'd expected. All appetizers were served with good sauces. I chose the Thai Salad for my first course. It was served with peanut dressing and egg and had some sort of crispy element to it, tofu, I think. I liked it. My main course was the Pha Sham Rod, or "fried snapper filet with three-flavored chili sauce." Like the shrimp, the snapper was fried in a tempura style, but thankfully not on a stick. It came with fried okra and some other sort of starchy vegetable. The sauce was spicy, but not overly so. I eschewed the green tea ice cream for the blueberry pie and homemade ice cream in my fridge.
Score card:
Atmosphere: The main dining room is light and airy, almost temple-like. The side room where we were got the afternoon sun and tended to be stuffy, especially with the door shut.
Food: Very Good
Wine list: Good, from what I could see (again, had limited options)
Wait staff: Good, at least the two we had for our group
Desserts: Hard to say. I saw a good-looking chocolate thing come out of the kitchen as we waited outside the room for the talk to start, but alas, I didn't get to try it
Vegetarian friendly? Not really, at least not from the online menu
Kid friendly? No
Would I go back? Yes
Thursday night was a wine tasting (notes in another entry), and Hubby and I were running late because the meeting I had after work that "would only be 10 minutes, we promise!" lasted 40. We decided to try Saba, an Emory restaurant that just opened another location on the square in Decatur. I had the Wild Mushroom Ravioli, which was served with tomato sauce, feta, and fresh herb vinaigrette, and Hubby had the Four Cheese Ravioli with kalamata olives, tomato sauce, and pureed herbs. We both started out with a mixed green salad with herb vinaigrette. Both meals were big enough for two, so we have lunch for one day this week. We both were impressed with the food and with the fellow diners, many of whom were under eight and well-behaved. Well-behaved children in a Decatur restaurant? Isn't that one of the signs of the Apocalypse?
Kidding (ha! that pun really wasn't intended, I promise!) aside, this is definitely a place we'll keep in mind even when we're not running late.
Score card:
Atmosphere: Nice, reminded me a little of a coffee shop.
Food: Excellent
Wine list: I didn't try any, but although it's short, it goes beyond the Chianti one typically sees at a pasta place and actually has a Lodi zin on it
Wait staff: ?? It's a walk up, order your food at a counter, and wait for someone to bring it to you kind of place
Desserts: Unknown
Vegetarian friendly? Yep, lots of options
Kid friendly? Yes
Would I go back? Definitely!
Today we joined our VERY pregnant friends Logic Boy and Grammar Girl (their blog is here if anyone is interested) at the Peachtree Diner in Roswell for lunch. We're looking very forward for the kid to be born so that Grammar Girl can join us for wine again. This menu is incredibly varied, and they told us that they bring people there because there's something for everyone. The menu is spiral bound, and I've read novels that are shorter. You could see the variety in our meals. I got the Moussaka (yes, there's a whole Greek page), which was excellent. The Greek spices, tomato sauce, and Bechamel sauce were well-balanced, and it was served with a Greek salad that was a little heavy on the onion, but also very good. Grammar Girl got the Mediterranean Salad, which looked like fried onions and eggplant parmesan atop a salad. Hubby got the blackened Prime Rib grill, and Logic Boy got the open-faced roast beef sandwich. Everyone said their food was delicious. Logic Boy is a fellow chocoholic, so we took a field trip to the dessert case that looks like something out of a sugar addict's dream. I got a piece of the chocolate cream pie, which was a little heavy on cream and not so much on chocolate, and our fellow diners got the Caramel Cake, which has layers of chocolate mousse, vanilla mousse, two kinds of cake, and layers of caramel between all of it as well as a creamy light chocolate icing. I had a bite (for the blog, of course), and it was fantastic.
Score card:
Atmosphere: Busy, but the tables are set up so that you're not bothered by other diners or ambient noise
Food: Excellent
Wine list: Good, even if the whites are divided into "Chardonnay" and "Other Whites" The impressive thing is that everything is available by the glass.
Wait staff: Although the restaurant seemed short-staffed, everything was handled very efficiently, and we never felt neglected
Desserts: Wow
Vegetarian friendly? Fair with a few options
Kid friendly? Yes
Would I go back? Definitely!
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