therese

You could certainly do duck scallopini style, though I've never done it. I'd probably avoid anything that required too much doodling around around with getting duck breast meat off the bone and then slicing it across the grain and pounding it, etc. as it could get a bit tedious. The flavor of the duck will also not be as pronounced given the cooking technique and garnish/sauce, so if you really wanted to used duck I probably wouldn't do this prep. Pork tenderloin is the easiest option for scallopini IMO, and yes, you can hold the browned scallopini on a tray in the oven until they're all done and then finish them off. I've done scallopini this way (by myself, all last minute) for a dinner party of 12, so you should manage fine with help. Since you've got no grill you might want to consider peperonata as a side dish: stewed peppers (choose several colors---I usually skip the green ones), sometime also onions, garnished with fresh basil. They don't take too long to stew, and group prep works well. I don't mind the skins in mine, but some people remove them ahead of time.

I'd do zabaglione for dessert. Altogether last minute, you can use local eggs, and it will pair beautifully with fruit (strawberries if they're still in season locally). The classic quick preparation secondo is some sort of scallopini, piccata and marsala both being nice (the marsala would be picked up later in the zabaglione). If you can't get nice veal you can do chicken (my least favorite), turkey (breast cut cross-wise works nicely), or pork tenderloin (again, cut cross-wise before pounding). A fun dish for a group to work on what with all the pounding, and no advance work necessary. Serve it with some sort of starchy puree (hmm, fava beans strike me as a nice idea) and a grilled version of whatever's in season veggie-wise.

Damn you, Alex. Since you'd asked for specific recs I went ahead and checked the menu on the web site, and now I'm very hungry indeed. Things I'd specifically recommend as being seasonal are the roasted vidalia onion soup (this was on the menu a couple of weeks ago---my 11 year old daughter ordered it and ended up having to defend her bowl from the stray spoons of the rest of us), the Georgia white shrimp (I've not had this particular dish, but Georgia shrimp are great), and the vegetable plate (still featuring ramps, not found too frequently in other parts of the world).

Pretty much everything's seasonal, so I'd just go with whatever you find appealing food-wise. I particularly like the desserts at Woodfire, but if you're into cheese make sure you check out the cheese keeper that's on your right just as you walk into the main dining room. Also, note that Woodfire is converting its front bar area to a "small plates" cafe. No reservations for that part of the restaurant, and I think there is going to be a takeout component as well. Service starts sometime this weekend, I think, either Friday or Saturday.

Great roasted. Also nice chopped small and sauteed with fava beans. Nice texture and flavor.

Farmhouse sinks are well-suited to undermounting. Here's a pic of mine---it's obviously not stainless, but they're available and would presumably also undermount well: I also liked the look and durability of soapstone (both husband and I also have science backgrounds), but it's not done too commonly in my area and so it was going to be a bit of thrash to find a fabricator, plus it was going to be more expensive. So we went with a black granite, choosing a honed rather than a polished finish. Not quite as matte as soapstone, but very nearly so, and very easy to maintain. Here's a picture of it that emphasizes it's very minimal shininess: You could pick a lighter shade of granite and use that it a honed finish if you're concerned about the dark color. Soapstone can be sealed before it acquires its dark color, and you can also have a sink made of it. We used maple butcher block for some of the counters in the kitchen, all in relatively "dry" areas. We didn't mix counter materials on any runs.

This is the first I've heard of this grain, I'm fascinated. (FYI for googlers, it's called Kamut here in the US.) I will have to go see if they have this at any of the local health-nut stores... ← Yes, it's called kamut in the U.S., and lots of health food stores and even regular grocery stores sell various pastas and cookies and so forth made of it. The grain itself (if you can find it---I buy it in bulk here in Atlanta at Dekalb Farmers Market) looks like wheat, but with a bit of a curvature to one side, sort of like a hump. Cooking time is along the lines of brown rice (though I don't know for sure, I just cook it till it's done) and it's got a nice substantial texture and a slightly fatty, buttery taste (and mouthfeel), so great on a diet. I store it in the fridge lest it go rancid. Quinoa's a nice alternative to grain, both red and regular types available. Much shorter cooking time (20 minutes, like white rice), nice texture, slightly "green" flavor.

Atlanta's got a very active local dining scene, Tony13, both on and off-line and as a result there's rather less activity here on eGullet than there'd otherwise be. Five and Ten's well known (it does routinely make Atlanta restaurant critics' "best of" lists, along with Alix Kenagy's Cargo in Brunswick). So not to worry that he's not getting sufficient recognition. It's a long way to drive for dinner (1.5 hours for me) and an even longer drive back, particularly for those of us who live in Atlanta, as it means we're driving past about a bajillion great restaurants on our way out of town. I'm driving to Athens today, but won't be able dine there because of the timing. I may manage next Friday, when I return. That said, Acheson's very talented. He's Canadian, so it's interesting for me to hear somebody with a distinctly non-southern accent to talk about the local ingredients, but he uses them well. There are a number of organic farmers in the Athens areas and he makes a point of using their produce. You're kidding, right? Because it sounds like you're surprised that Acheson would be using Georgia shrimp. Georgia's got some of the best shrimp in the world, frankly, and if you can manage to be somewhere where you can actually get fresh Georgia shrimp right off the boat you should do so. Just about anywhere along the long Georgia coast (virtually all of which is protected by barrier islands and Jekyll and Hilton Head and Cumberland) will do. Skipped dessert? Tragic, absolutely tragic.

Lung cancer will also do the trick---chemo plays havoc with both taste/smell and appetite.

Killing your palate's the least of your concerns.

Sounds like a case of "great minds" all around. Watermelons are coming into season in my part of the world. I clearly need to have a party sometime soon.

My husband and I avoid dish duplication, though we don't necessarily end up giving each other a taste of our own meals. He's somewhat more likely to want to taste mine than I am his. If I'm with a group of friends I don't bother to consider the issue at all. With my mother, though, there's another issue, basically the same one that MicBacchus describes: my mother always orders the same thing that I've chosen. If I order first she orders the same item. If she orders first and I order something different she'll then change her order to match mine. And if I change once more she's right there along with me. I did finally point out to her that I find it a bit odd, and she's pretty much stopped doing it. Except that now she wants to try everything on my plate! Serves me right.

Sort of an odd way to refer to themselves, actually. BBQ varies a lot with location (so using the term "southern" would be the equivalent of a Vietnamese or Korean restaurant calling itself "asian"), and some items might be somewhat more likely to show up in a BBQ place with mostly black clientele (chitterlings come to mind), but the difference isn't sufficiently marked that a place would typically distinguish itself that way. Sausage is typical of BBQ in Texas, particularly the areas around San Antonio and Austin which were settled by Germans, and BBQ places will often make their own (according to a jealously guarded secret, of course). They're so typical of some places that they show up on just about every plate served, no matter what you've actually ordered, sort of like a side order of beans or coleslaw. Great with beer. BBQ places are great for kids---casual, friendly, loud, and plenty of beer.

Beer's an acquired taste, but very refreshing on a hot day, and a nice counterpoint to certain sorts of food, especially if you don't want a sweet flavor. Lots of different sorts out there, including some sweets type (which I find really dreadful for the most part, even if they are the expensive fancy sort). I have to admit that I'd be wary of BBQ in LA: the vision of chicken breasts on a grill slathered with bottled sweet sauce comes to mind. Doctoring the bottled sauces with mustard (Maille works just fine ) cuts the sweetness, but it's easier to just start from scratch anyway. As for not eating pork, it does limit your exposure to good BBQ, as much of the best calls for pork. Texas BBQ typically include beef brisket, but it's not nearly so good as pulled pork or ribs (shhh, don't tell my husband, he's from San Antonio). Some parts of Kentucky barbecue mutton.

I've not been to Gex, and I've no clear idea of where it is, but I love the idea of saying to somebody, "Dude, I've been to Gex." The server/customer thing can get pretty dicey. I don't generally correct a server's pronunciation (though, like Abra, I might give a little hint on the side if he seemed like he might appreciate it), but I have been in situations where the server has corrected me. Or maybe I should say incorrected me, as I generally only say things out loud if I know how to pronounce them. So then I'm left in the awkward position of saying "Dude..." or just ignoring it. Which I mostly do unless it's going to make a difference in what actually comes out of the kitchen. A particularly thorny instance of mussels mariniere vs mussels marinara comes to mind. We nearly came to blows.

Heh. No, probably not. And nobody'd spit in your grits either. You'd just just get that look that we reserve for the dim-witted and obviously inebriated. Southern accents vary quite a bit, and many places in the southeast don't have much of one. Both of my children have grown up in Georgia (Atlanta) but neither has a discernibly southern accent. Which might be due to the fact that their parents aren't from the south, except that we are: father from San Antonio, mother from southwest Virginia. My kids' fake southern accents are every bit as crappy as Behemoth's is likely to be.

As The Hersch explains upthread you apparently do need to know the gender of the item in Portuguese if you're ordering one or two of them: This is not the case for the Romance languages I speak (French and Italian), but there may be other instances other than Portuguese in which it is the case.

So to some extent it depends on what's historically available and suitable when it comes to pairing spicy/strongly-flavored foods with beverages. Spicing of food may be even be deliberately matched to certain beverages. Beer is the traditional accompaniment to BBQ, and the sweetness of the sauce is a nice counterpoint to the beer's bitterness. Merguez are great with beer, IMO. But my favorite beverage with them is actually cidre, because that's how I first ate them in Normandy. Cold, a little sweet, and fizzy to put out the fire. Absolutely. And it's easy to tell that they are from someplace else because they are behaving so poorly.

The fried things will fill you up quickly. Fried chicken tends to be an especially large serving anywhere you get it, and in any case I rarely manage to finish what I'm served in this sort of restaurant. But then I rarely manage to finish what I'm served in everyday sorts of restaurants in France. The section farthest from the bar, with banquettes? Siberia, but that shouldn't have affected the food.

Ask for a real cup and go sit down and drink it. Or stand if you're drinking an espresso and you're in a hurry. I hate drinking out of paper or foam (and find those plastic sippy cup things downright disgusting), so I don't do it. Beer. Do you drink wine with merguez? And there's lot of different sorts of BBQ sauce, many of them not particularly sweet.

Yeah, noticed that last night. I had to look away (but then I can't look at car crashes either).

Oh no - he is probably the best chef in the southeast US. Do you know when he's leaving? Robyn ← He says June 4 is his last night here at the Ritz-Carlton. He estimates late summer before he's settled in at L'Osier (just in case you were considering in cashing in all those SkyMiles for a trip to Tokyo anytime soon). We went to see him for our wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago, and he was at Taste of the Nation last week. I'd be going again with a group of friends this weekend except that we've got a wedding to attend instead. Maybe I'll still manage next week.

Bruno Menard joining L'Osier this summer. Previously with the Ritz-Carlton in Osaka, the last few years at the Ritz-Carlton here in Atlanta.

You had great weather, at least. We ate outside on the deck. I could tell you what I served, but it would just depress you. Atlanta's got some great food, there's just not much of it downtown because there aren't many Atlantans there.

Glad you all enjoyed Mary Mac's. Do you remember what you had? Sorry about your dinner at Joel's. Even with the "forced choice" option (you were in the private dining room right off the bar? I dislike that room because the table is too wide, such that you can't speak to anybody sitting across from you and the acoustics are lousy in any case) it should have been very good. Joel was reportedly under the weather last Thursday, skipping an event here in Atlanta that he normally would have attended, and that may account for the off night.