Restaurant Eugene: Private Dining Experience

RESTAURANT EUGENE

It gives me an absolute joy to blog about this restaurant! This place is on the top 5 list of my best dining experiences. This is a 5 Fork Must try!

We arrive at the restaurant to meet the crew and stop at the bar. We are greeted by the gentleman pictured. ***Please note that the fact that we took his picture speaks volumes about this guy.

I was in the mood for something different, but good. After finding out the types of drinks that I normally have, he suggests an Alexandria. It was incredible! The peach garnish on the drink is not just for show, as you sip, the sent from the peaches also help to flavor the drink....

For Angela's drink, the bartender (He needs a better title like Mixologist), finds out what she likes in a drink and asks permission to show off...wow! This guy pulls out a bottle of Aviation gin, Luxardo (a sour cherry liquor about which he gives us a brief history lesson), and Benoit Liqueur de Violette( a Violet Liqueur)...WOW!!! It was AMAZING! If you are used to going to a bar with $20 drinks that are mostly flavored sugar water and alcohol...try this place out.

It pays to have a friend that is a Certified Specialist of Wine! Dave orders, we drink. This bottle of Crasto was SPOT ON!
The bread was as good as it looked.
Chef Linton was just showing off when he put his on the menu. This Georgia Peach Salad has grilled vidailla onions, grilled peaches, and smoked bacon (They smoke their own meat).
This wild mushroom "soup" was to die for

All I can Say is WOW!!

The crab soup consisted of a crab cake in the middle of a luxorious, creamy crab soup and chives.
Diner arrives and it was incredible! I normally do a whole "break down of what we ate and how it was, but I may not do it justice. Porter's rabbit was great, Sharon did a repeat of some of the appetizers, the rest of us had fish. All I can say is WOW!!!

We could not decide on what to get for desert. Everything looked good and so did the cheeses. We made an easy choice: We got one of each desert and three cheeses. EVERYTHING was incredible! The chef sent out the pictured accompliment with the meal: chocolate truffles rolled in spicy peanuts. It was SPICY but really good.
Synopsis: Everything was great across the board. I would suggest that if you have the chance to dine there and there are no or limited food allergies, get the chef tasting menu and allow the chef to show off. The menu changes according to the season and what is available. Each time you dine is like a brand new experience.

Atlanta Grill: Ritz Carlton

Atlanta Grill at the Ritz Carlton

Website: nhttp://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Atlanta/Dining/AtlantaGrill/Default.htm

We decided to meet a couple of friends out for dinner and decided on the Atlanta Grill. While waiting, we decided to visit the bar. After a few moments of perusing the bar menu, I decided on the beer, she the martini...which was pretty darn good.

Our friends arrive and we are soon seated. I've learned to ask the waitstaff what they would suggest from the menu....sometimes they will be dead wrong...often times spot on.

1st course: Soup and salad. The house special salad was pretty darn good with the mixed greens, pecans, grapes, and blue cheese. The Cesar sald was nothing really spectacular, but still not that bad. I was not really moved by the soup although you could tell that some time went into its preparation.

The Brunswick stew was like NOTHING that i had ever had before. Not the same as one would expect from say your local BBQ establishment and not close to being as good. There are some things that should not be left to interpretation.

The BBQ chicken was not bad, but definitely what I see as being wrong with good BBQ. The chicken was well cooked, but the sauce, instead of showing off a perfectly grilled piece of meat merely drowned out the flavor with off the shelf flavor.

BBQ Ribs: OK...why go to a place like the Ritz Carlton and get the ribs? I still have no answer to that question and as you can tell...I was the one that asked the question...I knew better. Much like the chicken, there was no "low and slow" over wood or charcoal on this one...just some cooking in the oven and a bit of char from the grill as the "dressed up ketchup is added".

I had the braised beef short ribs over grits. This was not too bad. The beef was nicely (fall off the bone) and the braising juices were pretty good.

The cobbler was a nice concept being individual sized. I think that most of us Southerners love a good balance between the crust and bread. Maybe a more layered or pie in a ramakin approach would step it up. It was still a good dish nonetheless.

The bread pudding was not to bad..not the best in the world, but not bad. The icecream and the whiskey sauce were nice accomplements.

All of us...

The Bottom line: Nice atmosphere and the food was pretty decent. It seemed to me that this place was betting on doing upscale Southern cooking when it did not truly prefect the bascics. I am still searching for really good Soul Food here in the ATL. I had no expectations of even getting Southern cooking at this place...who thinks of Fried chicken and collard greens at the Ritz? I think that the concept is good being that we are in the capitol of the South, but more attention needs to be focused on the quality of the cuisine and stick to the basics before branching out.

KYMA

Our visit to Kyma (pronounced Kee-Mah) was an interesting visit. The decor is very "Athens Greece" inspired. We get there a bit early (around 6:30PM) and had no wait to get to our seats. After perusing the drink menu, we order martinis.

I must admit that my martini tasted NOTHING like it looked. I order this martini that is chocolate flavored...and it's CLEAR!! OK..I know that it was just the chocolate vodka and the creme de cacao...but it was unexpected and very good.

Now comes the appetizer:
Greek Meatballs. These meatballs are lamb and beef that have been crisped in olive oil served with Tzatziki(for dipping) and Greek fries. These were very good and moist and the Tzatziki was off the chain!

You can tell when you walk into the restaurant, that fresh seafood is a major focus of this establishment. There is an assortment of fresh fish, octopus, and shellfish when you walk in. This display really makes you want to step out of your comfort zone.

I decide to step out and try something that I have never had before: BARAMUNDI.
It was prepared whole and the server filleted it. It was served with kale (I think) and topped with a caper sauce. It was pretty good, flaky and fresh. It did lack a little something on the flavor side. It was just shy of band.

We also had a side of the stewed eggplant at the server's suggestion. It had a wonderful flavor, the only issue is that cooking eggplant is a two edged sword. The sky was bitter, but the insides would not have held together without the skin.

Angela orders the Red Snapper. Hers too, served with the kale and butter caper sauce. Her fish was pretty good especially with the crisp skin, but it too was lacking in the flavor department.

For desert, Angela orders This molten chocolate cake with cinnamon ice cream. It was pretty decent. The ice cream flavor was a bit over the top, but still pretty good.

I ordered the desert sampler (and yes I did stay away from the typical Baklava). I made sure I ordered things that I had never tried. It was all pretty good.

Final Review: Much like most of the other restaurants in this group, the food was "pretty good" but nothing spectacular. I did not find anything on the menu that made me want to make this place my "go to" spot. It would be a great place to try on Sundays for their dinner special or if you are feeling like being out of your "food comfort zone".

Boneheads

Clyde and I had the chance to dine at BONEHEADS. They are known for their fish and chicken. Their fish is chargrilled and lightly seasoned with Boneheads' Spice. All grilled fish entrees come with seasoned rice, choice of a topping and a side. Their chicken is Flame-grilled with your choice of lemon & herb, medium, or extra hot. Chicken dishes are served with seasoned rice and a side. Their Website is : http://www.eatboneheads.com/index.aspx

Clyde ordered an appetizer of Boneheads shrimp, which consisted of crispy shrimp tossed in a spicy aioli with a hint of Piri Piri. He enjoyed it. As you can see from the picture below it comes with a lemon wedge on a bed of slaw.

For my entree I ordered the boneless chicken breast with the sweet potatoe fries and rice. I enjoyed it. I chose the medium flavor, which was a little to hot for me. However, it was good enough to keep me eating :)


Clyde ordered a few taco's that were lightly seasoned with a touch of citrus, Piri Piri Spice and Boneheads' Sauce, filled with Asian Cole Slaw. He selected the sauteed fish, the shrimp and the Piri Piri chicken with a side salad.

For Clyde's entree, he ordered the grilled grouper with the sauteed Piri Piri Mushrooms. His sides were slaw and rice.

We liked it and would return their again. Decent food without the hoopla.

Peace, Angela

Stoney River

Stony River was a part of Gwinett County Restaurant week.

Here you get a 3 course meal for $21.21...I know right! What a deal! Instead of doing our weekly Neighborfriend Pot Luck, we decided to enjoy Stoney River for Gwinett Restaurant Week.

(Dave & Ashley)

(Jolie, Angela, Ashley)
We get there and the parking lot is packed! Thank goodness for complimentary valet parking! We get inside and the decor is nice...very upscale steakhouse feel to it. We head for the bar.

Angela and Ashley opt for the white and red wine respectively, Dave goes for the beer, Jolie gets a cosmo and I opt for the Bellini tini (Hey! I like martinis and I like Bellinis).

Riesling

Cosmo

Bellini-Tini
(Not too bad, I think it needed a better champagne or Prosecco)
Our table is ready quickly and we are greeted by our waiter who brings over these hot, poppy seed, doughnut hole shaped bread bites that were INCREDIBLE!!!

Our 1st course arrives and it is a roasted chicken spanakopita with smoked-tomato chardonnay sauce.

(This is a mixture of spinach, chicken, and cheese wrapped in phyllo dough)

It was wonderful! I think the best part of enjoying the dish is when some on at the table says "This is great! I would have never thought to order this!"

For our entrees, Ashley orders the Salmon and everyone else orders the 7oz Fillet (I had Mashed Sweet potatoes instead of the garlic mashed).

My Photojournalistic moment:

Desert comes, and I must admit, we all thought that it was molten lava cake, we were wrong...but not disappointed. This chocolate fudge cake comes out and, well....YUM!

I must admit, it was like a big cookie or a chocolate chip blondie with the fudge and ice cream topping it. Quite good but very rich.

Summary: Stoney River was pretty darn good. The food was good and I would place it above quite a few restaurants in Atlanta. I would visit this place again.