Brookwood Grill- Alpharetta/Roswell

The Brookwood Grill

After the wedding, the wife and I decided to use one of our coupons from restaurants.com to grab a bite to eat. We wanted something nearby and decided on Brookwood Grill. I had only been there once after a Martial Arts testing for a Burger with a friend (it was a good burger). We get there and the atmosphere was pretty nice (really steakhouse-esque). Our waiter is on point and runs down the specials for the evening and we order. We were without our camera and had to opt for the camera phone.

I had the special for the night. It was a pan seared 9oz Hallibut fillet with a caper sauce and the gorganzola Mac and Cheese. The Halibut was perfectly prepared and the caper sauce was really good. I can hardly wait to recreate the Gorgonzola mac and cheese...it was THAT good.

Angela opted for the grilled marinated chicken breast which was perfectly grilled and NOT dried out. The pineapple marinade was a nice touch. The garlic mashed potatoes were really good. There was not much one could do with some steamed broccoli.

For desert, we shared the grilled strawberry shortcake. It was pretty good. They grilled the pound cake until it had a bit of char on it and the strawberries had this bananas fosters cooked in some sauce kind of thing going on with it. The only thing that was missing was a scoop of ice cream to round it all out.

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

Once again a chance to make use of Restaurant Week! Ruth's Chris Steakhouse is one of those spots that I had been meaning to try and never made it to try. Restaurant Week was just the excuse that I needed to make my visit. The ambiance was pretty cool and had the "upscale steakhouse" thing working. It was also cool that this location was in a nice hotel and the validated the Valet parking.

The salad was as good as it looked. The greens were fresh and the dressing was pretty darn good.

I ordered the filet medium with the lyonnaise potatoes. I must admit that bringing the steak on a 500 degree plate is awesome. Talk about keeping your food warm. Hearing the food sizzle as it reaches your table does remind you of a fajita plate, but the steak was perfectly cooked.

My fiance' ordered her filet well and butterflied. Note: I normally don't suggest ordering a GOOD steak well, but if you do, butterfly the filet to keep it from drying out too much or getting burnt.

The desert course really showed that this spot is one that really focuses on the meat course. The deserts were o.k., but nothing that could not be reproduced from thawing and baking something out of the freezer section of your local grocers.

We wondered if there was wine in these autographed bottles...

The synopsis: Ruth's Chris is a pretty decent spot to visit and you are definitely in for a treat when you order the steak. It may not be on the top 5 of the best meals that you will ever eat, but I will put it on the top 5 of chain steakhouses.

Morton's: The Steakhouse

Morton's Steakhouse

Once again...Restaurant Week! If you have not tried dining out during restaurant week...do it. This affords you the opportunity to try out restaurants to see if you enjoyed the food and dining experience without a large price tag. On that wise, I had been hearing lots about Morton's (some good, some bad). It does give you that "restaurant that high class mobsters in NY would frequent" feel...real "steak housey". I did like that they had an area that had lockers with bottles of wine in them. I'm assuming that these were for "regulars" so that they could house their favorite vintage.

1st course: We both ordered the Cesar salad...I had mine with the anchovies...nothing too special about it.

The filet was perfectly cooked and was not bad at all.
(not blown away though)

Now, I must admit that the Lyonnaise potatoes were darn near incredible.
I know that these were just potatoes and onions but they were great!

The grilled asparagus was pretty darn good...firm yet fully cooked with just the right amount of char from the grill.

Angela ordered her filet butterflied and well done. The steak guy really knows his stuff because it was still not dry.

I was surprised to find deserts this good in a steak house.

The chocolate mousse was wonderful.

When in doubt...get the creme brule'. It was very well done.

Synopsis: Over all, I was not not really blown away by this spot. I can not say that I would drive all of the way across town to visit this place...maybe just for Restaurant Week...maybe.

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.