Picky, selective, restrictive, or just plain snotty?

Well... I guess that depends on the perspective. I like to think positively, so I'll take selective. If you are also selective, or otherwise have restrictions related to your eating, or maybe you are pizza-curious, you might be interested in Pizza Fusion. Its on P'tree Rd., right in the middle of Heartbreak Hill, and put a little too much emphasis on how wonderful they are, but... I'd still recommend it. These shoes are some that the Pizza Fusion folks would approve of, not ones I own. :)

I joined a fellow food lover for lunch there recently, and I'm quite sure we both walked away satisfied. Our server was also the dude who sat us, and was one of those guys who is really good at acting like he spends half his life in a yoga studio (although he may or may not ever have done the first sun salutation). He briefed us on how the menu works - you can create your own pizza (crust, sauce, cheese, and toppings), choose a specialty pizza, or venture into one of their other options, which include a few starters, salads, sandwiches, and desserts. This was not my first visit to Pizza Fusion, and I've now tried a couple of salads, and that's definitely a good place to start. The greens are very flavorful and fresh, and there are just the right amount of toppings on the salad for my taste.

Of course, you would never make it through 2 paragraphs of conversation with any staff member at Pizza Fusion without hearing about how environmental they are (which is nice, but is not going to affect whether I go to a restaurant, honestly, and to have it rubbed in my face constantly is a bit of a turn-off), or about how they are so very organic and considerate of you, their consumer. To this end, the crust offerings include a gluten-free option (which, again, I really appreciate), an organic white option, as well as a multi-grain crust. On my first visit, we tried the organic-white crust, while on this trip, I had an individual multi-grain crusted pizza. Both were decent - nice and thin, not burnt tasting, but not the most wonderful crust that will inspire my next environmental crusade, either. In order to meet even the most "selective"/"restrictive" diner, they also offer a number of vegan options (go veg!), including soy cheese (they promise that even carnivores love it, but I haven't yet been with a carnivore who was interested).

Their other toppings are definitely worth trying, though... the veggies are fresh and at least some of them are slightly less-than-run of the mill (although there are artichokes, onions, and olives, there are also zuccinis! crimini mushrooms! roasted portabellos! not to mention, um, organic pepperoni. Because everyone I know who craves pepperoni really prefers the purity of the organic... Snarking aside, I do appreciate the organic option, but I just got OVER it because it was in my face ALL THE TIME.

Is it a pizza Al Gore would like? Absolutely. So would many other people! With a side of pretension, of course.

My dining companion on the most recent trip was having a carb-friendly day (off to run 20 miles the next day), so we finished the pizza excursion by walking next door to Cami-cakes, a small cupcakery next door. Absolutely adorable. As each customer exited, she wished to each one, "have a tasty day." To you too!

The toppings

Dancing Dead and Other Fun Things: Bone Garden Cantina

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of joining one of my great friends to celebrate her birthday. Turning 30 is not like dying, contrary to popular belief, but there is some irony that she selected a restaurant themed on "Day of the Dead" to commemorate the occasion. :) It was not my first visit to Bone Garden Cantina, and God willing, it will not be my last. What shoes did this occasion call for? These are some of my favorites...

Last spring, I heard that the owners of the Vortex were opening a Mexican restaurant on the aforementioned hotspot of the Westside of Atlanta. That alone would merit a visit in my book, if only to see if the attitude changes with the ethnicity of the food. And... its less than 1 mile from the working home of your's truly! Score! (just to answer that question right off the bat, the waitstaff/employees at Bone Garden sport a similar look to their compatriots at the Vortex, but I have yet to encounter even a single person at BGC who had an attitude or was less than friendly and accommodating).

One of the differences at Bone Garden, as compared to other "Mexican" or Tex-Mex restaurants in these parts, is that everything is served a la carte. The good news about that is that you get EXACTLY what you want. The bad news is... who doesn't want refried beans? I, for one, can live without the rice. In lieu of the standard "combination" plates or assumed side dishes, the good people at Bone Garden encourage you to order about 3 dishes. Given their complimentary chips and very tasty salsa (very fresh, spicy but not hot, somewhat chunky in a good way), I have yet to even finish 2 dishes. On this most recent trip to BGC, I had the most pleasant occasion to sample their guacamole - I'd definitely get it again. Very tasty. Fresh cilantro! A little too much onion, but its hard to complain about...

By far, my favorite dish are the veggie sopes. The dish is composed upon a small cake made from corn masa - maybe about half an inch thick of goodness. On top of the sope are a scoop of tasty black beans, cabbage, avacado, queso, more of that cilantro I love so much, and some salsa. Very, very good. The textures are all over - creamy, crunchy, and chewy - all in the same bite! Very well complimented by the tastes, which in one mouthful may be sour, sharp, spicy, mild, back of the mouth, front of the mouth. It was explained to me that the chef at Bone Garden Cantina is from Mexico, and doesn't do Tex. Maybe that is the difference. I've also sampled the quesadilla - the mas queso with and without added veggies. It was sold to me as "the best quesadilla you'll ever have," and to this point, I can't disagree. Its very cheesy without being very greasy, the cheese is rich without being pungent or too rich (although I've not yet finished the quesadilla in one sitting), and the tortilla is fresh enough. The poco chihuahua enchilada was also worth a taste - the same cheese that is in the quesadilla shows up in the enchilada with very positive results here, too. The veggie taco I didn't love - it had a sauce that was foreign to me for a taco (peanut based), and I never really warmed up to it. The vegetables are always fresh, though, so if peanut and salsa are flavors you love together - go for it! Mike recently tried the Nopalitos salad, based on cactus and bell pepper, and he immediately moved it to his list of all-time favorite salads. which is saying a lot for a guy who has repeatedly said that he didn't really "get" salads. He also tried a pork sandwich - I don't recall what it is named - that he LOVED. The next day, he said something to the effect of that he was thinking about the next time that he would get to eat it.

The margarita de casa - definitely good. Smooth, sweet but not too sweet, salty... just right. :)

What shoes did this occasion call for? These are some of my favorites...

New Year, New Blog Post

Well. Long time, stranger. Several people have said something to me along the lines of, "you should write a blog. About restaurants. Or about your shoes." So... I'm going to give it a whirl again and see how it goes. Much in my life is radically different than the last time I wrote, so I'm going to consider this starting fresh, rather than continuing on.

I have a long history of being very into dining, so I'm going to explore that more in this space also, but in a little different way than most of the other blogs that I read on the subject. I'm a near life-long vegetarian, but I don't feel the need to eat at vegetarian restaurants. A friend once labeled me a "people-first vegetarian" - I like it. I do care more about the people I'm with than the limits within which I choose to eat. So, I will look at the vegetarian-friendliness of a place, but I hope to say more about the place than just whether its good for veggies.

The 2 restaurants I've been to in the new year worth mentioning are Miller Union (which, come to think of it was on New Year's Eve, not actually in the new year) and Bone Garden Cantina. Miller Union is new on the scene, in the very trendy "westside", and we went the day the AJC review was published. The review was very positive, which helped me make the decision about where to go, and it led to some expectations. Upfront, I was a little put off by the fact that I could hear the people at the table opposite mine better than I could my boyfriend, but as the restaurant continued to fill up, the noise evened out. The space is quite beautiful, but you could still smell paint. They are known for being out front in the "farm to table" movement, which is quite the rage these days, and the space was similarly trendy - but in a good way. The menus are all printed and placed on small boards, which is quite cute. I thought to myself several times during the evening that all of their printed materials (business cards, menus, etc.) looked like something my former roommate, a graphic designer, would have created. It had a style I've seen in her work and in her school materials several times.

Enough about the space, though, right? The food. The FOOD! We shared an order of the radish and feta snack, which was tasty, but not a home run in my book. The radishes were beautiful - cut from several varieties so the plate was colorful and varied. The cheese is a nice complement to the crunch and sweetness of the vegetable. I'm not sure where it lost points, exactly, and I did enjoy it, but... I ordered the seasonal vegetable plate. The vegetables had been the center of wide and high praise, and I was not going to miss that boat! The brussels sprouts were pretty much out of this world. Peppery, perfect texture, very, very well done. There were some greens and broccoli rabe (I think) as well, and those were good, but not especially memorable. The broccoli rabe was extra bitter, which I don't mind.

My dining companion ordered the skate, which he appeared to enjoy. I don't think that he loved it, although I think that was likely more the fish itself than its preparation. Upon sitting down, our waiter came by to welcome us and solicit drink orders. This was our first face-to-face encounter with the "farm-to-table"ness of the restaurant. When he ordered a rattler, he was told that the restaurant only sources small bottlers who use appropriate ingredients. Alas, they only had Mexican Coke, but no Sprite to offset the beer. OK. Only real sugar. Got it. It probably even tastes better (I dislike cola). But... why go all the way to Mexico for Coke? Doesn't that seem a little weird? or out of sorts of a "farm to table" restaurant? Maybe its just me...

AJC reviewer Meredith Ford Goldman writes, "Miller Union stands poised to be one of the city’s finest dining destinations," and I'm reluctant to disagree. Not there yet, but poised.

I was remiss in capturing the evening on film, but... those are the shoes I wore... :)