Food 101 Atlanta

If you ever find yourself in Atlanta, Georgia, you must take the time – you must MAKE the time to visit a restaurant beyond any other - 'Food 101'. I have never raved about restaurants before, mostly because I’m a very picky eater, and what I like, many folk find absurd. To make the point, my weekend breakfast fare is a fresh, salted, half bagel, scooped out, toasted, with cream cheese with deli mustard on the side – basically a kosher pretzel with a bizarre schmear on the side, and a Coca-Cola to wash it all down (Darjeeling tea if I’m feeling fancy). The only alternative is a sesame seed bagel, prepared the same way, but with tomato and schmear (but especially when Jersey tomatoes are in season).

The restaurant I’m writing of is Food 101. A restaurant whose tagline is “From Farm to Table”. They serve wholesome, natural food grown and raised from mother earth, without the extra man-made influence. The menu was varied and curiously enough, did not cater to the overblown seafood fare that dominates nearly every restaurant these days.

Our server, Jenny, was impeccable. She was informative of the menu, friendly and didn’t make us feel like we were a burden – a sometimes unlikely scenario at better restaurants where the staff think they are the star and not the cuisine.

Okay, let’s get to the food – the heart of the matter. Typically, when I’m a repeat guest at a restaurant I usually order the same thing. If I want great, fresh pasta, I’ll go to Restaurant A. If I want a great NY strip, I’ll go to Restaurant B. My friends think this is weird and that I should expand my culinary horizons, but I like what I like, so what’s wrong with eating the same thing at any particular restaurant – there are plenty of restaurants to choose from.

I went out of my comfort zone and tried the beef wanton as an appetizer. It was a ‘special’, which I usually avoid, because specials are usually chef experiments, and rarely satisfying. It was crunchy and delish, with a light, creamy sauce and clover garnish. I almost had the salad wedge with bacon and blue cheese. Every restaurant has that, right? Kind of like the Appletini, ten years past it’s prime. But the crunchy wanton sounded great, and it lived up to its description.

For the main, I selected the organic chicken with risotto. I can’t begin to explain how fantastic it was. I just wish this text were scratch, sniff and taste-able so you could experience the fusion of flavors that melted my tongue.

All of this was topped with a delicious Dobbes Pinot Noir, (pinot noir is my wine of choice). A flavorful wine with hints of berries and sometimes chocolate that brought the whole meal together in a symphony of yummy. As an aside, the everyday rule about red wine with red meat, and only white wine with white meat and light foods, is crap. Wine is to be savored in the way you like it. Don’t listen to those ‘experts’ who say that certain wines should only be served with certain foods. Those people don’t know what they’re talking about, and probably got their expertise from textbooks instead of the table.

Food 101 lives up to its name. ‘101’ in any educational course listing means learning a basic understanding of the subject at hand, but Food 101 far surpasses the basics, by offering excellence in cuisine and service.

(Above is a picture of the cork that came with the pinot noir, with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, sitting atop my ‘thankful’ book and Buddhist bracelet against a crystal lamp. A mesh of humility, soul and excess warmly juxtaposed.)