This is a long overdue post on an amazing dinner and wine tasting hosted by Mark Beringer of Artesa Vineyards and Winery at Bone’s Steakhouse. Mr. Beringer is the new VP of Production and Winemaking at Artesa and has been touring the country showing off some of the Spanish-owned company’s products. Bone’s is arguably the best steakhouse in Atlanta, so I was very excited to be treated to a meal there complete with wine pairings: an area I know little about but am interested in learning. I also had the opportunity to meet the ATL bloggers behind Atlanta Restaurant Blog, Amy on Food, and Atlanta Foodies, so you can check out their reviews of the event as well!

Our first course was Bone’s chilled seafood platter, which contained a number of beautifully presented crustaceans:

Chilled Seafood Platter

Artesa Chardonnays

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Before I get started, I must disclose that this meal was comped. Apparently the FTC can now fine me thousands of dollars for not letting my readership know about freebies. Mario and I were invited to Piedmont park-side restaurant The Nook by one of the owners, Adam, to check out new executive chef Michael Gogolin. Gogolin is former Chef de Cuisine at the Marlow’s Tavern franchise (which I hear good things about) and was head chef at the Vinings location. I hear The Nook has not gotten good reviews on its food in the past, but when Mario and I stopped in one drizzly evening, we were not disappointed.

The place was not especially busy when we came in, so we got a good look at the space, which we both liked. The bar area is the room’s focal point, with booths lining the walls for those who want a more “nook”-like experience. The main attraction is likely the large patio, which was available (though enclosed and equipped with heaters) that night, but we only saw one small group braving the cold outside. We decided to start with an app of “Ooh Ooh Bread” (topped with creamy Parmesan cheese, onion, garlic and mayo that is lightly toasted and served with homemade marinara sauce), which I think we chose based on the name alone:

Ooh Ooh Bread

I am coming to terms with the fact that I am apparently on an unofficial mission to try all of Atlanta’s cupcakes. My latest endeavor was CamiCakes Cupcakes, which originated in Florida and now has 3 locations; 2 in Florida, and one here in ATL. My friend Tracie and I made an impromptu stop after noticing the storefront in a shopping center on Peachtree on our way back from lunch one afternoon.

Camicakes

All of the cupcakes looked really delicious, but I finally settled on a Strawberries -n- Cream (strawberries cream cheese frosting on yellow cake) and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream (chocolate cake topped with peanut butter cream cheese frosting). Prepare for drooling after the jump:
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The day I lunched at Parish in Inman Park was one of those horribly cold and dreary days Atlanta experienced early in the new year. To warm myself up, I decided to visit Cacao and try their “Aztec Aphrodisia Sipping Chocolate”, which I first caught wind of via The Blissful Glutton’s blog. In a hidden nook off N. Highland Ave, I found a little heaven in a cup:

Aztec Sipping Chocolate

I’m ashamed to admit that I have spent almost zero time in the Inman Park area since I’ve been in Atlanta. Equally as surprising is that before last week, I had never visited Parish Foods & Goods, a New South eatery with a New Orleans flair (hence “Parish”…we don’t do counties in Louisiana). I stopped by the market side for lunch (Parish consists of the restaurant upstairs and the market downstairs) and was looking forward to trying a po’boy. They offer shrimp, oyster, and for those of us who can’t make up their minds, combo po’boys. I went for the combo:

Shrimp & Oyster Po'boy

Last weekend was full of graduation parties and holiday celebrations, but Mario and I wanted to sit down for a quick “real” dinner instead of filling up on hors d’oeuvres. We decided to try out Rosebud in the Virginia-Highland area.

Rosebud

Photo from Rosebud’s Facebook page

It was a cold, rainy evening, but Rosebud was nothing but warmth, from the host to the bar to the food.
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The 2nd Bite post was previously reserved only for Flip Burger Boutique, but I had to come back to post on Noon Midtown’s breakfast offerings, particularly their special, The Stack (fried chicken, benton’s bacon, cheddar, sausage gravy, fried egg on a biscuit). Or maybe it was just to show off this awesome photo I took, and with my cell phone to boot:

The Stack

Yes, it tastes as amazing as it looks. And it was so huge, I ended up skipping lunch.

Check out Noon for lunch and breakfast, which I can now vouch for, and they even deliver around Midtown now (though not to GT )!

www.noonmidtown.com

Atlanta’s Westside has a ton of lunch spots I’m trying to check out, and last week’s stop on my rounds was TINY Bistro. TINY is an offshoot of Figs and Honey Catering that serves mostly sandwiches and salads during lunch hours. It is located at the weird little intersection of 8th St, Marietta St, and Brady St, or across the street from my cupcake fav Caryn’s Cakes if you’ve checked it out

TINY Bistro

I’ve heard lots of good things about TINY’s Cuban sandwich (guava mojo pork loin, ham, pickles, swiss, on Cajun pistolet) and decided I was in the mood to try one out on my visit:
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As of last week, I have sworn off cupcakes until Thanksgiving. For real. Depending upon my willpower this hiatus may even be extended through December. So for my last hurrah, I visited Vinings cupcakery Sweet Pockets.

Sweet Pockets

Sweet Pockets, like Noon Midtown, is also a product of a daily-grinder (architect) turned chef. I tried their red velvet cupcake, and Mario got one of their specials, pecan pie:
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I’m finally jumping on the Antico Pizza Napoletana bandwagon, though at this point it probably wouldn’t matter what I say since the ATL blogger community has already fallen head-over-heels for the place. With that said, 1) the pizza is as good as everyone says, and 2) I hope to approach this post from a slightly different angle–customer service. I’ve been the recipient of some bad restaurant service lately, and Antico is unfortunately on that list, but they did work quickly to rectify the situation.

Antico is located in the Home Park neighborhood near Georgia Tech. They have recently expanded their hours to include lunch and close “when the dough runs out” (my guess is somewhere around 9pm). Initially intended to be take-out only, they have also recently added a community dine-in table to allow customers to enjoy their pies on the spot. I think this was change was mainly blogger-fueled, since ATLiens are getting to be very picky about their crusts with the onset of the “ATL Pizza Wars” (Google that for some interesting commentary) and it tends to get soggy when carried home. I visited one Saturday evening to take my pizza to go since I live nearby and hoped it wouldn’t be soggy by the time I got home. I ordered the Capricciosa (mushroom, artichoke, prosciutto cotto, bufala) and a cannoli:

Capricciosa

Dessert Counter

And now for my customer service angle:
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