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Mary Mac’s Tea Room: Atlanta, GA

4 Dec

October was my crazy travel month.  I went somewhere every week during the month. Some for business, and some for personal, like my wonderful weekend in Atlanta to celebrate my college roommate, Vicki’s, wedding.  We spent most of the wedding weekend in the beautiful Georgian Terrace, where the wedding was being held. We had the rehearsal dinner in their restaurant, the wedding dinner, and breakfast there, and all the food was fantastic.

But the day we arrived, we were on our own for lunch, so we walked a few blocks away to Mary Mac’s Tea Room to take advantage of our time in the South to get some real Southern food.

Our incredibly friendly waiter welcomed us warmly and asked if it was our first time visiting.  When we confirmed that it was, he said we were entitled to a free taste of Pot Likker, which was a new experience for all of us.  Pot Likker (which I also think is spelled Pot Licker and Pot Liquor) is made from the juices left behind after collard greens are cooked.  There was definitely meat in it and it came with a crispy little biscuit.

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We were told to put the biscuit in the soup and then break off bites to eat with the soup.  It was really delicious. Like the southern version of matzah ball soup.

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All three of us got entrees that came with 2 sides, which were ordered off a check list that you marked with pencils on the table.

My other college roommate, Kim, tried the salmon croquettes with a side of beets and fried green tomatoes.  The croquettes were kind of like crab cakes and she loved the fried green tomatoes.

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Mike got the fried shrimp with macaroni and cheese and cole slaw.  He ate it all up.

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I got the fried chicken drumsticks (which they fried special for me without paprika) with spiced apples and sweet potato souffle.  This chicken was great.  I don’t eat fried chicken very often, but this was worth it.  The apples were okay (a little heavy on the syrup) but that sweet potato souffle was awesome.  I don’t know why they call it a souffle, but I can tell you that they made it with lots of brown sugar and cinnamon and I loved it.

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Our meal was very classically southern and we felt like we got every cent of our money’s worth and then some for this meal.  It was a great first stop that made us feel right at home in Atlanta.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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Liquid Art House: Boston, MA

2 Dec

A few weeks ago, I had a business trip to Boston.  Luckily, one of my longest friends lives in Cambridge (at least for a few more weeks) so we met up for dinner.  It was an incredibly rainy night, with wind so strong that I couldn’t pull my suitcase down the sidewalk because the wind kept turning it sideways.  Liquid Art House looked to be just a few short blocks from the Back Bay Train Station, but in that weather, it was no easy task.  We walked into the restaurant dripping and cold, but were immediately in awe of the space.

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It has a gallery quality to it with art tucked away in every corner and huge personality in every area.  Very cool.

And the menu was museum quality as well…

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We had a hard time choosing, but decided to start with Wild Mushroom Homemade Dumplings with porcini cream, shitake crisps, and sour cream.

Wow.

These things were awesome.  Not exactly what I would expect of a dumpling, but oh so flavorful, rich, and delicious.

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We also split the duck confit “starter,” which could have easily been a main. This came with medjool dates, urfa aioli, micro arugula, and queso azul de valdeon.

The duck skin was so incredibly crispy with mouthwatering tenderness and it was perfectly cooked inside.  The dates were a great compliment and the whole dish was a great combination of rich and bitter and sweet and sour, so no bite got remotely boring.

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For our entrees, we split 2 dishes.

The first was the Australian Lamb Loin with potato puree, green olive & mint gremolata, roasted grapes, and parmigiano reggiano.  This was sauced table side.

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This was some of the most tender, most melt-in-your-mouth lamb I’ve ever had.  My brain couldn’t quite understand how olives and grapes would come together, but as soon as I tasted it, I knew it was a match made in food arty heaven.  Everything about this dish was incredible and we lapped up every last morsel.

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But I still can’t decide which was better… that lamb or these Local Scallops.   They came with cauliflower, snap peas, pickled carrot, pomegranate gastrique, and vadouven-labneh.

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First of all, this was one of the most beautiful plates of food I have ever seen.

But it wasn’t even as beautiful as it tasted.  The vegetables were perfectly cooked and sprang to life in my mouth. The scallops were slightly caramelized and some of the best tasting, most flavorful scallops I’ve ever had.  I could not get enough of this dish and kept going back and forth between this and the lamb and honestly couldn’t pick a favorite.  Each one alone could qualify as one of the best dishes I’ve had all year.

I wish I could have seen the desserts here, because I’m sure they would have impressed, but we were just stuffed to the gills and couldn’t even dream about one more bite.

This meal was sensational. Honestly one of the best all year. And I’m glad I got to share it with my Eh-er before she leaves us for the west coast.

Total Nom Points: 9 out of 10

 

 

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It Started with HELLO (is it me you’re looking for?)

3 Oct


When I was contacted about a campaign for a new chocolate from Lindt, I was thrilled. I am a lifelong Lindt fan, picking up a truffle (or two) when I need a little special treat.  This campaign was for their new line, Lindt HELLO chocolate, which includes Lindt HELLO chocolate bars (the variation I found) as well as sticks and mini sticks.   The campaign is “Lindt It Started with HELLO.”

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There is a fun web series on the HELLO YouTube page with videos co-produced by Ashley Tisdale. I couldn’t help but giggle at some of the funny scenarios and I love the “choose your own ending” variations.

They are also running a great #ItStartedWithHELLO Sweet Connections sweepstakes.  You just need to visit the landing page and enter your email address.  You can enter every day until 10/14 and there were 5 weeks of prizes and 2 weeks are left:

Week 4: Sweet Staycation (10/1 – 10/7)
• Lindt HELLO treats you to a pampered night in – movies, books + chocolate!

Week 5: Besties Reunion (10/8 – 10/14)
• Reconnect with your bestie at the spa for a day + Lindt HELLO chocolate to sweeten the deal.

*No purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C., 18 years or older (19 in AL or NE and 21 in MS). Void where prohibited. See Rules at for weekly sweepstakes entry periods, prize descriptions, odds and other details. Ends Noon on 10/14/14. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: Lindt & Sprüngli (USA) Inc., One Fine Chocolate Place, Stratham, NH 03885.

 

So how about the chocolate?

To answer the title question… YES! It is you, HELLO, I have been looking for.

I was on a business trip with my new colleague in LA and we were running from meeting to meeting, getting to know each other and trying to avoid too much sun exposure in the 100 degree plus October weather (LA… I expect better from you!)  We realized we were running late for a meeting and didn’t have a chance to grab a bite.  Her coveted stash of trail mix had melted in the hot car, however, I had just found two of the HELLO bars flavors as I picked up some necessities at a pharmacy and, thankfully, they had not melted.  I explained to her that I was actually blogging about the product and she was excited to try it with me.  I had picked up the Crunchy Nougat and the Strawberry Cheesecake and my colleague opted for the nougat.

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One bite and we were both hooked.  It was all the delicious, rich chocolate taste of Lindt but with a caramelly, buttery, slightly crunchy center.  When I get a box of chocolates, I stick my finger nail in the bottom of them looking for the ones that have this filling. My colleague and I kept remarking about how good it was and then she said “well this made my entire day!”  She said that she was going to go get a few bars of this immediately to bring back to share tonight with her friends.  I can’t blame her.  I will be pursuing this little gem of a treat for a long, long time.  And what a great treat to sustain us through our whirlwind of meetings.

A few hours later and I am now on a plane back home, with a blissfully empty seat next to me.  I decided it was time to try the Strawberry Cheesecake flavor.  HELLO to making air travel better!

This time I took more care opening the bar (as opposed to ripping it open in the car) and the packaging is quite cute.

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They are doing a great job with keeping it cheeky and fun.

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And they gave chocolate a real personality.

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The inside of the Strawberry Cheesecake also has great texture.  There is the definite flavor of the graham cracker crunch, creamy cheesecake, and then the strawberry flavor.  The strawberry flavor reminded me of the one that is in ice cream sundaes.  Really nice flavors and textures.

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Though I definitely loved the Crunchy Nougat even more.

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I am looking forward to sharing these with my husband, a fellow chocolate lover, when I get home.  I need to keep searching around to find the Cookies and Cream flavor (since that is right up his alley) and the Caramel Brownie (which is right up my alley) as well as the sticks and mini-sticks bag.  YES PLEASE! More HELLO!

Can’t wait to try them all!

Don’t forget to enter the sweeps and check out the video series with new celebrities and YouTube stars coming out each week!

Full disclosure:  Today’s post is sponsored by Lindt HELLO, but my new love for HELLO and #ItStartedWithHELLO is all my own.

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