Happy New Year! If you think you MUST have resolutions this year, how about deciding to explore new eating establishments?? As I mentioned in previous posts, I’ve been finding great food in Atlanta by ordering dishes recommended by Creative Loafing’s “100 Dishes.” I started the process of eating my way across town before I started this blog, so I thought I’d do a handful of posts to get you up to speed on a few of the delicious finds.

So loosen your belt buckle and come along. We’ll start at the very beginning and cover appetizers and breakfast in this post.

Appetizers:

I’ve had six of the thirteen dishes on the list, and the one that surprised me the most was the Dolmeh at Sufis. The dish is stuffed grape leaves which I’ve had plenty of times at other restaurants and generally don’t love. After having this dish, I’ve done a 180 on that opinion. This dish was scrumptious and one of the few that I’ve already returned for. My Persian friends usually send me to Rumi’s in Sandy Springs for authentic Persian cuisine, but I like Sufis at least as well.

Dolmeh @ Sufis

Farm Egg in Celery Cream @ Miller Union (no photo) – I heard about this dish in the initial reviews of Miller Union, and it didn’t disappoint. YUM.

Fried Chicken Hearts w/egg in a Basket @ The Shed at Glenwood – beautiful, creative, lovely dish. However, despite the gorgeous presentation, I had to push through the mental picture of eating chicken hearts. I’ll eat all manner of fish, but any organ dish kind of grosses me out. Still, I loved the overall experience at The Shed and will definitely be back. Good food – decent prices especially for the creativity coming from the kitchen.

Fried Chicken Hearts with Egg in a Basket

Fried Mushrooms @ Fritti – Loved these, but a little goes a LONG way. They are very, very rich.

Fried Mushrooms

Pork Rilettes @Abbitoir – Enjoyed the dish, but again, a dish made with pureed organs only gets so far with me (there may have been more than liver in the dish, but I can't say for sure.) If I was making the list, I would have put the beef tartare on instead. It was scrumptious!! The best part of the evening was the adventure we had getting there. It involved towing my broken down car, a wait for AAA in a shady part of the ATL, and a full-on scramble by the entire dinner party to get us there. LOVED that Abbitoir worked with us (and we were disappointed that Rathbuns didn't). Great dinner company made the evening more than worthwhile (Happy Birthday Lindsay!).

Pork Rilettes & Beef Tartare

Wood Grilled Octopus @ Kyma (no photo) – It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Kyma, but this dish is a default order. So very, very yummy!

Breakfast:

I’ve made it through five of the seven on the list. If you're into starting your day off right, go to this section of the list first.

Granola & Yogurt @ Octane – last week for a quick breakfast I met a friend who had never been to Octane and who was new to The List adventure. As we were picking the date, I warned him that the Octane seemed like an odd place to have a dish that made The List. I mean it's a SUPER cool environment (Travel & Leisure and Bon Appetit both have it on their cool coffee shop lists); however, I only know it as a late night coffee shop/bar with a small pastry display case. When we ordered the granola & yogurt, my disappointment in its presentation was obvious ( a clear plastic cup with a lid). My friend apparently can read me pretty well when he said, “ it looks like they picked this up from a Publix Supermarket down the street.” Happily, the packaging was a ruse for disguising the yummiest homemade granola EVER. Seriously worth the effort to swing through if you’re heading downtown.

Granola+Yogurt

Omelet @ The Original Pancake House – a good, tasty breakfast, but I’m not sure it’s so unique that it would make my top 100 list. Personally, I want to come back and try the Dutch Baby. Where do you see THAT dish on a breakfast menu?! Remember if you order an omelet, plan on splitting it with someone. A HUGE portion.

Omelet - Went with classic veggie filling

Pecan Waffle @ Waffle House – I love Waffle House, but in all of my years of eating there, I had never tried a pecan waffle. I was expecting the pecans to sit on top of the waffle. Instead, they were baked in. Yum! Yum! Definitely List-worthy.

"Pee-can" Waffle

Fried-Egg sandwich @West Egg Café – part of what I loved about this meal was that I could order it for lunch. It felt much more like a lunch meal than breakfast, and it was spectacular. The tomato relish was absolutely divine. I need to go back…

Fried Egg Sandwich

Next week I'll cover Salads, Soups, & International Snacks. In the meantime, happy eating in the New Year!!

The List - Appetizers & Breakfast