A drop in The Bucket

I can't be the only one right? You all have a culinary bucket list too, don't you? My current list is pretty short, only two entries, dinner at Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin in New York City and Thomas Keller's French Laundry in Yountville, CA.

My culinary bucket list goes back quite a few years. One of the first entries was Commander's Palace in New Orleans and dinner at Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen. It also included breakfast at the Cafe du Monde. We've been lucky enough to knock those off of the list.

Over the years the list has included restaurants of specific chefs, specific restaurants and dining experiences. One of the dining experiences was put on the list and knocked off in short order, eating at the lechoneras in Guavate, PR. We saw it on No Reservations and we went for it. It ranks as one of the most memorable dining experiences I've had anywhere. Eating roasted pork served right off of the spit at an open air roadside stand. Accompanied by local beer served ice cold. Perfection.

We've been lucky enough to have moved a few places to the done column. Lunch at Frontera Grill, Rick Bayless' Chicago restaurant, dinner at the Haufbrau Haus in Munich, Germany and dinner at Paula Deen's Lady and Sons. With a little luck and determination we've managed to whittle the list down to the restaurants I mentioned above and one relative new entry Mario Batali's Del Posto.

When we head to New York City, maybe later this year, Le Bernardin will be ticked off and we'll probably knock Mario Batali's Del Posto off as well. I can't wait. 

The French Laundry on the other hand has been on my bucket list for years. Point of fact, I've never been to the West Coast. I know right? Who hasn't been there? Well, me. I plan to remedy that in the not too distant future, after all a very good friend and family member lives out there. And I have no idea what I've been waiting for.

So if you see me out, I'll be the one taking pictures of my food. (When we had dinner at Five & Ten I overheard a women say "look, she's taking pictures of her food".) Yes, I know, it looks weird. But I never use a flash, I stick to what I can take pictures of from or on my table and try not to be too distracting to my fellow diners. So sue me, I'm a blogger and I take pictures of my food and all sorts of stuff. I love being able to look back at what we've done and where we've gone.

Do you have a culinary bucket list? What's on it? What has been one of your favorite dinning experiences? Please share thoughts here as I'm always looking for new places to try.

The Tree That Owns Itself - Athens, GA

One of the things I wanted to do while I was in Athens, GA was to visit The Tree that Owns Itself. The tree was deeded to itself, along with the surrounding 8 feet of land, by Colonel William Henry Jackson. Jackson apparently had such fond childhood memories of the tree that he didn't want anything to happen to it.

The Tree That Owns Itself

According to an article in the Athens Weekly Banner of August 12, 1890 the deed read:
I, W. H. Jackson, of the county of Clarke, of the one part, and the oak tree… of the county of Clarke, of the other part: Witnesseth, That the said W. H. Jackson for and in consideration of the great affection which he bears said tree, and his great desire to see it protected has conveyed, and by these presents do convey unto the said oak tree entire possession of itself and of all land within eight feet of it on all sides.
(Wikipedia article)

I found out in my search for info on the tree that the current tree standing on the deeded land is The Son of the Tree that Owns Itself. The original tree succumbed to rot and fell in 1942. It was replaced by a tree grown from one of the original trees acorns.

The Tree that Owns Itself and surrounding land

A colorful folk tale about an eccentric man who loved a tree. From what little I know of the city, this seems to typify Athens. An interesting, eclectic city filled with talented people enjoying life. Definitely worth a visit.
Happy Travels!

The National - Athens, Georgia

While on a recent trip to Athens, GA we had the chance to have lunch at The National. The National is a lovely, intimate restaurant. The dining room is small but doesn't feel crowded and gives off an airy feel with it's cool blue and white color scheme.

We arrived a bit early for our lunch reservation so we had a few minutes to look around. There is a small bar opposite the dining room that seemed to be well stacked with bourbons and scotches. While we didn't take advantage of the nice selection on this trip it seems like a good spot to meet friends for a pre-dinner drink. And food is served in the bar throughout the day.

We were shown to a table along a wall filled with windows. The tables on this side  of the dining room share a long banquet and seat one to three people. The banquet was comfortable and the table, while a bit on the small side, was perfect for our party of two.

The food at The National takes its inspiration from the Mediterranean. Hummus, olives and stuffed dates are featured along with flat breads and salads. The lunch menu varies a bit from the dinner menu but in broad strokes the menus are very similar. If you can only make it for lunch, as we did, you'll miss a few items but still get a great variety to chose from.

Marinated Olives

Goat Cheese with Lavender Honey

 The menu at The National is divided into Firsts and Seconds. To start, from the Firsts menu we had the marinated olives and the goat cheese with lavender honey and toast. Both were quite good. Several different types of olives in a light dressing with a few capers thrown in. The goat cheese and honey couldn't be simpler. The lavender added a note that, to be honest, I'm still unsure of. I enjoyed it but the lavender seems an acquired taste.

After that we moved on to the seconds. We had the chicken salad with yogurt dressing, the tartine and Chucho's pizzette. All of the entrees were good but the chicken salad really stood out. The yogurt dressing was creamy and added a nice zip.

The pizzette was topped with chicken, fontina cheese, caramelized onions and pickled chilies. The onions were a nice sweet contract to the chicken and chilies.

The tartine was a toasted baguette served with triple cream cheese, beefsteak tomato, melted leeks, greens and a green olive vinaigrette. I love anything toasted so this was spot on for me. Creamy, crunchy and peppery.

We ordered coffee and tea and made our dessert selections. I had the Baklava Ice Cream with some type of blueberry compote and my lunch date had the Flour-less Chocolate Torte with cherries. While the ice cream was really good, the chocolate cake with cherries was divine. (I confess I stole more than a few bites.)

We had a very nice lunch at The National. Our server was wonderful, attentive without being intrusive and never made us feel rushed. Terrific service.

If you're in Athens, GA and looking for a lunch option that's a little bit different give The National a try. It's a great place to take a break in the middle of the day and the food and service are both top notch.

Five & Ten - Athens, Georgia

This weekend we visited Athens, GA, home to the University of Georgia and the Georgia Bulldogs. Athens is an eclectic college town and was home to indie bands such as Widespread Panic, the B52's and R.E.M.

Athens is also known for its bike culture and now, most certainly, its great dining. Which brings me to one of the primary reasons for our visit. Chef, restaurateur and author Hugh Acheson is involved with two well known Athens restaurants, The National and Five & Ten. We were in town to eat and boy did we.

In fairness we did do a bit more than just eat. We walked all over downtown, visited the Tree That Owns Itself and shopped. But yeah, mostly we ate. Future posts will cover The National and the town of Athens in general. But we'll start with Five & Ten.

I'm not sure there is anything I can say about Five & Ten that hasn't already been said. Hugh Acheson opened Five & Ten in 2000. The restaurant serves southern cuisine with French and Italian influences. The food is amazing. Truly. It was easily one of our best dining experiences this year. The service is friendly and attentive without being intrusive. We felt well taken care of.

Five & Ten is warm and inviting, like the best neighborhood restaurants that I've ever visited. Like the food, things like fried chicken, low country seafood stew, all the best they can be. Elevated to another level by the skilled kitchen. I could overload this review with superlatives but let me just say the food was great. Just that, great. Well sourced, well prepared, and served by caring and knowledgeable servers.

After going over that nights specials with us, our waiter took our drink orders and left us to decide what we would be eating. The menu is divided into three parts: Snackies, Apps and Mains. After looking at all of the menus (Five & Ten serves a Prix Fixe menu at early dinner. At the time we were there it was $45 for food and the wine pairings) We decided to have the following:

To start we had the Pimiento Cheese with Crostinis. There were small chunks of cheese in the spread and just the right amount of spice. The glass of Riesling I was having was perfect with this.

Next, for apps, we had the Woodland Gardens heirloom tomato salad and the Salad Lyonnaise

Woodland Gardens heirloom tomato salad

Salad Lyonnaise

 The Lyonnaise salad was topped by a perfectly poached egg and accompanied by pork belly lardons. I think they were lardons at least. Whatever you call them they were like bacon to the hundredth power.

We had a hard time deciding on mains so we ordered three. (OK, that's not exactly true. I became so obsessed  with the fried chicken I ordered it after we finished the two mains we originally ordered. I know, I know, but it was SO worth it. The chicken was moist and the ratatouille and creamed celery that came with it were superb.) Now where were we? Oh yeah, mains. We ordered three, the Low Country Frogmore Stew (shrimp, potatoes, corn, andouille sausage, leeks in a tomato broth), the grilled Berkshire Chop with Hoppin John, seared okra, pickled Thomas Orchard peaches with mustard jus and the fried Darby Farms chicken with ratatouille and creamed celery.

Frogmore Stew

Grilled Berkshire Chop

Fried Chicken

 Finally we came to one of my favorites parts of any meal: dessert and coffee. Five & Ten makes a great cup of coffee, the french press decaf I had was flavorful and full bodied.

For dessert we had the Chocolate Nemesis with port poached figs, thyme streusel and cashew crunch ice cream. Oh my! My dinner companion ordered a nice rum to finish his meal and had a bit of the dessert we ordered.

Chocolate Nemesis - words can't do it justice

Well fed, well taken care of and delighted with the entire experience from beginning to end we reluctantly left Five & Ten promising ourselves we'd be back. And we will.