David and I met at  Miller Union for dinner on Thursday night to celebrate the end of my successful lacrosse season and the conclusion of David’s most recent work project.  It was a perfect venue for a romantic and delicious date.

I have a confession: David and I went to Miller Union for dinner the month it opened (over a year ago) with our friend, Chris.  The three of us sat at the bar, and were a little disappointed with our dinner.  At the time, there weren’t many items on the menu, the service was mediocre and the food did not meet my expectations based on all of the hype Miller Union had been receiving.  This underwhelming meal made me sad, as I really like Chef Steven Satterfield, a frequent customer of mine at The Local Farmstand, and I love Miller Union’s mantra of minimal, fresh, local food.

Chef Steven Satterfield (photo from Food & Wine)

Since that dinner, David and I have returned to Miller Union for drinks (we love the bar), and I’ve enjoyed lunch with friends at Miller Union.  Their seasonal vegetable plate is one of my favorite dishes on the Westside and perfect for a lunch date.  The ambiance at Miller Union is bustling, yet relaxed, with the perfect amount of people watching but not so loud that you can’t talk to the person with you.

But last Thursday was our first time splurging on dinner at Miller Union since our so-so evening nearly 18 months ago.  I’m glad we gave it another try.  Nearly everything on the menu is naturally gluten-free, literally almost everything.  The only red flags were the “farrotto” that accompanied the New York Strip and the cream grits fritters appetizer.  (It turns out that the “grits fritters” are normally gluten-free but that night fried chicken was the special so the fryer was contaminated.)

So I oohed and ahhed over the menu for awhile before discussing my top choices with David.  It turns out we were on the same page and were intrigued by the same two entrees.  Since everything we wanted was gluten free, we decided to split two entrees so we could enjoy both.

David went with the fritters for an appetizer and I ordered the soup of the day: spring pea soup, which came highly recommended by our waiter.  Beautifully green, my soup was light yet very flavorful.  A great way to start the meal.

Spring Pea Soup

The first of our entrees was the grilled pork loin, with cranberry beans and braised greens.  The pork loin had an amazing kick to it, due to the apple cider vinegar they use while grilling the pork.  Juicy, flavorful, and meaty, this pork dish is a meat lover’s dream.  Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with plenty of food on the plate.  You won’t go hungry with this order.  The cranberry beans tasted meaty themselves and I loved combining them and the pork in one bite.  The greens were braised with onions and were delicious by themselves, in the juices of the pork.

While David started with the pork, I began to work my way through the sautéed quail with dirty rice and arugula.  I usually stay away from restaurant entrees that involve rice, simply because I just don’t find it all that exciting and I’d rather a vegetable, quinoa or risotto.  Miller Union’s dirty rice, however, is not your ordinary rice.  As much as I love vegetables, everything tastes better with pork and this rice affirms that statement.  The dirty rice is a mix of wild rice with Miller Union’s homemade pork sausage and bacon.  Wow.  I could have eaten just the rice as my entrée.  The quail was also yummy, and simply cooked, with crisp skin and flavorful meat.  I followed the waiter’s suggestion, and ate with my hands.  (If you use your fork and knife, you won’t get very much meat.)  The arugula added a nice bite to the dish and beautiful color on the plate.

I would highly recommend Miller Union for a date night.  While it’s a little pricey, the quality of food and ingredients make the price worth it.  Chef Steven Satterfield really uses as many local, seasonal vegetables as he can access, and supports local farmers.  Many chefs say they do this, but don’t always live the principle (to quote my new favorite show, “Big Love”). I’ll definitely be returning to Miller Union for another date night.

I only wish that I could enjoy Miller Union’s daily ice cream sandwich special!  (Not GF.)

Our bags are packed and we’re ready to go…

You might have noticed that there hasn’t been a whole lot of cooking in my home recently.  I’ve cooked on the Eastern Shore, in Richmond, in Alexandria, but not in our little Atlanta apartment.  That’s because our apartment looks like this:

Yup, we’re moving.  We only have two bowls, two spoons, and two glasses that haven’t yet been packed.  We initially moved to Atlanta for just one year, but we’ve decided to make Atlanta our permanent home and we couldn’t be more excited.

In the last few weeks, however, we’ve been dining out a lot more than normal since our kitchen and entire apartment are in a state of chaos.  Boxes are everywhere, we’ve been in and out of town, and well, it’s just been easier to go out to dinner.

Check out some of the meals I’ve enjoyed while my apartment is full of boxes:

Miller Union

Veggie Plate

Remnants of Feta Snack

Urban Pl8

Yeah! Burger

Taqueria del Sol

So today we move into our new home.  So long, one bedroom apartment.  You’ve been a great home for the last year but I must admit, I’m excited to have a little more space…a bigger kitchen, a dining room table that we don’t have to pull out from the wallwhen we have guests over, a fireplace, a fenced in backyard.

Our life has had a lot of transition in the last few years so I’m excited to be here, in our new space, cooking away, and enjoying our life in Atlanta.

As my grandmother says, “Home again, home again, quick as a jig.”

I’m a little quirky; I know that.  My quirkiness factor shines through when I talk about my passions.  Three of my favorite things are fresh produce, folk music, and local celebrity chefs.  Yes, it’s an odd assortment but those are some of my loves.  Well, Sunday evening I got to be part of an event that involved all of the above favorites.  Can you believe it?  What a lucky girl I am!

On Sunday night, Slow Food Atlanta put on this incredible ‘family dinner’ at Watershed Restaurant in Decatur.  Slow Food founder, Carlo Petrini, was the guest of honor and other important ‘Slow Food’ folks attended. This event was a great way to conclude the Georgia Organics weekend and brought many amazing people from Athens back to Atlanta.  Even a couple of speakers that I heard at the Georgia Organics Conference attended the dinner, including Michel Nischan of Wholesome Wave Foundation and Diane Harris of the CDC.

Not only was this an amazing culinary event, but the money raised from the dinner went towards Slow Food’s Terra Madre Foundation.  What is Terra Madre?  This international foundation works to “bring together different players in the food chain who together support sustainable agriculture, fishing, and breeding with the goal of preserving taste and biodiversity.”  I love the emphasis put on taste and biodiversity.  For example, it’s good to have many varieties of apples and potatoes, not just russet and golden delicious. Agricultural variety is beneficial to all of us because it encourages local farming, develops our taste buds, and allows us to enjoy better and healthier foods, packed with vitamins and tasty goodness.  If we support small, local farmers, we’ll be ‘preserving taste and biodiversity.’  Petrini and Terra Madre believe “eating is an agricultural act and producing is a gastronomic act,” therefore we need to be followers of both farming and flavor.

How did I get to be at this incredible event?  Unfortunately I was not a paying customer, but I participated as a volunteer server and greeter for the night, allowing me to enjoy the festivities and be a part of the action. This was my first experience waiting tables and let me just say, I have a whole new appreciation for the food service industry and all of the work involved in getting a plate of food in front of the diner.  Watershed’s kitchen is pretty small (at least it seemed small to me) and there were a lot of cooks in the kitchen, trying to complete their dishes and get food out to the tables.  The menu for this meal was created by the chefs, and each course represented a meal from that chef’s childhood.   One of the things I enjoy most about cooking is the memories that taste can trigger.  Each of these chefs poured their heart and stories into their dishes and every plate looked absolutely gorgeous.

If you’re like me and love all things foodie, you’re asking yourself, “who were the celebrity chefs?”  The list is long, with an extensive number of James Beard nominees in the group.  So while I was already star struck from shaking hands with Carlo Petrini when he walked in the door, being in the same kitchen with all of these celebs just about put me over the top.  I could care less about Johnny Depp or any other movie star, but chefs fascinate me and I’m awed by their talents.  Chefs for this family dinner included Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene, Kevin Gillespie of Woodfire Grill, Steven Satterfield of Miller Union, Kevin Ouzts of The Spotted Trotter, Billy Allin of Cakes & Ale, Scott Peacock of Watershed, and Cathy Conway of Avalon Catering.  Ridiculous, right?  To have all of these guys and their cooking entourages in the same kitchen, with me carrying out their incredible food, I felt like I’d died and gone to food heaven.  I didn’t even get to eat the food, but I didn’t mind at all.

I was so busy once the guests arrived that I did not get to take photos of the actual event or the beautiful food.  I’ve included some photos of Watershed and the room before the family dinner.  Now just visualize it packed with people, amazingly presented food, chefs wandering the room talking to the diners, and us servers in our white button downs.  Highlights of the meal were the Kevin Gillespie’s ‘One Dish Hog Dinner’ served in individual cassoulet dishes, and Steven Satterfield’s roasted oysters, Savannah red rice, served family style with Kevin Ouztz’ biscuits.    Here’s a look at the program and menu so you can get a better picture of the event since there are no photos to document it.

Menu
Cocktails
Woodford Reserve Mint Julep
Prepared by: Mark Williams, Slow Food Bluegrass
Daniel Morrison, Watershed
NV Bodegas Matilde Totus Tuus Brut,
Cava; Spain
Red Brick Blonde Ale;
Atlanta, Georgia

Hors d’oeuvres
Scott Peacock, Watershed

Music
Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls

Beet Salad
2005 Domaine du Viking Sec Tendre,
Vouvray; France
Linton Hopkins, Restaurant Eugene

One Dish Hog Dinner
2004 Kluge Albemarle “Simply Red” Bordeaux Blend;
Charlottesville, Virginia
Kevin Gillespie, Woodfire Grill

Roasted Oysters, Savannah Red Rice
with Andouille Sausage & Shrimp
served with
Green Salad and Angel Biscuits
2006 Domaine de la Chevalerie ‘les Galichets,’
Bourgueil; France
Steven Satterfield, Miller Union
Kevin Ouzts, The Spotted Trotter

Applesauce Cake with
Calvados-Vanilla Cream and Caramel
Cafe Campesino Coffee
Cathy Conway, Avalon Catering

Each chef is listed with the item he/she created and presented to the diners for this special meal of memories and good food.  You can also click on this link to see the entire program, read about each chef’s culinary inspiration for his dish and learn the evening’s recipes.  You’ll notice that a lot of these dishes are entirely gluten free!  Doesn’t it make your mouth water just looking at it?I also loved that Charlottesville’s Kluge wine was represented on the menu.

The evening’s program was not just about food.  Slow Food Atlanta’s, Judith Winfrey, opened the evening with a beautiful welcome, followed by a performance by Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls, one of the owners of Watershed, hence rounding out the evening for me by adding some folk music to the event.  Saliers sang two songs, including the crowd pleaser, ‘Galileo.’  It was a lovely way to start the evening.  To hear her play the guitar and sing, just her, in such an intimate setting was incredible.

When Carlo Petrini spoke to conclude the night’s program.  he addressed world wide agricultural issues and the importance of supporting farmers in all countries.  Petrini believes in the importance of connecting and collaborating with all parts of the food system, including chefs, farmers, and consumers.  As we listened to Petrini’s words, it was incredible on to be surrounded by incredible chefs and farmers as we celebrated slow food and mother earth.  When Petrini talks about ‘the pleasures of the table’ and enjoying cultures through food, you feel like you’re there with him, tasting the cuisine and enjoying the people he’s describing.  Petrini has an incredible ability captivate an audience, speak to our hearts, and allow us to feel his passion.  These are rare talents for public speakers in general, but Petrini has to speak through a translator and you still feel his love, energy and enthusiasm for good tasting food.

Many people worked hard and were involved to pull off this incredible evening and I’m so glad I got to play a (minor) role in the event.  Was I exhausted afterwards?  Yes.  Do I ever want to be a full time server?  Never.  Did I love every second of this event that combined my favorites: local food, celebrity chefs, and folk music?  Absolutely.