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| This is not better than Smitten Kitchen. |
Click on Northside Food and see what’s waiting for you on the up-side of Atlanta’s perimeter. This blog knows its demographics. For locavores -- farmers markets and local produce drop-off spots, specialty food shops and local products. For hurried parents -- links to recipes for “A Year of Crockpotting” and packing vegan lunch boxes. For nights out -- restaurant review sites and personal favorites on the top side of town. And for staying home -- book suggestions and info on how to write your congressional rep about food safety issues. Link, look, grab the GPS and go!
I’ve assembled a blogroll of the best local food and dining blogs from regular folks, irregular media and a couple of public relations firms that do more than just promote their clients.
I also beg to differ with the premise that a healthy cookie is "an untenable paradox." Who said that cookies are inherently unhealthy, anyway? I think folks should re-examine what "healthy" is. Is a low-fat cookie packed with sugar and hydrogenated fat better for you than a gingersnap made with butter and freshly ground spices? For that matter, I don't think a sweet treat made with real butter, eggs, and chocolate is all that bad for you. People should be selective about what they eat and go for quality over quantity, which is ultimately more satisfying.
--David Leibovitz
Uptown Pub Grub
JEZ is among the very first to experience Red Salt in RoswellWikipedia defines gastro pub (a British term) as a “public house specializing in high-quality food a step above the more basic pub grub.” Red Salt in historic downtown Roswell certainly fits that description. Established by Roswell restaurateurs Hicham Azhari and Fikret Kovac–the creative tandem behind tapas hotspot Little Alley–Red Salt serves delicious fare made from local and organic ingredients, as well as a first-rate selection of refreshment. So, high quality? Check. A step above? And then some.
“The name Red Salt refers to Himalayan red salt, one of the most prized salts in the world,” Azhari says. This exclusivity is reflected in the food. The restaurant’s broad menu of “modern pub comfort cuisine” features an impressive selection of charcuterie, soups, salads and appetizers–the latter a world of flavors that range from smoked salmon tostadas with white corn relish and poblano crema to grouper ceviche spiced just right with habanero and guava. Chef Richard Wilt gives a heavy nod toward pub grub’s hearty English roots, so expect such tasty finds as double chicken pot pie and London broil with cheddar mashed potatoes and crispy onions, as well as a mix of multi-ethnic cuisines with Southern ingredients. Exhibit A: Gastro pub pizza sports wild boar sausage with Vidalia onions and tender pork loin paired with fresh succotash seasoned with cumin and coriander.
Classically trained in French cuisine, Wilt previously worked with chef Guenter Seeger of Atlanta and as a chef for Manhattan’s Pastis–the cool bistro that served as the setting for many memorable scenes of Sex and the City. Carrie and company would be comfortable at Red Salt, too, dining on blood orange glazed salmon or nibbling an organic baby spinach salad topped with miso vinaigrette.
This little spot of culinary paradise, on Canton Street in Roswell, hums with sidewalk dining chatter, so it’s no wonder it has become the new talk of the town. Inside, Red Salt’s relaxed interior features a long bar and two rows of tables, making the atmosphere welcoming and warm with touches of modern décor that include whimsical art and rolls of butcher paper hung high on the wall near the kitchen.
But don’t take it (solely) from us. As one casually chic couple shared, “We feel like we’re in Europe! We walk from place to place, and the food and wine choices here at Red Salt are terrific.”
By Carolyn O’Neil
