Kitchen Six: Seriously Good Food

We all know the phrases/sayings/cliches about how lucky we are if we end up with one good friend. I am fortunate to be able to say that I have 5, not counting my sister. I've explained this so many times to my daughter, who is at the age where she experiences the "friend du jour" concept. My true golden friends are all ladies I met in college. My friend and roommate at Wofford, Heidi, will attest to my freshman assertion that we were there to form "Big Chill relationships."  We succeeded.

So, this is the year that we all hit 50.  Except one December baby, who quietly already celebrated hers and then tried to con the rest of us into thinking it was this coming December. (You know who you are.) Heidi hosted Leigh, Lourdes and myself at her home in Atlanta this past weekend for us to reunite, laugh, cuss like sailors, drink like hobos and generally bask in the glow of our 50 year old awesomeness! (I'm still 49, btw.)

I could go on and on about the weekend, but you are here because you like FOOD.  So, get this...Heidi and her husband Lloyd, along with friends, have invested in a restaurant in their neighborhood of the big ATL. They've been in business for a little over a year.  Their executive chef,  Jason Jimenez, has been named as one of Atlanta's "Up and Coming" chefs. He creates a menu features 6 appetizers, 6 entrees, 6 desserts, every 6 days.  

***KITCHEN SIX***

 

Leigh, Me, Heidi, Lourdes

 

It's like going to Cheers, but a lot nicer. The interior is upscale, yet casual and comfortable and hip. The staff all seem to enjoy being there and were in tune with their customers. To say the atmosphere is friendly is an understatement.  And, from what I've been told, the goal was to create an environment for neighbors to see each other and enjoy some really damn good food.  Having been there, I can affirm that they have achieved that goal.

Ok, let's talk about the food.  The best part, right?  So, we clearly set out to really explore this menu because we almost ordered everything on it.  Per Heidi's recommendation, we started off with the hushpuppies and pimento cheese.

The pimento cheese was served with homemade crackers which were wonderful. They were firm enough to stand up to the cheese but yet tender enough that they just melted in your mouth.  The cheese was topped with pickled peppers and homemade bread & butter pickles.  The flavor of the cheese was prominent, which is sometimes lacking in other pimento cheeses I've sampled.  When my buddy Lourdes bit into a hushpuppy, I thought I was in that "When Harry Met Sally" diner scene.  Yes, I'll have what she's having too.  They were phenomenal.  Everything you want in a puppy...super crispy, not greasy, the inside was tender and then spiked with shrimp and peppers. To take it one step further, they were served with a poblano cream.  Ohhhh, Jason...

In the midst of all this was the GA mule.  I can't even remember exactly what ingredients the Kitchen Six folks used to make this cocktail, but suffice to say, you need to order one. I had a Hendrick's and tonic because I haven't had it in forever. 

Lourdes and her GA mule.  It's like I'm sitting next to a movie star.

 Our fantastic waiter informed us of a special salad not on the menu that day.  We opted to have one to share.  It was beautiful.  Mixed baby lettuces, apricots, toasted almonds and a blueberry vinaigrette.  Simply delicious.

Leigh and Lourdes both chose the Roasted Chicken because Heidi said she doesn't know "what he does to that chicken" but it's so good.  They agreed.  It was served with cute fingerling potatoes and a grilled lemon. 

 Heidi selected the Pan-Roased Red Fish which, honestly, I don't know if I've ever had. The skin was so delightfully crisp and the fish was perfectly cooked.  Another winner.

 I decided on the Glazed Baby Back Ribs.  It was a toss up between these and the Beef Short Ribs.  The baby backs were served alongside grits and with a side of sauteed apples.  As the lady placed my plate on the table, she said "These grits are gonna change your life."  Instantly intrigued by that prospect, I dove into those grits.  They were indeed fantastic and I do, in fact, feel much better about my world! The ribs were great; nice and meaty and lean (y'all know how I am about fat on meat.) I'm not sure exactly what the glaze was composed of but it doesn't matter because it was just delicious and I wasn't there to dissect anyone's recipe!

Now it's time for dessert.  We took Heidi's advice again and ordered the Decadent Cake, which is a flourless chocolate cake and the Vanilla Pot de Creme.  Ok, I'm not a huge sweet eater, but good Lord, these were good.

This is the Decadent Cake.  I put a dramatic filter on this picture to illustrate to you the sheer gravity of this cake.  You can just imagine this showing up in a film like Casablanca. It's like a bite of the best ganache-y fudge ever. Chocolate fanatics would sell their souls for this cake. Like the grits, this will change your life. 

The Vanilla Pot de Creme is also pretty life-changing.  Rich vanilla flavor with a nut crumble and whipped cream on top.  One of us, who shall remain nameless, practically licked the bowl. 

The moral of this story is this:  if you live in, around or near Atlanta, you should seek out Kitchen Six.  If you find yourself visiting Atlanta, you should seek out Kitchen Six.  If you know people in Atlanta, you should tell them to seek out Kitchen Six. I think my friends (and their friends) and this chef have created a very special environment and exceptional food.  I wish we had something like this place in my neighborhood.  But, we don't, so I'll just have to get to Atlanta more often.  Heidi, just keep my room ready.  

Lake Carolina Wine & Food Festival

I love this time of year.  The main reason is the weather.  You see, living here in SC, we operate at 80+ degrees the majority of our year.  Or at least it feels that way.  Maybe after 6 months of sweating profusely, watching our plants wither and die, suffering mild heat strokes from time to time and being kind of irritable because we're hot and slightly delirious causes us to jump for joy and breathe a sigh of relief when October finally arrives.  I got married in October, there's Halloween, mums and decorative kales show up in our yards and gardens and the festivals kick into high gear.

We were invited to attend the Lake Carolina Wine & Food Festival on Saturday, October 13th.  This was the 10th year of this festival, and I'm embarrassed to say that I had not attended it before. The festival is held in the lovely Lake Carolina neighborhood and proceeds benefit Children's Charities of the Midlands.  

The festival was held from 2-5 p.m.  We got there right at 2:00 so we could have plenty of time to try everything and take our time.  As we checked in, we received a commemorative wine glass and a one of those cool plates that has the notch cut in it to hold your wine glass while you eat.  We walked onto the "town square" and surveyed the scene.  The first thing we noticed was there was tent set up with athletic team flags attached and underneath there was a big screen TV playing the games and big, comfy leather couches for the sports enthusiasts to enjoy.  I've never seen that done and thought it was a cool detail.  Next, we noticed that the tasting stations were basically alternating from food to wine to food to wine, etc.  At the end of the square was a live band called Two for the Road.  

We started with a glass of Rex Goliath.  I chose to drink red this day while Neil was going to handle the whites.  My first glass was a "free range red" which is a blend.  Very nice wine.  I tasted it and came back later for more of it.  Neil chose the chardonnay and also returned later for more of it.  

We started our nibbles with a restaurant in NE Columbia called Polliwogs.  We sampled pulled pork spring rolls, a pimento cheese/fried green tomato/bacon sandwich and chicken gumbo.  Yum all around, but I must say, the BLT was the bomb-diggity.  Next, we wandered over to Cafe Caturra and had a bite of guacamole and hummus.

My next wine was a Malbec called The Seeker.  Another good wine that I'd never tried before.  Neil again went with Chardonnay leading to a thumbs-up.  Earthfare had a beautiful and classic hors d'oeuvres display.  Along with pouring wines, they offered a salami, cliantro-lime pesto crostini, Zola (a hard cheese that I learned is a 24 month aged gouda), buffalo (like wings) crostini and a gingersnap topped with mascarpone and a scarlet raspberry. 

The Zola was an interesting cheese; dry and crumbly like a parm, but sharper.  Even though I'm not a big sweet eater, I loved the gingersnap.  In fact, I think next time I have friends over for dinner I'm going to serve that with coffee.

Another really interesting element of the festival was a cooking demo by Chef Bertrand Gilli.  He made crepes Suzette and then served them to us hot out of the pan as soon as the flames subsided.  La nourriture des dieux! Those French really know what they're doing.    

Next, we visited Sweet T Gourmet.  Again, I'm not a huge sweet freak, but I know good desserts when I taste them!  Holy bakery!  These ladies have got it goin' on.  We tried the pumpkin gooey butter cake (my fave), dark chocolate tartlet with ganache, shortbread pecan tartlet, and the decadent fudge cake.  I loved the rich and prominent flavor of good quality butter in the gooey cake.  The decadent fudge was also great...chocolatey, soft, gooey and well, decadent.

Let me comment at this juncture about the band, Two for the Road.  What a great musical choice these guys were!  When we arrived, the first thing that caught our ear as we stepped out of our car was a "bluegrassy" version of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."  Yeah, you heard me right.  Who would have ever thought to take a cult classic song, by my all-time favorite band btw, and add a twang-i-ness to it?  Brilliant!  We also appreciated their version of Tom Petty's "Last Dance with Mary Jane."

Mr. Friendly's/Solstice/Cellar on Greene was probably the culinary star of the day.  Chef/owner Ricky Mollohan was there on site cooking up a storm and had the folks lined up!  I think his smoked gouda & bacon mac 'n cheese stole the show.  It was fantastic.  One bite sent you into that creamy, rich, decadent mac 'n cheese place where people go, while at the same time you felt a little naughty and guilty by eating and enjoying it so much!  And, like I said, our fellow festival goers were lined up for this little dish of golden pasta.  They also offered a pumpkin bisque that was simply delicious.  Once the festival got going, Ricky broke out some gorgeous pieces of pork belly and seared away.  Once the word spread about pork belly, the folks were lining up again!  

Pork Belly sizzling!

Delightful pumpkin bisque

Smoked gouda & bacon macaroni and cheese

Our belly...yumm!

Neil's getting impatient with the picture taking:  I wanna eat this pork belly!

I mean, really...look at that smile!

The Fresh Market had a booth serving Ravens Wood and Hogue wines.  I sampled the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Zinfandel.  Both were really nice wines, but the Zin was my favorite.  Neil tried the Hogue and Ravens Wood Chardonnay.  He liked both but felt like the Ravens Wood was a bit lighter, which for a day out in the gorgeous sunshine was what hit the spot for him.  Turns out, my new friend, Sandra was the lovely lady pouring at this booth (and the rockstar who invited us to the festival). As Neil and I sat down on a park bench to sip and munch, we noticed that she was working like crazy with lines of her own, and she was all alone.  Neil set off to make a plate of food for her and I joined her in the tent to pour wine.  We had so much fun talking to all the wine tasters and with each other.  In fact, I realize now that I'd love to volunteer for that job sometime.  I loved it!

In short, we thoroughly enjoyed the Lake Carolina Wine and Food Festival and will definitely return next year.  If you are unfamiliar with Lake Carolina, check out their website.  It's a master planned community with a family lifestyle built into their vision. Most of you know that I am a Realtor and I have had the pleasure of helping numerous clients buy homes in Lake Carolina. It's a beautiful place and worth checking out if you're in the market for a new home in Northeast Columbia.  Thank you Lake Carolina and Wild Honey for putting on a fantastic event.  And, thank you Sandra for inviting us to attend!  

Two very happy festival-goers!

Incarnation Does It Again!

You guys may remember my post from last year about Incarnation Lutheran's first annual Oktoberfest.  It was one of the most impressive events I'd been to in all of Columbia.  Because of that, I've eagerly awaited their second annual Oktoberfest, which finally got here this past weekend.

My buddy Andy (left) is a very convincing Martin Luther!

 
The festival opened on Friday and ran through Sunday.  Once again, it was fantastic!  If you live in Columbia and haven't been yet, you simply must put it on your calendar for 2013 and beyond!  It is one of our best festivals, by far.  Incarnation goes all out and really delivers.  An awesome bier garten, schnitzel plates with your choice of homemade red cabbage, sweet & sour green beans, spaetzel or potatoes with onion and bacon. You can actually see the full menu by clicking here. If schnitzel isn't your bag, choose from bratwurst or simple hot dogs for the kids.  And speaking of the kids...the festival takes place in the backyard of the church.  So, they have their playground back there, jump castles, and a live German band, which just gets kids moving. It always does.  In fact, the Vivver was all over the dance floor until about 9:30! I mean, really what kid doesn't love the Chicken Dance?  What adult for that matter?

My mom and I shared a jaeger schnitzel plate with potatoes, cabbage and we added an additional side of green beans.  The schnitzel is made with pork and was a tender, high quality cutlet.  The sauce was packed with mushrooms and flavor.  The beans were delightfully sweet and sour, and the cabbage was nicely pickled but had a more subtle, light flavor than what you're probably used to.  The potatoes, onion & bacon dish was magnificent.  I would've eaten it with a shovel, if they'd provided me with one.  That's not weird, right? 

Woefully, I ran out of my house this year sans iPhone so I have no photographic evidence of this year's fest.  I guess I was so eager to get my schnitzel on, I lost all sense of reason. No biggie though.  It's not like schnitzel is the most photogenic meal out there, but man is it delish. Like, with a capital D and a capital ISH.  

The festival features free admission, $3 gets kids unlimited time in the jumpy things, beer and wine are reasonably priced, the food is awesome, the bands are fun and the atmosphere is one of happiness and frivolity!  If you haven't checked out this festival, I'm telling you PUT IT ON YOUR  CALENDAR!  If you don't, you're just cheating yourself out of a good time.