Rating:

Outside of my hotel is a McDonald’s, a Hooters, and a Hard Rock Cafe. Not exactly the pinnacle of haute cuisine.

Tonight is my last night in Atlanta, and so I was determined to find a decent bite to eat. After circling a few blocks in different directions I only found a Steak and Ale, a chinese restaurant who’s sign was on the floor, some out of business retail spaces, and a number of people hitting me up for cash. Finally I turned the corner, walked past a seedy looking bar, and came upon a swank looking place with a decent looking menu. I decided to go inside and check out Azio’s.

I took a seat at the bar, and got to know KJ, the very friendly bartender. I started with the “insalada tricolore”, which was a mixed wild green, endive, gorgonzola and walnut salad with a slice of bruschetta. Yum.

I followed the salad with a very thin crust florentine pizza (spinach, mushroom, and Italian sausage). They bake their pizzas in a brick oven, which make the crust good and crispy. Overall a very tasty meal in a friendly environment. Thank you Azio!

Azio
229 Peachtree St
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-222-0808

Mon-Fri 11:30AM-10:00PM, Sat-Sun 5:00PM-10:00pm
(Lunch and Dinner)

At Lauren’s suggestion, I’ve added a quick “Kenny food rating” to the beginning of my restaurant reviews/overview page. They follow a “Kenny” scale as follows:

: The dreaded “dead Kenny”. Would not go there ever again. Would tell people to avoid this place.

: Average run-of-the-mill, so-so joint. Better than McDonald’s/Burger King, but doesn’t leave any memorable impression.

: Good neighborhood place. Would think of this place if I was in that neighborhood.

: Would seek this place out from another neighborhood. Distinctive food, and good service. Would recommend to out of towners when visiting.

: One of the top places in a city. Unique and high quality food, comfortable and fun environment. Often an “experience”. These are the first places that come to mind when hosting out-of-towners.

Worth traveling from another city for. Not just a meal, but an “experience”.

Rating:

Today Gio took Lauren, DeAnn and I to his new favorite sandwich shop: Brooklyn Grinder in the U-District. Gio has great taste in food, so I was excited to try his new haunt. The waitstaff all recognized him, so I could tell he’s taken a liking to the place 🙂

The star of the meal for me was the Tomato Bisque. It was highly pureed tomato, thick and tasty. The sandwiches I tried (meatball, reuben, cajun turkey) were all very good — it’s nice to find another solid sandwich-shop to add to my short list of The Honeyhole and Le Fournil.

Secret tip: you can order any of the “cold sandwiches” in hot form. Lauren did this with the Cajun Turkey sandwich and it was really tasty (my favorite of the ones we tried)

Brooklyn Grinder
5247 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
206-632-5132

Mon-Fri 8:00AM-9:00PM, Sat 9:00AM-9:00PM
(Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)

Rating:

Over the past few years, Restaurant Zoe has become my favorite mid-range restaurant in Seattle. The ambiance is perfect for both romantic dates as well as friendly dinner gatherings or birthday parties. The food is tasty and very consistent, the wait-staff , and the specialty drinks are awesome (which is why Lauren and I took Shawnie here for his first legal drink). Starting an evening at Zoe’s with a Siren (“vodka, sweet vermouth, fresh lemon & jalapeno. vigorously shaken.”) is a must.

Last night Mike and Erin joined us at Zoe’s. Being the proud parents of 2 adorable little ones, they are often unable to get away for an evening out. I wanted them to have a great night out, and Zoe delivered.

We started out with a round of cocktails (mojitos for the Arcuris, and the obligatory Sirens for Lauren and me). For appetizers, we shared a tuna tartare and a fresh ricotta raviolo. The tartare was tasty, though a little heavy on the horseradish. The raviolo is my favorite appetizer at Zoe’s. The thin pasta shell is soft and fresh, the ricotta has a smooth texture, and it’s topped off with a green herb-based sauce that complements the raviolo perfectly.

For the main course, I had the flounder (above), Lauren had the scallops (sans bacon of course), Erin had the seared tuna, and Mike the pork tenderloin. The fish were both delectible, perfectly cooked, with complementary sides. The flounder was nice and flaky, the tuna thick and gloriously rare inside. I didn’t get to try the pork, but Mike did clean his plate.

The scallops were perfectly seared, crispy on the outside, thick and juicy on the inside:

It’s good to be back in Seattle!

Restaurant Zoe
2137 Second Ave (at Blanchard)
Seattle, WA 98121
206-256-2060

Sun-Thurs 5:00PM-10:00PM
Fri-Sat 5:00PM-11:00PM
(Dinner only)

Update (3/30/2006, 10:45PM): 25 for 25 at Zoe was a pleasant contrast to last night’s experience at Ray’s Boathouse. Each part of the meal from appetizer to dessert was multiple notches higher. 25 for 25 introduced some fabulous new additions to the menu. The most innovative dish was a “gnudi” appetizer (basically ricotta filled gnocci) — silky texture and intricate flavors. We also enjoyed a crisp Strub Riesling and saved room for the new chocolate desert (paired with homemade vanilla ice cream).

Rating:

If you are looking for great Greek food in a friendly, casual, neighborhood atmosphere, you have to check out Vios. It is the best Greek food I’ve had in Seattle. It is also very kid-friendly (they have a playpen in the back corner), but it is not the place for a romantic, low-light dinner.

When Lauren and I got back from Greece last summer, we ached for a restaurant serving real, tasty, Greek food. Not an “opah!”, American-style restaurant, but a place with great feta and souvlaki. Turns out that Thomas Soukakos (owner of Vios) was just about ready to answer our prayers.

If you have the fortune to be in the neighborhood at lunchtime, the seared tuna sandwich is awesome. For dinner, start with the warm eggplant salad (only available in winter time), or one of the seasonal salads. Last night we had a grilled haloumi (cheese) and frisee salad with pomegranate seeds. For entrees, the chicken souvlaki a solid choice, though you can’t go wrong with anything on the (often rotating) menu. Just be sure to save room for a scoop of chocolate gelato!

UPDATE (4/1/2006): My friends Tom and Joann were visiting for the weekend and we had 100% mouth watering dishes, including a full round of gelato and these fabulous scallops:

UPDATE (10/21/2006): Lately I’ve been waking up on the weekends craving Vios’ eggplant and halumi sandwich. I’ve had 3 since we’ve been back from Italy! 🙂

Vios Café and Marketplace
903 19th Ave E
Seattle, WA 98112
206-329-3236

Tue-Sat 8:30AM-9:00PM
(Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)

I’ll admit it, I really enjoy food. There are times that Lauren and I spend an entire commute on food-related topics. Fortunately Lauren really enjoys food as well (she sometimes posts pictures of her meals).

Yesterday we had a fabulous meal at Vios on Capitol Hill and I decided to start blogging about my dining experiences. You can follow along, or just bookmark the main restaurant page which I will update as I post about an establishment. Mmmmm…..

I’m down in LA for Thanksgiving with Lauren‘s family for a few days of warm weather and sleeping in (Shawnie is a big fan of late morning wakeups). Yesterday we were put to work on a Lavoie traditional sidedish: cranberry salsa. Pretty easy to make with a food processor, and so so much better than your traditional cranberry sauce. Helene found the recipe in a magazine in 2000, and still had the clipping in her kitchen. Guaranteed to spice up your mild-mannered turkeys. Enjoy!

Last summer on a whim, Lauren and I bought a package of “Southwest Style Turkey Burgers” from Trader Joe’s. We forgot about them and they sat in the freezer for a month or so. Then we decided to bring them to a BBQ at Mike’s house. They were, in a word, awesome. Never again did a package of them last for more than a week or two.

Then on a rainy weekday in February, disaster struck. Walking down the freezer aisle, there were garden burgers, buffalo burgers, gorgonzola stuffed beef burgers, but no southwest turkey burgers. We asked the staff and were told: “We no longer stock that item. It was discontinued due to slow sales.” I was thunderstruck. I considered wearing all black for a week. Went through all seven stages of loss in fairly rapid succession.

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon and a routine trip to TJ’s to fill the empty fridge. I was in a wandering mood and decided to stroll all the aisles (at our local TJ’s this is all of 4 aisles). Just past the frozen Turbot I stopped, agape. Lauren wondered if I lost my mind, and all I could do was point. They had come back from the dead. The Southwest Turkey Burgers had returned. It was a miraculous event. The checkout lady told us that they hadn’t been discontinued, merely “out of stock”. For 3 months? I don’t know if I believe it, but who am I to question. And just to be safe, we purchased 4 boxes on the spot.

And now the story has been told. I encourage all of you who live near a Trader Joe’s to try this very affordable delicacy, and help ensure that the Southwest Turkey Burger stays off the “slow sales” endangered grocery list.

UPDATE (04/12/06): They are gone again. Talked to the staff on Capitol Hill and they had no information to help me. There will be a big hole in our grilling this summer 🙁

UPDATE (11/12/06): They are back! Hopefully this time they are here to stay…