Foodie Diary: Georgia

I’m always happy to get to the weekend, but this weekend was calling my name all week. I’m so happy to not have any real plans except for relaxing and taking a breather before the holiday madness. If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you know that last weekend I was in Georgia for my friend’s wedding and to visit family. While there, I ate my fair share of delicious food and decided to take photos of (almost) everything I ate to share on the blog. If you know me, you know that I love food. I could eat all day long. Warning – this post is going to be picture heavy with all the food photos and it may make you hungry!

Maybe the best way to sort through all the yummy food I ate is to go chronologically. I arrived Thursday morning and after getting settled into my cousin’s house we went out for lunch. We went to Crú Food & Wine Bar for lunch. We split the Caprese Salad which was made with buffalo mozzarella, vine-ripe tomatoes, and basil pesto for an appetizer and the pizza with brussels sprouts, butternut squash, and balsamic glaze as our meal. So good and the buffalo mozzarella really melted in my mouth.

For dinner that night we ate in. My cousin made eggplant parmigiana, salad, and garlic bread – I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was a delicious dinner.

On Friday, we went to Butcher & Brew for lunch. After hearing how good the fried cauliflower is from my family, that was the one thing I had to have. So we ordered the Fried Cauliflower to start which is made with goat cheese, korean bbq sauce, sesame seed, chicharones, and cilantro. Who knew fried cauliflower would be so tasty? I hate cilantro, but luckily there was not much in the dish and it was easy to pick out if I got a scoop with any in it.

For our entree, we split the B&B Burger since they’re pretty big. This burger is made with two patties, smoked cheddar cheese, beer cheese sauce, pickles, red onion, mayonnaise, and ketchup. So juicy! We got a side of mac & cheese too, which was the perfect side.

For dinner we went to Taqueria Tsunami which is a sort of korean mexican fusion place. We all shared the Asian Nachos, which consisted of fried wontons topped with queso, pico de gallo, corn salsa, lettuce, fresh jalapenos, and Kogi bbq short rib. Using wontons for the chips made the whole appetizer seem so much lighter.

For my entree, I got the Tsunami Trio which means you pick two tacos and a side. I got the Asada Zing Taco – bulgogi marinated steak topped with shitake mushrooms, lettuce, soy-sesame vinaigrette, and sesame seeds. The other taco I got was the Rising Sun Taco – vietnamese style pork and Kogi bbq sauce topped with an Asian slaw. For my side I chose the tater tots with jalapeno queso. Everything was so good, but my favorite was the Asada Zing Taco. Bulogogi is just too good!

For dessert, we went to 2 ice cream shops that serve the popular Rolled Ice Cream. Funnily enough, there are multiple shops in New York City that serve it, but I haven’t gone the 45 minute train ride into the city to try it out. And I’m sure somewhere in New Jersey they serve it as well but I haven’t looked. But, I did fly to Georgia and try it! The reason we went to 2 different shops is because my cousin and her husband prefer one while her kids prefer the other. Coincidentally, they are across the street from each other so it was easy to go to both. Of course, I only ate from one shop 8F Ice Cream – I may have been constantly eating that weekend, but I still needed to fit in my dress for the wedding!

I got the vanilla ice cream and for my toppings I got strawberries, lychee, and toasted marshmallow. The ice cream is so light that I ate almost pretty much this entire thing and didn’t feel too full or disgusting after. I’m so happy I finally got to try this food trend out and I’m equally happy that I was not disappointed!

On Saturday, we walked around some shops in Woodstock, GA and grabbed lunch at Freight Kitchen & Tap and dessert at Pie Bar before heading home and getting ready for the wedding. My cousin and I again shared our meal (good thing we have similar tastes!). We shared the Beet Salad, which was so good and has really solidified my liking of beets, and the Smoked Brisket Nachos. The nachos were so creamy and the smokey brisket was so tender and flavorful.

The beet salad was made up of mixed greens, baby roasted beets, orange, charred asparagus, walnut, goat cheese, and a lemon vinaigrette dressing. Every single bite was so good and I intend to recreate it at home one day soon!

The smoked brisket nachos were made up of cajun seasoned tortilla chips, smoked brisket, fresh jalapenos, smoked tomatoes, sour cream, avocado, and a gouda cheese sauce.

At Pie Bar, the Coconut Cream Pie immediately caught my eye so I got a slice of that. It was amazing! So creamy, not too strong with the coconut flavor, and not too sweet. It was just perfect. However, I was still so full from my lunch at Freight Kitchen & Tap that I could only eat half my slice. I took it to go and thought it would make a great late night/after wedding snack/dessert, but completely forgot about it. It wasn’t until I was on the plane ride home the next afternoon that I remembered and I was seriously kicking myself for it!

I love coconut cream pie but I rarely get the chance to eat it. I’ve never made it myself before but the recipes look fairly easy so I will definitely be making that soon too!

Okay, we’re almost through – hopefully for those of you still reading you haven’t started drooling yet and you don’t hate me for making you hungry!

Saturday night was the wedding (I wrote about what I wore here). The wedding was beautiful and a fairly intimate affair. During the cocktail hour there was a spread of meats, cheeses, olives and the like. There were also passed hors d’oeuvres, such as mini ruebens, which were really tasty. The dinner was buffet style and I filled my plate with chicken, beef, stuffed cabbage, vegetables, and salad.

There was a lovely dessert table filled with an assortment of goodies such as cupcakes, tarts, red velvet cake, creme brulee, and more. I got a little tart and a slice of pecan pie (another one of my fav pies).

Finally, my last meal of the trip! On Sunday we walked around Ponce City Market and went into some of the shops and ate lunch before my family dropped me off at the airport to head home. Ponce City Market reminds me of a less crowded Chelsea Market in New York City. For lunch, I stopped in to Marrakesh Mediterranean Market and got a falafel stuffed pita which was the perfect size meal before my flight.

My 3 1/2 day trip was really quick but it was great to see loved ones and to eat my way around town. By some miracle, I was able to fit into my dress for the wedding with no problems. Let’s hope after Thanksgiving in a few days I can still fit in to all my clothes with no problem!