Pretty Southern

Category: Featured

Featured

  • No More Toll on GA 400

    It’s official. The Peach Pass Press announced via email on Sunday, May 19, that the toll on Georgia 400 will be ending the weekend before Thanksgiving this fall. From the e-mail:

    “In July 2012, Gov. Nathan Deal announced that the state would pay off its bond debt and end tolls on GA 400 by December 2013. The ending date for GA 400 tolls has been set for Thursday, Nov. 21, weather permitting. This date was selected to lessen the impact on Thanksgiving holiday travel. In the case of inclement weather, the ending date will be moved to Nov. 22 or 23. Plans for the demolition of the toll booths and other aspects of the project are still being finalized. However, preliminary plans call for all GA 400 traffic to shift into three general purpose lanes where motorists currently use the electronic tolling lanes. Construction activities will likely begin in October 2013 to make preparations for the traffic shift in November.

    “Once traffic is shifted, there is no heavy demolition work expected to take place during the winter holidays. Toll booth demolition is expected to be completed between January 2014 and the following May. Once the cash booths and the structure overhead are removed, traffic will shift over so that the rest of the toll plaza can be taken down. Once that happens, traffic will shift back over and remain there permanently. Top priorities for the project are: safety, traffic maintenance and communications.

    More details about the GA 400 demolition project will be available later this spring in future issues of the Peach Pass Press enewsletter, and at www.georgiatolls.com and www.PeachPass.com.”

  • Rainy Days & Lemonade

    We all know that lovely adage. When life gives you lemons make lemonade. Well, a lovely young Southern lady named JoAnn Anderson took this a step further. On a rainy day in Georgia in the summer of 2012, she captured this image of red shoes crossing the street beneath a cheery ruby umbrella. Why not turn that rain into pink lemonade via Photoshop? So that’s what she did, using a combination of Photoshop edits in Vibrance, Saturation, Shadows/Highlights, Sharpen, HDR – Photorealistic and then used pixlr-o-matic to add vintage filters to it using another combination of Effects (Hagrid) and Overlays (Rain). The result: this lovely image which we decided to share on this rainy day in May when the South is getting a dose of Blackberry Winter. To see more of Anderson’s stunning work, check out her website Sidewalk Chic, and follow her on Twitter. Here’s the full image for your rainy day viewing pleasure.

  • 10th & Piedmont

    The corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avernue in Atlanta was home to Outwrite Bookstore for more than 18 years serving as a symbol of strength and diversity in Midtown. Although it’s changed hands, the appropriately named 10th & Piedmont continues the tradition of being a destination for locals and visitors focused on Southern hospitality…but no longer a bookstore, it’s now a restaurant and cultural hot spot. Brothers Sean and Gilbert Yeremyan of Communitas Hospitality (who also operate HOBNOB Tavern and Gilbert’s in the same neighborhood) brought in Executive Chef Brett Ring who crafted a menu using multi-cultural flavors and organic ingredients to execute global cuisine with a regional, Southern influence. Pretty Southern caught up with Sean and Gilbert to chat about their new enterprise.

    Q: With already having Gilbert’s and HOBNOB in your portfolio, how is 10th & Piedmont different from your existing restaurants? What’s similar?
    A; 10th & Piedmont is an extension of Gilbert’s, designed to make this corner a complete evening out destination. While the styles and menus of each restaurant are different, they are all similar in terms of friendly service and a commitment to excellence.

    Q: How did you determine the restaurant’s style?
    A: It was about knowing the neighborhood, respecting its needs, and knowing what they wanted. We held a focus group to get feedback and gain a deeper understanding of what the community desired.

    Q: Are there any tributes to Outwrite in the new space?
    A: Not physical tributes, but the spirit continues. We do commemorate Outwrite on our menus. We embraced the essence of Outwrite, their role as the center of the community, and continue their legacy, emphasizing diversity and flying a rainbow flag.

    Q: Are there any local vendors you call favorites for produce, meats, booze, etc.?
    A: My produce guy puts a lot of emphasis on working with local farmers. We also use Inland Seafood to ensure we serve sustainable products.

    Q: What are your favorite foodie features on the menu?
    A: Sean: Definitely the Diver Scallops – you can share the dish or have it as an entrée for yourself.
    Gilbert: The Chicken and Waffles: it’s our innovative version of a classic dish.

    Q: Atlanta is truly making a name for itself in the culinary scene. Besides y’all – who are your other favorite players in the game?
    A: Buckhead Life. They are the leaders of food in this city.

    Q: What made you decide to get into the restaurant biz?
    A: Sean: The movie Cocktail with Tom Cruise. Once I saw that, I knew I wanted to study culinary arts to become a bartender and restaurateur.

    Q: What are your favorite memories of Atlanta?
    A: We have had so many good times at Piedmont Park. It’s just a block away from the restaurants, so it’s a great place to go relax.

    Q: What are your signature cocktails at 10th & Piedmont?
    A: Gilbert: The vodka selection, we are a vodka bar, and it’s very extensive.
    Sean: The vodka flight for sure.

    Q: Are you from the South originally? If not, where?
    A: No, we are from Northern Turkey, Istanbul.

    Q: What’s your greatest accomplishment?
    A: Sean: Certainly my kids.

    Q: How would you define a Southerner in the 21st century?
    A: Gilbert: Southerners are more open to new ideas and more aware of the world. They’re more adventurous with tastes and flavors.

    Q: What’s your definition of a lady?
    A: Sean: In Gregorian times, it meant a high status woman, someone who is above other girls.
    Gilbert: It’s a female with confidence and self-respect who knows how to act in different environments without putting anyone down.

    Q: How about a gentleman?
    A: Same as above, but a man. He has manners and is respectful to himself and others.

    Q: What’s the biggest piece of advice you can bestow?
    A: Enjoy new flavors and explore the culinary scene of Atlanta. Always remember to support local and read Pretty Southern!

    Join 10th & Piedmont for daily dinner, lunch, weekend brunch and late night bar menu till 2 a.m. (except Sundays closing is at 11 p.m.). There’s so much fun going on every day including:

  • Daily Lunch combos for only $10 and y’all get tons of food including a Yum Bun, chips, dessert and drink! Individual Yum Buns are only $5.
  • 1/2 price wine on Mondays
  • 150+ vodkas for speciality hand-crafted cocktails every day of the week including vodka flights
  • Bellini brunch is served on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. followed by a tea dance at 4 p.m. with Live Music Brunch starting at 11 a.m.
  • $4.95 Bellinis, Bloody Mary’s and Mimosas all day long (note bellinis are only available during Sunday brunch service)

  • Live DJ entertainment is featured Friday through Sunday nights.
  • Big Table Big Screen Tuesdays start at 8 pm. For $15 per person you get a menu of Salad plus 2 Plates and Dessert. Since it’s sponsored by Absolut Vodka, select cocktails are only $6.

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    10th & Piedmont is located at 991 Piedmont Avenue. The restaurant serves dinner Monday – Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday-Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Lunch is offered with counter service Monday – Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the dinner menu is offered with table service on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A late night menu is offered once dinner service has ended and is served Monday-Saturday until 2 a.m. Editor’s Note – Thanks to 10th & Piedmont for the stellar photos. To see more, Like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and check out their website, or call (404) 602-5510.

  • Best Seafood Brunch

    If y’all are fishing for a good brunch spot in Atlanta, get ready to be sucked in hook, line and sinker. Lure, an upscale bait shack in Midtown, has a fabulous offering from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday. Executive Chef David Bradley’s creative menu features signature coastal cuisine and is a refreshing change from the typical brunch fare. Bradley, formerly the chef de cuisine at Ecco, oversees the kitchen at Lure. Bradley has worked with Fifth Group Restaurants for more than a decade. His passion for sourcing and preparing amazingly fresh seafood and his love of seasonal produce is definitely reflected in the menu at Lure.

    The weekend menu is broken down into five parts including sharable snacks, soups & salads, biscuits, mains, and sides. Here’s a taste of what y’all can expect on for delicious brunch entrees:

    · Lobster benedict: fresh lobster, poached eggs and sauce cardinal (featured above)
    · Hangtown fry: egg crepes filled with leek, spinach and bacon and topped with fried oysters
    · Carolina gold rice porridge: warm buttered shrimp, grilled pork belly, ginger, aged soy, scallions, and slow-cooked egg
    · Dulce de leche French toast: served with muscadine syrup and toasted almonds
    · French horn mushrooms a la plancha: soft polenta, eggs, pumpkin seeds and aged balsamic ($11)

    Not in the mood for brunch? Opt for Lure's delish fish n' chips

    In addition to these items, Lure favorites like the River View Farms burger and the fried oyster slider trio are also offered to ensure a wide range of options for every appetite.

    Of course, brunch is a perfect excuse to imbibe in a well-crafted libation. Try the delicious bourbon-based Breaking & Entering to kickstart your weekend. Lure also offers prosecco on tap for just $6 a draft, and there are even punch bowls available (ranging from $40-$80) for your whole party sip on. Especially now that spring time is arrived, the gorgeous patio nestled on crescent avenue is a pretty spot to soak up the sun while sipping a cool drink.

    No brunch is complete without a cocktail!

    Lure is housed in the space where Vickery’s Crescent Avenue Bar & Grill was formerly located. This particular spot holds a special place in the hearts of the restaurant’s partners. Fifth Group Restaurants’ history began in Midtown with the opening of South City Kitchen (right down the block on Crescent Avenue) almost 20 years ago. Lure’s opening signifies Fifth Group Restaurants’ successful expansion over the past two decades and the company’s commitment to Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood.

    Lure is located at 1106 Crescent Avenue NE in Midtown. For more information, check out Lure’s website, Like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter. While y’all are it, follow Pretty Southern too. Special thanks to Melissa Libby & her team for contributing to this article.

  • BBQ: A Real Southern Comfort

    Some people turn to chocolate and ice cream when they need culinary comfort.  Others may go for a bowl of creamy soup.  But for Southerners, comfort food has a whole different meaning. It’s warm, smoky, tangy goodness with a side of gooey, cheesy delight. There is very little that a plate of barbecue and mac and cheese won’t fix. For Brett Wolfe, bbq edmonton is more than a dish.  It is a way to share Southern hospitality and provide a setting where families can spend quality time together.

    Wolfe, a Virginia Tech alumnus and Marion, Va., native, owns Log Cabin BBQ in Blacksburg. He and his wife Jill bought the establishment in August of 2010 after they moved back to the area from Raleigh.  Log Cabin is home to Blacksburg’s best barbecue pork, as voted by the Collegiate Times’ “Best in Blacksburg” survey in 2011. The menu also includes barbecue chicken, ribs, salads and sandwiches, and mouth-watering sides like mac and cheese, baked beans, mashed potatoes, fried okra and more. Log Cabin offers catering and takeout services, which are popular on tailgate and wedding menus. Barbecue is an ideal addition to any menu.

    A finger food catering company in Sydney is the perfect solution for any party or event. Whether celebrating a special moment with family, bringing together friends and colleagues, or creating an unforgettable night out, finger food sets the tone. From seasonal produce to mouth-watering desserts and tarts, finger food catering companies have all the ingredients to make your celebration an unparalleled success. Whatever type of gathering you’re planning, whether it be intimate or grandiose in scale, Lunch in a Box finger food caterers have something for everyone. Plus, with delivery services that can arrive quickly within hours of ordering no matter what time it is or where you are located in Sydney, Lunch in a Box finger food catering provides a hassle free way of feeding guests fast.

    Roasting meat…yum!

    What sets Log Cabin apart is that all food is smoked, cooked, and prepared in-house. The scent of North Carolina-style barbecue is deliciously pungent the instant you walk through the door. Although the barbecue is cooked Carolina-style, Log Cabin offers sauces to please all tastes: Lexington vinegar, sweet and smoky Eastern, South Carolina mustard, and even an Alabama white sauce. I’m an Eastern girl myself, but I can’t wait to try the Alabama sauce next time I visit Log Cabin. I’ve never had white sauce before!

    Coupled with its fantastic food is a relaxed, small-town atmosphere where students can go for comfort food and locals can enjoy a tasty Sunday lunch. Log Cabin draws in loyal customers and Tuesday regulars from other local businesses.  As I stood in line during my first visit, the gentleman in front of me said it’s the “best barbecue in town, and the whole area,” and that’s what keeps him — and hundreds of other customers — coming back.

    Brett & Jill Wolfe smiling outside Log Cabin BBQ

    When Wolfe is not running the daily operations at the restaurant, he and Jill are involved in the community.  As avid animal lovers, the Wolfes devote time and fundraising efforts to the Humane Society of Montgomery County.  During the month of March, Log Cabin hosts a food and donation drive that benefits the Humane Society.  The money raised goes toward cancer research in companion animals, a cause the Wolfes joined after losing their beloved dog to cancer.  They also spend time volunteering at the Montgomery County Christmas Store during the holidays. Right now Log Cabin is undergoing some revamping, and soon Wolfe will introduce new menu items.  Maybe next time I eat at Log Cabin, I will order my Pick-a-Plate special with fried chicken instead of pork.

    Or maybe I will give the chicken and waffles Sunday Special a try when that is launched.  No matter what I order, I know I will get the full Southern Comfort experience.  As a student away from home, sometimes all I need is a plate of barbecue soaked in smoky Eastern sauce, a cheesy pile of mac and cheese and a tall glass of sweet tea.

    For more information about Log Cabin Barbecue, check out their website. While y’all are at it, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

    [author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://prettysouthern.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/KR-headsot.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Kate Robertson is a junior at Virginia Tech, studying communication and English. Although she currently resides in the Philadelphia suburbs, Kate calls Atlanta home. After graduation, Kate hopes to return to Atlanta and work in corporate public relations. In her free time, Kate enjoys playing guitar and hand bells, reading, watching football and basketball, and sharing her love of the South through writing in any form.[/author_info] [/author]

  • Love Never Fails

    This is the last of five posts in the series “Five Things About Love (that are hard to understand)” by Miles McClellan. If you like his writing as much as we do, his first novel “Vigil of the Ageless” is now available for purchase on Amazon. For now, we leave you with lovely words from a true Southern writer.

    Today’s is my final entry, and so I will leave you with what I find harder to grasp about love than anything else. I am very grateful to those of you who have been reading along, and if you’re new to my corner of the internet, I hope to have your audience again in the future. When life deals us a bad hand, when our relationships fail, and when all hope we had for happiness with someone we love is snuffed out, far too frequently we find it easier to blame the other person, or worse, to blame love itself, than to blame anything else.

    Within our hearts, love is the most powerful force in play, after all. I don’t need to tell any of you how many countless laments exist, how many odes to our broken hearts and memes to pathetic, hopeless thoughts you can find with a few keystrokes on the web.

    “No-one cares unless you’re pretty or dead.” That’s one that I saw a few weeks ago. The internet is replete with such sorry pretenders to intelligent thought. As with many of you, I’m used to it. I’m used to hearing about how love is such an awful, damnable lie, and I say without reserve: If that’s the way you choose to see the world, then I’m afraid the only lie is the one you have been telling yourself.

    And why?

    A very wise saying I’ve heard many times of late goes like this…

    “We accept the love we think we deserve.”

    To me, this has always been meant to remind us that we are capable of turning away the loves of our lives before we’ve even gotten to know them… just because we have other ideas about what is right for us than love does. It means sometimes we accept, even cling to, the love of a scoundrel or a harlot because we sincerely do not believe we are better off without them. This quote’s interpretation of love presents all the hope and danger of love in one flawless summation. It’s perfect, frankly.

    To come back to my own metaphor, that of the road: If where we are on the road of love represents how much of it we’ve come to understand, I think we have a tendency to reach for people who are nearest our own leg of the journey.

    After all, that’s the right idea, isn’t it?

    If love is a road, and commitment is what we want, then sharing the journey of love side by side must be the point we’re all trying to reach. It follows that we would naturally want someone who is somewhere very near us in our understanding, very near to us on the road, so why reach for someone far away at all? Why not just start with someone who is already right next to us? Why bother with a love that is in a different place than our own?

    This is the enigma of love that most of us get ensnared in, for better or worse. This is the very struggle about which we get so spiteful and bitter when we fail. We don’t recognize the more challenging prospects as the more valuable, and so we turn them away because we want love to be easy. We only want it for its comforts. We want it to give us just what we want, and we don’t want to wait for it. Most of us are in such different places that, even when the dearest of loves calls out from the horizon, if reaching that person seems too difficult or burdensome, we actually start to think it’s not worth the trouble.

    We forget that all the trials of love, so much trouble… it may well be the most worthwhile pursuit we’ll ever experience. So what if you have a long way to go?

    Are you in love, or aren’t you?

    If you are inexperienced in love, it’s true that those who are wiser to its ways, who are much farther down the road, can intimidate you so much that you can hardly even acknowledge an attraction to them. You may fail to even see the merit of someone who could make you happier than anyone you’ll ever meet again. If you’ve been around, and you’ve confronted your demons, those who haven’t… those who are behind you on the road lose their appeal, and you may not ever notice the immeasurable, perfect beauty of a silver-lined soul who needs just one, singular measure of patience: Yours.

    Ask yourself: If you caught a glimpse of that person’s promise, just a hint of their true worth, in either case… would you not take a chance on them?

    When two bodies meet face to face in life, when two hearts begin to fall for one another, this is the predicament they will likely face… together in life, yet so far distant in love. It is finding our way together, truly together, that is so incredibly tricky, yet more immensely rewarding than any other feeling within our fleeting, miniscule lifetimes.

    For in order to reach one another, one will have to sprint ahead, push oneself. The other will have to stop in place, holding oneself back. It will put a strain upon both. Both your hearts must want the other dearly. They must long for one another. Charging down the road takes stamina, and a great deal of bravery. Waiting in place takes patience, and a lot of faith. Then, even with overwhelming desire, all of it still takes time. It can take years.

    Yet, as long as you so crave and are strengthened by one another, as is love’s way with us… after what amount of patience, after how long, is it ever not “worth it”?

    Are you in love? Or aren’t you?

    Think about it. For even if you don’t come together…

    Even then…

    The one who did the running learned so very much along the way. Thanks to the chance he or she took, neither of you will ever be the same, and maybe one day, when neither of you expects it… you’ll catch up to one another anyway.

    Now, if you could see love that way, would you still say it was love that failed you?

    Love never fails. We do. We fail.

    We fail to do the good work that love asks of us. We fail to make the effort. We fail to rise to its challenge. We fail to recognize it when it’s right in front of us. We allow ourselves to expect too much of one another, to force one another’s hands, to demand the wrong things at the wrong times for the wrong reasons. We fail to endure, to come together on the roads of life and love. Be it easily or roughly, for good reasons or for bad… we let one another down.

    In the end, we make up our own minds, and love has no say or sway in it at all. Relationships end. Not because love has failed us, but because we just don’t quite want to keep the love we’ve been given.

    We will suit ourselves, I suppose. We can always choose to do better.

    As for me… I’m going to keep moving. Life has shown me that love is a road ever worth the journey. I hope I’ve been able to share that as sincerely as I feel it.

    “And love will protect
    Love always hopes
    And love still believes
    When you don’t.

    Love is the arms that are holding you
    Love never fails you.”

    -Brandon Heath

    Editor’s Note: artwork by Phillip Blume Photography

    MilesMiles McClellan is the author behind the psychology, philosophy, and fiction blog How to Throw a Book. Already a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Grady College, he is a student of all things psychological and recently published his first book Vigil of the Ageless.