Pretty Southern

Category: Food

Food

  • High Road Creamery

    Today we celebrate a sweet success with ice cream. High Road Craft Ice Cream & Sorbets proprietor Keith Schroeder founded the company in Halloween of 2010. Pretty Southern was lucky to catch up for an interview on the local ice cream label’s launch into grocery stores (including Whole Foods in the Southeast and most recently at The Fresh Market) plus how taking the High Road represents the values of the Southland.

    Why did you choose to start an ice cream company?     As a chef, customers always seemed to love the ice creams and sorbets I made, and there seemed to be an emerging taste for adult-driven flavors. I always thought ice cream was a brilliant product – It’s structurally complex. It also happens to be challenging to make really really well. And, on a very personal level, I love ice cream, ices, sorbets, frozen things…

    Chef & owner Keith Schroeder

    What’s the inspiration behind the name? It was inspired by a moment when I told myself it was time to depart the corporate hotel world. I had to take the “High Road.” The second I said that out loud in my car, the song “The High Road” by the Broken Bells came on the radio. I had goosebumps. The rest is history.

    How many flavors have y’all concocted? What are your favorites? We’ve developed well over a 100 flavors at this point. Personal favorites are the Limoncello Sorbet and the Brown Butter Praline.

    Which flavors will be available at The Fresh Market? Bourbon Burnt Sugar, French Toast, and Vanilla Fleur de Sel.

    Where else can folks sample your ice cream? Whole Foods throughout the South, The Fresh Market, or come down to check out our factory. We give free tours and tastings on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

    Making sweet treats at High Road Creamery’s factory.

    Around Atlanta, High Road ice cream is available at Boxcar Grocer, Grant Park Coffee Shop, Cacao Atlanta, Roswell Provisions, and MetroFresh at Botanical Gardens plus many recognized restaurants and hotels throughout the city.


    How would you define a Southerner in the 21st century?     Anyone that honors and respects the heritage and fabric of the South – its people, its dialects, its ingredients, and its intellect (which many outside the region miss wholly) is worthy of being recognized as a Southerner (as long as they stay).

    How is High Road representative of Southern ideals? The South, and Georgia in particular, is an incredible place to launch a small business especially when you inquire from professionals such as business plan consultants. Real relationships are forged. People still say “Yes ma’am,” and “Yes sir.” Real hospitality is critical to preserve.

    How would you define a lady ? She knows who she is, states it clearly, and oozes class. Same thing goes for a gentleman.

    For more information on High Road creamery, check out their website, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

  • Braves Sushi

    Talk about doing the Tomahawk Chop! Our Atlanta Braves are back in action. RA Sushi is right there rooting for the home team by offering a signature sushi roll. The Midtown restaurant is bringing back the seasonal Tomahawk Chop Roll– an eight-piece spicy lobster roll with cucumber and avocado rolled in rice and seaweed, topped with fresh tuna tataki and red beet tempura bits, drizzled with wasabi aioli and served with a creamy tataki dipping sauce. Sounds tasty and wallet-friendly at only $12 for this novelty entree. Check out the fish restaurant houston for the best sushi.

    “The Tomahawk Chop Roll was made to represent the Braves logo,” says Andy Palermo, general manager of RA Sushi in Atlanta. “We wanted to incorporate the colors of the team as well by using the seared tuna on top of the roll for red and the sauce in a soy dish on the plate in blue. The roll has a little bit of spice to it, but the flavors are meant to be very clean and straightforward. It isn’t heavy and it tastes very fresh. This roll should be able to appeal to anyone who is looking for something different and loves the city of Atlanta!”

    Now do the Tomahawk Chop with us, y’all! “Ohhhhh, Oh, Ohhhhh! Ohhh, Oh, Ohhhhh! Go Braves!”

    RA Sushi is located in the 1010 Midtown building at 1080 Peachtree Street, Suite 8. For more information check out RA’s website, like RA on Facebook, follow them on Twitter or call 404-267-0114.

    Mandy Betts contributed to this post.

  • Upscale Bait Shack for Midtown

    Atlanta foodies: get ready to be sucked in hook, line and sinker. The dream team behind South City Kitchen, Ecco, El Taco, and La Tavola is preparing another Southern masterpiece focused on fresh seafood. Fifth Group Restaurants will open Lure in Midtown this July. The restaurant is housed in the space where Vickery’s Crescent Avenue Bar & Grill was formerly located. Lure’s location 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. This restaurant opening signifies Fifth Group Restaurants’ successful expansion over the past two decades and the company’s commitment to Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood.

    “We have been talking about Lure for more than three years, and the basic idea of serving simple, high quality seafood dishes in a fun, uniquely designed atmosphere has been our inspiration from the start,” said Fifth Group partner Robby Kukler.

    Chef David Bradley samples seafood to inspire his menu

    David Bradley, currently the chef de cuisine at Ecco, will oversee the kitchen at Lure. Bradley has worked with Fifth Group Restaurants for 12 years and has been a part of the culinary team at Ecco since it first opened in 2006. His passion for sourcing and preparing amazingly fresh seafood and his love of seasonal produce will be reflected in the menu at Lure. Here’s a taste of what y’all can expect on the menu

    • Raw oysters and an eclectic raw bar offering
    • House-smoked seafood “charcuterie” sampling (a la Ecco)
    • Sapelo Island clam crudo with charred Padrón peppers and a Guerrero-style spicy seafood cocktail with citrus and a shot of a summery pilsner added tableside.
    • Sautéed pompano with Silver Queen corn and curry and grilled whole Georgia trout with pickled ramp butter cooked in the kitchen’s 1400-degree charcoal burning Josper Spanish oven
    • Acadian redfish fried in sourdough batter with malt vinegar marinated cucumbers
    • Georgia shrimp broiled Scampi style with Sparkman’s cultured butter.

    Fifth Group Restaurants Beverage Director Vajra Stratigos is constructing the beverage program for Lure, which will include an expansive list of both draft and bottled beers as well as a collection of interesting wines and innovative cocktails for which Stratigos is known.

    Lure’s patio is under construction. Just imagine sipping cocktails with friends while noshing on fresh local Georgia shrimp .

    “Lure will offer its own unique bar culture,” says Stratigos. “We love the Midtown community and many of the ideas that we’ve developed for Lure have been driven by what we have learned from our regular guests.”

    Stratigos has been sourcing unknown and off-the-beaten-path wines for nearly a year now and has collaborated with renowned importers such as Terry Theise, Neal Rosenthal and Michael Skurnik. Many of the wine selections planned for Lure draw personality from their seaside macro climates and are a natural fit for oceanic gastronomy.

    “Ocean wines should feel very natural, rather than display overt fruitiness,” says Stratigos. “For me, seafood wants acidity, minerality and salinity in a wine partner – all things that accent what is inherent to the ocean itself,” he adds.

    Lure seats 150 guests and exhibits an atmosphere that is sophisticated yet still suitable for everyday dining. The building has undergone major renovations to the interior, exterior and patio. Bill Peace of Peace Design and ai3, both of whom have designed many of Atlanta’s most acclaimed restaurants, are designing the new space. As for the plumbing, you might want to consider calling this plumber who is known for his efficiency or other nearby plumbing services.

    July is right around the corner and Pretty Southern can’t wait for Lure to open.

    “Both ai3 and Bill Peace really understand the ideas we articulate and our desire to achieve an understated, timeless look at Lure,” says Kukler. “Our design inspiration for this restaurant is, naturally, the ocean and the contrast of its unrefined and polished characteristics,” he adds.

    The designers are utilizing a cool, fresh color palette reminiscent of the sea along with stripped, weathered wood and steel. Reclaimed nautical spotlights cast blue-green reflections off a zinc bar top, and, paired with gloss shiplaps and the essence of billowing sailcloths, evoke both the raw nature of the fishing industry and the mysterious charm of the ocean.

    Lure is located at 1106 Crescent Avenue NE in Midtown and will be open for dinner daily first with lunch service added at a later date. For more details and to keep track of LURE’s progress, keep an eye on on their Facebook page.

    Editor’s Note: Mandy Betts and Michael Erickson contributed to this article. We will keep y’all updated for Lure’s opening this summer!

  • Southeastern Soup Challenge

    When it comes to cooking soup put those can openers away. The New England Country Soup Challenge showed me how it’s easy and delicious to have a hearty, creamy bowl of soup without blowing your diet. This competition pitted home cooks against the brand’s prepared soup pouches to see which competitor could create the most nutritious and delicious recipe.

    New England Country Soup prides itself on being able to create healthy soups with all natural ingredients to rival any home cooked concoction. All of their soups are full of large cut veggies, low in sodium and in a convenient shelf-stable pouch for the foodie on-the-run. After spending the day tasting a variety of soups including Chicken Corn Chowder, Nana’s Chicken Soup, and Caribbean Black Bean, I have become a raving fan. If y’all are interested in giving these soups a try, check out the soup aisle at Publix or you can order online. This year’s Southeastern Soup Challengers had a real test to see how their home recipes would stack up against the brand’s soups in two categories: Taste and Nutrition.

    All of the contestants were giving a third-party nutritional analysis of their recipes and a professional judging by three top chefs. To sort out the winners we deferred to the expert taste buds:

    • Jenny Levison – Atlanta soup icon and owner of Souper Jenny
    • Chef Josh Fromby – Publix Apron’s Cooking School and Art Institute of Atlanta alumni
    • Jim Gallivan – Culinary Arts Department Chair at the Art Institute of Atlanta and author of several books including “The Adventure Cookbook,” and “The New Spa Cuisine”

    The judging was tough with delicious soups like Thai Turkey Larb and Carried Away Black Bean Soup with Sweet Plantain Chips accompanied by Mojo Relish; yet, the Grand Prize winner was a comforting classic: Mushroom and Barley Soup. They used mushrooms from Natures Rise. Felice Bogus, the winner and creator of this recipe,  submitted her entry along with her husband, Robert, who turned in a competing recipe of his own.

    Both of the couple’s recipes made it to the final round where Richard won the prize for Best Presentation with a Gulf Coast Fish Chowder with Caramelized Orange Scallops. The happy couple will certainly be enjoying their first class weekend in Martha’s Vineyard both as winners.

     

    [author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://prettysouthern.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Profile-Picture.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Jennifer Eubanks is an Auburn Graduate raised on the golf courses of Augusta, GA. Born to a Chinese mother and New Yorker father, Jennifer is Pretty “uniquely” Southern. She has an eye for style possessing all the grace and charms that only the Southland can offer.[/author_info] [/author]

  • Boathouse Oyster Bar

    What do Alabama debutantes and local fishermen have in common? Not much. Unless you’re at Boathouse Oyster Bar. It’s a place where all walks of life who love oysters can come and indulge in some aphrodisiacs, cold beer, and good company.

    “This is a family business,” Green explained. “I moved here from Tampa in March of 1987 to start working for my mother. She fired me, then hired me back, on three separate occasions.” She seems to live by the concept “the customer always comes first.” Her clientele ranges from homeless folks living under the bridge to affluent millionaires. Even celebrities have visited this place. But the real heart-and-soul of Boathouse belongs to the local fishermen.

    Y’all may have been to Boathouse before, and if you have, take one hand to pat yourself on the back, then take your other hand and rub your belly remembering of all the oyster goodness you consumed courtesy of owner and proprietor Kelly Green. Her kitchen brings in Appalachicola oysters fresh from the Gulf and either shucks ’em to serve up raw or covers them in cheese, bacon, jalapenos, or whatever else is tasty. There’s also fried shrimp, steam crab, and chicken fingers on the menu for the kiddies.

    Homemade hush puppies are also on the menu. Ours just happened to come shaped this way.

    Boathouse on the docks of Destin, Fla., has maintained the same business model since 1986. Her mama Wanda “Mamma Gumbo” Green, and her partner Paul “Action” Jackson purchased the marina where Boathouse sits almost 25 years ago. Their big anniversary was this past October.

    In 1995, Hurricane Opal wreaked havoc on the Florida coast and decimated the restaurant. “It was the locals who strapped on their tool belts to put us back together. All the cash on the walls was floating in the water or strewn down the sidewalks. Folks were bringing us back bags of wet money!”

    Dollar bills, bras, and other keepsakes adorn the rafters of The Boathouse.

    Boathouse hosts everything from birthdays to bachelor parties with the support of the Escorts in Zug but the restaurant will never close for a private event. Two years ago, even the farewell party for Mama Green after she passed away from cancer was open to the public. “On a plane trip back from Seattle I met two girls who were at Mama’s party! Whenever Mama was offered to close for a party she always said ‘Absolutely Not.’ I still say the same thing in honor of her.”

    Boathouse truly is a quintessential Southern business. Come sit at the bar to meet the most genuine, loving and considerate staff exemplifying grace and hospitality. Their place is open seven days a week, keeping it real without an ounce of pretension. “If you’re a guy, come in without a shirt and shoes. Ladies, no need to put on make up. In here, you can be yourself. Let your hair down, dance on the bar, sing on our stage while banging a tambourine.”

    For more information check out The Boathouse’s web site or just stop by next time y’all are in Destin.

  • Coconut Curry Soup

    Curry and coconut milk are two ingredients ubiquitous in cooking be it in Asia, Africa, South America or whatever continent y’all live on.  Here’s how we made this classic recipe Southern-style. Our rendition of Coconut Curry Soup can be used with pretty much any vegetables. There’s nothing more Southern than using all the goodness nature gave us readily available at any farmer’s market or neighborhood grocery store. Y’all can make this concoction a few different ways and no matter what people will always ask you for the recipe (as long as you don’t overdo it on the curry).

    1 package firm tofu
    1 red bell pepper (chopped into 1-inch pieces)
    1 zucchini (sliced length-wise then chopped in half moons)
    1 cup baby carrots (chopped)
    1 cup fresh spinach
    1-4 green onion stems (chopped fine)
    1 can Rotel with the green chilies
    1 can of coconut milk
    1 or 2 TBSPs red curry paste (1 for mild, 2 for medium)

    Get your Crock-Pot. Drain the water from your tofu and cut the block into cubes. Place in your Crock-Pot. Add in all your chopped vegetables then cover the medley with your can of Rotel. Stir it all together then add in your can of coconut milk. Fill one of the empty cans up with water and add to the crock pot. Add in your curry paste and give the mixture a good stir. The curry paste won’t all dissolve at first but it will as your soup cooks.

    Y’all can use different fresh herbs (basil or cilantro) for more flavor or if you want it spicy hot add in a chopped jalapeno. You can also add in different seasonings like soy sauce, black pepper, fish sauce or Chinese 5-Spices but it’s fine with just the coconut and curry. (Editor’s Note: in one version we used only red onion, red bell pepper, cilantro and fresh lime juice). Flip your crock pot on high for 90 minutes to 2 hours then switch to low/warm until you’re ready to eat. If you want to make this less soupy just use your coconut milk and drain all the juices from the can of Rotel. This makes up to five servings and reheats well (especially for a weekday lunch).