Back from Atlanta!

Two blog entries so far for January. Not too bad ... let's hope I can keep it up!

Mom and I are back from Atlanta where we had a great time. Here are some of the highlights.

The show itself was awesome. There was a lot more energy than the July show ... part of the reason for this was the addition of a new wing which houses a gourmet kitchen for demonstrations. Celebrity chefs Rocco DiSpirito and Tyler Florence were there to kick off the new kitchen and did cooking demos and book signings. Of course Mom and I stood in line to see them. Rocco did his thing on Friday, which was mostly flirting. We got there late and did not get a signed cookbook but I did get some neat pictures of him. He walked around the audience (to flirt) so I have some close ups. Tyler appeared twice: on Saturday and Sunday. We saw him both times and got cookbooks signed. Mom even got her picture taken with Tyler. He is so HANDSOME.

While at the show we picked up some staples as well as some new pieces from lines/patterns we already carry. We also picked up several new lines that we are so excited about including the Calypso colanders from Reston Lloyd, the Cold Bowl from Prodyne and several of the pads from Knock Knock including Rate that Wine and All Out Of. We took advantage of the special pricing on some of the retired items from Fortessa including steak knives and serving dishes ... which will be even more affordable for you. Our new stuff has started to come in already (and is in the garage) so give us a couple days to get it out.

Of course no trip out of town would be complete without going out to dinner and that we did. On Friday night, we went to Django's Gypsy Kitchen and Saloon. We were expecting fine dining but got neighborhood eclectic. The food was ok and the service was average. It was not a wine place so Mom and I had Red Stripe beers. I'm sure it was the cheapest meal I've had in downtown Atlanta (other than Chick-Fil-A).

Our meal on Saturday night by far made up for Friday night. At the suggestion of a friend, we went to Il Mulino. It was connected to the hotel so the commute was short (and cheap). Everything about the entire experience was AMAZING. The first thing that blew me away was little extras that they provided with the meal ... like the Parmigiano-Reggiano that they served in chunks right from a wedge of the wheel of cheese. Then there was bruschetta and another dish of thinly shaved zucchini slices that were fried and dressed with something that I did not get to figure out. I was too busy eating. At the end of the meal they served the daily grappa. That night it was lemon and the night before it was fig. I wish I could have tasted that.

The service was outstanding. We had one gentleman, Abe, who made sure the tableside service was impeccable. He made sure the appetizers were plated, the water glasses were filled, the wine was topped off, crumbs were swept away before we even noticed they were there, etc. When we ordered dessert, another gentleman stepped in (name unknown as the wine had kicked in) and he did what Abe did but for dessert. Then Abe showed up again and we wrapped up dinner. By far, this is one of my favorite restaurants. I can't wait to go back.

I'm sure I'm leaving out details from the show but I'm hungry now and am going to get something to eat. I'll add updates if I remember anything and post more pictures of Rocco and Tyler on my website.

Ciao!

New Year's Resolutions

I'm not much for making resolutions since I am never able to keep them. It's not that I don't try hard enough ... it's more like I get busy or distracted and their importance seem to lessen over time until it's too late to do anything that will make a difference (at least from my perspective).

Take this blog for instance. I haven't updated it since last July ... that was six months ago. A lot has happend since then ... I've made new friends, cooked and eaten great food with family and friends, drank some pretty darn good juice (wine), tried new restaurants and laughed a whole lot!

There's a lot I didn't do too ... like I didn't get to try as many new recipes as I wanted to and some of my cooking magazines are still in the plastic mailing wrapper and I still don't have my recipes organized (electronically or printed). The list goes on ....

Anyway, this year I am going to try to be better keeping the blog current. I'm not sure I have all that much to say that might be interesting to others but maybe it'll keep me more organized. For example, I couldn't remember what I cooked last New Year's Eve so I'm going to recap this year's experience below.

I prefer to spend New Year's Eve close to home with family and friends. This way, I can eat and drink as much as I want and be close to my bed when the time comes. In the past, I've done a series of appetizers on the hour starting at 7pm and ending with dessert close to midnight, pairing wine with each appetizer. I find that this approach keeps me awake until midnight and prepping the various courses makes the time go by fast. Here's what we had, course by course:

1. Bruschetta with crostini and jalapeno pimento cheese with crostini
2. Stone crab claws with mustard sauce
3. Prosciutto wrapped melon
4. Clams casino and stuffed mushroom caps (with the same "goober" we used for the clams)
5. Roasted red peppers with fresh mozarella and basil leaves drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
6. Baby lamb chops
7. Cheesecake tartlets with pineapple topping

We started with champagne, went on to sparking wine from Sonoma, then had reds from California and Argentina and wrapped up with more sparkling wine from Napa. It was a great way to end the year!