Atlanta's Taste of the Nation

On Wednesday, I was incredibly lucky to volunteer at Atlanta's 2010 Taste of the Nation, a benefit event for Share our Strength, an organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger. Along with a live and silent auction, more than 50 of Atlanta's top restaurants housed tasting booths with their best food and wine. So when I say volunteer, I actually mean eat a ton of fantastic food without footing the $250 bill for a ticket. I worked with a well-known Atlanta photographer, who knew absolutely everyone and shot that gem of a picture above of me with Pano Karatassos, the co-chair of the event. Also, Jane Fonda appeared as a distinguished guest and most of my responsibilities consisted of following her around all night (further proof that the celeb gods are shining down on me).

After stopping by most of the tables at least once, I've compiled a Top Five List of Atlanta restaurants that I need to visit. I obviously lied here when I said I was going to stop spending money at great restaurants this summer, who was I kidding?

1.Woodfire Grill - Chef Kevin Gillespie (formerly on Top Chef) just seems so cool

2. Ted's Montana Grill - One word: Milkshake

3. Tuk Tuk Thai Loft

4. Bluepointe - I've already written about this place, but I desperately need to rediscover the chocolate/caramel parfait dessert featured at Taste

5. Spice Market

Celeb Sightings

I have an abysmal record of recognizing celebrities and pseudo-celebs in the real world. The last time I was in NYC, I found myself strolling along behind Jay Leno for minutes until I finally realized that all the smiles and stares of passersby were not, to my dismay, directed at me but at the owner of the significantly more voluminous head of hair in front of me. But for some reason, the celebrity gods have smiled upon me this year and thrown some very unforgettable stars in my direction.

In order of how much I want to date them (from most to least), here are the three most recent sightings. I've also included then and now pictures for your amusement.

Mark-Paul Gosselaar aka ZACH Freakin' MORRIS

He's seriously adorable. And his hair defies all laws of gravity. As Emory's 2010 Class Day Speaker, Zach (yeah, I really can't call him by his real name) reminded many of us why this guy was our first crush and reassured us that sixteen years after Saved by the Bell went off the air, he can still make us swoon.

Owen Wilson

See his signature above. I watched him write it, probably with a little bit of drool hanging out, at Emory's outdoor pool, where I've worked for the past few years. In Atlanta to shoot Hall Pass, Wilson fancied a bit of a swim and thought the best place to go unrecognized was at a college campus with students reading People magazine at poolside. He even used those little hand-flipper things. Definitely not conspicuous. Ranking him at number 2 was a close call, since he and Zach are equally hunky, but his downfall was that he wore a plaid shirt - I've mentioned how I feel about this - in 90 degree weather.

Ahhnuld Schwarzenegger

      

Sorry Arnold, you are a huge human being and your hand is bigger than my face, so you are number 3 on my list of dateability. But you did, as promised, "pump me up" during the keynote address at commencement, so you hold a soft spot in my heart. All politics aside, the Governator was an entertaining and fun commencement speaker. Parts of his speech read more like a comedy routine, and the most memorialized line will surely be his timely remark that "I was going to speak in Arizona but I thought I'd be deported."

I realize that had I not gone to Emory, and been present at work, Class Day and graduation - three things I really had little choice over whether or not to go - I wouldn't have come face to face with these celebs. So really (Dad, I hope you're reading this), that $200 grand was TOTALLY worth it.

Goodbye, Good Food

Got lots to catch up on, folks. I'm going to give a semi-brief overview of most of the restaurants I've visited in May, which I have lovingly dubbed "The Month of the Food I Will Not Be Able to Afford For Years After Graduation." Some of these places aren't even expensive, but due to my 'I'd rather travel than eat real food' attitude, I'm planning that most of my meals this summer will consist of Kroger brand oatmeal. And since I'm living with Casey, it will obviously involve heavy amounts of chocolate.

So this lovely month commenced with my birthday meal at TAP in Midtown. Props to this place for being open at 3:45pm, which oddly enough, is the time that most restaurants close between lunch and dinner. I admit that was my primary motivation for taking my parents here when they arrived for this in-between meal (linner? dunch? hmm...) but it turned out to be a great place to go. Dad and I ordered the Steak Eggs Benedict, which was fantastic. It had a flavorful mustard bearnaise instead of hollandaise and came with some roasted potatoes. I don't remember what Mom got at this point, which means it was probably too healthy to be memorable. I feel obligated to recommend that you avoid sitting on their outdoor patio when windy - although it was fun for me to watch a table fly off the ground and into a busy sidewalk, I doubt the pedestrians found humor in the situation.

Next, for my birthday dinner with friends, a group of 10 met up at Apres Diem, right next to Midtown Arts Cinema. Pre-dinner was a bit of a comedy of errors, since originally our reservation was at Park Tavern at 7pm. When I got a call at 4pm from Park Tavern's manager saying they had to cancel the reservation, I had a minor freak out being that it was Cinco de Mayo and few restaurants had open reservations for such a big group. But the manager pulled through and made reservations for us at Apres Diem, including a round of drinks and appetizers for everyone. He's got it figured out - to all men discovering the subtleties of how to make up for your mistake(s), I suggest offering free food and drinks as your first reconcilatory move. Long story short, absolutely wonderful night with great food and friends.

Onto the graduation celebrations! Half of our grad meals took place in Daytona Beach for my brother's big day, but we had a couple great meals when we came back to Atlanta. The parents and I dropped in to Osteria 832 in the Highlands, and we all ordered pizzas. I remember that I loved the bread basket, but that might have been the bottle of wine talking. Pizza was nothing to rave about, but was good and definitely hit the spot.

Okay, I saved the best for last. The top meal of this honored month was easily my graduation dinner at Nava, a restaurant that brings some much-needed southwestern flavor to Buckhead. I knew that it was going to be a great meal when our peppy waiter brought out the jalapeno cornbread. I seriously cannot stop thinking about this bread. I want it always. Next, I ordered Sangria and shared a slew of tasty appetizers with the fam - favorites were the Grouper ceviche and Jumbo Lumb Crab fritters. For my entree, I got the Carolina Trout (with some cactus on the side, naturally) which was absolutely perfect. My only concern with this month of heavenly food is that I'm basically asking for Mercury poisoning with the amount of fish I've consumed. Whatever, everyone says to die happy. Anyway, we all loved our meals and like everything else, the dessert was phenomenal (see below).

Also, I'll be staying in Atlanta at least through August so I've gotten an extension on my excursions through the city! All suggestions welcome.

Groupon - Urban Body Studios

Luckily, I caught this Groupon while it's still hot. I deleted myself from their email list after getting perpetually woken up every morning by the local deal and consequently becoming unreasonably angry and cranky at Groupon. Which is a wonderful website. I apologize for all of the horrible things I've said about you pre-8:00 am.

Check out today's deal - $39 for a one month fitness membership and UNLIMITED yoga and pilates classes. I have no patience for yoga, but I've promised myself I'm going to try to get into pilates this summer.

Who wants to join me?

Fritti

Well, it finally hit me that I'm graduating in just a little over two weeks. What caused my, albeit delayed, reaction? Pizza. Good pizza, in fact.

I headed to Inman Park with my friend Sara for dinner at Fritti, a casual but mildly expensive Italian and  pizza place in the U Restaurant group. As I looked at the menu, filled with creative and traditional varieties of "Pizze Napoletane," I remembered that exactly a year ago, I was in the same restaurant, looking at the same menu, drinking the same wine--only instead of an Atlanta suburb, I was in Florence, Italy. Talk about a regression.

While in Florence (and in Venice and Rome, for that matter) my traveling partners and I were, lets just say, trying to spend economically. Ok, we were flat broke after a semester abroad and had to cut some expenses. So, for the majority of our almost two week trip, we ate nothing but gelato and pizza. Seriously. One gelato in the afternoon and one entire pizza for dinner. Thank god for all that walking.

Anyway, sitting in Fritti took me back a year and with happy memories of 2 euro pizzas, I ordered the Vegetariana pizza , which was absolutely delicious. As was the wine--Chianti, 2007, cheapest red on the menu (see, I'm still the same girl from a year ago). I loved the atmosphere on the patio, with such pretty instrumental music coming out of the speakers  that I felt like Sara and I should be singing instead of happily chatting away. I definitely recommend Fritti and if you can, sit outside while the weather's still gorgeous.

Interestingly enough, sitting at Fritti with one of my best friends didn't really make me sad about graduation, but got me excited for life after college. I was reminded of all the incredible places to see and things to do that are waiting for me after escaping this little Emory bubble. Although I'll probably never be able to recreate the carefree laze of jaunting around Italy with no real anxieties, I have no doubt that I can recreate the not being able to afford real food part. Thanks, Fritti.

Flick Hair Studio

One of the cardinal rules of moving to a new place: you can't call it home until you've found a good hair stylist. So coming back to Atlanta after eight months abroad, I was distraught to find that Allison, my favorite stylist at Salon Red in Decatur, had moved cross country in search of bigger and better things. Like after any significant breakup, I went through a string of rebounds before finally finding another match. Coincedentally, the 'one' happened to be having an amazing discount on Groupon, and that is story of how I ended up at Flick Hair Studio in Edgewood with a cut and highlights for just $50 (!!!).

Judging by the number of weeks ahead I had to book my appointment, it looks like I'm not the only one with my eyes on Flick. But by the time the big date (I mean, day) came, I was ready for a change. I sat down in their urban-chic salon with my stylist, Abbi, and she intently listened to me blabber on about my sordid hair history. I'm pretty sure I even mentioned my incredibly unfortunate 6th grade yearbook photo in which I apparently thought frizzy pigtails were the new hot trend (they weren't). And I thought they would complement the braces and glasses thing I already had going on (they didn't). To her credit, she at least pretended to empathize and I told her to do whatever she wanted with my hair, just no bobs and no neon.

A couple of hours later, I found five inches of blond hair on the floor and shorter, blonder hair in the mirror. I loved it! I've never had my hair this short and while I do miss having long hair, it was definitely a needed change. Abbi was wonderful and entertaining, we talked the entire time and only once did she try to get me to buy products I can't afford. Plus she offered me a Diet Coke as I waited for my highlights to dry--girl knew the way to my heart.

Since I've never been able to recreate Abbi's perfect blow dry and style, I think I'll let my hair grow out a few more inches to require a little less effort. But it's nice to know that once again, I've found the real deal--attentive, fun, and talented, Abbi and Flick are the way to go. Please do not leave town, I'm begging you.

Yogurberry

When the weather turns warm, it becomes acceptable (at least in my mind) to trade real meals for frozen treats. Since moving to Atlanta four years ago, I've gotten really into the frozen yogurt trend--chances are you'll find me at Yoforia in the Highlands or Yogurt Tap in Decatur during lunch and dinner hours once the temperature hits 70. Recently, my boss introduced me to Yogurberry in Buckhead, which has quickly become my newest go-to froyo destination.

Yogurberry sits on the bottom floor of the Terminus Building at Peachtree and Piedmont, comically dubbed "Atlanta's most prestigious intersection." You would think that sharing a building with such pretenti-oops, prestigious-residences and dining spots would make this some pricy frozen yogurt, but it's actually cheaper than some of the other options at $3.50 for a small cup.

Here's the key to having an unbelievable Yogurberry experience: order the Taro flavor. Trust me. It's so good you don't even need to add toppings. Having never heard of taro before, I did some googling and found out that it's actually a tropical root vegetable chock full of vitamins.We have an ongoing dispute at work over what it tastes like, with opinions ranging from vanilla to fruity to chocolate. I've chalked it up to one of life's delicious mysteries and never turn down an opportunity for another taste test. And at 25 calories an ounce (0g fat and only 4g sugar), it's a healthy and tasty alternative to Bruster's. Or in my case, it makes me feel less guilty about popping into Bruster's every now and then!