Lucky us, we were invited to attend the soft opening of Davio 's in Phipps Plaza last week, complete with bite-size samples of their fabulous food and an assortment of adult beverages. “Why?” Larry asked when I told him. After all, Davio’s bills itself as a Northern Italian Steakhouse, not normally the kind of place that screams green to folks like us that eat with the environment in mind.

I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because they get their beef from Brandt, the Brawley, California ranchers who feed their cattle vegetarian diets of corn and locally-grown alfalfa, who compost waste and send it back to the alfalfa farm in order to reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers, who have sworn off hormone and antibiotic injections for their well animals, and who advocate the use of the whole cow as one way to reduce waste. We don’t eat cows but we think people who do should have the choice of purchasing meat that comes from sustainable operations like Brandt, a ranch whose owners care about the humane treatment of their animals. The increasing availability of meat from ranches like this that are both sustainable and humane are likely the driving force behind the increase in the number of flexitarians , those often-former vegetarians that eat limited amounts of meat now that you can get it somewhere besides those nasty factory farms.

Or maybe we were invited because there was a social ecology slant to the event. All attendees were encouraged to make a donation to the Schenck School, whose mission is to educate students with dyslexia and related learning disorders. As we've mentioned before, we think humans are a fabulous species every bit as worthy of love and care as the spotted owl, the snail darter or any of those fellow creatures our type is more well-known for throwing ourselves in front of bulldozers and chainsaws to protect. Telling ourselves that we were going just to support the children, we hopped in the car and took off for Buckhead.

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Oh, this is good. I mean, I'm not going because I'm happily married to the big guy but if I were in the market, I'd be in the market. Whole Foods Market in Roswell, that is, where the Whole Foods Market Singles Meetup Group will gather for the first time on Thursday, July 29, 2010.



I've been telling you for a while where you can find good food that's conscientiously prepared but it never occurred to me to tell you how you could find a good dinner mate to sit across the table from you and look deeply into your eyes while you share it. Luckily, someone else thought up this vast improvement to eating alone for you and I'm just passing it along.

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We went to Savannah last month to dip our feet in the water and dive into the sumptuous culinary offerings of Thrive, a Carryout Cafe . Thrive is the second Georgia restaurant to earn the designation of Certified Green Restaurant awarded by the Green Restaurant Association (GRA).

Since we've already gone on and on in this blog about what it takes to be a Certified Green Restaurant (be Styrofoam free, use sustainable furnishings and building materials as well as sustainable food sources, efficiency in water and fuel consumption, waste reduction and recycling, chemical and pollution reduction, and the use of eco-ware if disposables are used at all)...why not go on about it again? It's quite an accomplishment for a restaurant to meet these standards and to commit to the GRA's requirements for ongoing progress in reducing their carbon footprint.

We knew going in that we were going to be really happy with Thrive's greening efforts. What we didn't know was – Can they cook?

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Ever since we started viewing the world through green-colored glasses, we've gotten increasingly aware of ways we can make more sustainable choices in the details of our day-to-day lives. That's important because as much as we love going out to eat at all  the conscientiously managed restaurants we've been telling you about over the past year, most of our meals are still prepared in our very own kitchen, thanks to Chef Larry, and it's there that the choices we make will have the greatest impact on our world.

We've been composting, recycling, and keeping an eagle-eye on packaging waste for awhile but it was just last week that I started catching the gray water in our kitchen sinks. It was quite a surprise to see how much of it was going down the drain when it could be put to so much better use raising petunias.

There are probably all kinds of little actions like that we could take and changes we would be happy to make if the need for them were brought to our attention. That's why we were so glad to learn about Food + Shelter , a benefit taking place this Sunday, April 18, between the hours of 2-5. << MORE >>

Wow, what a dinner experience we had at Park's Edge, a tony Inman Park restaurant and bar. Tuesday Night Dinner Group (Larry, Kathy, Linda, Karen and I) walked into the very friendly and open arms of owner Richard N. Wadlington, Jr.  After a short while, Chef Jorge I. Pacheco came out and spent a fair amount of time chatting with us too. It felt like they had personally invited us over for dinner and were cooking up something special for us alone. Given that Atlanta is in the worse recession in recent history it's amazing that  Park's Edge just recently celebrated its one year anniversary. The quality of the food and the hospitality feels like a harbor in the economic storm.  


Ooh la la - the food.  Chef Pacheco is from Mexico City and Mr Wadlington is from Los Angeles. As a result, the food has a clean California style with innovative and bold Mexican flavors.<< MORE >>

We heard about Java Vino from Phil Palmer, chief cook and bottle-washer (and owner) of Radial Cafe. As of a couple months ago, Java Vino is the exclusive coffee roaster for Radial and this is a good thing 'cause they surely have some fine coffee! Since Palmer is so intent on being green and buying from sustainable sources, it comes as no surprise that we found a story in all this, one suitable for the GGDG.

We dropped in at the coffee and wine shop, all unannounced of course, to speak with Steve Franklin who, along with his wife Heddy Kuhl, are the owners and operators of Java Vino. Steve was there and he was very busy, it being an especially good day for a cup of good coffee (the temperature was in the teens!) and the place was bustling.

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Atlanta Green Drinks, a networking group for people interested in environmental issues, is having their first mixer of the year tonight at Radial in Decatur. Atlanta green brewer SweetWater, has graciously donated beer for the event (muchas gracias) and you're invited to bring your own bottle if you have a taste for other adult beverages, since Radial doesn't have a liquor license. Even though they can't serve alcohol, Radial will be cooking up some light apps for us and if you've ever eaten there, you know you are in for a treat. If you've never eaten there, well, it's about time you did.

So come in out of the cold, earth lovers, and meet your peeps. We hope to see you there.

        

As soon as Lisa and Dee told us that Radial Cafe was their new favorite place for a weekend breakfast, we started planning a meetup with them there. Not that I need an excuse to eat at Radial, but it was handy to have one. If you remember, we have an early post about Radial, wherein we praised them for being the only restaurant in Georgia to have gotten certification from the Green Restaurant Association. Well, I just checked and they still are the only restaurant in Georgia to be GRA certified. That says a lot of good things about Radial, not so much for the rest of the state. Come on, people.<< MORE >>

Our Saturday night out with friends Lee and Peter started pretty well - rock star parking right in front of  the restaurant - and it got better as the night progressed. We were dining at Rosebud in Virginia Highlands, the restaurant which occupies the space formerly known as Food 101 Morningside. Ron Eyester, formerly a chef at Food 101, is the executive chef/owner of Rosebud and has created a classy-casual place that still has the feel of the true neighborhood gathering place. Ron can be seen regularly out in the dining area, meeting and greeting patrons, obviously enjoying himself and making everyone feel welcome. When he's not out front, he's cooking up marvelous goodies, like the cream cheese and rosemary pound cake with whipped cream and blueberries pictured above.<< MORE >>

Remember this picture of Gloria taking our money at The Mercantile register?


Well, she needs some more. The home of Mercantile manager Gloria Limanni and her husband David was badly damaged in the 100 year flood that recently took Atlanta residents by storm. Since the Limanni's followed FEMA's recommendation to drop their flood insurance (I'm from the government and I'm here to help), they're now up a creek, so to speak, and could really use your help with covering some of the expenses they'll be incurring in the work to restore their home.

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Last Friday I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up a few things for dinner. I'm ashamed to say I've never noticed before that they give people a ten cent discount for bringing in their own bags. I've been giving credit to Earth Fare and IKEA and Sam's Club for offering incentives for people to bag the bags but somehow I glossed right over the fact that Whole Foods has been doing the same thing all along.
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I met Linda for dinner at the Flying Biscuit in Candler Park last week. If you haven't had their fried green tomatoes, which I have learned are not actually fried (but in fact are green tomatoes), I recommend you fly on over there and place your order. Manager Jeffrey told us that the (unfried) green tomatoes are first baked and then finished off on the grill before being topped with a luscious cashew-jalapeno relish and a big fat dollop of goat cheese. They were then finished off again by Linda and me and would be by anybody else that orders them, I'm quite sure.
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We're so dad-gummed fortunate to be able to go to all these fabulous restaurants (in our own car, no less), order exquisite dishes, pair food with wines, chat up servers and chefs, leave tips and go to sleep at night with full bellies. When it comes to food, our worst problem is that sometimes our bellies are too full.

It's not like that for everyone. Some people go to bed hungry. Some of those people are children.
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I wish I'd written this article about the Killer Tomato Festival. We had such a juicy time there.

And speaking of killers, I could have choked Larry for forgetting to bring the camera. There was so much eye candy (by which I mean good-lookin' food and drink) at this event that we could have captured for your viewing pleasure, if only we'd been more prepared.

The organic tomatoes were supplied by local farmers, mostly by our neighbors at Whippoorwill Hollow Farms, so all the chefs had high-quality ingredients to start with and their abundant creativity carried them from there. We learned about new restaurants we haven't visited yet  (but will) and saw chefs (like Billy Allin of Cakes & Ale) and mixologists (like Miles of Leon's Full Service) from some of our favorite eateries. Fresh, local, organic produce was the star of this show and it shone for an enthusiastic audience of boozy foodies.
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The Wild Georgia Shrimp Festival got underway today at the Jekyll Island Landmark Historic District with the $3 Shrimp Sample Night, which gave attendees a chance to taste recipes from the each vendor for the low, low price of (you guessed it) only 3 dollars. Highlights of tomorrow's programming will include an Amateur Cooking Competition, cooking demo by Chef Robert Tulko, entertainment by the Big Dawg and Paul Show, music by the Randall Bramblett Band, magic shows and more.
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