Street Food Thursdays

On a beautiful Thursday morning last week a few friends and I headed to the Woodruff Arts Center to see what all the fuss was about.  Thursdays, you see, are street food day in Midtown Atlanta.  Street Food Thursdays just started five weeks ago and are part of a movement to integrate street food into the Atlanta scene.  Although food trucks are an established part of food culture in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and even Carrboro, NC, Atlanta has laws that make it difficult for food truck businesses.  Unless its for a certified "event", food trucks are banned in the city.

Street Food Thursdays are aiming to change all that, and based on the consistent turn-out, great food, and enthusiasm, food trucks are here to stay!

11:00 AM

12:00 PM

 The head count has been consistently in the thousands every week!

Reasons why:

The hugely popular Yumbii truck carries food from Han Kook, for one, including their amazing sesame fries.

 The Tamale Queen serves up good food and for a good cause.

 SO many people told us to get the "poodle" at the Good Food truck.

My buddy Elizabeth got one of Sweet Auburn's bbq sandwiches.

The folks from Steady Hand Pour House, a standby for us (they carry Intelligentsia! and they're nice) were representing with their mobile coffee shop, Rattletrap.

Pimp.

My.

Ride.

That's right, this is the inside of a seriously tricked out VW bus.  Amazing!  

(Side note: the Rattletrap carries horchata -woohoo!- and the espresso drinks are even better than the ones in the shop. Fact: better espresso machine)

Bill Cunningham also paid the Rattletrap a visit.  Just kidding, but with the bike and camera doesn't it look like him?

some very content professionals taking a lunch break.

Street Food Thursdays are a lot of fun and not to be missed!  Get you down to the Woodruff Arts Center (thats 16th and Peachtree) or visit the SFT Annex down at 10th & Peachtree.

10th & Peachtree Street Food Annex

In case you needed one more reason to go...

Salted-butter caramel ice cream and chocolate chip cookie sandwich.     BAM.

CDC Museum

During Wm's visit we finally made a trip to the CDC Museum, something we'd been meaning to do for a while.  Up until then, most of my Center for Disease Control and Prevention knowledge and experience stemmed from the occasional House episode.  The CDC Museum was established as part of Atlanta's preparation for the 1996 Olympic games to present the history and work of the CDC through dioramas and other exhibits.

Because the CDC is a government organization, there's excitement before you even walk through the door.

 The adventure begins with a search of your car.

Strip search and full body scan optional.

Once you're inside and past security there's a good amount to see.  We started with the temporary photography exhibit on malaria.

chillaxing with a malaria-carrying giant mosquito

I found the propaganda and educational posters very interesting.

(this one really made me laugh, which does not speak well for my maturity)

And of course, no trip to the CDC would be complete without some sort of initiation...

(note: these suits were made for giants and were incredibly unwieldy)

Folks, the CDC Museum is some of the best free entertainment Atlanta has to offer.  If you've got a free hour, I recommend making the trip!

End of the week tidbits

Friends and family, I hope everyone has had a lovely week and survived the recent raging storms unscathed.  A few photos from the past few days before the weekend...

I finally made this sardine recipe and it was so easy and so good I'll definitely be making it again.  And with Dekalb so close and inexpensive (2 fish for a dollar!) there's not reason not to.

Random but surprisingly awesome lunch.  Fried egg on rye, topped with bacon jam from Yeah Burger and vidalia onion mustard.  Pickled green beans on the side.

Finally cleaned my desk!  Picture composition kind of sucks, but I'm still amazed that I can see the top of the table again.  Mid-century chrome lamp recently purchased at Decatur Estate for $19 (score!).

As its the end of the semester, we've been bouncing around different area coffee shops to get work done.  My new favorite is Parish, which our friend Adam had recommended to us.  With its ample seating, decent coffee & baked goods, reasonable pricing, not-overwhelming music, and brightly-lit outdoor space and open air feel... well, obviously I'm a fan!  Also, its kind of tucked away off Highlands so you don't get any street noise or distracting traffic.

Have a great weekend!

Cyclorama = cycling mural + diorama

Thug lyfe.

When Wm was in town, we went to several Atlanta attractions.  The weirdest by far was the Cyclorama.  The Atlanta Cyclorama is a 10,000 lb painting of Sherman's Battle of Atlanta.  Painted in the late 19th century, the Cyclorama was one of many grand-scale paintings that toured the country, though it is one of the few remaining today.  Measuring 42 feet by 358 feet, the Cyclorama is considered the largest painting in the world.

Back of the building housing the Cyclorama.  Believe me, its pretty big.

Today it is situated in Atlanta's Grant Park.  The Cyclorama is on a rotating dais which moves slowly around an audience while a recorded narrator speaks.  The narration is punctuated by spotlights to highlight figures on the painting.

photo from Cyclorama website

Forgive the blurry cellphone picture (photography wasn't allowed - shh don't tell!).  I tried to capture the moment an eagle soaring in the painting was highlighted and named (I've since forgotten the eagle's name).


And less I forget, the diorama.

Photo from Cyclorama website

Photo from Cyclorama website.

As legend goes, the actors from Gone with the Wind [I'm not linking this one on principle.  If you aren't already familiar with the film, don't expect me to educate you (because "frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!").  Go to your nearest struggling video store, get a copy, and set aside a good 4 1/2 to 5 hours for viewing.] visited the Cyclorama shortly after it was installed in Atlanta.  Clark Gable, cheeky fellow that he was, remarked after viewing it that it'd be much improved if he were in it.

Well, they obliged.

Clark Gable, KIA.

Atlanta folks, if you haven't already seen the Cyclorama, take the nearest opportunity to check it out.  It is historic, kitsch, nostalgic, and totally bizarre.  A must-see!

Food Highlights from Wm's visit

Alex's good friend Nick Wm H-M. (for realz) visited us last week in a trip that resulted in each of us gaining 10 lbs.

We went to Waffle House...

Double buttermilk waffles with pecans...

plus, 3 egg & cheese biscuits...

and large hashbrowns, smothered and peppered.

After that we had our Seder.

We also went to Farm Burger...

(pictures courtesy of Nick and his sweet camera)

Farm Burger with bacon

from another angle

boiled peanuts

For dessert, Atlanta's answer to shaved ice: Suno.

original flavor shaved ice with red bean & mango.

While it wasn't as amazing as the real thing in Taiwan, Alex and I were nevertheless completely engrossed.

The last full day of Nick's visit was a doozey.

We started the day with matzoh brie. 

For lunch, we visited Hankook, a Korean taqueria we'd heard good things about.

Daeji Gogi Sliders

Sesame fries (a MUST-order)

bulgogi taco

fish taco

 Hankook is in a small building with an even smaller parking lot. While we were there we witnessed a hit & run.  All part of the Atlanta experience, am I right?

After Hankook we stopped at Star Provisions to ogle the amazing merch.  Didn't take any pictures, but I was very tempted to get the silver julep cups, exotic salts, and a braided buffalo penis treat for Didi.  

After Star Provisions, we headed to Flip Burger for dessert/a mid-afternoon snack.  

chocolate mole shake.

strawberry shortcake shake

Flip Burger is owned by Richard Blais, who won the most recent season of Top Chef, Top-Chef All-Stars!  Alex and I were rooting for this home-town-hero all the way, and were gratified to hear he's investing his winnings into a new Atlanta restaurant.  A waiter at Flip Burger told us plans are underway for a hot dog restaurant in the Highlands, conveniently walking distance for us.  Here's hoping the milkshakes are heading to the Highlands as well!

After a trip to the High Museum to see the Cartier-Bresson exhibit (fabulous) and selections from the Vogel Collection (there's a cute documentary about the Vogels that details the backstory of these amazing and unassuming collectors), it was back to the Howell Mill area for dinner at Abattoir.

chicharones!

duck "ham" with ramps.

amazing steak.

rabbit leg stuffed with rabbit sausage.

fresh baguette hot from the oven (we went through several of these)

chocolate chess pie with toffee brittle and creme fraiche.

coconut tres leche with dulce de leche ice cream and a burst of meringue.
Not pictured: Abattoir's home-brewed ginger beer (it burns!  in a good way!)
and how full we were after this day.

Every part of our meal was amazing from start to finish.  Abattoir is one of the few restaurants we've been to in Atlanta that I felt delivered from start to finish (and oh, what a finish!  It'd be worth going back just for those desserts).  

Thanks Nick for being such a great guest and indulging with us!  

More to come this week (maybe next week) on some of the actual sights we saw while Nick was in town.