Along the Pacific coast

California might be best known for its cities like LA and San Francisco, but the culture of the state is best experienced in the small towns dotting the coast. They can be located on either precariously steep hills or on quiet bays, but they all have the same atmosphere. Sea life and organic local food are everywhere. Even popular tourist attraction like Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea still manage to retain their original California style. However, finding a place to eat in places where tourists need a quick and rich meal can prove to be hard.

That was the case again in Monterey. If you stay in the downtown area (Canary Row), which I had to do, all of your options are Italian restaurants or places like Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. So what should a person do when they want good seafood that's not slathered with Alfredo sause? The answer, surprisingly, is eat at the C Restaurant at the InterContinental hotel in downtown Monterey. It was located right at the bay, so I had a good view of the open ocean from my table. Plus, it was one of the few places where I didn't have to wait for a table. To start my meal, I was brought complementary warm rosemary bread and goat cheese butter. The bread was amazing. I love any type of warm bread, but the aroma from the rosemary made it so much better. I was also curious about the goat cheese butter. Was it supposed to taste like goat cheese? Sadly, it didn't. It tasted like regular butter to me.

For my brunch, I was trying to decide between two dishes with seafood: shrimp frittata and crab huevos rancheros. I finally decided to get the frittata, partly because it had that goat cheese that the butter made me crave. I was quite disappointed in the frittata. First, it didn't have as much shrimp as I was hoping it would. In addition, it came with a topping of chip strips. I assume they were house-made, but the strips tasted just like Lay's chips. On the bright side, the goat cheese had lemon zest in it and gave the whole dish a fresh citrus tang.

Later that day, we arrived in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Unlike Monterey, there was a large selection of restaurants that seemed nice in terms of both food and ambiance. My problem here, though, was that we didn't have much time. I ended up eating in a French bakery because the desserts at the counter looked too enticing to resist. I again was started off with warm bread, but this time it was simple white bread. The butter was not any different than butter you can get from a grocery store. Thankfully, I gad ordered the baked Brie with red onion and balsamic vinegar marinade which I used to pair with the good bread. The marinade was sweet and acidic at the same time. It had a unique taste that I really liked and that went great with the plain bread. The Brie was also good, but I think I prefer it fresh, not baked. As I mentioned, the desserts looked great, so I got a coconut creme pie to go (not pictured). It contained a thin custard layer, a much thicker meringue layer, and a top layer of toasted coconut. It was really rich tasting, and a great indulgence at the end of my tour of the California central coast.


My goal for the day had been to get some great fresh seafood, hopefully caught close to where I was eating. At the end, I had just a few tiny shrimp in my frittata at lunch. I did enjoy what I ate, but my craving for seafood still remains to be sated.

"Free oysters" ploy worked

I just can't resist free food, especially when it's oysters. Really, how often do you get free oysters?!?! So when Cashew and I heard about free oysters/sausages/drinks/concert at Abattoir, we had to go there. We expected a huge crowd and fights... Instead, we got a sophisticated crowd that politely waited in line to get one oyster and two sausage pieces. Yup, that's all we could get at once. We did line up several times, but people who knows us know that we need a lot more food to fill up. On the bright side, the drinks included prosecco and regular wine in addition to craft beer, none of the cheap crap you usually get for "free drinks."

Thankfully, we were there with some friends who had been to Abattoir before and who highly recommended the regular menu. Cashew and I shared the pork rillette with toast and eggs and one of the cheese platters. Honestly, I don't even remember which cheese we had. I'm pretty sure it was the valencay (a goat cheese), but I'm not 100% positive... It came with crackers and an olive tapenade. The crackers weren't enough for all the cheese, but that let us experience the pure taste of the cheese, haha.

The pork rillette was basically a pork puree with the consistency of pate. It was served on rustic toasted bread as a spread. Interestingly, it also had quail eggs. I'm not sure what the eggs were supposed to contribute to the dish (except novelty), but they definitely didn't hurt it either. And the grainy mustard on the side was quite tasty as well. I'm kind of a freak when it comes to mustard. I like it so much, especially the spicy kind, that I eat it by itself.

For a sweet end to a sweet night of perfect weather and great company, the whole group shared the dessert sampler. The platter included a carrot cake with root ice cream, maple creme caramel with a bacon cookie and chocolate chess pie with pecan brittle. Let me tell you, I've had my share of desserts at many places, but all three of these were definitely top of the notch. The root ice cream was so different, smooth and delicious. The creme caramel was perfect and smooth as well. Believe it or not, the chocolate pie didn't taste like chocolate, but I still loved it. It had some unique taste and texture that I can't describe, but it might be some of the best chocolate dessert I've ever had. And the best part for all of this is that we didn't get charged for dessert!!! Can you believe this? I think the waiter liked us and that was his treat to us. He definitely received a very generous tip :)

One of the special things about the whole experience of Abattoir was the atmosphere. We were sitting outside on a warm but not hot night, surrounded by a vibrant crowd, talking to good people, eating delicious food. Unfortunately, we'll probably have to wait until the summer is over to enjoy a perfect night like this again.

Wine and cheese

One Friday afternoon Cashew and I were hanging around Atlantic Station. All the stored started closing, but we weren't feeling like going home yet. Instead, we decided to try The Grape, a restaurant with a good wine selection. After taking some time to pick out a glass of wine (and enjoying free samples in the meantime), I chose a glass of white wine and Cashew decided on a sweet rose champagne. We had already had dinner, so we didn't want to order a full meal. As a result, we decided to try some of the appetizers that the menu suggested to pair with wine. I guess we were in a truffle mood because we settled on Cypress Grove truffle tremor cheese and Truffle mousse pate. The cheese was really nice and creamy. The pate looked like it was homemade (not the pink canned stuff, which is still tasty, though!). The came with a simple French bread and whole grain crackers. I liked how the bread and crackers had very subtle flavor on their own and didn't overpower the cheese and pate. To me, that's the perfect pairing. If the bread or crackers are flavored, they should be eaten by themselves.

The regular dinner menu had some interesting offerings that attracted my attention. I'm curious to try them, so I'll be going back. In other words, expect another post from The Grape.

With a Name like Empire State...

Earlier this week I went to a place called Empire State South. Interesting name, I know... I'm still not sure why it's called that; there wasn't any hint of the Empire State Building anywhere inside the restaurant.

Anyway, despite the confusing name, the restaurant is supposed to be one of the best in Atlanta. Well, I do agree with that :) I usually don't order pork chops when I go out to eat, but I decided to try them this time (Riverview pork loin). Best pork I've ever had! Seriously! It's so hard to keep pork moist, but this pork was perfect. It didn't even taste like pork to me. Maybe that's why I liked it... The pork came with a side of kale. I think this was my first exposure to kale, and I liked it. I wonder how much of the good taste I can attribute to the restaurant, though ;)

The friend that I went with ordered the night's special, veal. It must have been roasted the whole day because it was really, really tender. Once you tried it, it had a very nice buttery taste and just melted in your mouth. Yummy!

We also got the cheese platter as an appetizer. The cheeses were good, but nothing special. I even liked the goat cheese... The other two cheeses were made with cow milk. The platter came with raisin sourdough bread. I wish the bread didn't have anything sweet in it. It would've let us taste the cheeses much better.

As much as I loved the food, I was really disappointed with the service. Our waiter took a very long time before he came to get our order. When the food runner brought us the cheeses, he couldn't even tell us which cheese was which. The only way were able to figure them out was by looking at their little side items on the menu (goat cheese with olive salad, etc.). At the end, we had to wait a long time to get our check too. Despite everything, the quality of the food made up for the shortcomings with the service, and I don't mind going there to try more things.

P.S. I don't have any pictures of the food, sorry!