Category: dessert

Greenwood’s, Roswell GA

Greenwood’s is one of those restaurants that opened in the wrong time and place for today’s hobbyists. Between fifteen and twenty years ahead of the trend for new Southern cooking, Bill Greenwood moved down from Maryland and came up with an oddball recipe for fried chicken that he was certain would turn people toward the less time-intensive comfort foods on his menu. It didn’t work, because people love it. The chicken takes between twenty and thirty minutes to prep, and is fried in a peppery bath of honey and lemon. The crust is unlike any I’ve ever tasted, and is certainly one of the most interesting and tasty in the Atlanta area. Continue reading “Greenwood’s, Roswell GA” →

Peppino’s Pizzeria, Athens GA

Years ago, when I went back to school, as an older and nontraditional student, I joined a certain friendly society on campus, and, after our Thursday night meetings, it was tradition to walk as a group over to Peppino’s. This is when it was still downtown, on Broad Street, and usually just getting warmed up for the night around 10 in the evening. Continue reading “Peppino’s Pizzeria, Athens GA” →

The Rookery, Macon GA

Timing a lunch in Macon when we’re leaving Atlanta is easy, but it’s a little more difficult scheduling to meet with our good friends in that city, Rex and Rachel, when we’re coming from Glynn County, since it is so far away. Also, we knew this time that we’d need to make at least one Baby Mercy Break, plus a detour to take pictures of that old chicken restaurant, and a four-mile stretch of I-16 had one lane closed for construction. But somehow, we timed it pretty well and met up with Rex at The Rookery, on 543 Cherry Street in downtown Macon right about when I thought we could. Rachel, who just started a terrific new job that has her glowing with happiness at how awesome it is, was a little behind, but the six of us took a table in this fantastic old building with a lot of history. Continue reading “The Rookery, Macon GA” →

Jeni’s Ice Creams, Atlanta GA

Once upon a time, I didn’t object much to Ohio State. Part of it’s because I always thought that Jim Tressel was a class act, but basically, while I have little interest and no real concern about the activities of other, lesser, conferences, it’s kind of hard for me to muster much passion or antipathy for what goes on in the Big Ten. Then they went and hired Urban Meyer and packed their schedule with a bunch of loser teams and had the audacity to announce that they were number two in the country and stood in the way of Auburn playing FSU for the title. Continue reading “Jeni’s Ice Creams, Atlanta GA” →

Pallookaville Fine Foods, Avondale Estates GA

In December of 1989 or possibly 1990, I was told that there was this band that I had to see playing a free show one night on the steps of City Hall in Athens. It was the Labrea Stompers, led by Jim Stacy, and it was unbelievably cold. I saw them a couple of times after that, in more traditional settings, but I’ll always remember that very long, below-freezing walk back to my dorm against a harsh, knock-you-down wind, and also their terrific performance of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” When Dr. Seuss died in 1991, Stacy wrote an obituary for one of the local papers. Class act. Continue reading “Pallookaville Fine Foods, Avondale Estates GA” →

Ammons Drive-In and Dairy Bar, Waynesville NC

We agreed that it had been a disagreeably long time since we visited Asheville, and so began scheduling a trip. Earlier this month, we drove back to western North Carolina to spend a day in this beautiful country and the city that we really, really love. This time, we took a much different path getting there. Continue reading “Ammons Drive-In and Dairy Bar, Waynesville NC” →