One of my favorite musicians is a guy named David Sylvian, who’s recorded dozens of weird and wonderful boundary-stretching albums, often in the company of similarly innovative egghead musicians like Mark Isham and Robert Fripp. I figured that Steven Chan, owner of the small, local chain of Tin Drum Asia Cafes, might be a fan when I thought about the name of his restaurant. Tin Drum was the name of the last studio album by Sylvian’s first group, Japan, who were on Hansa and then Virgin Records in the late seventies and early eighties. Chan also used to have a second pair of restaurants called Wonderful World. Sylvian had a beautiful song by that name, too. Then I walked past the downtown location of Tin Drum last year and saw a huge mockup of that album’s front cover staring back at me from the front hallway. That settled it. Inside, there are a few more bits of Sylvian paraphernalia, including posters from his 1988 tour, and some installation or public art project from his brother, Steve Jansen. Continue reading “Tin Drum Asiacafe, Atlanta GA”
Tag: atlanta
G’Angelo’s Pizza and Pasta, Marietta GA
(Today’s chapter is another that occasionally surfaces here which does not, in any real way, function as a “restaurant review.” We occasionally remind readers that, despite frequent appearances, ours is not really a “restaurant review blog.”)
Sometimes, it’s just not very easy to please everybody. Take neighborhood pizza, for instance. As far as I’m concerned, if we want a pizza and we don’t feel like driving any distance, then I’ll probably just pick one up from La Bella’s. I no longer remember what brought us to that place, just that we gave it a try, and I was taken, and it became our family’s neighborhood spot. We do not get pizza with any frequency, but when we do, it is typically La Bella’s. Continue reading “G’Angelo’s Pizza and Pasta, Marietta GA”
Maison Robert, Chamblee GA
This is Marie, writing a very small article about a very small chocolate shop. You knew I’d have to come back to sweets, right? Anyway, there is a chocolate shop in Asheville that is my true favorite, but I will cheat on them occasionally with Maison Robert now that we have become acquainted. Continue reading “Maison Robert, Chamblee GA”
Pho and Bánh mì
So, another expedition over to Chamblee to get something to eat from the city’s most eclectic and one of the most fun stretches of road. This time, the objective was to sample a little Vietnamese cuisine from a couple of places. We got some good recommendations from some of our fellow bloggers for what to try here. Leslie from The Food and Me suggested that we try a bowl of beef noodle soup from Pho Bac, and Jason from Kitchen Man Can suggested that we get a traditional bánh mì sandwich from Lee’s Bakery. Both restaurants have been written about fairly extensively. So we loaded up the children two Saturdays back and took off for Buford Highway. Continue reading “Pho and Bánh mì”
Bahama Breeze Launches “Legendary Island Cocktails”
To show off their new line of drinks, the people behind the Bahama Breeze chain threw a series of parties at several of their locations around the country. Malika from Atlanta Restaurant Blog hosted the event at their Kennesaw location, one of three in the Ettalanna suburbs, and one of only thirty nationwide. The only other Bahama Breeze stores in our travel area are in Jacksonville and Memphis; about a third are in central and south Florida. Like Seasons 52, this is one of Darden’s smaller chains, without the omnipresent, mediocre footprint of their Red Lobster or Olive Garden brands. They use coupon promotions all the time; we seem to get a $10 off a $20 meal voucher in the mail every three weeks. We haven’t redeemed one in years. It’s a big barn of a place, with sprawling patios and the omnipresent sounds of steel pan drums piped in everywhere. Continue reading “Bahama Breeze Launches “Legendary Island Cocktails””
Cibo e Beve, Sandy Springs GA
Two weeks ago, Marie and I joined several other area bloggers for a “Big Night Out” at Cibo e Beve to celebrate their first anniversary, enjoy a huge and delicious meal, and get the advance word on their forthcoming Sunday brunches, which will launch on August 5th. Continue reading “Cibo e Beve, Sandy Springs GA”
Acworth Fish Camp, Acworth GA
I’m starting to think that we’ve exhausted the possibilities of good eating in Acworth, the not-at-all cosmopolitan neighbor to the north of Kennesaw. There doesn’t seem to be a lot left that sounds interesting, and what we do see are places like the Acworth Fish Camp, which means well, and provides very good service to a very large crowd, but otherwise disappoints me. As we usually encourage local businesses, and applaud the ones like, in the previous chapter, Leon’s Full Service, who get so much of their food and drink from local farmers and breweries, the Fish Camp is an ugly and unfashionable throwback, with an archaic business model. It needs retiring. Continue reading “Acworth Fish Camp, Acworth GA”
Marie, Let's Eat! 