Hot-lanta! (or not so hot...more like 30 degrees, hitting record lows)

Went to Atlanta this weekend to spend some time with my girls. We had a blast... and we even let the boys come along this time (except Ric, who has to fly back to Baltimore next weekend instead). We had an absolute blast and I've definitely changed my opinion on Atlanta. Growing up in Charlotte, it was always a love hate relationship (but mainly hate). We had the chance to drive around this weekend and saw a lot of cute neighborhoods, and, most importantly, ate at some great restaurants.

Murphy's - had lunch here and really loved my meal. The cheese grits on the side were yummy, and the turkey sandwich with grilled apples, avocado, and bacon was delicious. Murphy's is in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood. Really cute little place with a wine shop inside. Looked like it would be great for dinner as well.

Krog Bar - really fun little place that has mainly French, Spanish and Italian wines. Great cheeses, meat platters and olives to go along with the wine as well. It was a very cool space inside, we were able to get a full table around 8pm and the wines everyone had were tasty. It was perfect for a quick drink (or two) before dinner.

Wisteria - had dinner here on Saturday and LOVED the food. I got skate wing with grits (of course... I am from the South and I have to get my fill of Southern food whenever I can) which was great. The tuna looked good and so did the steak. My favorite, however, was our fantastic waiter who knew a ton about wine, and loved to talk about it. We went through every thing on the menu and settled on a blend that was a combo of Cab and Zin. I can't for the life of me remember the name, but it was great. And whenever I find someone who's heard of (and likes) Toulouse wine, I'm an instant fan.

I'm mounting a campaign to convince Ric that we should move to Atlanta eventually... he's not convinced, but I think I have a pretty strong case. It's a lot like Charlotte (clean, pretty neighborhoods, lots of trees, etc), but it also has great food, which Charlotte severely lacks. come on Ric, you know you want to live in Atlanta...

Oh yea... I forgot to mention that we went to the Master's on Friday! It was amazing... we ended up with SIX tickets, through some stroke of luck, and stayed at the tournament for more than 5 hours. We got up close and personal with Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickleson... you name it. I can't tell you how crazy it is to be two feet away from Tiger when he hits a ball as hard as he possibly can. It sounds like a gunshot and he swings so fast that if you blink you'd miss it. He is pure muscle, not an ounce of fat on his body, and he was NOT happy after his drive on hole 11. We were right up against the rope, so we saw all of these guys from about 2 feet away (sometimes closer). One of the coolest things I've ever done. I loved going on Friday because it wasn't that crowded and we were able to get so close. Really sad Ric wasn't able to be there, but we'll have to figure out how to get back there one year!

Rachel

Manresa

Ric and I ate at Manresa in Palo Alto last weekend and had another amazing meal. Can't say enough about that place. For me, the food itself is right up there with The French Laundry. You don't get the whole TFL experience, which is extremely hard to replicate, but the food is definitely on par with Thomas Keller's. My favorite every time is the hollowed out egg shell filled with egg yolk, chives, maple syrup, and salt and pepper. Sounds like a weird combination, but those flavors combine like nothing I've ever tasted.

During this meal (tasting menu of course) we were served FIVE amuse bouche's... everything from parmesan potato sticks, to an oyster, to a red pepper gelee. Amazing. Then we had a seven course menu (minus the foie gras, which actually forced the chef to get creative with replacement courses) and a couple desserts at the end.

The wine was delicious... a Jensen Calera. This was the same wine we had a TFL and it was just as good as we remembered. I haven't loved every Calera I've had, but this specific one is fantastic.

Love you Manresa. We'll definitely miss you...

Rachel