Dîner en Blanc ATL

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This past weekend, the hubs and I had the pleasure of attending "Diner en Blanc" here in Atlanta.  The event "Diner en Blanc" is an all white dinner party that happens in different cities all over the world.  I won't go through the back story on it, and there is a back story...but all I can say is the night was magical!  I have to admit, it is a hard ticket to get--but if you get the chance, you should definitely go if it makes it to your city!  To read up on the history of "Diner en Blanc", go HERE.

P.S. The dress I'm wearing, I'd bought over a year ago.  I just knew there would be some all white event that I'd be able to wear it to, and I couldn't have picked a better event!  Unfortunately, it's sold out, but I've found an identical one in the color "slate" HERE.

Enjoy your week!

White Oak

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So this past weekend, Atlanta Downtown Restaurant Week kicked off.  I had found out about it on Facebook, and immediately knew that we would participate in it on our weekly date night.  After quickly checking the website, me and hubs decided on White Oak Kitchen.  The Yelp reviews were good and the hipster-ish name drew me in.

We were out and about on Saturday fairly early for a brewery tour, so we arrived for a slightly earlier-than-usual-for-a-Saturday-night dinner, which is why it may look a little empty in my photos.  I have to say, I love the decor.  It has all of these wood accents (of course) and has a huge wall of tall windows.  All of the natural light gives the place such a nice vibe, not to mention, it's perfect for taking food pictures.

During Atlanta Downtown Restaurant Week, participating restaurants put together a special prix-fixe menu at a fixed price that includes 3 or 4 courses.  The price is always a steal for what you're getting and it's such a great way for diners to become aquainted with the restaurant and it's food!  That is really the purpose of "restaurant weeks" in general--to get people inside these restaurants to discover or re-discover their offerings.

Because, I'm no bonafide restaurant critic, I will quickly let you know what we ordered.  I ordered the watermelon salad, chicken, and of course, the chocolate pot de créme.  Hubs ordered the tomato salad, pork, and the same dessert.  We both added the accompanying wine pairings as well.  We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals.  From the salads (hub's salad was the winner), to the entrées (tie), down to the dessert (same).  The wine pairings, also, perfectly complimented each course. 

I also would like to mention that the service was impeccable, including the sommelier!

So, if you live in the Atlanta area or are visiting, go have dinner at White Oak Kitchen, or drinks even at their beautiful but cozy bar.  I also recommend you try as many other restaurants as you can during ADRW, that's what me and the hubs plan to do!

White Oak Kitchen
270 Peachtree Street
Atlanta, GA 30303

The Weekend + Princi

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This past Saturday, the hubs and I went on a date night and decided to have dinner at Princi.  It's a fairly new restaurant in Midtown (Atlanta).  We've walked past it a few times, because we tend to hangout in the Midtown area, and we've always took note on how quaint it looked, especially the patio.

I won't go into full "food critic" mode, but I just thought I'd share that we really enjoyed our time there.  The food was great, and the ambiance couldn't be beat.  I had the Chicken Piccata and the hubs had Branzino.

If you happen to be in Midtown, Atlanta.  I suggest you give Princi a try!

EAT :: Chick-a-Biddy

First off, how can you not like a name like "Chick-a-Biddy"??!  Second, you'll like it even more after you've had the food!

A few days ago, a friend and I decided to meet up for a late lunch.  Because it was a nice day, we decided to head over to Atlantic Station, since it always provides such a nice atmosphere as well as after-lunch shopping.  We decided to eat at a place we hadn't tried before and settled on Chick-a-Biddy.  Chick-a-Biddy and it's sister restaurant, Bantam & Biddy are the brain child of two known Atlanta chefs, Shaun Doty (of "Yeah! Burger" and former owner/head chef of "Shaun's", what was an excellent restaurant) and Lance Gummere.

Chick-a-biddy boasts that it only serves "farm fresh chicken", but it also has a lot of other items on the menu as well.  My friend chose the fried chicken with mac-n-cheese and sweet potato fries.  I, however,  decided on the piri piri chicken with mac-n-cheese and sauteed Brussels sprouts.  Let me tell you, all of it was good....but those Brussels sprouts were thee best Brussels sprouts I'd ever had in life.  The mac-n-cheese looks sort of "regular", but it was really good as well.  Last, the chicken was flavorful and I liked the piri piri spices.  My friend said that her fried chicken was winning as well.

The only negative--I do not go to restaurants to be served wine in stemless glasses!  Even though, it's a casual restaurant, I just have something against drinking out of stemless wine glasses when I'm out on the town.

I didn't get any photos of the restaurants interior because we decided to eat on the patio.  The patio is really nice and is in a good spot for people watching. The inside decor is really cute, and reminds me of places in Miami.  It has a very modern styling with a white & orange color scheme.

I look forward to going back and trying some of the other menu items.  If you're ever in Atlanta, go hang out in Atlantic Station and definitely give Chick-a-Biddy a try!

EAT :: Cupcakes!

They just make people happy, no?

If you're in Atlanta--go get your happy on at CamiCakes.

EAT :: Cruzado ATL

So, I've been in the process of clearing out photos off of my SD cards, and I've come across a lot of photos that I had intentions of using in blog posts but had forgotten all about!  I will try to get them on the blog over time.

First up, here are some photos taken in June at Cruzado.  Cruzado is this cute and quaint little Cuban (mostly)/Latin/Caribbean restaurant tucked away in a residential neighborhood in Midtown Atlanta, with really yummy food.  What really made me like it was just the vibe of the atmosphere/neighborhood.  Let me be honest, I use to live within walking distance of this location when I first moved to Atlanta, so I am a bit partial.  Midtown is the shizzz!

Anyway, we had decided to try it out during their 1 Year Anniversary celebration.  We chilled out on the patio, tried a few tapas and drank a bunch of mojitos and caipirinhas.  The drinks were perfect, and the dishes I did try were great, and like I mentioned, the laid back, "neighborhood joint" atmosphere couldn't be beat.  Prices were great too--nothing outrageous.

Next door to the dining room, they also have a hookah bar for more lounging if that's your thing.   You could also take a quick stroll a few blocks away to Piedmont Park after your meal to walk off all of that Latin-y goodness.

Patio

Pork stuffed plantains

Chicken empanadas--definitely a HIGHLIGHT of the tapas.

Definitely check it out if you're ever in the neighborhood!

xoxo, *NikG*

Weekend Mentions.

So hey, how was your weekend?  Mine was good--pretty laid back.  The highlight was that hubs and I were able to get in a "date day".  Yes, day.  I actually really enjoy day time drinking fun.  I'm not the late night-er that I use to be, and much prefer hitting the mean ATL streets in the early evening so that I'm back home snuggled up and ready to watch my tv shows by nightfall.

Me and the hubs had a nice early dinner at one of my favorite spots in Atlanta, Cafe Intermezzo.  There are a couple in the city, but the location I usually patron had recently moved it's location from Buckhead down to Midtown.  I was a bit nervous about that because Intermezzo is what I imagine a quaint little Italian cafe would be, and I was afraid the new location in a brand new building wouldn't carry that vibe as well as the old location did.  Boy was I wrong.  It felt exactly the same.  I'm totally in love with the new covered outdoor seating.

If you're ever in Atlanta, you should check it out.  It's a great spot for people watching!

xoxo, *NikG*

P.S.  This post is party of Monday Mingle & Funday Monday.

Weekend Mentions

Hey all!  Hope everyone had an awesome weekend/St. Patrick's Day!  

My weekend was pretty chill.  The highlight was being able to have a "date night" with the hubs on Saturday.  We decided to give a new (to us) restaurant a try and were very happy with our choice.  The restaurant is named "Coast" and it's a seafood restaurant and raw bar with a nice little beach-y feel in the heart of Buckhead.

Photos courtesy of Google.com

They have indoor and outdoor seating.  Of course, this being the first weekend of the year with 70+ degree weather--we chose the patio!  

Drinks were great and the food was even better.  We started out with appetizers--I had fried calamari and hubs had peel & eat shrimp.  I forgot to take pictures of those because I was too busy chowing down.

For the main course, I had the Boston Lemon Sole entree.  I'd never had that type of fish (sole) before, and I'm glad I decided to try something new.  It was full of flavor.

Hubs opted for the skirt steak with shrimp.  Let's just say, my fork kept finding it's way over to his plate throughout our dinner.  You can't go wrong with a "surf & turf" kind of meal.

The ambiance was nice and they had live music on the patio as well.  We will definitely be back.  If you're ever in the area--give it a try!

Happy Monday!

Weekend Mentions

This past Saturday, me and the fam decided to head out to the Dekalb International Food & Music Festival.  The weather was perfect!  It really was a diverse affair, all types of food from Jamaican to Ethiopian to Puerto Rican to Chinese...and of course, Bahamian.  We got our Bahamian food itch satisfied, and all was well with the world.

So what kind of fun did all of you get into this past weekend?

This post is part of :

Pumpkin Patch 2012

So this past weekend, we made our yearly jaunt to the pumpkin patch (last years post here).  Max had been begging us for weeks now.  There are several pumpkin patches on the outskirts of Atlanta, but we usually go to Yule Forest.  They offer most of the usuals, i.e. hayride, petting zoo, pumpkins (of course).  They also have bounce houses and things of that nature for the smaller kids.  I can't wait until our boys get a bit bigger so that we can go to another pumpkin patch in the area that has a huge 4 acre corn maze!  In due time...

So what did you guys do over the weekend?

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{ATL} Old Fourth Ward Park

Happy Monday!

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A few snaps--Birthday Celebration

Happy Friday everyone!!  I was planning on posting today (because I'm challenging myself to post more often), but couldn't really decide to what to post.  So today, I'm being lazy and will just share with you a few snaps of a birthday dinner for one of my besties.  She usually has bigger affairs, but this time opted for a nice intimate dinner with some of her favorite people. :)  Anyway, we had dinner at Sotto Sotto, a really quaint Italian restaurant in Inman Park (a nice trendy neighborhood in Atlanta).  The food was dee-lish.

A great time was had by all.

Have a great weekend!

What's Upper?

Hey ya'll!  Sorry I haven't been very blog-ilicious lately.  I just haven't been that motivated!  And because this isn't my "job" and I don't make any (real) money from this--I purposely try not to force it.  I want to remain organic with it and blog when I really get the urge or have something to share.  Anyways....

So how was everyone's Memorial Day weekend?  Mine was great.  Great meaning VERY chill.  Went to one backyard barbecue and the rest of the time just hung out with my little family.  I did try a new restaurant in my 'hood for the first time, and was pretty pleased.  It's called Doc Chey's Noodle House (the Grant Park location).  I guess it's like an "Asian fusion" kind of spot, i.e. you'll find some Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese offerings on the menu.  I had a spicy basil noodle Thai dish with shrimp and the hubs had spice Szechuan chicken with brown rice (he's on a health kick. lol).  Anyway, everything was muy delicioso and we'll definitely make this one of our regular spots.  Plus, kids eat free on the weekends!  Can't beat that!  They have a lovely patio by the way.

The shrimp were buried under the noodles.

Szechuan chicken & brown rice

That face says it all on how he feels about my camera in his face.

The baby is huge. lol

Until next time...

More Weekend Mentions...

This weekend was pretty low key for me.  Sunday, me and the fam were out and about and had a really nice outdoor lunch at one of my fave "kinda' restaurants" called F2O (Fresh to Order).  There are several of these around town.  I say "kinda" because the food and interior is what I consider as full restaurant quality, but it's one of those places that you place your order at the counter, they give you a number, you go seat yourself, and they bring your food out to you, and that's it.  Anyway, they have one of the best salmon paninis and their wild mushroom soup is to die for.  Obviously that's my plate you see.  And just a quick shot of my boys! Please disregard Cruz's milk mouth.

Lastly, I was wondering if any of you have tried Target's little "gourmet" frozen pizzas they sell by Archer Farms?  Well, I tried the spinach & goat cheese as you can see.  They are usually sold out in my local store, actually.  I have a fetish for goat cheese which is why I went with this one, but they have other varieties.  I have to say, this pizza was pretty darn good, especially for a $3.99 pizza.  The only thing I would change are the "disks" of goat cheese--it makes it look factory made. lol  They should try making it look more like dollops instead.  I'll definitely keep one or two of these in the freezer for quick fixes in the future.

Well, hope you all had great weekends!  What did you do?

Weekend Mentions

So as you all know, this past weekend was pretty nice weather-wise for everyone in the continental United States.  Me and the family decided to get out and about a bit.  Saturday afternoon, we decided to go get some exercise and take the kiddies out to the park for a stroll.  First, however, I had been bugging hubs about checking out one of the Vietnamese restaurants because I'd always wanted to try their cuisine, especially since I have a couple friends who have raved about it.  So we decided to grab lunch at Pho Dai Loi, a pretty popular and authentic Vietnamese restaurant that was suggested to me.  I think most people have heard of "pho"--which I think may be the most popular Vietnamese dish period.

So here are the basics.  If you're a newb to Vietnamese cuisine, there are probably 3 things you will be told to try first:

1.  Bubble tea - which is some kind of blended drink with tapioca balls sitting at the bottom.  Those are the "bubbles".  I got an avocado bubble smoothie, and it was delish.  I don't like to eat/drink the balls though.

2.  Spring rolls - I'm sure everyone has had a spring roll in their lifetime.  These had shrimp in them and were fairly tasty.  They are just very simple and mild in taste.  The peanut dipping sauce was definitely the star of that show!

3. Pho - Last but not least, the popular dish "Pho".  It is basically a noodle soup with various meats.  I got the Pho Tai which contained flank steak and eye round.  It was DELICIOUS!  And you can't tell from the pic above, but that bowl was HUGE and I'd ordered a medium bowl.

Verdict is:  We will definitely be back!!

So after that we hit up the park, but before we got there, we caught a glimpse of Baton Bob on the street!  He is definitely one of Atlanta's sweethearts!  A Baton Bob sighting is always a treat!  As you can tell from his name, he is usually twirling a baton--but this time he had pom poms along with tartan wear.  Maybe for St. Patty's day?  He gets tons of honks & heckles from the cars driving past.  No one is sure why he does what he does--but HE GETS THE PEOPLE GOING. lol

We eventually made it to the park and had a lovely time walking around and seeing SO many people out enjoying the weather.  Spring is definitely here.

I luv to see a man pushing a stroller, by the way.

Oh and as for SUNDAY:

Nerdy girl swag.

Mojitos with the girls!  [Don't think an explanation is needed for that.]

All in all, it was a great weekend!  What did you all do?

Eat+Play+Love: Happy Birthday to My Hubs

So my hunk-of-burning-love a.k.a my hubs a.k.a. the hubster celebrated a birthday this week.  Quick fact about us:  I'm a whopping 3 years older than my husband. *insert cougar roar here*  Anyway, we're low key kind of people these days and so I decided to take him out to a nice dinner at a popular resto here in Atlanta called Shout.  Yes, the same Shout that happens to be on Scout Mob at the moment, because that's how I roll.  Plus, hubs finds my fairly new money consciousness/bargain hunting ways quite sexy.  To make a long story short, we had a nice dinner and here are some pics.  By the way, if you're ever in Atlanta, you should check out Shout, it's a really cute spot.  They also have this outdoor rooftop area that is set up cabana-ish and during the spring/summer, it could make you think you've been transported from ATL to Nikki Beach in Miami.  Real nice.

The birthday boy! He feels some kind of way about being splashed across my blog...but I do what I want.

I started out with this really cute (and sweet) pear cocktail. I forgot the name but it was made up of Pear Grey Goose vodka, Pear Schnapps, topped off with moscato.

We started off with calamari.  We love calamari it seems.  This calamari was just oKAY.  Nothing special about it which was quite surprising as Shout also serves sushi and other seafood.  I've had tastier calamari from smaller less fabulous restaurants around town.

Hubs had the "special" of the day a duck breast with brussel sprouts and potatoes.  I forgot the name of the dish or specifically how it was prepared, but those are the components.  It was SPECTACULAR.

I had the blackened Mahi Mahi with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.  The Mahi Mahi was topped with "crab butter", basically it was tasty, buttery lump crab meat thrown on top.....and it made made me want to slap my momma.  Totally awesome this whole dish.

Hubs wasn't that interested in the dessert offerings, so we decided to have more drinks for "dessert".  Here, I'm drinking the peach sangria.  Quite tasty, I must say.

All in all, it was a nice time.

Because I have nothing else to post...

...just thought I'd share a couple snaps of me out with my friends this past Saturday.  We were celebrating a birthday at this "international party" (lots of reggae, Haitian and African music), and boy was it fun.  And yea, I'm like the only American-born person out of all my girls here in Atlanta. haha  This was my first time wearing my hair curly (twistout done with 6 large twists) since my cut.  All I can say is---I'm never letting it get any longer than this ever again!!!  Okay, never is a strong word, but you know what I mean.  Anyway, if you're ever in Atlanta on a Saturday night and are in an "international" mood, check out Cream Ultra Lounge.  The music was awesome.

Date Night Snaps

What is it with us and desserts?!

Me and the hubs had a quick little "date night" last night while my father-in-law visiting from the Bahamas is here.  We only stepped out for a couple hours to share a chill moment with each other and to be able to have an uninterrupted conversation (which is scarce, thanks to a 2.5 yr old).  We went to one of my favorite restaurant/lounges here in Atlanta called Apres Diem.  They are (surprise surprise) owned by the same people that own Carpe Diem, the place I posted about previously.  Whereas, Carpe is more of a real restaurant in the traditional sense--Apres has a more "lounge-y" feel, i.e. lights a little dimmer, DJ spinning, couches, candles, etc. Anyway, nothing spectacular--just a few quick snaps.  I had a raspberry tart martini (or two), and we shared a slice of pumpkin cheesecake. It didn't disappoint!

The selection.

The ambiance.

The pumpkin cheesecake.

The martini and the wash-n-go hair. ;)

Oh yea, so this is Halloween weekend!  So what are you all going to dress up as?  Are you dressing up?  My friends and I are all set to go, and I plan on having a good time at a Halloween party tonight.  As you can tell from a previous Halloween post, we like to dress up and partayyy.  Hopefully, I'm not having too much fun that I forget to take pics.  Stay tuned!

xoxo,

-Nik

Eat*Play*Love: Saturday Dinner Date

Starting things off right--bread, jalapeno calamari and an awesome craft beer.  We're beer snobs, BTW.

Lamb shank for the man, steak frites for the lady--and "B-52" cheesecake to share.

No explanation needed.

C'est moi! Yes, I cut the bangs again.

My handsome man.

(Dinner at Carpe Diem in Decatur, GA.  Lovely spot.)

THE END

Places: "Do" (as in pizza "dough")

 This past weekend, I'd happened to attend an event at this new restaurant/lounge spot here in Atlanta called "Do".  It was a Heineken Light promotional event and I thought "Free food, free drinks...why not?".  To make a long story short, it is quite an interesting place.  You don't order off of menus here.  No sir.  Instead, the menus at this establishment are iPads and iPod Touches.  Also, if you are an iPhone owner, you can also jump onto their WiFi, connect to the music system and request songs and videos that you want played.  I said "videos" because there are music videos being projected all over the walls.  So yes, it is a cute little space age-y kind of spot, complete with modern decor, all white furniture and a bar that glows.  Even the bathroom is space aged, complete with iPads as mirrors and door that slides open and shut like a spaceship.  You can take pics of yourself in the bathroom with the iPad "mirror" and even email them to yourself.  I have to be honest, I'd be a little nervous about actually USING the bathroom knowing there is an iPad glued to the wall.  That's just a voyeuristic situation waiting to happen. haha

Oh yea, the food was pretty good too. ;^)  If you're in ATL--check it out.

Bruschetta

Interior

Nice couches--see the iPad?

iPad bathroom "mirror"--let me demonstrate. haha

Another interior shot

Bathroom photoshoot

The homies

For more info (menu, address, etc.) Go here: http://www.doattheview.com/