Bistro Niko – Video Feature

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Categories: Food, Video

Goin’ Coastal

More than three quarters of the earth is covered by oceans and they contain 80 percent of all life on the planet. Yet the majority of this water is either fished at capacity or overfished. Our eating habits drive the market so it’s important for us to choose sustainable seafood options.

Enter Goin’ Coastal, a neighborhood restaurant opening this week in Virginia-Highland with a Southern focus on fresh fish and seafood. The new joint is avidly committed to only serving fish that are caught with consideration for their long-term viability and done so without harming the oceans’ ecosystem. As executive chef Zach Kell told us, not only are sustainable fishing practices the responsible way to go, they deliver the highest quality and best tasting seafood.

We had a chance to check out the laid-back spot before it opened and try out a few selections from the menu, which features seasonal and locally sourced options. Memorable fare included Fried Gator Tail, She Crab Soup, Coastal Scallops, and Yellowfin Tuna with Mango. Not to mention, they served some of the best hush puppies we’ve had in Atlanta.

With an atmosphere surrounded with old fishing photos, weathered lumber and chalkboards noting the daily catch, Goin’ Coastal should fit right in with its neighbors at N. Highland and Virginia Ave.

Categories: Food

Top 25 BBQ Recipes

Grilling BBQ should be fun, relaxing and rewarding. That is the thought behind Adam Perry Lang’s newest book: BBQ 25 – The World’s Most Flavorful Recipes Now Made Foolproof.

Lang, a veteran of La Cirque and Daniel in NYC and current “meat maestro” of Mario Batali’s Italian steakhouse Carnevino, released this, his second title, as a follow up to his New York Times bestseller and comprehensive guide to outdoor cooking, Serious Barbecue.

BBQ 25, a collection of the 25 recipes “you will use 95% of the time” – is a distilled field guide for any man looking to serve flavorful meals while working with limited resources. Each recipe is designed to maximize results in minimum time. It includes directions that are visual, easy to follow, and contains steps for preparations and cooking method, making the marinade and grilling process equally manageable. The book is chocked full of color photographs and utensil pictorials to illustrate the grilling process and presentation.

Lang’s advice, “Sometimes all you want is instant gratification. Relax, have fun, embrace simple ingredients and make them into something spectacular. Enjoy the stuff that surrounds you, and cook while having a beer, hanging with your family or watching a game with your friends. You want recipes that are straightforward, easy-to-follow and look really professional, with flavors that blow your mind.” Sounds good to us. $12.65

Categories: Food, Knowledge

Summer Food Tools

At the height of summer, burgers and ice cream make an unbeatable combination. Even the most sophisticated palates can appreciate an expertly pressed patty of ground sirloin, lamb or bison, and if you’ve got the right equipment to churn out homemade ice cream, the fruits of the season can be turned into a delectable dessert.

Although some may think that there is little science to pressing out a perfect beef patty, it’s a little known fact that over-handling the meat can result in tougher, less flavorful burgers. To help solve this problem – and to streamline the process of pressing out meat for backyard barbecues – Weston offers a line of durable, nonstick burger presses that allow cooks to adjust the thickness of the patties. Equipped with spring plunger buttons and offered in both a single and double-patty style, Weston’s burger presses ensure that your meat stays together on the grill and that it doesn’t suffer from too much manhandling. If you’re planning a large get-together, you may also want to pick up some of Weston’s hamburger patty paper to separate pre-pressed burgers and aid efficiency at the grill. Presses range from $19.95 to $39.99.

The White Mountain Brand Electric Ice Cream Maker is our pick for serving up the homemade frozen indulgence. The company, founded in 1850, makes reliable and rustic-looking ice cream churns constructed of select pine tongue and groove planks from New England. Sturdy metal bands hold the bucket together, which is then stained, sealed and lacquered for years of use. If you’re up for saving some electricity and a little rewarding labor, the company still offers its original hand-turned bucket. Otherwise, you can sit back and watch the work of its electric mixer, equipped with a powerful motor and a triple blade that creates between 4 and 6 quarts of smooth ice cream in 20 to 40 minutes. $170-$230; free shipping.

Categories: Food

Yeah! Burger

Photo credit: Melissa Libby & Associates

It was nice breezing past overcrowded Flip to walk right in to a short line at Yeah! Burger, Chef Shaun Doty’s (of Shaun’s in Inman Park) addition to the Westside that opened recently.

But once the word gets out, we don’t expect that line to stay short.

True to the trend, this burger loft serves the good stuff – grass fed, Georgia raised beef – but adds other options, including a bison burger (grass-fed, Colorado raised), turkey burger (certified organic), veggie burger (organic) and a grilled chicken sandwich (yes, organic).

Once you choose the meat, you have a white, wheat, gluten-free and lettuce wrap option for the “bun” and then a variety of toppings, some free, some $1 each, to top it off. Add to this 12 custom sauces (hot Alabama relish, bacon jam, rooster sauce to name a few), three salad choices, three grass-fed beef hot dogs – classic, chili-cheese and southern – lightly battered onion rings and hand-cut fries (gluten-free fries available as well) and you’ve got the food menu. Equally impressive is a robust drink menu that includes shakes, floats, beer, wine, cocktails and a variety of sparkling beverages, energy drinks, waters, etc.

The atmosphere, as pictured, reflects its White Provision surroundings. Warm blond wood, clean lines and a cool patio area; it’s simple, but comfortable.

We tried and liked the southern dog, a bison+pimento cheese+bacon combo, the chili-cheese dog, a chocolate malt and a custom grass fed burger. Two other highlights were the onion rings accompanied by the Yeah! dipping sauce, and the buns, which were fresh and perfectly toasted. Our only complaints were inconsistent fries and the outfit’s unfortunate default of cooking all beef and bison burgers medium-well, so make sure to specify a different temperature at the counter if you prefer. Especially on lean bison, medium-well can make for a dry burger.

Finally, you may ask about the name. So did we, several times. No one had a good explanation, but after our experience, we didn’t need one. Yeah! Burger

Categories: Food