Monday, March 7, 2011

I MARCHED THROUGH IT LIKE GENERAL SHERMAN, WITHOUT THE TORCHES: When I noted I’d be going to Atlanta for a long weekend, there was some interest in some bullets as to my culinary and cultural adventures in the Deep South’s biggest metro area (Atlanta itself is surprisingly small population-wise, but there are tons of “pocket cities” and suburbs). Since you asked, I deliver:
  • The World of Coca-Cola—Neither as cheesy nor as fun as you might have hoped. Particularly disappointing is the “Coke In Pop Culture” gallery, which makes space for some Coke-driven Pop Art, the “Coke Couch” from Idol Season 5, and only a single small case on the New Coke debacle. The origins gallery and the tiny bottling plant were cool, as was the chance to sample not just international Coca-Cola products, but also the new “Freestyle” machine, which dispenses several new specialty products (Orange Coke? Raspberry Coke?). Touristy, but worthwhile, especially with kids, I’d expect.
  • Georgia Aquarium—A very well done aquarium, notable for three things—its size, the size of several of the animals kept there (it’s one of the very few aquaria large enough to house whale sharks, which, amusingly, are neither whales nor sharks), and the large number of touch pools offered for kids. Pricey, but if you’re into marine life, worth it.
  • The Varsity—An Atlanta institution, this “world’s biggest drive-in” isn’t worth it for the food (greasy burgers and chili dogs, mediocre fries, though a nice fried peach pie), but the atmosphere is interesting (someone made the mistake of ordering a Pepsi while I was there, and the cashiers have a prescripted, very loud, rant for that). Not haute cuisine, but you get why it’s an institution (being crazy cheap and located basically on the Georgia Tech campus also helps).
  • Flip Burger—Commenter Amy joined me for lunch at Richard Blais’ burger joint. Unsurprisingly, few of the burgers are straight up. I was a bit underwhelmed with the burger—I opted for one that was a burger patty topped with chopped/shredded BBQ brisket and house BBQ sauce. The sauce was a bit thin and overly spicy, tasting more like a house spice sauce like Tabasco than a BBQ sauce, and the combination was too dense for its own good—a veritable meat tornado--some cheese to break it up would have been a good idea. The sides, on the other hand, shined—the fries and onion rings were solid, but most impressive was a roasted cauliflower, which was spiced to perfection and got eaten far more quickly than you might expect. Of course, this being a Blais joint, the large tub of liquid nitrogen in the back has to get used, and it’s used primarily for milkshakes—I opted for one based on Nutella with torched/toasted marshmallows on top, which was excellent. As one might expect with Blais, not every experiment works, but when they do, they really do.
  • Center for Puppetry Arts—Amy and I then headed to this Atlanta institution—we passed on the puppet shows, but did the Jim Henson tour, which tours the collection of Henson puppets and related things donated to the museum, including original Kermit, Ernie, Big Bird, Rowlf, Dr Teeth, and Pigs in Space puppets, as well as a bunch of stuff from other Henson projects—Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, the La Choy Dragon. Included in the tour is the “tunnel of arms” from Labyrinth, which was staffed not with puppeteers, but with extras. One would hope they are now very proud of having had the opportunity to grab the young Jennifer Connelly’s ass and get paid for it. The other part of the collection is less impressive, and the “random puppet heads” room is seriously creepy. The Henson stuff is very well done, and I hope they find the space to show more of it.
  • Watershed—This restaurant (out in Decatur) is a well-regarded temple to traditional southern cooking co-owned by Emily Sailers. As you’d expect from a Sailers-owned restaurant, the vibe is light and airy, rather than a crowded mess.While they apparently brought in a new chef about a year and a half ago to replace the highly regarded former chef, who left to pursue other interests, the food was quite solid—a massive pork chop was thick, meaty, but still tender (though a touch salty, which is often unavoidable when working with pork), the mac and cheese excellent, the collard greens good (I am not a fan, but these were nicely buttery), and the Very Good Chocolate Cake lived up to its name.

Not all of the trip was high points (the nearly 9 hours from checkin at the Atlanta airport till return to my home due to a weather mess in NYC last night was less than fun, and it was chilly all weekend), but still, a worthwhile trip.

19 comments:

  1. Heather K11:31 AM

    Thanks Matt!  

    I mostly just wanted to comment on having used a freestyle coke machine and to warn against anyone deciding to try the diet caffeine free raspberry coke.  It is in fact a worse idea than it sounds.  From experience.

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  2. Mmmmmmmeat tornado...

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  3. After our experience on Saturday, I'd say if you're going to the Center for Puppetry Arts, I'd highly recommend getting the guided tour (Our docent was extremely knowledgeable and you could tell she really had an interest in what she was talking about) and maybe going when there's also a show you'd be interested in seeing.  After hearing so much about how puppets work, I could've sat through a show seeing them in action.

    However, the "Puppet storage room" is probably going to be fodder for my nightmares for months.  Especially the "heads on sticks" racked up on one of the support beams.

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  4. So glad to get this--I'm going to Atlanta in a few weeks, and it's good to get a take on a few things we had on our "possibles" list.

    I have been to the World of Coke, though it's been several years, and I would very much agree with your opinion.

    Also, it's Saliers, not Sailers.

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  5. Renee1:24 PM

    I've only been to Atlanta a couple of times for random things and haven't been able to do any touristy things except for the Georgia Aquarium.  I'm into marine life, so obviously I loved loved loved it.  I went by myself and spent the whole day there.  Who says the touch pools are for kids?  No one said that when I was busy pushing kids aside trying to touch the rays :)

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  6. Dan Suitor2:40 PM

    Wait, someone ordered a Pepsi? Does anyone actually prefer Pepsi to Coke? To back me up, the only major metropolitan area to choose Pepsi is NYC.

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  7. Jenn.2:41 PM

    I pretty much go for the straight-up burger at Flip, the better to taste the toppings, which are traditional (tomato, pickle, etc.), but feature some interesting flavorings.

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  8. Heather K3:09 PM

    I prefer Pepsi to coke but diet coke to diet pepsi.

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  9. Jenn.3:23 PM

    Pepsi is evil.  Dammit.

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  10. isaac_spaceman3:46 PM

    Our new office manager drinks Diet Pepsi and the rest of us in our office cannot believe it.  We poke at her with sticks as if she just stepped off a flying saucer. 

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  11. I generally prefer Coke products (Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Cherry Coke Zero), but I like Pepsi Max.  Diet Pepsi is a last resort -- I will drink it when no other diet soda is available, which is probably the best evidence that I am in the throes of a soda addiction of Sheen-like proportions.

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  12. Genevieve5:22 PM

    I prefer Cherry diet Pepsi to diet cherry Coke, surprising myself.

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  13. GenevieveDDoes5:24 PM

    Does he have the ketchup in a sheet like a slice of cheese, as he did on Blais Off?  and does he have the fried mayo? (I don't like mayo on a burger, but this might be an exception.)

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  14. calliekl5:32 PM

    Oh. My. Word.

    There is Labyrinth stuff?????

    I think this is legitimately the most excited I have been since my husband proposed (meaning it trumps both my wedding day and the day we bought our house).

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  15. Yes--Tunnel of Hands, Sir Didymus, the Four Guards, the talking Door Knocker, and a mockup/mini of Ludo.

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  16. I don't get it, really, but my friends out in the hinterlands (those without the stomach for Dr. Pepper, anyway) tend to prefer Pepsi to Coca-Cola.

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  17. Heather K9:39 AM

    Well and obviously Diet Dr Pepper is amazing and a bit harder to get on tap.  And Jake Pepsi Max is good?  I must get some.

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  18. I used to drink Pepsi One now and then and liked it a lot.  Now, it seems to be harder to find -- either they're phasing it out in favor of Pepsi Max or just making it in smaller quantities.  They don't seem to advertise it at all anymore.  I guess it doesn't make sense to have both a one-calorie and a zero-calorie cola that are supposed to compete with Coke Zero.  Recently I had Pepsi One again after having tried Pepsi Max a few times, and I think I like the latter better.

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  19. Adam C.10:25 AM

    I've always preferred Coke drinks to Pepsi drinks with one exception:  Pepsi Kona, the greatest drinkable combination of cola and coffee ever brought to market. 

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