Sunday, August 17, 2008
Food, In this Issue...
It’s good to be Home
Photos/Spark St. Jude
DINING ESSENTIALS
Home Restaurant & Bar
111 W. Paces Ferry Road NW
Atlanta, GA. 30305
404-869-0777
www.heretoserverestaurants.com
Hours: Dinner: nightly, 5-10:30 p.m.; lunch: Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; brunch: Sun. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Reservations: Encouraged
Dress code: Business casual
Alcohol: Full bar
Cost: $19-$29, entrees
Credit cards: All major
Parking: Valet
By Aaron Lipson
From foie gras milkshakes to sweet melon cream soda, Richard Blais has consistently provided a snarky kick in the rear to the Atlanta dining scene. The problem in recent years appears to be that business-wise, the city's restaurant set has all too frequently returned the foot-to-backside favor. Blais-helmed kitchens have shimmered like molecular foodie mirages—here for a tremendously delectable evening, then, in the morning gone from sight, with the patron wistfully asking, was it really there, did I really eat flash-frozen Coca-Cola syrup, or was it only a culinary dream?
From Fishbone to Blais to One Midtown to Bazzaar to Element, one conjures images of a vat of liquid nitrogen and an advanced chemistry textbook being shuffled into a Ryder truck in the middle of the night. Enter Tom Catherall, with the backing of his Here To Serve empire (Goldfish, Noche, Prime, Shout, Twist). He also provides Chef Blais with the most beautiful kitchen this side of Joël. Apparently some guy named Guenter built it and then took off for New York, go figure. In principle, this shouldn’t work: Atlanta’s famed molecular gastronomist partnering with the deacon of trend-hopping formulaic success. As for the unprincipled results in practice, well, that’s why we play the delicious game.
WELL, FOR STARTERS
First courses come in the diminutive (“snackers”) or standard appetizer size fare. Tiny bits of fried oyster on bits of baguette are, with one eyebrow raised, called po-boys, and get the juices flowing, as each small taste somehow contains the essence of the whole. A crab cake topped with brussel sprout slaw is simple elegance, served with a devilishly smoky mayonnaise that binds the flavors together while continually elevating them.
Corn soup is velvety smooth, with a piece of submerged shrimp toast adding a crunch that is somehow far more shrimp than toast. The show-stopper of starters, though, is far and away the buttermilk pancakes with foie gras butter and blueberry syrup. Truth be told, it’s really the country-fied Blais version of a classic French foie gras terrine. Toast points? Check, in the form of the “pancakes,” which are more bilini than anything else. Fruit? Check, with the blueberries and syrup providing a foil for the richness of the goose liver. Foie gras? Check, reduced and combined to the richest, smeariest bit of sin that can be imagined.
Taken in single, perfect bite form, the combination of flavors seems almost to bring time to a stop. It becomes the essence of modern first-class dining with a sense of humor—pay tribute to the classic and elevate it in a way that it is simply more enjoyable from all angles.
STAY THE COURSE
The main courses stay fresh, local and on point with the theme. A combination of lamb rib and sirloin plated with a goat cheese gnocci, playfully and inexactly referred to as dumplings on the menu, is the perfect mix of the savory southern with modern glee. Fried chicken is drippy sweet and savory with a thick herbed crust. It may be far removed from the southern roots of skillet vs. deep fryer, but it delights in an anti-Scott Peacock sense. The accompanying mac ’n’ cheese in its own cast-iron skillet is its own joy. Somewhat lighter and unassuming but completely rewarding is a Florida black grouper, served with a five-bean salad and Key lime brown butter. Not all is spot-on, as a brisket pot roast is cooked to the point of mush, which is forgivable, but a lack a flavor was not. Interestingly a few nights later saw the same brisket with a horseradish foam, which amped both the flavor and enjoyment. Keeping with the homespun motif, “vegetables” accompany dinner. These tasted, sadly, exactly they do at home—a bit too much salt, a bit too much oil, and left on the stove way to long. Eyes closed, one was hard pressed to distinguish between the glazed carrots, roasted parsnips and mashed potatoes—each was sweet, salty and mushy at the same time.
NOT-SO-SWEET ENDINGS
Dessert was a bit of a divided lowlight. Each plate would contain something wonderful and something, well, eh. Red velvet cake was dreadfully dry, while the cream cheese ice cream accompanying it was spot-on. A moon pie was again dry, but the cardamon and Coke ice cream float was playfully concocted, wonderfully mixing otherwise cacophonous bits of sweet.
The service, unlike veggies and dessert, was consistently a complete triumph. An easy attitude was coupled with devout skill and then further combined with encyclopedic understandings of each dish’s ingredients and preparation—a rare and well enjoyed bit of professionalism.
A lighter, Catherall-ian hand in turning down the stove to prevent bouts of creative boiling over may be the driving focus behind Home. Ultimately, though, there is something almost deliciously ironic going on in the dining room beyond the food. Blais has always been the most cordial of hosts, and appears still gladly willing to spend time at each table discussing food, life and chemistry. He remains utterly gracious and modest, strangely at home basking in his new "Top Chef" fame and the consistent commercial restaurant success that has eluded him in recent years, as the Buckhead Betty lunch crowd cannot seem to get enough.
If restraint on the menu and a tonier crowd is what is required for Chef Blais to appear sun-up and sun-down in the kitchen, it’s a trade the city should make in a freeze-dried heartbeat. Luckily, not all of Blais’ alchemy is completely checked at the door. There are dashes of elemental foam sprinkled throughout the menu, and the sous vide cooker is plainly working overtime. Best of all, a vast vat of liquid nitrogen beckons out of the corner of your eye near the valet stand. Additionally, a newly added tasting menu of Blais-ian favorites has appeared, and the kitchen seems both willing and able to venture “far from Home” if the request is made. SP