THAT'S ITALIAN!- Antico Pizza Napoletana

Antico Pizza Napoletana

1093 Hemphill Ave

404.724.2333

www.anticopizza.it

 

With the foodie feeding frenzy that’s gripped the ATL in recent years, where a new hotspot opens every week and you can’t swing a stick without hitting someone who’s appeared on Top Chef, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for new restauranteurs to distinguish themselves. After all, how do you stand out in a field overcrowded with culinary standouts? In the case of Giovanni Di Palma, you do it by swimming directly against the current, ignoring trends in favor of tradition.

 

Antico, his labor of love that opened in October to gushing reviews, is like no other 5-star restaurant in town. There’s no valet parking, no fancy interior design, not even a proper seating area to speak of. There are 12 non-dessert items on the menu– nine pizzas and three calzones– and you order at the counter. You can take it out or huddle around a rustic communal table originally intended for dough preparation. But despite the complete lack of bells and whistles Antico has emerged as Atlanta’s hottest new restaurant, and the reasons can be traced to Naples, Italy.

 

Five years ago Di Palma (who grew up in New York, the grandson of a life-long Pizzaiolo) made a pilgrimage to his ancestral Italian village to make a donation to preserve the ancient basilica in which his grandparents had gotten married. While there he was introduced to the owner of a local flour mill, who took Di Palma to the Centro Storia neighborhood’s legendary restaurant, Il Presidente Pizzeria, which has provided pies for everyone from Bill Clinton to the Pope. It was there that he learned to make Pizza Napoletana in the Verace Artigianale (True Artisan) style, hand-kneading dough crafted in small batches and adding nothing but sea salt and fresh water. He learned to cook them to a perfect char in Sorrento stone ovens heated to 900º by hardwood fires. Ask Di Palma the secret of his success and he confesses, “This pizza doesn’t belong to me, but to the craftsmen who created it. I’m just a messenger.”

 

That may be true, but the message he’s delivering tastes like the culmination of hundreds of years of culinary refinement. Antico is authentic to the extreme, adhering to strict guidelines: Di Palma imports flour, San Marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella di bufala from the Campania region of Italy every week, and cooks every pizza in 10,000 pound ovens hand-made in Naples. The result is a perfect balance of crispy and chewy, bursting with robust, earthy flavors. Whether you get the deceptively simple Margherita D.O.P. or the Cappricciosa, which is loaded with savory mushrooms, artichokes and prosciutto cotto, Di Palma’s passion for the craft comes through in every bite.

 

The gregarious Di Palma seems as surprised as anyone by the glowing reception his debut entrepreneurial effort has received, but Antico (which was originally takeout-only) is already planning to add family-style seating, an outdoor terrace and perhaps even a rooftop patio in the coming year. At an average price of $19 per pizza, it’s easily the most affordable trip to Italy your mouth will ever take. –BRET LOVE

(originally appeared in Jezebel)

 

OTP EXCELLENCE- Aspens Signature Steaks

ASPENS SIGNATURE STEAKS

2942 Shallowford Rd, Marietta

678.236.1400

knowwheretogogh.com

Owned by the same folks who brought you Roswell’s Bistro VG and Alpharetta’s Vinny’s On Windward (both of which are equally excellent), Aspens marries the flavors of an upscale steakhouse with the ambiance of a Colorado ski lodge. Leather chairs, cedar beams, antler chandeliers, a stone fireplace and Southwestern paintings set an intimate mood perfectly, while the buzzing action in the bar area ensures things never get boring.

 

Executive Chef Sean Clark’s menu adheres fairly closely to steakhouse traditions, but show’s enough of a distinctive flair to keep things interesting. Their small plate menu changes daily, but often includes Blue Cheese Risotto Fritters with crushed tomatoes and marinated olives, Eggplant Salad layered with heirloom tomato and goat cheese, and Sesame Seared Tuna with avocado, wasabi and lemongrass ponzu. Entrees such as NY Strip Angus Steak and Pan Seared Scallops are as perfectly cooked as you’d expect, but don’t be afraid to try the nightly specials: The Red Snapper and Shrimp with edamame ravioli we tried was out of this world.

 

Fair warning: Owner Michelle Sedgewick’s “Killer” Tiramisu and Dark & White Chocolate Mousse Cake with raspberry sauce will seriously make you wish you’d saved more room for dessert. –BRET LOVE

(originally appeared in Jezebel)

TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS- Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft

(photo by Melissa Libby)

Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft

1745 Peachtree Rd, Suite Y

678.539.6181

www.tuktukatl.com

 

Street food– that is, food available from street-side vendors using makeshift or portable stalls or carts– is universal, from South Africa’s bunny chow and North Indian Chaat to Middle Eastern shawarma and good ol’ American hot dogs.  The concept stretches back thousands of years, but the trend of selling what is traditionally considered street food in upscale restaurants is a relatively recent development.

 

Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft, the latest offering from the family behind Tamarind and Nan Thai fame, is a perfect example of this dichotomy at work, offering moderately priced food in one of Midtown’s most spectacular settings (formerly occupied by Taurus).  There’s an authentic tuk tuk– the 3-wheeled auto rickshaw popular in Asia– to greet you in the downstairs lobby; an exquisite elevator lined with Thai script; a dining room decorated with cookie tins, exotic artwork, and cushioned chairs modeled after those used by Thai royalty; and a bamboo-lined balcony affording amazing views of the ATL skyline.

 

The idea, according to General Manager Thaddeus Keefe is to, “create a casual atmosphere where people can come in after a long day and just hang out, have a few drinks, have some good food and not feel so formal.”  Keefe and his Executive Chef fiancée Dee Dee (daughter of Nan/Tamarind owners Charlie and Nantha Niyomkul) have managed to do just that.  Between the warm décor, romantic candlelight, hip-but-mellow music, and their signature Lychee Martini (vodka, sake, sparkling rose and lychee juice), we felt the edge of the workday melting away before our first dish had even been delivered to the table.

 

The menu maintains this low-key approach, focusing on small plates of finger foods with an average price of $9.  “We wanted to introduce the people in Atlanta to real, traditional Bangkok street food,” Dee Dee says, “as a tribute to the things my parents ate when they were growing up in Thailand.”

 

We started with the Moo Yang, deliciously tender grilled pork skewers, which come hung from a swanky steel rack designed (and patented) by Dee Dee.  The Hoy Tod offered an unexpectedly complex combination of textures and flavors, mixing a crunchy pancake with chewy mussels, crisp bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro and a robust sweet chili sauce.  We really loved the Yum Woon Sen, a spicy salad of mixed seafood, minced chicken cellophane noodles, lime, onion and palm sugar.  But our favorite was the Neau Sawan, a Thai beef jerky that was so remarkably flavorful we could’ve eaten it by the bagful.

 

Though family-style dining is Tuk Tuk’s intent, they offer a handful of larger entrees for those who don’t like to share.  Try the Pla Haw Bai Tong, a whole catfish grilled inside a banana leaf with chili lime sauce; or Kai Yang, a moist half-chicken served with papaya salad and sticky rice.  But you’ll really want to save room for dessert: We’d recommend the Tapioca Pudding, whose intriguing blend of coconut, lotus seed, taro and sweet corn provided the perfect antidote for the spice buzzing our lips and taste buds.

 

We visited Tuk Tuk during December’s soft opening, when they were still “ironing the kinks,” but Keefe and Niyomkul’s colorful concept had clearly already hit the ground running.  It may not be as pricey as the family’s other restaurants, but once word on Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft gets out we have no doubt it will be just as popular. –Bret Love

(Originally appeared in Jezebel Magazine)

 

 

CULINARY NIRVANA- Moksha

Moksha Indian Cuisine

1380 Old Roswell Rd, Roswell

678.205.5799

www.mokshaatl.com

 

“Location, location, location” may be one of the oldest sayings in the book of business, but the axiom remains as true as ever today. It’s also the lone weak element of Moksha, a gourmet Indian restaurant so flawless in execution that, were it located in Buckhead or Midtown rather than on an OTP street completely hidden by road construction, hipper-than-thou Yelp posters would be elbowing each other out of the way for an opportunity to sing its praises. Yes, it’s seriously THAT good.

 

Owned by the husband-wife team of Suresh and Shyni Sheregar (who also own Decatur’s beloved Udipi Café), Moksha is the culinary equivalent of the Himalayas: Difficult to access, but amazing to experience. Located in the converted house formerly occupied by Lickskillet Farm, the interior has been transformed via a vivid palette of earthly hues, from warm reds and oranges to cool greens. The décor almost seems like a visual metaphor for the delicate interplay of flavors in Executive Chef Satishan Nair’s dishes, which offer a rare blending of North and South Indian influences.

 

We started with samosas, the classic Indian appetizer featuring potatoes, peas and herbs in a hand-rolled pastry crust. It’s a deceptively simple dish but an excellent gauge of a chef’s skill, and Nair’s subtle blend of spices tantalized our taste buds, offering a hint of the savory flavor combinations to come. Jinga Manchurian was a delectable dish featuring fried shrimp in a fiery cilantro garlic sauce, with a sweet burn that made the lips tingle with delight. Their Chicken Tikka– kebabs marinated in a mix of ginger, garlic and cayenne– was the most tender I’ve ever tasted, with a creaminess so buttery it almost seemed a shame to chew it. We also loved the Lamb Roganjosh, with its meaty morsels cooked in a traditional Kashmiri style coconut cream curry. Even a basic entrée like Saag Paneer, which consists of cheese cubes cooked in a garlic spinach sauce, offered a deliciously delicate balance of flavors.

 

At many Indian restaurants dessert almost seems like an afterthought, but at Moksha they are an absolutely essential component of the meal, providing cooling contrast to the burn of Nair’s spiciest dishes. Try Gulab Jamun (which is sort of like a donut hole marinated in a cardamom-infused warm sugar syrup) for a taste of the traditional, or Rose Ice Cream blended with tapioca for an intriguing textural complexity, both of which offer sweet relief from the heat.

 

In Hinduism, the word Moksha refers to the liberation from “samsara,” the cycle of death and rebirth and reincarnation, and all of the suffering we must endure in our worldly existence. Here, it refers to the best upscale Indian restaurant in the city, a hidden culinary gem that’s more than worth the journey. After all, how far would YOU be willing to drive for a little slice of heaven?  –Bret Love

(Originally appeared in JEZEBEL Magazine)