Binge in the City Part 2

So where were we? Right. Saturday morning, post-show hangover. I had made plans with my buddy Charles to do lunch at the Porter (www.theporterbeerbar.com), and my friend Nathan joined us.
I love the Porter. The beer selection is unparalleled, but what really elevates it for me is the food. Oh. My. God. The food! The core menu has some decent staples, sure, but I always go for the specials. They are always changing, and you can tell the chef really goes all out with them. I've had amazing vegetarian dishes there, and I usually avoid those like the plague. This particular morning, my hangover demanded a Berliner-weisse beer and a ginger ramen they had on special. That ramen? Oh my tits that ramen. It was everything I needed. Not much broth, and what was there was more reminiscent of a gingery, vinegared glaze that paired beautifully with the mushrooms and cucumber in it. The noodles were perfectly cooked, and the sour Berliner-weisse complimented everything while not making me want to kill myself. The guys had the 'hangover hash' special which apparently did the trick as well. I tried a bite of the grits, and man- it was as if Paula Deen had made them; crazy overwhelming butter flavor.

Afterwards, Charles and I headed to the Wrecking Bar Brewery (www.wreckingbarbrewpub.com) for a few beers before I would rejoin Nathan later for the Germany-Ghana game that was playing that day. We tasted around the Wrecking Bar's draft list, working our way through the majority of the beer selection between the two of us. My hangover long forgotten by now, I got a serious case of the munchies and ordered a couple small plates, the hot nuts and venison tartar. I gotta say, while the beers are top notch and excellent representations of their styles, the food left me underwhelmed. The nuts were too spicy for my tastes, and the tartar had an unpleasant puréed texture with an overbearing horseradish flavor.
Still, overall the experience was a blast, and I was bummed by the thought of leaving for a different venue for the game. As luck would have it though, I ran into another friend of mine who had just started working at the Wrecking Bar, Tim, and he revealed to me that they did have TVs for the game- in the actual brewery event space. So they wound up opening it up for Charles and I, and as Nathan rejoined us, more futbol aficionados filtered in to enjoy the game. I couldn't not snack during game time, so I decided to give the pretzel and cheese dip a try as well as the rabbit "wings". The rabbit? Delicious. I loved it, and will absolutely order it again. The pretzel was good, too- the cheese sauce, however, bugged me. The flavor was on point, but whoever prepped it didn't melt the cheese down properly and it gave the dip a grainy texture. Cheese, like any meltable material, has a specific melting point temperature. What a lot of people don't realize is that different cheeses have different melting points, and melting it down at a too- high temp too quickly can create greasy, oily, grainy goo. Not appetizing.
The game ended on a 2-2 tie for Germany and Ghana, and by now a thunderstorm that had snuck through Atlanta had ended. I was feeling fat, buzzed, and happy, and ready to chill. Nathan and I parted ways with Charles, and finished our evening... Reserved for the part 3. (This story was a lot longer than I originally thought...)

Binge in the City Part One

I've been intending to post for the past week now, but I've been caught up in such a foodie fest it just made more sense to try to post something after the dust settled and I had time to sort through beer-soaked memories.

Since I decided to leave Atlanta, I created a bucket list of things that I wanted to do before I left the city. I posted it on Facebook, and my friends have all started helping me accomplish them. Coincidentally, I've been having the best time of my life lately!

First on the agenda, it is World Cup time of year again! I am a staunch Germany supporter (big surprise, right?) So I've been making time to watch all of their games. Last Monday, Germany had their first match against Portugal. I called my friends Anthony, Thomas, and Darrell, and we convened on a local Taco Mac (www.tacomac.com) with a vengeance! The beer was flowing, the wings were surprisingly mild (next time I'm getting a way hotter sauce), and Germany *decimated* Portugal 4-0. My friends tried getting me to stay out for the US-Ghana game, but I had other plans- my evening was commandeered by my other friend, Nathan, and the Atlanta Braves.

I have been to Braves games before, but I have never been able to remember the end of a game (a curious side effect of hanging out with alcohol distributors...). On my bucket list was the entry, "See a Braves game, and remember who won!". So, Nathan got the tickets, and away we went!

Surprisingly enough, every game I've ever been to has been Braves v Phillies, and this one was no exception. Hopefully, however, the Braves performed better in the games I don't remember; because holy crap did they phone it in for this one. This is the game that I learned that Turner Field essentially shuts down at 7pm and beer and coffee became totally unavailable. Thankfully, we did manage to snag a couple of H&F burgers before we realized what a tragedy gameplay was going to be.

H&F burgers are a " thing" here in ATL. The original was created by Holeman & Finch, one of Chef Linton Hopkins' restaurants. I've never had the pleasure of a classic Holeman & Finch burger, but with the H&F burger stand at Turner Field, I got to try an approximation. And it was deeeeelicious. Juicy, messy, and just a beautiful double stack of burger, onion, and cheese. Paired with a Sweetwater 420 and I was a happy camper!

Fast-forward to Friday. Item 2 knocked off of my bucket list was going to see more live music- Atlanta has some great local acts, and I haven't been able to make the time to see any of them. So I nabbed tickets to see a coworker's band, Greco (www.wearegreco.com), and planned on having a chill night at home prior to the show. However, got roped into watching another World Cup game prior to the show, and thanks to the Black Bear Tavern (www.blackbeartavern.net), got to try my very first Boot. They have secured my loyalty for this upcoming Germany-USA game just because of this Boot. <3

Had a blast afterwards at Greco's show, of course. They played at the Basement, a fun, grungy dive venue in East Atlanta, where I proceeded to drink far too much vodka soda and sadly had to dip out early. However, my weekend was really just beginning... (Continued in part 2!)

When I was in high school, I used to hear about some classes requiring you to volunteer for some sort of charitable cause in order to graduate. I remember thinking about how lucky I was that I didn't. I was a pretty selfish kid back in the day, and in some respects, I still am. But back then, it was probably equal parts selfish and lazy. And the charities that people were volunteering with? I couldn't care less about.

Fast forward to now. I am an avid volunteer. I love giving my time to many of the different food - centric events around Atlanta, many of which do support excellent causes like Share our Strength. It's not the charity that gets me to do it, though. In many ways, I haven't changed a lot from the girl I used to be. However, the biggest difference between then and now is probably the fact that it is truly volunteering instead of compulsory free labor. I actually want to and get excited about getting together with a team of people that are genuinely happy to work to make something incredible happen.

I've been volunteering with the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival all this week. This is easily one of my favorite events, because I spend most of my time in Production- the part of the festival that makes things work. I help organize and accomplish tasks that help make the logistics of this event run like a machine. And this year? They let me start driving the golf carts!!!! (I've never driven a golf cart before, it's the little things, haha)

Even more fun are some of the connections I've made- I have spent a couple shifts helping in the kitchen,  where I've gotten to work with Shaun Doty, of Bantam and Biddy, and Tory McPhail of Commander's Palace- both super nice guys! And now I can't wait to make my first trip to New Orleans this year...!

I guess, to make a long story short, I still hate the idea of required volunteer work in schools. But at the same time, don't shut down the idea entirely- when you find something that you actually want to do, make the time. It may not have your usual perks, but it sure makes opportunities a lot easier to find!