Dinner and a Movie and a Bottle of Pepto

There is one of those movie theaters near me where you sit at a table and can order food (including alcohol) while you watch the movie. AMC Fork and Screen they call it. You might have been to one of these places yourself. The joints serve inevitably terrible food.  Although I haven’t been to this particular incarnation of this particular movietaurant, I wouldn’t order the lobster.

That’s all fine and good, or, well, ok and mediocre. I don’t mean to imply that I’d rather die than be caught dead at the AMC Fork and Screen– I like crappy food as much as the next guy. And actually, now that I mention it, I actually have been to that theater, when it was called the “Buckhead Backlot”.

I went there with my pal Rob and his Wife, and we saw “Flushed Away“, a CG movie about mice. Most of the mice lived in the sewer, but it wasn’t a REAL sewer. It was one of those movie sewers where it’s just water and cute little boats made of driftwood. No poop or mysterious irridescent bubbles at all.

Contrast that with the current crop of films a-flickering ‘cross the AMC Fork and Screen. Not a happy family CG film about anthropomorphized mice within five miles of the place. In fact the flicks they’re showing right now seem specifically chosen to be unappetizing. Check it out:

1. District 9 – gory scifi flick, where aliens eat people, people eat aliens, and people get splattered by laser guns. Splattered all over the place. Oh, and a guy’s fingernails fall off, among other things. You gonna eat those potato chips?
2. The Final Destination – horror movie about people getting killed by Rube Goldbergian contortions of the physical world by Death itself. Haven’t seen it, but I hear some guy gets sucked inside out by a pool filtration system. Pass the chicken wings!
3. Gamer – scifi about a military videogame that uses real people. Real people getting blown up and esploded. Esploded real good. Some more sauce on those spare ribs, perhaps? Some mac n’ cheese maybe?
4. Halloween II - Horror movie by Rob Zombie. ‘Nuff said.
5. The Hangover – “adult” comedy, admittedly the least suspect of this list, however I’m pretty sure at least one dude vomits on screen. And there’s a mostly naked Zach Galifianakis, which nobody should have to see. How’s that french dressing lookin’ to ya now?
6. Inglourious Basterds – people get scalped. Seriously scalped. A bunch of people. Oh and Brad Pitt sticks his finger in some lady’s bullet wound. Finger lickin’ good!

I’m not against any of these movies– I’ve seen most of them, and Inglorious Basterds is freakin’ brilliant. But I think it would be kinda hard to choke down crappy bernaise sauce while watching one of the guys from the Office strip the skin off a dude’s head.

Dinner at Woodfire Grill

Dorie was restless, wondering what to do. Movies? Nothing playing we could agree on. All our friends were out of town (how does that happen). All of a sudden she turns to me and says “Is 8:30 ok?”

“For what?”
“Dinner at Woodfire Grill.“
“Uh, ok.”

We had been wanting to go there ever since we saw the executive chef, Kevin Gillespie, on this season’s Top Chef. Yeah, we were hoping for a little bit of lookie-loo at the cable celebrity, but we don’t have many vices so give us a break. We’ve already been to Flip to goggle-eye Richard Blaise.

I looked up the menu online, and was moderately interested. Although I’m addicted to the Food Network, I’m not a foodie. I’m kind of a picky eater, scared of things I haven’t tried before. I like what I like and will pay for quality, but I don’t branch out much. After looking at this menu, I figured I could find something to eat on there although it was more expensive than I was expecting it to be. Kind of pricey for an impulse dinner out, but what the hell.

We got dressed (I actually tucked my shirt in!) and headed out to a Cheshire Bridge road, following the loopiest Google directions ever. Rather than just telling us to “Go to Piedmont road and turn left on Cheshire Bridge and it’s up a little ways” our Google overlords had us winding all through the back woods of not-quite-Buckhead. Pretty tony neighborhoods, I have to say.

We got to the Woodfire Grill early, so they had us take a seat at the bar. Dorie got a glass of wine and I got a glass of water. We kind of expected the place to be packed, because Kevin is one of the favorites to do really well on Top Chef. Two weeks in, he’s pretty much kicking ass consistently. It was fairly busy, but not packed. And we got a reservation an hour in advance, no less. It’s too soon to tell, but if he stays in there like Blaise did I expect the Woodfire Grill to be packed before long.

After a short wait they led us into the dining room and sat us at a four-top right on the other side of the wall from the actual woodfire grill area.

FIrst thing we noticed was that the whole place smelled like a burning fireplace in winter. It smelled so good we found ourselves sniffing each other once we left because we were hoping it rubbed off. We went to Borders books afterward, and I could definitely smell it on my clothes. *inhale* mmmmmm.

Second thing we noticed was that Kevin Gillespie was standing at the grill. I pointed him out to Dorie, who was compelled to immediately Facebook. I Tweeted. What’s wrong with us? Sheesh.

It took longer than we’d have liked for the waiter to get around to taking our drink order, but while we waited we eavesdropped on the grill, and heard some people wishing Kevin well as they walked out. So we snarked a little, and chatted about Top Chef and Project Runway and the differences between them, and whether the contests are friendly off-show. Dorie was nursing her house cabernet, and I eventually had my standard unsweet ice tea with sweet n’ low.

They brought out a basket of mixed bread, and despite our determination to stick to our diets, we caved and split a slice of dark bread, with garl/herb butter. That was the start of our glide down the slippery slope.

Then they surprised us with an amusee bouche– a little spoon with two pieces of fried okra on top of some aioli. This started my adventurous streak for the night. I’m always a little trepidatious of “greens” because I find them bitter and slimy. But I tried this, and it was pretty good. Dorie was more impressed than I, having had fried okra more often. She said they didn’t spice the breading too much, which is apparently key as okra has its own flavor that you shouldn’t mask.

For our “First” (that’s what they call it on the menu) we split a plate of two pan seared diver scallops on top of a local field pea salad — $15 in a celery vinaigrette. micro celery. I couldn’t tell that it was celery, much less micro celery, but it tasted awesome. It was cooked peas, not a “salad” salad, kind of like a bed of beans in a sauce, under the seared scallops. Hard to describe but really good– we didn’t expect the combination to work, but we were about to lick the freaking plate when our “Main” arrived:

Dorie: wood grilled local bobwhite quail. braised greens, with a smear of brown butter sweet potato puree under the fowl and a little pile of coriander spiced pears to eat with it. — $26

John: wood grilled grassfed beef strip loin. skillet roasted cabbage and beans, a little pile of candied vine peach salad and a smear of butterbean hummus under the slices of beef. — $32.

I had some of Dorie’s quail, and it was perfectly done and so tasty with the sweet potato. She doesn’t eat red meat, but I’m here to testify that the beef was perfectly cooked. I don’t usually eat cooked cabbage, but I was being my version of adventurous, and had some of each side with my bites of beef. It was so good. I ate it all, when I usually leave that kind of side item on the plate.

This is what I always hoped a fine restaurant would serve– something that I had to like despite my fear of things I’ve never had, or items that in other forms I don’t like. Like cooked cabbage!

The portions are “fine-dining size” (as opposed to like, a Lonestar Steakhouse with gigantic piles of mashed potatoes and two chicken breasts at a sitting), so we were in excellent position to be tempted by dessert. Our momentum on that slippery slope was unstoppable by now, so we just nodded dumbly when the waiter handed us the menu.

But it wasn’t a Dairy Queen banana split or anything. It was a couple of small banana fritters with milk chocolate mousse, Bavarian creme stuff (it was like a flavored whipped cream, not a custard), on top of schmears of salted caramel, and… a strip of candied bacon. Which I got to eat all of, since Dorie, bless her heart, doesn’t like bacon. Holy moses this thing was so good it almost killed us. — $8

Our total bill was about $102, with a $20 tip and $3 for the valet (gave him extra because the parking lot is across a busy street).

As we were walking out, Dorie just couldn’t resist catching His eye and offering our best wishes for success on the show. Well, ok, actually she just kind of nervously said “we hope you win!” as we walked by. He was gracious and thanked her very sincerely. Just as on the show, so far at least, he seems to be a really nice, professional, down-to-earth guy.

We’re going back to the Woodfire Grill soon. We’re taking people with us. It’s our new “you gotta go” recommendation for dining in Atlanta. Normally we suggest people go to Watershed, for its southern take and its “semi-fine-dining” feel. But Woodfire Grill is the real deal.

Why does Europe love Dan Brown so f-ing much?

Angels & Demons– Domestic haul, $133m, foreign haul, $351f-ingm!!!

This was a record B.O. summer, but as much as I liked Star Trek and Up, I can’t say I fell in love with anything. Well, not anything on that boffo B.O. rundown. And that “Wolverine” movie made almost $350m worldwide makes me fear for mankind.

Atlantic Station from 17th and Peachtree

Atlantic Station from 17th and Peachtree, originally uploaded by Singrrr.

This is the view from my cubicle, around dusk. It’s not always so photogenic, but when it is, it is.

YouTubin’

Ok, That’s It

I’ve been trying to give conservative thought its due. There has to be balance after all, there has to be some validity to the precepts of an entire ideology at least at the fundamental level. Let’s leave aside the fact that because of John McCain’s behavior throughout the Bush administration I’ve started calling him “Snakeface”.

But any iota of credibility the *campaign* may have had in my esteem, if not the candidate himself, was lost an hour or so ago when I read this New York Times report, which actually physically disgusted me.

Seriously. I got all queasy n’ shit.

Apparently, contrary to John McCain’s vehement denials, his campaign manager was on the payroll of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac until August at a rate of $15,000 per month. That’s under his new *decreased* contract– previously he was being paid $30,000 per month as president of a sham coalition designed to lobby (maybe they don’t call it lobbying, but it IS GOD DAMN IT) congress to keep the runaway mortgage companies from being yoked down by regulation.

Absolutely disgusting. I want to give each candidate their fair shake, though anybody who knows me knows I lean to the left. And there’s the whole “Snakeface” moniker I’ve laid on the dude. But still, I don’t think anybody’s so terrible right off the bat. I really don’t want to be a fervent partisan. Now I can’t help but be convinced that everything the Republican campaigners in this election say is an outright lie, because they have time and again proven that NOTHING they say can be trusted.

And I believe that such vast amounts of untruth can only be aimed at self-service, and not a bit toward public service. I take this to mean that they don’t even mean anything they claim to stand for. I believe they have no integrity, that they don’t care about anything past the immediate effect it will have on their audience.

They lie, and they dissemble, and I am as close to hatred for their actions and philosophies, and unfortunately their persons, as I have been to anything for such a long time.