Atlanta Kitchens: Recipes from Atlanta's Best Restaurants [Hardcover]

Krista Reese (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2010

Atlanta is a city of contradictions-a hotbed of growth and business but steeped in a tradition of Southern hospitality. Its food is no different, and its chefs have everything to offer, including peaches, peanuts, fried chicken, and Coca-Cola.

Features recipes from 56 of the best restaurants, including Watershed, Mary Mac's Tea Room, Babette's Café, Gravity Pub, Horseradish Grill, Wisteria, Busy Bee's Café, The Pecan, and Cakes & Ale.

Krista Reese is an Atlanta-based cookbook author and restaurant critic who has covered the Atlanta food scene for two decades. Her work has appeared in Bon Appétit, the Washington Post, Southern Living, People, and U.S. News & World Report.

The best of Atlanta, from gourmet cuisine to down-home diner fare.

(20100501)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Atlanta-based food writer Reese takes readers on a culinary tour of her hometown in this handsome but hit-or-miss collection. Some dishes (Pimento Cheese, Cobb Salad, Croque Monsieur, Macaroni and Cheese, etc.) are so basic it's clear their inclusion is meant as a nod to the restaurant that offered the recipe. Of greater interest are riffs on regional classics, such as the Horseradish Grill's Fried Green Tomatoes, with its remoulade sauce and spicy roasted pecans, and Repast's flavor-packed Butter-Poached Shrimp and Grits. Reese offers multiple versions for local favorite fried chicken and greens (pot likker included), and the humble catfish gets star treatment in Wisteria's Catfish with Green Tomato Ragout. Ingenious surprises include Chef Linton Hopkins' Corn Milk-Poached Maine Lobster Tail with Gratin of Mustard and Blood Orange Reduction Sauce (which, surprisingly, only calls for six ingredients) and The Blue Bicycle's succulent Braised Country-Style Pork Ribs with Saffron Risotto. Recipes best considered for their novelty include Strawberry Serrano Mussels and Gravity Pub's terrifying Vandross Burger, which replaces the bun with a glazed Krispy Kreme donut. Atlantans and those familiar with the city's culinary specialties will get the most out of this volume, but even culinary carpetbaggers should find some happy surprises. Color photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Reese, a restaurant critic who writes for Bon Appétit, the Washington Post, and Southern Living, credits the chef and restaurant that created each of the 100-plus recipes here. Southern favorites include Southern Pan-Fried Chicken, Chicken & Dumplings, Collard Greens, Fried Okra, and Sweet Tea. Those new to Atlanta cooking are sure to enjoy some nontraditional dishes such as Balsamic Marinated Quail with Pine Nuts and Roasted Cauliflower and Duck with Beautiful Leeks. Recommended for those interested in Southern cooking.

(Library Journal )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith; 1 edition (March 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423605462
• ISBN-13: 978-1423605461
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Krista Reese first became entranced with the powers of the written word after seeing her musical puppet show, based on the exploits of astronaut John Glenn, performed before her third-grade class.

In the years since, she's built a life around writing in just about every other form. As a UGA grad student and co-founder of the short-lived New Arts magazine, she interviewed members of the fledgling music scene in Athens, Georgia (the B-52's, R.E.M., Pylon). Moving to New York in the early '80s, she landed contracts to write trade paperback biographies of Elvis Costello, Chuck Berry and Talking Heads for London-based Proteus Books, as well as a "do-it-yourself adventure" (Match Point, New American Library) under the pseudonym Angela Harper.

Missing good tomatoes and decent iced tea, she moved back to Georgia in 1988, taking a job at Atlanta magazine. As arts & entertainment editor, she interviewed local talents like then-resident Halle Berry, painter Clyde Broadway, Thomasville writer Bailey White, celebutante RuPaul, filmmaker Julie Dash, and many others. While editing the dining section, she assigned and wrote reviews for the monthly, reader-generated Roundtable section. Joining the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a features editor in 1994, she oversaw the work of five features reporters, as well as editing legendary AJC columnist Celestine Sibley (which was less like editing, and more like driving a Bentley).

Returning to freelancing in 1996, Reese has published work in a wide variety of publications, including the Washington Post, Southern Living, U.S. News & World Report, People, Traditional Home and Bon Appetit, on a number of topics, from politics to pole-dancing. (See "Atlanta Fixture in Harsh Spotlight," about the notorious, now-closed strip club The Gold Club's place in Atlanta's social history, for the Boston Globe.) Writing about food has been a consistent sideline (and pleasure) since her first reviews for Atlanta magazine, continuing as the AJC's "Restaurant Scout," covering neighborhood and ethnic restaurants, then as critic for Catalyst magazine, and currently, dining editor at statewide business magazine Georgia Trend. She has published two cookbooks: Atlanta Classic Desserts (Pelican, 2009) and Atlanta Kitchens: Recipes from Atlanta's Best Restaurants (Gibbs-Smith, 2010).

She still owns the rights to that puppet show, if anyone is interested.

Please check out my website and blog at www.kristareese.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Offers thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly', palate pleasing, appetite satisfying, gourmet quality dishes, May 16, 2010

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atlanta Kitchens: Recipes from Atlanta's Best Restaurants (Hardcover)

Atlanta has some of the finest cuisine served up by some of the finest restaurants in all of Georgia. In "Atlanta Kitchens", cookbook author and restaurant critic Krista Reese draws upon her more than twenty years of covering Atlanta's finest dining establishments ranging from down home cafes to elegant restaurants, to showcase fifty-six of Atlanta's finest ranging from Watershed, Mary Mac's Tea Room, and Babette's Cafe, to The Pecan; Gravity Pub, and the Horseradish Grill. Profusely illustrated, the step-by-step recipes run the complete dining gamut from appetizers to entrees, from side dishes to salads, from desserts to beverages. Of special note is the chapter entirely dedicated to 'Comfort Foods' as offered by some of Atlanta's most impressive chefs. From Strawberry Serrano Mussels (Babette's Cafe); to Butter-Poached Shrimp and Grits (Repast); to Pulled Pork BBQ on Cornmeal Pancakes with Spicy Mustard Coleslaw (Horseradish Grill); to Orange Buttermilk Chess Pie (South City Kitchen), "Atlanta Kitchens" offers thoroughly 'kitchen cook friendly', palate pleasing, appetite satisfying, gourmet quality dishes that would grace any dining occasion and bring some of that memorable Atlanta quality restaurant cuisine to the family table.

4.0 out of 5 stars Atlanta Kitchens: Recipes from Atlanta's Best Restaurants, December 10, 2011

By 

Wendell B. Phillips (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Atlanta Kitchens: Recipes from Atlanta's Best Restaurants (Hardcover)

This is an excellent compilation, not only for Atlanta "foodies," but anyone who appreciates creative and tasty recipes that are easy to follow and enjoyable to consume! I've given the book four stars, only because, having dined at nearly all the represented restaurants, I noted that some of their "best" (read: my favorite) dishes have been omitted. Which ones? I would prefer Atlantans decide this culinary question for themselves! Suffice to say, "Atlanta Kitchens" provides excellent recipes for great dining. It's a book worth adding to anyone's "cook book shelf."

4.0 out of 5 stars Great recipes and pictures of dishes, August 24, 2011

By 

Van Hudson (Clarkesville, Ga United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Atlanta Kitchens: Recipes from Atlanta's Best Restaurants (Hardcover)

This book has great recipes from good Atlanta restaurants - great concept for a cookbook. If you like fried chicken this book has several recipes including the famous Scott Peacock, Watershed, recipe. I haven't tried recipes yet but know these dishes/restaurants are famous in Atlanta. I rate at 4.5 stars but almost gave five stars. I would like to see a few more country food recipes (BBQ, etc) - but the book has a lot of recipes. The book also has pictures of most of the dishes so you know what they should look like.

I highly recommend this cookbook - you won't be disappointed.