Dr. Amy

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I’ve been doing a LOT of eating out lately and not enough writing (or working out for that matter…) I’ve hit up quite a few new (or new to me) restos that are definitely worth mentioning.   In light of the fact that this is a blog and not a novelhere are 2 for now:

Of all the restaurants in Atlanta, Top Flr will always hold a special place in my heart.  I have never had a bad meal or a bad time there…and you’ve just got to love a place like that.

So, as you can imagine, I was very excited to give The Sound Table, Darren Carr’s new restaurant in the Old Fourth Ward, a try.  Bonus: (and I don’t want to name-drop…but I’m-a gonna)  Greg and I enjoyed our meal with supercute and understated-yet-ultrafabulous DanaPop.com, the Atlanta editor of Daily Candy (!!!!!) and her hilarious and adorable hubs, Dan.

Here’s the Q+DD on The Sound Table: I absolutely loved it. The concept is “street-to-table”, focusing on the exploding street food trend and like Top Flr, TST is also a small-plates restaurant.  The vibe is laid-back and trendy and the food was, in my opinion, superb.

Dan and I both started with the Pho (pho real!) which came with fun little bowls of condiments: oxtail, bean sprouts, cilantro, and shitake mushrooms (while I gingerly played with these items…Dan happily dumped them all in at once, announcing, “everybody in the pool!)  we each followed it up with the steamed pork belly buns… both dishes were per-fection.

Other memorable dishes on the table included a citrus-y ceviche, a shrimp salad, the chorizo burger (actually, it was 2 chorizo sliders…cute AND delish!) and my favorite, the Arancini. If you’re not familiar with Arancini, they’re basically fried balls of risotto and The Sound Table’s were made with black truffle, pecorino, and roasted garlic.  YUM.

Note: The Sound Table is located on Edgewood at Boulevard and the signage is not great.  In fact, we drove right past it several times before Dan had to come out and wave us in.  FYI: this is what you’re looking for:

juuuuust a little TOO discreet, if ya ask me!

Also, parking is a little bit difficult.  You MIGHT get lucky and get a spot in the lot right next door, otherwise…don’t forget your quarters.

All in all, I give it two freshly manicured thumbs upCan’t wait to go back!

The Sound Table
483 Edgewood Ave. SE
Atlanta, GA 30312
www.thesoundtable.com
The Sound Table on Urbanspoon

NEXT:

Miller Union opened up late last year, so it definitely falls under the New(ish) category or just plain old New to Me; and though neither La, Dr. Amy or I had ever been, Miller Union somehow seemed like a perfect place to celebrate…and we had a LOT of celebrating to do. Dr. Amy finished residency, had an outrageously gorgeous baby girl, and returned home to Atlanta just as darling La announced her pregnancy!

The 3 of us with "our" new addition...and one on the way!

I know this is a bold statement to make about a restaurant I have merely tried once, but I think that Miller Union could easily become one of my favorite restaurants in the city.

I dig rustic-chic décor and I always love a scene-y bar (and believe me, it was scene-y.)

So immediately upon walking in the door, I had high hopes. From the time we were seated at our enormous wooden farm table, my expectations were met.  First of all, the cocktail menu is amazing.  I tried not one but TWO specialty cocktailsvery unlike me as usually I tend not to stray from vodka or red wine…but they were both outstanding.  First, the Miller Thyme: miller’s gin, lemon, thyme syrup then the Gold Digger: muddled tomatoes, gin, lemon, and ginger-honey syrup

get down girl, go 'head get down

I didn’t have one BITE that wasn’t outstanding.

Every part of this meal was fresh and fabulous.  We started with the grits fritters with country ham (to DIE for) and the simple yet delicious feta snack…

Then, between the 6 of us, we had the rest of the menu pretty well covered.  My favorite dishes were probably the grouper, the NY strip, and the pork loin…

scamp grouper, summer squash, sweet corn, fennel, tomato

grilled pork loin, field peas + tomato salad

but I think the best part of the meal, for me, were the fresh vegetables.  I want a VAT of their succotash to eat at home at my leisure.  If someone could make that happen for me, I’d be forever in your debtThe food just did me right; it actually felt good.

You guys, I LOVED Miller Union. It was a great place for a large, somewhat rowdy group such as ours, but I saw several love-birds there on romantic dates as well.

Great times, GREAT restaurant. I recommend it 100%.

Miller Union
999 Brady Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30318
www.millerunion.com
Miller Union on Urbanspoon

Ok, that’s it for now!  Stay tuned…more to come!

xx, L

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This bulletin just in from the Department of the Obvious: Women tend to have strong preferences when it comes to their personal style.  Especially their clothes. Further bulletins as events warrant.

(Thank you.)

So yeah,  we’ve all got very particular ideas about what we’d like to look like at almost any hour of the day. Save the precious sweat pant clad evening on the couch with your DVR or the quick workout in your old sorority t-shirt, I think it’s fair to say that we are disinterested in removing ourselves from the world of fashion for almost any length of time and this definitely applies to the 9 months a woman spends while being pregnant.

Now, I don’t know this from personal experience (I mean, yes, I do have a baby, but she’s furry and instead of giving birth, I simply picked her up from a Yorkshire terrier breeder south of the airport)

However, I do know some pretty fashionable ladies who have totally rocked the “with child” look.  For example:

Jess at her baby shower in NYC...mere weeks before the twins

Always fabulous Gretchen on her last day before being a full-time mommy!

Amy lookin’ gorgeous while being a total trooper at LK/EZ Bday Bash this year

Yep, it seems that the modern woman is trading in the tent dress for maternity Sevens…and from what I hear, it’s not easy.  Enter Amy Koch, author of BUMP IT UP:  Transform Your Pregnancy into the Ultimate Style Statement
Here’s the Q+DD on AK: She’s a NBC Trend Reporter, Vogue Style Expert, Twitter Mom Style Expert, Contributor to The New York Times, Town & Country, Travel + Leisure, INC., New York Observer and the Huffington Post and a mother of two. Her book, Bump it Up, promises to help “turn nine months of potential frump into mega maternity moxie” by offering style tips and tricks through each trimester and beyond.  BONUS: the book includes sketches from today’s most popular fashion designers, including Nicole Miller, Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, and Isaac Mizrahi.

In celebration of her super awesome book, Amy is on tour and will be making her way to the A on March 30th and all you gorgeous pregnantistas (and your friends) are invited!

Here’re the deets:
When: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 from 7pm-10pm
Where: W Perimeter 111 Perimeter Center West ATL, GA 30346 (770) 396-6800
What: Pampering treatments (oxygen blasts, neck massages) by BLISS Spa, faux glow bar by LANCOME, bra fitting and shapewear tutorial by WACOAL, book signing by Amy Tara Koch, fashion demo by Amy Tara Koch with Izzy Maternity, mega gift bag & raffle of Britax car seat, Medela breast pump, Baby Bjorn, Sittercity Membership, Babymoon at W, Pre-natal spa service by Bliss.  Sponsored by PAMPERS, TIDE, BRITAX, BABY BJORN, and WACOAL.

Awesome!

I LOVE that she is pairing up with Izzy Maternity! If you’re not familiar with this store and you are even considering having a childyou just have to go visit our friend Hannah at the Peachtree Battle location of this fabulous Atlanta-only maternity boutique chain that she and her family own and operate.

Hannah!

Hannah is fabulous, and from what I hear, totally the girl you want in your corner as you’re sporting the bump! Click here to view the website.

So, if you’re expecting, I think you can expect to have a great time at the Bump it Up event on March 30th!

Oh, baby!

Hope to see all you haute mamas there!
xx, L

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Let me introduce you to my friend, Romi.
romiRomi is one of those girls who just has an inherent sense of style. She’ll effortlessly throw on an outfit that is understated, but so impossibly chic that it would take us mere mortals hours to attain the same effect.

In fact, the first time I ever spent any real time with Romi was at Amy’s Atlanta bachelorette weekend back in 2006. I am here to tell you that after dinner on the first night, 3 of us all ordered the watch off her wrist by noon the next day and I was already scheming on how to copy the rest of her ensem. True story.

The girl’s just got a gift.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I heard she decided to channel all that fabulousness into her very own line of jewelry!
lolajamesPredictably, it. is. GORGEOUS.

When I asked her what inspired her to start her line she said, “I took a jewelry making class in high school and another one after college and just fell in love with all the aspects that go into creating each piece… from designing to choosing the colors to making the piece myself. I love fashion and keeping up with the trends. Mostly I wanted to make cute jewelry that is affordable!”

Here are a few of Romi’s favorites:

Positive Energy

Positive Energy

Love Letter (features hand-cut initial and heart detail)

Love Letter (features hand-cut initial and heart detail)

Crazy in Love (the center heart charm features a single 1 pt. diamond accent)

Crazy in Love (the center heart charm features a single 1 pt. diamond accent)

Romi hearts Josh!

Flutter (24K gold plated filigree butterfly)

Flutter (24K gold plated filigree butterfly)

Instant Shimmer (stretch to fit most wrists)

Instant Shimmer (stretch to fit most wrists)

Lola James Jewelry (lovingly named after Romi and husband Josh’s sweet pup) is available at a handful of boutiques in Miami but never fear: we Atlantans are able to purchase online at the recently launched www.lolajamesjewelry.com.

Now to decide which pieces…

xx, L

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In honor of my dear friend David’s birthday today, I thought I’d write a post on Eclipse di Luna since it is the official site of almost any Sarif celebration. (Note: this is a shared title with Sotto Sotto.)
edlFor those of you who don’t know it, Eclipse di Luna is an adorable tapas restaurant located at Miami Circle in Buckhead. It’s rowdy, it’s eclectic, there’s often live music, I love it. You know how I feel about tapas and sometimes I dream about their potatoes and spicy calamari, I do.

Not only is E di L a mandatory dinner spot for any and all out of town guests in the Sarif household but it was the site of memorable events such as

Sheldon’s going away party (2006):

nothing ever changes.

nothing ever changes.

The first stop of Amy’s Atlanta Bachelorette evening (2007):
amybachyDavid’s birthday celebration last night:
davidbdayPlus, When I first moved to Atlanta 4 years ago, I was under the impression that Eclipse di Luna was the only restaurant in town because think I went on about 492,194 first dates there. Even though I’d chuckle a little each time I’d ride past all the interior design showrooms and round the corner into the restaurant, it’s a solid choice. I like tapas for a first date – it’s interactive and you can find out a lot about a person while trying to share food!

Bonus: It’s easy on the wallet. For a group, you can’t beat it! For parties of 15 people or more, you can opt for all you can eat tapas at between $18-$22/head and all you can drink beer/wine/sangria at $18/head.

There are always events going on, click here for specific details but the following are ongoing:
Mondays: all you can eat for $10
3rd Saturday of each month: Latin Dance Party 11pm – 2:30am
1st Tuesday of each month: $10 wine tasting with complimentary hors d’oeuvres from 6pm-7pm

Enjoy! (And happy birthday, David!)

xx, L

Eclipse Di Luna
www.eclipsediluna.com
764 Miami Cir NE # 138
Atlanta, GA 30324-3026
(404) 846-0449
Eclipse di Luna (Buckhead) on Urbanspoon
There is also an OTP location in Dunwoody: 4505 Ashford Dunwoody Rd 30346

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Listen, in Atlanta, it’s all about proximity. The city is so spread out, you never know what traffic is going to be like, yadda yadda yadda…

However, this is often not a problem for my friends David and Amy for 2 reasons:

1. They happen to live in Twelve in Atlantic Station and have plenty of shopping, restaurants, and other necessities at an arm’s length and
2. They are unreasonably skilled in the art of getting their friends to come to Atlantic Station (and navigate that super-confusing parking garage) to hang out with them. (Yes, they’re that cool. Trust.)

This story has a happy ending. That ending is 1/2 price sushi Sundays at Geisha House. geishahouselogo

I like Geisha House. It’s very…romantic…inside, (low lights, red accents, super sultry) so admittedly, these days, the aesthetic is often lost on me as I am 3rd (and in this case 5th) wheeling it at 7pm on a Sunday, but I can appreciate what they’re going for and I think it would probably be a very nice stop before a date-night movie at Atlantic Station. geishahouse

I usually stick to sushi, but D+A are more adventurous patrons. Amy got an Udon noodle bowl and David ordered the sautéed calamari and lamb chops. Y’all: I am here to tell you that calamari was amazing. (I asked David what it was sautéed in and he responded, “deliciousness”…which I think loosely translates to massive amounts of butter. But whatevs.)

Personally, I have a standard sushi order (1 spicy tuna roll, 2 pieces of salmon nigiri and a seaweed salad.) and I’m always pleased with the quality of my sushi at Geisha House. It’s a little pricey, so the 1/2 price deal on Sundays really just makes it affordable.

Now if I could just find my parking ticket and the exit in this place…

xx, L

Geisha House
www.dolcegroup.com
1380 Atlantic Dr NW # 14175
Atlanta, GA 30363-1146
(404) 872-3903
Geisha House on Urbanspoon

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It’s a restaurant week EPIDEMIC!

Right on the heels of Downtown and Midtown restaurant weeks comes INMAN PARK restaurant week! Check it: http://www.inmanparkrestaurantweek.com
inmanparkYou know the drill: 3 course meals at fabulous restaurants at fabulous prices. IPRW has three tiers – $15, $25, and $35 as follows:

$15
Pure Taqueria (ok I may be too blonde to understand this, but Pure in Inman Park won’t be QUITE open yet in time for IPRW. But they’re listed as a participant and I’ve been to the one in ‘Phretta courtesy of my fabulous OTP friends L+J and LOVED it. We were super rowdy and I was glad I had a designated driver to cart me back down to Exit #1. There is also a location in Woodstock. What is a Woodstock?)
Sauced – only on Sept 25. I don’t get it, but whatevs, I really dig their logo.
The Albert

$25
Fritti - I adore Fritti. I love their little patio, I love their thin crust pizzas, I love their calamari, I love their risotto croquettes, and I love that the chef once brought me a glass of his personal homemade limoncello…which isn’t on the menu.
Sotto Sotto – I have never had a bad time or a bad meal at Sotto Sotto. Plus – if you’re lucky, you’ll see this girl there:

amysarifShe’s what you call “obsessed” with the place.

Wisteria – This place must be magical because out of all the restaurants in Atlanta, Linds elected to have her birthday there this year and it was spectacular. Witness:

lindsbdaywisteria

Rathbun’s -sigh. :) Just go. And don’t forget about Krog Bar, either.
Parrish – see here
Park’s Edge
Zaya

Shaun’s (but don’t forget…Shaun’s also has $12 pasta Sundays. Talk about recessionista dining!)

$35
Kevin Rathbun Steak

Bon Appétit!

xx, L

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I had a LOVELY Saturday evening.  For her birthday, my ultra-fabulous boss received tickets from our “big” boss to Legally Blonde: The Musical touring through Atlanta at the Fabulous Fox Theatre…and asked me along as her date!

We thought it would be a good idea to DIU* (*Do It Up): break out the sundresses, and make an evening of it…and that’s exactly what we did! We met at the newly-opened Livingston Restaurant in the Georgian Terrace Hotel (the “official” restaurant of the Fox, located directly across the street from the theatre) and sat outside sans reservation, and ordered a delicious meal from the pre-theatre menu. The Livingston is really beautiful, I had been there for dinner in the dining room once before, and it was fantastic, but I really enjoyed sitting outside watching all the people filing in and out of restaurants and the theatre. The wait staff couldn’t have been nicer. Jonathan, the host, was lovely and attentive, our waiter was incredibly charming, even the valet came to find me mid-meal to give me the number of a mechanic he likes to fix something he noticed in my car!

The show was, of course, adorable. I saw it on Broadway with my girlfriends when it opened, but I forgot how cute it was. Omigod, you guys!

photo credit: www.rochester-citynews.com

photo credit: www.rochester-citynews.com

I adore the Fox. It’s chock-full of history (you can read all about it on their website) and deliciously over-the-top ornate and gorgeous. I was a little sad to see that there were a LOT of open seats. We had 7th row center orchestra seats (Thanks D!) but the entire right orchestra was empty. Although you should know, the Fox is no stranger to troubled economic times. In fact, The Fox opened on December 25th, 1929 less than two months after the stock market crash. Just a little facty-fact.

fox
Unfortunately, LB’s run ended on 07/19, but 42nd Street starts 07/28 and I LOVE TAP MUSICALS so if anyone wants to take me…I’m just throwing it out there.

From there, we went to the Palomar Hotel’s Altorex Rooftop Lounge for darling Dr. Amy’s 30th Birthday Surprise Party. Leave it to me to be an hour late to a surprise party I helped orchestrate…but luckily I had a great excuse and no one expects me to be punctual anyway. Love that roofdeck bar. I feel like I’m on vacay up there. It’s very “Miami” with the fire pits and cabanas and well…the attire of the patrons…

It was a perfect evening. The kind that makes me wonder if there’s ever a reason to leave Midtown at all…

xx, L

The Fabulous Fox Theatre
660 Peachtree Street NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
www.foxtheatre.org

Livingston Restaurant + Bar
659 Peachtree Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30308
404.897.5000
www.livingstonatlanta.com
Livingston Restaurant + Bar on Urbanspoon

AltoRex Rooftop Lounge
866 West Peachtree St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30308
678.412.2402
www.hotelpalomar-atlantamidtown.com

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