My number one mission over the last month or so has been to finish eating my way through Athens. For a small town, the Athens food scene is pretty spectacular: there are countless local businesses that use fresh and local ingredients, restaurants with tons of imagination and character, and unbelievably delicious food. We've had many favorites over the years and I wanted to make sure I was a well rounded Athens foodie before I move away in two short weeks (welp).
The first stop was Marti's At Midday for a mid-work lunch. I'd heard rumors of the deliciousness but never made it in time (they're only open from 11:30-3:30), so as soon as I saw an opening in my schedule, I jumped on in.
I noshed on The Maggie which was delicious. I got a little salad to go along with it and I'm so glad I did--the dressing was heaven. Sadly, I didn't document my pretty plate--I'm usually too hungry to be a conscientious food blogger!
The next lunch stop was the recently opened Heirloom Cafe, in Normaltown. Their focus is on community, which means their menu taps into Athens' rich farm and garden culture for produce and ingredients. Their menu is amazing-it took me forever to decide what I wanted to get because everything looked so delicious. In the end I rolled with the French Country Lunch and I was not disappointed--figs and prosciutto were kind of made to live together on a crusty loaf of french bread.
The highlight however, was the chocolate mousse I got for dessert. It was s'mores inspired with a graham cracker star and marshmallow fluff on top. I savored every. single. bite. It was heavenly.
Finally, I ventured even deeper into Normaltown to White Tiger Gourmet, which is tucked into a little side street and, quite frankly, looks a little sketchy from the outside. As it usually goes with these sorts of things though, it was absolutely adorable and delicious.
I went with a Vegetarian Ciabatta which was pretty good, but I think that next time, I might have to get a little more serious with my menu choice (Like the BBQ Sandwich or their Fried Green Tomato Sandwich). And even though I didn't sample it myself, their mac & cheese got rave reviews from my dining buddies. Of course, lunch had to followed by dessert (I can't really think of any meal that shouldn't be. As a side note, I used to never eat dessert. Ever. This is a recent development, one that I am pretty happy with these days.) and I went with some strawberry ice cream, one of my favorites. I need to go back to try their homemade goat-milk ice cream--I was a wimpy orderer this time!
I'm still plowing through my list, but I'm so glad I made time for these three. All are excellent lunch spots, adorable and delicious, and most importantly, they're all so quintessentially Athens.