Athens Eats, Part 2

While my sister was visiting we spent a big chunk of time eating out. Sadly, I didn't get to finish my bucket list of restaurants to try, but we did make sure to visit some old standbys that you just can't go wrong with.

My sister's favorite restaurant in town and one of my all time favorites is The Grit. Its an all-vegetarian restaurant, its absolutely delicious, and its pretty much an Athens institution. We stop there without fail whenever she is town, and other than an unfortunate incident involving seitan a few years ago, The Grit has never failed me.

Our old go-to is the grilled cheese smelt--homemade crusty bread smothered with honey mustard, white cheddar, and a big tomato slice. We always get the sweet potato fries as a side and this time, we got the hummus appetizer too. Things were nicely rounded out with a shared slice of coconut cake and I think we were both pretty happy we wore loose clothing! We walked off our dinner with a stroll through the Founder's Garden on campus and then capped off the night with a screening of Moonrise Kingdom, which we both adored. It was the perfect sister date night.

We started off our Sunday with brunch at Mama's Boy, which is my favorite brunch spot. I love long leisurely breakfasts and the atmosphere (as well as the amount of food they give you) makes you want to take your time with your meal and chat the morning away.

The place was busy as ever, but we took our time over bottomless coffee cups (for me) and strawberry lemonade (for my sister) while we waited for breakfast to arrive.

I went with the breakfast taco plate which is spicy and smoky and beyond filling. Top it off with a warm biscuit and raspberry jam, and I was in breakfast heaven. My sister had the Georgia Peach French Toast which is amazing. I very rarely choose a sweet breakfast over a savory breakfast, but this plate makes me think twice before ordering.

Now that dinner & brunch had been covered, we decided to make our next restaurant stop at lunchtime on Monday at Five Star Day Cafe.

(missing the noon lunch rush means you get the whole place to yourself. for a little while, at least.)

While I'd had great brunches there before, it was my first time looking over their lunch menu--sadly for us, we had mixed reviews. My sister's pasta special of shells with heirloom tomatos was good, but not great. I had the fried green tomato sandwich (I figured I might as well top off a weekend of indulgence with a heart attack in a sandwich) which was delicious. It had a million flavors going on in it but it all came together in an epic way.

One thing was agreed on though--the corn muffins were fantastic. Sweet and moist and dense and hearty all at once--we're itching to try our hand at some recreations so that we can eat them all the time.

Finally, we ended my sister's trip with a dessert date at Speakeasy, a tapas cafe/bar that I always recommend for dates. Its dark and quiet, perfect for long conversations about anything and everything, and their menu is full of delicious little plates and even better desserts. Throw in a bottle of red wine to share and you've got all the makings of a great night.

After heavy deliberation, we went with the molten chocolate cake and the white chocolate fondue. I drifted towards the gooey chocolate cake while my sister swooned over the white chocolate, but both were winners. We left on a cloud of chocolate bliss, full and happy: It was a great way to end the goodbye weekend.

a weekend for goodbyes

My sister came into town for a long weekend of eating, shopping, movie-watching, and exploring Athens. We took it upon us to make it a goodbye to Athens weekend since I'm moving away in a few short days. We hit all of our favorite spots around the city and took our time soaking in all of the quirk and charm this little town has to offer.

{various odds & ends at Frontier & Cillies, two of our all time favorite spots}

{Agora & Minx are clear winners for vintage pieces--especially for records and home deco. I'll never forgive myself for not buying the life size oil portrait of Elvis I spotted at Agora a few months ago. Rookie mistake.}

{we always leave ample browsing time for my favorite store in town: Jackson Street Books. Its a bookworms idea of heaven--rows and rows of books, creaky floors, and that book smell that just envelops you when you step in.}

{our afternoon was capped off with a run to the daily co-op for some Hip Pops--Kanye Zest for me, Purple Drank for my sister. Both were delicious, but nothing compares to their key lime pie pop. It is without a doubt the worlds best popsicle, and I don't make statements like that lightly.}

This town has been the best part of my undergrad experience and I'm so sad to leave it now, especially since I didn't make it all the way through my restaurant bucket list. Thank you, Athens, for being my home for the last four years. Don't you worry though--I'll be back with an empty stomach just as soon as I can, and we will pick up right where we left off.

Athens Eats

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.

the 4th

My fourth of July was mostly spent lazing around, cooking, and reading (Train Dreams by Denis Johnson, to be exact). I spent the evening at the spark spangled classic in town watching the fireworks, which was the perfect way to end the day--I love love love me some fireworks.

Graduation

Slightly over a month ago, we graduated from college. Thanks to a non-traditional high school experience, it was my first time in a cap and gown with a traditional ceremony. I think the best way to adequately describe Athens for graduation day is madhouse: with thousands of graduates came thousands of family members, but the looks of pride on all the parents faces and the happy atmosphere all over town made it a fantastic day.

My family came over early for pictures, and after my parents thoroughly traumatized me with an intense photo session, we finally headed to Ted's Most Best for food and champagne.

Ted's was fantastic. The baked goat cheese quite literally rocked my world and I may or may not have eaten mine, my mom's and then secretly wished for more. My love for goat cheese (well, all cheese) knows no boundaries, and Ted's did not disappoint. And since my family is my family, our glorious lunch was followed by general silliness and a Ben & Jerry's stop.

The ceremony itself was a weird combination of bittersweet and extremely impersonal. Theres something to be said about sharing a milestone like this with several thousand peers you've never even seen before, but looking to my left and seeing my best friends next to me got me misty about the fact that we're all about to be split up. I also loved finding my family amidst the sea of people of in the bleachers-it made me feel like I was in a grade school play or concert, anxiously scanning the crowd until I saw their faces, and then waving like my life depended on it.

The ceremony was followed with fireworks, which we then followed up with a last few hours celebrating downtown.

It was a happy day, made even happier by getting to spend it with my family and my favorite people. College would have been pretty meaningless had I not had them around, and even though were all moving on to new and amazing things, I'm going to forever miss them and nights like this.

"But friendships is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life. And thanks to a benevolent arrangement, the greater part of life is sunshine." -Thomas Jefferson

My valentines were my three friends this year--the ones who make fun of my anti-social antics and who are ok with my realism (always easily confused with cynicism). I'm sure a bouquet of flowers and a romantic dinner with a sweetheart would have been a nice way to spend Valentine's day too, but I'm glad to have found kindred spirits who thought a Thursday night wine tasting followed by a spontaneous trip to the Georgia Museum would be just as lovely. Thank you girls, for being smart, funny, and kind friends, and of course, for being excellent valentines.