Hustling round Atlanta in his alligator shoes….

Local3-AtlantaWEBAtlanta is a cool town. It helps having a guide who knows wine and spent the past two years circling Decatur, Buckhead, Druid Hills and 5 Points. The dining is fine (Local Three pictured above) and the living is easy. Eric Brown’s Le Caveau is a cool wine store with the best wine selection in the city. The Brick Store in Decatur has a hundred thousand beers in their cellar.

Would you like to learn more?

Butt first… LA has a superb new restaurant in Faith and Flower one block from the Original Pantry on 9th Street in the ground floor of the Watermark Tower. FnFWEBVery cool vibe with murals by street artist Robert Vargas adorning the walls and tres hip style. Orel Hershiser eats oysters there…but not Donald Sterling. Mrs. tBoW had a birthday dinner to die for. Cockteles prepared by a mixologist with cred that shows in his beverages. Dinner begins at the bar. Once seated and having ordered, the food arrives in grand plates set in the table center so that the tres hip setting may convert to family style dining. Chef Micheal Hung spins out plate after plate of foods – spicy deviled eggs, oxtail agnolotti and seared branzino; each fixation complementing the one to follow. Wine service is cheerfully attentive. Our wine was decanted in a vintage Riedel vessel we had never seen. I mean… when have we ever been impressed with the decanter?! No need to wait for a trip to NoCal for a memorable dining experience. We shall return.

2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel $45 (at the winery): We brought it in. Stunning somm Bahara put it right into the stunning decanter. Took a couple hours to open up. TC wines need time as is often the case with certain great wines. Toasty, brawny, with elegantly refined Mourvedre character. 14.5%

Back to Atlanta. We hit several dining spots guided by the Senior Young’Un. Here is some of what we enjoyed… and learned. Would you like to learn more?

dornferlderCROPWEB2010 Dornfelder Dry Reichsrat von Buhl $14: Larchmont Village Wines in LA asks “Must we always be overwhelmed by a wine? Is power and concentration really all it’s cracked up to be? What if we just want elegance, refreshment, drinkability and a certain lightness-of-being?” This is the wine that answers the question. We had it with burgers. Fresh, fruity without being forward. An unusual hybrid only the Bosch could figure. Brilliant. U20 buy. 13%

fine-du-mondeWEBLA Fin Du Monde Belgian Ale $12: BEER! We tasted this and a couple other Belgian ales at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur GA. Beer awakening. Server and beer guide Lee suggested we get serious and abandon the lagers and stouts we were about to order. He seemed quite serious. He suggested a couple of Belgian ales. This was one and… where once we wuz iggerunt, now we understand. Here is more info from a very helpful website for the cognoscenti: Triple style golden ale, Floral bouquet, aromas of honey, spice, coriander, malt, and alcohol at 5.5%. He said these beers are “sour.” Yes. And refreshing, intriguing. More beer reviews to come.

Good as Atlanta is… Charleston is the bomb. Cool as Nawlins and more fun than Savannah. So sez the tBoW travel team! Here are a few dining and drinking highlights.

I-GrecoSavu-RosatoCROPWEBObstinate Daughter on Sullivan’s Island – sleepy teeny coastal town, one of four or five adjacent to Charleston. Wonderful beach town vibe. Something happening here cuisine-wise. Here is the scallop ceviche with jalapeno slices. jalapeno-scallop-cevicheWEBInspiring. We enjoyed a pink 2011 I Greco Savu Rosato from Calabria. The grape is Gaglioppo and we would not have it any other way. The entire wine list is southern Italy. Food and cocktails were superb but most memorable was the cool ocean breeze drifting through the window. Ding ding ding ding! A U20 winner at $19 and 12%!!

foggyridegseriousWEBOn a hot family tip we dined at Husk in downtown Charleston. The Obstinate Daughter is located across the Cooper River on Sullivan’s Island which was the site of the first victory in the Revolutionary War. This place is full of “firsts” like that. Some better than others. Another memorable meal which is a label we do not assign lightly. We have three in this post. While the food was wonderfully prepared and the service was once again friendly and careful, the somm – Matt – started us off with the right step – bubbly. We were poured a glass of Virginia Hard Cider from Foggy Ridge Serious Cider that he claimed would taste like a bone dry champagne. Big claim for apple juice. By now you have figured that he was correct. Remarkable. Where will we find this drink from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Dugspur VA? At 7% this tops any other Moscato or Vinho Verde that would be frequently served in the summertime. At $18 and 7% this is another U20 winner.