Last-Minute Valentine's Plan

You could do worse than this:

Accidental Barbecue Tour

While on my way to a meeting north of Atlanta, I stumbled upon a couple of barbecue joints: Old McDonald's and Mountain Man BBQ. While I wanted to like Mountain Man, what with its location in an old school bus, piles of logs out front, and just lots of junk everywhere, Old McDonald won out - perhaps because he's stopped worrying about making pizza, apparently:
Old McDonald's pork sandwich:

Mountain Man's pile of logs:

JOËL Food Photos

Here are some of our photos of a few items from JOËL's menu:

Designers Charles and Ray Eames To Be Honored By US Postal Service

In recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, manufacturing and photographic arts, designers Charles and Ray Eames will be honored next summer with a pane of 16 stamps designed by Derry Noyes of Washington, DC. If you’ve ever sat in a stackable molded chair, you’ve experienced their creativity. Perhaps best known for their furniture, the Eameses were husband and wife as well as design partners. Their extraordinary body of creative work — which reflected the nation’s youthful and inventive outlook after World War II — also included architecture, films and exhibits. Without abandoning tradition, Charles and Ray Eames used new materials and technology to create high-quality products that addressed everyday problems and made modern design available to the American public.

J'aime la Bière!

A nice Saturday afternoon stroll through the store brought this home. Check back soon to see what will become of this extravagant collection...

Just a Good Burger

Nothing fancy, just a solid burger from McCray's in Lawrenceville, GA:

Owl Beer Spotted In Atlanta

We've been enjoying the Hitachino White Ale at JCT in Atlanta recently...let's hope it catches on...

James Brown Dinner

Tonight, the good people at Food 101 hosted a dinner honoring the music and the food of James Brown. Featured on the menu:

Red bean soup:


Fried oysters:


Shrimp & dirty rice:


Country fried pork chop:


Sweet potato tart:

Paul Gant's Bar-B-Que - Port St. Joe, Florida

Hard to believe that the world's best barbecue doesn't come from Tennessee, North Carolina or Georgia, but Florida's panhandle. Paul Gant's trailer on the side of Highway 98 in Port St. Joe, FL serves up pig that's miles above anyone else's:

Where the magic happens:

A Trip to Benton's Smokehouse

See the photos below from our pilgrimage to the smokiest place on Earth - Benton's Country Hams in Madisonville, Tennessee. They're finally caught up on back orders and are now accepting online orders again:

San Francisco

Pardon the cell phone photos...here are a few shots of things we ate in San Francisco and Napa Valley, most notably Zuni Cafe, Chez Panisse and Bouchon (I'm especially proud that five of the seven meals featured french fries):

Burgers, chili cheese fries, chili dog and sweet potato fries at Taylor's Refresher:


Lamb Sausage and pizza at Chez Panisse:


Goat Cheese Salad, Chez Panisse (the first appearance of a salad on the Green Olive blog?):


Zuni Burger:



Bouchon Steak Frites:



Press:





El Toro Taqueria:



In-N-Out Burger:

Smoke, bacon spotted in cocktails

We thought we'd seen it all when we ordered 'The Waylon' at Tailor (Chef Sam Mason's place) - a drink made with 'smoked cola' and whiskey. Now the folks at PDT are featuring the 'Benton's Old Fashioned,' which includes angostura bitters, maple syrup, and, yes, Benton's bacon-infused bourbon.

Tennessee

While we missed a few of our favorites in Nashville (Rotier's, Prince's Hot Chicken), we made it to San Antonio Taco Co. for the best steak tacos this side of Texas, discovered a decent barbecue place outside of Chattanooga, and had a nice meatloaf and pimento cheese sandwich at Mom and Dad's house. Also stopped by Hatch Show Print and the honky tonks of lower Broadway.

Hillbilly Willy's:

Big meal at San Antonio Taco:

Hatch Show Print:

Robert's:

Ernest Tubb Record Shop:

Meatloaf sandwich:

Best Meals of 2007 from Green Olive Media

Elizabeth Moore:
The Bo Ssam at Momofuku Ssam Bar

The Bo Ssam is a free-range organic whole pork butt, that's been braised in soy, sugar, and wine, and served with Hoison, oysters and fun stuff like kimchi, rice and bibb lettuce for wrapping. Chef David Chang is nothing short of a bad ass. Chef Tien Ho is always a pleasure. Minor always asks for Kempten and keeps the White Owl beer flowing...www.momofuku.com

Jeff Moore:
Boudin Balls - Cochon, New Orleans
(at the Southern Foodways Symposium in Oxford, MS)
Big balls of boudin, deep-fried. What's not to like?

Monkfish Liver - Prune, NYC
The fishiest thing I've ever eaten, 'fishy' being a good thing.

'Disco Fries' - BLT Burger, NYC
I had several plates of these fries with gravy and cheese this year, and these were the best, perhaps because of the use of waffle fries. Food 101's version with bone marrow gravy may have been just as good.

Hot Sausage - Southside Market, Elgin, TX
I had this twice this year, though neither time in Texas. Once at the Big Apple BBQ Fest, and once at the SFA Symposium. Perhaps this year I'll actually make it to the restaurant.

Literally Everything I Ate at Momofuku Ssam Bar - NYC
Whether it was straightforward stuff like pork buns and plates of ham, or the hamachi collar, tripe, or veal head terrine, nothing I had here was less than spectacular.

Chicken Liver - L&M's, Oxford, MS
I'm no expert on chicken liver, but this was miles above any other I've ever had. I think I had it four times in three days.

Paul Gant's Barbecue - Port St. Joe, FL
Just a trailer on the side of the road, with by far the best barbecue I've ever had.

Whole Roasted Pig / Rappahannock Oysters - Gryffon's Aerie Farm, Gordonsville, VA
A pig roasted over a fire for God-knows-how-many-hours by Jason from Comfort and Buz from Buz and Ned's, the best oysters I've had outside of Apalachicola (Rapahannock's Olde Salts), and a warm day on a beautiful farm made for a great meal. Even the High Lifes tasted pretty good.

Popeye's Chicken - At Billy Reid's store in Florence, AL
Sometimes the setting and the people are as important as the food. Although the chicken was pretty good by itself.