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Back Trippin' - Bacchanalia - July 2007

Bacchanalia
1198 Howell Mill Rd
Atlanta, GA 30318

After starting the evening with our favorite gin cocktails (gin and tonic for Mr. Plow, gin gimlet for me), we were treated to not one but two amuses-bouches -- a bite-sized puff pastry filled with cheese and a small sipping cup of cold potato soup topped with pickled onion. 

Then the fun really began!

For starters, I selected the trochon of foie gras, a sinfully creamy disc of liver served with what appeared to be chunks of - I kid you not - peanut brittle. The buttery warmth of the foie gras in combination with the crunchy sweetness of the brittle was an unexpected delight. Mr. Plow started with a heaping bowl of pan fried sweetbreads that had been stewed in a luscious brown sauce with potatoes and onions. Who knew pancreas could be so delicious? Seriously, that bowl of "sweetbreads stew" could make for some mighty expensive comfort food!

For the main course, Mr. Plow selected the deliciously savory grilled duck breast served with spicy corn pancakes while I went for the tenderloin "pot au feu," consisting of three crazy-tender slices of beef tenderloin, a Kobe short rib, a rich beef broth filled with green beans, onions, and garlic, and a ... giant bone from which I dug out the decadent marrow with a specially-designed "spoon."

At Bacchanalia, the third course is called "cheese and contrast." My cheese was a creamy, fresh-made goat's milk cheese contrasted with pickled beets and sprinkled with arugula. I used to make fun of my mother for eating beets. I have to apologize. Those beets were delicious -- and I have the blood-red beet juice stains on my white dress shirt to prove it! Mr. Plow's cheese was a Parmigiano-Reggianno contrasted with caramelized dates, dates so caramelized that they tasted like a date cake!

Speaking of cake...dessert! At Bacchanalia each diner really gets TWO desserts because prior to being served the dessert you've ordered, you are presented with an "intermezzo." Last night's "intermezzo" was an incredible lemon-buttermilk panna cotta topped with fresh blueberries and an almond granola. (I would have left satisfied if this had been the one-and-only dessert!) Mr. Plow's choice for his actual dessert was a goat's cheesecake sitting atop a sweet brittle and topped with fresh blackberries. I opted for the inexplicably delicious summer squash cake, topped with a dollop of ice cream and served with slivers of caramelized summer squash!


Bacchanalia (July 19, 2007)

Amuses-Bouches
Cheese Puffed Pastry
Cold Potato Soup with Pickled Onion

Starters
Seared Foie Gras with Peanut Brittle
Pan-Fried Sweetbreads “Stew” with Potatoes and Onions

Main Courses
Grilled Duck Breast with Spicy Corn Pancakes
“Pot-au-Feu” - Beef Tenderloin, Kobe Short Rib, & Marrow 
with Green Beans, Onions, & Garlic in Broth

Cheeses and Contrasts
Creamy Goat’s Milk Cheese with Pickled Beets and Arugula
Parmigiano-Reggiano with Carmelized Dates

Intermezzo (Pre-Dessert)
Lemon-Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Blueberries and Almond Granola

Desserts
Goat’s Cheesecake with Blackberries
Summer Squash Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream and Caramelized Summer Squash

Petit Fours
Caramelized Grapefruit
Brown Sugar Shortbread
Hazelnut Brownies
Traditional Madeleines
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