Guest blog from Atlanta Mom today, with a restaurant review from her fair city! All I have to say is she'd better take me here next time I visit. Have a great weekend!
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My husband and I have a lot to celebrate every fall. His birthday is in mid-August and our anniversary is September 2, followed by my birthday a week later. Every year I say that we should reverse our birthdays because by the time we get around to mine, we are often tired of babysitters and over-priced restaurants. This year his birthday was muddied more than usual by the back to school rush; he was traveling in Europe on our anniversary; and we had a school commitment the night of my birthday. So…we finally went out to celebrate all 3 events last Saturday night. And my sister babysat for free, which was an extra bonus (because it is so depressing to splurge on a nice dinner only to come home and hand someone at least $50 more). Anyway, I thought it would be appropriate to review this Atlanta restaurant because it was FABULOUS!
We went to Joël Brasserie (pronounced like Joelle, not like Billy Joel) in the Borghese development on Northside Drive. It used to be a super-fancy restaurant, but they recently closed for renovations, reopening as an upscale bistro. Neither of us had ever been, and what a treat it was!
My husband was not particularly adventurous (or apparently hungry), and he ordered, per his mom’s suggestion as she had recently been for lunch, the lobster cobb salad. Lobster upsets my stomach, so I didn’t taste it, but he said it was yummy. I, however, started with the heirloom tomatoes served with greens, cider dressing, and a sprinkle of fleur de sel—absolutely delicious. Is there anything better than good tomatoes? I don’t think so. For dinner, I ordered, by recommendation of our very capable server, the scallops (the sea bass was also tempting). They were beautifully seared, served over perfectly cooked zucchini risotto (I wouldn’t have known the zucchini was there if it weren’t listed in the menu description), and topped with a rich, very flavorful, chicken broth. The delicious aroma from the dish was just a prelude to how amazing it was. I’m not sure I could go there again and order something else—it was that good. With it, I had a generous glass of an Italian pinot grigio.
We ordered the dessert special to follow our entrees—a blackberry and apple crumble topped with lemon ice cream—a delightfully light way to end a fantastic meal. We topped off the night with a quick run to the bookstore before returning home to relieve our most affordable babysitter. We were very pleased with our yearly 3-fold celebration!
