Delicate small plates are abundant

Of course “over the top” is a relative term. My husband’s gestures often include a decadent meal. And since the birth of my two Little Foodies, we have celebrated by stuffing ourselves silly at the Ritz Carlton Downtown. Probably one of the most lavish affairs in town, I can only liken this event to an elaborate wedding. From the beautifully set tables with chiavari chairs, to the gorgeous ice sculptures and dramatic mood lighting in hues of violet and fuchsia, the second you enter the room you definitely feel like it is your big day. My husband is just happy to come along for the ride. Anything and everything you could possible crave at a formal brunch buffet is there.

Who doesn’t love a good raw bar?

Strolling around with Big A, as the live band plays jazz, we prioritize (i.e., skip the bread).  Long tables wrap the entire perimeter with typical brunch spreads, including Big A’s favorite, raw and smoked seafood, my favorite, the ever-present omelet station, and Little A’s favorite, fresh Belgian waffles. The show doesn’t stop there. There is a sushi bar, along with what I like to call the “put me over the edge bar” of carved meats. Then there are exquisitely presented small plates scattered throughout, with items such as delicious Bourbon braised short ribs with English pea risotto, or roasted corn and lobster ravioli with Japanese mushroom ragout.  I consider them the perfect gourmet Little Foodie dishes. If your kids are more finicky, head to the children’s-height buffet for the typical standbys: hotdogs, chicken fingers, mac n’ cheese, and fries. There is even a communal table set up with coloring and cartoons, in case you are desperate to keep them occupied while you leisurely sip your mimosa.

The desserts will put you over the edge…

Another room features desserts that include the cliché (yet Little Foodie favorite) chocolate fountain, and perfectly sized delicious southern treats like pecan pies, banana pudding, and fried pies. I always get my money’s worth by hitting up the French macarons.

Big A selecting Mommy’s favorite for an arrangement.

I love that they are so kid-friendly and seem to offer an endless amount of highchairs. The past few years, Big A has played little florist, hitting up the “pop-up flower shop” to create an arrangement for her mommy. This year, coined “The Year of the Polka Dot” will feature a polka-dot studded dessert buffet, which includes a “Junior Sweet Genius Corner” for children to design a cake for mom. Let’s just hope that whoever is orchestrating doesn’t sound like the host from the Food Network show. They might just come crying to mommy, and as mothers, this is supposed to be our day off (yeah right!)

Adult Buffet – $80.00

Children (3-12) – $40.00

181 Peachtree Street N.E., Atlanta, GA 30303

www.ritzcarlton.com

Fact:

• 16 million children (1 in 5) in the U.S. struggle with hunger.
• Nearly half of all people who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps) are kids.
• 21 million U.S. kids receive a free or reduced-price school lunch, but only half of those kids also get breakfast, even though they’re eligible.
• Only 1 in 7 kids who get free and reduced-price school lunches also receive summer meals.
• Hunger has a huge effect on how a child performs at school. In fact, 9 out of 10 teachers say having a healthy breakfast is key to academic achievement.

Let’s turn these facts into fiction!

To celebrate My Little Foodies’ first birthday blogging, join us and other local food bloggers, bakers, and local food personalities this Saturday, May 4^th at the Cook’s Warehouse at Ansley Mall (1544 Piedmont Road) from 9 a.m.-1p.m.,for a delicious bake sale supporting Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry initiative to end childhood hunger in America.

If you cannot make it to the sale, I encourage you to host one of your own bake sales. Get into the kitchen with your Little Foodies, let them get their hands dirty, and teach them about how lucky they are to eat healthy and delicious meals every day!

After each session (in which Little A is compensated for his time and participation), along with many Marcus, CDC, and Emory employees, Little A treats for lunch at Pita Palace. He is always down for what I consider to be the best falafel in the city at this Kosher dive that has an extremely loyal following.  Order a succulent shwarma sandwich of chicken and lamb cooked rotisserie style and load up on the rainbow of delicious veggies at the salad bar. You can’t go wrong with some Israeli salad, a variety of cabbages, delicious Israeli pickles, and sinful fried eggplant and fried pita chips. Make sure the friendly staff includes some fresh hummus, baba ganoush, tehina, or amba (pickled mango sauce) in your sandwich. It is the perfect way to recover from a hard morning’s work!

Fresh Shwarma Shaved Off the Spit

The unlimited salad bar can be a meal in of itself…

Little A enjoys his falafel decomposed.

If you are pregnant or have a baby under 3 months and want more information as to how you can enroll for the study at Marcus Autism Center, click here.

Falafel Pita-$5.45

Shwarma Pita-$9.45

Consider getting a half order of your Little Foodies

www.thepitapalace.com

1658 La Vista Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30329

Lovely Ladies Make Their Rounds with Shrimp-Stuffed Eggplant

When it comes to Dim Sum, my husband and I practice what we preach to Big and Little A: “try it and you make like it.” We certainly have our favorites, including the cloud-like steamed BBQ pork buns (cha siu bao) and chinese broccoli with oyster sauce. Big A is always game for dumplings, with steamed shrimp (har gau) topping her list of favorites . Little A loves the sticky rice with sausage. My personal favorite is the omni-present siu mai or open-topped steamed pork dumpling and rolled rice noodles (cheong fan) stuffed with shrimp or beef and drizzled with sweet soy sauce.

Classic Siu Mai, Pork Dumplings

Always a Little Foodie crowd-pleaser!

Rolled-Rice Noodles stuffed with beef or shrimp…

Where cultures collide. A perfect Southern dish…BBQ pork hand pie. Otherwise known as char siu so.

We even recently tried, at the insistence our friends’ daughter, the fried, steamed chicken feet (fung zao). She claimed it was not her “Chinese cup of tea,” nor was it ours, sporting a unique texture only experience when sucking on the digits of a chicken. Big A was not going near it, no matter what the bribe.  Little A, too young to know better, or perhaps the true foodie of the family, seemed to enjoy the taste of sweet and savory fermented soy bean sauce.  Of course any Little Foodie loves dessert, often prematurely presented before you feel as if they have eaten an adequate meal. My Little Foodies particularly love the simple Malaysian steamed sponge cake (ma lai go), which is perfect for the parents while finishing off that last cup of tea!

Chicken feet…for the pros. Flavor a lot better than the texture.

Our brave friend intrigued by the Chicken Feet! 

10 Tips to Dim Sum

1)  Try it…you might like it. Even the chicken feet!

2)  Bring friends and share. This is what makes the Dim Sum experience fun. Cut items in half so you can try more things.

3)  Drink the tea. Dim sum originated in tea houses, so it is only appropriate. Your Little Foodies will delight in a few sips in the teacups like the rest of your party.

4)  Don’t order multiples of the same dish until you see the variety. Inevitably you will be stuffed right when the dish you were looking for finally rolls around.

5)  If you see something that you want from across the room, don’t be afraid to get up and get it. Bring your card so it can get stamped.

6)  If you don’t see what you are looking for, ask your waiter.

7)  Order larger dishes off the regular menu (for picky eaters).

8)  Chopsticks are the norm, but don’t feel bad requesting a fork if necessary.

9)  Go with the flow when it comes to stamping. I used to be paranoid that we were getting charged more since the stamps were indecipherable, and it seemed very arbitrary as to what constituted a small, medium, and large dish. In the end, you will leave stuffed for a reasonable amount (just a few dollars for each dish).

10)  Go Christmas Day! Maybe it’s because we are Jewish and there is the whole obligatory Chinese meal and movie thing going on, but if you are looking for the perfect place for a family meal, Dim Sum is the way to go!

 *Warning: If you have a peanut, soy, egg, gluten, or any other allergy, I highly recommend that you not partake in the yum yum of Dim Sum.*

Oriental Pearl

 5399 New Peachtree Rd 
Chamblee, GA 30341

I was shocked then when I saw the report that Hasbro had announced plans on Monday to unveil a black and silver Easy-Bake Oven. Click here to read the full article.

I admit it. I have hit a dining “wall” with my 22-month-old Little Foodie. My closest friends and biggest critics are often skeptical about my family’s ability to enjoy a dining experience with a 5-year-old and a 22-month-old. And while they both still enjoy a variety of foods, Little A’s patience has dwindled significantly. Our evenings out of late have included an immediate request to order the second we sit down (even if we have never seen the menu, it has become a game-time decision), the check, and a to-go box (just in case), all in one fell swoop.

This no-knead dough recipe makes enough for 6 pizzas…enough for a party. Make them all and freeze the extras.

It was a rude awakening for us when Little A just couldn’t manage to hang out for a long meal; clearly our dining experiences with Big A were an anomaly. So instead of watching our little man morph from Dr. Banner to the Hulk trying to bust out of his high chair after he is sated, we have come up with more fun and interactive meals with friends at home. Lately, we have enjoyed hosting weekly pizza parties, where the children are free to roam in between creating some of the most delicious pizza (it’s all about the dough) I have eaten.

Set out all of the toppings in bowls and let your Foodies create their masterpieces.

I used to buy my pizza dough at Trader Joe’s, Publix, or Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market until an issue of Bon Appetite magazine with bubbly, charred-crust pizza on the cover caught my and Little A’s eye. It became a go-to magazine for him to peruse as it sat on my coffee table for months. I always thought making pizza dough from scratch would be such a hassle, until one day I sucked it up as something fun and easy for Big A to create with me in the kitchen. We have been making homemade pizzas almost weekly ever since. The only advance prep is the no-knead dough, which needs to sit overnight to ferment. Grab your favorite toppings and a simple can of crushed Marzano tomatoes, and you are in business.  Let your Little Foodies get creative. Big A still enjoys her signature creation of “Edamame and Salami” which she developed as soon as she could say the rhyming duo. Here are some other fun topping suggestions.

Fresh veggies and crushed San Marzanos straight from the can make the perfect pizza!

Veggies: Cherry Tomatoes, Roasted Red Peppers, Peas, Spinach, Brussel Sprouts, Roasted Zucchini, Roasted Eggplant (I buy all pre-bagged at Trader Joe’s).

Proteins: Uncured Salami, Proscuitto, Grilled Chicken, Crumbled Veggie Burgers, Sliced Turkey or Chicken Meatballs

Cheeses: Bocconcini (fresh mozzarella balls), Shredded Mozzarella, Ricotta, Shredded Parmigiano Reggiano

Little Foodies are more likely to eat their veggies if they had a hand making the dish. Here peas and shredded brussel sprouts make a delicious pie.

While the blog isn’t going anywhere, stay tuned for more creative at-home foodie activities and restaurants that have great take-out!

Named after the WWII refugee transport ship that carried West Egg Café’s Jennifer Johnson’s maternal grandparents, both Holocaust survivors, to New York in 1949, The General Muir “sails” into town captained by Jennifer and husband Ben, West Egg Café’s Shelley Sweet, and Chef Todd Ginsberg, formerly of Bocado.

A Smattering of Deli Goodness

Atlanta was in desperate need of some good deli, and The General Muir is a more modern take on this beloved cuisine, whose presence has significantly diminished over the years.  The bright, modern, subway-tiled space and long bar (yes they serve cocktails) that runs from the deli (quick take-out) to the dining room is more reminiscent of a French brasserie than the typical crusty-boothed joints that might come to mind.

Scrumptious Potato Latkes

The menu features classics like matzoh ball soup, which is spot-on. The fluffy ball sits in a delicious, tastes-like-it’s-straight-from-my-grandmother’s-kitchen broth with perfectly chopped celery and herbs: pure perfection. Little A took delight in two perfectly salted potato latkes with applesauce and sour cream, and my husband was beyond excited to eat a Reuben, in which the corned beef was cured in-house (pretty sure they are the first deli in Atlanta to do so).  The smoked hash, featuring crispy hunks of house-cured pastrami sautéed with potatoes, cabbage, peppers, and caramelized onions, formed a sumptuous mound under the most perfectly cooked and seasoned sunny side eggs.  Pastries such as the cake-like black and white cookies and rugelach stay true to old-school form.

Corned Beef Hash…A Perfect Breakfast

Then there are the deli main stays to which Ginsberg has added that extra touch/refinement/twist. The communal pickle bowl is replaced with a rainbow collection of veggies, including spicy carrots, “station-style” red cabbage, pickled radishes and beets, new pickles, and bread and butter pickles. More unique offerings include a vegetarian Reuben (a meatless deli sandwich? Oy, vey!) made with coriander rubbed and smoke beets appeases those who don’t salivate at the thought of everything that is wonderful about deli (e.g., chopped liver, pastrami, and corned beef), and open faced homemade kettle boiled bagels with nova or lox, a schmear (a spread of cream cheese for those that don’t speak Yiddish), but topped with more distinctive ingredients such as salmon roe, grapefruit, or avocado.

Grapefruit and Avocado…Delish and Unique Toppings for a Nova & Bagel

Even with some delightfully modern twists on the menu, The General Muir delivers a tremendous tribute to the important gastronomic and cultural tradition that is deli.  We look forward to many more meals with family and friends in a place that makes us feel right at home.

Matzoh Ball Soup – $6.00

Corned Beef Reuben – $12.00

Smoked Hash Plate – $10.00

Potato Latkes  - $5.00

Assorted Pickles – $5.00

Avenue A  (nova, schmear, avocado, grapefruit, cucumber, onion, dill) – $11.00

www.thegeneralmuir.com

 1540 Ave Place, B-230
Atlanta, GA 30329

1. The Produce – Amazingly fresh with a significant organic area, you can find some of the freshest and unique produce around. Samples are abundant, as we enjoyed fresh mango and peppers incorporated into basil rolls. They were also sampling fruits that many aren’t familiar with such as persimmon and dragon fruit.

2. The Variety - I guarantee you will find many items you have never seen before. The variety of peppers, for example, is astonishing.

3. The Cost – Shopping at a Farmers Market is a great money-saving alternative to a specialty grocer, which often charges significantly higher prices for items such as spices. Here you get more for less, so you can actually replace your spices every so often as recommended instead of hoarding some specialty ones.  I admit I still have a few jars purchased in college.

4. The People – Employees here are more than friendly and helpful. They are also really knowledgeable as natives from each region staff their area of the market.

5. The Samples - Delicious and abundant. Last Saturday we had fresh basil rolls, full-size meat and cheese quesadillas, chips and salsa, rigatoni, baklava, ramen, Russian caramels, and the list goes on.

6. The Seafood – A fresh, immense variety to satisfy any pescetarian. Don’t forget to check out the fresh sushi and sushi-grade cuts of fish in the Asian side of the market.

7. The Eastern European Section - I had never seen this kind of selection of Eastern European foods in this city before coming to the market. My husband could spend hours perusing all the smoked fishes and caviars. There is an amazing Russian bakery with the most delicious piroshkis and homemade blintzes. It is also my go-to resource for real half-sour pickles. Don’t forget to stop by and say hello to Alexander, the Market’s friendly Russian baker and deli-man!

8. The Dumplings – Made fresh while you wait and steamed to perfection. This alone is worth a trip, as evidenced by the 30-minute wait for these juicy bites of perfection last weekend. The beef and the kimchee are our favorites.

9. The Food Court – Don’t forget to allot some time for a trip to the food court on your way out for such delicious treats as fresh made crepes with nutella or homemade “poffertjes” – mini-Dutch pancakes covered with fruit, whipped cream, and powdered sugar.

10. The Free Face Painting Every Saturday – Always a kid pleaser. A parent pleaser too when it’s free too!

11. The Toys - Okay so there are many more than 10 reasons including the authentic toys. From Russian matryoshka dolls (My Little Foodies’ favorite) to Hello Kitty gear imported directly from Japan, you can take home an authentic something for your little ones.

www.aofwc.com

5600 Buford Hwy NE
Doraville, GA 30340

It may be hard to find a better way to support the community than by dining at Café Jonah and the Magical Attic.  Conceived by the iconic Jenny Levinson of Souper Jenny, our family has come to love this cozy lunch and brunch spot in the heart of Buckhead. Jenny has given the Atlanta community so much in terms of “real food” to feed our stomachs and souls, and Café Jonah is just another example of how she gives back to the community.

10% of all sales go to local charities that you, the guest and diner in this charming old home, get to select. Upon purchase of a delicious assortment of homemade salads and sandwiches (usually no soups here), you receive a gold coin that you can then drop in a basket to vote where you would like the profits to go. This is a great teaching opportunity if you happen to be dining with your Little Foodies, as we are just beginning to instill in them the value of philanthropy. I usually read Big A descriptions of each charity (this quarter’s proceeds are going to Street Grace, Atlanta Day Shelter, and “locals who need our help”) or “translate” into 5-year-old terms, and let her decide into which basket she puts her coin.

Sunday brunch for our family is a highlight. I can immediately sate My Little Foodies without a wait for a table or a wait for the food, and because the quality and selection are unparalleled. The all-you-can-eat buffet includes tables lined with delicious mini, sweet potato biscuits topped with goat cheese and homemade fig jam, sliced nova, Greek wheatberry salad, brocolini and balsamic, pasta salad, organic chicken salad (made with Greek yogurt in lieu of mayo), Highland Bakery mini sugar-sanded and chocolate-covered donuts, iced cinnamon rolls, cheesy grits, organic frittatas, steel-cut oatmeal with gogi berries and hemp seeds, fresh, pre-segmented grapefruit, warm biscuits and bagels with Fairywood Thicket Farm’s strawberry-lavender jam, and the list goes on. Similar to lunch, 10% of the profit goes to charity.  However, for Sunday brunch you are encouraged to “pay what you think it’s worth.” There is a suggested price of $5-$10 per kid age 6-11 and  $15-$20 per adult. “Souper Jenny” has certainly demonstrated her generosity with this little gem, named affectionately after her son, in the Buckhead community. Now it’s just your job to show up, eat, and give generously to pay it forward.

“Pay What You Think It’s Worth” Sunday Brunch Buffet-$What you think it’s worth!

www.cafejonah.com

3188 Paces Ferry Place
Atlanta, GA 30305

Nothing says happy birthday like a box of doughnuts!

I denied Big A’s request that we serve shrimp dumplings and edamame for her birthday this year, opting for something a little more mainstream to appease her more picky guests (Publix chicken tenders, edamame, and fruit). I did, however, jump at the chance to purchase one of our family birthday favorites: a “Happy Birthday” box of Sublime Doughnuts!  Once we whip out one of these boxes in lieu of cake, both children and parents eagerly bite into a fresh smores, butter toffee, orange dream, dulce de leche, or the signature A-Town (similar to Boston) cream. It was actually the thought of serving doughnuts in the shape of an “A” for Big A’s birthday a few years ago that led me to Sublime in the first place, and we have been coming back ever since.

S’more + Dougnut = Happy Little Children

Voted Best Bakery in America last year by Bake Magazine, owner Kamal Grant concocts some of the best gourmet doughnuts I have ever eaten. Not only can they create the Happy Birthday Box, but they can also customize your birthday boy or girl’s name with at least 24 hours notice. And while most of the parents politely decline slices of both pizza and cake, they will certainly “eat one that’s worth it,” so don’t forget to order extra!

The parents cannot resist.

Happy Birthday Box-$22.75

Doughnuts-$1.00-$2.00

535 Tenth St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30318

www.sublimedoughnuts.com