Barbecue Review

  I stumbled on this video and thought it was relevant to my summer BBQ theme. This pretty much sums up the whole Deep South barbecue deal. Floridians I am truly sorry about the Southern reference.

Enjoy.

gf

The Place on Broad ~ Augusta, Georgia

  The wrought iron patio furniture makes The Place on Broad the perfect spot for a dinner on a beautiful spring day. Not to imply the inside of this restaurant is shabby at all, with its elegant bar and cozy booths. However, I am sure that it does not compare to the ambiance of a May afternoon in Augusta Georgia. Downtown Augusta is a twisted blend of businesses boxed in by the Savannah River, old neighborhoods, rail yards, and a sprawling collection of colleges. Maybe one day Augusta can get its act together and clean up Broad Street. Restaurants like The Place on Broad have reclaimed one or two blocks of Broad Street, but I believe there are more opportunities for growth downtown as the city leaders become resolute to work on the issues.

  Being the proud owner of a new camera, I was click-happy right out of the gate. However, by snapping pictures like the Paparazzi, I blew my cover as a sleuthing restaurant critic. I had a head waiter, a water-runner, a beer-runner, and assorted food-runners. The host also checked on the table often. Tip of the day: If one ever wants abnormally superior service, bust out a camera and go to work.

  The Spinach Dip came with toasted Pita Bread. (insert a long pause with much thought and contemplation) (OK, insert another pause and some finger tapping) No, nothing remarkable comes to mind about the Spinach Dip. Spinach and cream cheese... I did see one bit of red, maybe a tomato or a roasted pepper snuck in unnoticed. The covering of melted Gruyere cheese gave the dip a pleasant presentation. Unfortunately, looks are not everything. The dip was a bit thick and intensely  normal. I suggest that the chef toss in some roasted red peppers and some Peri-Peri Extra Hot Sauce to take this spinach dip to another level.

  Burgers were the star of the evening, but I chose to fight the mob and ordered the Avocado Crumble Salad topped with Mahi Mahi. The Avocado on the salad was perfect without any brown discoloring. That statement may sound odd, but I seem to be a magnet for brown Avocado. With the Mahi Mahi cooked perfectly, this was an outstanding salad. Fresh, bright, and enjoyable, it was a perfect match for the spring evening on Broad Street.

  The mushroom-topped burger, touted by my son Alex as "the best burger [consumed in recent history]", looked delicious.  I dove in and took a bite. I admit that this is an excellent burger. The Kaiser rolls toasted on the flat top with butter is what made these burgers superior. My theory is that a fantastic burger should always leave a permanent stain on your shirt. I am also a minimalist when it comes to burgers. An epic "gf" burger consists of quality ground beef cooked over a wood-burning grill, topped with aged cheddar cheese, and smashed between two pieces of buttered egg-buns, but hey, that is just me.

A "chilled out" guest

  The place on Broad is a delightful place to chill out. Maybe when it is time for a remodel the owner will consider renaming The Place on Broad to "The Place to Chill". What a fabulous place this is to enjoy your company and just relax. We people-watched for a whole twenty minutes after the meal. The occasional weird dude walking down the sidewalk makes a convenient excuse to buy another beer. Never underestimate the impact of weird dudes. "Do me a solid and get me another brew" almost came out of my mouth. One cannot get much more "chilled" than that.

 Overall, this was a pleasant dining experience. I hope that The Place on Broad will survive and become a fixture in downtown Augusta. The staff was excellent on this slowish-beginning of a Saturday evening. I will have to come back when they are busy (without my camera), to find out if they can perform under pressure.

  Check out their menu and their store website at theplaceonbroad.com.

Thanks for reading,
gf

La Famiglia, Marietta Georgia

  My wife and I generally do not plan to do anything for each other on Valentine's day. We do not think too highly of the holiday. Maybe it is the half thought-out frantic purchasing of trivial goodies that bothers us. It seems as though the majority of couples wait for one event to show love for their significant other. I had the day off before Valentine's day, so we went on our monthly shopping spree at the Wholefoods Market in Marietta. Since it was early in the evening, we decided to eat at the Marietta Square. It is never a good idea to go to Wholefoods Market on an empty stomach. Since my wife would not be expecting anything for Valentine's day, I used it as my opportunity to be tricky. I had cleverly hidden a card and a chocolate bar as a special treat for my Valentine. Hopefully, La Famiglia Italian Restaurant would not let me down.

  My instinctive animal-like timing was impeccable as usual. We were among the first guests seated for what was to be a busy dinner service. We were greeted immediately and courteously. The tables were set with a festive red and white "Valentinish" theme. There was local artwork on the walls although it did not necessarily match the Italian decor. However, one might be a nice addition in your sun room or kitchen. A simple change of placement of the picture closest to us would have been a no-brainer. It could have covered the cracked and poorly painted electrical panel that butted into our table. Maybe I have just been "over Sunflowered" here of late. Clear, Italian-looking light bulbs were strung though the dining room. I was conflicted by the lights. I think they would have been more aesthetic if they were the only lights that were seen. The big square florescent lights with square diffusers took away from the whole Italian string light deal.

  The menu screamed 1963. One thing that put me off was the "Keep your kid in their chair, and keep them quiet." prologue as you opened the menu. It really astonished me. It was a half a page of ranting of how the owners raised their kids so that they behaved in public. Therefore, we should all follow suit, or just go away. La Famiglia you should just take that out of your menu. If you cannot bear the thought of a kid being a kid in your restaurant, just add twenty dollars to every entrée. That should do the trick. You may go broke, but you will not have to worry about kids anymore. But wait, what does "La Famiglia" mean? Oh yeah, Family. For a minute I thought it meant "Sit down and be quiet" (siediti e stai zitto). Other than that, it was a standard Italian menu. The server came and took our drink and appetizer order. He told us of the specials of the night. The first special was a fish special (I never like the sound of that), and a Squash Ravioli. I chose the Squash Ravioli, and my bride chose sauteed eggplant with sun-dried tomatoes in a red sauce with penne.

  The food was the star of the show. My ravioli dish was the three-point-at-the-buzzer money shot. Awesome. My wife said that the red sauce was spicy, but that just means that it was a good red sauce. The salad and bread that came with the meal was fresh and delicious. While enjoying the house wine, my wife was surprised by my touching Valentine and her Chai organic chocolate bar.

  We had our mouths set for dessert, especially Cannolis. The waiter brought the dessert menu. There it was, another menu challenge in front of us again. The dessert menu was old and tattered, and did not have Cannolis on it. No Cannolis. Fail. We settled for Limoncello and expresso gelatos with coffee. The desserts were excellent as was the coffee. Excellent Job. We conquered our Cannoli  cravings by purchasing the ingredients and making them the next day. Yummidge.

  Our server Yanni was attentive and pleasant, and we lacked for nothing. Overall we had a great time. The food was excellent. Hats off to the Chef and kitchen staff. 

  I will start ranking these blogs with the whole five star standard. However, I will not use stars. In this case I will use Cannolis.

 La Famiglia of Marietta Georgia I give thee four Cannolis.

gulfshorelife.com

Thanks for reading,

gf