West Egg Cafe

http://www.westeggcafe.com/
1100 Howell Mill Rd
Atlanta, GA 30318

Taking its name from The Great Gatsby, the West Egg Cafe nestles up in the more popular West Side of Atlanta along the old railroads.  It has that neighborhood comfortable feeling when you step in.  As you cross the threshold a fresh bakery and full coffee bar aromas make for a pleasant olfactory overload.

I was grateful to have been invited by my friend Jess, with Good Measure Meals, to join for their fundraiser.  They raise money for the charity Project Open Hand, which provides healthy meals to people and families who have been affected by some chronic disease.  It is a very cool and important charity and I urge you to take a look at how you can help. Now, on to the meal....

Although it was Wednesday, $10 burger and pint night, I was in the mood for breakfast (served all day) and ordered up myself the Fried Green Tomato Wrap with bacon, eggs, and cheese.  I personally just thought mine was alright, nothing too special and my side of grits weren't the best I've had.  Katy had the Fried Green Tomato BLT with pimento cheese and greens.  Her meal was a bit better than mine but the top dog was what Emily ordered.  The "PB&J" burger.  Pimento cheese - Bacon & tomato Jam double burger.  I had a bite and regretted my need to always want breakfast for dinner.  It is their specialty and easy to see why, definitely try it out!  The portions are large and we weren't able to get one of their homemade milk shakes, which are supposed to be superb along with their Coca-Cola Cupcake.  I do want to go back again and give another meal a try.  As if the PB&J burger and coke cupcake aren't enough to make your dining experience memorable, they also provide a photo booth in the coffee shop to make the memory last.

*Please let me know if you want more information on how to give to Project Open Hand

ChaChah

www.chachahnashville.com
2013 Belmont Blvd
Nashville, TN 37212

I had made a decision early in the summer to go up to visit my grandparents on the farm for a weekend in Indiana.  Because neither Katy nor I had ever been out in Nashville we wanted to break up the 8 hour drive and see what kind of food Music City had to offer.  Upon looking at some restaurants, I found Arnold Myint from Top Chef and his numerous claims.  Only two of those were on Open Table and because we didn't want to limit our palate to just Asian food (Suzy Wong's House of Yum) we chose ChaChah for the variety.

First off, when visiting Nashville DO NOT stay at Opryland!  It is too big, too crowded, and too far away.  Second, if you are just passing through for one night try not to pick the weekend of the CMA Music Fest.  As you can imagine, we did both and it hindered our time there.  I don't hold a grudge against Nashville for this one night, but it was not the most pleasant stay.  The one redeeming thing was we were able to have a wonderful dining experience.  Our waiter was superb and attentive, granted we may have been 2 of the 8 people in the restaurant all night....including Arnold.

Hopefully the reason it was empty was because of students leaving Belmont* for the summer or because everyone was downtown getting autographs, it certainly wasn't due to the food.  We ordered a bottle of wine and some tapas.  With a few recommendations from our waiter we settled on brussels sprouts, 'elotes' -shaved corn with chipotle butter, chorizo croquettas, crab fritters, and the lamb meatballs with yogurt.  The portions were fine and the food fully flavorful.  In my opinion, the star of the night was the lamb meatballs.  While displayed on a stick, the art showcased a new twist to an ordinary ball of meat.  After the meal we corked our bottle of wine and headed back to Opryland.  We will be back to Nashville again.

*Possibly the coolest area of any city I have been to in a while. The homes were old but still felt relevant.  Looked like a great area and neat place to live.