Atlanta Quarantine Eats Week 3
Welcome to Week 3 (7/3 - 7/5) of Quarantine Eats.
I don’t know about you, but the one thing keeping Nizar and I sane during quarantine is getting take out. So, every week I will share my weekend take-out adventures in the hopes that it will inspire some of you to support different local restaurants & pop-ups impacted by Covid-19 along with supporting the many black-owned businesses in Atlanta.
Our goal is to try one or two black-owned restaurants/pop-ups every week and/or purchase from a place that is donating a portion of their proceeds in the fight towards racial justice. I recognize that this alone is not enough in the fight towards racial justice but this is one direct way I know I can publicly help elevate black voices. Lastly, make sure to share your take-out photos to social media and spread the word - you don’t have to be a food blogger to do that! Thanks for coming to my ZD Talk!
weekend summary
Friday, July 3rd
Dessert
It’s been hard to find places that can make small cakes on short notice and taste great, but BakerDude Bakery & Cafe did just that. They were able to create an anniversary cake for my in-laws with 48-hour notice. The ordering process was very easy. I was able to specify the type of cake, icing, amount of icing, piping, etc. I forgot to specify a color for the piping, but what they picked turned out nice. When it came time to pick-up, it was completely contactless as they brought the cake straight to the car.
We also added on a few cupcakes to sample and I’m glad we did. Pictured above are the lemon lavender and snickerdoodle-doo cupcakes. My favorite was the snickerdoodle-doo. Pro-tip, do not eat these straight out of the refrigerator. Let them get to room temperature (at least an hour) and the cake will be super moist!
BakerDude also has a full cafe menu with sweet and savory breakfast/lunch dishes, so I will have to go back to give it a try! This is a #blackowned business located inside The Beacon and will definitely satisfy your sweet cravings!
dinner
If that picture doesn’t make you want to try Pizza Jeans, then I don’t know what will. Pizza Jeans is the pizza concept created by the Root Baking Co. team. Pizza Jeans is available on Fridays and Saturdays for curbside pick-up at Ponce City Market. I love the ordering process. Place your order online, park in one of the “curbside” parking spots, call them and tell them what number you are parked on and two minutes later you have your warm pizza with instructions for reheating!
The menu always has three pizzas, a red pie, a white pie, and a Chef’s special pie that changes weekly. The pictured pie is a red pie with the addition of Calabrian peppers and roasted garlic. I love that you can add additional toppings. Their crust is amazing and the pizza itself has amazing flavor. I typically go for their white pie but switched it up and really enjoyed this one.
If you know me at all, then you know that Root Baking Co. is one of my top ten favorite places to eat in Atlanta. I’ve been going there religiously since they opened. Not only do they do pizza, but they have amazing bread, sandwiches, pastries, etc. They are only open Friday/Saturday for pizza and Saturdays for bread/pastries pick-up due to Covid-19, but it’s worth the wait. However, you can also find their bread at Whole Foods, Third Street Goods, and Morningside Farmer’s Market. And FYI, Root Baking Co. is co-owned by a black, female entrepreneur and her husband!
Saturday, july 4th
breakfast
Candler Park
I read about Poco Loco in this article by Lia Picard and then heard great feedback from my friend Christine, so had to try it! As the article notes, the chef at Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q, Nick Melvin, furloughed himself to save the job of two of his employees. However, how can a chef really stay out of the kitchen for that long? Enter, Poco Loco. In addition to the breakfast burrito options that change weekly, Chef Melvin also offers up fresh salsas, agua frescas, and the most amazing chocolate chip cookie sandwiches for purchase.
Last Saturday, we tried the Shrimp Veracruz Burrito and the Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dulce de Leche Buttercream. Both dishes were delicious. The burrito had this smoky flavor that Nizar and I loved and I can’t stop thinking about the cookie. It’s the perfect balance of salty and sweet and the buttercream paired so well with the chocolate chips. You have to try it for yourself to understand how good it was!
So how does it work? Check Poco Loco’s Instagram account at 11 am on Wednesday for the weekly menu. Email your order and wait for confirmation. Once you’ve received confirmation you Venmo the money and pick-up on Saturday morning. Easy Peasy! Things sell out fast, so you will want to send a reminder! And I also just learned you can sign up to be on their mailing list for early bird access!
Coffee / Breakfast
I talked about Perc Coffee and Bread is Good in my Week 1 & Week 2 of Quarantine Eats, so I won’t get into too much detail. But in short, Perc Coffee had a pop-up on the patio of their new space, which will officially open in August. Sarah Dodge of Bread is Good also provided a preview of many of the bread, pastry & breakfast items we can expect when Perc fully opens. I got an iced latte, focaccia, and an everything bagel. Most of the pastries were sold out within an hour of opening, so make sure you arrive early to their next pop-up.
Give them both a follow on Instagram to keep up with all of the happenings!
Afternoon coffee
Just Add Honey is a hidden gem located behind LadyBird, easily accessible from the Eastside Beltline trail. This #blackowned tea and coffee shop not only offers drinks to-go but also sells loose-leaf tea for purchase. And they ship domestically, so you don’t have to be from Atlanta to support this business!
Our go-to drink is the Honey Lavender Latte with espresso. It takes a few minutes to make because they actually brew the tea to order and then compose the latte part. It’s not just a syrup! Talk about caring about your craft! As far as their loose-leaf goes, the teas are blended in-house. Most of the tea ingredients are sourced locally with some exceptions for international sourcing. This past Saturday, we grabbed the Mint to Be and Oolong teas. The Mint to Be blend is so unique, it has citrus peels and rosehip in it. It’s not your average mint tea!
FYI, their original location is in the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, and they also pop-up at a few farmer’s markets in Atlanta.
Sunday, July 5th
lunch
For the month of July, Phở Cue, a Vietnamese BBQ concept, decided to partner / collaborate with a new pop-up every Sunday in a mano’s parking lot. This past Sunday’s pop-up featured Ry’s Table, a concept focused on seasonally driven cuisine with Thai & Ayurvedic influences. They collaborated on one dish and then also each had their own menus. A majority of what I ordered was from Ry’s Table but the little that I did order from Phở Cue was fantastic.
Ry’s Table
I honestly enjoyed everything we ordered from Ryanne of Ry’s Table. Ryanne sources all her ingredients locally and you can really tell. Her meal was the perfect complement to the gross, hot Atlanta weather we have been having. We enjoyed our Sweet Potato Noodle Bowl, Imperial Rolls (featuring crispy rice skins), and the Cacao Bowl. The Cacao Bowl was a chia seed pudding complemented with a bunch of delicious “extras”. I liked that it wasn’t overly sweet like most places. The other dishes seemed so simple but had amazing flavor. Ryanne spent some time in Thailand, so clearly knows how to develop these flavors. Read more about her here.
In addition to pop-ups, Ryanne has her own superfoods granola business, Supanola, which you can see featured in the Cacao Bowl. You can find her on certain weekends at the Green Market at Piedmont Park (Park Tavern) or the Grant Park Farmer’s Market.
Phở Cue
I’ve been wanting to try Phở Cue for a while now. I’m not always the biggest fan of “American” barbecue, so I really gravitate towards more fusion BBQ. I loved the Vietnamese flavors that came out in the brisket egg rolls. We also ordered a basil pesto pasta salad which was delicious. I’d like to go back to try more of their menu items like the Brisket Banh Mis & Brisket Fries! You can find them popping up at a mano again this Sunday with Adobo, a Filipino-American pop-up.
Have you tried any of these places? Let me know in the comments below!