Top Places of Atlanta

Holy Moly, this latest trip to Atlanta has been filled with gastronomic awesomeness.

Kyma Another trip late at night to have some of the best of their appetizers. From before, I knew I'd be disappointed by the whole fish entrees, the only entree I would get being the lamb chops (amazing, I know!) so we stuck to the appetizers. The wood-grilled octopus continues to delight, the watermelon & feta salad is still a surprising happiness to me, no matter how many times I've eaten it at this point, and the Spanakopita is so special here - crispy phyllo and a steamin' hot spinach and cheese inside. Yum! I would skip the warm scallop carpaccio - there's a citrus in there that just doesn't work, and the meatballs. They're weird.

Bones This is the gem of the group. It's been a long time since I've had a steak THAT good. I got the Bone-In Filet, and the tenderness and rich flavor was so good, I would have gnawed on the bone if it weren't so gauche. The sides of sauteed mushrooms and spinach were good, but the winner of the night were the Grit Fritters. I'm not all that familiar with grits, so we thought, hey, let's get something we wouldn't be able to get otherwise. Oh my, those things are little balls of crispy-outside-creamy-yet-textured-inside heaven. Truly! They stir Boursin cream cheese into the grits which give them this crazy richness. I never thought grits could be this good. I was tottering on the edge of thrill with the steak, and this just about took me over it.

On the wine side, we had a Sbragio Cab Sauv, and it was delicious. Went perfectly with the meal.

According to Zagat, Bones gets the same score as the venerable Peter Luger's in New York. Peter Luger's is on the list for a meal in the near future. Then we can really see who the Steak King is...

Flying Biscuit For breakfast/brunch, there's nothing better than some creamy grits, spicy collard greens, and biscuits. Yeah, yeah, they have eggs and sausage, etc, but forget it. Just get the grits, greens, and biscuits, and I assure you, you'll be one happy camper. In fact, just get the Southern Scramble, which has the collard greens, bacon, and eggs. Those grits are just the stuff from the inside of the fritters the night before. They're not fried, so better, right? Not really, it's just as rich.

Atlanta Fish Market For seafood, this place rocks it pretty well. The space is huge and airy in the center, but the offshoot rooms give a more intimate feel. They display all their fish in a cold case so if you're not familiar with the fish, you can get a feel for what the texture would be like.

They have a sushi section, so I asked about Sea Urchin as an appetizer. "No," the server said, "we used to have it, but no one would order it, and we would end up throwing it away." I almost had a heart attack. Throwing away Sea Urchin? Appalling! So I ordered raw clams, instead. I love raw clams. I find them to have a firmer texture and a less briny taste than oysters. The server came back and said they didn't have anymore. Appalling! So I had some sashimi pieces instead. Still, very fresh, very satisfying.

For the entree, I got the Hong Kong Style Chilean Sea Bass. I know, I know, it's endangered! I can't help it, it's perhaps the most delicious aquatic animal to ever roam the seas. Why? It's buttery, flaky, light, and delicate. Yeah! It was set atop sauteed greens in a soy-ginger-scallion sauce. I'm well-versed with this. It's how I make my fish at home, but I almost never buy Chilean Sea Bass, so bringing together two favorites, it's the best. They had an order of "sticky rice" on the side, but this is just good quality short-grain, not the glutinous rice that is truly known as "sticky."

The wine was a 2004 Dr. Thanisch Riesling from Germany. A nice sweetness to it, but not so sweet that it overwhelmed the dishes. Yummy.

Tonight, off to a dinner at the airport. I'll report back if it's stellar, but don't hold your breath...