The Exquisite Food at Atlanta's Celebrated Bacchanalia Restaurant
Last Friday, a group of us from my company, flew to Atlanta, Georgia for some business dealings with Home Depot and to kick-off the holiday season with demos, using our terrific Martha Stewart holiday products found at Home Depot. On Friday night, we dined with members of the American Cancer Society at Bacchanalia, a really fabulous Atlanta restaurant that features contemporary American cuisine. The chefs/owners, Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison share a culinary philosophy of creating light dishes with a focus on bold flavors. Bacchanalia’s menu is seasonal, using completely organic ingredients, many of which are grown at Summerland, Anne and Clifford’s farm, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. This farm has been in Anne’s family since 1838 and she and Clifford have been farming there for the past twenty years. I think you’ll understand after viewing these photos, why the food at Bacchanalia is worth raving about.
1 Welcome to dinner at Bacchanalia with the American Cancer Society. The cheese puffs were so good and were served on rustic wooden boards.
2 These extremely light, hollow pâte à choux puffs were filled with a melted fontina-type cheese.
3 I was served an amuse bouche of pureed cauliflower and apple soup, topped with a dried crispy apple slice.
4 The homemade breads are from the amazing market adjacent to the restaurant called Star Provisions.
5 My hamachi crudo was excellent and beautifully presented.
6 Another gorgeous plate of grapefruit slices, shaved radish, delicious cheese, and cress
7 This presentation was blue shrimp with a vegetable puree and peas.
8 Pate de foie gras served with peanuts, chocolate, and pomegranate
9 This wonderful creation was tortoloni of corn with beans and ricotta.
10 This is seared trout with a cider vinegar sauce.
11 And a Gulf crab cake with puree of pea and quince
12 A serving of squab roasted deliciously
13 A platter of lamb roasted in various ways
14 A better photo of that lamb
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Well Martha, all that food looks good, but I don't even know if I'd know how to eat it.
You were only about 2 or 3 hours from my old house that I want to live in, but can't make it livable with no means. I wish you could see it and give me pointers as you have such excellent taste. (Probably half the country wishes the same thing.) It is about 25 to 30 miles from the JP Steven's plant you visited in Clemson, SC many years ago. I missed you at that time as I was no longer employed there.:(
Do you think I may always be in the wrong place at the right time, or the right place at the wrong timet?
Thanks for showing us all the good food.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | October 24th, 2012 at 12:41 am
Martha, Bacchanalia looks and sounds heavenly!
Posted by: Cindy F | October 24th, 2012 at 7:06 am
Bacchanalia is one of Atlantas best restaurants.. but you should have made the 2.5 hour drive to Birmingham to eat at Frank Stitts HIghlands Bar and Grill or Chris Hastings Hot and Hot Fish Club as well.... they are stars in the south.....
Posted by: chad... | October 24th, 2012 at 7:55 am
Happy to have been a winner of Home Depot coupon and glad that you have many business dealings. Atlanta is the most beautiful place to fly into and seems that airline from here also has it as base. Margaret Mitchell influenced those of us who are now enjoying our knowledge of GWTW story. My favorite scene is when Scarlet pulls radish from ground and vows that she will not be hungry ever again.. Or is that a false memory?
Posted by: ann | October 24th, 2012 at 8:09 am
it sounds like a wonderful evening in the south.
Posted by: benita michelle wheeler | October 24th, 2012 at 8:54 am
Hi Martha, WOW! That sure was a big dinner table at the beautiful Bacchanalia Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia! Anne and Clifford certainly do have a great restaurant and these photos of the delicious foods they prepared for your delightful group look so fascinating and I'll bet they were delicious! These photos remind me of the huge variety of places you visited and showed us on your fantastic TV Shows through the prior years and I miss it so much! Sure would be fun to see Anne and Clifford's farm in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains! Bet they grow fabulous vegetables, etc. and how great Anne's family had that farm since 1838 and Anne has had it for 20 years! I'm sure you had a marvelous time there in Atlanta and at Home Depot! Sure was fun to see you on The Today Show yesterday picking the gorilla outfit as the best Halloween outfit! Love your tweets and the websites you shared today! Hope you have another great day! Off to see The Daily Wag about "Polishing Beautiful Silver!" Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | October 24th, 2012 at 10:04 am
Martha, thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | October 24th, 2012 at 10:19 am
The pâte à choux puffs and homemade bread really look good to me! I'm glad you enjoyed your meal there. Trish
Posted by: Trish | October 24th, 2012 at 10:35 am
This is absolutely my favorite restaurant in town. I have done a photo shoot with Anne for Atlanta magazine. Atlanta has many great restaurants. Anne and Cliff's sister restaurant Floataway Cafe is another favorite of mine. I'm glad you got to experience Bacchanalia. I was lucky enough to have Christmas Eve dinner there a couple of years ago and go to Star Provisions often for lunch. I came to yours and Kevin's demonstration at Home Depot this past Saturday. I do hope you got the book I gave you from the audience Q&A! Please let me know somehow! My book can also be seen and bought here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3433522
Posted by: Darryl Moland | October 24th, 2012 at 10:43 am
Can't say that I've ever been. The comments are making me want to go the next time I'm in town, though!
Posted by: Joel Stevens | October 31st, 2012 at 8:36 pm
Martha, So glad you were able to dine at Bacchanalia. I've always wanted to have that experience but alas so far it hasn't happened. Anne and Clifford have created a couple of Atlanta gems. They are so creative.
You have always been an inspiration to me. I'm glad you didn't have too much Sandy damage. Come back to Atlanta soon.
Posted by: Nancy Dingman-Cobb | November 1st, 2012 at 11:25 pm
Martha -
We used to live down the street from Bacchanalia. I never made it into the restaurant but I used to love shopping at Star Provisions!!! They have the most amazing meats and cheeses and the potato salad is to die for!! Glad you enjoyed it!!
Posted by: Ali | November 2nd, 2012 at 8:35 pm