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Friday, March 21, 2008

Restaurants / Food media Birth of a dining critic

Posted by Cliff Bostock on Fri, Mar 21, 2008 at 2:40 PM

This is cool. When I was a teenager, I wrote a column for my school paper, but it wasn't about food. In fact, I don't think it ever crossed my mind to write a dining review. I don't even remember any discussion about the idea.

How things change. The following review of the new Peasant Bistro is by Arielle D'Avanzo, a member of the class of 2008 at Grady High School. She wrote the review for the school paper and graciously agreed to let us reprint it here:

Peasant Bistro, the newest culinary creation developed by Maureen Kalmanson and Pamela Fur, opened its doors on Feb. 28. Kalmanson, who along with Fur owns Mick’s downtown and Pleasant Peasant, both on Peachtree Street, worked as a manager for the original Peasant Restaurants in its heyday and was inspired by the company’s philosophy.

“When I found out that Pleasant Peasant was on the market I knew that’s what I would do, so I bought it out,” said Kalmanson. “Everyone has a story about Peasant. It has a great sense of community about it. For it to change would destroy that.”

The new restaurant, located in downtown Atlanta, features a variety of bistro-oriented dishes with Executive Chef Shane Devereux incorporating country French and Mediterranean influences into the seasonal dishes.

“What I really wanted to do with this restaurant was create a type of restaurant found in Lyon, one that serves traditional Lyonnaise cuisine, such as sausages, duck pâté, roast pork, and is done really well,” Kalmanson said. “This is exactly what Shane had been doing in Philadelphia and where he also wanted to go. He applied here to be our sous chef, and at the time I was going to hire an executive chef as well, but I decided not to do that because I wanted to see what he could do. It turns out that he has risen to the occasion and done a tremendous job.”

The bistro employs a group of Grady High School students, including seniors Callan Wells and Rebecca Butler, who work as hostesses, and John Vanderkloot, who is a food runner.

“All the employees at the Peasant Bistro are extremely friendly and laid-back, making it easy to work in an environment with them,” Wells said. “Although I haven’t been working at the restaurant for long, I can already tell that I’ll be sticking around for awhile.”

The atmosphere at Peasant Bistro is sophisticated and serene. With many small, romantically lit rooms and nooks, this is the ideal spot for a date or a special dinner. The restaurant is well equipped to handle larger parties, whether it’s for formal occasions such as prom, or simply as a place to meet up with friends and co-workers after a long day at work. Since it’s so close to the Georgia World Congress Center, Peasant Bistro is also bound to be a restaurant of choice for conventioneers.

Upon perusing the menu, numerous plates caught my attention. Some of these included the crab tower, sweet potato ravioli, bouillabaisse, cheese bread pudding and duck cassoulet. Other items included the braised pork belly, grilled lamb chops, braised short ribs and mascarpone cheesecake.

Being a seafood lover, I started off with the crab tower appetizer followed by the bouillabaisse. The crab tower was a delicious medley of fresh crabmeat, olives, lime, avocado and chives with a passion vinaigrette drizzled on top. It was unlike any crab appetizer I’ve ever ordered, but my taste buds thoroughly enjoyed it. The bouillabaisse was filled with fresh scallops, mussels and bass with a rich broth you could dunk your bread into; after I was done, however, I realized that the zucchini, fingerling potatoes and clams that were promised in the entrée description failed to make it into my bowl! Even though the bouillabaisse was delicious, I guess the kitchen must still be working a few kinks out.

My dinner partner ordered the pan-seared scallops, a satisfying dish that comes with creamy seasonal risotto and is topped with asparagus and a light au jus. She was very happy with her choice. Although I was extremely full by this time, I forced myself to try dessert. I chose the cookie plate with a homemade shake, featuring homemade biscotti and orange madelines.

I was curious as to what the “homemade shake” was like, but when it arrived at our table I realized that it was simply a traditional, tasty milkshake made with vanilla and three kinds of berries. The cookie dessert didn’t wow me, but it was simple and satisfying—what else would you expect when you order cookies and a milkshake? Had I had room for it, I would have liked to have tried the ginger panna cotta with brandy snap, or the chocolate mousse with chocolate fudge cake.

Although the meal ended up being a little pricey, I was more than satisfied, enjoying every bit of my dining experience at Peasant Bistro. With beautiful views of Centennial Olympic Park and fresh seasonal dishes, Peasant Bistro is sure to add more “flavors” to downtown’s upscale dining scene.

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