Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Refreshing Pizza


A week of club activities, never ending readings, and consuming labs was almost over. My roommate and I decided that it was time to seek real or at least edible food. After weighing our options we decided that we should go to Everybody’s so that we could each eat something that we both enjoyed. We arrived at 1 p.m. ignorant of the fact that it was the middle of lunch. Because of this, we were met with a crowded eatery. Overcome by hunger, we quickly glanced at the menu and made our choices. The specialized menu suggested that they put care into a few dishes, yet it was varied enough so that both meat eaters and vegetarians alike could find something to their taste. My lack of creativity prevented me from creating a personalized pizza and moved me towards choosing one of the signature pizzas. While waiting for the food to reach our table, which felt like an eternity due to hunger, I looked around the rustic restaurant.
            An eclectic mix of artwork, road signs, and alcohol advertisement covered the walls, a mixture as diverse as the clientele. The simple table was set up with the usual processed parmesan and red pepper flakes in small glass shakers; however, Everybody’s had something that many others do not a glass bottle filled with olive oil. The smell of freshly baked crust, roasted chicken, and pesto was the first thing to hit me when my “Paradiso” pizza arrived in front of me. Being from Georgia it has always been difficult to find good pizza. The years of conditioning on the monotonous taste of mass-produced pizza made the pizza at Everybody’s that much better. It had a look about it that was rustic and yet carefully crafted a characteristic that alone set apart from any other pizza I had ever encountered.
My first bite of the delectable concoction was not met with the usual layer of grease that is a part of almost all delivery pizza. Instead I was met by all of the distinct flavors of the delicately constructed pizza that when combined provided a burst of flavor. After weeks of bland unseasoned food, even a simple food like pizza prepared well seemed like the best thing in the world. Since I have been trying new things, I decided to get something other than the usual tomato sauce based pizza and opted for a pesto-based one instead. As I ate my meal I was happily surprised that my decision allowed me to discover a new, and I must say better, flavor combination with the other ingredients in the meal. Though I did not have the traditional tomato sauce my pizza did not go without the tomato component of a traditional pizza. However, on my pizza it was found in a more intact form. The tomatoes were, sadly, my biggest regret when it came to the meal. The general sweetness that I associate with tomatoes was gone and all that was left was an acidity that overpowered all of the other ingredients on the plate. Even the onions on the dish, which were a relatively large amount, were very mild and crisp compared to the tomatoes.
Flavorful roasted chicken that alone was delicious was found all over the pizza like little mounds of flavor. Nothing is perfect and the same goes for the chicken that was at times dry, mainly where it was not coated with some of the four cheeses that covered the pie. The cheese is one of the components that I thought was going to be overpowering when I was deciding what to order. Although there was a lot of cheese they were not strong and worked well together on the pizza. The excessive amount of cheese on the pizza served as edible glue holding the entire pizza together. Despite the amount of large toppings on the pizza it was surprisingly structurally sound. The fact that everything did not fall off the pizza after one bite shows how much thought and care was put into the food. The large portions, welcoming environment, good prices, about 12 dollars with a soft drink, and wonderful flavor will make me come back to this restaurant. 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Divine French Toast


The whirlwind of changes that comes when entering a new phase in one’s life can be invigorating, yet many individuals have the tendency to pick out the worst in situations. Humans will never be content with any change in one’s life as can be seen with entering college. With the freedom that comes with living on your own for the first time so does the dreaded cafeteria food. Although the cafeteria staff is kind and attentive, it does not change the fact that the warmth and love that is put into a home cooked meal is completely stripped from the assembly line style of food production. The process of mass producing food is a necessary evil at such a large institution, considering the copious amounts of individuals on campus during much of the school day that need to eat and the fact that the DUC is the cheapest and usually the most convenient place to go when hunger sets in. This does not change the fact that it is comforting, especially for a student away from home, to eat in a smaller and more intimate dining environment. After a week full of repetitive and tedious orientation events my roommate and I decided to go explore Emory Village, a disappointingly short series of quaint eateries, that are a part of the area that we will call home for the next four years.
After a bit of aimless walking we stumbled upon a small restaurant that had a crowd of people lined outside of the door. We looked closer and we saw the Rise and Dine where breakfast is served all day, with that we were immediately drawn in for we had not eaten breakfast since our arrival at Emory. This was due to both our busy mornings and because of my aversion to waking up early enough to eat breakfast. Because of the short waiting period to enter the restaurant my roommate and I decided to look that the menu they thoughtfully placed on the outside the front wall. I am usually a very indecisive individual, but after a couple of minutes of pondering the choices, which I found to be slightly restricted, I finally decided on the French toast. When we entered the relatively small space with a decorative style that I can only describe as retro, we were seated by the kind waitress in one of the small booths.

After waiting only a few minutes the waiter arrived with our food. Four abnormally thick slices of lusciously browned French toast dusted with powdered sugar were set in front of me alongside small packets of butter on a simple white plate. I dove into the plate of French toast and was instantly meet by the traditional homemade flavors of the delicious, dense, and decadent challah bread. The richness of the dish prevented me from finishing the meal and now I know why they offer a half order. Although the French toast was a little dryer than I would have liked but the large portions make this meal worthwhile. The price is about 10 dollars with iced tea prevents an average college student from being able to enjoy their delicious breakfast on a regular basis
*Picture From: http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photosuserid=_t2W6Th7tc_fcs4dFR1BoA&select=lJdv3AmWLxkFqPwKDzOcCQ