A cool blogger reviews a new steak place in Atlanta GA. Let’s do the bullet points:

• super-chef Kevin Rathbun’s new place
• billed as ‘a steakhouse for the new millennium’
• excited … being both a fan of steak and kevin rathbun.
• skip to the chase … WOW. amazing, incredible,
• but the butters? out of this world.
• $110 before tip and neither of us drink

From Metroblogging Atlanta:: Via ::

From @llie’s @ttic a really sweet review of Morton’s of Chicago, The Steakhouse

I haven’t been to a Morton’s, but now at least I know it’ll cost me 3 C’s without wine. I think we have one in Seattle.

Not your father’s Surf and Turf …

So Saturday was my birthday, and the Fiancee is one million percent excellent so she took me out to dinner at a new favorite little Italian place in Lacey (98503) called Ricardo’s (I’m not sure if it’s ‘ristorante’ or ‘restaurant’, it depends on where you look). Her boss, Dr. Mike, had hosted their office Christmas party there, and it was really really good, so we chose to go back and do some free-choice dining, cause we were stuck with the ‘beef or chicken’ drill at the party.

So, after reading the PDF menu Ricardo’s put up on the internet, I really had my heart set on this bastard :

Big Momma’s Steak $29.95
Nebraska Beef at its best… ” USDA PRIME ” Thick cut rib-eye seasond & char broiled to perfection
(Medium Rare) then topped with a fresh mediterranean salsa & finished with roasted red potatoes,
( This will be the best Thrity bucks you’ve ever spent )

On the one hand, I was really disappointed because it wasn’t on Saturday’s menu. On the other hand, it gives us a needless excuse to go back to Ricardo’s for more steak. And on the third hand, I got to have the Surf And Turf from the specials menu. Our server said that the prime rib special was filling in for the Big Momma, and recommended it, but I’m not yet recovered from a really awful prime rib from years ago. We’d both had excellent little filets at the Christmas party, so I chose to extend that a bit with the S-n-T. My lovely companion chose some “do the truffle” ( or something? ) special of a 5oz filet with black truffled mashed potatoes. We was not disappoint! (Although, are truffles known for being, erm, gassy??)

Both (little tiny) steaks were perfectly medium, with a lovely outside — seared and carmelized — and practically fork-tender inside. ‘Course it’s a cliche , but the words “like buttah” were said at least twice.

The surf part of my dinner was way above average: crab cakes done absolutely correct with TONS of crab, and great flavor; and some wild Mexican white prawns that were slightly over cooked but had great flavor. All this was sauced nicely with a white truffle Bernaise sauce, and great big roasted red potato wedges, with some barely noticeable field greens or basil or something. Who cares? The truffle-bernaisey filet was heavenly. I didn’t miss having “the veg” at all.

We didn’t spend much time looking at the wine list, because it’s way over our heads (especially budget-wise). And we already knew from the office party that the house pours a great chianti for six bucks. I had a 6 buck primitivo, and it was great too.

Bottom line, GO HERE!!! Ricardo’s is a winner on every point except one: the decor. Which I won’t really pick on, because it’s adorable, and you know, A for effort and all that. But, who cares? You really can’t go wrong with this place. I haven’t had a better steak anywhere within about 300 miles of here, except that Argentine place in Seattle which I keep forgetting to write about.

What more can a girl ask for her birthday than to be taken out for a tasty steak dinner?

Nothing, I tell you.

Of course, me being me, my date was my mom.

I chose Kozy’s Steaks and Seafood mostly because mom’s on a budget and Kozy’s seemed to have decent food to dollar ratio.

Kozy’s is in The Galleria shopping center in Edina, MN. Malls are not normally my first choice for steak restaurants–something about all malls having the same stores and fastfood places doesn’t lend itself to my idea of where a steak place should be located. But, The Galleria isn’t a mall, mall. It’s a rich people’s mall. And, Kozy’s isn’t owned by mall steak people; it’s owned by the folks that own Kozlak’s Royal Oak–a Twin Cities dining fine dining flagship. So, I knew it would probably be pretty good.

My thought was proven out.

We both got filet mignon ($27) which included salad and garlic mashed potatoes. (I’d been warned by my brother that mom would think anything over $20 that didn’t include sides would be too expensive.)

The steak was probably the best I’ve had in that price range. It was cooked perfectly (medium) with a wonderful crust. It was tender, tender, tender! The potatoes were slightly lumpy (a good thing), with actual roasted garlic bits laced laced throughout.

The setting was very unmall-like and was done in classic steakhouse: dark wood, lush drapes etc. We were seated in a backish room which meant that the mall was hidden from view and that we had actual windows that faced the out of doors.

Overall, twas a fabulous, tasty birthday dinner.

Note: As it turns out, this post was meant to go up on the future anniversary of our wedding. So, instead of referring to her as “my companion” I will from here on out refer to her as “my fiancee”.

On to the post:

Every year, my fiancee and I spend at least four days vacationing on Oregon’s North Coast. In particular, in a heavenly little town called Manzanita.

As long as we’ve been going there, there hasn’t been a decent place for a steak in town, so we make more than one trip to Cannon Beach for dining. Since this isn’t a web site about seafood dining, I’ll just not even mention the place we dine most, which is called something like “The Manzanita Seafood Market and Chowder House.” (It’s fantastic.)

We certainly haven’t dined everywhere in Cannon Beach, because I hear it’s becoming somewhat of a hotspot for fancy cuisine. But, I can recommend, without reserve, that you try JP’s at Cannon Beach…. Where do I begin?

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SueZ: And our money . . . so don’t get all money snobby.

Jon: There’s really no point in ordering the sides at Murray’s. I’m sure the caesar salad was about the only really edible thing. Perhaps that’s not fair. Everything was edible — in a 1950’s out of the can, powdered au gratin, hyper-saliferous way. Actually even the steak was pretty damn salty.

SueZ: I’ve got nothing against salty steak, it should be noted. Though we didn’t try any of them, I suspect that there was probably a decent dessert option on the menu. How bad can you screw up cheesecake?

Jon: This whole sides problem was pretty damn funny too, and practically unacceptable.

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