My trip to Florida over, I drove to Atlanta last Monday to stay with some friends, but specifically to have dinner at Kevin Gillespie’s restaurant, The Woodfire Grill. Kevin was a finalist on the most recent season of Top Chef, and though Mike Voltaggio won (what a dick!) I was rooting for Kevin the entire show. He had an off-night on the last challenge, and my guess is he would have won otherwise. Oh, well, it’s a competition. 

It wasn’t just his charming aw-shucks, low-key demeanor that endeared him to me (he was the fan favorite too!), it was not just that his restaurant is in Atlanta, my former hometown, or that he just kept surprising the judges with his food. It was his commitment to big flavors over technique, that won over the judges and the fans. I want to taste those big flavors, too, and get an idea of what the judges had been experiencing. 

So we made a reservation at the Woodfire Grill and showed up there last Tuesday night (yes! Foodie Tuesday indeed!). The restaurant in not in the ritzy part of town; in fact it's in an older building that has housed many restaurants in the past. The road it’s on, Cheshire Bridge, is also a bit dicey - down the street is a well-known leather bar and several strip clubs, and across the street is the Colonnade, a old Atlanta restaurant that has white-haired ladies in walkers and wizened bald men with canes showing up for the early-bird special. Not what you would expect from a Top Chef neighborhood, but to me, it was a plus. I don’t like snotty maitre d’s and chi-chi food. And we didn't dress up - all three of us went in (nice) jeans. But as soon as I walked in the door, I knew that I was going to feel comfortable there. 

In fact, the bar area where we waited for out table was a little worn and shabby. We ordered drinks and their seasonal drinks sounded really interesting. I had the Peach Blossom, (prairie organic vodka, elderflower syrup.  peach bitters, fresh lime juice, soda) and my friends had the Bradley (Wathen's single barrel bourbon, ginger shrub, peach bitters, soda ) and the Fall classic (Wathen's single barrel bourbon, cranberry shrub, bliss maple syrup, orange bitters, soda). They were outrageous, unique and I can tell you, I want to go back just for those drinks! 

Our table was ready and we walked back into the restaurant, an eclectic space that had several different design elements going on - a paneled wall, mis-matched, but large and impressive lighting fixtures and the centerpiece was the grill area that was open to the room - everything smelled divine because of that, smoky and sweet. 

We got our menus but all of us had decided to do the Chef’s Tasting menu, a series of 5 dishes chosen by the chef himself, and undisclosed to the diner. How could we pass up the chance to experience exactly what the Top Chef judges did on the show? Knowing the general outlines of the meal (a salad, a First Course, two Entrees and a dessert) we didn’t know which menu items would be served.  Full of expectation, we went for broke, except that it wasn’t that expensive. $65 for the 5 course Chef Tasting and only $42 for a 3 course Chef Tasting. In fact, none of the items on the a lá carte menu were over $40. We also ordered sweetbreads, since none of us had ever had them, so we could really experience a range of items. 

Our first delivery was the Amuse Bouche, (a term I had never heard of til I watched Top Chef), a liqueur glass fill with a tart and creamy sip to start the meal. Then the first course, a small salad with a poached egg on top of shreds of greens and mushrooms and a spicy mustard-seeded vinaigrette. When we broke the egg, and mixed it up, it was creamy with a little bite. 

The second course was a single, perfect, glazed and browned scallop, on a small puddle of richly textured risotto. I cut small pieces off to savor each bite, suppressing the urge to cram the whole scallop in my mouth at once. In fact, if I did that, I’d miss the delicate flavors that were mixed in with the sauce. This is a different way of eating - food not for fuel, but for pleasure. A long drawn out foreplay, luxurious and slow. 

I should mention that all the dishes were small, and we expected that with the tasting. The a lá carte dishes were larger, though not the super-sized meals you get at most restaurants. In fact, I have been trying to eat smaller, more intensely flavored meals anyway, and get away from food that’s bigger than my head. The other fact that I noticed at the end of the meal was that there was virtually no starch, other than a scant tablespoon of risotto in this dish, and a bit of polenta in the next. Vegetables and protein were the stars, no messing around with that heavy, filling bulky stuff.

While we started on a bottle of Pinot, our Taste came out, another liqueur glass with a chilled, lemony celery soup. It was gone too fast, just a slurp! 

The sweetbreads came out next, covered in a crunchy breading on a bed of potato hash and chopped brussel sprouts. I don’t have a strong liking for innards, and sweetbreads is a lovely name for pancreas. But, after watching enough Tony Bourdain shows, I am now coming to the conclusion that I am missing out on something. This dish was a revelation. In a mouthful, you get the crunchy buttery shell, with a hint of smoky ham, and the creamy, smooth, almost sweet filling, not gamy or liver-y at all. If you forgot that this was an entrail, you would love the butteriness, the smooth subtle flavor that I can’t describe, because I’ve never had anything like it. 

The fourth course came out, a grilled quail leg with a small greens-covered cube of pork belly with smoky braised turnips on polenta. Oh. My. God. I can still taste it, smoky and powerful! The quail was tender and juicy, and very sharply seasoned, and the taste lingered in my mouth. The collards wrapped around pork belly (I had been waiting with bated breath for Kevin’s famous pork) was just incredible. I have never had pork that was so delicious. Very tender, with a little pork fat that melted in my mouth to form a rich sauce for the greens. The smokiness, the intense, rich smokiness!  This was nirvana, plain and simple. He hit this one out of the park. I have been dreaming about this dish since then!

The main course was a lamb medallion, covered in a delicate puree with a bit of braised and grilled endive on the side. Yum. I love lamb, and this was so tender and juicy, and buttery that those few bites were over way too soon. I wanted to lick the plate, but I settled for wiping it clean with a bit of (really good!) herbed bread, ignored for most of the meal, but obviously there just for that one purpose. 

For a small meal, a few bites for each course, we were actually feeling very satisfied, when the dessert came out. A small Molten Chocolate cake on a pillow of curried marshmallow (!!!) along with a small scoop of coconut ice cream and a crisp florentine cookie. Exquisite!!! That curry marshmallow was savory and sweet and balanced the dark, rich slightly bitter chocolate cake, and the ice cream gently balanced the richness. Interesting, because I seem to remember that Kevin doesn’t focus on desserts. This was outstanding, and we felt so loved, so well-fed, so smug. Well. You get the idea. The perfect end to a perfect meal. 

Did we see Kevin, the reality show star? No. We didn’t insist on pulling him out of the kitchen, because we really understood that his food is the star. He probably likes standing behind the scenes and letting his flavors take center stage. We did get the (autographed!) tasting menu, and found out something interesting from the waitress - most of the dishes on the tasting menu are not chosen til the day they are served, and most are not on the regular menu. That means that we got Kevin’s personal choices, made by him and created to be a seamless experience, from course to course. 

This was glorious, from beginning to end, but even better, it wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime meal. Yes, I dropped around $130 for the dinner, the drinks and two glasses of wine (not that much by foodie standards) but it wouldn’t break the bank to go back for a drink and appetizers or an a lá carte meal. This is my new favorite restaurant, friendly, not ostentatious, reasonably priced and some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life. Top Chef indeed!