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THE HAMILTON HOTEL ALPHARETTA

Posted by Liz Attaway, 3/20/23

Situated near the bustling downtown Alpharetta City Center, the brand-new Hamilton Hotel theme is based on the Western & Atlantic Railway, clean lines, vintage details, and classic design that culminate in a homage to the transportation history of the area.

From the spacious, clean lobby, to the multiple gathering and seating areas throughout the main floor with vintage touches, to the stunning, industrial King Suites, you’ll fall in love with the aesthetics and want to stay awhile. Beyond the space, one of our favorite things about The Hamilton Hotel is the incorporation of curious artwork like the Lilies at Sunset by Luciou Carvalho. This piece is sleek polished, and new, but presents a bust of a woman from the 1800s all while adorning a modern motorcycle helmet on her head. They also have a series of Chic Evolution art like the Green Torso statue by Niso Maman or the Bonhomme Purple by Henri Iglesis. No matter what draws you in to The Hamilton Hotel, you’ll enjoy every minute of it. Let’s take a ride.

The moment you walk in the doors, you find beautiful modern, industrial architecture, clean lines, warm wood tables, sweeping marble floors, and cozy chairs that welcome you to stay awhile. The front dining area is stunning with a large piece of vibrant artwork in the middle called The Consciousness of Koi by Topher Goodie. To the right of the check-in desk is a large hallway to the elevators. It has vertical floor to ceiling mirrors juxtaposed by round, ornate tile and in the center, on a table, a small clock that says, “grand hotel.” Just down that hall are multiple seating areas, one that’s more intimate and hidden with a soft sofa. In the middle is a lounge space with two gray chairs, colorful carpet, and two gold, modern room dividers. Next to it is a long gray couch and hanging above is the painting we mentioned before, Lilies at Sunset. All these spaces are to invite you to relax downstairs!

One of the most beautiful spots in all the downstairs area is the outdoor space that is shared with their restaurant, Carrie’s. On one side next to the restaurant is a large, covered patio dotted with patio tables and chairs welcome brunch guests on a warm Saturday. While on the other side of the patio are enormous patio umbrellas and low lounge seating for larger groups to gather and hang out. There is also a green space for kids to play in near the back. Inside, the restaurant is a long corridor with large sweeping transportation murals, rounded modern lighting juxtaposing the marble floors and neutral wood tables. The large bar lines the wall of windows that showcase the outdoor space. They also have a few high-top tables in the front and a seating area with low table if you prefer to sip a cocktail there.

Up the elevators to the top floor, entering the corner King Suite, you’re immediately drawn to the floor to ceiling windows that line the entire room. In the bedroom side of the suite, a large blue, cushioned, headboard is symbiotic with the mosaic blue, gray accent wall and blue carpet. The massive, comfy bed is just below in between two wood accented nightstands and some beautiful modern lighting. Across from the bed is the TV and dresser area with a beautiful large blue dresser with 20s arched mirrors on top and a cool spot to rest your bags. In the suite area is a table to enjoy a treat, a TV, cushy couch to lounge in, and a small corner bar with fridge, water, and coffee station. This hides the closet where you can hang your hat. The space has Western & Atlantic transportation décor in a mix of pictures, signs, and diagrams throughout the suite and hallway. The bathroom’s tile is a stunning neutral brown start pattern that goes well with the all-white motif and soft wood vanity. Make sure to use the comfy robe and slippers during your stay. You’ll feel like royalty.

While you’re there, you must eat a meal at Carrie’s. It is a premiere restaurant with divine dinner service like their steelhead trout surrounded by creamy, earthy farro or if steak is your thing, they have an amazing filet paired with charred, sweet acorn squash and a nutty puree that elevates the dish. The best dessert I’ve had all year was the chocolate pot. Rich chocolate mousse encased in pistachio brittle all atop short bread crumbles. Feel like brunch or cocktails? They have a great cocktail program with beautiful, delicious cocktails like the Bardstown Cider or the new spring menu cocktail with empress gin, lavender, and a creamy head. Don’t hit snooze on their brunch either, they have a sensational smoked salmon benedict and superb stuffed French toast.

Outside the hotel, there are so many shopping, dining, nightlife options to choose from, like downstairs in the basement of the hotel is Roaring Social, a 20s themed speakeasy bar. It isn’t affiliated with the hotel, so you will need to make your own reservation there. If you’re looking for shopping, Alpharetta City Center has a ton of options including clothiers and even a record shop. Once you’ve tried Carrie’s, if you need dining options, you have so many to choose that it really is anything you want, steak, seafood, beach food, Indian, Mexican, you name it!

Doesn’t a stay at the Hamilton Hotel sound perfect?

Carson Kitchen: Love is in the Air

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 7/9/20

You know that scene at the end of the romantic comedy where the two love birds you’ve been rooting for the entire move finally share their first kiss and the credits roll along with that single tear on your cheek? That’s the heartfelt homecoming we enjoyed in our recent outing back to our love, Carson Kitchen. Impressed with the bacon jam and oxtail risotto on the first go-round, this time we were equally impressed with every bite we put in our mouths. Like the pork belly and it’s fantastic sauce, the beet salad with those goat cheese balls to the best %^$# salmon you’ll ever have in Atlanta, and don’t forget the bacon jam, it’s all perfection. Yes, PERFECTION. Get ready to fall in love all over again. Get the tissues ready, you’ll need them.

 

If you haven’t guessed, Carson Kitchen is our favorite new restaurant of 2020 thus far. We both agree on this AND haven’t had one mediocre thing in all of our tastings. With an extensive signature cocktail menu that changes with the seasons, to the long list of local beers, to the wine list, you can enjoy a happy hour on the patio, or with a meal. We sampled the Just the Tip, which is a whiskey-based drink, but doesn’t drink like it. It’s refreshing and cool with mint and mellowed by the lemon, vanilla, and brightened by the apricot preserves. Loved the sweetness and balance of this cocktail and enhanced by the sweet grand mariner finish. Patio sipping at it’s finest.

 

Giddy with anticipation, we ordered a foodie’s dream, the Carson Kitchen Bacon Jam. How can something be this good? We already have fawned over that in our last trip, so we’re going to transition to what we did sample on the social plate menu this time, the pork belly. We must ask you, have you ever had pork belly that melted in your mouth? This does, it’s that tender. It’s one of the best cooked and plump pork belly slices we’ve ever had and topped with THAT SAUCE. We can’t say enough about the blue cheese-forward buffalo blue cheese beurre blanc sauce that was rich, creamy, tart, to compliment the hearty meat. A complete and amazing overall dish.

 

From hearty Bacon Jam and pork belly, we opted for something light to eat on the patio. Enter the Young Beets off the Farm & Garden menu. This mix of beets were perfectly balanced and earthy, plus perfectly paired with the sweetness of the grapes, and the best part the creamy, dreamy, goat cheese balls rolled in our favorite nut ever, pistachio. Who knew beets and grapes would pair so well? It’s genius. All together the beets, grapes, cheese, and sauce melted into an earthy, crunchy, tangy bite that was perfectly light for the patio dining. Taste all the ingredients together, you’ll thank us. Light and bright!

 

Salmon. Period. Full stop. Bold this, highlight it. This mind-blowing dish boasts perfectly medium cooked salmon that’s light and flaky, yet the outside is crisped just right with light seasoning and a slight crunch. Alone, the salmon itself is an amazing piece of deliciousness, but pair it with the cheese and spinach goodness and a splash of charred lemon and you’ll get an explosion of flavors. The devil is in the details and this one is hearty fish, flaky and light with creamy and sharp cheese, complimented by the earthiness of the spinach. Decadent begins to describe it, but it’s one of the best %^$# salmon dishes we’ve ever tried. Ever.

As the sunsets over Alpharetta City Center, Carson Kitchen lights up it’s patio center-piece, the firepit. The sunset casts yellows, pinks, and purples all over the glass beads in it and it casts and beautiful fire dancing and leaping through the air. We relax in our chairs and just take in our amazing culinary journey of the day. We’d like to know what, if you went to Carson Kitchen, would you like to try? Whatever you choose, you’ll fall in love too! Big heart emoji.

Rock N Taco Roswell: Foxey Lady!

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 12/29/19

“Here I come baby, I’m coming to get ya!”

Previous Buckhead staple, Rock N Taco is back and it’s bigger, better, and more immersive in its new downtown Roswell location. If you’re looking for a place that you can eat a taco while watching a Stone Temple Pilots video, we’ve found your spot. It truly is a rock n roll haven with tons of early to late 90’s rock, rock inspired cocktails like The Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Offspring, as well as fresh tacos, fajitas, and everything in between. Let’s take a Journey into Rock N Taco, adventure ahead!

From the moment you enter, rock is strong with this one! Starting with the signature cocktails, they have two that we tried: The Offspring and The Jimi Hendrix Experience. First, The Offspring was a bourbon cocktail that was mellow and smooth, creamy with the whisked egg white, and topped with bitters to give it a slight bite, give it to me, baby. Followed by a real treat, The Jimi Hendrix Experience is Yuzu vodka, Crème de Cassis, and orange liquor, filled with marinated berries topped with sparkling wine, which gives makes it slightly sweeter. Drop in some dry ice. It billows and bubbles giving it a psychedelic effect. It’s really a fun, foxy drink to watch being made and to drink. Foxey, lady!

Fajitas, tacos, triple dip trios, and even inspired desserts, Rock N Taco has some good eats in a rock n roll atmosphere. We’ll start with the by taco bout some tacos. Of these solo performances hands down the best taco was The Classic. It’s perfect: simple, crunchy, beefy, cheesy, and all-around delicious. Tip: Add guacamole! Carne Asada was also simply good with tender steak, onion, cilantro, and lime. Savory, classic, and rich. The Hulk had fried avocado that was perfectly fried, good amount of avocado and crunch from the breading. Perfectly paired with a ranch sauce that adds to the creaminess of the bite.

Headliners like Metallica would be proud of this: topped with a decent amount of cheese, the tender steak combined with crisp peppers and savory onion, it was a great bite when all mixed together. Our recommendation would be to stuff everything into a tortilla with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, and top with guacamole and the original salsa. It’s a stellar creamy, savory, concoction!

They call them Encores, but we call them Show Stoppers. The Fried Ice Cream was like eating cake and ice cream, the breading was so fluffy and thick then fried and topped with raspberry and chocolate sauce. The Churro was cinnamon goodness that they fried and sandwiched creamy vanilla ice cream. It’s hard to decide which was our favorite, but that thick fried breading of the fried ice cream is probably it. Can’t decide? Order both!

Not being too far from our hood, we may adopt them as our new taco spot for live music, 90’s rock, and of course, some more of those fajitas and fried ice cream.

Nacho Daddy: Vegas Vibes in Downtown Duluth

Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 11/3/19

The glitz of the strip, glowing neon and customer precured music videos fills Nacho Daddy with vibrancy and sound, but we’re not in Las Vegas, were in Downtown Duluth. Unexpected and welcomed addition to the recently trending Duluth town center, where you can gather to listen to music, drink a margarita, watch the game, and eat a huge plate of nachos. Here’s our take on our recent visit. Nacho Daddy isn’t just nachos, it has it all.

For the appetizer, who doesn’t love a good wing? Their Spicy Grilled Lemon Pepper Wings were tender, slightly spicy about medium hot with a smoky, lemon pepper finish. You’d be surprised how well these flavors all go together for a fun bite. With the appetizer we had two specialty margaritas: Pineapple Mint Margarita with a good mix of muddled mint, tequila, pineapple juice, sweet and sour. It wasn’t overly sweet and was very similar to a mojito with a Mexican twist. Also, got the Beer-Rita. Take their house margarita and stick an 8 oz Corona in it. Fun. Tasty.

The menu at Nacho Daddy was expansive, so we asked for suggestions and landed on the Fajita Nachos to get the best of both the Fajita and the nacho. It has everything except the kitchen sink, tender fajita filet mignon, creamy guacamole, spicy jalapenos, two melted cheeses, queso, seared peppers and onions, and the best topping ever pickled onions. Everything went so well together in a crunch, savory, sweet, spicy melody of flavors. The best part was the pickled onion, it gave it a kick up front that we loved! Our tip would be to get everything you can on one bite: it will be a big bite, but it’s the best one!

Our second entrée choice was a vegan option: fried avocado tacos. One of our favorite things in the world is fried avocado and we couldn’t pass this up. The avocado itself was creamy and deep, with the right amount of beer battered breading. It wasn’t too much and didn’t overpower it. Topped with salsa that gave it a kick. Also, loved the black beans, which were fresh! Found that if you put the black beans, salsa on the taco itself, it deepens the flavor. Try it that way. Yes, you’re thinking, vegan option? Yes, they have a whole page of them! With dinner we had a flight of Nacho Daddy branded beer, the best thing about it, it’s local! They scoured the Atlanta area and landed on having Wild Heaven on tap as the owner instantly loved their brewery and people. Example: their Mac Daddy is Ode to Mercy or Wise Blood is Hop Daddy. So, cool they scouted a local beer we love to be on tap! Cheers!

One of the favorite things about Nacho Daddy is the music videos! They have an iPad and customers can pick an array of songs to play on their screens. While we were there, we saw a large range of songs and even Liz’s favorite band STP, as well as everything from OutKast, to The Joy Formidable. It was fun to just sit there, sip on our flight of beer, and watch music videos. We’ll be back.

Bistro Off Broad: Big City Eats with Small Town Charm

A short walk from the downtown Courthouse in Winder is a small bistro that has big city eats, nestled in a charming small town. It’s worth the drive from Atlanta to peruse the windows of the small shops and stop in for Brunch at Bistro Off Broad. Great cocktails and sparklers, as well as delicious appetizers and hearty brunch items. Get your fork out, it’s time to take a food adventure with us.

The long bar invites you into Bistro off Broad and they have a serious wine, beer, and cocktail list, along with specialty brunch drinks. Focusing on brunch, we sampled the bottomless sparklers that included four unique mimosas and Bellinis. Get. This. When. You. Go. They were all worth a sip and it was so tough to pick one to feature, so decided to feature them all. Starting with the Raspberry Bellini, it was simply raspberry puree and sparkling prosecco that was refreshing and sweet. The Peach Bellini also combined a peach puree with the sparkling prosecco, but it turned out more tart forward and brought out the tart in the wine. In between the sweet of the two Bellinis were the Mimosa and the Poinsettia. The Mimosa had a good mix of orange juice and brut champagne, not too sweet, not too tart. The Poinsettia incorporated cranberry and brut champagne, as well, but the brut brought out the sweet of the cranberry, so it was more balanced. Take your pick, you won’t go wrong.

Once you move from the bar into the dining room, gorgeous chandeliers hang strategically over each table. They were the first thing we noticed! The second thing we noticed was the full brunch menu full of delicious eats like fresh salads, benedicts, hashes, biscuits and gravy, and everything you can think of you’d ever want for brunch. We opted for several dishes, apps, and sides including deviled eggs, wings, corned beef hash, farmer’s scramble, and Brussel sprouts.

For the apps, the wings were beautifully stacked and looked almost too pretty to dig into. You wouldn’t be disappointed though when you did because they were sweet, salty, fall off the bone good. With a sticky, spicy Asian sauce then slightly charred they had the right amount of sauce and meat. Followed that up by the Reuben Deviled Eggs that were some of the best we’ve had in all of Atlanta.  These beauties were delicately whipped savory egg filling topped with tangy onion and a meaty piece of corned beef. Underneath is a tart and tangy ground mustard that gives it a flavor pop at the end.

For the entrees, the corned beef hash combined real thick cut-corned beef, roasted potatoes, onions and peppers, topped by a runny egg. It was savory, sweet, decadent, salty, and we could go on! If you’re looking for a healthy option, may we suggest the farmer’s scramble with mushroom, corn, green beans, and scrambled eggs. Let’s not leave out the Brussel sprouts side. This is something that we always get because it’s a good food to add brightness and crunch to a meal and we could eat them every day. These were very good with the right amount of crunch, along with a smoky, onion, and savory bacon flavor. It was the right combination of flavors that we wouldn’t add anything to it! They do offer it with a sauce, but it was really good even with out it.

With that we’re throwing in the towel! Stuffed and happy. Isn’t that how all Brunch should end?