Big Breaking News: Friday Date Night photographer/copy editor Eve Kofsky has retired after 33 years in television news.  The number 1 question posed by my associates, acquaintances and friends is “now what are you going to do”?  So I have decided that I am going to “do lunch”.  This will be an occasional splurge so I can keep up with my friends.  You can expect to see reports of my dates at least once a month.

First up Alon’s, a bakery known for its artisan breads. I meet with 2 former co-workers to catch up and eat up.

It’s located across the street from Perimeter Mall in the Park Place shopping center. Everything is big in this shopping center including the building which is home to Alon’s.

The inside is equally big and I am overwhelmed by the variety and the choices. There are cases of pastries as soon as you enter.

You can choose from the salad case…

Or pizza made fresh…

Or if you like, you can take home full entrees.

This place reminds me of Eatzi’s, which had locations in Buckhead and in this very building back in the late 90’s and left the city around 8 years ago. Alon’s is as intimidating as Eatzi’s was and I have no idea what to get. Finally, I find a menu which features sandwiches, salads, pizza and then I see the Grilled Panini. The Gruyere Cheese sounds perfect.

It contains arugula, tomato, olive tapenade, and of course gruyere cheese. The tapenade is the star of this panini, it provides moisture and most of the flavor. The bread is fresh, light, crunchy and has perfect crust. But I am disappointed because it is in the “grilled” category and I am expecting the cheese to be melty and the panini to be pressed. Without those grill marks on the bread I feel like it’s more of a cheese sandwich than a grilled panini.

I don’t indulge in dessert at lunch but I probably should have on this day because the offerings are stunning. You can take my word for it, or you can go and check out the case yourself. Admittedly I miss the best photo-op of the day when I fail to take pictures of the beautiful pastries, cakes, cookies, and tarts.