Bits and Pieces, 2020

Just before we left for California at the beginning of March, we had a wonderful meal at Lagarde in Brookhaven to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

Little did we know it would be the last time we ate inside of a restaurant in Atlanta in 2020. After nine months of to-go and eating outside, we present a wrap (or is it a rolled burrito?) of our year in food. This gives us a good chance to talk about some of the food we ate, photographed, and never wrote about in what has been a long, strange trip around the sun.

Let’s start with Lagarde. What a wonderful Cajun restaurant.

Everything is fried, cause that’s what Cajuns do. It makes the possum, nutria, and squirrel taste better.

The best corned beef sandwich in the world can be had in Huntington Beach, California at Burnt Crumbs. After you are done surfing, go get one.

They make the corned beef right there and every bowl of potato chips is put into the fryer right after you order it. Sadly, their hours have been curtailed by Covid and we fear for their survival. However, they do have another location in Irvine that we are going to track down the next time we are there.

We never eat fast food, but when we do, we only eat In-N-Out.

It’s inexpensive and really good. There is nothing like a hot double-double with cheese to satisfy your junk food craving. Even people on a budget can pick something up at the drive-thru.

Yes, that is a Rolls-Royce.

If you ever see the pork rib roast at Costco, buy it! We cut it in half and freeze half of it to cook later. I don’t usually boast about my cooking, but this was as good as anything you can get in a restaurant.

Our favorite bakery in California is Rose Bakery. Our son sent us this goodie box for Mother’s Day. Sorry, we did not save you a bite.

Want more donuts? We reviewed Doughnut Dollies back in February, but for an outdoor, socially distant Father’s Day, we brought dessert.

All I can say is, “Wow!”

The best sandwich we ate in 2020, the Cuban from Mojave in Sandy Springs. It’s worthy of an encore photo.

Brisket, pulled pork, pickles, and mustard make for quite the meal between Cuban bread.

Wait, more donuts? Question: Why don’t we weigh 400 pounds? Answer: Over 6000 miles on our tandem bicycle this year. These came from Revolution Donuts in Kirkwood. We had these with friends on a bike ride.

The best lunch in Cartersville is at Shweat Market. We had a chicken salad salad, a salad so good that it gets called a “salad” twice. Also on the docket, chicken salad on croissant with pimiento cheese. Add some tater tots because if they are on the menu, they are on our plate. This was a ton of food, but we had just ridden 40 miles.

On a hot summer day, if you happen to drive by a Freddie’s, stop in for some ice cream. Don’t get any on your mask.

Our son and his lovely girlfriend joined us poolside for dinner from Mirko Pasta. It was still hot even after the drive home.

Another reason to go to the Marietta Square Market is the addition of Ponko Chicken. It takes awhile to get your food, because they fry every order up fresh. This is hot and crispy chicken. You can get it spicy, but we wimped out and got it plain. The pickled cucumber is a good way to add a vegetable to your meal.

Tucker Brewing has added a restaurant. You can sit outside in their huge beer garden and be socially distant from the next table. We enjoyed a huge pretzel, a burger (big enough to split) and Brussels sprouts. Their beer is some of the best coming out of Atlanta.

We built our own poke bowls on the Poke Company’s website and in about 20 minutes, dinner was served at home. They are about two miles away from our Marietta headquarters.

It was all very tasty and reasonably priced.

Our friend Gene lives north of Los Angeles and invited us over for a poolside meal in October. Gene is an accomplished chef, and when he invites us, we always know the food is going to be great. Check out this charcuterie plate.

Believe it or not, this was “styled” by his teenage daughter. She’ll probably be cooking for everyone soon.

We wish you a wonderful New Year in 2021. After what we have all been through in 2020, things can only get better, especially with people starting to get Covid vaccines. Thanks for reading Friday Date Night and we look forward to more dining adventures in the year ahead. One of these days, we might actually sit inside. We’ll need that vaccine before we do.