Farm Mobile

"We stop, You shop." is the motto of the new(ish) local mobile farmers market: Farm Mobile. What a great concept: they bring the farm fresh local food to you! Inside, shoppers choose from shelves stocked with organic locally grown produce, free-range eggs, breads from H&F Bread Co., homemade grits, polenta, and cornmeal, and sustainable meats. Other regular items on board include cheese from local food artisans, grassfed beef and Berkshire pork, and whole pasture-raised chickens.

Our friend, Stacy from StacyEats introduced us to Farm Mobile last week. And this week we decided to walk with our pups over to the Tuesday night stop in their neighborhood off Clairmont Road in the Brookhaven/Chamblee area.

It's a pretty neat concept, and Cory and I enjoyed walking through the bus/van and oogling all of the goodies (see photo below for full list). We ended up selecting some free-range eggs and homemade pork and ginger dumplings.  I really wanted to try the homemade meatballs too, but they were all out!  The place is a little pricey- but you pay for quality and sustainability, right? Support local! The eggs were $6 for a dozen and the dumplings were $7 for 20. Be advised to bring cash or check, as they don't accept credit cards!

Click here for this week's Farm Mobile schedule!

Regular weekly stops include:
Monday 2-4p at Sprig in Oak Grove
Thursday 4-6p at The Midway Pub in East Atlanta
Saturday 9a-noon at Holeman & Finch in Buckhead

The remainder of their schedule changes every week. Subscribe to their emails and follow them on Twitter for updates.

Borders Lenox- Closing!

As discussed in our Pinkberry post this week, the Border's at Lenox in Buckhead has just started its "Going out of Business" sale. Currently everything is 20-40% discounted, with an additional 10% discount with your Borders Membership Card.

With those kinds of discounts they probably come a little closer to matching the prices at Amazon.com, but of course "limitations apply". If history is any indicator- you should probably wait about 2-4 weeks when they really start marking everything down 50+% just to get rid of their inventory.

Many Borders bookstores have been closing all across the country since the company filed bankruptcy in February of this year. There are plans to close about 200 stores throughout the US in 2011. Economists credit the economy, discount online retailers (amazon), and the rising popularity of e-readers (kindles).

I don't know about you, but this doesn't surprise me... similar to blockbuster vs. netflix (and now redbox)- blockbuster just doesn't stand a chance!  It sucks that our neighborhood bookstore is closing, but I'm intrigued as to what will replace it! It's a huge 2-story space (probably around 20,000 sq.ft.) right on Peachtree Road.  Any thoughts on what you would like to see there? I would vote for an H&M...

Who has the best Froyo in all the land?

After a week or so of Pinkberry being open, we decided to give it a shot.  I will have to say, we were pretty excited from hearing all the buzz about Pinkberry (click the link at your own risk, loud music to ensue!).  Being so green in the "froyo" department, we were eager to try a different spot than our local Yoforia. 

We drove (we probably could have walked, but we had just ran the half-marathon) to the tired shopping center on Peachtree and Roxboro that's anchored by a Border's (aren't they out of business yet?) and a Joseph A. Bank.  Not a great location, to say the least, but it is in the high traffic area just north of Lenox mall, so I guess it could possibly work.  Anyway, we came in and were greeted by some very eager, young yougurtistas who were very helpful in explaining how their process worked: you choose your size and your flavor, then you pick your toppings from the bar (some were included in the price, some were extra, above) and it was all prepared by your energetic yogurt bartender.

Malory chose the chocolate and I went with the Lychee (which sounded like some disease from Thailand, but in fact, was refreshing).  The yogurt was ok, but a little pricey - for a small and a medium size we paid a little over $11, which is much more that we ever spend at Yoforia.

Overall, pink or no pink, you can color us unimpressed.  We just really like the idea of dishing out our own yogurt and choosing our own toppings (and amount of them).  At Yoforia, you can mix and match any amount of yogurt and then go all crazy with your toppings as well.  I felt like I had to be safe with my toppings as my yogurtista stared at the concotion I was dictating to her.  I didn't want her to judge my would be addition of Cap'n Crunch to an already dangerous blend of white and dark chocolate chips, carmel sauce and raspberries (you gotta keep it healthy somehow!).  Plus, she was so conservative with the scoops.  Doesn't she know that I really could care less about the yogurt and I'm really trying to make a coma-inducing sugar trailmix?  These kind of blends are stictly prohibited at Pinkberry, and I'd rather let my inner 10 year old choose my yogurt treat than my responsible (somewhat) mid-20s self, who ended up going with "yogurt chips", granola, and raspberries (I hate myself for those choices, believe me).

Either way, go try it and see what you think for yourself.  Essentially, the toppings and yogurt are the same as Yoforia with tweaks in the process and a hike in price.  We still have a couple more places to try to decide our official "fave".  More spots to come...

Possible Cityhood?

There has been a lot of buzz lately about the possible annexation of North DeKalb County. See below for information that came from a local neighborhood email blast:

Representatives Mike Jacobs (District 80 - Brookhaven, pictured) and Tom Taylor (District 79 - Dunwoody) have introduced a bill (House Bill 428) in the Georgia House of Representatives that would allow "peninsulas of unincorporated areas surrounded by cities" (i.e. north Brookhaven between Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Chamblee city limits) to be annexed into the adjacent municipality after certain procedures are met.

The unexpected introduction of this bill has initiated a firestorm of discussions among our Dekalb neighbors to the west and north. As a result of the community interest in this legislature, Representative Jacobs has scheduled "a community-wide meeting on cityhood and annexation to be held on Tuesday, March 29, at 7:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of Chamblee United Methodist Church, 4147 Chamblee Dunwoody Road" per his latest email blast.

If you have any interest/opinion in this matter, it would be a great idea to attend the public meeting noted above to let your voice be heard.

Peachtree Road Race-Registration Opens Today!

Cory and I are in the final stretch for our half marathon race this weekend! We've been training for almost 3 months now, and we are looking forward to our first half marathon. We want to keep up our training- so we have our sights set on our next race: The Peachtree Road Race. A 10k (~6 miles) in the early morning hours (maybe not that early for some...) of July 4th, the Peachtree Road Race is the largest 10k in the world. The 2011 race is expected to be even larger, as they have opened up an additional 5,000 spots (60,000 total racers) with the success of last year's start time organization.

This year it will not be first come, first serve as it has been in the past- they will be utilizing an online lottery system. Online registration for the lottery for the Annual Forth of July 10k Peachtree Road Race started this morning at 5:00am. The lottery will be open today, March 15th, through 11:59pm on Thursday March, 24.

To enter the online lottery, visit ajc.com/peachtree. All individuals and groups who enter the lottery during the 10 day period will have an equal chance of being selected for the race, regardless of the day or time they enter. Entrants will be selected by a third party after the lottery closes on March 24. All lottery entrants will receive an email by Tuesday, March 29, 2011 informing them of whether or not they were selected for the 2011 event. Entry fees are $33, plus an additional $7.50 for participants who would like to receive race numbers by mail rather than have to pick them up at the July 2-3 race expo downtown.

More details regarding the 2011 Peachtree Road Race online lottery system can be found here.

Brookhaven Arts Festival

The 8th annual, 2011 Brookhaven Arts Festival will be held Saturday October 15th (10am - 6pm) and Sunday October 16th (12pm-6pm). The BAF is free to the community and is held on Apple Valley Road, directly behind the Brookhaven MARTA Station. Mark your calendars for this great event! Cory, Jasper, and I enjoyed ourselves at last year's festival, and we're looking forward to this years. 

Hmm, you might think... why are they informing me about an event that is over 6 months away? Well, we'll tell you:  2011 applications are now being accepted until June 10th if you are interested in being one of the 100+ artists featured at the festival this year and spots fill up quickly - so get yours in early! If you aren't an artist and are still interested in getting involved from a planning/set up perspective, the BAF needs volunteers.  It is a 100% volunteer planned event, and there are several areas in need of help, from working with children to helping the artists. For more information please contact volunteer coordinator Christy Murray, christy4thebaa@hotmail.com. Don't worry about putting the event on your calendar now (unless you're an artist or volunteer)... we'll post a reminder when we have more info about vendors, etc. 

The Brookhaven Art Alliance- sponsor/planner of this event, is having a happy hour March 23rd on the patio at 57th Fighter Group beginning at 6:00 P.M. If you're interested in learning more about the BAA or their other programs- this would be a great event to attend!

Park Pride

Cory and I have been writing about a few of our local Brookhaven parks (Briarwood & Lenox) in the past few weeks. I guess Spring is in the air, and with the warm weather we've been getting lately, we've been getting out of the house more with Jasper.

I wanted to share an organization that I've been getting more involved with: Park Pride. A non-profit organization that works with local in-town neighborhoods, communities, and park systems to support efforts to create more parks and greenspace in Atlanta. They can help your community association or neighborhood develop conceptual plans for pocket parks in your area, help with volunteer efforts in clean ups, local park funding, and also advocate for projects like the Beltline. They are a wonderful organization and also involved specifically with parks in the Brookhaven area. Check out their website on how you can get involved, donate, or volunteer.

Park Pride also hosts an annual conference every year- and this years in coming up in a few weeks on Monday, March 28th. I've registered to attend to represent my firm who works with local park systems on the design side. This conference seems like a great way to learn about local parks in the Atlanta area, meet a lot of the folks who are involved, and learn how to promote parks and greenspace in your community. A few of the conference topics/discussions are: A Future City Parks System, Bridging Community through Parks and Greenspaces, Connecting Children to Nature through Parks, and From Friends Raising to Fundraising: How to Build Support for Your Park. You can see the full schedule here.

They will also be having tours of both the Atlanta Botanical Garden and also Piedmont Park! If you cannot attend the conference- they are also having a cleanup day for Lynwood Park in Brookhaven on Saturday March 19th. RSVP to john@parkpride.org if you're interested in volunteering!

Kaleidoscope - The Review...

I guess you can say we have been pretty excited about Kaleidoscope coming to our neighborhood.  Chef Joey Riley has been a strong presence in great Atlanta restaurants for well over a decade and we have waited with great anticipation to see what he will serve up in his own spot.  After we first heard about it last summer, it seemed like it would never open - we were taunted while walking by, constantly peering in to see how construction was progressing.  Finally when it did open at the end of December, it was packed so full of people, we stayed away; envying those inside but not yet ready to brave the wait for the table (they don't take reservations).  But in the months that it has been open we have been inside a couple times (for quick burgers and beers), and the other night, finally had our first blog-able meal.  

On a Friday night at 7:00, to our surprise we were seated immediately.  I must say, the atmosphere inside is awesome.  Some might find it loud, but it is true of a pub environment and creates a wonderful buzz about the restaurant.  We started with drinks - their wine list is extensive, and they offered some specialty cocktails...but you gotta drink beer at a pub!  The draught beer list wasn't lengthy, but it contained some well selected brews that were easy to pick from.  After our drinks arrived, we each started with a "first impression" aka - appetizer.  Malory couldn't turn down the special: broccoli bisque with grated sharp cheddar - one of the highlights of the night- creamy, rich, and delicious.  I decided on the Thai Style Beef Jerky which was a tad bit salty, but still very flavorful jerky marinated in a Thai lime sauce (both above).

For my main course, I went with the dinner special (they just sounded so good!): fried local catfish, collards with bacon, slaw, and hushpuppies (above).  The catfish was fresh and perfectly cooked - light and flaky, and the collards were the perfect complement- crisp, sweet, and creamy.  This dish was our second favorite of the night.  Malory ordered the short ribs- the meat was tender and juicy and the pearl onions and fingerling potatoes were a nice addition to the "roast".  

I guess we were feeling particularly adventurous, or maybe just the waiter did a great job selling it (that never happens...), but we decided on a dessert.  We don't usually indulge ourselves, but after hearing about this S'more brownie (above), we couldn't turn it down.  Graham cracker crust, with a layer of chocolate brownie topped with melted marshmallow, this dish was a unique take on the campfire treat.  

While we had some standout favorites, we really enjoyed all of the dishes.  We've been scared about the crowd for some time (nobody likes waiting an hour for a table then 20 minutes at the bar trying to get a drink!), but to be honest, they had ample seating (even more so when the weather turns nice... huge outside patio!)  The majority of crowd is hanging out at the bar, which is all you can really see from the street... so don't be deterred. We have also been a little weary that the price tag would possibly hinder us from making this a typical Friday night hang out, but the menu has a $20 ceiling that keeps you from running the bill too high.  We were greatly impressed with all that we experienced and cannot wait to go out and try it again.  Hope to see you there!

Pinkberry at Lenox

If you live under a rock, you might not have noticed that ice cream is slowly dying and frozen yogurt, or froyo as the cool kids say, is all the rage (see how many times I say it in this post).  More and more froyo chains are popping up all over Atlanta in replacement of the previous trendy "marble stone" ice cream spots.  To me, there's nothing better than a full-fat, creamy treat, but I can't deny that froyo is a tasty, healthy substitute on occasion. 

In Brookhaven, we've been frequenting Yoforia as our froyo spot in the Village Place Shopping Center - mainly because it's the closest one.  I haven't tried any other spots and am excited to welcome the new Pinkberry to the neighborhood.  Started in 2005 in California, Pinkberry now has over 100+ stores with 3 in the Atlanta area.  Their newest location is going in the Border's shopping center, north of Lenox Mall, at the intersection of Roxboro and Peachtree (old Marble Slab Creamery).  The store officially opens tomorrow, and we can't wait to see how it measures up to our already established Yoforia.  What's your favorite froyo place?