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THE MIN & THE MAX
Sustainability: That's the theme of this column. One of these
restaurants is strongly committed to it, and, as a result, is
minimalist. The other is kind of the opposite. Gymnopedie
(675 Pulaski St., suite 1400 in the Leathers Building, http://
gymnopedie.posterous.com/ for reservations) is tiny even by
the standards of tiny restaurants, with a two-top, a four-top
and a community table that could seat eight to 10. There is no
question that it is one person's vision, as Sarah Dunning not
only Cv>oks your food, writes the menu and picks the wines, but
also may very well be your server. A transplanted Kiwi, she was
once a vegan but has expanded her diet in more recent years,
and the menu largely reflects those preferences. It changes
every two weeks according to what's in season and includes
only a handful of dishes: a couple of desserts, and about five
other options, some of which are more appetizer-sized and
others closer to entrees. Everything on the menu is vegetarian,
and most of it is vegan, plus the kitchen, unsurprisingly, is
willing to accommodate special dietary requests.
I would encourage you to check out Gymnopedie, which
is not flawless but is thoroughly charming. Its wine list, all
organic, is small but excellent and well priced, with several
delicious French offerings for $6-8 a glass. No doubt the menu
will be entirely different when you go, but its stress on veg
etables (emphasizing "botanical cuisine") rather than TVP and
starch is committed and leads to some
...sweet and beautiful results.
An entree portion of pan-roasted
grassy notes... cauliflower with pine nuts, currants
and parsley sounds a little crazy for
one's main dish, but the flavors accent one another perfectly
with the nutty, sweet and grassy notes of the central vegetable
highlighted by its accompaniments. A black pepper mushroom
pate, served with sides of fresh-made applesauce and gorgeous
little green pickled tomatoes that were the best thing on the
table all night, isn't quite as successful—it may need more fat
to bind it together—but the presentation is careful, and the
idea is lofty. I'm not sure French onion soup works in a vegan
version, especially when it appears to be made with water
rather than vegetable broth, but there is something to be said
for the purity of its spotlight on onions. And a red-wine spa
ghetti with local pecans and parsley ends up a bit monotonous,
bite after bite, but again there is a pleasure in its simplicity.
Dunning clearly thinks much of ingredients, and her devo
tion to using small amounts of perfect, seasonal vegetables
reminds me of nothing so much as the now departed Dynamic.
Dish, in Atlanta, where David Sweeney had a similar laser-beam
focus. I love Tfie Grit, but there is room for more than one kind
of vegetarian restaurant in town, and Gymnopedie's more chef-
driven approach is something we could always have more of.
I cannot imagine the business model is as sustainable as the
ethos, but I would encourage you to let Dunning curate your
meal. Open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday.
Maximalism: On the other end of things is Off the Hook Fish
House (1120 Baxter St.), which is maximalist in its outlook.
The management stops by your table continually, asking if
you've gotten enough food (rather than how it is); the hush
puppies are unlimited; and there's a complimentary grits bar
you may visit again and again.
When I ordered fried catfish nuggets, the staff wasn't
content with what they'd brought me, so an additional plate
arrived shortly. The people who run the place are nicer than
nice, and while it's not upscale, it's friendly and the atmo
sphere is relaxing. That said, there's also nothing particularly
impressive, and the big Sysco truck unloading in the back is a
good hint of what to expect, although they have made some
effort to serve chemical-free, domestically caught seafood.
Your best bets are the hush puppies, which they plunk a
basket of on your table almost immediately, and the grits bar,
which only consists of well-executed buttered grits and cheese
grits. The steaks aren't very good, the fried fish is passable
but not exciting, and the fried corn on the cob is horrifying, a
whole hunk of com encased in a batter more sweet than savory
and impossible to eat. The restaurant also offers something
called a redneck doughnut, consisting of a yeast roll fried and
dusted with powdered sugar, and is open for lunch and dinner
Monday through Saturday.
Hillary Brown lood@flagpole.com
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JANUARY 12.2011 FLAGPOLE.COM 13