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HIGHWI
Every Day • 4-8pm
HALF OFF ALL
BOTTLES OF WINE
with purchase of entree
Every Monday • 8-1 Opm
TRIVIA
$ 100 grand prize
Every Tuesday * 8-1 1 pm
KENOSHA KID
RAND LINES TRIO
>THEN8, OA
Valentine’s Day
View Special 3 Course Menu at
trappezepub.com
<3> including vegetarian options ^
Book your reservation today Qa
with preferred seating time at:
■ trappezebookizig@gDDLail.com ■
you mention
On the corner of Washington & Hull
www.highwirelounge.com
www % trappez£pub.com
Marble Slab Creamery
^ Has What Your
Co) Sweetheart Desires! \v
15%
OFF
Valentine
Treats
Not v«M we« any other oSae.
Horn 48 howa node on apacHal ordar cafcM. Expiraa 2/14/11.
1531 Lumpkin Street
mgpgT 706*543*2334 •
promoted.
Impress your boss
with full-color
training manuals.
163 E. Broad Street
^DowntownAthens
706-548-3648
www.bel-Jean.com
NEW
MENU!
COME TRy
* FREE
SAMPLE OF
SOUP AT
lunch!
TAQUERIA & MEXICAN
NEW SALSA
CART:
3 TyPEs
OF SALSA
BROUGHT TO
yOUR TABLE
ISUMMa HOUSE MXRGXRITXS
* 2 ^ q L nss or ’u.99 pitcher
CQSXfil *LL bottled beer ’1.99
120Z. DOMESTIC BEERS 99$
OR IMPORT DRXFT BEERS *1.99
THORS&RYS
GLXSS or SXNGRIX *3.99
PITCHER OF GOLDEN MXRGXRiTXS $12.99 ^
wmrvwm (Reg S20.99) y
— —"TjH3 GLXSS OF TEXXS MXRGXRITX
1376 Prince Avenue • 706-543-1500
n
mm
BODY
PIERCING
Provided by Virtue
& Vice, Inc.
Athens’ Own
Randy Smyre
& Bethra Szumski
Association
Professional
Piercers Board
Member
(706)
108-
0588
285 A^hens^G A 30601
1 • 1
1 • 1
TURNING VIETNAMESE
No Maba About It: When Maba Grill (167 E. Broad St.) opened
this fall, in the space across from the Arch occupied by a
revolving door of businesses, it seemed like just another bor
ing hibachi restaurant. Its rice dishes were well-executed, with
meats quickly grilled and sliced over the top, but they weren't
interesting enough for me to want to go back. The only bright
spot on its menu was its selection of banh mi, inexpensive
Vietnamese sub sandwiches that include jalapenos, cilantro,
pickled julienned vegetables and sometimes pate.
Well, either I have influence far beyond what seems reason
able or a lot of people felt the same way. Within a very short
period of time, Maba reinvented itself as a "Vietnamese bistro,"
revamping the entire menu to emphasize a fresh, simple cui
sine that should only grow in popu
larity as more people experience it.
Maba doesn't have nearly as many
variations on it as Just Pho... and
More on Baxter Street (or as big a
menu in general), but it offers eye
of round, shrimp, chicken and a version that includes beef,
shrimp and halved beef meatballs. Served with a smaller bowl
of bean sprouts, limes, jalapenos and herbs with which to doc
tor the flavor to suit you, it is nourishing and relaxing like
a better version of spa cuisine. Unexpected combinitions of
ingredients come together beautifully, as in a salad of thin-
sliced green papaya that mimics noodles, slivers of sesame
beef jerky, Thai basil and a tamarind vinaigrette. Things only
improve as you near the bottom of the bowl, where everything
has been marinating in the dressing.
Maba also has bun, or noodle bowls made with vermicelli
and served at room temperature. Topped with, for example,
nicely cooked strips of teriyaki beef, lettuce, cucumber, pickled
vegetables, chopped peanuts and bean sprouts, it comes with
a container of fish sauce that I urge you to pour over the bowl
with abandon. Vegetarian dishes are broken out in a separate
section of the menu and do include a version of pho made
with vegetable broth. You can get imported or domestic beer,
some on tap and a few more canned or bottled, plus sweet soy
bean milk in a can, Vietnamese coffee made with sweetened
condensed milk or a pot of jasmine tea. It's open for lunch and
dinner every day but Sunday and takes credit cards.
No Clouds: About the only thing wrong with Silver Lining
Cupcake Co. (1075 Baxter St.) is that its name implies there
should be. Believe me, most cupcake places or places that
pride themselves on their cupcakes have problems. The typical
joints' cupcakes look pretty, sure, j)r have cute names or flavor
combinations, but the execution frequently means a glob of
oily, bland buttercream plopped on top of a hunk of cake either
too moist or too dry and often tasting of Crisco rather than
butter. Silver Lining, on the other hand, might charge $2.50 a
cupcake, but damn if they aren't perfectly executed.
I consider myself totally jaded when it comes to cake, which
is far too often a poor excuse for a dessert, especially as com
pared to something like ice cream, which disappoints far less
often, but this place has renewed my faith. The vanilla tastes
like real vanilla beans. The icing-to-cake ratio is just right. The
flavors aren't too crazy but neither are they too boring.
The "birthday cake" cupcake, for example, is far better than
it need be: a flawless piece of yellow cake that tastes undeni
ably homemade, the outside just slightly redolent of burned
sugar. There's one called "pink champagne" that is both very
pink and tastes, subtly, of champagne, the kind of cupcake one
can easily imagine hiding an engagement ring. -
The store, too, is cute as a button, spotlessly clean, with
a few tables and chairs for on-premises consumption and a
small array of beverages should you need something to wet
your (nonalcoholic) whistle. The folks behind the counter are
scrupulous in their attention to customers and detail. Even
the packaging has been well-designed. The store is open
Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and Friday and
Saturday from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Cupcakes can be ordered at www.
silverliningcupcakeco.com, and the offerings change daily.
What Up?: After 13 years in business, Lori Paluck has sold 283
Bar. After Feb. 12 and some remodeling, the space will reopen
as a bar under new ownership and a new name.
...thin-sliced
green papaya...
10 FLAGPOLE.COM • FEBRUARY 9,2011
Hillary Brown food@flagpole.com
