About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 2011)
NEW IN THE'HOOD Localism, Part 2: Considering what was on the corner of Boulevard and Chase Street before, a long-closed gas station that was a real eyesore, almost anything would have been an improvement, but Heirloom Cafe and Fresh Market (815 N. Chase St.) seems tailor-made for the location. With a focus on locally grown foods, the pedestrian-friendly spot is aiming to work with the neighborhood (serving beer and wine but not too late) and seems to be pitched pretty well to its audience. The main complaints heard so far mostly consist of grip ing about the prices and carping that its owners, a father and daughter, must need to pay back the loan they got to renovate the corner and build the restaurant. Well, yes. Appropriate prices for carefully crafted dishes do enable a restaurant to stay open. That's not a bad thing. Heirloom is not McDonald's, and it becomes progressively more expensive throughout the day, but its food can be very good, and it is always thoughtful, with its heart in the right place. The space is very cute, with good art on the walls and a great patio rimmed with flowers planted in galvanized aluminum tubs around its edge. A chalk board lists local sources currently on the menu. On the whole, lunch may be the weak spot, but lunch is hard to do well and cheaply if you have Heirloom’s goals. The Southern Belle, a non-mayonnaisey chicken salad that incor porates peaches and toasted pecans, is a good variation on a classic, and it's not too sweet, but the croissant on which it comes is squishy, bland and ...caramelized onion overwhelmingly bready. The meatloaf sandwich comes and bacon risotto... with good tomato confit, but—and it pains me to say this—the bacon in which the meatloaf is wrapped is a discredit to its family. Flabby and tough, it detracts from the sandwich rather than adding to it. Here, too, the bread doesn't suit, being more appropriate for a Sloppy Joe. Those complaints noted, there is an intelligence to the way the kitchen combines ingredients and flavors. There are prob lems, too, with both a coleslaw of beets, carrots and apples and a dish of pasta salad that incorporates chickpeas, but both are pretty and fresh, composed with the same regard for ingre dients. No one here is dumping a packet of generic seasoning supplied by the large-scale food industry into a dish, and each order is accompanied by Phickles pickles. Dinner and breakfast have more highlights. The omelet, the fillings of which change regularly, depending on what's in season, is the best one I have had in Athens. It splits the dif ference nicely between the flat French variety and the puffy American style and doesn't skimp on fillings. The muffins avail able from the glass case are really more like unfrosted cup cakes, but they're lovely, with a crusty exterior. 1 he prices here, too, are better. As opposed to a $10 sandwich that isn't huge, you can get yogurt and granola for less than half that. Dinner is more in the realm of fine dining and priced as such. The way the cheese plate is set up ($4 a cheese) is weird, but the offerings are nice. Some dishes need work, like the watermelon caprese, which could really use some salt. The gazpacho is good but unexciting. A North African-inflected chicken dish contains superlative grilled carrots, sliced thin on the bias and beautifully caramelized. A fried sheepshead is delicate but could use more pizazz, and the waiter shouldn't assume everyone knows it's a fish. A grilled Moonshine Meats pork chop, however, is excellent: perfectly cooked, with a zingy sauce and a gorgeous caramel ized onion and bacon risotto. It might set you back $20, but it's worth it. Dessert is nicely executed, too, with a cute ice cream sandwich and a plum tart that sings. Heirloom is adding a market component that will retail prepared foods as well as pastries, beverages and dry goods. It offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch and is closed Sunday evenings. It has a good small list of wine and beer, and takes credit cards. What Up? Stuffed Burger, an independent business despite its chain-like name, is coming to the former Falafel King on Baxter in September. Espresso Royale Caffe downtown has become a Jittery Joe's, but the differences are minimal, with the same staff, baked goods and coffee (ERC has been serving the JJ blend for about six months). Keba #2 is open on Epps Bridge Parkway near Trader Joe's. 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