antipaucity

Thanks to Tarus and the OpenNMS crew for hosting the InterNetWorkers bash in Pittsboro last night.

I went down with one of my coworkers, and we had a blast.

It would’ve been fun even without the free beer and appetizers, but they were certainly appreciated!

I’ve been writing a bunch of restaurant reviews recently, but so far have only listed places I thought were really worth going back to.

If I happen across any total losers, I’ll mention those, too, as a warning. Likewise, places that are just ‘ok’ I’ll skip.

Just don’t want any of you thinking I rave about every place I go

Last night I drove a quick 10 minutes from Vinings to Sandy Springs GA to meet-up with a couple friends for dinner. Skimming opentable’s restaurant listings, I had discovered 5 Seasons Brewing earlier in the day, and we decided to give it a try. 5 Seasons’ beers are all made in-house (I think), in small batches, so they change seasonally.

From their website, “We’re passionate about serving local produce, all-natural meats, and artisanal cheeses. We bake each of our breads and make everything else - all of our demi-glace, salad dressings, pommes frites, ice creams and sorbets. As part of a sustainable, natural cycle, we add our brewer’s spent grain to our home-baked bread and share the rest with a local organic farm, where it is composted to grow our vegetables.”

I’m a fan of the “buy local” campaigns not because I’m some whacky hippy nut, but because it makes good economic sense: the food travels shorter distances, and is therefore fresher; the money spent stays in the local community rather than some chunk of it going to the corporate center; and the businesses involved tend to want you as a [repeat] customer.

The restaurant in Sandy Springs is dark - but not in an imposing or formal way: the interior is bare dark wood, and very attractive - it reminded me of a mountain lodge; it’s open and airy, but rugged at the same time.

I ordered their Rib Eye with fingerling potatoes, and a delectable mushroom sauce. Chris order the Duck Both Ways, which looked mighty tasty, and his girlfriend ordered the Lamb Tenderloin.

5 Seasons also has an extensive Scotch list (>20), including a couple Islays (my favorite).

The dress code is to arrive dressed: the waitstaff all wear slacks or jeans and T-shirts. Main dishes are all under $30, and they rotate their menu based on locally-available ingredients.

After dinner we all tried different desserts: bread pudding, creme brulee, and peach cinnamon ice cream. If you’re in the area, 5 Seasons is definitely worth a visit.

I’ve been working for one of our larger customers near Atlanta recently. When I arrived last week, I was pleasantly surprised to find out there’s a Mellow Mushroom a mile from their office in Vinings.

I was first introduced to the Mellow Mushroom in Durham a couple years ago. I’ve since started enjoying the one in Raleigh, too.

Tonight I’m trying one of their ginormous salads for dinner. Typically I’d go for one of their specialty pizzas or calzones, but it’s hot: and I’m in the mood for something light.

I don’t usually write-up chains or quasi-chains, but the Mushroom is one worth going to.

I’ll be coming back to Growler’s Pub next week (the one at 783 Old Ballas Road). To date (and I haven’t been to S’Mac in Manhattan, yet), Growler’s has the best macaroni and cheese I’ve had out.

Yesterday afternoon I was discussing where to go for food with Mike, and started searching for pubs near 63017. Growler’s jumped out due to its proximity to the customer we’re working on this week, and the glowing reviews when doing a local search on Google didn’t hurt

When we rolled-in at about 6p, a scant 12 minutes after leaving our customer site, we were seated, and had menus - both for food and beer - and set to scouring them for what we wanted. Mike found a steak, and the corn-on-the-cob that came with it looked mighty tasty. We do have slightly differing tastes in how moo-ey we like our meat, so I can’t say that the steak looked all that great to me, but I like mine hot, whereas he likes his towards charcoal.

I don’t even know what kind of soup I had last night, because the mac & cheese was so good. My cohort in crime had seconds on the macaroni. I should have, but was feeling a little off due to allergies here in St Louis

Their beer selection isn’t as large as that of the Flying Saucer, but they still have about 130 to pick from. As I’ve mentioned previously, I love a good Scotch. Scotch whisky is a drink you respect - you can’t slam it, and why would you want to? They  have such rich flavor contours that you savor it. Growler’s Single Malt Scotch list has about 30 choices, from all over Scotland. They have a few blended Scotches available, too - but I wouldn’t order any of them, personally.

Our waitress, Courtney, was very friendly - acting like she actually appreciated having customers, whereas some places I’ve been recently acted like they didn’t care if you were there or not. Places such as the latter I tend to not give repeat business to. Growler’s has an overall friendly, neighborhood feel to it, and has menu choices ranging down to kid-size portions.

Oh, and one more thing. Growler’s has a Bathtub Dessert option.

For the low low price of only $1500, they’ll come fill your bathtub with any of their dessert items.

So far no one has ordered said item, that Courtney knew of, but maybe you could be the first!

Dishdash is a small mediterranean restaurant on Murphy Avenue in downtown Sunnyvale California.

I went there last week with some of my coworkers at our bootcamp. Their menu offers a wide variety of choices, though I only sampled their lentil soup and mohmoh.

Their lentil soup was very filling - the medium-sized bowl really was enough for a light dinner, which is what I had in mind.

The mohmoh, a mushroom appetizer, was also very filling for such a small plate of food.

My coworkers all tried something different: lamb, kebab, hummus, and more, and we all left full. We didn’t try anything too unusual, but there are plenty of choices from plain to exotic on their menu for any taste.

The entree prices range up to $28, but most are well under $20. If you’re looking for a quick, friendly place to eat in Sunnyvale, this is one spot you should put on your list to try.