Ponce City Road Trip
Spring Break. Been a long time since I've had one, but this year Son and I had an adventure planned. The eventual destination was the city of
Wake Forest, North Carolina, but we took the time to make some memories along the way.
As I prepared for this trip,
I knew that our first hunger pangs would be emerging somewhere around Atlanta.
That can be good – there are plenty of places in Atlanta where I have not eaten, and plenty of great ones where I have. And that can be overwhelming – insert previous reasons here. Same same. My first thought when it comes to Atlanta edibles usually runs to Taqueria Del Sol. Can't go wrong with tacos. But I've been there before, and there are so many other new (to me) places, I have to put TDS on the backup list. My second thought is the Buford Highway corridor, which is chock full of international eating opportunities. But that requires more study than I had time to give it this trip. And to give that stretch its due, you really need a day or two for a true global sampling. Next up in the thinking cap is the restaurant group begun by Chef Linton Hopkins. I can't claim to know Chef Hopkins personally; we've been in the same room together and I'm on his email list, but I've never had the chance to eat at one of his restaurants. He started out with a fine dining place called Restaurant Eugene, and like so many others, has branched out into other experiences like burgers, chicken, and craft cocktails. Fine dining wasn't going to work well in my road trip outfit at lunchtime (plus Eugene was closed at lunch, so there's that), but H&F Burgers and Hops Fried Chicken were both at Ponce City Market, not to mention lots of other fun things to see and eat. Lunch determined.
Son and I had decided we were going to try to come back from this trip at reasonably the same weights as we began it. That would mean moderation. That would mean sharing. And at a place like Ponce City Market, this was easy to do. I went to Hops, and at Hops they have chicken. I had my eye on a slider trio, which would have given us samples of all three of the non-biscuit sandwiches they have on the menu, but they weren't available that day. No worries. A chicken biscuit is always a good thing, and it's not three sandwiches. Mission accomplished. And it was a very good thing, actually; Son was particularly raving about it. Nothing fancy – just a tasty tender and a scratch-made buttermilk biscuit, with a little Frim Fram sauce for dipping. (Imagine a tangy riff on comeback sauce, assumedly with a nod to the Nat King Cole song of the same name.)
Meanwhile, next door, we partook of an H&F Burger. This one has a longer story. It started at another of Chef Hopkins' restaurants, Holeman and Finch Public House. At first, it was a nightly special – they started selling them at 10 pm, and they only made 24 a night. Once they were gone, they were gone. I'm guessing they were gone a lot, thus was born an entirely new restaurant concept, H&F Burger. Once again, this wasn't a fancified burger. Double beef patty (from Cox Family Farms), Kraft American cheese, bread and butter pickles, and shaved red onion – all this on a fresh-baked bun, butter-toasted. Those words don't do it justice, however. We surveyed everyone who was eating the exact burger in our hands – that would be me and Son, because that sharing thing only goes so far – and both of us agreed that it was one of the best burgers we've ever had. They offered house made mustard and ketchup, and those are the sort of things I love to try, but this burger needed nothing more than it came with. The pickles added sweetness, and it was so juicy no other condiments were required. Look at any “best burger in Atlanta” list, and you'll find this one mentioned. And if you're a Braves fan, they have a couple of stands at Suntrust Park.
You might think we next went off the rails. Didn't I just say that we wanted to complete this trip in generally the same waist sizes that we started it? And if I said that, why would we next go to the Batter booth, where they sell edible (read: safe to eat without baking) cookie dough by the scoop? Well, because you don't often get the chance to eat “raw” cookie dough in a variety of flavors without the guilt and supposed risk of eating the usual kind. Thankfully, the scoops were small, because cookie dough is rich! I succumbed to my addiction with a scoop of red velvet dough with white chocolate chips. Son got a combo scoop that goes by the name of Brookie: chocolate chip cookie side-by-side with brownie batter. The scoops were a little pricey, but certainly worth a try. No more FOMO.
Our last stop in the PCM was at the Collier Candy Company. I like to have something to nibble on while I'm driving, and this was just the place. They had a gigantic glass jar packed full of every flavor of Zotz candy I'd ever seen – seven flavors, to be exact. In the name of moderation, I bought only one of each.
If you get a chance, give Ponce City Market a visit. The whole family can find something to eat (they bill themselves as “Culinary Central for the South”), and with at least three James Beard award-winners represented, it's absolutely worth the detour.
David Ammon, MSU)