Decatur Date Night - to Cafe Alsace and The Chocolate Bar

November 19, 2007

Decatur - Atlanta’s little sister city - is a great place to stroll around and enjoy a weekend evening. This past Saturday, we enjoyed a nice meal at Cafe Alsace, a tiny French restaurant celebrating 10 years in Decatur, followed by dessert and drinks at a new arrival - The Chocolate Bar.

Cafe Alsace is the epitome of a Decatur classic - no crazy lines, cozy, casual, comfortable and yummy. Where else can you get a chicken, applewood smoked bacon, broccoli, and cumin crepe, hand-made French soap, fabric, and magnets? This French gem is a local favorite - great service in an intimate setting complete with a bicycle on the wall.

Cafe Alsace

The Chocolate Bar - a nice stroll down Ponce - was the perfect finishing touch. Ashley and I debated whether my Tirimasue martini was better than her signature Chocolate Bar martini. Hers came with a Baileys “Olive” - a handmade combination of Baileys and chocolate. Good stuff. But mine had mascarpone cheese and cinnamon sprinkles. Ahh. Our handsome bar tender, Patrick, recommended that we have the ”Oreos and Milk” as our inaugural dessert. Patrick needs a promotion to manager simply for tolerating us, but his recommendation was dead on. Warm chocolate souffles surrounding a cool center. Excellent. So good maybe Nabisco will ignore the use of the Oreo trademark. The scene was a bit too bright and suburban-esque when we arrived, but Patrick dimmed the lights for us and the in-town vibe was established.

Patrick!

Aside from the woman breast-feeding her infant at 9pm on a Saturday night, the place had a cool couples’ date-night feel as it packed-in overflow patrons from local restaurants swinging by for a pre-meal cheese plate or post-meal chocolate martini. Chocolate + vodka = Joy.

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