I am obsessed with [tag]Java Jive on Ponce.[/tag]  Located across from the [tag]Clairmont Lounge[/tag], I have now been here only four times in the 6 years I have lived here.  And all my visits have been within the last 4 weeks.  In fact, I am here now drinking my cup of decaf fabulous coffee and drinking my orange juice and I have ordered the Mediterranean Scramble which consists of big fat portabello mushrooms, red peppers, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and feta.  Ah, it is here!  (and look at it)  Okay. I’ll be right back after I finish eating this.

Okay, I am finished. (You really can’t tell how fast I eat, now can you?)  So, anyway, I want to own this place.  Everything is beyond retro – vintage appliances, vintage lamps, vintage coffee pots, fabulous old signs about colas, baking powder, and of course Sunbeam bread.   Things date back to the1930′s 40′s and 50′s and the music matches the decor.  People who come and wait on the weekends wait in the appliance section – therefore if you come, you can see cool yellow and pink ovens.  Well, actually all the appliances are ovens although one oven looks like a dishwasher, but it is not.

It is obvious that I love the look and feel of this place, but I also really love the food.  It ain’t a cheap breakfast place (between $8.00 and $9.00 for the egg dishes) – but it is so damn good and worth every penny.  The scrambles are full of stuff, the grits are tasty and the biscuits – well, the biscuits are truly the best in town (and rated that way).

So, I know now that all of you thousands of readers will be here everyday…but seriously, if you have not ever visited the little blue building on Ponce, come NOW.

*790 Ponce De Leon Avenue: Hours are Tues-Fri 8am-2pm and Sat and Sun 9am to 2:30pm.  CASH ONLY (but they have an ATM. )

Little Girl gives it Java Jive 4 big paws up.

The name alone should make you want to go there…even if you are a vegetarian.  It sounds kinda cute.  Robin, Curtis, Alison and I visited [tag]Decatur’s newest restaurant, The Iberian Pig[/tag], last week and enjoyed it immensely. The place is warm with darker colors and wooden tables and chairs (not comfortable after an hour if you are prone to a sore back) and a gorgeous bar area.  There are old family photos on the walls of the owner’s family – a long line of restaurateurs.  I also liked the chalk board at the end of the bar that asked patrons not to wear hats or talk on cell phones inside the restaurant.  The bartenders actually are the only ones allowed to wear hats (tweed caps mainly) and I thought they all looked sexy -well, precious really.

We started with some cocktails of course.  Robin and I got a really nice Cosmo, Alison got an Aviation, and Curtis got this amazing bacon infused Bourbon.  Yum. The menu is printed in very very small font and if you are a bit older like Robin and Curtis are (hee-hee), you have a hard time seeing what’s on it.  Seriously, it is damn small font and there is a lot on it.  It basically has 7 different areas: cheeses, fine ham, salads, tapas, big ole plates, flatbreads, and desserts.  The menu plays on Spanish words much nicer than my words of “cheese, fine hams,” etc…

We decided to go for the mushroom flatbread (pictured with my cell phone, aghast!!!) first along with two cheeses and Serrano – all which were excellent.  For the meal, I got an actual main dish of scallops and Alison got slow roasted pork with apple cider reduction and a green apple salad.  Robin feasted on the bbq octopus and Curtis enjoyed the mussels and the pork cheek tacos.  I am seriously not doing these dishes any justice as they sound much more appealing on their menu.  Problem is, I am being lazy.

So, we will wrap it up and say that the service was grand, the food delicious, and we will go back.  I think we shall sit at the bar next time and chat up the cap wearing bartenders.  Oh, I also must say that the personal email the owner, [tag]Federico Castellucci III[/tag] (yes, that’s really his name) sent me after our visit was a nice touch.

Little Girl gives it 3 paws up.

I hate when people spell “country” and “cooking” with K’s – or just misspell a word all together for the heck of it.  It really grates on my nerves.  This is probably the reason I waited a good couple of months to go to lunch at the newer [tag]Spades Kountry Kookin in Kirkwood[/tag].   Alas, I will not be waiting another two months before I return.  It was delicious.

Located on Hosea Williams Drive, across the street from one of my favorite lunch places, [tag]Le Petit Marche[/tag], the restaurant is an unassuming building with a pretty big parking lot.  I checked it out last week after hearing mixed reviews (all good reviews for lunch and not so good reviews for breakfast.)  I was doing errands so did not walk up there, but drove in my Prius and actually got it washed while I ate.  Two very nice gentlemen wash cars behind the building and did a fabulous job – inside and out – for a mere $15.00.  I mean, my Prius looked sexy…as sexy as a Prius can look.  I digress.

I asked the sweet woman behind the counter what I should get.  I should tell you, it is buffet style, but they serve you – and it looks as if there are two or three meat options on any given day and a number of vegetable options.   She told me to get the baked chicken rather than the fried chicken and I picked out stewed cabbage and collard greens for my veges.  Of course, I also got a corn muffin and ALMOST got a piece of Karen’s favorite cake – the red velvet cake from Piece of Cake in Buckhead.   But, I thank God, did not.  I had plenty of food.

The chicken was very moist and tasted splendid.  I could have eaten about ten bowls of the cabbage and the collards were good – but not as good as I had hoped.  The corn bread was great as well.  I watched as little of ESPN Sports Center while I sat there, and tried not to eat in 5 minutes.  The food was truly excellent.

Spades is very clean and very welcoming. The owners can’t really do much with the oldness of the building itself, but they have done a good job making it look bright and fresh inside.  I only wish that they did not use disposable forks and knives.  It is a waste and with as good of food as it was, I hated eating with a small plastic fork and knife.   Besides that, I will certainly go back soon-well, as soon as I think I can eat that much for lunch again!

  Little Girl and Brutus give it 3 paws up each!

We were wrong.  And we can admit that.  We first went to [tag]Repast[/tag] a few years ago when it first opened.  It was a good meal, and we remember the cocktails being exceptional, but it fell into our – “good but not worth repeating” category.  Many restaurants suffer this fate from us because there are just so many we want to try and so few that make it on the short list of “must repeat often.”  But we decided to give Repast a redo after a few years… and man, we have been missing out! Stupid silly girls.

Indeed, the cocktails were spectacular – especially the Repastini with ginger-infused vodka and a ginger salt rim.  Yum.  Alley joined us for the redo, and we used that as a justification to order 3 appetizers.  A cheese sampler that was superb; the tuna avocado tartare (tuna + avocado = always a winner); and bacon-wrapped dates (which went well with our cheeses).  Next, Ashley and I shared the “butter poached” halibut which was no doubt the best halibut we have ever eaten in our lives…and we have eaten some serious halibut.  This one was perfectly flaky with a light wild mushroom broth.   Alley went for the “repast style” crab cakes which were also excellent.

The dates wrapped in fabulous bacon and the Repastini in the background.

The owners are a husband and wife pair of chefs – he is from rural Louisiana and she is from Japan.  We spoke with Chef Joe Truex and apologized for our former Repast rejection and promised to put Repast on the repeat list.  And you should too.  Note: Ashley was unable to write this post because during the entire meal she was distracted and as nervous as a schoolboy over our Penelope Cruz look-alike Argentine waitress.

Ashley blushing over Penelope Cruz

Brutus gives it 4 big paws up!