We are so honored to be the first guest bloggers for Ashley and Alison.  Drew and I have been drinking and eating our way through the city of Atlanta over the past 7 years, and we decided to go back to a former Midtown hotspot, ONE Midtown Kitchen.  It had been several years since our last glass of wine there and our faithful iPhone app, ScoutMob, helped us finalize our plan.  With a 50% discount burning a hole in our pocket how could we go wrong. 

We arrived on a Tuesday night to the wonderful enthusiasm of Bob the Maitre’d.  We were seated at the bar as we waited for a friend to arrive, and we decided to start drinking.  As we looked around the still sleek restaurant, it was apparent that at 7:30 it was corporate cocktail hour.  We waited fifteen minutes for Erica to take our order, but once she arrived she was very pleasant, and she profusely apologized for the wait. 

We looked over the chalkboard menu and I ordered the ONE Martini comprised of Absolut vodka, rose champagne, and frozen grapes.  Drew opted for the Ruby Red Sparkler, a concoction made of Absolut Ruby Red vodka, rose champagne, and simple syrup.  Both were terrible!  The rose champagne of the ONE Martini overpowered the flavor of vodka and together, they tasted like they were made at a fraternity social where all the boys just wanted to get the girls drunk using pink cocktails.  The Ruby Red Sparkler just did not mix well at all.  

Though they missed big time on cocktails the wine list was very approachable.  I always appreciate a bar and restaurant where they will open up any of their wines and serve by the glass.  They have a tiered price menu, and a large selection.

Don’t forget our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives.  One Olive = waste of my blogging time;  5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmm

ONE Martini review by Matthew:

Presentation: 2 Olives: At least the champagne grapes created some interest in that hot pink mess. (Photo of the drink with grapes above!)

Taste: 1 Olive: Can I just have a glass of water, please?

Creativity: 1 Olive - (frat boy drink) 

Overall: 1 Olive; Enjoy a bottomless glass of wine instead.

Ruby Red Sparkler review by Drew:

Presentation:  2 Olives: the fizz made this martini appealing and the orange peel garnish was a nice touch.

Taste:  1 Olive: Ruby Red did not provide enough grapefruit taste to the cocktail.  And something about the champagne and grapefruit combo didn’t work.

Creativity:  1 Olive: pretty standard ingredients.

Overall: 1 Olive; I too recommend the bottomless glass of wine.

The best news for those that had a tough day at work (or a tough time finding work) is the option for a bottomless glass!  Oh, and the food is still very good, even after several chef changes over the past few years.

Technorati Tags: ONE Midtown Kitchen, iPhone app, ScoutMob

Since this is our view off of our porch for the next week while on vacation, we have invited our friends, Matthew and Drew, to be guest columnists for our 52 Weeks of Drinks.  We look forward to seeing where they go!

Erika, Jules, Alison, and I ordered a number of cocktails Friday night.  Erika and Jules actually decided what we would post on since we are biased because we are good friends with the owners of this establishment.  All in all, we ordered the Ginger Margarita, the Caipirinha, the Cosmorita, the Bone Garden Punch, and gorgeous glass(es) of sipping tequila.  Let me first say, we did not finish all of these, but we did get a selection…and if you would like to learn more about these drinks, take a look at the downloadable menu!  By the way, all of their cocktails are made with fresh squeezed juices.

Jules and Erika’s selections to this post are the Bone Garden Punch and the glass(es) of Frida Kahlo Reposado.  The Bone Garden Punch consists of  muddled lemons, limes, and oranges with El Jimador Blanco tequila and their fresh Jamaica (hah-Mike-ah) juice.  The Jamaica juice is brewed like sweet tea using dried hibiscus flowers.

Don’t forget our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives.  One Olive = waste of my blogging time;  5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmm

Erika’s ratings for the Bone Garden Punch: *Erika is writing narrative here. 

Presentation: 3 of 5 olives: Nothing too special but nicely done.

Taste: 4 of 5 olives: Good cocktail that will sneak up on you. Sweet with a whisper of your pending drunk fate…

Creativity: 3.5of 5 olives: Grown up punch is fun!

Overall: 4 of 5 olives: This drink would be a good guzzler on a sunny day that would motivate a wonderful afternoon nap.

The Frida Reposao Tequila is possibly the best tequila any of us have sipped.  Not many places have it (we only know of two) and it is a specialty so get it.
Jules’s Ratings for the Frida Kahlo Reposado: *FYI-Ashley is doing the narrative here….

Presentation: 5 of 5 olives: The presentation rocked because it was brought out by the owner, Kristen, who just got her hair done and it is short, sexy, and platinum blond.  The slightly chilled glass made the tequila shine.

Taste: 5 of 5 olives -We know it is cheesy to name a tequila after an artist, but quite frankly, like the artist, it is amazing.  We all agree it is one of the best tequilas ever.

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives - not served many places so it is unique

Overall: 5 of 5 olives -Damn good.

We hope you enjoy the Bone Garden as much as we do!

Eric was our fabulous bartender (pictured with us) and recommended two signature cocktails - both of which were given rave reviews by Jerry, our wonderful new friend we met while dining at the bar.

I went with Long Live the Queen.  This cocktail has been on the menu the longest and during that time has won numerous (national) awards and contests.  It has Bombay Sapphire with hints of Elderflower, lemon, and peach and is served up with fresh mint.

Ashley opted for the GiGi Says - Eric’s own amazing contribution to the signature cocktail list- Hanger vodka, fresh ginger, and a squeeze of lime.  Served in a short glass on the rocks.

The great thing about all of the drinks at Ecco is the integration between the kitchen and the bar -  the chef mixes lots of the ingredients - such as the lavender simple syrup and guests get to taste them in the cocktails as well.  Yum.

Don’t forget our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives.  One Olive = waste of my blogging time;  5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmm

My ratings for Long Live the Queen:

Presentation:  4.5 of 5 olives

Taste: 5 of 5 olives - very tasty, not too sweet, and very balanced.  Good stuff.

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives

Overall: 4.5 of 5 olives

Ashley’s ratings for GiGi Says:

Presentation:  4 of 5 olives

Taste: 5 of 5 olives - We both agreed this was one of our favorites so far.  Ashley does not like ginger, but it was such a nice mix that the ginger was very subtle.

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives

Overall: 5 of 5 olives - I realize this does not add up - but we needed more points for taste.  It was just sooo good.

You must go to Ecco for not just the cocktails.  The food is delicious and the staff is incredible.  We have enjoyed every dinner there thus far!   Oh, by the way, we saw Avatar after visit to Ecco and loved loved loved it.

Technorati Tags: Ecco, Sauced, Long Live the Queen, GiGi Says

We headed to Sotto Sotto with our dear friends, Erika and Jules, and enjoyed our delicious meal there.  We got cocktails before the wine and the cocktails were fabulous.  Alison really liked the Aviation  - which consisted of Zuidam gin, Luxardo maraschino, lemon juice, creme de violette.

Don’t forget our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives.  One Olive = waste of my blogging time;  5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmm

Alison’s rating for the Aviation:

Presentation:  3.5 of 5 olives  - (we have decided all our drinks are starting to look alike, but this had nice flecks of ice)

Taste: 2.5 of 5 olives -she always orders this drink accidentally and think it is the ones she likes - but the French Pearl is better despite the name (that’s what she said).

Creativity: 3 of 5 olives

Overall: 3 of 5 olives

Erika and I got the Lovely Day and we felt like it was indeed such a lovely day drinking it.  I did love this drink - it was kinda like I could just gulp it because it was so refreshing.  Yet, I obviously did not gulp it - I sipped it like the lady I am.  The Lovely Day consisted of Miller’s gin, St. Germain elderflower liquer, lemon juice, simple syrup, FeeBros. grapefruit bitters and Angosutra bitters. Yum Yum Yum!

Presentation:  4 of 5 olives

Taste: 5 of 5 olives -could have had more than one!

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives -I rarely think I like bitters - but this drink rocked.

Overall: 5 of 5 olives. Ahhhhhhhh.

Enjoy your wonderful dinner and cocktail at the fabulous Sotto Sotto sometime soon!  You will smile like Alison is doing in this photo as she gets ready to sample the Lovely Day (to the right) and the Aviation.

Technorati Tags: Sotto Sotto

We chose Repast since the owner, Jeff Truex, is a wonderful Louisiana man and again, this weekend was all about the Saints.  We sat down and ordered a couple of nice appetizers and (the best being the tuna tartar app…) and we asked our waitress to have the bartender (really, a true Mixologist) decide what we should drink.

The Mixologist chose The Pimms Shrub and The Blue Coat Gin Drink(name forgotton, Sorry!).

I think had it been warmer outside, we would have enjoyed these drinks a bit more.  For some reason, they both were a bit more “Summery” to us and since it was freezing, the drinks -both on ice- made us a bit colder.  But, alas, they were superbly made. (The gin drink is on the left in this photo / the Pimms on the right!)

Don’t forget our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives.  One Olive = waste of my blogging time;  5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmm

I made Alison drink the Pimms Shrub: She liked it better than I did.  Repast makes its own Pimms Number 5 and along with that, the drink consisted of fresh squeezed lime juice and fruit shrub (an acid fruit drink).

Presentation:  3 of 5 olives

Taste: 3 of 5 olives

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives - the fact that they make their Pimms is fabulous.

Overall: 3 of 5 olives..we needed a sunny day to enjoy this more.

I chose to drink the nameless Blue Coat Gin drink. (I think it had Bay Leaf in the title and again am sorry that I only wrote down the name of the gin…)  This drink consisted of Blue Coat Gin, Shochu (a Japanese clear distilled spirit similar to vodka,) bay leaf cello, and was topped off with a bitter lemon soda.

Presentation:  3 of 5 olives

Taste: 3.5 of 5 olives

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives - the fact that they even make drinks with shochu and bay leaf cello makes it worth your time.

Overall: 3.5 of 5 olives..again, had it been a warm summer day, I think we would have had more than one!

Get these drinks in the warm weather when you can slurp them down and enjoy chewing the ice and fruit left at the bottom of the glass!

Technorati Tags: Week 6 of Drinks., Jeff Truex, The Pimms Shrub and The Blue Coat Gin Drink(name forgotton, Sorry!)

Technorati Tags: real estate market has declined in Atlanta

We also love the manager - Matt.  He is a handsome strapping lad with impeccable taste in clothing who will never steer you wrong on wine, food, or cocktails.  Look at him mixing it up behind the bar with Mike, our wonderful bartender!

The cocktail list is one of the most creative we have seen and changes seasonally.  Most of the original drinks are named after songs - see if you can guess the artists.   Two of the seasonal cocktails included fresh muddled apples and spice - one was served warm.

As comforting as those sounded on a rainy night, we went for drinks that helped us pretend it was a warm summer afternoon.  Ashley and Michele went with the Relax - a refreshing cocktail served up with Praire Organic Vodka, organic green tea, mint, fresh citrus, and lavender syrup.

Don’t forget our ratings scale is between 1 and 5 Olives.  One Olive = waste of my blogging time;  5 Olives = oh my goodness/yummmmm

Ashley’s rating on the Relax:

Presentation:  4 of 5 olives

Taste: 5 of 5 olives

Creativity: 4 of 5 olives

Overall: 4.5 of 5 olives - damn delicious!

I opted for the Debaser - served in a champagne flute with a burnt orange garnish - it includes Plymouth sloe gin, orange bitters, VeeV acai berry liquor, and cava (sparkling white wine).  This bubbly drink was very refreshing and had a unique taste.  Despite the fact that all of the ingredients were some form of alcohol - it did not taste like it had any - but in a good way.  (Mike even kindly explained to us the difference between sloe gin and regular gin.)

Alison’s ratings on the Debaser:

Presentation:  5 of 5 olives

Taste: 4 of 5 olives

Creativity: 5 of 5 olives

Overall: 4.5 of 5 olives - cheers!

I have not looked back to confirm, but I think this round may have been the best-scoring to date.  Creative and tasty!  Test your music skills - the cocktail list had songs by The Pixies, The Smiths, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and others - see if you can name the artists. 

Technorati Tags: 52 Weeks of Drinks, Serpas is in the Old Fourth Ward