I had clients in this week whom wanted "The Best and the Coolest" meals in Atlanta. One of my clients, we'll call him Chris, knew about Kevin Rathbun and wanted to go to his Steakhouse. So we did one better, we went to Kevin's new KR Steak Bar on Wednesday and then did Rathbuns Steakhouse on Thursday! I would compare it to back to back games in the NBA.
Let's just say after the last couple of days I am not exactly "Iron Deficient" right now. Though I'm not about to go grill some tofu for dinner either. Let's get a hold of ourselves here.
The ambience is brighter than the Steakhouse and has a more Farm to Table feel as the wait staff is dressed like they are on the way to go milk cows in the 1800's.
The first thing you need to know about the KR Steak Bar is that it is NOT a traditional steakhouse, it's a "tapas like" restaurant. So come in a group and be prepared to order alot of food. At first this made me a bit skeptical, but it turned out to be a great thing. Oh yea, almost as cool as Matt Ryan walking right in behind us.
We started with the following appetizers: Octopus with Farro and Candied Lemon, Sweetbreads with Turnips, Chard and Agrodulce and the 3rd one (and most interesting) was Lamb Tartarwith Caponata which we came to find out was Lamb Heart Tartar! And it wasn't bad at all! The Octopus was by far my favorite.
The 2nd Course was Italian: Pappardelle bolognese and Spaghetti with anchioves, capers and olives. Most of my cohorts liked the Pappardelle (pictured below) better, but I was partial to the lighter Spaghetti.
The 3rd Course was the highlight of the meal: We ordered four main entrees. Mark ordered the TriTip with carrots and orange, at which point I had order envy. Stephanie order the Scallops with Shrimp and Salsa Verde and they were seared to perfection. Mark ordered the Pork dish which was basically an enormous piece of bacon, and yes it was delicious.
Fortunately I let the waiter talk me into the Shell Steak with espresso and horseradish. It was my favorite dish of the night. The meat cut like butter and was delicious.
For dessert the highlight was the chocolate hazelnut budino with candied hazelnut and biscotti. It was a chocolate mouse that was perfect, which to me means lots of flavor, but not too sweet.
Then the surprise of the night came. The KR Steak Bar makes their own Irish Cream! I could have ate my weight in it (but unfortunately I didn't).
Overall, this was an INCREDIBLE restaurant and experience. The service was impeccable and the vision Kevin had completely came to fruition. It's the perfect restaurant for "Foodies." Lots of small dishes with BIG flavors to share. So come deep and order alot and sit back and enjoy.
Today's Footnote:
As I was talking to Kevin Rathbun, I told him we were having a party of seven to his Kevin Rathun Steak restaraunt the next night. I didn't think anything of it at the time.
So we showed up the next evening and sat down. The waiters then came to the table with appetizers and said, "Mr. Jones, Kevin Rathbun said thank you for your patronage, these appetizers are on the house." To which I said, "You had me at hello." This food blogging is starting to pay off!
People often stop me to tell me how much I look like Tom Cruise. It's really kind of annoying.
But seriously, that's the kind of thing that creates loyal customers for the long haul. So I'm all in with the Rathbun brand. And for dinner I had the 8 ounce NY Strip with the Black Truffle Butter. And when I say, get the truffle butter, I mean get the f*cking truffle butter!
And to go backwards, get the grilled "thick cut" bacon, house cured with sriracha- molasses as an appetizer. And when they say "thick cut," they truly mean it took a knife to get through it.
For dessert we had the Grasshopper Baked Alaska, made of chocolate parfait, mint chip ice cream and oreo crunch. I have no idea where they got the name from, but it was delicious and it was devoured. Though for dessert after these days, I probably should have order the angioplasty special.
I completely understand why many consider this the Best Atlanta Steakhouse. You can be traditional and still hip.
Hell, if David Bowie can still make music like this at 70 YEARS OLD, you can absolutely make a Steakhouse hip.
Footnote #2:
It's been a while (maybe about 10 years), but the Masquerade is still a great place to see a show. It's an intimate atmosphere with great sound. They could have used more bartenders though (isn't that usually the case at most events?)
We saw the Gaslight Anthem there, who happen to be one of my favorite bands. Check'em out:
And thanks for the over 3,000 pageviews! If you keep reading, I'll keep writing!
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