The Happiest 3 Hours...

Becky!

Ok, well no hard feelings about the blog... I apparently just matched your record of not checking a post. No updates so far on the bread, as I just unpacked my KitchenAid. But my, oh my do I have a story to tell you!

Last Sunday, my mom and I decided to splurge on brunch at the Four Seasons hotel- And this wasn't just any breakfast/lunch combination. The hotel itself is nice, finished with marble and such... but had eyes only for the table wrapped all the way around the terrace- and that didn't include the dessert room (yes, room). After briefly purveying the area, we decided to start with the seafood- light, expensive, and well, why would you want to end a massive brunch with fish? Then we moved on to salads, sushi, risottos, raviolis, carving stations, and of course, dessert.

Most shocking item of the morning was a lobster boil- hunks of lobster in white bowls with potato and andouille sausage, topped with steaming fish stock. Surprising both in quantity and quality... really, the lobster was amazingly sweet, with the telltale "firm yet chewy" texture. And the shrimp- piles upon piles of shrimp- were cooked perfectly. Juicy, and sweet. The sheer number of salads was also ridiculous- and the amount of work! Everything from heart of palm with seafood... to cold thai peanut noodle... to shredded beef in tostada.

My favorite of the day was a sweet corn risotto with shrimp. The risotto, of course, was smooth, creamy, with pops of crispy sweet corn at intervals between the teeth. And the shrimp... no, these weren't cooked in the risotto but pan friend and placed ontop- a piece de resistance.

There was also an entire breakfast line- you name it... biscuits and gravy, fruit, yogurt, waffles with 10 toppings, omelets with 20 toppings, bagels and lox... but we skipped the whole area. Figured we could find breakfast items like that on other days.

But no! The pontificating has only just begun... we both grew second stomachs to tuck away dessert. At first glace of the perfectly glazed custard petit fours and French macarons, I thought I was sitting in L'Aduree in Paris. Honestly- bravo to these guys for putting out a more impressive, higher quality dessert spread than others offered in shops with pastry chefs. Sweets were literally stacked on my plate. Simply couldn't choose between the chocolate dipped passionfruit profiterole that popped in the mouth like a creamy, tangy explosion... or the triple layered panna cotta, each tier with a completely distinct flavor profile (strawberry, lemon, mango) that tasted more like custardy cream than buttermilk panna cotta. The French macarons alone are telling- even the best bakeries in Paris can't make them right, and somehow, The Four Seasons Atlanta stands up firmly next to L'Aduree with the perfectly round build, crunchy exterior, mildly chewy interior, and creamy fillings. Other details- like the custard inside the petit fours and the mango sticky rice that actually tasted like mango- were simply icing on the cake.

Every condiment, sauce, and dressing was home-made- the food tasted better than "as it should"... really, the sign of an amazing meal.

I think you would have loved it... maybe sometime?