Chef Fabio Trabocchi recently left Maestro in McLean for New York's SoHo. Photograph courtesy of Maestro.

Back in August, chef Fabio Trabocchi left the country-clubby elegance at Maestro in the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner for New York’s SoHo, where he presides over the kitchen at the more casually chic Fiamma. Now that Trabocchi—and the crew of 12 he brought from Maestro—have had some time to adjust, how are New Yorkers taking to his mod-Italian artistry?

New York magazine’s Insatiable Critic (a.k.a. Gael Greene) calls the “movie-star handsome” chef’s cooking a “complex dazzle.” There’s “voluptuous” burrata, “with tomato, three ways, arranged like jewels” and “taste-stirring” Dover sole layered with olives, red pepper, and lemon zest. And yet. “At times a too-intense sauce sabotages an otherwise brilliant notion. . . . Roasted turbot with cipollini and housemade pancetta showily draped in thin slices of raw mushroom would be splendid rescued from the nuggety swamp it sits in.”

Meanwhile, New York food blog Grub Street deconstructs Trabocchi’s porchetta, “the most intensely rural and down-market of dishes.” Not in Trabocchi’s sous-vide-happy, fennel-pollen-sprinkling hands it’s not.

At the New York Times, Florence Fabricant gives Trabocchi a longer, biography-heavy profile. She calls his arrival at Fiamma “big news” and a “coup” for restaurateur Stephen Hanson. (His B.R. Guest restaurant group also owns more pedestrian spots like Ruby Foo’s and Dos Caminos.) Trabocchi, who is now a partner in Fiamma, tells Fabricant he’d always had his sights set on Manhattan; it was just a matter of the right time.

 

You can get cornmeal pancakes and buttery biscuits all-day, everyday at this crowded Candler Park diner.

Atlanta doesn’t have the reputation for deliciously sinful Southern cooking that New Orleans boasts. Its cuisine is best known for...well, Georgia peaches. Sure, they’re wonderful (especially in summer) but a recent weekend trip revealed a dining destination where both upscale and low-key places serve up memorable meals with comforting Southern flair.

After a late Friday-night arrival, my ideal Saturday morning in Atlanta meant sleeping in and brunching at the Flying Biscuit. The colorful diner now has three locations within the city limits, but the slightly cramped Candler Park original is still everyone’s favorite (show up just about anytime and you’ll encounter lines). The tables turn fast, though, and the all-day breakfast options are worth the wait. There are inspired omelets, tofu scrambles, and oatmeal pancakes; all come with a light-as-air yet extremely buttery biscuits. Look beyond breakfast to try such tasty house specialties as the Love Cakes, savory pancakes made from black beans and cornmeal and topped with tangy tomatillo salsa. And no worries—they still come with a biscuit.

The Flying Biscuit, 1655 McLendon Ave., Atlanta; 404-687-8888; flyingbiscuit.com.

Photograph by Matthew Worden

Bagels from Montreal's St-Viateur, made by hand and finished in a wood-burning oven, are worth the mail costs.

Sorry, New Yorkers—the best bagels in the world are in Montreal. And now, thanks to a change in shipping laws, the legendary Montreal bakery St-Viateur Bagel (stviateurbagel.com) is again shipping its bagels to the States.

Smaller and lighter than their New York cousins and with a larger hole in the center, the bagels are artisanally handcrafted—no machine stamping—and baked in a wood-burning oven. Handmade bagels mostly vanished here in the 1960s, victims of the new bagel machines.

The St-Viateur bagels lose a little something in the three days it takes them to arrive by mail, but popping them into the toaster for a few minutes brings them back almost to their original, glorious state.

You can find cheaper bagels—including shipping, a minimum order of six dozen costs around $60—but not better bagels.

New York foodies are buzzing about Morandi, the new Italian place in the West Village and latest addition to restaurateur Keith McNally’s mini-empire (Balthazar, Pastis, Schiller’s). Not without some begging, a friend managed to score us a 6:30 reservation last weekend. After many memorable brunches at Balthazar, Soho’s perennially-packed French brasserie, we were intrigued to see McNally go Italian. Indeed, he evokes Italy with the same finesse that transports diners to Paris at Balthazar. There’s a blackboard listing several house wines served in wicker-based carafes, rustic wooden tables that are just a little too small (somehow it makes things cozy, not annoying), and even servers with seemingly-authentic Italian accents.

Relaxing at the Linden Vineyard.

Rappahannock County’s biggest claim-to-fame is the illustrious Inn at Little Washington--the ultra-luxurious restaurant and inn that anchors the tiny town of Washington, Virginia (population 160). But there's been plenty written about that. On a recent weekend trip to this idyllic setting just 65 miles from “big” Washington, I discovered some other great spots nearby for food, wine, and fun.

Good morning, chatters!

Just wanted to let you know that the chat is on hiatus this week, as I head up to New York City on this raw, blustery morning to do some food scouting.

Of course, I couldn't in good faith leave you without the prospect of something mouth-watering for the next hour or so, so I've put together some highlights of my last trip north, a couple of weeks ago.

From time to time, I hope to share more of these eating adventures with you - and welcome your feedback.

See you back here next week. Same time, same bat channel.

Until then, feast on this first installment of:

The Slanted Door

San Francisco is constantly touted as one of the nation’s leading food cities. So needless to say I was thrilled to be invited on a trip to the Golden Gate with my boyfriend’s food-loving family (they’re from New Orleans, after all). Although pretty much every bite of the trip was memorable, these were the major culinary highlights.