Ponko

Many years ago, when I was in high school (yes, that was many years ago), there was a little restaurant called Food Ease. It was in a little strip behind the Applebees and it was delicious. Asian-inspired chicken fingers, fried in panko crumbs, that were sweet and savory at the same time. And how in the world did they get their rice so perfectly sticky? And omg the sauce.

But sadly, they closed. For years friends talked about Food Ease and the chicken and many tried to replicate. I even took a stab at a recipe. But it was no where near the same.

Then one day, there was news. The family was returning to Atlanta. And was going to re-open. And it was going to be near my house!!! I really can’t explain the excitement and I don’t think I will ever be as excited about a restaurant opening than I was then. It took a while to get open, but they were kind enough to do tray sales on certain days, so we could get our fix of chicken while anxiously awaiting the grand opening.

And grand it was. Ponko Chicken opened and it lives up to every memory and expectation. You can find it in the Chamblee area and Midtown because, yes, someone quickly opened a franchise location because, yes, it is that good. And the best is that there are so many options! Finger plates, sandwiches, tacos, hot dogs salads. OG, spicy, bbq. Numerous side options. Delicious flavored teas, beer on tap, and wine. Desserts.

My go-to is a finger plate, OG, with white rice and Ponko fries. But the tacos are also delicious. my husband likes the spicy fingers. And of course you cannot forget the extra Ponko sauce and ranch. And no, it’s not just any asian-style sauce or ranch. We always have a bottle of the Ponko sauce in our fridge at home because of course they sell it. They’d be dumb not to!

Anyway – if you can’t tell, I love this chicken. And the restaurant. And I am so happy they returned and re-opened to build their Japanese American chicken tender empire. If you haven’t checked it out – what are you waiting for?!

• 

• 

  taco taco

• 

  all the sauce

• 

  spicy plate with 2 sides

AR Workshop

I like to be crafty and I like the idea of DIY but I am also a slight perfectionist (though not nearly as bad as I used to be). I also have trouble decorating. I have trouble visualizing decor and making decisions. So all around some issues! Luckily for me there are lovely little shops and activities that can solve many of these problems.

I’ve tried the sip and paint places and painting is definitely not my gift. I’ve done a couple and have never painted anything I would actually hang on the wall. Then last year my friend discovered AR Workshop. There are a number of them around Atlanta (and around the country) and we have now been to two different locations. They have mostly wood projects – signs, frames, display boxes, clocks, trays. You pick your date and project (some can be customized) ahead of time to reserve your spot then just show up! At the locations here you can also bring your own wine.

This is also not the cheapest activity you will do but think about it. You end up with a piece of decor that you made (or at least put together and painted) that you can actually use in your house. I love it!

Last year the shop in Lawrenceville had a Christmas in July sale so we made Christmas decor. I made a plank sign that I did actually hang on the wall, though I wish I had done a couple things differently. This time we hit up the Smyrna location since it was a little closer for two of us. Since we are moving to our new house soon and we got married last year, I wanted to do something cute with our last name.

When you get there, everything is set up for you! Your wood pieces, the stencil of your design, and any materials might need. You’ll have a pro or two (depending on how many people are doing projects) who will walk you through every step. Everyone mostly has the same steps, depending on how fancy you want to get. You’ll pick out whatever stain, method, and/or paint you need, and they have lots of examples to looks at as well expert advice to offer.

The first step is always sanding the wood, getting rid of rough edges. Then you stain any wood that needs staining. Mine was the frame that needed staining. You can also use different methods of staining to give it different looks, but since mine is just the frame I kept it to a simple dark stain.

The next step for mine was painting the main board. You could also stain this if you wanted to. I picked a nice gray since that is a main color in our new house.

Next, you take your stencil and tape all over the cut-out space with little pieces of tape. Then you peel off the backing from the blue stencil and stick it to your wood. Then you peel off all the little pieces of tape. I’m going to be honest – I have no idea why you do these steps. I didn’t ask, I just did as I was told. I’m sure there’s some science around it and if I sat and thought about it for a minute I could probably figure it out. But I don’t really care how it works, just that it does!

Once your stencil is placed and tape-free, you paint! You dab the paint into the stencil (as opposed to painting strokes). This keeps the paint from getting under the stencil.

Then you peel off the stencil and voila! You have a lovely painted wood project! You may need to do some touch ups, which the expert can you do. And not pictured is the putting it all together. In my case it was using a nail gun to put the frame on. I know, I know – how could I not get photographic evidence of the nail gun. It’s obviously the coolest part. Next time.

I loved my project and will definitely go back, even it’s once a year when there is a specific project I have in mind or holiday I want something for. I highly recommend getting a group together and checking it out. Find one near you!

Tavernpointe

My friend Kate and I had tickets to a concert – my favorite, Marc Broussard – and decided to make a night of it. We both like to try out new restaurants so we searched around Midtown near the concert venue. We came across Tavernpointe and it had decent reviews so we made a reservation. Then my friend came across a Scoutmob dinner for two deal – our lucky day!

If you’re a planner, like my friend and I, or just get really excited for new restaurants, don’t plan ahead for Tavernpointe. Get excited, just don’t plan ahead. They have a few staples that stay on the menu, but for the most part it changes regularly. The chef decides what looks good at that time, what’s in season, etc. and plans the menu. Pretty cool.

Our deal included two cocktails – I got the Herbal Remedy and Kate got the Peaches and Peppers Sangria. The difficulty in choosing a drink from this menu is that they all have at least one interesting ingredient that makes you pause. For example, the Herbal Remedy has a green bell pepper sauce. Don’t pause too long – it was delicious.

photo cred: Kate

Next came the fresh rolls and herb butter, which everyone gets. No better way to describe these than simply amazing. The next part of our deal was a meat & cheese board – one meat, one cheese (I can’t remember what they were), red onion jelly (interesting and delicious), 420 beer mustard, and caramel popcorn.

meat & cheese board

Lastly was an entree each. I had a risotto with two types of mushrooms, peas, and Parmesan. Kate had linguine with pork. The pasta is made there fresh every day – how often do you get fresh pasta? – but the rest of the menu looks great as well.

risotto

Tavernpointe is trendy and super cozy, but not too couple-y. Great for date night, girls night, guys night, group outing. The location is a little concerning as it is not exactly in a high traffic part of Midtown – at that weird intersection of Peachtree Street and Spring Street – and is in the bottom of an office building. Hopefully they still get plenty of traffic and good reviews. But definitely give it a chance. I highly doubt you’ll be disappointed.