Last week in Charleston: Paradise now in classic high society comforting decor. An affair to remember, experiencing a new level of luxury and service at High Cotton fine dining restaurant owned by the Marverick Group — an array of southern restaurants and a teaching kitchen/cooking retail shop sharing distinctive culinary experiences that celebrate Southern culture. I snacked on the sauteed golden tilefish topped with crispy sweet potates, littleneck clams, swiss chard, and fennel cream. While my good friend Lindsay enjoyed her pan roasted snapper.
High Cotton; High steppin’ Lowcountry food and fine dining. It’s a feeling of warmth and celebration that begins the moment you step inside. You’ll find it in our gracious, knowledgeable servers, expertly prepared dishes and a remarkable wine and cocktail program. Make a reservation for the fine dining rooms known as “French Quarter Room” and “East Bay Room” or first-come, first-served in the bar/lounge with live entertainment after 6pm. http://www.mavericksouthernkitchens.com/highcotton/charleston/
High Cotton
199 East Bay Street
Charleston, SC
Sham Shirley
CHEF’S TABLE: Last night, Phifer was seen eating and later leaving the posh Einstein’s Metrotainment Cafe in Atlanta. He wore his favorite blacked out Grey Ant Status shades, sheep skin fur and leather sleeved jacket.
We need more, don’t we? Oh. This is- This might be- what do you think of…executive chef Adam Maddox? Clap-clap bravo, dinner was superb at Einstein’s. Oh, please… it’s just- I don’t know- judging from the sound of orders, business is booming. Einstein’s is a nifty venue–it is a trendy spot with very chic decor and dance music fills the place with energy; it is a place the “midtowners” can easily walk to on their way to a concert or Piedmont Park. Einstein’s combines a world-class outdoor patio with a sophisticated bar stocked with Heineken, and interior dining for the most unique space in Atlanta. Inside luxe décor creates a casual, modish atmosphere, highlighted by stylish lighting and rich wood trim. Outside, a large tree-shaded patio beckons, earning Einstein’s the most votes as “Best Outdoor Dining Experience” year after year. The food–one word: magnifique. The menu here is beyond flavorful (the fried okra is the best of all time) which topped this dinner off, No-no this isn’t a question. R.S.V.P. yes to Einstein’s.
PHOTO: The Perfect Phifer Pout
Einstein’s
1077 Juniper St
Atlanta, GA 30309
MP
He is back in Atlanta. New friends. Oh how I missed you Haute Atlanta. Oh how I love you new friends. The table seated a diverse group of cool kids, banker-accounting types, artsy smartsies, and ATL movers & shakers. Fashion and dinner is a reflex for us. And what better way to celebrate having a reflex than to break bread with the fashionable. Ocean Prime, this is grand pretensions dining at it’s best. This place is fantastic and the “it” place to be if you are looking for an upper echelon dining experience. Piano music at the bar. Check. Private rooms equipped with TVs to watch whatever and 4 servers to answer your beckoned call. Check. Wonderful cold Heinekens. Check. Ambiance and decor…top notch. Not to mention my lobster tails, divine! Finally a fresh tasting, nicely prepared seafood restaurant with an ambiance and decor that doesn’t remind my of a large seafood shack while enjoying a beer! This is a nice new addition to Buckhead’s restaurant scene. Ocean Prime has a retro mixed with modern feel.
Ocean Prime
3102 Piedmont Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30305
MP
Healthy living. I rode down to catch some of that ocean glow perfecto. While you’re making a living don’ t forget to live. From the twilight zone to dusk, make my day with a “cheers!” What’s your flavor? A double scoop of palm tress in the middle of winter are selling me today, and that’s a loaded gun. It’s a fact, kiss kiss. I made no resolutions for the New Year. “The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.” — Words from Anaïs Nin somehow fit me like a glove. There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. Take the journey and enjoy it for whatever it brings. Can you hear me switching lanes? I can see the vibration in the side view mirror.
Filled to the brim with couples, Galleria shoppers and fashionably dressed girls-night-outers, the Grand Lux Cafe gives off a gilded glare – both from the actual 30-foot-high ceilings and a spacious dining room that feels more palatial than cavernous (the resturant comes wrapped in embossed gold Mylar). But the tone here is serious, sober, weighty – service is snappy and personal; booths are deep and romantically dim, lending a comforting aura to the dining experience. This feels like “luxury dinning.” The expansive menu rides the line between fine cuisine and nouveau comfort food, with an overarching Asian influence. This is an encore on encore on encore of another vicarious experience of opulence! –>Inside Story
Oh, this feels like a tour. The Yoko Ono Tour. The platinum french frame team came out to play–sociopolitical frames. Black at it again. Who you wit? Rollses and Maybachs and Gulfstream jets, five-star hotels and Audemars Piguet watches could not keep us Texas boys away from a reunion. Hey, let me speak it into reality! Lastnight, I had dinner with Terrance Phearse (pronounced Fierce) and his silver jewels. Darling, Terrence Phearse is a contributing fashion editor at ESSENCE.com and market editor at The Blay Report. Currently, he “Works It” at InStyle magazine and is a former HarpersBazaar.com, Louis Vuitton, Vibe, Teen Vogue, LuckyMag.com, and Paper Magazine intern. Terrence holds a B.S. from the Fashion Institute of Technology and lives in New York City. Twas wonderful to catch up with my fellow Houston Monarch! –>Inside Story
First of all – I’m totally loving this whole bar hopping thing oppose to a club. Second – I’m loving this Sawyer Park place! Sawyer Park is an upscale sports bar on the East end of Washington Ave. The decor is an elaborate sports theme highlighted by chandeliers made from empty beer bottles. It even has a private room where middle aged men can be found playing fantasy baseball. This is the spot to be if you want to watch the Downtown Skyline…absolutely sicking! I’d like to say that the dress is “casual” but thats an understatement. I’m all for wearing nice velvet shoes and dress shirts. However, if they do notice anything silly about your clothes, the doorman will stop everything and ask that you “please fix yourself, sir.” I love a good doorman.
+ The weather was perfect – the crowd was a mix of young whippersnappers and older professionals. A lot more Polo and Brooks Bros than the typical Washington bar can stand to allow in – actually a fresh relief from the bedazzled crap you typically see. The one problem you may run into at this place is parking, I definitely suggest VALET!!! This place reminds me a lot of Pulp Fiction, not really the appearance, but the theme. It’s a sports bar with club/lounge-like tendencies–you’ll catch loud tunes and dolled up folks. Oh, Sawyer Park, I love you so. Houston make me proud.
Sawyer Park Sports Bar
2412 Washington Ave
Houston, TX 77007
Marquis Phifer
Carrabbas in Houston. Phenomenal. No wait. AT ALL. It started off crowded!! Like, can’t breathe crowded. Thank God we had a room set aside just for us. Another perk of my friend Terry Thierry being good acquaintances with the owner. The staff was very attentive. It was pretty busy for a Saturday afternoon. For one, the food is amazing. We had the bruschette to start, and it was fantastic. The bread was crispy and delicious. The goat cheese and tomato was rich and perfect on top of the bruschette. An amazing start to a good meal. The second backdrop was of stuffed shrimp and pasta, paired with ice cold Heineken’s. We finished with some coffee and a tiramisu. Overall, everything was great. Carrabba’s is delicious and well worth a visit for dinner if you’ve never been there. I promise that you will leave impressed.
Carrabbas Italian Grill
3115 Kirby
Houston, Texas
Marquis Phifer
Jovel, what? Brandon, what? Look, where? Hold up don’t turn your head. Just slowly turn your head. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3,…2…1. Listen. No! Listen. Pearl is my FAVORITE SEAFOOD HOUSE OF ALL TIME. Phifer is not feeling sea sick–enjoying the luxury of bromances and nickel and dime prices a la $5 Thursday Specials (I only want to fly first-class desires, you’re my limousine). Who him yes me–I’m game tight on a Thursday Atlanta night, see it all through the platinum french frames with the french name in the same night. We like the breeze flow straight out of our lids–cause we cool like dat [x7]. We dined on crab, I said crab for five ones (I am not the meat & potatoes type of guy). All 5 everything. Bring a friend! We gon show you how we party.
Pearl Restaurant & Lounge
253 Peters St
Atlanta, GA 30313
Marquis Phifer
Grilled salmon and broccoli, Pearl Restaurant & Lounge
I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to confirm what’s for dinner. No! I don’t want dacquoise. I want the BEST economically priced seafood on the market. Am I reaching for the stars here? Not really. And yes you are right, Phifer does not play homemaker and I do not cook! I– I don’t know why but it takes too much preparation, and I get minimal thrills being in the kitchen. But then there is my favorite seafood spot in Atlanta–Pearl. It’s small, intimate, and a very low key seafood lounge. The owner knows I on a first name bases, and the kitchen staff knows us from dining heavy on their $5 Thursdays; crab and shrimp are on the menu–it’s Cheap & Chic. I recommend anything grilled (salmon and sauteed shrimp) with any side. I don’t mess with the fried family so anything dipped in grease you are on your own! Definitely check it out next time you’re in the Castleberry Hill area. (It’s other alas is Baltimore Seafood & Crab (to-go counter has a separate name but same restaurant).
Pearl Restaurant & Lounge
253 Peters St
Atlanta, GA 30313
Neighborhood: Castleberry Hill
Marquis Phifer
The name alone gives you a clue as to what you might find on the menu–this is definitely a Latino place; you can find meals from Caribbean, Latin America, and Spain all in one place. Me, I rather fly to all of the destinations previously mentioned–as I am often confused as being Eladio I discovered La Fonda Latina while attempting to waste time during a class or two; go to whatever restaurant in the area that happened to be in a Big Wheel’s reach. Consider this a connoisseur move for a cheap Mexican-style restaurant. That being said, I was happy to partake in a bean and rice combo, my lunch guest indulged in a quesadilla combination. With everything on the menu being simple, decently priced–the best companion for students of higher learning, and flavorful–so grab you–you–you–and your whole crew and get sloshed on all this culture that is mistakenly taken as mine!
La Fonda Latina
1025 Howell Mill Rd
Atlanta, GA 30318
Marquis Phifer
Over fourty of Altanta’s progressive culture curartors were selected and attended DJ On Deck: A Cultural Session–featuring existique taste from The Sound Table and a musical traverse as Dj Dimples streamed the event with live spinning music! An archivist crowd of credible influencers enjoyed culinary appetizers from Sound Tables Executive Chef Breenan Keenan, infused with the spinning techniques and remixed sounds of Atlanta’s originator Dj Dimples in a fine dining atmosphere; combining influencers to drive creativity and connectivity.
Details: The event housed a clique of 30 to 40 hand-selected key players in the Atlanta Metropolitan area;–the duration of the event was from 7:00 P.M. until 10:00 P.M–view post to engage in the selected night where we heard customized beats, food, and tasted Heineken product!
–>Inside Story