Dining Out at Gymnopedie

Over the weekend Raoul and I had one of my favorite meals ever. We visited local restaurant, Gymnopedie. Gymnopedie is Athens tiniest restaurant, but good things come in small packages, no?


The first thing you will notice is how cozy this space is, complete with handmade quilty curtains on the wall, fresh flowers, and adorable artwork. The quilt makes me think of miniature doors at the top of a mountain peak.






The menu changes each month, and you can keep up with the changing menus via their menu page and by signing up for their email list. So what did we eat that was so amazing?


First, we tried some pickled veggies. Here we had some pickled garlic, chard stems, cauliflower, and some beets. My favorite were the beets and chard. So good!






We also had some homemade bread and olive oil for dipping. The bread was so soft and yummy. I think it was baked with love.




We decided to order one of each entree, so we could try each other's dishes. Mine was the summer squash casserole - it was so light and fluffy and summery - it was perfect. The side salad with my meal was made from local celery and had some dates on top, too. The dates were especially yummy. I do not know if I ever had dates before, but I for sure would like to have these again! Even Raoul said they were delicious.


Raoul had the veggie lasagna. It was made from zucchini, tomatoes, pesto, and cashew ricotta cheese. This lasagna was purely raw, and was very good, too. Raoul said it was cold, but had the same savory feel as a cooked lasagna. The zucchini was noodle replacement, and Raoul also mentioned that he did not even miss the noodles that are in a regular lasagna.






I had some tea, too - this one had a lemon flavor to it. And look at the cute little teapot!


As dessert I tried the pineapple crumble. Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits, and this was excellent. I also liked the mini ice cream scoop on top, too. Raoul liked this dessert as well.


Raoul had the cocoa cola, which is not really cola, but it is carbonated foam. I love chocolate, and I really liked tasting the real cocoa-ness of this, so it was not overly sweet, but more dark chocolatey and fluffy. Raoul described it as having an Areo Bar in liquid form.


The bubbles really did not collapse when we ate this dessert! It was magical!




We had such a lovely meal at Gymnopedie, I can't wait to go back!

Weekend Wind-Down #148

(the colorful "INSPIRE EACH OTHER" MURAL we saw in Decatur, Georgia)

Yesterday, Missy and I headed out to Decatur, Georgia, to spend the afternoon with our friends Marla, Lance, and their daughter, Ruby. Missy first met Marla "back in the day" at the BEANTOWN ZINETOWN zine and small press convention in Boston...way back in 2000. They are both old school "yankee zinesters" who somehow found their way to the DIRTY SOUTH.

We never really explored Decatur that much, so we were looking forward to having Marla and Lance show us all the cool stuff there. They live just a short walk from the downtown area, so after taking a walking tour down some charming residential streets, we headed to RAGING BURRITO, a Decatur institution, for lunch...









Of course, no trip to the Atlanta area is complete without stopping at a KING OF POPS cart. Even though I was filled to the rim with mexican food goodness, the KEY LIME PIE popsicle was a nice antidote to the spiciness of my dinner:





Missy swimming around in LITTLE SHOP OF STORIES, a kid-friendly bookstore:



I was tempted to steal this poster for the ATLANTA ROLLERGIRLS. You know I'm a big fan of STAR WARS and I really liked the way the artist re-made BESPIN (a.k.a. CLOUD CITY), from The Empire Strikes Back, into the shape of a ROLLER SKATE:



We went to this cool little gift shop called HOMEGROWN, that carried a lot of handmade items from local artisans, artists, and crafters. In the back corner of the store, there is an ever-growing SHRINE devoted to the incomparable MR.T - I genuflected and then pitied the fool:















Not wanting to disappoint Mr.T, I ended up buying this POSTCARD featuring an illustration by local Atlanta artist, R.LAND:



"Welcome to Atlanta..."



These cute CAT LOAVES looked like TOFU BABY's cousins!



After touring the downtown area, we went back to Marla and Lance's place and hung out with their cat MIKKO (their other cat was too shy to hang out). He played some CAT GAMES on the iPad, and then let Missy groom him...lucky guy!









After we cooled off and rested, we all drove over to the nearby OAKHURST neighborhood, to try out a new bakery called SUGAR MOON. It was the perfect way to cap off a fun afternoon...











FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - I liked hanging out with Marla, Lance, and Ruby and checking out Decatur!
RAOUL - Yep. Hanging out in Decatur with Marla, Lance, and Roo.

WORST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Oh, I didn't sleep good almost the whole week.
RAOUL - Finding ants in the garbage.

FUNNIEST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Dropping the medicine in the car.
RAOUL - I'm sure it was something I heard on the Professor Blastoff podcast.

WORD OR PHRASE OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - "Bunny Yummies"
RAOUL - "Moose Knuckles"

FAVORITE MEAL OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Dinner at Gymnopedie. Sooooo good.
RAOUL - It's a toss up between dinner at Gymnopedie and the spicy chimichanga from Raging Burrito. Two different ends of the spectrum.

FAVORITE THING ABOUT DECATUR?
MISSY - I liked how everything was close and walkable from Marla and Lance's place.
RAOUL - The "walkability" of Decatur, yes. But also, I got some pretty sweet deals while we were out shopping.

PERSONAL RESOLUTION FOR THIS WEEK?
MISSY - Ummmm...get up earlier?
RAOUL - Make a time budget and stick to it. Posting this Weekend Wind-Down on a Sunday night is a good start. It's been a while!

PERSONAL SOUNDTRACK FOR THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Leslie Gore, The Great Lakes, Rachael Dadd, Rose Melberg, Sleater-Kinney, Calvin Johnson, Ruby Fray, Tiger Trap, Professor Blastoff podcast.
RAOUL - Brown Recluse, The Hidden Cameras, LAKE, of Montreal, The Ladybug Transistor, Laura Veirs, Little Wings, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, Gigi, Glo-Worm, Tiger Trap, Polvo, Marriage Records' "Is Orange Birds" compilation, Professor Blastoff podcast.