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Grape
Leaf GrillUh, C'om who?
2/1/06 |
C’om
Vietnamese Grill opened its doors with a bang in March
of last year. By September, this spiffy little Buford Highway
hot spot had enamored the local critics to the point of national
attention when it was anointed one of America’s best
new Asian restaurants by Food and Wine magazine. Add to that
one raving review after another.
Uh, hello, didn’t anybody notice the diminishing menu? By
late June popular items such as Apple salads, large grilled mussels
and thick slices of Vietnamese bacon had all suddenly vanished.
Shortly thereafter, dishes unexpectedly stopped arriving with
their standard traditional Vietnamese accompaniments such as
slivers of crispy apple and lanky mango strips.
Is it possible that everyone was so caught up in the overly hyped
moment that they totally missed one small but very important
detail? Apparently so, the chef and mastermind behind C’om’s
cuisine, Ky Nguyen, departed less than twelve weeks after the
restaurant opened. Since that day, C’om has never been the
same.
But thankfully he didn’t break away without something already
cooking – apparently Nguyen broke off to open his own restaurant
in Marietta called Grape Leaf Grill. It only opened in mid September
and is already proving to be a much-welcomed dining option in
a part of town that desperately needs it.
Where else can you find grape leafs stuffed with juicy grilled
duck or a soothing bowl of pho on a cold rainy day in Marietta?
And despite being only mildly aromatic, it’s a surprisingly
flavorful version.
But this isn’t a Buford Highway pho parlor, it’s a
Vietnamese grill – sort of a backyard barbecue with fish
sauce being the marinade du jour. And just like his work at C’om – passionately
marinated and grilled meats and fish are Nguyen’s specialty.
These items are first soaked in one of his specially blended
fish sauces then grilled over charcoal lending a distinct lively
char flavor.
Those yearning for the Apple Salad once served at C’om will
be pleased to know that Nguyen serves it here – unfortunately
the duck isn’t an option, or at least it’s not listed
on the menu that way. But I wonder if he’d whip one up by
special request for old time’s sake? |
Bacon-wrapped Shrimp w/peppers and
onions
Click
Here for more pics
Price Range:
Everything under
$15
Type of Cuisine: Vietnamese
Hours:
Daily: 11:30am - 10pm
Address/Tel: 2755 Canton Rd, Marietta Tel: 678-797-9187
Notes:
*If you miss the food from the early days at C'om,
you're really going to like this place.
* Service is friendly and knoweldgeable but a bit overwhelmed
at times.
*Make sure you save room for dessert, the flan is amazingly
delicious.
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Honestly, I don’t see why
not. The duck is certainly an option when ordering those addictively
amazing grape leaf wraps. What I like most about these is the
way the meat’s juices spill out at first bite creating
an oily, almost creamy mouthfeel.
However, my favorite of all dishes is the flat rice vermicelli – chewy
rice noodle squares topped with marinated beef and shrimp. Wrap
them in lettuce with cilantro, Thai basil and mango strips. As
far as apps go, I can confidently recommend the bacon-wrapped
shrimp tied into a neatly presented stack by a single grape leaf.
Oh, and the Vietnamese Egg Rolls are impossibly sublime, probably
the best I've ever eaten in Atlanta.
The building is awkwardly painted a deep grape leaf green on
the outside. Once inside, you quickly realize you’re standing
in one of those former rococo Chinese restaurants circa 1982.
The dining room is big enough to seat like two billion people.
Service is friendly but gets a bit overwhelmed at times. Loundry,
an upbeat personality on our AtlantaCuisine.com message board,
said it best when he made this statement, “But, honestly,
the servers could throw water balloons at my face and I'd still
eat here. It's that good.”
Grape Leaf Grill is everything that was briefly fascinating about
C’om – guess we know where the 'jump on the bandwagon'
mainstream critics will be dining in the weeks to come.
Sprint, do not jog! |
| Contact Tom: tom@atlantacuisine.com |
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