Joy Phenix's Blog

I can hardly wait to send all of you to Cardamom Hill.  Billy and I had a Date Night at this restaurant recently and had an absolutely fabulous meal.  Sure, I’d read the review in Knife & Fork and the nod to “Best of 2011” as well as some rave reviews from friends, but I [...]

Have you ever noticed that pizza dough costs about $1.25 at your local grocery store?  Given my family’s affinity for the Italian pie, that’s not just a bargain, it’s irresistible! Last summer my friend Erin told me how she and her family grilled their pizza during the summer and everyone was in charge of making [...]

Last weekend my friend Jordan graduated Summa Cum Laude from Georgia State and a group of family and friends went out to celebrate this huge milestone.  Jordan and his wife Lindsay are some our favorite peeps and we LOVE exploring Atlanta food spots with them.  So not ONLY did we get to celebrate Jordan, I [...]

” Inspector Clouseau:  A woman is like an artichoke, you must work hard to get to her heart.”  The Pink Panther There are few foods I enjoy as much as an artichoke.  Growing up, when they were in season my mom served them up to the family on a weekly basis.  Of course, whenever I [...]

In my opinion, Atlanta sushi spots can be hit and miss. I think MF Sushi is flat out spectacular.  Plus I like Sushi House Hayakawa ,and Taka Sushi and well,… I like MF Sushi.  That means that our choices are limited to three locations.  That made me super excited to find Creative Loafing’s 100 Dish  [...]

There are a handful of dishes that immediately put me back in my grandmother’s kitchen, but this pasta dish is perhaps the biggest throwback to that era.  After learning to make it, I see why the dish made such frequent appearances on the table- there are only five ingredients! Here’s what you need:  1 lb [...]

There are plenty of good steakhouses in Atlanta, and Billy and I are taking a hit for the team to make sure that we confirm this fact for all of you!  A couple of weeks ago our friends were raving about Little Alley Steak in Roswell, so we jumped in and scored a Saturday Date [...]

When you grow up in Southern California, one of the first things you learn to make is homemade guacamole.  You need to know how to make the kind with “fresh” ingredients (fresh squeezed lime juice, cilantro, red onion, garlic, etc.) and with the “dry” ingredients (chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, etc.) AND you need to [...]

If you check in with this blog, you’ve seen that I’m tackling Creative Loafing’s 100 Things to Eat in Atlanta list (just “The List” for short). Billy has been a great sport giving over date nights to the project (as if eating great food requires much concession!).  At this point we’ve started to take the [...]

The weather in Atlanta is already warm, so I’ve got to stop roasting all of my veggies and find new, cold dishes to make.  Of course, it’s also helpful if I can find something that lasts a couple of days for lunches and snacks.  Thus, my current salad pursuit of a great broccoli salad. If [...]