🍅 Breakfast pizza + tomato-tinis

Table Talk Meet Your Chef Breakfast Pizza Tomatotinis June Happy Tuesday and welcome to the table In nowadays s Family Meal Rough Draft dining reporter Sarra Sedghi brings you a profile on Atlanta chef and The New South collective member Christan Willis who will be competing tonight on Food Setup s cooking competition Chopped Sarra also brings you a recipe for the breakfast pizza served during weekend brunch at Indaco Italian restaurant on the Eastside Beltline No need to click out to read either For The Move I ll tell you where to find an exceptional take on the martini with heirloom tomatoes as the star ingredient I see a tomatotini trend emerging this summer on Atlanta s cocktail scene Activities note Look for a story from me next week on summer wines which includes hot-weather and cookout-approved wine recommendations from a handful of top sommeliers in the city The story will also air on WABE s new City Lights Collective on July Stay tuned for more Cheers Beth Just minutes from Atlanta this -year-old Lake Rabun lodge listed with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby s International Realty blends history with luxury Originally a stone-and-timber barn it now offers seven bedrooms a commercial grade kitchen a square foot deck a firepit and easy access to outdoor adventures SPONSOR MESSAGE Trend Spotting Tomatotinis Photo by Beth McKibben I spy a trend emerging on Atlanta s cocktail scene and it involves both tomatoes and martinis or at least riffs on martinis A handful of restaurants around town have chosen to make the humble tomato the star ingredient in cocktails this summer using clarification techniques or the base recipe for a martini as the building blocks As a classic gin martini lover I m not the biggest fan of the dirty martini I find them either too briny or wholly unbalanced If I do drink dirty martinis I opt for vodka rather than gin Tomato martinis or tomatotinis are savory with hints of salinity and sweetness I find them super refreshing to drink especially when mixed with a good vermouth and super botanical gin or a solid balance of gin and vodka that play well together The tomatotini pictured above is from Little Tart After Dark the Saturday and Sunday evening bar at the Grant Park location of Little Tart Bakeshop This was an exceptional take on the tomatotini that allows the tomato a chance to really shine It mixes vodka the juices of fresh heirloom tomatoes dry French vermouth and hot cherry pepper and butter pickle brines Floats of olive oil dapple the surface of the cocktail which comes garnished with Castelvetrano olives I m already working on a roundup of tomato-based cocktails so let me know if you spot a drink I should check out at a bar or restaurant near you Email me suggestions at beth roughdraftatlanta com Meet Your Chef Christan Willis Photo by Tell Beall By Sarra Sedghi Chef Christan Willis entered the restaurant industry as a teenager I was the hostess at a fine dining restaurant and my dad owned the valet Willis reported I was thrown into it not knowing I was going to take it seriously Willis an Atlanta native reconsidered her path while studying broadcast journalism at Georgia State University A heart-to-heart with her father convinced Willis to pursue culinary school with snowballing results she landed an externship at Walt Disney World oscillating between the Grand Floridian and Polynesian hotels in Orlando With -hour prep shifts starting at a m and multiple tiers of hotel restaurants working at Disney humbled Willis to her core I cooked for people a day at Disney she declared I advised myself if I could get through this I m going to come back to Atlanta graduate with my culinary degree and jump straight into the kitchens as a line cook and take it professionally So that s what I did Willis graduated from Gwinnett Technical College s American Culinary Foundation-accredited project specializing in French cooking She went on to work for Ford Fry s Rocket Farm Restaurants group primarily working at St Cecilia under Chef Craig Richards and at The Optimist At St Cecilia Willis reported she learned the majority of her foundation for flavors especially European cuisine and pasta The fast-paced kitchens at both restaurants kept her on her toes helping Willis learn to adapt to changing situations fleetly Willis founded her private chef business in Since then she s added brand ambassador and TV personality to her culinary resume But Willis had no idea just how much studying journalism would come in handy as a chef because like food communication she announced brings people together I had no idea I was setting myself up for being on TV hosting food festivals traveling or talking about food to other people Willis explained of her culinary career arc Every chef can cook right But a lot of chefs can t walk into homes and cook or be part of the family Willis fleetly learned that being a private chef was vastly different from working in restaurants and she embraced it She has to learn a family s specific schedule food preferences and dietary restrictions Keeping repeat clients interested in her food and working with what they already have on hand in their home kitchens taught her multitudes about flexibility and time management Every day is different Willis revealed but she enjoys the challenge chefs love chaos and ultimately it primed her for televised cooking competitions Willis has appeared on Food Grid s Cooks Versus Cons and Raid the Fridge as well as the Netflix series Pressure Cooker Her latest television appearance airs tonight at p m on Food Infrastructure when Willis goes head-to-head against three other chefs on Chopped MidCity ATL in Midtown will host a Chopped watch party starting with a cocktail hour at p m And while she won t be cooking at this weekend s The New South dinner at Auburn Angel in Sweet Auburn Willis does plan to join for another dinner planned for later this summer Follow Chef Christan Willis on Instagram Backing Refugees With Your Grocery Purchases SPONSORED BY FRESH HARVEST This World Refugee Week show your assistance for our vibrant refugee locality and get several locally grown produce and groceries delivered while you re at it We re Fresh Harvest We source local organic produce and groceries from over a hundred of Georgia s best growers and producers then deliver that goodness to you Based in Clarkston an official refugee resettlement area Fresh Harvest is powered by refugees from around the world In fact more than of our squad are refugees building new lives in Georgia Thank you for supporting refugee job creation and caring about where your food comes from Indaco s Breakfast Pizza Recipe Photo by Vicki Artorntamarat By Sarra Sedghi This week Indaco Executive Chef Tyler Haake shares his recipe for the restaurant s breakfast pizza Breakfast pizza is more of an American or international invention than a traditional Italian or European dish Haake revealed In Italy breakfast tends to be lighter think espresso pastries or simple sandwiches rather than the protein- and starch-heavy meals common in American brunch practices Haake s take on breakfast fuses hearty American brunch dishes with Italian flavors This recipe has been adapted for the home chef with the majority of essential adjustment being the use of pre-made pizza dough If you know how to or enjoy making your own dough then by all means prepare it yourself You can source pre-made dough at a supermarket or opt for a local shop like Your Dekalb Farmers Arena It s worth asking your local pizza shop or bakery for particular fresh dough Haake announced A supermarket with a large cheese selection such as YDFM Whole Foods or a Kroger with a Murray s Cheese stand should be a sufficient source of dairy products You can also try a local specialty store such as Capella Cheese or the farmers sphere Haake is especially fond of Decimal Place Farms and Berger Family Farms cheeses and Story Farms eggs While a coffee-based beverage would work with the pizza Haake suggests pairing it with a spritz to cut through the fattiness and help cleanse the palate Ingredients Pre-made pizza dough oz tbsp minced garlic in olive oil tbsp mozzarella tbsp smoked mozzarella tbsp fontina tbsp red onion julienned can add more or less depending on preference eggs Hot sauce - pieces prosciutto Parmesan Flaky salt Directions Preheat oven to degrees Roll out pizza dough Drizzle minced garlic in a spiral on dough base Add mozzarella smoked mozzarella and fontina as well as red onions atop pizza Bake at degrees for minutes until golden brown Meanwhile cook sunny-side up eggs on the stove Remove pizza from oven and top with eggs Let cool Garnish with hot sauce prosciutto Parmesan and flaky salt Pro Tips Haake recommends touching the crust as little as manageable in order to keep the maximum amount of air in the dough While the egg may be a divisive topping it s also an art If you want to be brave you can crack the egg on top before putting the pizza in the oven Haake disclosed Lightly poke the thickest part of the egg white and break it up a little so while cooking in the oven the egg cooks evenly with the pizza You can also cook the egg separately to ensure you don t overcook the yolk a runny yolk is part of breakfast pizza s charm Just minutes from Atlanta this -year-old Lake Rabun lodge listed with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby s International Realty blends history with luxury Originally a stone-and-timber barn it now offers seven bedrooms a commercial grade kitchen a square foot deck a firepit and easy access to outdoor adventures SPONSOR MESSAGE If you know somebody who would like to receive our dining newsletters Family Meal Tuesdays and Side Dish Thursdays please have them subscribe at this page The post Breakfast pizza tomato-tinis appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta