🇩🇪🇦🇹 Jägerschnitzel at Avize

Table Talk El Azteca at Oatmeal Cream Pies Dec Happy Tuesday and welcome to the table All this week Rough Draft is celebrating the th anniversary of Sandy Springs cityhood with stories marking pivotal milestones from its incorporation in to the present day This day I m sharing a story about one of the city s oldest restaurants El Azteca which has been a staple on Roswell Road since Still owned and operated by the Macias family Victor Macias explains why his parents chose to open their Mexican restaurant in Sandy Springs nearly years ago and what it was like to watch the newly formed city grow up around it For The Move I tell you why the j gerschnitzel at Avize one of Rough Draft s Best New Restaurants of has become a cold-weather standard for me at the Brady Avenue restaurant Plus The Daily s pastry chef Natalie Howells offers you a recipe for her ginger-infused oatmeal cream pies Speaking of ginger and cookies did you know that th century German monks in the city of Ulm were responsible for the invention of what would become gingerbread Called lebkuchen monks combined nuts and honey with cinnamon cloves and anise basing the dough recipe off of one enjoyed in the region since Roman times To keep the dough from sticking to the oven they baked the honey-infused mixture on communion wafers Since the dough contained honey as the binding agent rather than fatty butter and was still high in calories lebkuchen could be baked and stored for months The cookies soon became part of the winter celebrations throughout Northern Europe especially along spice pact routes You can read more about lebkuchen from Atlas Obscura Cheers Beth After Nearly Years El Azteca Remains a Sandy Springs Staple Photo by Cathy Cobbs El Azteca has been a staple in Sandy Springs for more than four decades Victor Macias s parents tethered themselves to the neighborhood more than years ago raising their children in Sandy Springs and opening the first El Azteca there long before the Atlanta bedroom neighborhood became a city Sandy Springs is where it all began for El Azteca currently a local Mexican restaurant chain with three locations It s become a great source of family pride that the Roswell Road restaurant still exists as Sandy Springs and its burgeoning dining scene grew up around it Now the seventh-largest city in Georgia Sandy Springs and Atlanta combined account for two-thirds of the more than restaurants in the state Macias attended Spalding Drive Elementary and spent largest part of his childhood in Sandy Springs His formative years unwittingly paralleled the then-fledgling city which incorporated when Macias was in middle school He remembers his parents talking about the incorporation of Sandy Springs and what it might mean for El Azteca By when Sandy Springs became a city El Azteca had been in business for nearly years I ve seen Sandy Springs and the restaurant scene change so much My parents chose Sandy Springs because there were hardly any restaurants when it opened in The population needed restaurants Macias explained Back then there weren t as numerous Mexican restaurants as there are this day so El Azteca was a lot of people s introduction to Mexican and Tex-Mex food in Sandy Springs Macias s father Javier moved to Atlanta from Chicago in the late s to work at his uncle s restaurant El Toro on Roswell Road But in Javier and his wife decided to strike out on their own opening El Azteca near present-day Rumi s Kitchen before taking over the property now home to Mellow Mushroom In El Azteca moved again to its present location at the Lowe s complex a half mile south on Roswell Road The Macias family lived and worked in Sandy Springs for years eventually moving to Johns Creek in the early s But El Azteca on Roswell Road served as the family s anchor to Sandy Springs even after the business expanded to multiple metro Atlanta locations Roswell Road is where we see generations of families returning to dine I ve seen people s kids and grandchildren grow up and bring their own families Macias commented who serves as El Azteca s Director of Operations and owns the Perimeter Center location on Peachtree-Dunwoody Road We like to call El Azteca the Mexican Cheers because we know our regulars names and their orders We re part of their lives Family drives everything behind El Azteca It continues to be a family-owned and operated business and where Macias and his sister learned the restaurant industry working as food runners servers and hosts during high school He watched his parents grow the family s lone restaurant into locations They ve since scaled back to just three locations in Buckhead Perimeter Center and the original Roswell Road restaurant Macias s sister holds a degree in hospitality management The plan had dependably been for her to take over the business When she decided to prioritize raising a family Macias stepped up to help his parents run the restaurants With a degree in business administration and marketing Macias became a manager and shadowed El Azteca s Director of Operations a title he earned in His parents turned over the opening and ownership of the Perimeter Center El Azteca to Macias three years ago where he built the restaurant from the ground up Family-owned businesses don t have as much patronage once founders get older or retire Maybe their children don t want to carry on the business or they never had any children So these businesses close after years in communities because there s no one to keep them going Macias disclosed My parents were lucky we grew up in the restaurants and demanded to keep being a part of them As a second-generation owner overseeing the daily operations of all three of his family s restaurants Macias knows that for El Azteca to endure it demands to evolve He of late added new dishes like tortas and chiles rellenos to the menu The bar features new non-alcoholic drinks and cocktails like a lychee margarita and Mexican Old Fashioned Margaritas incorporate top-shelf tequilas fresh juices and agave syrup Macias also pared down the combination meal options from to That doesn t mean however someone can t come in and order the number We have cooks who ve been there for decades and can still make a number I may not know what a is but someone in that restaurant does and will make it stated Macias Despite stepping back from the day-to-day running of El Azteca his father keeps a sharp eye on things Macias is glad for his wise counsel but finds his father open to new ideas for keeping El Azteca fresh and current El Azteca still has the majority of the day-one recipes on the menu and certain entrees have never changed As I ve taken over more I m focusing on keeping the original concept but adding to it making it more now he noted In El Azteca will turn on Roswell Road Macias wants to make sure it survives in Sandy Springs for another The family just resigned the lease locking El Azteca in on Roswell Road for at least another decade With the Perimeter Center restaurant humming along Macias can concentrate on shoring up the family s flagship restaurant on Roswell Road which includes certain much-needed updating and a facelift If we needed to leave that space we would constantly find a way to be on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs stated Macias of the future It s our home base and reminds us of how far we ve come El Azteca would not be what it is this day if it wasn t for the people of Sandy Springs Georgia Grown holiday gifts at Cook s Warehouse SPONSORED BY GEORGIA GROWN Georgia Grown goodies make the best gifts Whether you re looking for stocking stuffers or want to build your own beautiful gift basket nothing says you ve got great taste like a gift from our local craft food makers Stop by Cook s Warehouse at Ansley Mall on Sat Dec from a m to p m for chef demonstrations samples of delicious bites and to meet the farmers The Move J gerschnitzel at Avize Photo by Beth McKibben A German-Austrian breaded cutlet served with a dark mushroom gravy j gerschnitzel hunter s cutlet is typically made from veal or pork At Avize on Brady Avenue Chef Karl Gorline keeps the greater part of the schnitzel s traditional preparation intact opting for chicken rather than pork or veal and bringing in certain seasonal and locally grown ingredients Gorline brines a bone-in chicken thigh to keep the dark meat moist and juicy before pounding it down to a quarter-inch-thick cutlet He then dredges the cutlet in a flour egg and seasoned breadcrumb mixture and fries the chicken until golden brown The j gerschnitzel comes topped with a rich chanterelle mushroom-laden gravy along with charred peaches dollops of pickled mustard seeds and fresh parsley for a bit of color Elevated comforting and paired with tartiflette similar to scalloped potatoes and harissa-infused charred cabbage the j gerschnitzel at Avize has fleetly become one of my go-to cold-weather restaurant dishes in Atlanta The Daily s Recipe for Oatmeal Cream Pies Photo by The Daily This week we re sharing The Daily s recipe for its oatmeal cream pies with an added holiday twist This is my recipe for oatmeal cream pies I loved Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies as a kid explained Natalie Howells The Daily s pastry chef and bakery manager It was inevitably a treat when we could get them at the store As I grew up I thought that there had to be a way to recreate that great combo without all the extra preservatives she explained of her recipe inspiration In addition to an entirely pronounceable ingredient list Howells take on oatmeal cream pies includes cream cheese and ginger in the filling for a taste that s balanced and sophisticated yet nostalgic It s especially critical that the dairy products in this recipe are mixed in at room temperature Otherwise the texture of the cookies will be totally off Butter should be barely soft not melty It should not look shiny or oily Howells declared For the eggs I typically pull them out to minutes prior to mixing You can also crack them and have them in a bowl to help warm up quicker If the mixed batter or filling are refrigerated or frozen those will need to come to room temperature before proceeding Cookie Ingredients cup unsalted butter softened cup granulated sugar cup dark brown sugar large eggs room temperature Tbsp vanilla cups all-purpose flour tsp baking soda tsp salt tsp cinnamon cups rolled oats Filling Ingredients cups unsalted butter softened cup cream cheese room temperature cups powdered sugar tsp vanilla paste tsp salt cup candied ginger pieces optional Note if your powdered sugar seems lumpy or chunky sift before adding Mix the batter Using the mixing bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy Add eggs one at a time then vanilla and continue mixing Scrape the side of the bowl well Add all dry cookie ingredients except oats Mix on speed for to minutes then lower speed to and incorporate oats Make sure that there are no butter pockets at the bottom of the bowl if so mix by hand to get everything incorporated Using a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop scoop the dough onto parchment-lined sheet pans about to per pan Chill for at least minutes See tips for freezing instructions Bake the cookies Preheat the oven to Fahrenheit Place cookies in the middle of the rack in the middle of the oven Bake for minutes then rotate pans giving them a gentle tap on the counter to help the cookies spread out a little if needed Bake for an additional to minutes or until the edges are just turning golden brown Let cool wholly before filling Make the filling Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream butter and cream cheese on high until almost utterly white fluffy and smooth Add in vanilla and salt Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add powdered sugar Once all sugar is in and you can t see individual granules turn the mixer back up to medium-high and mix until white light and smooth If using the candied ginger pieces they would be folded in at this point Note Keep an eye on the filling while mixing as it can go from light and fluffy to soupy quite fast If that happens remove filling from mixer and chill in a covered bowl until solid If you are not using the filling that day it can be made ahead of time and stored in your refrigerator covered for up to one week or up to two months in the freezer Let the filling come up to room temperature before rewhipping prior to piping into cookies Fill the cookies Pair up your cookies then flip one of each over Using a piping bag with an open tip pipe a generous amount of filling into the center of the cookies that are flipped over Top with the remaining cookies pressing down gently to push the filling to theedges of the cookie sandwich These cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to one day or covered in the refrigerator for up to five days If refrigerating let come up to room temperature before serving 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 J gerschnitzel at Avize appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta