Beth’s Best Dishes
Peaches and cream pound cake from Whoopsie’s
1 Moreland Ave., Reynoldstown
Published in the July 1 Family Meal newsletter
Whoopsie’s on Moreland Avenue, owned by Chef Hudson Rouse (Pure Quill Superette, Rising Son) and Tim Faulkner, cranks out superb cocktails, but the food here is equally serious business.
While I could go on and on about prime rib nights on Fridays and Saturdays or the blue plate specials on Tuesdays, I need to shout out the desserts at Whoopsie’s. Rouse’s menu features my favorite pecan pie in all of Atlanta. But it’s not pecan season yet, so you’ll find a cream-layered pound cake here with fresh seasonal fruit. Earlier this spring, the pound cake included fresh strawberries. For summer, the peach is the IT girl of the desserts and even the salads at Whoopsie’s.
Two mini rounds of delicately moist pound cake are sandwiched together with semi-sweet whipped cream and slivers of fresh peaches. Another layer of peaches and cream tops the cake, a triumph of seasonal simplicity in dessert form, which I paired with a glass of brut-dry prosecco.
Shrooms and grits from La Semilla
780 Memorial Dr., Reynoldstown
Published in the July 8 Family Meal newsletter
Spring and summer are my favorite times of the year to dine at vegan Latin American restaurant La Semilla, when local produce shines. (Think tomato crudo of heirloom cherry tomatoes with a salsa crudo of jalapenos, red onions, basil, and fennel or blistered spring carrots accompanied by salsa macha and house-made blue corn aioli garnished with mint.) Desserts take advantage of seasonal fruits, too, like tres leches made from pistachio-pecan milk, complemented by house-made jam and in-season berries and garnished with edible flowers and fresh herbs.
Start with the sikil pak (spicy pumpkin seed salsa) or the queso blanco made from cashew milk, both served with house-made tortilla chips. You’ll do a double-take when you realize that queso isn’t made from cow’s milk.
It’s hard not to get the chochoyotes (masa-based dumplings) filled with corn puree ($24) or the jackfruit cubano ($19), but I recently opted for the shrooms and grits ($24). A creamy bowl of jalapeno-spiked yellow grits arrived with cornmeal-battered Lion’s Mane mushrooms, quick-fried to allow for a crispy coating without the mushrooms losing tenderness, which mimics the texture of shrimp.
Muhammara and cheese manoushe from Levant Oven
1275 Powers Ferry Road, Marietta
Published in the July 29 Family Meal newsletter
This small Lebanese restaurant and bakery opened six months ago, specializing in a flatbread typically eaten on the go during breakfast called manoushe or man’oushe (singular for manakish or manaeesh). Kneaded and rolled by hand, manoushe can range in thickness from paper-thin, like a tortilla, to a crust similar to pita or Neapolitan pizza.
I ordered three manaeesh on a recent visit to Levant Oven: the zaatar ($6.45), muhammara and cheese ($9.95), and the sujuk (beef sausage) and cheese ($12.95).
Of the three manaeesh, the muhammara and cheese was the standout. The flatbread comes layered with melted cheese and muhammara, a zesty pepper spread often served as a dip made from roasted red peppers, pomegranate, molasses, walnuts, olive oil, and bread crumbs. Muhammara combines a fragrant blend of smokiness, savory tang, and subtle sweetness with a hint of heat. It’s a blend of flavors and aromatics amplified further as a hearty dip ($6.95), which I also highly recommend ordering from Levant Oven.
More Best Dishes from 2025:
January • February • March • April • May • June
Sarra’s Best Dishes
Wedge salad from Small Fry
777 Memorial Dr., Reynoldstown
This is going to make me sound like a child, but salads easily bore me. I find that it’s a textural issue, and a bunch of piled-up greens have to punch a lot of personality to entertain me. When I like a salad, though, I harass everyone I know until they try it. Small Fry’s wedge is my current harassment salad. Gorgonzola, herby dressing, pepperoni crumb, pepperoncinis, and clumps of fresh vodka sauce turn a regular lettuce wedge into something dynamic, like a slice of pizza or deli-style Italian sub without the glob of bread.
Desi salad from Botiwalla
Ponce City Market, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave., Old Fourth Ward
After recently sampling the Bomb Biscuit sundae at Van Leeuwen’s new Ponce City Market outpost, I needed a light dinner. I figured the Desi salad from Botiwalla at the central food hall would do the job, but I didn’t expect it to blow me away. The combination of shredded cabbage, carrots, scallions, and roasted cashews is already a textural adventure on its own, and the toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, sev (crunchy chickpea noodles), and cumin-lime vinaigrette garnishing this salad amplified the experience. The Desi salad was actually hefty enough to split into two separate meals. I topped mine with chicken tikka, which added a slight smoky aura.
Ham and cheese beignets from Madeira Park
640 North Highland Ave., Poncey-Highland
With its robust charcuterie selection, you could argue that ham and cheese are Madeira Park’s bread and butter — but that board isn’t the restaurant’s only rave-worthy ham and cheese pairing. The ham and cheese beignets are truthfully more like croquettes, but regardless, I’m floored by how the smooth, cheesy interior maintains a porky essence throughout. I was also a huge fan of the Shakerag blue cheese — its pungence was “cooled down” with a whiskey wash, and I don’t think I can say I’ve gotten a buzz from cheese before trying this.