Friday, July 20, 2012

Richard Blais' - the Spence in Atlanta


Jack with his favorite chef Richard Blais


When we travel for "work" we always take the time to nourish our hardworking selves with fabulous food.  On our trip to Atlanta for market this past weekend, 
there was no doubt where we we would go...  


Caroline & Jack at the Spence in Atlanta



Jack (an avid chef himself - lucky for me!) has been a fan of Chef turned chef/restauranteur Richard Blais since he began the challenge of battling it out on Top Chef several years ago.


the atmosphere is open & airy & the expansive windows allow for natural light. 









We love the style of the menu (which changes DAILY!) with an old-world key on the cover.


and we loved how the menu includes a random list of "things that inspire" ...  



from Irish Butter...



to legendary wine expert Serge Hochar...


to Le Tre Lune Farms...


to, hey why not? NY Mets player RA Dickey...


with a menu as original & genius as this, it makes sense that Blais' inspiration would come from many a varied thing.


The wine/drinks list(s) in themselves were incredible and would take weeks to try & truly appreciate.


and after a couple of those you feel like this...


yours truly with our precious waitress named Rory. loved her!

at every table they serve warm, fluffy, buttery rolls with a smear of sweet butter sprinkled with sea salt.  (we ate those before i could photograph them. :-/

for our appetizer we ordered what was quite possibly my favorite part of the meal...
Oysters & pearls, which is raw oysters dotted with "pearls" of nitrogen frozen vodka & horseradish over black sea salt.  


The really cool part is that chef Richard Blais was tirelessly working the restaurant making sure every plate was perfect and that everyone was taken care of and happy...

yep, everyone was happy...


Richard Blais & Jack Mayberry from perch. at The Spence



Jack got the beef short ribs with prawn ravioli & carrot butter.


I had the roasted tuna steak...


By dessert time we were overwhelmed and went with what any normal human being would...
peanut butter & chocolate!



milk chocolate, peanut, burnt banana ice-cream = heaven in a bowl.



jack & caroline post dinner (and drinks!) inspired & well fed at The Spence.


Monday, July 16, 2012

market finds - sneak peek...

for the past two years jack and i have made a trip to the ATL to peruse the contemporary market for cool contemporary finds & travel to neighboring little towns to scour out of the way funky spots for one of a kind antique & vintage finds.

here's a sneak peak of our favorite discoveries that you'll find at perch soon...

one of THE picks is this fabulous starburst buffet...


chalk finish over hand-applied gesso, hard carved wooden medallion with a mable top. 
one interior shelf and antique brass hardware and foot caps
55"l x 22"d x 37"h
$4200

detail of wooden starburst medallion

greek keys I just adore so I was delighted to find this little chinoise style chrome chair...



and something for the dogs...



from a jack russell to a pug to a scottie - papier-mache and hung on a little round frame with clover wallpaper. 
Hand painted and full of character..
$73 each





jack nearly caused a domino affect disaster when posing in front of this wall of papier mache animals!



as you know by now, we're wild and sometimes woolly so we fell in LOVE with this furry rocker.


furry rocker
$1200

we were a minute late and a dollar short for this $7,000 handmade polar bear :-(  ...



but we DID manage to snag this gorgeous high back sofa in a fabulous heavy weight linen in charcoal gray.


high back linen sofa
$3200


and we fell in love with these fabulous pillows in inky blue


 jesus pillow
$245


pan pillow $245


we also found the ultimate ottoman in peacock blue...


tufted ottoman 
$1225

what's better than dual functioning furniture? especially made of thick lucite...




barstool/side table  
$1450


and we had to snag this charcoal & ivory antique chandelier!  Gorgeous!



We're heading out now to hunt for more great finds!  More from us soon!
xo
Caroline & Jack