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So if you don’t know by now about Hector Santiago’s new lunch spot, Super Pan, then you need to get some. This place is the jam up.. big time. I heard about the place for a couple months, and if I had a pie chart of the money I’ve spent there, then I would step back in alarm. This is, by far, one of my top three lunch spots in the city.

Why is this the best spot in town? Because Hector is a food genius– his is the only place I’m aware of where I can get proper Latino sandwiches, each a home run every time.

You might be familiar with the name Hector Santiago from the Bravo T.V. show Top Chef. He is also the owner and chef of Pura Vida and Super Pan; he also runs a burrito food cart each weekend in the Poncey-Highlands. Hector has a degree from C.I.A. and frequently travels to Spain and both Central and South America to learn cooking techniques and Latin cooking traditions.

This place is busy, so if your lunch break is short get ready to be late. Fuck your boss, the traditional Latino sammies are worth it. Super Pan is located in the basement of Pura Vida, so it feels like your sneaking into your eighth grade girlfriend’s parents’ house. After you enter through the side of the Pura vida building, walk into the dinning room, and head left up the stairs, you choose: the menu is small, but damn everything is good. Also you can chose from daily specials posted on the wall. On my first visit, I got the hand stuffed blood sausage.

Jesus Christ, these things were dank. (That means good for the older readers.)

I also went with the Medio Dia: the Mother Earth of sandwiches. Complete with adobo roasted Berkshire pork, Neiman ranch ham, chayote pickles, swiss, and habanero mustard on the best fucking bread I’ve ever tasted this is seriously the best $11 sandwich money can buy. You can eat your sack full of crusty Krystal burgers– these sandwiches are made from the best ingredients on earth!

The second time I went I had to go with the Pork Belly Buns. Holy mouth-gasm! I mean, how can you go wrong with pork belly; this is meat butter, and it melts in your mouth. It’s served on a steamed coconut bun, the likes of which I’ve never tasted before. As for the bread, think airy marshmallow cloud meets steamed burger slider pita forged by that three-boobed chick from Total Recall. Its absolutely fantastic. I personally would share this with someone as an appetizer, but hey– your the boss of you.

All jokes aside, after you eat there, you’re gonna thank me for this. You can taste the love and respect of quality ingredients and the passion of cooking good food. Say,”What’s up?” to Hector– he’s a cool dude and appreciates everyone who walks through that door.

Photo Credit: Tim Song

For a long time now I’ve been haunted by a strange mystery-item at restaurants, the Dekalb county farmer’s market, and specialty food marts: Sheep casing.

Well it just so happened that I found myself needing sheep casing one day – so I took the drive out to Austell, Georgia. I usually only leave the perimeter if I’m going on vacation – I mean, holy shit, that’s no man’s land – but really it’s not that bad a drive. So I pull up and see the Patak Sausage Chalet sign. The parking lot is packed. I am not expecting this because in my mind this is the “middle of nowhere.” The customers are a mix of truck drivers, soccer moms, excel-document-dudes and a little of everyone else. As soon as I enter the unassuming shop I understand the seemingly endless line: Holy meat! I’m in sausage heaven, aka Patak Meats.

The staff consisted of 20 or so Polish and Czech women, all shooting the shit and cuttin’-up with each other in their native languages. Everywhere I look I see strange, exotic meats – cooked, smoked, and cured meats; raw meats; meats hanging on the walls and meats in refrigerated glass counters – all waiting to be bought, prepped, cooked and devoured.

Patak produces up to twenty-thousand pounds of european-style meats Monday through Saturday, every week. They only have two smoke houses and two drying rooms with one grinder and one stuffer which ensures these people are always busy.  The amazing selection is all butchered in-house and everything is made by hand – it’s all fresh and there is no middle man. You can get anything from Boston butt to garlic-beef bacon, Czech salami, black forest ham, Polish sausage, smoked pork chops, Andouille, Alpine salami, baked ham, beef franks Bierschinken and the list goes on and on. There is also a shit-ton of European chocolates, cheeses and other gourmet delights.

Patak opened its doors in 1981 by a Czech-native who moved to Canada to open a butcher shop and later came to the states to buy a slaughterhouse in Austell. The place came with some land and a bunch of meat-coolers. Patak Meats was originally wholesale-only but demand was so great they had no choice but to switch from wholesale to retail. Then, a few years back, they allegedly sold out to Sysco for $12 million. Whether or not this is true remains unclear. One thing, however, is certain – Patak remains under the care and in the hands of the same people who have always made it the great place it is today. Millions or no millions, this is the richest selection of meats to be had in or outside the perimeter. As for the sheep casing, it’s there – but with so many amazing sausages and cured meat products to choose from, who wants to bother trying to make their own. At least no so long as I have Patak meats to go to – even if it is way out in “no-man’s land,” Georgia.

www.patakmeats.com
Patak Meat Products, Inc
4107 Ewing Road
Austell, GA 30106
770-941-7993

Photo Credit: Matt Christison

Ryan Hidinger is the Chef of Muss and Turners in Smyrna, GA. If you haven’t been its totally worth the short drive out of the perimeter. This is a phenomenal full service locally driven bistro, but Muss and Turners is also a counter service deli with a specialty food shop. cheeses, wines, artisan chocolates, cured meats, coffees and also a craft beer and wine bar. Before Muss and Turners Ryan also worked the line at Bacchanalia (Maybe considered thee best restaurant in Atlanta) for just over a year, before he transferred to their sister restaurant Float Away Cafe as souse-chef. Ryan and Jen Hidinger are now putting on private underground dinner events at their home. For over a year now, these dinners are a prelude to what his restaurant Staplehouse is going to be like, and I feel it’s going to be something great.

In the words of Chef Ryan Hidinger, “These prelude dinners are the beginning of what’s to come—a casual dining experience in an intimate setting, a venue that allows me to talk with the guests and hear their thoughts on the food, the city and all the possibilities—along with my wonderful wife, I hope to sit back one day and see all of the smiling faces that have brought me to this point, enjoying food and drink through the doors of Staplehouse!”

It’s Big Event # 2, and what a fantastic one from the creative minds of husband and wife team Jen and Chef Ryan Hidinger. What is usually only 10-person dinner became a 42-person dinner tonight.  I was able to help out and be a part of this with one of the owners of the Brick Store Pub and Leon’s Full Service Mike Gallagher, and his younger sister Katie Gallagher. Upon arrival of the home of the Hidinger’s, I first noticed how well the house looked, from the color scheme to the clean décor—I know when the actual Staplehouse opens it will be just as refreshing and pleasing to the eye as their home is. Jen immediately had a task for everyone, knew exactly where they needed to be and what they should be doing—Ryan was doing the same in the kitchen, prepping in anticipation for the guests to arrive in the next 30 minutes. I was honestly blown away by the efficiency and organization of these two—again, it’s a foreshadow for what’s to come.

The guests arrive and they are served snacks of creamy chicken liver mousse on pretzel bread with homemade apple jelly and a nice cold Bell’s, two-hearted ale—Jesus, the first pitch and already a home run. The guests take their seats and have no idea that on the front porch Ben and the Hidinger’s guest cook Matt are deep frying the duck confit. The duck is rich so Ryan pared it with georgia bean salad—fava beans, green beans, radish, apple and jalapeno with champagne vinaigrette, made for a nice balance of fat and acid. We pared it with Schneider Edel Weisse, maybe the most perfect refreshing and organic hefeweizen in the world.

The Guests seemed very pleased and everyone had clean plates and seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Forty-two people, that for the most part don’t know each other, are all getting along and really having a good time…That’s awesome. Among the guests were owner and Chef of the restaurant Eugene, Linton Hopkins and director of operations Gina Hopkins, chef de cuisine Ryan Smith, the Owners of Holman and Finch Greg Best, Regan Smith and Andy Minchow (which in my opinion are some of the coolest people in the city), along with their general manager, one mixologist and other members from back of the house. So these men and woman know good quality food.

Course number 2 consisted of P.E.I. Mussels with a touch of sherry vinegar, bacon, sweet Vidalia onions and nice crusty sourdough bread. Jen stamped Staplehouse logos on brown paper bags to throw your spent mussel shells in and it made for a very nice touch on the tables. Good job. This dish was pared with The Bruery’s Belgian style strong pale, and went fantastic with the flavor of the mussels.

And then came the entrée—Crispy braised pork belly from Riverview Farms, a farm in Ranger, GA, about an hour and half away, pickled Vidalia onions with camp fire beans, bacon, jalapenos and guajillo chili puree, paired with Founders’ Double Trouble, a big well balanced imperial IPA. The spicy beans with the hoppy and slightly sweet, citrusy, double IPA complimented this course fantastically.

Dessert: Lemon eclairs with ginger syrup and strawberry shortcake using Riverview farms berries. Hitachino Nest Brewery’s Real Ginger Ale  is a fantastic Japanese beer brewed with with real ginger which pared perfectly with the lemon éclairs—this was an unbelievable dessert course. Ryan truly is a badass.

At this point we were bussing the tables, it was dark and cool out, everyone was happy and relaxed. Leaning back in their chairs with their stomachs full and a slight glaze over their eyes from this sensory overload of goodness, as well as the slight buzz that they all probably had. We started to wrap it up, and just as we put it together, we broke it down just as fast. Then the Chef, cooks, and the people on the floor finally got to enjoy some relaxation and a beer. We looked back at what we did and how we made those 42 people feel, and as they were all saying their thank you’s and good byes, I realized how much of success this couple is going to have when they open the real Staplehouse.

Photo Credit: Matt Christison