Roswell Provisions - Canton St - Roswell Atlanta Georgia

You can find Roswell Provisions at 955 Canton St, Roswell, GA 30075 - it's just to the right of Zest along the main Roswell town-center drag - look for the bicycle on the window and sign. Parking is along the streets (difficult) or in one of the several lots. I parked across the street at the Canton Street Antique market.

If you've been following along you'll know from my last post that while having dinner with some friends at Zest, we decided to try Roswell Provisions for coffee. Roswell Provisions is an independent market specializing in wines, fine cheeses, cured meats from the fabulous Patak in Austell, sea salt butter - you get the drift. They also have coffee and a display case full of desserts and baked goods. Conceptually modeled after Star Provisions at Bacchanalia, Roswell Provisions takes similar foods and places them in more of a small town setting.

 The interior of this fine establishment is a bit over-the-top and forced, but I think in a good way. At first view there's a lot going on with burgeoning French-Provencal decoration and object-de-art items at every view. I think the idea is to impart the feeling of European corner grocer, and yes they do that in spades. Everywhere you look is another item that blends well with the overall design concept - not my style (I tend towards a more modernist, streamlined look), but for the Roswell resident, and especially for the Roswell mother-of-two-point-five, I'm sure they feel quite at home. It provides a fantastic setting for the terrific grocery offerings.

This is a place that you have to walk around and explore - very nook and cranny holds something special and it's certainly worth your time to peruse. It's also very difficult to walk out of without holding a bag of goodies. On this night besides coffee we purchased a couple of baked sweets. We sat in one of the few tables towards the front of the store and enjoyed more conversation while nursing some very good coffee. We had a croissant stuffed with almond paste, a nutty pecan tart and of course my favorite, ice cream. All were good and a terrific end to a great evening. If you're in the area you must drop in - 'nough said!

-- John

(also posted to Yelp)
 

Zest Restaurant - Canton St in Roswell Atlanta Geogia

You can find Zest Tapas Sushi and Tapas Restaurant at 957 Canton St, Roswell, GA 30075, your basic main-drag in downtown Roswell. Parking can be found in pay lot across the street or along some of the side streets - during prime time (weekends and Friday evening) you may need to walk a bit as this area gets packed, for good reason as there are lots of good restaurants congregated along this short strip (about three blocks or so).

I've been wanting to try Zest for some time, having spotted it during a pub crawl I did in Roswell a few months earlier. This mid-week night seemed like a good time to check things out. We parked int he pay lot across the street in front of Canton Street Antiques Market. Zest is the low building with an awning across the street - it's actually two sister restaurants, Zest Tapas and Sushi on the right and Pearl Seafood on the left - once you enter you can sit on either side and enjoy both menus - as the Zest side was packed to overflow, we found a high table in Pearl. The interior has brick and contemporary finishes and concrete floors with wood table tops and an open kitchen. The bar extends along the demising wall between the two concepts.

You're given both menus if you ask for them - the Pearl menu features seafood combinations with a lunch menu (with bento boxes and sushi) on the back; while the Zest menu features tapas and sushi on the front with wines and drink selections on the back. I liked that there were many "stacked" options for oysters and shellfish available on the Pearl menu - at some point I'll return and gorge myself of those but for tonight we were looking for things to share - also my friends Sangam and Apoova weren't too familiar with the shelfish options for the most part although we made some exceptions (Apoorva is mostly vegetarian).

 

For drink, I went with the Terrapin Hopsecutioner IPA - one of my favorite locals, on draft. I find IPAs work well with just about anything and in particular a wide variety of food types, which we were planing to order. In total we ordered the following:

Seared Diver Scallops - This was a small plat of large seared scallops spiked to a small pile of cheese grits. Delicious

Asian Chopped Salad - napa cabbage, cucumber, edamame, carrot, scallions, cilantro vinaigrette, wonton strips - sort of your basic slaw-style salad. we also ordered another salad but I don't remember the deets:

Lamb Lollipops - three grilled lamb chops stood up on a small pile of mashed potato - delicious!

Fried Calamari - a basic slightly salty/spicy fried calamari dish served with Thai chili sauce

Hush Puppies - Good roasted jalapeno and corn hush puppies but nothing to write home about - still very filling and served with a remoulade

PEI Mussels - The classic from Prince Edward Island cooked in white wine, garlic, shallots, herbs, cream, and served with a rustic bread 

Rainbow Roll - California roll topped with tuna, salmon, red snapper, yellowtail, avocado

Dynomite Roll - tuna, yellowtail, red snapper, asparagus, topped w/ masago & crunchy flakes

Other Roll - don't remember the name but it was quite good.

Overall all the food we tried was above average. The sushi was also above average - better than what you would find in most of the larger buffets but not quite the quality of the air-dropped fish at Nakato - still very good. The service was a bit hit-or-miss, mainly due to how busy the restaurant was when we arrived and how quickly it filled up. We shared a tall bench-style table with another group who were more interested in drinking (they were going to a show nearby). Still a good overall experience and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this place to friends.  We ended up at Roswell Provisions for coffee and dessert.

-- John

 (also posted to Yelp)
 

Roux on Canton - Roswell Square, Roswell Georgia

You can find Roux on Canton at 946 Canton St, Roswell, GA 30075 on the Roswell Square. This is the second of our stops along the Square as a min-restaurant crawl as we explore Roswell.

Like the previous stop, the Salt Factory, Roux on Canton inhabits a bit of a brownstone storefront along the same side, just a few businesses South. This is a Canjun and New Orleans inspired restaurant with many of the classic dishes, heavy on the spice and file (sassafras root). A bit of creole, a touch of cajun, and the distinctive tastes of shrimp, crawdads and other water dwelling creatures.

The exterior has a few tables so you can make fun of the awkward clothing of the posers passing by as you sip on a cocktail. The interior has exposed brick, wooden beams and chalkboards much like the previous restaurant (Salt Factory) - not surprising as the building appears to have been build about the same time and in the same architectural style. It's a bit of a mirror to Salt Factory - this time the bar is to the right and the tables and boards above to the left.

The menu had beers and drinks on one side with food on the flip. I was happy to see several local craft including the very good Terrapin Golden Ale, Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat and Eventide Dry Stout on draft. Today I selected the New Belgium Slow Ride IPA (not on the menu but available on draft). My companions settled into Moscow Mules.

The menu is divided into Starters, Plates and Mains. Continuing with our snacky-theme we ordered two sets of soft-shell tacos:

 Fish Tacos - blackened talapia with guacamole, cole slaw, feta cheese, and jalapeno lime aioli. These were quite good and savory. The fries were very good, twice fried.

Buffalo Shrimp Tacos - grill shrimp, guacamole, cole slaw, blue-cheese and avocado ranch - these came with a side of hush puppies - they were acceptable but would have been better hot.

The ambiance in general was quite a bit like Salt Factory - actually the menu was a bit similar as well. Next time I'll try something more substantial and go for more of the New Orleans theme with some traditional dishes like the shrimp and grits or jambalaya. It was also a bit late to be taking in the desserts or we would have hit on the beignets - it's been a while.

My biggest complaint has to do with the parking but, as I've mentioned previously, the city is supposed to be addressing that. Have fun finding a parking place and arrive early to give you plenty of time.

-- John

(shorter version posted to Yelp)