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Food Travel Postcard: Motovun, Croatia

Dobar dan from Croatia!

Okay, truth is I’m actually already home again, but I already posted on one of my two absolute favorite meals while I was on my two-and-a-half-week European adventure, so I thought it only fair to post on the other one.

And—shocker—it features the legendary talents of the heavenly black truffle!

For much more on my Motovun and northern Croatian adventures:

Motovun: Croatia’s Quintessential Hill Town

Exploring the Hill Towns of Northern Croatia

We spent a day driving around inner Istria, in northern Croatia. It’s a peninsula that is much like Tuscany, full of vineyards, agriculture, adorable old hilltop towns, and truffles. Our last stop of the day before heading back to Rovinj was Motovun, a suitably picturesque town complete with an old wall and tower.

The restaurant was actually in the inner gate wall, tucked underneath. We were ravenous at this point, and I knew there was no question that I was having something with truffles. When a black truffle risotto showed up on the menu, I was sold. We also ordered their house-made Teran wine, which was unique and delicious.

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Airport Food: One Flew South

As I headed out on my Italian & Croatian adventure, I killed a little time in the Atlanta airport by trying one of the most-talked-about airport restaurants in the country—One Flew South.

CNN recently named them one of the top ten airport restaurants (I think in America only, though not positive). Do they live up to the hype? We’ll see.

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I started with a cauliflower and parsnip soup, which was beautiful and hearty. It was maybe a little bland but overall pretty good.

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Then I debated between the pulled duck sandwich and the awesome-sounding burger. At the waitress’s urging I went with the duck sandwich. It was pulled duck with duck confit, scallions, figs, some kind of peanut relish, and a sweet-spicy mustard. Overall it was delicious. The mustard was maybe a little overwhelming for me because I’m a total wuss, but the dish overall was great.

So I can safely say that One Flew South lives up to its hype. In addition to the creative and interesting menu, the service was great, the food came out very quickly without feeling rushed, and the prices were insanely reasonable. In fact, they were exactly what I would have expected to pay for the same meal in Atlanta regularly, not in the airport. My soup was $7, sandwich was $14, and wine (a pretty great Kung Fu Girl Riesling) was $8.

If you end up in the E terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson or have a long layover in another terminal, definitely go check them out!

Pretty darn authentic Italian (Cucina Asellina)

I had a lovely girls’ dinner with my friend Shalya yesterday evening. Knowing my admitted snobbery about authentic Italian food (I pretty much refuse to eat at most “Italian” restaurants), she took me to this fairly new restaurant in Midtown Atlanta called Cucina Asellina. It’s only been open a few months, right at Peachtree & 12th. The menu is “rustic Italian”, and is a nice mix of seemingly-lighter (in weight if not in calories) takes on traditional Italian dishes.

We were giddy while perusing the menu. After ordering a bottle of lovely sauvignon blanc (which wasn’t on the menu), we ordered a few appetizers. The one I was most excited about was the pizza with truffle mushrooms, fontina, and an egg. It was glorious—light, with a richness from the truffles and a saltiness from the egg and fontina.

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