PlanetEye

If you find yourself in town in the summer months in Atlanta, you'll find yourself outdoors. Atlanta is a city that thrives on the months where the temperature hovers at a balmy 90 plus degrees. With the summer heat comes an influx of summer concerts. A vast majority of them can be found at Lakewood Amphitheater-just south of Atlanta.

Last Thursday night, Radiohead came to Atlanta. A group of friends and I attended, the show was fantastic, the crowd was enthusiastically into the show (over 19,000 people total attended) plus the sound was great.

At Lakewood there's two types of seats, uncovered and covered. A grass lawn that's sloped so you can see the stage. The other section is entirely reserved seats under a covered roof-if you can spend the extra money and you'd like to actually see the band and not just listen-this may be the best bet for you.

I thought I could highlight a few things to make your experience a little smoother. Tickets like most large venues these days can be found only through Ticketmaster. Look in the weekly free paper The Creative Loafing for a listing in the back of all the upcoming shows. If your looking to save a bit of money, the local Publix grocery stores have ticketmaster sales centers in each store. It's a good way to get in to popular shows as well as some cost savings from servicing fee.

Since Lakewood is in a off the beaten path part of town, I recommend doing one of two things. The first, car-pooling. Parking can be troublesome, and pricey. Last Thursday the cheapest parking we found was a steep $20.00 per vehicle-and that was in a very non-official grass lot. The second suggestion I would make is to try your hand at MARTA. Take the train southbound to the Lakewood station; just outside on the night of concerts there are buses or shuttles that will drive you to the front gates of the amphitheater. For a $1.75 it's a great deal.

It seems like the thing to do when a person gets a new apartment or home is to scurry to IKEA to fill their space with cheap furniture and trinkets.
I've got to admit, I've done it in the past-but have since realized that I'm looking for a bit more these days. I've upgraded to furniture that is weathered and used, antiques (maybe), retro (possibly), classic (sounds good to me).

Where my friends and I go for these finds is at the warehouse sized store on the hill on Ponce called Paris on Ponce. The large orange warehouse sits high atop a hill overlooking the equally large building that in the past held City Hall East.
Paris on Ponce is part high end antique store, part junk store, part air conditioned, and part stifling heat one thing that you can count on is a good time when you're among such and array of interesting pieces. Couches, mirrors, frames, antlers-just about anything a person with a bit of money to blow could find a way to incorporate into their home's décor.

Judy the owner couldn't be nicer, and as long as you walk up with a smile on your face she'll gladly work with you on the price. Recently I found a framed medical poster from the turn of the century-the price was way out of my budget, but after a short talk and pleasantries, Judy gave me a great deal. The poster is now the focal point of my living room (much to the chagrin of my girlfriend).

http://www.parisonponce.com/shop/

New restaurants spring up in Atlanta at an incredibly rapid rate. But a new restaurant in my opinion is not always worth checking out. I usually wait a few weeks, see what others are saying/writing about and then judge whether or not I'll go from those assessments.
Friday night, I departed from this guarded way of approaching a meal at a new dining establishment.

Last week, I wrote on the restaurant Parish. This time I am writing it as a patron. My fist impression is of it's thriving crowd, people were walking back and forth, drinks in hand, the valet line was packed, the café and the upstairs restaurant all extremely busy. It's the kind of thing I like to see in Atlanta, and which I miss when I am reminded of cities like New York or Chicago.

The menu is written on 3 different chalk boards on contrasting walls, the space is loud and airy. The service was friendly but off, it took fifteen minutes to have someone greet us, another 5 to be poured water. Out appetizers were good but a bit cold, I tried the oysters-my date tried the wedge salad with roasted golden beets.

I really enjoyed the wine list, it's reasonable and varied with a bit of Italian, Spanish and French. Our entrees were very good, I had the roasted pork, my date loved her andouille crusted catfish-I tried it and it really was fantastic.

Because of our trouble earlier with not having a waiter for so long-the manager provided us with a buttery banana bread pudding that was as good as it gets.

I gurantee that you'll be hearing more about Parish in the near future, I think it's worth trying again, I just think that when they settle out the kinks, this restaurant could go from very good-to very great in a short time.

I went to Zoo Atlanta for a meeting this week. I've been before, years ago when I was in school-I thought it was nice and I remember having a good time there, but I do recall it was a bit outdated.

When I came back to Atlanta, I heard that the Zoo was had revamped many of the their outdated exhibits and food providers. What I saw earlier in the week, impressed me. The Zoo was extremely engaging, educational, and well layed out that I found myself thinking that I might soon return with some friends.

The Zoo is in a great part of Atlanta called-Grant Park, which is primarily made of nice older homes and a few quirky restaurants and bars. If you want to make a day out of the area, you could go to the Cementary (check out an earlier post), then the Zoo and grab a bite at Six Feet Under overlooking the cementary as you crunch on fried seafood and beers.

Back to the Zoo, I'd venture to say that if your at all healthy and you don't have any young ones with you then about two hours should sufice to see the whole thing. It's layed out in sections, like the plains, and the reptiles etc..so if it's busy at the entrance to the Zoo just make your way to the back and then go backwards. You'll avoid the crowds and still get to see everything. The exhibts I liked best were the Girraffes, the Lemur's, and the Gorilla's (go outside of the glass display for a reall treat) there's a gorilla deck that overlooks the exhibit where you can get a perfect view of them in action.

www.zooatlanta.org

Continuing on with the Lousiana theme right up's I thought I would tell you about a restaurant that is just a few days away from opening in restored 1890s Factory Terminal Building space located in Inman Park. Parish, who's menu is reportly drawn from the French and Spanish influences.

The downstairs of the building will be Market at parish, with a communal table and outdoor tables. There is going to be an organic juice bar, homemade breads, and they'll seell Abita Beers and a small selection of wine. 

On the upper floor PARISH Restaurant will serve a variety of New Orleans inspired dishes with interesting variations starting at 5 p.m.  Saturdays and Sundays will serve New Orleans  brunch with live Jazz. In the center of the space there will be by a raw bar.

The best part for me is that reportdly all dishes will be under $20 .

New Orleans is home to it's famed Jazz Festival for the next two upcoming weekends. For those of you who can't make it to the Big Easy for the live music, crawfish, and copious amount of people drinking Bloody Mary's, there's still a chance of you having a Creole good time in Atlanta at off Crescent Ave. Feet from a bustling four lane though fare, Front Page New's patio feels miles away from the noise just outsides it's high black iron gate.

The menu leans towards the flavors and dishes that one would expect from a restaurant of this type. Toasty French bread brimming with fried oysters, or shrimp make up the really popular Po' Boys, spicy red beans and rice, and creamy pastas with a spicy kick to them.

Opened for lunch, dinner, and on the weekends brunch. Front Page News is a great spot to bring out of towners or be an out of towner. Inside the restaurant, a small stage is home to live music on Saturday and Sundays (often Jazz). But, I wouldn't recommend that you eat inside. In fact, I wouldn't even eat here unless you could eat outside because the
the patio reminiscent of a New Orleans Courtyard, with mossy bricks, and a focal point fountain is the reason to eat at the restaurant.

Enjoying a meal with friends outside, among the chirping birds and warm sunshine is a popular thing in most major cities in America in the spring and summer months. In the city of Atlanta dining outdoors takes on a life of its own. As you venture from one bar or café to another, north and south, in town or downtown-one thing that remains constant is that establishments with outdoor seating are packed, those without are empty.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the best:

Fellinini's Pizza- Locations around the city, good pizza by the slice or the pie.

Agave-Nice- Southwestern fare in Cabbagetown, their patio is overlooks the high brick wall of historic Oakland Cemetery.

Café Di Sol-Drink Specials, light Spanish influenced food on a street that's buzzing with good people watching in nice weather.

Zocolo-Funky Mexican restaurant with two locations in Midtown, and Grant Park, lively outdoor seating area, lots of beers and tequila's on the menu to get people in the spring mood.