aldo nahed's overflow

Dillard’s Barbeque was an excellent choice in an area that looks like is going through a construction revival. While the nearby businesses and government buildings are all wrapping up construction, Dillard’s BBQ seems like a place stuck somewhere in the 1950s.

If you are looking for service, go to McDonalds. This place marches to its own drummer. The waitstaff was lax about the refills, order taking, clean up and all the essentials of good restaurant service.

The food ($9.95 - $12.95), on the other hand, is the main star. The food is worth every cent. Their barbeque ribs, beef and their veggies — friend okra, collard greens, baked beans, mac-n-cheese — delicious.

We later hit up Gourmandises, an all right french bistro whose taste borders on mediocre.

The atmosphere, which is a strip mall off of a busy Suwanee street, does not transport you to France.The food was bland and the Croque monsieur ($6.95) tasted like it had been microwaved.

The special of the day, jumbo scallops ($15) took a while to come out and were not really worth the price for three scallops, especially since scallops don’t cost that much. The sauce they were drenched in was different, a little lemon and butter is usually fine, but the chef really seemed to have overdone.

The drinks were served in styrophone cups, which if anyone cares about the environment, they would think twice about these foam cups that take about 20,000 years to degrade. Also, all utensils were plastic. Plates were china, but they might as well have been paper to add to the backyard barbeque of eating bistro food with plastic forks.

The inside decor also does not tranport you anywhere special, because it’s not special. The walls do have a nice colletion of beautiful cat art prints by artist Frederic Payet, but half the tables are elevated, not a relaxed feel when you have to climb to sit.

We opted for an outdoor seating, overlooking the boulevard and parking lot. On the other side, a view of desolate trees.

The pastry case is tempting, with beautifully stocked with deserts of all sorts, which tasted pretty good. The crepes were also not bad. I also tried the crepe bretonne or Brittany style ($9.95), and devoured the tomato mozzarella ($7.95). For a side, I had the gazpacho soup. I’m not a big fan of cold soups, but it tasted good. Not good enough to clean my cup, though. I should have tried their french fries.

One plus is that you can bring your own bottle of wine to enjoy with your meal. This might make the place slightly more berable. We didn’t, but the table next to us was having a blast, cracking a red and a white to enjoy with their cheese and french fries appetizers.

The cheese plate was a good choice ($12.95), but the bread tasted a day old. For a place with a large neon sign on the entrance boasting fresh bread, it’s a little misleading.

Another eye sore was the chef’s wardrobe. I know you are in the kitchen making food and sauce will splatter on your shirt, but don’t come out of the kitchen without an apron, it looks unkempt, messy and unprofessional.

Final verdict: I will not return for their french food, but if I’m ever in a mood for crepes or a fancy desert ($4.95 and up). This is the place.

Best Halloween costume, yet.

when artists work without a middleman.

It’s easy to forget these days that the internet started out as a place for academics and researchers to trade data and knowledge. Recapture the web’s brain-expanding potential with these free resources for educating yourself online.

I have something interesting in this photo.

Relish has gotten a bad reputation from two of my friends, mostly because of a bitchy hostess, but today my wife and I convinced them to give it a second chance.

Relish did not disappoint.

The restaurant is set in what used to be Roswell Funeral Home on Mimosa Boulevard. For an area that is a hotbed for ghostly activity (J Christopher’s nearby is said to be haunted and a pretty old cemetery not far), I can see how some pretty awful things could happen to my heart munching away on all you can eat brunch ($15).

My friends enjoyed some mimosas with their brunch. On the menu: shrimp cocktail, fresh fruit, garden greens, breakfast muffins, biscuit Benedict, Belgian waffles, French toast, biscuits & Tasso gravy, salmon with red pepper cream sauce, shrimp & grits, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, sweet potato hash, cheesy grits, mac&cheese, omelet station and a prime rib carving station.

Needless to say we ate ourselves silly. Left in a food coma and got home and knocked out. I know its not good to eat this way, but treating myself to some decadence sure feels good.

Here are some useful links if you want to know more about the restaurant.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Review

Gayot Review

Northside Food Review

Urban Spoon General Info, reviews

“When you look at how fast technology is moving - how the economics of news delivery really work in an age where everything you read in ink can be found on the Web faster and cheaper and further from where it is printed - well, you are whistling past the graveyard if you think that relaxing cross ownership rules will save newspapers,” said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.

US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Shopping at WalMart may lower your credit limit.

Leadbelly: “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”

● Metropolitan Atlanta Red Cross, 404-575-3730, www.atlantaredcross.org, e-mail: info@arcatl.org. For other Red Cross branches go to www.redcross.org.

● The Centers for Disease Control has some tips for re-entering a flooded home at www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/mold/reenter.asp. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission also has safety tips at www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/fema/flood.html.

● The Georgia Emergency Management Agency’s Web site lists myths and facts about flood insurance as well as other safety tips at www.gema.state.ga.us.

GEMA says people who need help should call their county emergency agency office first, which will probably refer them to non-profit agencies and charities.

The emergency management county office numbers for metro Atlanta are:

Clayton County: 770-478-8271 or 404-608-2383 if in Forest Park.

Cobb County: 770-499-4567 or 770-319-2511 if in Smyrna.

Coweta County: 770-254-2650

DeKalb County: 404-294-2000.

Douglas County: 770-949-3007.

Fayette County: 770-305-5414 or 404-472-7019.

Forsyth County: 770-205-5674.

Fulton County: 404.730.5600.

Gwinnett County: 770-513-5060.

Henry County: 770-957-9121

Rockdale County: 770-278-8119
*Source GEMA Web site and county offices.

#atlflood Raw Video of the power of nature. Heartbreaking.

#ATL FLOOD VIDEO

“hurry up, slow down” previously unreleased song by Hideous Idiots

Guitar/Vocals: Aldo Nahed

Guitar/Vocals: Orlando Rodriguez

Bass: Alexis Martinez

Keys: Daniel Gonzalez

Drums: Steve Gutierrez

An interview I recorded with pilates instructor, Paula Stewart, and two of her students, Lynn and Michelle, who say that ever since they started taking pilates classes at Pilates with Paula, in Cumming, GA., they have seen an improvement in their dressage.