Considering all the new food I’ve eaten in the past year or so, it’s become extremely difficult for me to find anything new or interesting in a conventional restaurant. Luckily, the One Eared Stag is anything but conventional. If you’re in the mood for an adventurous meal with ingredients that will raise your eyebrows, this is the one of the best spots in Atlanta to find it right now.

Me and the GF had a great meal there last weekend, and I was fortunate enough to try 3 dishes that were brand new to my palate. We started with a “season’s end heirloom tomato tart” with mustard, truffle, and goat cheese. I’ve had quite a few sweet dessert tarts in my life, but never a savory tart like this. The pastry was perfectly buttery/flaky, and the thin-sliced heirloom tomatoes worked extremely well with the dollop of creamy goat cheese on top. I’m not quite sure where the mustard and truffle came in, but I could have eaten another one of these on my own – it was excellent.

Before we got to the main course, we also had a Eden Farms trotter terrine with peach preserves and pistachios. I love the combination of terrines, pates, etc. with a sweet element, and this one was no exception. I’d never experienced a terrine made from trotters (pig’s feet), and the result was a little chunkier/fattier than others I’ve tried. It was almost like a much better version of souse, with a peppery bite that was enhanced by the peach preserves. The crumbled pistachios also added a nice crunch – good stuff.

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Our main course contained an ingredient I wanted to try during my original blog, but never had the chance to: oxtail. The dish was called a “Brasstown oxtail parmentier, with whipped potatoes and chard scallions.” I had no clue what a “parmentier” was, and our server explained that it was much like a shepherd’s pie, with a layer of shredded oxtail covered by whipped potatoes then broiled. Fortunately, it tasted as good as it sounded. The oxtail had a pulled pork-like texture with a slightly salty flavor that paired well with the ultra-creamy, buttery whipped potatoes, and the chard scallions on top reminded me of sauteed green onions. Me and the GF agreed that this was one of the better dishes we’ve had in awhile, so if you see it on the menu, definitely try it.

Since I was still wondering what a parmentier was, I decided to do some research. According to Wikipedia, it’s a dish that’s basically the classic French version of a shepherd’s pie. It’s named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, who is “remembered as a vocal promoter of the potato as a food source in France and throughout Europe.” The dish hachis parmentier refers to the version made with mashed potato and diced meat.

I love learning things like this about food – it’s almost as fun as eating it.

First of all, let me apologize to my readers for taking so long to get a new blog post up. I’ve been doing plenty of eating since my last entry, but unfortunately, I haven’t tried anything that’s been new to me since then. I guess that’s understandable, considering that I recently ate 365 new foods in a row.

Anyway, I did manage to try a couple of new things last weekend that were definitely new to me, and they came from a local restaurant that I’ve been wanting to try for awhile: Peter Cheng’s. Anyone that pays attention to the food scene in Atlanta has probably heard of PC’s and its history, and after hearing several great things about the food, me and the GF decided to finally give it a shot.

If you’ve never tried authentic Sichuan Chinese cuisine, you better be prepared to sweat. Much of it is prepared with Sichuan peppers and peppercorns, which give the food a level of heat that, in my opinion, is unparalleled. I like spicy food, but my tolerance for heat is extremely low. My forehead is sweating as I write this just from thinking about it, if that tells you anything. I’d previously experienced Sichuan-style cooking at Tasty China in Atlanta, and I was curious to find out how PC’s compared.

After perusing the menu, I found 2 dishes that I’d never tried before that sounded tasty. The first was dry-fried mushrooms, which I knew would come with a hearty dose of the peppers. I’d tried the dry-fried eggplant at Tasty China and loved it, so I knew I couldn’t go wrong with the mushroom version. The other was a deep-fried dish called Shan City Chicken, and I stupidly chose to disregard its spice rating of 2 peppers. More on that later.

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The mushrooms were excellent – not at all like the ones you’re used to dipping in ranch dressing at your local bar. The Chinese mushrooms were the long, skinny kind with a small cap, but I’m not exactly sure what they’re called. Much like the dry-fried eggplant, the result was a crunchy (but not greasy) mushroom with a soft center. The dish also included cilantro, scallion, and a moderate dose of the red Sichuan peppers. Really good, but I was sweating after a few bites. If only I’d known what was in store for me with the chicken dish, I would have stopped here.

Our server brought the Shan City Chicken shortly after delivering the mushrooms, and I was shocked. I’d never seen so many peppers in my life. Keep in mind that the peppers are not intended to be eaten – they’re used only as a flavoring/spice agent. In addition, the dish also included small strips of deep-fried chicken and a healthy dose of cilantro. It looked good, so I couldn’t wait to try it.

After a few bites, I started feeling the intense effects of Sichuan pepper overload. My mouth became numb, my lips started tingling, and my forehead was pouring sweat like I’d just finished 30 minutes on the treadmill. The heat was overwhelming, and to be honest, it was all I could taste. The chicken itself was salty and crunchy, but the intense burn totally blew out my palate. I guzzled water and ate white rice to attempt to alleviate the torture, but they didn’t help much. The GF wasn’t sweating nearly as much as me, but neither of us could finish the chicken.

I have learned that I simply cannot handle the “hot and numbing” Sichuan cuisine. It’s no reflection on the food or the restaurant, but my palate just can’t handle it. In the future, I’ll stick to dishes that have a low (or zero) pepper rating. Yeah, I’m a wuss.