Restaurant Review : Ecco

One of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta is Ecco. I always have a great experience at this romantic, vibrant restaurant even with my gluten free diet. I was thrilled to see Fifth Group Restaurants - the group behind Ecco and another favorite, South City Kitchen - start offering a gluten free menu. While they were always able to help me navigate the menu and choose carefully before, the dedicated gluten free menu helps me choose things without having to ask a thousand questions. While I understand it's my right to ask those questions, sometimes you just want to feel like every other diner and just choose something off the menu to eat, no?

Ecco serves seasonal cuisine with a European flair. Influences of the Mediterranean, Italy and Spain can all be seen on their menu. Headed by Chef Micah Willix, Ecco's menu rotates regularly, implementing the best flavors of each season with a focus on house made ingredients, and even house grown on their roof top garden. Some of my favorite dishes here are the risottos. Since the dishes change often, each time I go it's different, but any risotto they make is an instant favorite. I've had many variations and they never disappoint. Ecco also makes me favorite mussels, ever. They're served in a rich and creamy romesco broth and always perfectly cooked. And while I used to think that I disliked lamb, Ecco is the only place I will choose this dish.

If you're feeling like a glass of wine and some small plates, I enthusiastically recommend the cured meats & cheese selections. They generally have Speck on hand, a smoked proscuitto that's out of this world. I like it paired with Cana de Oveja, a soft sheep's milk cheese from Spain.

Full yet? Should you have saved any room for dessert, Ecco's house-made ice creams are incredible. I've tasted them all between my many meals here, and while you can't really go wrong, I keep coming back to the chocolate roasted orange. It reminds me of those orange flavored chocolate candies that came in the orange tin foil wrapper I used to get for Christmas.

While Ecco serves many gluten and non gluten filled selections, the staff is always incredibly helpful with their recommendations and takes great care to avoid cross-contamination. I've never had anything but excellence at Ecco, and I highly recommend it for gluten free diners.

Ecco is located in Midtown Atlanta at 40 Seventh Street NE, 404.347.9555.

recipe : three cheese macaroni & cheese

Macaroni & cheese. Is there any better comfort food? Warm, gooey, and rich cheese sauce. Carbs. C'mon, it doesn't get much better. While the days of being able to make a royal blue box of orange sauce covered noodles are behind me, I'm glad they are. It lead me to this. 


Another great find in Food & Wine's September issue, this recipe comes from Chef Ben Vaughn of Restaurant Grace in Memphis. The styling of the macaroni & cheese is gorgeous.

Via Food & Wine

I chose to make mine in a large casserole dish instead, for practicality. For this recipe you will need the following:

Three 8oz Boxes of Rice Penne (I used DeBole's)

1/4 cup Gluten Free Pantry All Purpose Flour

1 10 oz log goat cheese

6 oz sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

1/4 cup sour cream

3 cups heavy cream

3 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

2 teaspooons chopped thyme

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt & freshly ground pepper

To start, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, cook your pasta in a large stock pot according to package instructions. I try to make mine slightly less than al dente, approximately six minutes in a stockpot of rapidly boiling water, because it will lose some of its firmness in the oven. Once pasta is finished, drain and return to pot.

In a medium saucepan, simmer the cream over low heat. Add in the chopped onion and garlic. I found out the hard part that this next step is crucial: remove one cup of the cream and pour into a mixing bowl with the flour. Whisk together. It will get fairly thick. Return this to the saucepan and continue to cook over low heat until thickened. Mine took approximately 4-5 minutes.

Once thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the goat cheese, cheddar cheese, and half the Parmigiano Reggiano. Then, add the sour cream, the parsley, the thyme, and the lemon zest. Salt and pepper to taste. I used more lemon zest than the recipe originally called for, because I really enjoyed the flavor combination of it and the goat cheese. Whisk in the three egg yolks as the final step.

In a greased casserole pan, combine the pasta and the sauce together, coating the pasta evenly. Add the remaining Parmigiano Reggiano to the top. I also added additional lemon zest and thyme as garnish.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, until bubbly and slightly golden on top. Once it's done, make sure to let it stand for a bit to cool and thicken up before serving.

This serves approximately 6-8, or two with leftovers for three days.