The Citizen Online - Dining Guide

Dishing With Mike - Pagliafieno

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:14:34 -0400

In this episode, Mike Hutcheson prepares Pagliafieno (Straw and Hay). To make this pasta dish, you'll need olive oil, garlic, mushroom, baby shrimp, crab meat, chopped clams, onion, Tabasco, diced tomatoes and fresh parmesan.

Host of “Dishing With Mike” to offer tips on Citizen TV

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:53:52 -0400

Mike Hutcheson, a former executive chef for Anheuser Busch and sous chef at La Costa, a resort and spa in California, is a host of his own local cooking show, “Dishing With Mike.” The show airs throughout the week on Newnan Utilities but some of his cooking tips will now air on www.thecitizen.com, under Citizen TV.

Baci’s authentic Italian cuisine continues to please

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:13:36 -0400

You would think that a restaurant tucked away in a small strip of shops near the old Fayette County High School would be more of a secret, a special place known only to regulars with a keen eye, but Baci is a favorite stop for Italian cuisine for many county residents.

The new dining destination - Senoia

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:11:45 -0400

By F.C. Foodie
Special to The Citizen

For years, Senoia was a nice sleepy, historic town in eastern Coweta County. Visitors would come and admire the historic homes and promptly leave and go have dinner in Peachtree City or Newnan.

Courtside Cafe has a great menu to go along with a terrific view

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:38:40 -0400

The Peachtree City Tennis Center has been a unique local destination since it opened. Over the years it has seen world-class tennis players like Maria Sharapova take to the courts and has also been a top notch place to host local functions. In the past few years, there has also been a restaurant on the premises. The Courtside Cafe has quickly won quite the following with a delightful menu and welcoming atmosphere.

Sun Dried Tomato continues to please

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:21:23 -0400

Steve Zombik, the head chef and co-owner of Sun Dried Tomato, never thought he would own, or want to own, a restaurant. Zombik had been an executive chef at hotels in New Hampshire, Boston, and Jamaica before moving to Peachtree City and serving as the executive chef at the Wyndham. His plan had been to keep moving up to bigger and bigger hotels but the desire to set down some roots proved stronger. After some time as the owner of Hangar 74, Zombik and his wife, Cindy, created Sun Dried Tomato and the rest, as they say is history.

Summer's first blush

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:19:33 -0400

By F.C. Foodie
Dining Critic

The students are out of school and the temperatures are starting to soar into the 90s. Although summer doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, many residents have already stopped firing up the oven for several-course meals, so here’s a few options to beat the heat until the cool winds of autumn usher in fall cooking season.

Young Chefs Academy cooking school for kids opening in Fayette County

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 11:14:06 -0400

Young Chefs Academy announces its newest location in Peachtree City, Georgia opening June 23. A cooking school designed especially for kids, Young Chefs Academy offers weekly classes, summer camps, birthday parties, field trips and unique merchandise. This is the 12th Young Chefs Academy in the Atlanta area to help budding chefs learn the basics of cooking, while participating in the preparation of real recipes.

The Dinner A'Fare Grand Prize Winner

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:40:10 -0400

What better prize for a disastrous chef than a party at The Dinner A'Fare in Peachtree City? Cooking Queen Maggie and her court of five trusty girlfriends spent a fun afternoon of meal making under the tutelage of Dan and Jana Tillman, owners of The Dinner A'Fare. They were greeted with some wonderful treats from the April menu of Baja Paella, Finger Lick’n Chicken with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce and Cherry Pineapple Cobbler Cake and a how-to of the fun that was about to begin. Queen Maggie and her court were then set free to put together the meals of their choices from scratch to take home and freeze and then easily cook and serve at their own homes.

Queen Of The Kitchen

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:42:46 -0400

The Citizen newspapers and The Dinner A’Fare in Peachtree City co-hosted a cooking disaster contest last month, asking our readers to send us their scariest cooking or entertaining horror stories for a chance to be crowned “Queen of The Kitchen.”

Maggie Worth of Fayetteville was our Grand Prize winner with a cooking story filled with hen insides, potatoes in blenders and some sort of unidentified liquidous goo for pie filling. (See her winning entry in the following section).

Queen Of The Kitchen - Maggie's winning entry

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:36:54 -0400

Horror Story

Picture it: It's 1992 and I'm 19, living in my college apartment and preparing to celebrate my one-month wedding anniversary. I've finished my last class and my husband is working at the college bookstore. It's 5:30 and I have two and a half hours to prepare a romantic meal. I've been planning for days. I've consulted via phone with my out-of-state mother, a former professional chef, to develop an exciting menu for the evening. I've carefully listed all my ingredients and driven 30 miles to the nearest grocery store since the mini-mart in our small college town doesn't run to Cornish hens. I've splurged $50 of our wedding gift money on ingredients, fresh flowers and sparkling cider (the clerk knows me, knows I'm under age and won't let me buy wine.)

Queen of the Kitchen 2nd and 3rd place winners

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:34:14 -0400

2nd place winner
Carrie Gray of Sharpsburg

It should have come as no surprise to me that cooking would not be one of my strong suits. I come from a long line of women who have had “cooking challenges.” My grandmother married very young in 1930 and during one of her first attempts at baking bread decided she was in too much of a hurry to wait for it to rise. Instead of using the one package of yeast that the recipe called for, she used three. After the bread had risen above the largest bowl she had, she tried to let it rise in her dishpan. That, too, was too small and the only thing she saw left to do was rid herself of the beast. She buried it in an out-of-the-way corner of the farmyard. She would rather be buried herself than have to own up to the horrible failure of her baking attempt. Of course, that was the day that my grandfather decided to take a stroll in that very section of yard. The hot, July afternoon had risen the bread even more causing it to bubble up from the ground. He came running into the house convinced that some subterranean monster was erupting from its abyss.

Queen of the Kitchen - Other contest entries

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:30:51 -0400

Amy Riesberg of Fayetteville

My story is not so much a horror story, but a stress story! I have 4 little boys, ages 1,2,5 and 9. Every night dinner is an adventure for us! If we go out to eat, we feel like a traveling circus and if we stay home, I am almost too tired after preparing dinner to even eat! Our meals are very simple and usually include macaroni or peanut butter. I would love to have the opportunity to actually cook a delicious dinner-or 12 dinners-with no little helpers and no stress! My husband would love to have a variety of dinners instead of the same old dinners!

The Original Pancake House - Come for Breakfast, Stay for Lunch

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 15:35:15 -0500

You’ve heard it before: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That’s why at The Original Pancake House, if they’re open, they’re serving up breakfast in delicious and hearty portions. But don’t let the restaurant’s name fool you, there are more than pancakes rounding out this extensive menu.

Spring fever

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 15:34:05 -0500

By F.C. Foodie
Dining Critic

With weather forecasters predicting temperatures in the 70s later this week, many residents’ thoughts are turning towards warmer days.