It’s been so much fun being home in Lilburn to prep for Susan and Marty’s wedding this Saturday! I got in town Tuesday evening and we’ve been busy with last-minute preparation, plus all the girly essentials on the to-do list like getting spray tans and scheduling nail appointments. Regardless of the task at hand, it’s been wonderful having the four “original Swindles” together for a couple of days.
To celebrate the four of us being together (since it’s a rarity these days, unfortunately), we decided to go to dinner last night at a place none of us had tried before (despite it having opened in 1998): Floataway Café. Susan and I chose it based on its inclusion on Atlanta Magazine‘s to 50 restaurants in the city and, I must say, we chose well!
Floataway is tucked away in an industrial complex that’s been transformed into several office spaces in addition to the restaurant. (The building’s name was originally Floataway — likely due to its close proximity to a creek prone to rising with heavy rainfall — hence the name of the restaurant.) Dad asked if he should bring his inner tube along just in case. Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary. 🙂
Floataway Café is just one of those places that’s got it right. (It’s owned by the master chefs behind the legendary Bacchanalia restaurant in Atlanta, after all, so no huge surprise there.) The patio is charming, and the interior is cozy-yet-sophisticated, with lots of light, breezy colors and tables separated by interesting dividers:
But even more than atmosphere, we were there for the food, and it didn’t disappoint. We’d read reviews that recommended sharing lots of small plates in lieu of ordering individual entrees, leaving room for dessert (what in the world did we do before Yelp?), and we liked that plan. Our server directed us to several amazing dishes:
The marinated roasted beets with avocado, pickled egg, pistachios, and goat cheese were perfection, and I can’t wait to start pairing these ingredients in my own kitchen. I see some delicious salads in my future. We inhaled the burrata (a very soft, spreadable mozzarella cheese) served with smoked sourdough (we’d never had smoky bread before — yum!). The gulf crab fritter over zucchini was packed full of crab meat, and was Dad’s favorite (for good reason). We also loved the Floataway version of calamari, where they deep fry all the components — including the lemon. (Fried lemons, as it turns out, are incredible.) We finished the dinner portion of the meal with salsiccia pizza topped with Italian sausage and prosciutto. Dinner success in a big way:
We wrapped things up with the dessert sampler, which included the almond ricotta tart topped with peaches (good), the flourless chocolate (better), and the warm toffee pudding topped with vanilla gelato (far and away the best):
It was awesome being together to enjoy such a memorable meal. Thanks, Floataway! (And Atlanta friends — if you haven’t checked this place out yet, definitely do. You won’t regret it!)
On to the rest of the wedding festivities! It’s going to be a great weekend.
