“I began Quarantine Delicacies proper firstly of the quarantine in Atlanta,” Tang mentioned. “I simply bought uninterested in listening to the fixed day by day dangerous information. So, I made a decision to have a cheerful hour for me and my pals on Fb.”
It wasn’t all enjoyable and video games, although. Tang used the seclusion to work on recipes for Lady Diver — his new Cajun-meets-Asian restaurant, which soft-opened in mid-December.
“It was an idea I wished to do for some time,” Tang mentioned. “My mother’s Vietnamese, and I wished to do one thing that showcased a number of her recipes. COVID allowed me to remain at residence for 90 days and ideal all her recipes, and a few of mine, and get the flavour profiles down.”
This 8-ounce filet mignon order from Lady Diver includes a frisée salad and marinated tomatoes. Courtesy of Lady Diver
Credit score: Handout
Credit score: Handout
Examples vary from shaking beef, Vietnamese rooster wings and papaya salad, to pork stomach, black bean pork noodles and pink curry with rooster thighs.
“These are all dishes I ate rising up in New York,” Tang mentioned, “however we’d go go to my uncle in D.C., and we’d exit to Maryland by the water and seize bushels and bushels of crab and boil it with Previous Bay. It was a deal with for me, cracking them open with a hammer.”
At Lady Diver, you may order crab, crawfish, mussels, shrimp and lobster tails by the pound, or in get together platters with sausages, corn on the cob and potatoes.
As nostalgic — and even rustic — as that facet of the menu might be, the Vietnamese dishes are refined, and the restaurant’s design and decor are trendy.
Tang mentioned he wished to supply “traditional-style meals, flavor-wise, however then I wished to make it fairly, too, with French-style plating. I assumed that it labored rather well to have Southeast Asian meals carried out with a French aptitude. And, we’ve got an attractive bar, and an excellent beverage program, too.”
Lady Diver’s key lime baked Atlanta comes with torched meringue. Courtesy of Lady Diver
Credit score: Handout
Credit score: Handout
Along with operating two eating places, Tang is holding Quarantine Delicacies happening Fb, as a result of it has helped him deal with the pandemic, and he believes it’s serving to others.
“I felt like we have been capable of assist lots of people out and provides them an outlet,” he mentioned. “As people, we’re social. So, I made a decision to offer them some normalcy in a non-normal yr. However, what’s regular now? I believe the pandemic has undoubtedly introduced a number of gentle to issues. And, with what’s dangerous, there’s good.”
GIRL DIVER
Menu: Cajun-Asian
Alcohol: beer, wine and cocktails for dine-in and takeout
What I ordered: fried spring rolls with pork, shrimp and chile lime XO sauce; barbecue octopus, poached and marinated in aromatics, smoked, glazed with maple XO, and grilled a la plancha; pink curry with rooster thighs, carrots, potatoes and spicy coconut curry broth; shaking beef filet mignon, served with a salad of charred pearl onions, marinated cherry tomatoes, crispy shallots, herbs and XO dressing; key lime baked Atlanta with torched meringue. I largely went for the Vietnamese-inspired dishes, which have been wonderful, however I wish to attempt one of many Cajun-Asian seafood boils subsequent time.
Service choices: indoor, outside, takeout; name or log on for takeout; reservations at Resy
Out of doors eating: heated patio with 30 seats
Masks coverage: staff put on masks; clients inspired to put on masks when not seated
Deal with, cellphone: 955 Memorial Drive SE, Atlanta; 404-525-2424
Hours: noon-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; noon-midnight Fridays; 11 a.m.-midnight Saturdays; 11 a.m.- 10 p.m. Sundays.
Web site: girldiveratlanta
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