The Federal

I have been here a few times and it has always delivered... Shaun Doty is back and loving it. Not in a McDonald's kinda way but he sure does love him some Mickey Deez fwies and McGwiddles, they are fucking irresistible... Have you seen his pouch? He can give me a run for my money... Err, make that a slow walk for my money. After making a ton of loot with the sale of the old burger joint and the current cash cow from their cheekan joints, he now had the F U money to start up a full service resto and cooking real grub again. Not that the cheekan shacks ain't good, they are pretty tasty, but they just aren't on my rotation anymore because there's too many fucking spoiled kids with their entitled families eating up in that piece these days... Those types of douchebags annoys me to no end, so I just rather stay away. The Federal is more Shaun's and Lance's speed, bringing back the popular hits from his old resto in Inman Park into midtown like the sardinian flatbread and pork schnitzel.
I loved the joint when it was in Inman Park because it was cool and hip and kinda off the beaten path... But repurposing the old B+B space in midtown was a smart move instead of finding another location which is expensive as fuck these days in midtown. I must admit that this new adult friendly joint won't be on my regular rotation just because of the location... Midtown has become such a shit show, a goat rodeo gone wild... So, I try to limit myself to noshing at midtown joints to only once a week. But I had to make a special visit because of the new 50 day dry aged manmeat special that he's got going on these days. That is some claim, I don't think anyone is doing a 50 day aged manmeat in this town except here... And that sounds like a challenge to the pouch.
Let's sneak in and see if the food is just as good if they didn't know the pouch was coming in... Shhhh, I'm hunting manmeat...

Dinner Ball Loaf. Warm, crusty, moist and soft... Jesus, sounds like I'm inside a Tauntaun's pouch. I like this bread ball... If they ever serve soup in this thing, I will shit. The herb butter was room temp and the smeared was spot on. I usually don't eat much bread but this was kinda irresistible. I ate like 1/3 of it and then put the blanket back over it so I stop staring at it and eating it more.

Blue Crab Cake, grained mustard, napa slaw. Not the prettiest presentation but that hefty lumpy crab cake was the star... And it was pretty awesome, but if you took that crab cake off the plate, it would like a half eaten plate destined for the trash. The crab was seasoned well, moist inside and just a bit browned on the surface... Just the kinda crabs I want in my mouth.

Oxtail French Onion Soup, gruyere cheese. Look at this cauldron of melty bubbling cheese... Once you dig through that upper layer of cheese and bread, the oxtail onion soup was damn good. Full of rich flavors and a decent amount of oxtail chunks. It ain't a classic French onion soup but I'll take it because I'm totally down with the infusion of the oxtail... It made it that much better.

House Cured Salmon, crispy farm egg, lemon cream, fennel, black bread. Where's the bagels? Oh, it's dinner time, not breakfast... At first, I thought the whole fried egg was a little strange on cured salmon but it worked. Shit, I love eggs... I would eat them on anything. I would even put this egg on fwied cheekan, goddamn it. The salmon was real tasty and it also came with the black bread. It was a decent portion for cured salmon, too, other joints usually only give you a few fish flaps.

Black Bread. I don't know if this would be my first choice for the cured salmon but it held up nicely to my abusive paws slapping them salmon on here.

16 oz 50 Day Dry-Aged Manhattan Strip. Fuck yeah, dude, but 68 fucking dollars is a lot to pay for any 16 oz piece of manmeat... But this was dry-aged for 50 days. I don't know how many other joints are doing it in this town but last time I counted it was none... So, I had to see what all the fuss was about on this beast. I was really hoping for the ribeye but on this night they had a chunky strip which I was skeptical about... But I ordered this hunk of fucking manmeat anyways. It was perfect mid-rare in the most industry standard which was kinda blue in the center. But it wasn't as tender as I thought it would be... That's because my mind was still thinking about the ribeye. The strip just doesn't have as much marbling as the ribeye does... Not that it was bad, far from it but it just has a different texture in the mouth and sliding down your throat... The girls know what I'm talking about... And some boys, too. Oooh, kinky. Anyways, it was still a dericious piece of meat, seasoned well, great char on the outside and perfect temp on the inside... But I don't think I would do it again at that price point no matter how many days it was dry aged... Ok, I may be suckered into doing it again if it was a ribeye. 

Roasted Beets with Tahini. This was something different on the sides, unless I totally ignored it on the other visits. That is some portion of beets... It's almost like a beet caviar. The colors are gorgeous and it tasted fresh and healthy.... Shit, even a rubber boot would taste healthy after inhaling that hunk of manmeat.

Sauteed Morels. I ordered the hen of the woods shrooms but Shaun hand delivered this and said, shhhh, don't tell anyone but I made you some morels, instead... Fuck yeah, bro... Shit, it was like Christmas and his heart was open wide. Gonna give the pouch something, so it knows what's on Shaun's mind. A gift real special, so take off the top. Take a look inside... It's his morels in a box. And that's the way you do it. This was some helping... And second and third helpings, too. There were so much of it I couldn't eat it all after everything else. Box that shit up, pweez.

They got something special going on here, only a handful of people remember the old Shaun's but this new joint is keeping that animal spirit alive. They are loving it, too... Because I know they miss the chaos and challenges of a higher end restaurant that makes you a better cook each and everyday. Keep pumping out those tasty dishes and I'll keep squirting with glee, you silly bastards... But only every other week... Because, you know, it's in goat rodeo midtown and also near that god awful RA sushi with their ginzo crowd... Don't they have gym, tan or laundry to do...

1050 Crescent Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.thefederalatl.com/