Omnivore - Wine, cookies and margaritas

Some friends met Elizabeth Schneider, a relatively new super-oenophile in town, at Starbucks last week and raved about her, especially her humor. I’m joking when I call her an oenophile because she writes a blog entitled “Wine for Normal People,” in which she repeatedly slams wine snobs.

Schneider has a resume like few, if anyone, in this city. She’s a consultant, educator and sommelier, with a solid professional background. Her business site describes her approach this way:

I don’t drink but I’ve long been fascinated with the florid descriptions of taste and smell of wines (and now coffee gets the same treatment). I have an infamously hypersensitive nose and can pick up a medley of scents and tastes, but I have never been able to accurately specify the whiff of this, the hint of that, the undertone of this, the haunting aftertaste of that. Schneider does an especially convincing job naming such varieties on her blog. Maybe she’ll conduct a smell-sampling class for nondrinkers.

COOKIES!: I’ve raved about the ginger cookies that Little Tart Bakeshop has been making at the new Octane in Grant Park. I’d feel remiss not mentioning that I’ve discovered another good ginger cookie just down the street at Grant Park Coffeehouse. They are made by Julia Knox, special events coordinator at the Atlanta Zoo, across the street....

LAS MARGARITAS: Yesterday, I ran into Oscar Valdivieso, co-owner (with his mother) of the popular Las Margaritas on Cheshire Bridge. Valdivieso said he was shocked when he heard that Tierra is closing. Like Tierra, his restaurant features a broad South American menu. He noted that Las Margaritas is doing well, in part because he is constantly dreaming up events and specials. “You have to work like crazy,” he said.