Fresh Loaf

The venerable Buckhead nightclub Tongue & Groove is holding a grand re-opening tonight, as noted in today’s Peach Buzz. But the AJC item makes it sound as if T&G is just opening its doors. Actually, the club opened last spring in the space formerly occupied by Lotus Lounge in the Lindbergh City Center complex.

As owner Michael Krohngold explains, he sold his leasehold for T&G’s original location at the corner of Peachtree Road and Buckhead Avenue earlier this year, but had planned to re-open the club within the rapidly redeveloping Buckhead Village. He considered several sites in and around the planned Streets of Buckhead retail district, but ran into zoning and licensing issues, so he instead opted to take over Lotus’ lease.

In the intervening six months, Krohngold and his decorator wife, Patti, completely renovated the interior, hiring graffiti artists to give the space an urban street art motif, and installing digital projectors, new furnishings and other design touches. They also opened a new room with a high-energy dance floor.

Tonight’s grand re-opening kicks off at 9 p.m. and will feature breakdancers, go-go girls and aerialists.

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Tongue & Groove, the last full-fledged nightclub left on Buckhead’s once-notorious Peachtree Road club strip, has given notice that it, too, will soon close its doors.
Owner Michael Krohngold says T&G will serve its last round July 7, after a near 13-year run. He confirmed to CL on Friday that he and partner Scott Strumlauf had recently accepted a buyout offer from developer Ben Carter for the club and the adjoining Jackrabbit Lounge restaurant.

Carter is spending $850 million to transform the Buckhead Village from a collection of semi-dilapidated bars, restaurants and empty storefronts into a swank, Rodeo Drive-style shopping district.

The strip of low-slung buildings along Peachtree will be replaced by multistory condos with ground-floor retail, as well as a 225-room hotel.

Krohngold concedes that his decision to sell was influenced in part by the fact that the bar faces a 45-day liquor-license suspension for an incident last year involving a flaming drink trick that injured a patron. T&G is suing City Hall to appeal the punishment.

“Initially, we told Carter we weren’t interested, but that was before we received our citation,” he says. “Business is going great, and we’d love to stay here indefinitely, but we didn’t want that hanging over our heads.”

Krohngold says he hopes to reopen in a larger space in an as-yet-unnamed Buckhead hotel.

“We would like to continue with Tongue & Groove, because we have a great brand,” he says. Krohngold had previously been a partner in downtown’s Velvet, Deux Plex on Cheshire Bridge Road, and Fusebox in Buckhead.

Also closing soon is the Steamhouse Lounge restaurant, which will join Café Tu Tu Tango, CJ’s Landing, Frequency, Uranus, Mako’s and other restaurants and nightclubs that have recently shut down in preparation for the bulldozers.
Demolition of much of the 7-acre Village is slated to begin as early as August.

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