Omnivore Atlanta

TROIS’s former chef, Jeremy Lieb, is heading to Cincinnati after leaving TROIS a few weeks ago. When asked if Lieb would be returning to TROIS, a source from the restaurant replied, “Jeremy has moved on.” Now, running the kitchen is Todd Ginsberg, chef of sister Concentrics gastropub, TAP.

Lieb has moved on, indeed. “Culinary legend,” Jeff Ruby, has invited Lieb to jump start his new downtown Cincinnati tapas eatery, Bootsy’s. Lieb will also be in charge of Ruby’s other restaurants in the area, but won’t be revamping the menus.

According to Ruby in a quote from The Cincinnati Enquirer, Lieb’s purpose will be “helping to individualize the restaurants” rather than turning things around, because honestly, “the food is already great.”

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…possibly Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill or maybe the personal pick of the Chicago Tribune’s critic….

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OMG, BLUE LOBSTERS!

A Scottish fisherman spares the lives of these multicolored bottom-dwellers.

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Richard Blais knows it.

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At China King in Hamburg, New York, a witness spotted an employee dragging a very suspicious animal across the parking lot and through the kitchen door…

Read more.

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Guess who ate at One Midtown Kitchen and was, like, such a prima donna he wouldn’t sit where people could, like, walk by him and stuff. Really, you’ll never guess.

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For those of you who remember our former dining editor and critic Bill Addison, you’ll be thrilled to learn that he’s coming back to Atlanta at the end of the year as Dining Editor and restaurant critic for Atlanta Magazine. He has spent the last two years as critic for the Dallas Morning News. You can read the official announcement on the DMN dining blog here.

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Brad and I returned to La Pietra Cucina for lunch today and we were knocked out as usual. We split a salad made with lobster mushrooms, seldom seen on Atlanta menus.

Then Brad had grouper over creamy, diced eggplant in a tomato sauce with shrimp. I ordered the day’s risotto, full of prosciutto cotto, chives and bits (and slices) of fresh figs.

There’s some news about the restaurant. It will begin opening Saturday nights on Oct. 25. The restaurant’s owners have also decided not to expand into the huge, adjoining space until next year.

Chef Bruce Logue says he’s happy with the more intimate-sized dining room and most diners concur that the present space — actually, the private dining room of the original occupant, MidCity Cuisine — is just right.

Nonetheless, Logue says he is deliberating whether to open a small Italian steakhouse on the left-hand side of the space. That would be a definite first for our city.

(Photo by Cliff Bostock)

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Technology Square’s grown-up cocktail lounge and restaurant, the Globe, confirms they are closing up shop on October 10. The space is staying under the same management with renovations and revamping in store, but no one is certain what will become of the restaurant after its re-opening in 2009. According to an employee, business has grown sparse, especially in the evenings, and there also have been problems with management, and you know, the economy.

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Ever wanted to take revenge on restaurants that done you wrong? Here’s one Atlantan’s problem:

I was in high school, and needed a job. I applied at a local restaurant called “Atlanta Bread Company.” The manager at this particular restaurant was a complete bitch. I could go on forever about how she made me wait for an hour only to talk to me like a child, but… just trust me. This whore needed to be slapped. I did not slap her, though. Nay, I simply walked out peacefully and held a grudge for 5 years. Not a day goes by since then that I don’t drive by said restaurant and get a bitter feeling in my stomach.

Yesterday, I went to a Burger King. I’m not a huge BK fan, and this day reminded me why. The service was slow, the food was disgusting, and the cashier (who was clearly the product of a brother/sister marriage) was as much of a bitch as the bread lady.

That’s the setup. You have to read the entire (funny) post here, in order to understand how the writer plotted simultaneous revenge on both restaurants…if you can call the recording below revenge.

Got that? This person must have an easygoing disposition to find this adequate vengeance for five years of bitterness and a really bad burger.

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Restaurant openings are notoriously uncertain timing-wise, in part because so many licenses have to be granted. But getting a liquor license is often one of the last hurdles before opening day. These places have just been granted liquor licenses, which may mean they will open any minute (unless their contractor screws up, or one of the myriad other hold-ups occur ):

Aja, Tom Catherall’s Asian spot in the old Emeril’s location.

The Porter, a Little Five Points “gastropub” in the old Grandma Luke’s location.

The Bureau at 327 Edgewood Avenue.

The Bookhouse Pub at 736 Ponce de Leon.

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Brad writes to ask:

Have you heard anything about the remodeling activity at the former Pie Bar location? I saw a for lease sign up just before they started, so I wonder if it is not Concentrics venture.

We called Concentrics to ask, and they said they are no longer involved with the location and don’t know who has leased it. Anyone else have any info?

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It appears that Frank Ma is back! Here’s one that came through the grapevine - we heard it from the Blissful Glutton, who heard it from Atlanta Magazine’s Jennifer Senator that if all goes well Frank Ma South will be open tonight at 2088 Briarcliff Road. Dumpling lovers rejoice!

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Got this question from Sarah about Cafe Lapin:

Can anyone find out more information on Cafe Lapin that is going to open in the Peachtree Battle shopping center? It seems to have an outpost at ADAC, but there’s not a lot of info on the place on the web. It’s going in where Great Wraps used to be - seems like it’s going to be a “ladies who lunch” kind of place.

I found this on Micropundit’s blog on Egullet:

Mattie Hines, owner of LA LAPIN in the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center, will open his second restaurant, CAFÉ LAPIN, a neighborhood bistro, in the Peachtree Battle shopping center this summer.

Anyone out there know anything else?

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I hear Tin Lizzy’s Cantina is what’s planned for Grant Park’s Six Feet Under location (SFU is moving up the block into the Jane Lofts.)

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I heard from Richard Blais today - he is in the process of negotiating a TV show and a book deal. No word yet on what kind of show, or what network it will appear on. I’ll keep you posted…

And watch next week for my review of Blais’ latest efforts in the kitchen at Home.

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We heard a rumor last week that Six Feet Under in Grant Park will be moving out of its much-loved location, and today the liquor license process showed the rumor to be true. Six Feet Under has applied for a license at 437 Memorial Drive, just across Cherokee from the current location. That’s in the Jane lofts, by our reckoning. We’ll keep you posted as the story develops…

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I heard some interesting news yesterday — the new W Hotel in Buckhead will also feature a restaurant by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. It will not be Spice Market, but the theme is not yet known — apparently it will be revealed to the hotel’s PR people in two weeks (the guess was that it would somehow fit in with the “country club chic” theme of the hotel). I’ll keep you posted…

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It’s official. Tom Catherall is taking over the space vacated by Emeril’s. His new Asian-style restaurant, Aja, will open October 1.

We ran into Catherall at his latest venture, Home, to which we returned for dinner last night, after an amazing lunch last Friday. Catherall said his concept is inspired by Paris’ legendary Buddha Bar, known as much for its musical ambiance (and recordings) as its fusion of French and Asian cooking (think Vietnam).

Aja (pronounced “Asia”) takes its name from the title track of Steely Dan’s pivotal 1977 album. If you’ve never heard the song, check out the video below.

As it happens, Richard Blais was not in the kitchen last night. Catherall explained that the “Top Chef” contestant had to return to New York for further filming. Let’s see. The season’s filming is supposed to be complete. Could that mean….

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I’ve heard rumors that the City of Atlanta is enforcing laws that prohibit restaurant sales of half-price bottles of wine. At least one restaurant has been fined a hefty fee.

The half-price special is a common incentive restaurants offer to increase trade on slow nights, typically Mondays and Tuesdays.

I’ve been unable to confirm this, although it comes from a very reliable source.

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News Flash! Here’s a team we didn’t expect to see: Tom Catherall and Richard Blais. Catherall has hired Blais to take over the kitchen at Home, the new name of Posh (nee Seeger’s) in Buckhead.

Blais started work today. More details as we learn them.

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