Omnivore Atlanta

PEACHY KEEN: The Vidalia and peach salad at Restaurant Eugene

The beginning of the end for many chefs is the moment their success convinces them to expand. A second location or a secondary concept often marks the point at which attention becomes divided, profit becomes the focus, and expansion for the sake of expansion kidnaps the good sense of otherwise great restaurateurs.

It seems just the opposite occurred when chef Linton Hopkins branched out from his original eatery, Restaurant Eugene. Last year, he partnered with some of his longtime employees and friends to open Holeman & Finch Public House, and shortly after (the now wholesale-only) H&F Bread Co. But rather than distracting him from his original restaurant, it appears that his new ventures have only served to inspire Hopkins.

It’s possible that the passion and energy it takes to open a new restaurant seeped across the breezeway at the Armour building and imbued Restaurant Eugene with some of the freshness exhibited by Holeman & Finch. (And a ton of passion and energy must have gone into Holeman & Finch, because it continues to be one of the city’s most exciting eating and drinking experiences, exhibiting a boyish exuberance that’s damn near impossible to resist.) Whatever the reason, the food at Restaurant Eugene over the past year has become brighter, bolder and more accessible. Hopkins is now cooking on par with the absolute best chefs in the Southeast.

Continue reading “Review: Restaurant Eugene”

(Photo by James Camp)

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Linton Hopkins of Holeman & Finch and Restaurant Eugene has been named one of America’s 10 best new chefs by Food & Wine magazine. He’ll be featured in the July issue.

The magazine’s website features a profile of him. Here are some excerpts:

Favorite cheap eat:
Carvers Country Kitchen, a small Southern soul food cafeteria in Atlanta. “It’s only open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and there’s already a line at 11. They load up your plate. My ideal ‘meat and three’ there is fried chicken, creamed corn, lima beans and braised peas.”

Guilty pleasure:
Cheeseburgers. “I love the ones at Varsity in Atlanta, with onion rings and a Coca-Cola; it’s one of my ideal meals. You can’t get it with pimento cheese, you have to get American cheese. That’s how we make burgers at Holeman and Finch; I love how American cheese melts around the burger.”

Favorite wine:
“I’ve just gotten into Yellow + Blue Malbec, sold in Tetra Paks [cartons]. It’s $12 a liter. One of my faults is being a snob about bottles and corks, so this is a great departure for me.”

What his next restaurant would be:
“My fantasy restaurant is a place called Preservation, which wouldn’t have any refrigeration. Most of our greatest foods were created pre-refrigeration. Country ham would just sit out; it would drive the health inspector crazy. The more realistic idea is a classic fish camp with crawfish boils and Cajun blackened fish and roasted oysters. And great hush puppies and beer on ice, so cold that the labels fall off.”

Damn, I can’t wait for his next restaurant.

(Photo by James Camp)

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Pete Wells writes about telling your kids where meat comes from in the New York Times. It’s an interesting subject, and one I’ve tackled in my own family with some of the same results Wells describes. Ever since my kid was old enough to understand, I’ve let him know that the meat he eats was once a living animal — I want him to understand the moral repercussions of what he consumes, be it food-related or otherwise. At this point, his response is “I don’t want the lamb to have to die. But it’s so gooood.” I hear ya, kid.

Michael Ruhlman writes incredibly well (as usual) about being a food writer. My favorite line (something I try, usually unsuccessfully, every semester to impart to my interns):

Perhaps the best general advice I got about writing was to always ask myself, “Why should a stranger be interested in what I have to say?” I think you should always be asking yourself this, whether you’re querying a magazine editor or blogging (though the blog is a new and unusual beast).

It’s been reported all week on other Atlanta blogs, but in case you missed it, here’s the link to Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chef article featuring our own Linton Hopkins. I do wonder what the magazine’s definition of “new” is, but I’m so happy Linton’s getting some much deserved recognition.

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HERE COMES THE SUN: The sunchoke agnolotti at Restaurant Eugene

It’s been about five years since Linton Hopkins opened Restaurant Eugene (2277 Peachtree Road, 404-355-0321). During my first visit — before the restaurant had received much press — I showed up dressed in my usual slothful way, direct from the gym, as I recall. Wayne was similarly attired.

As soon as we walked through the door of the restaurant, we felt out of place. Nearly every man in the dining room was in a coat and tie. We were jetted to a table in the bar area, where we would not spoil the view for the crowd of old-line Buckhead residents. (OK, actually, we didn’t have a reservation and the hospitable Gina Hopkins, Linton’s wife, fit us in.)

I’ve only returned to the restaurant a few times since then, switching my allegiance to the wonderfully zany Holeman and Finch, the gastro-pub that Hopkins opened next door for drinking and snacking. Not the least of my motivations, too, was price. The menu at H&F is mainly small plates of Southern-inspired comfort food while Eugene’s pricey menu offered more traditional meals made with brilliant, wallet-draining attention to detail

Continue reading “Grazing: Restaurant Eugene reinvented”

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It’s not up on the James Beard website yet, but the nominees are being announced as they happen on Twitter. The nominees for Best Chef in the Southeast are: Linton Hopkins (of our own Restaurant Eugene — yay Linton!!), Hugh Acheson (Of the Five and Ten in Athens), Mike Lata (of Fig in Charleston), Bill Smith (of Crooks Corner in Chapel Hill — I used to wait tables there! Congrats Bill), and Bob Waggoner (of the Charleston Grill).

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Greg Best helping out at the stand.

Even though H & F Bread Co. has not opened its doors, I am already crazy about the bread thanks to the bread assortment at Holeman & Finch Public House and the H&F stand at the Peachtree Road Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings. Everything I have tried has been stellar. I was at Holeman on Thursday night (getting the burger, of course) and asked the barkeeps when they were going to be open. Mr. Best said Wednesday if all goes well with the city. Lets hope so. I am dying to see the store and grab more of their scrumptious baked goods.

My haul: flat bread, baby challah (hidden), croissants, a wheat sandwich loaf and Jerusalem bagels. Yes, I do have a bit of a bread fetish.

(photos by Jennifer Zyman)

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Linton Hopkins, executive chef and co-owner of Restaurant Eugene in Buckhead, is teaming up with his wife, Gina, and mixologist Greg Best to open Holeman and Finch Public House, a restaurant that will focus on charcuterie and dishes like house-made fettuccini, fried bologna and mustard, and cane sugar cola floats. The new restaurant, named for Hopkins’ and Best’s maternal grandfathers, will also feature unique spirits, using tonic and soda made in house, and wine from boutique wineries.

Holeman and Finch Public House is slated to open this fall at the Aramore across from Restaurant Eugene. For more information about Hopkins, check out Besha Rodell’s interview with him here.

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