Omnivore Atlanta

We had a great dinner at Noni’s (357 Edgewood Ave., 404-343-1808) last night. Owner-chef Matt Rupert has added a bowl of squid piccata to the starters and it’s a really refreshing alternative to the usual fried calamari.

Wayne ordered the squid before an entree of farfalle with an anchovy-lemon sauce. I had my usual: a Caesar salad followed by the chicken-eggplant parmesan.

Matt is among the owners of the new Pizzeria Vesuvius (327 Edgewood Ave., 404-343-4404), which is replacing the Bureau in the next block. Also involved are the owners of Grant Central and Thumbs Up, along with Chris Lopez, one of the Bureau’s owners.

They hope to open by next Friday. The restaurant features a wood-burning brick oven. The pizza will be thin-crusted but more mainstream than the pies at Antico Napoleatana, Varasano’s and Fritti, according to Matt. They are targeting students at nearby Georgia State University. Diners will be able to build their own pizzas or order one of the house pies, all of which are named after volcanoes.

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Harold’s Chicken Shack, known around Chicago as “The Fried Chicken King,” is opening a large restaurant on Edgewood Avenue, next to Noni’s, where I dined this evening.

Harold’s has been around since 1950. This was the inspiration for its creation, according to the website: “Legend has it that when Harold Pierce was a child, the Pierce family had the local preacher over for dinner. When the preacher ate the last piece of chicken, Harold vowed never to be without fried chicken again.”

Whatever. I’m excited for one reason: gizzards. Harold’s serves fried chicken gizzards, one of my childhood favorites. …

I found the Bureau indeed closed tonight, but a neighborhood gossip told me that it will reopen soon, with yet another menu.

It seems that the building’s landlord has offered to renegotiate the lease. The new menu, according to my source, will likely be pretty straightforward, no-frills bar food. Its original menu was quite gastro-pubby. Then Shaun Doty was hired to create a more conventional but slightly kinky menu. But the Bureau’s crowd apparently wants even simpler food.

I have not confirmed the reopening or new menu with the owners, but my source is reliable. …

I also noticed today that another Italian spot, Nonna Mia Cafe and Pizzeria, will be opening at 980 Piedmont Ave., near 10th Street. The location has not been kind to a long list of tenants. (It was most recently occupied by Sweet Devil Moon.) But the most successful seems to have been the original — Big Red Tomato — so maybe another Italian venue will work there. …

The mother-daughter Chinese Southern Belles will conduct an Asian market tour this Saturday, April 19. Check out their website for details. …

As you’ll read in my next Grazing column, I got obsessed with pizza after dining at Varasano’s two weeks ago. I counted today and I’ve had 11 dinners of pizza since then. …

We had a great dinner at Noni’s, starting with a special — a take on bruschetta that featured plump slices of portobello mushrooms in a wine sauce.

Quote of the week is the greeting I received while walking to my car, parked in front of Noni’s: “Hey, honky man, lemme have a dollar.”

(Photo courtesy of blogs.citypages.com/food/food/the_culinary_un/)

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Noni’s, the festive Italian deli and bar on Edgewood Avenue, is launching a great deal this evening — free antipasti from 5-7 p.m. every Monday.

Among the freebies available tonight are hard-boiled eggs with gribiche, fried chick peas, charred mortadella with arugula, various fried vegetables (including mushrooms) and grilled leeks.

There will also be lots of crudites and some interesting sauces, including caponata, tapenade, and bacon and sundried tomatoes. The sous chef has also whipped up a relish made with anchovies and eggplant.

If you stay for dinner, try the chicken-eggplant parmesan. The Caesar salad is almost as good as the arugula salad with shaved parmesan. Prices are low and the scene has a great vibe, thanks in large part to Chef/owner Matt Ruppert.

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I’ve revisited three new restaurants during the last few days. You may be sick of hearing about it, but the first was La Pietra Cucina. Look at this special (above) I had for lunch last Friday.

It’s veal hanger steak, sliced and placed over Swiss chard and polenta, surrounded by oven roasted tomatoes and some kalamata olives. How many veal hanger steaks have you run into in our city? The contrast of the chard and sweet tomatoes really made this dish.

We also returned to Noni’s Italian Deli and Bar. We had a great meal that included this New-York-Italian-style eggplant and chicken parmigiana (above, right). The chicken was a flattened breast, lightly coated in flour and fried, then topped with homemade mozzarella and a thick slice of eggplant and tomato sauce. The chicken was still crispy, a very nice effect not normally encountered in this dish. Wayne had the house-made tagliatelle with a very savory, bright lemon-anchovy sauce.

Our appetizers were a fritto misto and a caprese salad made with thick slices of beefsteak tomatoes. Yes, they are still serving the dish with some reduced balsamic vinegar, despite the objections of purists like Elisa Gambino of Via Elisa. “I know it’s not ‘authentic’,” owner Matt Ruppert told me. “But everyone expects it.”

Finally, I returned to the new location of Joli Kobe. I ordered the day’s special — two crepes filled with chicken and mushrooms, topped with melted cheese and salad (above, left). The dish felt quite retro to me as I ordered it — I haven’t eaten crepes in years — but it was ideal. The kitchen makes two fluffy, almost pancake-like crepes, stuffs them and folds them neatly. The chopped cubes of chicken and the button mushrooms were fresh.

I also couldn’t resist buying a sugar cookie and some croissants, including an almond one. The pastries are still among the city’s best — part of what has made the Sandy Springs location so popular for more than two decades.

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Noni’s Italian Deli and Bar (357 Edgewood Ave., 404-915-8679) has joined the restaurant boom in the Old 4th Ward. I’ve been twice and found most of the food enjoyable, especially this starter of fresh peas with shaved pecorino and a few thin slices of onion (which I removed from my bowl).

Another starter, a fritto misto, featuring eggplant, green beans and squash, was also likable (right).

I also liked a BLT made with arugula instead of lettuce and aioli instead of mayo, served on ciabatta. A bowl of homemade tagliatelle with puttanesca sauce, to which I added some locally made fennel sausage, was good too, if a bit sticky.

The space is great looking, with a huge bar and a very pleasant patio out back. The staff is great and prices are dirt-cheap. Look for a column about it next week. Meanwhile, let us hear your own reports.

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After lunch at Dynamic Dish, I walked a few blocks to see how things were coming with Noni’s Italian Deli and Bar, which Matt Ruppert is opening at 357 Edgewood Ave. Obviously, it’s still under construction, another victim of the city’s notoriously slow issuance of permits. Hopefully, it will be open next month.

The restaurant is named, by the way, after Matt’s grandmother.

Oh, I also learned during my visit to Edgewood Avenue that Javaology is reopening. The building’s owner is going to open it himself, rather than look for a new tenant. That’s good news!

(Photo by Cliff Bostock)

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