Omnivore Atlanta

This just in from Concentrics:

Atlanta, GA (March 31, 2009) – Concentrics Restaurants’ Bob Amick and Todd Rushing are proud to announce that New Orleans’ native Nick Melvin has assumed the lead of Executive Chef of PARISH: Foods & Goods. With a passion for food and all things pure and local, nationally acclaimed Chef Nick Melvin will create New Orleans-inspired dishes with modern influences at the Inman Park neighborhood restaurant and market.

“Nick possesses the ideal qualifications that I’m certain will make for a standout chef at PARISH – he is New Orleans born and bred with an exceptional passion for farm to table fare and was a part of the Concentrics family for quite a while,” said Concentrics Restaurants founder Bob Amick. “While at Serenbe, he utilized the local, sustainable and farm-to-table philosophies that PARISH embraces, and he brings the flavors of his hometown back to Atlanta. We are excited to have him back as a part of the Concentrics team.”

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Our frequent commenter Kali asked us a few weeks back to come up with a list for her of 10 things she should eat in Atlanta before she deserts us for the Great North. She wrote:

Besha and Cliff,

I am sure I have hinted, if not outright said (and I know I have!), that I am leaving my beloved Atlanta for Canadian climes in 8 weeks now. Please give me a list of 10 tastes I should have before I go. Atlanta is a city of foods, cuisines, and delicacies I am glad to know are out there. It makes me proud. My only caveat is this: I don’t eat beef. It’s something weird with me I am sure. Pork is fine, lamb is so-so, fish is ace, and there you go. But please: I would like recommendations.

So here we go – Cliff and I came up with five each. Cliff’s list first: (more…)

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THE OFFAL TRUTH: Foie gras and buttermilk pancakes at Home

We love lists – especially at the end of the year. And so, in no particular order, here are my top 10 picks for the best dishes I had in 2008.

The almond croissant at Parish.

Mussel and salami salad at Cakes and Ale.

The Proscuitto de Parma at La Pietra Cucina.

Fesenjan stew at Falafel Café.

The vegetable plate at the National in Athens

Buttermilk pancakes and foie gras at Home.

The burger at Holeman and Finch.

Apple and beet soup at Dynamic Dish.

Korean BBQ at Hanil Kwan.

Monkfish liver at Sushi House Hayakawa.

(Photo by James Camp)

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Hector Santiago is used to surprising people. The highly acclaimed chef had to change Atlantans’ perceptions when he opened Pura Vida (656 N. Highland Ave., 404-870-9797) eight years ago.

Not only were diners still getting used to tapas, but they were used to Spanish-style tapas, and Santiago was experimenting with a variety of Latin American approaches to small plates. Now Pura Vida is considered one of the best tapas restaurants in town.

This time around, Santiago wants to change the way we think about Sunday brunch.

“I wanted to do a brunch menu but didn’t want to do one like the ones you can get everywhere,” says Santiago, who started his tapas-style Sunday brunch in May. “I wanted some familiarity, but not like you were going somewhere to have brunch all over again. I wanted to make it exciting to have eggs so many different ways, not poached eggs over easy.

“Eggs Benedict and french toast were not what I wanted to serve.”

Read the rest of this article here.

(Photo by James Camp)

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This email just in from Brian:

Read your review. My wife and I recently tried to go on her birthday. However upon arriving, the valet told us that the parking lot was full and to “come back in like 15 minutes”. Given valet is the only option, we left. I wrote a letter to the restaurant, but in true concentrics style, I’ve not heard back. It’s too bad because it’s now on our ‘no go’ list.

I have always refused to use the valet at Parish. I’m happy to find parking the old fashioned way — driving around the neighborhood until I find a street spot. The strange new condo neighborhood directly across the street from Parish often has street parking. But isn’t Brian’s point a funny Atlanta conundrum — when your valet parking situation dictates your restaurant’s viability, there’s no real winner. If all your tables are full, that’s one thing, but empty tables and a full parking lot are not good business.

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I’ve visited few restaurants as ambitious from Day One as Parish (240 N. Highland Ave., 404-681-4434). It’s a huge space whose design succeeds in evoking the ambiance of New Orleans’ French Quarter without resorting to the usual Mardi Gras cliches and cajun stereotyping. You won’t find the words “I garontee it!” on the menu. You won’t even find etouffee and jambalaya, for that matter.

The space is actually two operations. The Parish Market is downstairs, with the kitchen. You can order sandwiches like a good muffuletta or a po’ boy combo of oysters and shrimp (below) here, along with terrific pastries and breads from Jonathan St. Hilaire. (The almond croissant gives Alon’s version a serious run for the money.) There is a community table in the market where you can eat your sandwich, or you can eat it on the patio.

Anything you order in the market, which also sells everything from coffee to produce and cookware, comes to you wrapped in paper, even if you plan to eat in. The restaurant has leaped on the green bandwagon and, upstairs in the formal restaurant, there are no paper menus — just chalkboard ones afixed to the walls. This is part of avoiding the un-green use of paper, according to press materials. Then why not serve sandwiches on plates?

The upstairs restaurant, whose chef is Timothy Magee, includes a raw bar and a lot of seafood appetizers like barbecued shrimp. My entree (top photo) was pork cheeks over a pancake with a creamy mustard sauce. We also ordered catfish encrusted with andouille, served over a chive aioli. Both were delicious.

The restaurant is open daily for dinner and the market opens every morning for breakfast and serves sandwiches throughout the day.

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We dined at Parish Sunday night — I’ll be reviewing it soon — and the place was packed. It’s a beautiful space. There’s just one problem: If you’re handicapped, you’re not going to eat there — at least not in the main dining room.

There is no way into that part of the restaurant that doesn’t require using stairs. My bad knees make it very difficult for me to walk down stairs, while I have little trouble walking up them. I got in, but, when I went to use the restroom, I discovered that it’s down a steep flight of stairs.

A server told me that an alternative to the stairs was going to the back of the restaurant by way of an inclined sidewalk and entering through the deli section called Parish Market. That’s a lot of trouble to use a bathroom.

As far as access to the main dining room if you’re in a wheelchair, forget it. Another server told me that people who cannot negotiate the stairs have to eat downstairs in the market, which, granted, is a convivial, attractive space itself. But…I’m just saying.

I looked up the American Disabilities Act and found that Parish does qualify for exemption, but it’s disappointing the restaurant didn’t find a way to better accommodate handicapped folks.

Since I’m complaining, here’s another one: valet parking. Last night, we ate in a restaurant with a very large, very sparse parking lot. Nonetheless, we were expected to use the valet. I refused and the valet rolled his eyes so hard I could hear them clattering. But why should I turn the keys to my car over to a valet and tip him $5, if there’s a parking space 10 feet away?

(Photo of wheelchair-bound Blanche Hudson and Baby Jane Hudson in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane from MovieMail.)

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