Omnivore Atlanta

YOU'RE TOAST: Rosebud's chicken liver spread appetizer

It’s the dream of so many young chefs: a neighborhood sidewalk, a random weeknight — Wednesday perhaps — warm light spilling from large restaurant windows, the sound of people laughing. A full bar, the game playing silently on the TVs above. The dining room beyond bustling. A 20-minute wait for a table at 8:30 p.m.

Brick walls. Specials and cocktails written stylishly on chalkboards. An atmosphere that feels neighborly and personal.

But what to call such a restaurant? Something comforting but evocative of individuality. Something that speaks to the young chef’s other loves, possibly something that nods to his taste in music.

Such is the dream-turned-reality of Rosebud, owned by chef Ron Eyester and named after Jerry Garcia’s guitar.

Continue Reading “Review: Rosebud”

(Photo by James Camp)

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JUST DESSERTS: The mango parfait at Aja

Walking into Aja, Tom Catherall’s newest restaurant in his Here To Serve restaurant group, I felt a little like the main character in the ABC series, “Life on Mars.” In case you’ve missed it, the premise is that this cop falls down or something and when he gets up it’s 1973. Except in my version of the show, I’m a restaurant critic who gets bonked on the head and when I come to it’s 1989.

I uneasily take in my surroundings, looking for clues as to where and when I might be. Paula Abdul is blasting overhead. I make a mental checklist of everything needed for a late ’80s culinary hotspot. Red and black décor? Check. Attractive Asian hostess? Check. Lychee-tinis? Check. Menu of sushi/Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese/Indian/American/pan-Asian flavors? Check. Wasabi mashed potatoes? Well, no, there’s none of those — but there is a wasabi-crusted steak! Close enough.

The 10-foot golden Buddha in the center of the dining room — flown in by Catherall from Thailand — has nothing particularly ’80s about it, but it fits with the era’s disconcerting ostentation.

I would expect all this from Catherall. But I was also expecting exciting food from chef William Sigley (who previously blindsided me at Aquaknox, where I’d expected mediocre food and was happily surprised by his “global water cuisine,” whatever that means).

But Sigley seems to be flexing far less culinary muscle here. Offerings are broken up into sushi, dim sum, and the standard poultry/seafood/meat entrees. Very little jumps out as unexpected. (more…)

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BUN IN THE OVEN: Shrimp burger with Nutella shake and fried rutabegas

At a time when restaurants are struggling, when many people’s dining budgets are severely curtailed, it’s quite a feat to be the guy who’s drawing a two-hour wait on a Monday night.

That guy is Richard Blais, molecular gastronomist, reality TV star, inventor of the foie gras milkshake, and now, purveyor of hamburgers so pedigreed they require a “boutique” to sell them.

Flip Burger Boutique is Blais’ first project since leaving Tom Catherall’s Home, where he stopped by for a while after almost winning Bravo’s “Top Chef.” There’s a vast difference between Home’s forced nature and boring Buckhead sensibility and Flip’s freewheeling nuttiness. Located on a congested strip of Howell Mill Road between tire shops and used car lots, Flip’s clean modern lines and playful aesthetic are apparent before you even turn into the parking lot. Once inside, it’s obvious that fun is the objective. (more…)

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THE THE: A selection of tacos at the Original El Taco

“Consulting chef” is a slightly confusing term. Generally, it means that the chef in question has designed the menu and perhaps spent some time training the kitchen staff on how to execute his dishes. It rarely means that the consulting chef is actually spending any time in the kitchen during service. But the question is, if a good chef consults, can we expect the food to be on par with what that chef would deliver in his own restaurant?

Shaun Doty, arguably one of the city’s best chefs, is making a cottage industry out of consulting at other people’s restaurants. Last year he put his name on the menu at Midtown’s now defunct Spotted Dog. I stopped in there one afternoon and had a somewhat sad version of Doty’s East Village-style chicken livers, which resembled the original in concept but not execution. He is currently acting as consulting chef at the Original El Taco, Fifth Group’s new Tex-Mex restaurant in Virginia Highland (although the restaurant’s website lists him as Executive Chef), and there’s talk of other consulting gigs in the works.

The Original El Taco (roughly translated to “The Original The Taco”) has been an instant hit — there’s a wait for tables almost any time of the night on any night of the week. The crowds bring a party atmosphere, ramped up with large, well-made margaritas. There’s also a colorful mural painted by SCAD students that depicts, among other things, somebody who looks an awful lot like Hitler carrying a giant taco on his back.

You can see Doty’s touch on the menu of tacos, “Mexican pizzas” and Tex-Mex entrees: a pork belly taco here, a fried egg atop a stack of tortillas and chili there. But can you taste his influence? (more…)

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LOVE ME TENDER: The grilled octopus at Veranda Greek Taverna

“Tell them that Yanni is their host!” Yanni Kasarhis says jubilantly. I’m talking to Kasarhis on the phone, trying to get the backstory of Veranda Greek Taverna, the Roswell restaurant where I’ve just had some astonishingly good Greek food. I’m getting a little information and a lot of enthusiasm. Hospitality is high on the priority list at Veranda.

Here’s what I did find out: Kasarhis (who, along with his wife Mary, is originally from Athens, Greece) was one of Taverna Plaka’s original owners. After he sold Taverna Plaka, he worked as a server at his sister’s restaurant, the Peachtree Diner, where he met Pete Pukish. Pukish had a pool hall in Roswell that wasn’t doing too well. He wondered if Kasarhis might want to go into the Greek food business again. And so Veranda was born about a year ago using Pukish’s space, Kasarhis’ management and Mary’s family recipes. Chef Clifford Tukes, who Kasarhis first met at Taverna Plaka, was brought in to execute those recipes. (more…)

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ALL RISE: The sashimi dinner at Rise Sushi Lounge

There’s never been more choice in Atlanta when it comes to Japanese food. We now have a wide range of quality establishments, from authentic sushi restaurants along Buford Highway to small Japanese pubs to swank temples of raw fish flown in daily from Tokyo. We may have become spoiled. There are worse problems to have.

I suspect this raising of standards, while good for our palates, may not be so good for the standard sushi spots around town. It may well be the problem at the newly opened Rise Sushi Lounge. Despite being open only two months, the restaurant’s been practically empty on recent evenings.

The folks at Rise would argue that their restaurant is far from a standard sushi spot. Waiters stress that Rise has at its helm “Atlanta’s only master sushi chef,” Tony Wang. Wang’s best known for opening Peachtree City’s popular Ginza Japanese Steak and Sushi in 1991, which he sold a decade later. Rise is Wang’s attempt to re-create his success in a downtown Atlanta venue. He joins the glut of new restaurants surrounding Centennial Olympic Park and the Aquarium in the Luckie-Marietta District. (more…)

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BAR CODE

Whatever happened to the word “bar”? Where’s the respect for good, old-fashioned bar food? These days, the new generation of business owners do not open bars. They open gastropubs.

The gastropub concept turned up in Atlanta last year with Concentrics’ TAP, followed most notably this year by Holeman and Finch, along with a host of other spots. In recent months, three places in particular have garnered a lot of attention: the Porter in Little Five Points, the BookHouse Pub in Poncey-Highland, and the Bureau in the Old Fourth Ward. I wondered what made these places that different from any other bar in town that serves food. How would they compare to say, Atkins Park – arguably the oldest bar in the city?

At the Porter Beer Bar (1156 Euclid Ave., 404-223-0393, www.theporterbeerbar.com), the main difference is the beer. The Porter has around 200 beers, from hop-heavy American microbrews to gueze to Belgian tripels and quadruples, and not one watered-down domestic among them. For beer lovers, the list is a true joy to behold.

So, that covers the “pub” aspect, but what about the “gastro”? The main claim to the Porter’s foodie fame is the résumé of its owners. Nick Rutherford and Molly Gunn both worked at Seeger’s, the now closed Atlanta temple to haute cuisine. Rutherford went on to make a splash at the Chocolate Bar in Decatur. (more…)

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