Omnivore Atlanta

I just received this e-mail from Chris Lopez, one of the Bureau’s owners:

The Bureau is open and running. We took a few days off to reorganize a few things. Our relationship with Shaun Doty was short term. All I have for Shaun is admiration.

People have really embraced us as a pub and we are doing our best to meet their expectations. The kitchen will be open sometime next week.

We are so humbled by the response of people in the city and very happy to be a part of the Edgewood community!

Also, congratulations to Cindy Shera at The Shed for making it to one year! I am very proud of her!

Great news. The Bureau is a beautiful space. Check it out now.

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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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In case you haven’t already heard, the Bureau on Edgewood Avenue is rumored to be closing. I wrote co-owner Chris Lopez on Facebook and he declined to confirm the news but said he’d have a “statement” in a few days.

This is bad news for a beautiful space. The restaurant has made many attempts in its brief life to attract more customers, including hiring Shaun Doty to rework its menu and offering near give-away specials on theme nights.

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The Colonnade may have its tapas, but the Bureau’s got cheap fried chicken on Wednesdays now.

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More from Chris Lopez at the Bureau:

Acclaimed chef Shaun Doty is making a guest appearance for the evening and will be cooking holiday menu items including a Corned Beef Sandwich on Rye with Sauerkraut ($5); Corned Beef and Cabbage with Boiled Potatoes ($6); Irish Shepard’s Pie with Mashed Potatoes and Braised Beef ($6); Guinness Lamb Stew ($8.50); and Chipped Beef with Gravy Toast ($5). Start the festivities with Belfast Bombers, Irish Car Bombs, pints of Guinness, and shots of “Irish Courage” (whiskey).

Located at 327 Edgewood Ave SE, Atlanta Georgia 30312, The Bureau can be easily spotted under the flashing red arrow. For more information, please visit www.thebureaubar.com or call (678) 732-0067. Free valet parking is located directly across the street.

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The Bureau is offering new weekly “stimulus specials,” including $3.50 organic vodka martinis and $3.50 glasses of the sommelier’s choice of wine. Guests can also nosh on 50-cent raw or smoked oysters on the half shell. The specials run daily, 4-7 p.m.

If you’ve been wondering about the menu created by Shaun Doty, here’s a highly capitalized announcement from the restaurant:

The menu, created by Consulting Chef Shaun Doty and executed by Executive Chef Jarman Gray, offers upscale pub-grub choices. Appetizer favorites include: San Marzano Tomato Soup with Garden Sour Dough Grilled Cheese; White Pimento Cheese with Poblano Peppers and Crudité; and Lamb Chops with Indian Yogurt Sauce. Popular Entrée choices include: the Hand Packed Angus Burger with Pimento Cheese; Chicken Sliders on Hawaiian Rolls with Sweet & Sour Sauce; Shaun’s Pork Bangers and Mustard Mashed Potatoes; Lamb Pie with Homemade Puff Pastry; and Grilled Marinated Flatiron Steak Marinated in Chili Arbol and served with Onion Marmalade.

The Bureau is located at 327 Edgewood Ave. Free valet parking is located directly across the street. For more information, visit the Bureau’s website or call 678-732-0067.

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Chris Lopez, one of the owners of The Bureau (327 Edgewood Ave., 678-732-0067), writes to say that Chef Jay Clark has left the restaurant:

We have decided to go in another direction. Mainly, the menu was a little too high in price for guests (and for us). So we are now working with one of Atlanta’s favorite chefs – drum roll – Shaun Doty! Shaun will be staffing our kitchen and creating the new menu. We have done some renovations in the kitchen to prepare for Shaun and the new menu with start on January 15.

The second big news I have: we are doing a Bureau Bailout Brunch every Sunday. The buffet is only 25 cents, with Bloody Marys and Mimosas for $3.75. It starts at 12:30 p.m. every Sunday during the month of January.

I hope Doty’s participation helps the spot. The popular chef-owner of Shaun’s also consulted on the Originial El Taco, which Besha reviewed this week. She raises some questions about Doty’s work there. Personally, I liked Jay Clark’s food; he actually worked under Doty at the defunct Midcity Cuisine. But I do understand the need for a more affordable menu.

I think every restaurant in town should charge only 25 cents for brunch, don’t you?

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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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(NOTE: This is a repeat of an earlier post that was deleted due to software problems.)

We visited the Bureau (678-732-0067) yet another new gastropub, earlier this week. It’s located at 327 Edgewood Ave., a few doors west of Noni’s.

If the shot above looks arty, that’s because the place is. In fact, it adjoins a literal art gallery, completely open through the upstairs bar area. There’s also a large downstairs space with a huge bar.

The Bureau’s name alludes to the FBI…for reasons I still don’t understand, despite twice hearing explanations from restaurant staff.

Chef Jay Clark, whose resume includes stints at Babo in New York and with Shaun Doty in Atlanta, has assembled a compelling daily-changing menu. Dishes are divided into finger foods, plates, entrees and desserts. We sampled excellent chicken liver bruschetta (above) and a (too-oily, too-thinly-filled) pork rillete sandwich from the first category.

Wayne was elated to see poutine in the second category. It is a Canadian comfort food of French fries with cheese curds and brown gravy. If you eat the entire portion by yourself, you will not have room to eat anything else, but you will still gain 15 lbs. before you walk out the door.

Our entrees were terrific — hearty chicken paprikash for me and a very Provencal-like red snapper with eggplant, tomatoes and olives (above, left) for Wayne.

For dessert, we ordered an addictive granita made with pear cider and topped with chopped fresh pears. We also sampled a ganache-like chocolate cake.

More in an upcoming Grazing.

(Photos by Cliff Bostock)

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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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