Omnivore Atlanta

PRETTY IN GREEN: The dining room at WaterHaven

It’s hard to believe that restaurants are still opening in Atlanta. The withering economy has devastated many, especially fine-dining spots, but newcomers keep popping up.

Two such restaurants are WaterHaven (75 Fifth St., 404-214-6740, www.waterhavenatl.com) in Technology Square and 5 Seasons Brewing Westside (1000 Marietta St., 404-875-3232, www.5seasonsbrewing.com). Both feature menus of “contemporary American” cuisine at fairly moderate prices. Both make noises about organic food and sustainability. And both were open less than two weeks when I visited.

I’ll save the best for the last. That means I’ll start with 5 Seasons, which is the spawn of a popular restaurant and brewery of the same name in Sandy Springs. Owner Dennis Lange and chef/owner David Larkworthy, with the help of brewmaster Crawford Moran, also opened a location in Alpharetta two years ago.

Continue reading “First Look: 5 Seasons Westside and WaterHaven”

(Photo by James Camp)

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We visited WaterHaven, the new restaurant where the Globe used to be, Saturday night and had an excellent meal, including this sumptuous dish of oxtails with asparagus, turnips, carrots, fava beans and fluffy herb dumplings.

It was only the second day of the restaurant’s operation and we weren’t expecting the high quality of service and food we experienced. The Globe was one of my favorite restaurants for lunch, so I’m glad WaterHaven has turned out well, despite a name that sounds like it might belong to a cemetery.

The new tenant has warmed up the Globe’s interior with olive-green paint but left most of the architectural features intact. The library is gone and is now a dining room. Executive Chef Chris Lee’s menu is not very adventurous but provides some great, surprising tastes here and there — like fenugreek and chimichurri in a shrimp starter.

Read more about WaterHaven in Grazing later this week.

(Photo by Cliff Bostock)

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Here are some newcomers getting a good bit of buzz:

Pacci, in the Hotel Palomar, 866 West Peachtree in Midtown, is open for lunch as well as dinner now. It’s steaks and Italian fare.

Five Seasons Brewing, 1000 Marietta St. (at Howell Mill Road), is open. Check out some pictures of the new Westside restaurant, spawn of restaurants by the same name in Sandy Springs and Alpharetta. Designer brewskies and contemporary American fare.

WaterHaven, 75 Fifth St., will open Friday in the space formerly occupied by the Globe in Technology Square. FoodieBuddha features a report on a preview dinner.

Verde Taqueria, 1426 Dresden Dr., has prompted some strongly worded e-mails to me, but is getting mainly positive reviews on Yelp.

Taipei Restaurant, 3940 Buford Hwy., in Duluth is now employing the longtime chef of Little Szechuan, according to Christiane Lauterbach in the latest issue of Knife and Fork. Besha gave the restaurant a very positive mention last summer, when Christiane also first reviewed it. But now, according to Christiane, it is even better and she accords it a three-star rating.

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This just in from the PR folks:

On Friday, May 15, Restaurateur Joe McCarthy will open his new seasonally-inspired restaurant, called WaterHaven, within Midtown Atlanta’s Technology Square. Serving lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday, with lunch service beginning on May 18, WaterHaven offers a welcoming retreat from the hustle and bustle of Atlanta’s urban activity.
Executive Chef Chris Lee’s menu features contemporary American fare that highlights local farms and purveyors. Focusing on two to three components per dish, Lee lets his local ingredients shine for sustainable and Southern-inspired meals.
WaterHaven’s décor, created by Marc Moscript, features mustard and olive green hues and a warm, cozy ambience. The restaurant offers 150 seats indoors and an additional 80 on the patio, as well as a semi-private room that seats up to 65 people and features a transparent wine wall separating it from the main dining room. A large stone water feature is the focal point of WaterHaven’s bar area, which also contains a long zinc bar for guests to gather while sipping and snacking.

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