PROF I L E
Delia Champion R E S TAU R AT E U R • N I G H T O W L • B I G D R E A M E R
By Stacy Moser
Delia Champion is a night owl. And that’s a good thing. Fans of her uber-popular restaurant, The Flying Biscuit, knew that if they craved breakfast, she was there for them—day or night. And now, as an encore, she’s selling delectable sausage creations at Delia’s Chicken Sausage Stand, which is on all three levels of the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “In the restaurant industry, you live differently than most people you wait on. They go home and go to bed. You go home, but not to bed. You’re off at 2am and you have to find friends to do things with. I hung out with people in the music industry,” Delia explains. “We’d talk about our future and I’d say, ‘I’m going to have a breakfast restaurant. I’m tired of coming to work hungry because I get up late and there’s nowhere that serves what I want to eat.’” In 1993, her friend, Emily Saliers, co-founder of the band, Indigo Girls, urged Delia to chase her dreams and loaned her some money to get started. “That’s how I went from a server to restaurant owner. It was a leap of faith!” Delia says.
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I AM THE LUCKIEST PERSON YOU’LL EVER MEET!
Her funky, colorful restaurant became known for excellent fare and is now a staple in Atlanta’s food pantheon. But the big dreams didn’t stop there. “I was driven. I have a journal—I write about what I hope for.” Delia wanted her restaurant to stand out from the rest. She perfected a recipe for chicken sausage that was locally sourced from healthy ingredients (sans fillers or preservatives, and completely hormone free) and lovingly prepared. In 2011, when she decided to sell The Flying Biscuit, flirting with the idea of retirement, she realized that she could concentrate solely on offering her sausage creations in a smaller, simpler venue. So Delia’s Chicken Sausage Stand was born in East Atlanta followed by a West Midtown locale. “I just love the Intown locations,” she explains. Her Sausage Stands at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium are doing really well, too. When season ticket-holders were polled about what food they wanted in the stadium, her restaurant ranked No. 5 in the top eight. “I’m humbled! I didn’t see that coming!” she says. When asked about her successful career in the food industry, she chuckles. “I thought I was going to be the 80-year-old server with no retirement program. I am the luckiest person you’ll ever meet!” As for where Delia goes when she’s hungry? Find her at Nam Phuong on Buford Highway. The salt and pepper tofu is her favorite! TheSausageStand.com
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WINTER 2017
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CATMAX PHOTOGRAPHY, HAIR AND MAKEUP BY THE GREEN ROOM AGENCY.
I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO BE THE 80-YEAR-OLD SERVER WITH NO RETIREMENT PROGRAM.
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