12th & Everything

and limited any distractions from the main dining room.

At the time, I admired how particular he was in planning our date, but looking back, I see that I was just a supporting character in his evening. He had cast me because it was something he had thought about doing with someone (maybe anyone) for quite some time. I don’t even blame him for it, restaurants— especially ones like Lyla Lila— are designed to beguile and seduce you. Whether it’s for breaking the bank on the bill or overindulging on a few too many, you should feel a little guilty when you leave.

There was no third date.

I enjoy this relationship between restaurants and cinema because thoughtful interior design and dining room theatrics give us what reality never will—an escape. A dozen oysters and a martini at Kimball House (kimball-house.com) is a fantasy compared to a week full of delivery apps, fifteen-dollar salads, and TV dinners. And

while some people might not care about where their next meal comes from, a lot of us require a diversion from the banality of modern life.

Dining out just lets us kill a few birds with one stone. You might not ever try a Cosmopolitan in your life, but you would do it to put yourself in Carrie Bradshaw’s Manolos. This story first appeared in Side Dish by Rough Draft, a weekly newsletter about food and dining. Subscribe at roughdraftatlanta. com/sidedish.

By Collin Kelley

12th & Everything, an adaptive reuse project at the corner of 12 Street and Piedmont Avenue, will be the home of a barbecue restaurant, coffee house, and a new space for an iconic skate shop.

The 2,315-square-foot building at 1084 Piedmont will draw inspiration from Piedmont Park, housing a restaurant downstairs (from the creators of Das BBQ) and an 800-square-foot, upstairs dining terrace with a gable covered bar overlooking the park. The terrace will also be available for private events.

Next door, the 1094 building will be around 1,500 square feet and feature the iconic, historic skate shop Skate Escape fronted by a new coffee shop called PMA Coffee.

The project is rooted in honoring the corner’s history by celebrating the city’s oldest roller skate and skateboard shop, which called the location home since the 1970s. When the shop reopens in its new, larger space, it will continue to offer entry-level skates, high-end investment pieces and skateboards.

Atlanta coffee industry vet Danielle Glasky is spearheading 12th & Everything, bringing nearly two decades of experience in hospitality. Formerly of Spiller Park and Octane, she is also the Founder of Tic Tac Coffee, a pop-up coffee truck, and Bat, Bat Soda, a burgeoning, readyto-drink bubbly coffee and tea beverage company.

PMA Coffee will offer a unique coffee menu with beans from Black & White Coffee Roasters in North Carolina, a rotating selection of seasonal beverages, and pastries and baguettes from a local baker.

“We couldn’t be more honored to serve as stewards of this important corner in the Midtown community,” said Glasky in a press release. “This space has a story to preserve and celebrate as a beloved destination for skaters across the city, and we hope to uplift Skate Escape’s history while bringing more reasons for neighbors to visit 12th and Piedmont.”

Local architecture firm Smallwood is handling the design. Elements of the existing buildings will be restored and preserved as much as possible, and new elements will mirror the building’s vintage design and aesthetic. A canopy structure will connect the two buildings and provide shade over a second-story outdoor dining terrace with views overlooking the park. Fronting Piedmont Avenue will be an outdoor communal dining area with evergreen landscaping, providing an urban oasis on Midtown’s bustling, pedestrian-friendly avenue. 12th & Everything is taking an environmentally conscious approach and working with Cherry Street Energy, a company powering businesses through renewable energy, which will also occupy a small office space on property. Solar panels will be installed on top of the 1084 building as well as along the building’s back wall.