Hot Eats!

New restaurants open and coming soon around Intown

By Collin Kelley

Atlanta’s ever-expanding dining scene means that our roundup of new restaurants that have recently opened – or are coming soon – has become a regular feature. From Cajun and Vietnamese, Brazillian and Polynesian, to burgers and cat cafés, Intown has a new crop of eclectic eateries for you to try.

Pok Perfect

The Amsterdam-based chain will open an outpost at Westside Provisions, 1100 Howell Mill Road, this summer offering up poké bowls – raw fish and protein bowls with various toppings. Additional locations are planned for later in the year in Decatur and Inman Park.

JAI HO INDIA KITCHEN & BAR

The team behind Savi Provisions has opened a restaurant at 560 Dutch Valley Road in Morningside. Drawing inspiration from owner Paul Nair’s upbringing in India, Jai Ho’s menu references cuisine common to the former French colony Pondicherry in India, particularly evident in Chef Anish’s and Vijeesh’s meats and sauces, prepared according to French recipes updated with Indian ingredients. For more information, visit jaihoatlanta.com.

One Rooster Mongolian Bar

The new eatery is open on Howell Mill Road at the 1016 Lofts building. Mike Blum, founder of The Real Chow Baby, places an emphasis on organic and local ingredients and a Polynesian twist in both menu offerings and décor. For more information, visit 1rooster.com.

Double Dragon

The creators Taiyo Ramen and Suzy Siu’s Baos are expected to open Double Dragon at 350 Mead Road in the Oakhurst neighborhood of Decatur this month. The menu, which will also be available for take-out and delivery, will feature classic staples like Mongolian beef, egg rolls, hot and sour soup and lobster Cantonese. For more information, visit facebook.com/DoubleDragonOakhurst.

The Canteen

The founders of West Egg Cafe and The General Muir will open a “micro-food hall” at 75 5th Street

Java Cats Caf

in Midtown. Inside, foodies will find Fred’s Meat & Bread, Yalla and Square Bar, which will offer morning smoothies and then transform into a full bar with classic cocktails and wine in the evening. The Canteen is expected to open this month. Information: thecanteenatl.com.

The city’s very first cat café is now open at 415 Memorial Drive in Grant Park. Feline fans can interact and adopt the kitties provided by PAWS Atlanta while sipping a cappuccino and prepared food items. For more information, visit javacatscafe.com.

Happy Tabby Cat Caf

On the heels of Java Cats, Happy Tabby is expected to open this month at 529 Irwin Street in the Old Fourth Ward. Serving coffee drinks and pre-packaged food, the city’s second cat café will have 15 to 20 adoptable kitties on the premises from Furkids. Find out more at facebook. com/pg/happytabbycatcafe.

Bon Ton

The old Top Flr space at 675 Myrtle Street in Midtown is now a seafood restaurant inspired by the flavors of New Orleans by way of Saigon. Read our full review on page 44 of this issue. For more, visit bontonatl.com.

Bar Mercado

The Castellucci Hospitality Group (The Iberian Pig and Cooks & Soldiers) will take over The Cockentrice space at Krog Street Market in Inman Park this summer. Bar Mercado will offer tapas dishes, meats, cheeses and bar bites, Spanish wines and cocktails. Visit castelluccihg. com for updates.

The Roast

Whole Foods at 650 Ponce de Leon Ave., across from Ponce City Market, is opening a restaurant inside its space offering a fast casual take on Brazillian Churrasco. And you won’t have to go far to do your weekly shopping either.

Co

The Charlestonbased Vietnamese restaurant (Co translates as “feast”) is opening a new location of its expanding sushi and noodle chain in Poncey-Highland at 675 N. Highland Ave., just next door to Rize Pizza. No opening date has been announced. Visit eatatco.com for updates.

SIMON’S

The former Time and Straits space at 793 Juniper St. in Midtown is being transformed into Simon’s, a “small plate, global cuisine” concept from celebrity chef Marvin Woods. The restaurant is set to open this month. No website information was available at press time.

FARM BURGER and YOUR PIE

Burgers and pizza are coming this summer to the ground floor restaurant spaces at The George, the new apartment complex at 275 Memorial Drive in Grant Park. Farm Burger, which offers grass-fed hamburgers, will occupy approximately 1,800 square feet, while Your Pie, dishing up handmade pies and craft beer, has leased 2,200 square feet.

The annual Atlanta Food & Wine Festival returns to Midtown June 1- 4 with more than 180 chefs, sommeliers, mixologists and pit-masters from Texas to the District of Columbia.

The year’s events will be held in and around the Loews Atlanta Hotel. There will tasting tents, education events, dinners and more throughout the weekend.

Some of this year’s education and learning experiences will center on Southern breakfast and brunch, street food culture, and pairing wines and whiskey with meals.

The tasting tents will once again be at Piedmont Park on Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon. A wine lounge, cocktail garden, interactive food and beverage pairings and live music will also be at the park.

Kicking off the festival will be a Louisiana Lunch on Friday afternoon where attendees are invited to celebrate the food and beverage traditions of The Creole State ending the lunch with a traditional Louisiana-style Second Line down Peachtree Street to the Loews. A Sunday Brunch is set at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC) in Peachtree Hills.

Tickets for the tasting tens are $100, while a day pass is $175 or a weekend pass is $435. There are also various packages and VIP experiences in a range of prices. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit atlfoodandwinefestival.com.

By Shandra Hill Smith

When Jeff Merback and his partners opened The Highlander in Midtown Atlanta, they set out to serve up “really good restaurant food, not typical tavern food” – and they’ve been at it now for two decades. The Highlander celebrated its 25th anniversary in April, with a four-day party to commemorate the milestone.

The late-night establishment for adults only, located at 931 Monroe Drive, is open for lunch and dinner. It features a full bar as well as a game room – an area where you may host a private meeting or party – with pool tables, air hockey, pinball and video games.

“We cater to people within a fivemile radius of the tavern,” said Merback. “We’re not a conventioneer spot or a spot where we expect people to travel to from Cobb County or when they’re on their way to the Symphony. We’re a neighborhood tavern that has always taken care of our neighborhood family and customers.”

The Highlander looks after local artists, too, displaying and selling their artwork, which is changed out quarterly. Merback is proud of such unique touches and the pub’s focus on providing high-quality food.

“We were one of the first people in the bar industry to do all the food from scratch,” said Merback.

Around 10 years ago, the establishment received national recognition for some of its homemade fixings. During the second season of the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,” The Highlander’s Pasta-Rella Sticks – mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce –and Jamaican Jerk Chili were spotlighted.

While bestsellers have changed since the 1992 opening, staples have included burgers and chicken sandwiches. For the April celebration, The Highlander kicked off a new art show, hosted a barbecue and band performances, along with its weekly Sunday trivia –this time with the questions focused on The Highlander and city of Atlanta developments over the past 25 years.

Merback, who was 24 when he opened the pub with two original partners, said “it feels amazing” to mark 25 years. Since the original partners left, minor partners have been on hand. They include Brannon Amtower, Darby Yale and Gregg Taylor. Taylor and Amtower have been with Merback the longest. Long-time staff include a pair of bartenders who have been employed more than 20 years – Marco Gollarza and Chris Jackson – and daytime manager Ali Reed.

Merback said he always hoped The Highlander could keep its doors open as long as possible, and he’s looking either to sell or close the business when he retires in the future.

For now, he operates The Highlander, along with Fabiano’s Pizzeria, with locations in Douglasville and Newnan, and The Alamo, a neighborhood tavern performing space, in Newnan. His wife Laura is bookkeeper for each of the businesses.

“We have our hands full,” said Merback. “We stay busy, but we’re going to be around as far as possible in the near future.”

For more information, visit thehighlanderatlanta.com.

Bone Lick BBQ

Double dipped chipotle wings

327 Edgewood Ave. SE, 30312 (404) 343-4404 or bonelickbarbecue.com

Hot Wings!

By Isadora Pennington

Roll up your sleeves: it’s time to talk about one of my favorite, messy eats.

Wings are a popular bar food with something of a cult following across the nation. As with many popular dishes, there are multiple claims to the invention of the wing. One of the more popular theories is that they were a creation of restaurateur Teressa Bellissimo at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. Some say Bellissimo made buffalo wings as a late night snack for her son and friends, others believe it was due to accidentally ordering too many wings and needing to find something to do with them.

Regardless of the reasons for inventing the dish, the buffalo wing was an instant success at the bar and quickly spread elsewhere in the northeast before spreading nationwide. These days, they are often found on the menu of bars, pubs and restaurants, with some establishments even basing their entire concept on wings and wing varieties.

Vastly different effects can be achieved by changing the sauces or rubs that are used, and they are typically served with ranch or bleu cheese for dipping.

Atlanta is such a paradise for food lovers, with numerous options for delicious and unique wings. This month I toured a few of my favorite neighborhood spots and got my hands on some truly delectable wings.

Fox Bros. BBQ

Hickory smoked wings with housemade BBQ sauce, served dry or wet

1238 DeKalb Ave. NE, 30307 (404) 577-4030 or foxbrosbbq.com

Jack’s Pizza & Wings Strawberry sriracha wings

676 Highland Ave. NE, 30312 (404) 525-4444 or jacksatlanta.com

The Local Sun dried BBQ wings, dine in only 758 Ponce de Leon Ave., 30306 (404) 873-5002

Bon Ton

I went to LSU (Geaux Tigers!) and the thing I miss most is the food. Good Cajun or Creole food is hard to find in Atlanta. I want a place with a laminated menu, because you don’t change what’s working – the kind of menu you hold on to and keep ordering from until everybody is full and yet everybody has leftovers to take home. The kind of menu that doubles as a coaster for my Abita pint and a placemat for stray shrimp tails.

Enter Bon Ton, located in the Midtown space formerly occupied by Top Flr, brought to you by the folks responsible for The Lawrence and also the folks from the Crawfish Shack on Buford Highway. We can talk about real estate and brand marketing until we’re blue in the face, but look: the food has to make my mouth water and then it has to make my eyes water, both because it’s so dang spicy and because it reminds me of Baton Rouge. Can Bon Ton do that for me? Yes, indeed it can.

First we have to have drinks. They put their sazerac on tap, which is a solid strategy for quickly delivering a no frills cocktail that’s otherwise quite labor intensive. Or if you’re feeling fussy, indulge yourself in a half hour’s pontification about whether the classic French 75 is best ordered “full Hannah” style. By the time you get to the bottom of the highball, that cognac will have you forgetting what all you’re arguing. If you prefer liquor full of ice, they have two amazing slushies – a Pimm’s Cup and a Vietnamese Irish Coffee. Heck, order one for dessert and enjoy the changing colors on your go-cup as the slushy melts. The large is $13 and you won’t need a second one.