Terrific twofer: slices of smoked brisket and turkey on Smokebelly’s Delta Double combo plate.
KYMA The name means “wave,” and making waves is exactly what executive chef Pano I. Karatassos has been doing at his family’s stellar Greek seafood restaurant since 2002. From marides (tiny, “French fry”-size white fish) to Greek specimens grilled whole (try the barbounia or bronzino), Kyma excels at delivering the kind of simple, unadorned flavors you’ll encounter on a patio by the Aegean. Order a glass of Greek wine (there are many options) and a few classic meze for sharing (we like the dolmades, spanakopita, cuttlefish stuffed with lamb stew and the feta-zucchini fritters), and your meal will go just swimmingly. Meze: $8-$14 Mains: $26-$46 (whole fish $30 or $36 per pound) buckheadrestaurants.com/kyma
PASTA VINO You can surely find trendier pizza parlors or posher places to eat Italian in Atlanta. But if you’re looking for old-fashioned linguini with clam sauce or chicken Florentine in a relaxed and inviting atmosphere with a loyal following, this Buckhead favorite has got you covered. The restaurant is beloved by many for its home-style cooking, casual ambience, reasonable prices and a staff of servers who have acquired faithful customers of their own. Owner Nancy Powell treasures her crew, most of whom have been on the job for more than a decade. Given the refined state of Italian dining in America today, Pasta Vino is not likely to win any awards for innovation or inspiration, but it remains a perfectly fine, frequently delicious trattoria. Starters and salads: $2-$10 Entrées: $10-$22 pastavinoatlanta.com The generous portion of sweet and sour spare ribs from Eclipse di Luna makes it one of the best deals on the menu.
SMOKEBELLY Smokebelly offers a traditional Southern-inspired barbecue experience within Buckhead’s posh surroundings. The rustic yet upscale interior is a comfortable place to kick back with a local beer or craft cocktail. The hearty barbecue platters offer generous portions of smoked meats and sides that harken to roadside dives. In addition, salads and healthful sides are tasty alternatives. At lunch, choose from a dozen sandwiches or from the long list of small plates.
We recommend the quinoa super-food salad, tangy and bright with colorful veggies and fresh greens, or the smoked brisket and sofrito empanadas with tender and richly flavored meat wrapped in a flaky crust.
Lunch entrées: $7-$16 Dinner entrées: $12-$30 starfishatlanta.com
Tapas: $4.50-$11.50 Sandwiches and salads: $6.50-$13 BBQ plates: $14-$27 smokebellybbq.com
At this venerated breakfast nook, you’ll find Atlanta movers and shakers in ties and starched shirts huddled over omelets and pancakes. But regardless of a guest’s status, owner Demos Galaktiadis, who came to America from Greece in 1966, treats everyone the same. He has run this Peachtree Road institution for 45 of its 68 years, and over time, the food has evolved into a unique combination of home-style Southern and Greek standards. At lunch, you might have moussaka and collards or fried grouper and a Greek salad, finished off with a dish of banana pudding. But breakfast is king here. We recommend the Olympic omelet, stuffed with spinach, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and peppers and served with a side of tzatziki, or a breakfast sandwich laden with sausage, cheese and egg.
STARFISH Starfish—which can look just a little lost on the block that houses Restaurant Eugene and Holeman and Finch— is exactly the kind of sushi joint we have been trolling for. In a city where Japanese cuisine can be hit-or-miss and sometimes not the freshest, chefowner Seung K. “Sam” Park’s reticent little pearl is a superior catch—cute and compact as a bento box but with just a hint of luxury. At dinner, we were delighted to see how the kitchen plays around with untraditional ingredients like truffle oil and balsamic vinegar, slicing fish as thin as carpaccio and arranging it in dazzling presentations. When our flounder sashimi arrived, the server told us to place a dab of the ponzu jelly spiked with cilantro, jalapeño and lime on a strip of the fish and roll it up. Exquisite. Starfish isn’t the kind of place that announces itself with screaming klieg lights or red carpets. But in this culture of excess, sometimes being a little bit under-theradar can be very seductive.
WHITE HOUSE RESTAURANT
Breakfast: $6.40-$15.30 Lunch: $6-$16.70 whitehousediner.com
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January/February 2018 | Simply Buckhead
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