Courtesy Morningside Farmers Market

We’ve been very bad here of late at bringing you delicious batter-fried nuggets of restaurant news, but here’s a good one, along with two choice dipping sauces:

Legendary Partners of Atlanta — the group that was recently awarded the contract for dining and concessions at the Woodruff Arts Center — has tapped Gary Mennie (left) as its new executive chef. Mennie was most recently executive chef at Livingston Restaurant & Bar in the Georgian Terrace Hotel, but you may remember him from his Brookwood Plaza restaurant Taurus or his long tenure at Canoe. No word yet on what Mennie’s and Legendary Partners head honcho Tony Conway plan to do with Table 1280, the Woodruff’s oft-empty restaurant. (”No shame in a great cafeteria,” he mutters under his breath.)

• Empire State South — the first Atlanta venue from celebrated Athens chef Hugh Acheson — opens August 30, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu reads like a gourmet meat-and-three — an idea whose time has come.
• Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse has opened in Phipps Plaza. The menu is on the expensive side, but it looks like you can choose between a $42 prime steak and a $20 pasta, depending on your budget. It’s a large, menu with lavish foodie creations such as lobster ravioli with sweet peas and corn foam sharing space with goofy sounding (and trademarked!) Philly cheese steak spring rolls. It’s the fourth link in a small Northeastern chain.