Woodfire Grill dining review, Atlanta
$$$$
As I sat in the foyer of Woodfire Grill, sipping a cocktail and waiting for my guest, I eavesdropped on a party of four that had just arrived. They were a young couple and an older, presumably parental, pair. Apparently, the younger man was giving the patriarch a crash course in all things “Top Chef.”
“I want to get my picture taken with Kevin,” he said excitedly. “Maybe after dinner we can go talk to him.”
Becky Stein, AJC
How truly wonderful. Here is a multi-generational Atlanta family going out not just for dinner, but to dine — to enjoy a stimulating and thought-provoking meal prepared by the most dynamic chef to emerge from this city in years.
Later in the evening, Woodfire’s chef and part owner Kevin Gillespie will indeed pose for that picture, his tattooed arm draped over his adoring guest.
A finalist in the competition and a runaway fan favorite, Gillespie became something of a folk hero — the right chef for these bacon-loving times. More than that, though, he embodied a new spirit in Southern cooking that was honest, pig-loving, whip-smart, soulful, close to the farm and more than ready for its moment.
“Top Chef” not only saved this once-failing restaurant, but it allowed Gillespie and his partners, Bernard Moussa and Nicholas Quiñones, to bump up into the big leagues of fine dining. Gone is the long-standing casual grill. Now we have a reservations-only destination where the majority of guests opt for the five-course ($65) and seven-course ($85) chef’s tasting menus of highly refined food.
Special, AJC
After two recent meals, I feel Gillespie, 27 (right), is developing as one of the great culinary voices in Atlanta. Less expressly Southern than rooted by its sense of place, his hyper-focused food uses the best of local and sustainable product and an eclectic array of seasonings. He has a trademark approach to combining flavors — they start out big and then wend so tightly around each other that I think of the pennies you drop in one of those coin funnels in children’s museums. This makes for thrills, but I sometimes wanted some gentler and more open flavors as well.
You should, without question, order one of the tasting menus, composed entirely of dishes not on the slim à la carte menu. If you’re into offal, let your waiter know in case there’s a spare pig heart in the kitchen; on the other hand, you can order a vegetarian tasting on the fly.
Our five-course began with a couple of good seafood dishes. First up came a fat little cube of wild salmon cooked to a crisp on the skin side and perfectly raw on the flesh side. A tiny pool of creamy potato sauce broached the two textures, and a tomato-clove vinaigrette brightened the flavor. Then one seared scallop arrived with its own two sauces — a sweet-earthy tug of golden raisin puree and porcini mushroom reduction. I appreciated the focused seasoning even as the “I love seafood” part of my brain decided to sit these courses out.
Becky Stein, AJC
But then, after a palate-priming swig of spiced watermelon soup, came an astonishing composition of wood-oven roasted sweetbreads (right) with a deeply charred half peach. Both the firm textures and flavors resonated, and a swipe of roasted chicken glace and hillock of onion confit provided the missing notes in this deeply harmonious chord.
The next meat course brought a lineup of fun doodads — a gorgeous chunk of Berkshire pork belly, a sweetly lacquered quail, some oddly crisped chanterelle mushrooms, a tile of ricotta toast, a puddle of pear puree and a bundle of cooked coppa ham. The constantly shifting flavors hold your interest even as too-sweet and too-salty bites run off with the show.
Dessert offered a pretty plateful of blueberry cake, blueberry ice cream and a tasty but grainy quenelle of lemon-white chocolate ganache. If I seem picky, it’s because this food invites it: You taste small bites of this against that and decide how it works for you.
When the kitchen works with bigger plates on the à la carte menu, it risks your allegiance a bit. I quickly tired of an arugula salad ($10) in super-sweet fig dressing that was corseted in sheets of country ham and sitting in a bog of sheep’s milk ricotta. To me the salad course is where you invite a gentler, more delicate spirit to the table. On the other hand, a fillet of wild striped bass ($32) came with a black lentil daal so deeply nuanced with Indian spices that my fork kept returning again and again to tease out the flavors.
Becky Stein, AJC
A sweet corn risotto ($12, left) proposed a clever culinary mashup of creamy rice and watermelon-feta salad. Gillespie made the flavors work brilliantly; had the risotto been hotter and the salad cooler, it would have been a serious wowzer.
Apart from the food, Woodfire gets big ups for its wine program. Quiñones understands what he calls that “$35-$50 sweet spot” — wines he can sell at that price that bring something different to the table — maybe a varietal you haven’t tried before or a bottle with enough bottle age that he can sell you on the dried-fruit flavors that come along with time in the cellar. I so wish more restaurants had this kind of enthusiasm for good table wine.
Servers do a good job of reading tables and knowing the difference between helpful and intrusive. However, I wonder if the kitchen occasionally backs up. One night we had such a pregnant pause between two courses that hunger soured our moods. It’s a good thing the food, when it finally came, was so interesting. I, for one, can’t wait to see where Woodfire Grill goes from here.
WOODFIRE GRILL1782 Cheshire Bridge Road, Atlanta; 404-347-9055; woodfiregrill.com
Food: Chef-driven contemporary fareService: Well honed, but the kitchen can be slow
Price range: $$$$
Credit cards: All major
Hours of operation: Tuesday-Thursday: 5:30-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 5:30-11 p.m.
Best dishes: Menu changes nightly, but I’d ask for sweetbreads or pork belly
Vegetarian selections:Yes, even a vegetarian menu
Children: Older kids only, preferably “Top Chef” fans
Parking: Valet
Reservations: Necessary
Wheelchair access: Yes
Smoking: No
Noise level: Moderate
Patio: No
Takeout: No
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73 comments Add your comment
Lisa
September 3rd, 2010
7:37 am
Thanks, John. I still think he should have won Top Chef.
real foodie
September 3rd, 2010
7:42 am
When do we start getting reviews for restaurants the average person can afford? I cannot spend $10 on a salad, and $12 for a vegetable side, much less $65 per person!
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September 3rd, 2010
7:53 am
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North GA
September 3rd, 2010
8:14 am
I haven’t been in a long while….since before the appearance on Top Chef (I live waaaaaaay OTP – 100 miles each way). I remember a wonderful wine list with a good selection of half bottles. I enjoyed some delicious Jamon de Serrano with excellent cheeses and wine. It looks like I should reserve a hotel room and plan a trip to really re-experience this little gem.
John Kessler
September 3rd, 2010
8:41 am
Dear Real Foodie,
I was waiting for you, my friend. It seems that every time I mention a restaurant inside the perimeter or one of the many higher end dining options of interest to other readers, you take umbrage.
This is you:
My gripe is constant reviews of places ITP that are way too expensive for me, and in that sense, not worth the drive.
Can we please get someone to write about food that costs less than $100 per plate? I am sorry; but, normal people do not spend this much and on such exotic stuff!
There is a recession going on, you know!
The only time I have seen the High was in the movie “Manhunter”. We simply cannot afford places like this. Can the AJC please get someone to review “normal” places to eat? My household income is $100k+, and we cannot afford to eat where the wonderful Mr. Kessler eats.
I like the Varsity. Not everyone can afford a $12 burger.
This is me:
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/08/30/sunday-column-dining-on-both-sides-of-the-perimeter/
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/08/27/veranda-greek-taverna-dining-review-roswell/
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/08/25/falafel-duo-cafe-posh-and-cafe-sababa/
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/08/24/burger-to-the-rescue-the-counter/
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/08/19/revisit-salt-factory/
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/08/06/beat-the-heat-with-these-cool-treats/
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/07/28/las-arepas-de-julia-colombian-corn-cakes-in-norcross/
I just don’t understand why you keep reading this blog if you hate the mix of places I review and my interest in creative dishes you don’t consider “normal food” (as you have written). I’m happy to have you, but I don’t think you’ll ever be happy here.
the falcon
September 3rd, 2010
8:50 am
Great review, John. It is very good to have you back in the critic’s seat.
dh
September 3rd, 2010
9:01 am
Mr. K,
Gotta agree with your response, I think it’s been pretty obvious to most of us regular readers that both in your statements and your actions you’ve probably focused more on food available to everyone and less on the high end.
Very nice to see that you’re willing to stand up for yourself with someone who is only happy when they’re unhappy.
mrb
September 3rd, 2010
9:17 am
sit down, real foodie! and while you’re at it, ask yourself “why am i so angry?”
Katherine
September 3rd, 2010
9:33 am
I think the appropriate phrase at this time is “oh snap”!
kmb
September 3rd, 2010
9:36 am
I agree with everything you have stated in your review except for the size of the portions. I and my guests left hungry. The issue is not is the quality worth the price, but is the quantity of food worth it. This is not a restaurant to visit when hungry.
With regard to real foodie, obviously you have not followed John’s recommendations. There are ample reasonalbly priced establishments in them: particularly, if you like hamburgers, Buford Highway ethnic cuisine, and the Howell Mill Road scene. As for expensive restaurants, without them Atlanta would have a most difficult time attracting conventions and corporations to come here. If you want a real recession, get rid of the reasons people visit our city.
Kirk
September 3rd, 2010
10:01 am
JK, I only dine at restaurants that have multiple wine options aged for 30+ years, beef from cows that speak 3 languages, pork from pigs that get daily massages, and vegetables grown in such a protected green environment that a team of Navy Seals can’t get to them. Where are the reviews for these places?
Son of Puerquito
September 3rd, 2010
10:21 am
Were there any beggin’ strips on the menu?
Sam Bruni
September 3rd, 2010
10:49 am
what does his tattoos have anything to do with his cooking? every chef has ink, doesn’t make you a good cook. i had a handful of meals there pre and post Michael Tuohy, it ain’t what it used to be but a decent option if it wasn’t for the newly acquired celebrity snooty factor. thank you for including that his Top Chef appearance saved WFG because no one cared or even heard of him before, the place was about to shut down. the power of television. this restaurant is not fine dining, it’s more upscale casual. 3 stars is about right, but the staff needs better training.
Woodfire Grill dining review, Atlanta | Food and More with John … | Monterey Reviews
September 3rd, 2010
10:50 am
[...] Patrick Pirolli wrote an interesting post today Here’s a quick excerpt The AJC’s John Kessler reviews the Woodfire Grill restaurant for the Food and More blog. [...]
Jonathan Baltuch
September 3rd, 2010
11:16 am
I read your recent review of Woodfire with interest. My wife and I have eaten there many times and love it. Sometimes we go with the tasting menu, sometimes ala carte and other times, if we are not that hungry, just sit at the bar and order appetizers. Either way it is always full of gastronomic surprises and way more hits than misses.
I agree with everything you wrote in the review and I think you captured the unique high points of a dinner by the extremely creative Chef Gillespie.
The only thing that left me perplexed was that based on everything I read, in your words, it would seem that a rating of 4 or even 4.5 stars would have been more accurate?
ada
September 3rd, 2010
11:39 am
Great review, great comment rebuttal.
Continue to love the blog and have visited and enjoyed many of the places you (and other commenters) have mentioned.
Colly
September 3rd, 2010
11:40 am
Gotta say – most of us are here to read insightful, and often humor-laced, reviews of the ATL dining scene…high end, not-so-high end and plenty in between. And then there are a few who camp out here to deposit their hostilities. Go away and leave the rest of us to enjoy JK’s missives.
M. Johnson
September 3rd, 2010
11:46 am
Both the firm textures and flavors resonated, and a swipe of roasted chicken glace and hillock of onion confit provided the missing notes in this deeply harmonious chord. The next meat course brought a lineup of fun doodads …
He’s baaack! Love your reviews, John!
bbb
September 3rd, 2010
12:07 pm
Get em John!
And finally…..it looks like we may have the battle of the Kevins in Atlanta.
Allez Cuisine!
Son of Puerquito
September 3rd, 2010
12:23 pm
@ bbb: I think you meant to say A LA CUISINE fool…
Behind the Review: Woodfire Grill | Food and More with John Kessler
September 3rd, 2010
12:31 pm
[...] Grill was the first big-deal Atlanta restaurant I’ve reviewed in years, and I knew that a lot of attention would be paid to the star rating. In my mind, the [...]
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September 3rd, 2010
12:44 pm
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Kirk
September 3rd, 2010
12:52 pm
@Son of P: Not sure about you, but I just hate it when I call someone a fool only to find out they are correct and I’m wrong.
Allez cuisine is from Iron Chef – it loosely translates to “Go cook”. So no, bbb didn’t mean A LA CUISINE.
regularfoodie
September 3rd, 2010
12:59 pm
Excellent response to Real Foodie! I very much appreciate the variety, both in cuisine and price, of your reviews but I especially enjoy the reviews of higher end restaurants. It is nice to be able to get an impression of those places before going and spending a lot of $$.
tiffany
September 3rd, 2010
12:59 pm
I have only been to Woodfire Grill once, and I agree wholeheartedly with this review. Woodfire Grill is excellent. It is AMAZING. Many of the dishes were inventive (sweet potato greens?). But it is also a bit on the safe side in terms of flavors and ingredients. I like a little more adventure in my food when I’m paying $65 per person. Plus the night we went, the bar was a bit slow, and the plates came out a bit too fast. (But the cocktails? O.O. The Violet’s Vice and Bradley were incredible, made all the better by shrubs.)
Son of Puerquito
September 3rd, 2010
1:17 pm
@ Kirk: if you really look into it, he is actually saying “arr’h kizinn”
Mike
September 3rd, 2010
1:17 pm
I thoroughly enjoyed the review. I’ve been to Woodfire half a dozen times or so, and I’ve loved each visit.
Keep the reviews coming!
Jon
September 3rd, 2010
1:22 pm
Seems like a glowing review, but only 3-stars? I feel like I read a 4-star review if not better. I have to agree, when I want great, attentive service, interesting foods, and a bar selection to match — Woodfire Grill is THE place to TRY to get a reservation.
OTP
September 3rd, 2010
1:34 pm
Mr. Kessler, welcome back! We are happy to have you. Very thoughtful and enjoyable review, and right on the money.
KBG
September 3rd, 2010
1:40 pm
If it were an “ordinary” restaurant, it would be critiqued or reviewed! Who wants to review McDonald’s?!?!?
KBG
September 3rd, 2010
1:41 pm
I meant “wouldn’t”
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September 3rd, 2010
1:49 pm
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ziza
September 3rd, 2010
2:07 pm
great review and have never been but would love to based on your review and other folks comments. i love reading all your reviews and while i may only visit someplace like woodfire once in awhile, the reviews you’ve done help me to make a choice when i’m going high end. and yes great rebuttal too.
ArtVandelay
September 3rd, 2010
2:28 pm
HAHAHAHA GOOD JOB JOHN! Don’t let anonymous commenters full of e-courage get away with giving you crap.
As I have learned in my many years on this earth, some folks just love to complain.
Joe
September 3rd, 2010
3:15 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvSerhG9tMo&feature=related
Joe
September 3rd, 2010
3:19 pm
I spent 240 dollars (Including a 5-course tasting, 45 dollar bottle of wine, and gratuity for my girlfriend and I). We both left hungry.
I’m a recent graduate of the Art Institute of Atlanta (Where Chef Gillespie went to school) and while he may have learned some techniques while in school, he failed to pay attention in the restaurant ethics classes- where they teach you that when someone pays enough for a car payment for dinner- they should AT LEAST leave satisfied. Instead, we went to Waffle House after leaving Woodfire.
I understand the importance of small portion sizes- but if you brought out all 5 courses on one plate- it still wouldn’t be enough for one person for one meal.
The portion sizes were embarrassingly small- and I’ll never go back.
crackbaby
September 3rd, 2010
3:41 pm
Don’t gratify the idiots with a response, JK (even a great response).
I’d like to take my folks to Woodfire next week, if we can get in, as this is probably their last trip to Atlanta together (due to age). Appreciate the review as I have never seen “Top Chef”.
Jed
September 3rd, 2010
3:43 pm
Ate there the other week, had some of the same dishes and I concur. While I am no expert in this field, I think Woodfire should receive something higher than 3 out of 5 stars.
And well said John, “real foodie” got served. What a misnomer. Is this some sort of mole for another media outlet or something? I make less than some teachers, but through wise budgeting am able to afford food like this once in a blue moon.
I think one of the best things about Woodfire is Kevin’s attention to temperature and texture. Each dish proves he considers these factors as equally important to taste.
As for the portions being small, anyone who dines here shouldn’t expect to be rolled out of the restaurant. And that is a good thing.
P.S. The restaurant is phasing out of ala carte and will be going to a tasting-only menu, which is fine by this sometimes-foodie.
John Kessler
September 3rd, 2010
3:43 pm
Jonathan, Jon — if you want to read more about the 3-star rating, go here:
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/09/03/behind-the-review-woodfire-grill/
Lisa M
September 3rd, 2010
6:52 pm
We live OTP (all the way in Cumming) and made it to Woodfire Grill about 4 months ago. It was wonderful! Great thought provoking food! The service was fun and not over attentive. It is not a meal I can afford every weekend, but so worth the splurge
Debbie
September 3rd, 2010
9:31 pm
Having been to WFG pre- and post-Kevin, I’d take pre-Kevin any day. It is just too pretentious now. I especially miss the olive oil tastings. Kevin has tons of talent, but doesn’t serve the meal I want to eat when I’m dropping a couple hundred dollars.
Dave
September 3rd, 2010
9:56 pm
I and four friends ate at Woodfire a few months ago. We eat at a higher end restaurant that none of us have been to once a month. It it very rare that the five of us are completely disappointed in a restaurant. We don’t mind spending money; but, when you get tiny portions of, for the most part just good, not great, food and when everyone has to have the tasting menu or everyone has to order off the small menu and the server prefaces everything with Chef Kevin this and Chef Kevin that and the bill is over $700 when the tip is added, it’s not a place that allows me to in any way agree with your review. Maybe if I’d have had my picture take with Chef Kevin. Nah.
Dave
September 3rd, 2010
10:07 pm
Two typos in my comment. Read it twice before hitting submit.
John Kessler
September 4th, 2010
5:01 pm
Joe, Dave — I found the portions reasonable in the context of the tasting menu but agree he could adjust them for a la carte. I mention this in the follow up post.
AlG
September 5th, 2010
11:13 am
This sounds like the emperor’s new food–so sophisticated and so small in portion size that only great gourmets can appreciate it. At some point, Woodfire will run out of suckers, the Dining Room at the Ritz did. Leaving any restaurant hungry is absurd, and people won’t do that twice.
deegee
September 5th, 2010
11:47 am
I would have to go vegetarian. Who really wants to eat sweeetbreads and pork bellies?
Val
September 5th, 2010
1:29 pm
Did anyone else notice in the “real foodie rant” that they make 100k+/year… and they “can’t afford” an outing like this because of the “recession”. I make considerably less than that (by about 75K), and am seriously looking at visiting WFG just to see what the buzz is about. Thank you Mr. Kessler for speaking up for yourself and standing your ground.
We afford what we wish to afford, and we make time for the things we want to make time for.
Thanks for the review!
MDN
September 6th, 2010
9:36 am
And again, I must step in to say…who ARE you people? You read a food column and then you kvetch about portion size and price and the recession and how you can’t afford to go out to dinner if you’re not gonna bust a gut and have to unbutton your pants on the drive back to Gwinnett? Nothing about the nuance of creativity? The ideas? The effort to surprise the palate? The comfort of the dining room even?
And the weenie who went to culinary school and talks about ethics class? Hmm. Kevin I’m guessing didn’t hone his creative gifts at the culinary institute. You can either cook, or you can’t. Culinary school will teach you techniques, it’s a TRADE school. And that my friends will land you a job as a line cook. Chefs are born not made. And having said that, does anybody remember that Kevin is 27? Geez, lighten up. Most guys his age are still living in the basement at mom’s waiting for another Xbox to come out.
He’s not Thomas Keller, He’s not Ferran. (Google it rubes…) but he is a bright star in a rather boring culinary horizon. Atlanta has a long way to go to be a player and if young talent like this is poo pooed or not “understood” they’ll will pack up their knives for greener pastures. Most chefs don’t do it for the money. You’ve got to be kidding. They do it for the thrill and the acceptance, and Atlantans can be a rather unappreciative crowd. Maybe you’ve got too many choices. If you had three restaurants to choose from and one of them was a Sonic I’ll bet you’d shut it. And leave Kessler alone for this OTP vs. ITP crap. We’re still saying that? Yea, like it means what it used to? Puhleeze. There’s like one block of Buckhead that isn’t a big hot mess of cruisey traffic and Marietta has as many decent restos as Midtown. Let it go. The 80s are over.
And finally, don’t go to dinner to feel FULL. Go for an experience. If you want to “get your money’s worth” go buy 1/2 a cow from the butcher and eat until you get a coronary. But why not stay out of restaurants where there is a more subtle appreciation for things like “TASTING” menus. There are places for you, with big portions and filler side items like mountains of mashed potatoes and other starchy piles. Gluttony, an American trademark…
John Kessler
September 6th, 2010
9:45 am
The AJC weekly dining review — now with commenting! (This is going to be fun.)
kmb
September 6th, 2010
12:41 pm
To MDN:
I live inside the Perimeter and have enought disposible income to eat wherever and whenever I desire, both inside and outside the Perimeter. I have enjoyed the 5 star restaurants in Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah, New York, Washington DC and Seattle. I ask you: who are you: a friend, business partner, or employee of Kevin’s? I was not complaining that we didn’t leave full. Because of the high pork content on the tasting menu, which does not allow for substitutions, and none of my party eating pork, we went to the a la carte menu. WE ALL LEFT HUNGRY. GET IT! AND WE ARE NOT GLUTTONS. For the price we paid for inadequate portions, we could have gone to The Market, Craft, Nickoli’s Roof, Bacchanalia, Joel (which was still open then) or any of the other high end restaurants in Atlanta and have left more than adequately fed. The prices charged at Woodfire Grill are going to lead to its demise. When they say scallop they mean one scallop for $12. They on Saturday had ribeye for 2 at $100. The source they use for the beef (which isn’t Kobe beef but local Georgia grass fed beef) charges under $17 per lb retail for their rib eye. My entree was duck breast with duck egg. It was half a duck breast with half a soft boiled egg. I do not remember the price, but it wasn’t cheap. You are insulting people who probably know more about fine cuisine than you. We have watched our superior chefs leave Atlanta over the years because of underutilization of their restaurants. Kevin will fall into that group if he doesn’t give quality at a reasonable price. Right now his prices for a la carte are unreasonable for the portion size. His tasting menus are too narrowly focused to allow people who don’t eat pork to order it. Plus, the entire table has to order the tasting menu or else he won’t serve it. As for his age, by the age of 27 thousand of Americans have their MDs, DDSs, MBAs, LLDs, CPAs and PhDs. Finally, Rip off is also an American trademark.