An open letter to Atlanta chefs
Dear Atlanta chefs,
I write this letter with respect and admiration and, in some instances, love for all the hard work you do. But I have to deliver a tough message, and it is this: You need to up your game.
Four months ago I started dining out again as a restaurant critic for this newspaper after a five-year hiatus. I haven’t hit every major restaurant yet but have been to enough to witness a real change from my last go-round at this job. The standards aren’t what they used to be.
The economy hasn’t been nice to the restaurant community. In particular, the decimation of the top tier — the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, Seeger’s, Joel — means fewer young chefs get the kind of exacting, old-school European training they need to run their own kitchens.
This May, thousands of visitors are going to descend on our city for the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, and they will be eager to see the vibrant, exciting contemporary Southern cooking that we’re known for. Let’s show it to them. But first, consider these 10 requests — pleas, really — that will make Atlanta a better place to chow down.
1. Please work on your execution: Set high standards, train your cooks well, and if you don’t yet trust them to execute the food as well as you do, don’t leave the kitchen. I can’t tell you how many good restaurants have served me limp salad greens, pan-fried fish without crisp skin, steaks without sear and seasoning that is all over the place.
2. Dazzle us with your finesse: People go out to restaurants to eat the kinds of dishes they can’t make at home. We want to marvel at how you cut that amazingly tender braised short rib into such a perfect square or how you coaxed that infinitely velvety texture from a parsnip.
3. Think about our health: When I look to the stars, it appears the heavenly body that brought us this Age of Meat is in retrograde. People are starting — gingerly — to speak of vegetables and sensible eating again. But the “gluttony-is-good” ethos just won’t go away. Pork fat and bacon are delicious — even more so in moderation. I hate that feeling of going home clutching my stomach, even after leaving half the food on my plate.
4. Show some wit: Each dish should be a story well told, even if it’s one that has been told many times before. Maybe you are making a beet and goat cheese salad, or macaroni and cheese. Instead of cutting the beets into wedges, you might sliver them into carpaccio rounds. And with so many La Brea truffle oil pit versions of mac and cheese around town, wouldn’t it be fun to envision one that is surpassingly light and delicate?
5. Don’t be afraid of sauce: I don’t miss the days of sticky and overly salty reduction sauces with meat and wading pools of butter with fish. But I do long for dishes with a small pool of sauce bridging the flavors of protein and garnish — those bites of food that register on the palate as three-part harmony. These days I see many dishes that are damp and greasy with butter, but none have that one perfect spoonful of beurre blanc that clings to a perfectly warmed plate and resonates with the flavors of shallot and wine.
6. Be casual in the right way: I’ve eaten a lot of simple down-home food from gorgeous plates in design meccas of urban rusticity in this city. Now I’d like to eat an amazing plate of thoughtful food in a crappy little room with mismatched chairs and plates. Don’t set the stage for casual; just be casual and cook like there’s no tomorrow.
7. Work toward the new fusion: Atlanta is one of the country’s best cities for new immigrant cooking. Our mainstream restaurants need to better reflect the reality of today’s multiethnic South. Have you heard of the Indian vegetable called drumstick? It can be as delicious as artichokes. Have you tried mashing boniato sweet potatoes, which are as white as clouds? Have you ever tried a sprig of fresh fenugreek at the DeKalb Farmers Market? Might you consider trying local goat for a winter special? If you like to go to Korean joints on Buford Highway, do you ever think about how to incorporate those flavors (chile, garlic, sugar, fermented vegetables) to a smart, wine-friendly dining sensibility?
8. Make one thing really well: This whole food truck mania is not about the pleasures of diesel fumes and plastic forks. It’s about young cooks who make brilliant pizza, or serious ice cream, or bizarrely original tacos. Every chef needs a signature dish that is all hers or his, a lure to the restaurant, a mouthful of nothing-else-like-it that diners dream of days later.
9. Surprise us: I recently went to a restaurant I really like and have to say my heart sank a bit when the waitress said the soup special was butternut squash. What’s special about that? Everyone makes it. Is anyone trying a cream of turnip, or kohlrabi, or escarole, or carrot with cumin, or Sea Island red pea with country ham, or wild lamb’s quarters with black cardamom and ginger, or …
10. Finally, show us your unique POV: I know many of your customers want a burger, or a steak, or the same sorry dish you’ve been making for 10 years and, well, sure: The customer’s always right. But you went into this line of work to show us who you are as a chef. Show me something that you, personally, in your most uncompromising state of mind, want to eat. Try and advance the agenda. This city needs you more than ever.
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251 comments Add your comment
chef jesse bell
January 17th, 2011
8:16 pm
im very dissapointed in what im reading im dissapointed because ive personaly experienced a lott who am i kidding all of theese problems and people chefs dont make theese decisions owners do we fight day in and day out for quality ingredents we constantly present new flavors to our bosses to be told there too expensive atlanta is also suffering a brain drain owners who demand $10,000 nights as a baseline with all the work that goes into that food cost labor equipment testing design durability and these people want us to hand them 300,000 per month these same people tell us our job only pays 40,k a year most of the fine chefs of atlanta have moved away and honestly atlanta is being fed by prep cooks and scrubs thats why your food is unrefined and precotious , most embarrising of all there buying packaged foods and phoneing it in because they cant produce the basics its too easy to just buy what they need @ restrant depot i wish you all bon apitite for i must return to my job here in phoenix @ barret jackson aparently i was too pricey to do the boat show .
Chef Angelique
January 17th, 2011
8:18 pm
@Mel Houstons is GREAT, limited choices on the menu, but good food!
Linda
January 17th, 2011
8:18 pm
Hopefully, Atlanta chefs will read this article and take it to heart. I was in town for the Atlanta Gift Market this past weekend and had told my buyers that a certain restaurant adjoining the Merchandise Mart was all they needed after a busy day of buying. I was terribly embarrassed at the quality of food that was served. Overpriced and almost inedible. No finesse, poor quality ingredients, poorly prepared. When I pay $34.00 for Chilean Sea Bass, it had better be amazing. The meal was forgettable, and we have now “forgotten” this restaurant, a long-time institution.
Chris F
January 17th, 2011
8:24 pm
I am a hardworking father and I do not get to eat out as much as I would like. When I do get a chance to dine at one of our great restaurants, I want to have a great experience just like anyone else, but you do have a responsibility to be respectful as a customer. I do notice quite a bit, customers who think because they watch Top Chef, they can act like an ass. I think restaurants should respect there customer’s opinions, but there are many “types” of customers. Some people like to complain just to show off, some people do it in hopes of getting something free. If the food is fresh, cooked correctly, seasoned right, and presented as portrayed on the menu, then you really shouldn’t complain. I read reviews all the time on yelp and other review outlets and I see people complaining about the dumbest things. For example, if you go to a restaurant that cooks every course to order, you are gonna be there longer than Longhorn.
On the other hand, if the establishment obviously could care less about what they put out and they have a crappy attitude, tell people about it. I previously loved SFU, but the last time I went I had half a cup of oil in the bottom of my Fried Shrimp basket and the waiter thought it was the worst thing in the world I had a problem with it. Just because your restaurant is a cool hang out spot, doesn’t mean you can give up on consistency. I guess that is why I love Hal’s and the Capital Grill so much, every time I dine at these places, it feels like an event and I feel like i am the only customer there, even though I may not be ordering 200 dollars bottles of wine.
Needabailout,too!
January 17th, 2011
8:44 pm
Ummm…could you also send an open letter to another Atlanta community draw–our professional sports teams–and ask them to ‘Step It Up’ and to ‘Bring It’? I’m emotionally exhausted from the recent season-long ‘certainty’ of post-season, successful Championship outcomes, first from the Hawks, then the Braves, now the Falcons. Always the bridesmaids and never the Bride. Signed-Another Disappointed Customer (…And hold the salt!)
Jason
January 17th, 2011
8:47 pm
Jim R, my wish is for you and your cultureless ilk to ‘die off’ or just leave on your own…
pattymelt
January 17th, 2011
8:51 pm
If any of you super fine restaurateurs would support overly priced edgy cuisine and put your money where your mouth is, then maybe people like Joel, Seager, and the Ritz Carlton dining room would still be around. People like solid comfort food even in New York the restaurants that are still kicking ass are the neighborhood restaurants with straight forward food.
Jean
January 17th, 2011
8:53 pm
Spot on, and a big reason why I enjoy my trips to New Orleans so much.
Jason
January 17th, 2011
8:53 pm
hey, Jim R, tell what you have to be proud of in being a native atlnatan?? I’m proud to not be from here originally. Now go get a cheeseburger on your way to delta you inbred
Kemp
January 17th, 2011
8:56 pm
While all of us foodies would love to see restaurants in Atlanta push the envelope, enough people aren’t out there eating adventurous food. Take a good look at the restaurants in Atlanta that are the most financially successful…you will find fried chicken, pizza, and bbq. The high-end restaurants that do well…expensive steak and mashed potatoes. I have worked in the Atl restaurant scene for almost a decade, I have also worked in NYC. The difference isn’t the talent, its the taste.
pattymelt
January 17th, 2011
9:07 pm
If I was trapped in my cave for 5 years eating my moms crappy cooking, I would probably be pretty bitter about life and food myself.
Sophie's Choice
January 17th, 2011
9:13 pm
Edward @ 1:59 & Kristen @ 2:07, beautifully put, both of you. My sentiments exactly!
Wow
January 17th, 2011
9:15 pm
What a rude and arrogant letter. Here’s a better idea: Step up your game Mr. Food Critic. Your lack of ability is appalling and your lack of understanding of what Atlanta truly is sad at best.
Please, crawl back into your hole and stop trying to ruin good, honest people who are cooking with passion.
luckydog
January 17th, 2011
9:49 pm
If it ain’t fried, it ain’t Atlanta!
Jim R.
January 17th, 2011
9:53 pm
Jason…My bad…Thought you were talking about Atlanta, Not atlnatan…isn’t that somewhere between The Garden of Good Grammer and the Sea of Spellcheck? Hmmmmm….cheeseburger, not a bad idea. Sorry JK….Will stay on topic….Maybe we can get Jason to be positive and list some restaurants with childrens menu’s that meet his approval.
itpdude
January 17th, 2011
9:53 pm
The good news is there is better eating at the more modest places now. This economy has really put fine dining in a pinch.
Though a lot of these guys could learn a thing or two about salt. If we want more salt, we can add it.
JacobLocke
January 17th, 2011
9:53 pm
There are good restaurants out there, but they’re not necessarily the ones with all the glitz and glamour – stay away from the fru-fru Midtown and Buckhead spots. Go eat on Buford Hwy, hit up a place like Parish on Highland, get some wings at the Local, grab a brisket sandwich at the EAYC or pick up some Ethiopian cuisine on Piedmont. To hell with the panache of “five-star” dining.
R Pratei
January 17th, 2011
10:03 pm
John
This is by far the best article regarding the Atlanta food scene that I have seen in a long time. The restaurants in Atlanta have lost their edge. Even our premiere chefs no longer produce the quality or interest they did just 5 years ago. They produce pedestrian fare that the majority of home cooks could prepare and then they charge too much for it. Atlanta was once a great restaurant town but has lost it. I sincerely hope that the Atlanta chefs will heed your warning.
Chef Angelique
January 17th, 2011
10:04 pm
@Wow, I’m sorry dude, they may be cooking with a passion, but if the food sucks, it sucks!!! I’m sorry, you must have NOT have GREAT food yet, I mean food where once you taste it, you just and simply DONT settle. Thats the reason I dont go to most restaurants, i will try them once, but for the most part I am ALWAYS shaking my head cause I ALWAYS do better at home and those who have tried my food have told me so, hands down!!!
sasquatch
January 17th, 2011
10:06 pm
If you don’t like the food, I will tell you what the Cordon Bleu chef said to a regular at the table next to us, over 25 years ago: “I don’t know why you eat here, because you always complain. Please don’t come back if you are going to complain about how I cook.”
Anthony
January 17th, 2011
10:07 pm
Mr. Kessler’s comments are really symptomatic of the problems with Atlanta restaurants. The taste buds of many Atlantans are that of someone raised on fast food and barbeque. So, they are naturally wowed by rich sauces and fancy presentations and take to comfort food, butter and crème, like a baby does to Gerber’s. The best food in the world is simple, fresh and delicate. It takes far greater skill to create something delicious than “interesting”. Remember, herbs and spices are tools to achieve a desired flavor, not flavor itself. Some of these so-called gourmet chefs could not prepare a proper plate of spaghetti al sugo pomodoro e basilico if their lives depended on it.
Veronica
January 17th, 2011
10:10 pm
This is why I only dine at ethnic family-owned restaurants and many of them do not necessarily look like a hole in the wall. I’ve never left hungry from a Korean or Vietnamese restaurant. Peace.
CaptainLefty
January 17th, 2011
10:11 pm
Bravo John for stepping out on a limb a tad and firing a shot across the bow of Atlanta’s chefs. Obviously, from the comments above you’ve struck a nerve – both positive and negative. But as a native Altantan who’s spent the past 20 yrs entertaining clients from around the U.S. in the fine dining establishments of Buckhead and beyond, I think our number one foul is our definite lack of Southern hospitality and grace. You find the restaurant that combines that with a chef who is just on the cutting edge, with a focus on quality ingredients and classical preparation, and I’ll beat their door down over and over again.
Chanch
January 17th, 2011
10:16 pm
Thank you for communicating so effectively what a lot of locals are thinking. I have been a loyal “foodie” for 7 years and whenever I have been able to spend the big bucks I have enjyoyed places like Restaurant Eugene or Canoe. However I feel we are lacking in places that can provide flavorful food coupled with seamless service even if we aren’t “high rollers”. Living in the Brookhaven area I am very pleased that I have been able to venture out to various places off Buford Highway and leave satisfied. However it would be nice to find more places that fall in between. I still think Atlanta is a GREAT place for dining and going out for a tasty meal paired with the perfect vino is a definite treat!
JRS
January 17th, 2011
10:25 pm
Metro Atlantans, with their strip mall aesthetics and red stater sophistication deserve the spate of mediocre restaurants that serve them.
Gator Actual
January 17th, 2011
10:35 pm
Since I don’t have the $$$ to go to all those fancy restaurants, I’ll continue to go to the Marietta Diner and have regular food, and lots of it, at a price I can afford.
Ansley Denihan
January 17th, 2011
10:35 pm
Amen!! 100 times Amen!! I would like to be wowed in my own hometown like I am when I visit Chicago, New York, San Fransisco, and even Birmingham. We have way too much talent here to be serving such mediocre food.
pajama pants
January 17th, 2011
10:36 pm
Foodie’s are last decades metro sexual, get a grip and get over yourselves. Today’s food is tomorrow’s excrement. Eat to live, don’y live to eat.
Kevin
January 17th, 2011
10:45 pm
All this talk from self-proclaimed “foodies”.
In reality, you people sound like a bunch of bitter, angry, pretentious people whom I would rather stick a salty fork in my eye than spend time with in a restaurant.
Recessions force people to cut back. Restaurants must step up and show creativity and value. I could list a dozen places that have thrived during the recession, but you miserable lot would complain about the salt, the portion size, or the clientele.
Atlanta has amazing diversity in dining that doesn’t have to cross $100 a head. But many of you will never find them because they don’t fit your scene. Oh well. I wouldn’t want to run into you hateful people in there anyway.
Georgia Born, Georgia Raised....
January 17th, 2011
10:50 pm
BLAH! BLAH! BLAH! Several of you sound like a bunch of bogey children, Atlanta isn’t this, why aren’t we NY that… Well, this is the South (proud to say) and frankly we are NOT trying to be like your hyped up cities, we didn’t make you come here and personally I been to NY and L.A. and I will honestly tell you that it isn’t all that!!!! The difference is that it has second, third, fourth generation immigrants who have developed the food scene in those cities for years; in comparison, Atlanta has several generations of individuals from African descent(to name a few) so it is only natural that our Southern cuisine comprises of salty, fried, etc.(you know the unhealthy dining foods)… I truly try to avoid some of the Restaurants due to the unhealthy content. Atlanta is just like any other city(metro area), a person just needs to go out and find what dish/restaurant that they are looking for, Atlanta is a major city that has several different diversities, along with many transplants, so YES there are places for the high minded food critics to indulge in…. Please, as stated various times by the Natives here, if you don’t like our great city then please ride your high horse out of town!!!!!
Betti Harrison
January 17th, 2011
10:50 pm
@Betti..Just curious what part of JK’s homily did you find peurile?…Did you mean it in it’s childlike or in it’s trivial connotation?
@ Jim R. – I have written many novels, books and articles for the AJC. I do not require snot nosed brats like you questioning my use of the English language.
ahoy polloi
January 17th, 2011
10:57 pm
please pass the grey poupon
suwanee guy
January 17th, 2011
11:00 pm
Great comments.
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January 17th, 2011
11:01 pm
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Steve
January 17th, 2011
11:01 pm
Food Joints have been reducing the size of their portions, ie; the sandwiches have been getting smaller, yet the cost goes up and I walk out of the restaurant hungry and paid more for it, too.
Mongo
January 17th, 2011
11:01 pm
Mongo says if you want to eat fancy grub then come over to Mongos house. We will go out in the woods and shoot some little tender baby deers, you knows they are tender when you shoot them off the titty and they still have theys mommas milk dripping out of their mouth, rabits and possums. Then we will put on a big pot of greens and throw a peace of streeked meat in thar for flavor. Also a big cast-iron skillet of corn bread and a vadillia onjin. Then to wash it all down we will pass around the gallon jug of shine, not that crap they call wine. Oh one final thought, YANKEES SUCK!!
long duck dong
January 17th, 2011
11:08 pm
donger need food
JB Harrison
January 17th, 2011
11:08 pm
Right on, Mr. Kessler. I am not a native nor am I a food expert but cities like Dallas, Birmingham, Kansas City, St. Louis have The ATL beat. One doesn’t even need to go as far as comparing the restaurants here to NYC or Paris!
Sam Bruni
January 17th, 2011
11:14 pm
The misspellings and grammar of these comments are baffling. Especially, the spelling of the cooks’ names and the restaurants. Also, naming cooks and restaurants that do not exist anymore in Atlanta as if they’ve dined there recently is equally perplexing.
As for native Atlantans that hate New Yorkers or anyone from a major city that have moved here for one reason or another, why do you vacation or travel to these cities then? If your answer to non-native southerners is “move the hell back” (which includes most of the cooks still here in ATL), Atlanta will surely die a quick death. All the companies that opened a location and brought new jobs and transfers here keeps Atlanta alive. If all the non-natives moved the hell back to where they came from, the “amazing” Atlanta restaurant scene now as we know it will cease to exist. Maybe, all these northerners and their companies should take their 1,000’s of jobs and move to a more welcoming city and leave Atlanta to their self-righteous selves.
If Atlanta is such an incredible food town, then why is there so much debate? Restaurateurs should be dying to open new places everywhere, not shuttering them and leaving. One thing I know is that NY, LA, CHI or SF isn’t comparing themselves to Atlanta.
We all want Atlanta to be a great food town but the cooks and customers both need to step it up first.
USMC dawg
January 17th, 2011
11:16 pm
First of all…. ATLANTA IS NOT NEW YORK! Get over it.
If you want “New York”, go to New York.
Secondly, WE ARE IN A RECESSION.
Naturally restaurants are having to scramble to stay afloat-like the rest of us.
Third, THE CUSTOMER IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT!
Fourth, People, Restaurant staff ARE NOT there for you to beat up on and send food back for the most ridiculous reasons.
I just broke up with my girlfriend because every time we went out to eat, she was RUDE as H&!! to the staff and ALWAYS sent her food back.
Rik Roberts
January 17th, 2011
11:24 pm
As a person that eats out almost every meal up here OTP, I have to say that I AM afraid to try new things at nicer restaurants. If I am ponying up the kind of bucks to eat at a really fine restaurant, then I want to leave fat and happy. I hate few things more than paying for a meal that wasn’t really what I wanted or was just OK. I guess it’s a good thing that these restaurants are not relying on my dollar.
oy vey
January 17th, 2011
11:24 pm
sbarro’s pizza in nyc is to die for
Mongo
January 17th, 2011
11:27 pm
Mongo thinks that there are no food experts on this bolg either, just a bunch of want to be food critics and big city retards.
salt police
January 17th, 2011
11:34 pm
I heard a rumor that the chefs in Atlanta use way too much salt in their food. Can anyone comment on the salt issue?
Thanks!
ccccwwj
January 17th, 2011
11:38 pm
I live in The Virginia Highlands and eat out 2-3 days a week, and can say without a doubt in the last 5 years have seen a decline in our restaraunt scene for example
1. Floataway Cafe- no menu change at all, service has gone down, last time there our food was terrible.
2. El Taco, DBA BBQ, Goin Coastal, Diesel — All bad, they try but are just not good restaraunts
3. Yeah Burger – two people spent 38.00 on two burgers fries 1 beer and a water , it was good but not that good
4, Noche, La Tavola, Rosebud, Ma Li, Highland Tap — All good, they have there hiccups but overall reliable
Overall a decline in neighborhood dinning and no real blow you away Restaraunt (I would say 4th and swift but not really in VH)
I am sure this story is the same in The Vinnings, Buckhead ,Midtown, but in our defense the last two times I was in New York and Los Angeles I had some large checks and bad food/service!!!
Harold
January 17th, 2011
11:39 pm
PUT AWAY THE STUPID GRITS FER CRYIN OUT LOUD
Jason
January 17th, 2011
11:55 pm
“native” Atlantans, is there such a thing? love things to be mediocre…that’s why the food is the way it is here. Atlanta doesn’t even have it’s own style of BBQ, think about that. The people who lived here “back in the day” were devoid of culture and placed little value on education, remember that ga was founded as a prison colony.
This is a huge issue which is about more than just food – traffic, entertainment, sports, community (rude natives talkin to you) everything needs to step up.
Atlantaphotog
January 18th, 2011
12:03 am
I’m a bit surprised that “service” wasn’t mentioned as one of the things that’s wrong with so many places in Atlanta. Far too many times I’ve gone to a supposedly “nice” restaurant, only to be waited on by a 20-something that seems to have come fresh from a local Friday’s or Taco Mac. No offense to those places – they have a place, but when I’m spending three times as much as I do there for a meal, I do expect the employees to be older than a “barely legal drinking age” and not stand in a corner texting their boyfriends instead of checking on our table. And this happens FAR too often in this town.
Pay your people more, and hire ADULTS who actually want a job in the restaurant business, please.
Betti Harrison
January 18th, 2011
12:06 am
I have written many novels, books and articles for the AJC. I do not understand why people are afraid of posting under their true names. Smacks of cowardice. I had enough of that from my ex-husband Mike D. Harrison
Grillmaster
January 18th, 2011
12:10 am
Nice sentiments, but I think the “better” restaurants in this town need to get away from the get rich quick mentality of “$28 for 6 oz. of filet mignon”. I know, I know, it isn’t cheap to operate a dining establishment in Atlanta, but c’mon!
Many of us who enjoy fine dining are no longer on expense accounts, and those that are can only write off 50% with the IRS so………$29 per lb. for grain or grass fed beef tenderloin on the grill makes more sense. Besides, we can surround ourselves with people of our choosing and not have to put up with the “I can’t live without my cell ‘phone” crowd just so we can be waited on by disinterested and often poorly trained wait staff.
Dinner parties are coming back into vogue – overpriced restaurants are not attractive to the true gourmets anymore!