Letter from an Atlanta chef
Nick Oltarsh
Yesterday I published my open letter to Atlanta chefs, asking them to up their game. While there are some amazing chefs here making memorable food, I wrote this letter because I feel that the overall standards in the city have slipped in recent years. I love dining in this town, and I want it to be as good as I know it can.
Now a chef has written back with a letter to Atlanta diners. Nick Oltarsh oversees the kitchens at two restaurants — Lobby Bar and Bistro and Room at Twelve.
By the way, I’m thrilled to see he mentioned the spinalis steak he serves at Room. It’s one of my favorite steaks in town.
Here’s what Oltarsh has to say:
Open letter to Atlanta diners
Mr. Kessler and all the Atlanta dining folks:
In response to your open letter to chefs, as a local Atlanta Chef the message has been heard and truth be told, I concur. I think we chefs and restaurateurs have acquiesced to the challenges of the Atlanta dining scene and have done so without much fight. We need to regroup and accept this open letter challenge. But we need help from our partner, the diner, in two key areas. One, we need your financial support. Last year was tough. Please dine out! Two, the more adventurous our diners are, the more we can express our creativity. Here are my suggestions for how the Atlanta community can help us become a more dynamic restaurant town.
1) Take a chance on some new flavors or foods you have never tried before. How about celery root puree instead of mashed potatoes? Consider farro in lieu of rice. Really, these items don’t taste weird; they are simply a little out of the ordinary. In fact, I had chicken hearts for the first time recently and I could not believe how yummy they were. I am happy to serve broiled ribeye and seared trout but I also take deep pleasure in exposing my guests to new tastes such as tuna belly and spinalis steak. The list of wonderful ingredients is endless; let us chefs manipulate them to create new dishes. Support our creative endeavors by choosing innovative menu items.
2) Calamari doesn’t have to be fried to be good. You can’t imagine how delicious calamari tastes before flour and oil intervenes. Squid can be roasted, braised and grilled as well as fried and honestly, the results are quite remarkable. Trust me when I proclaim that one bite of steamed calamari fresh from the sea with ripe tomatoes and fruity olive oil will expel any future desire to order the fried version; you’ll marvel at what you have been missing. Help break the cycle whereby we silly scared chefs feel obliged to serve the same boring dishes to our customers. Take a chance and order the steamed cockles instead of the fried calamari or the grilled lamb sandwich rather than a grilled chicken breast sandwich.
3) Please don’t ask for or expect tomatoes on your sandwiches in January (i.e., don’t expect food out of season). Out of season tomatoes are mealy, tasteless and bloody expensive as well! And the same holds true for all out of season produce. It is costly and doesn’t taste good. As for tomatoes, be patient, wait until the summer and you won’t be disappointed: August thru September they are sweet & acidic, dripping with juice and bursting with flavor.
4) Sustainable fish varieties are delicious; give them a chance. Don’t get me wrong, grouper and snapper are tremendous fish but so are mackerel, sardines and barramundi. When well prepared, these mouth-watering species drive culinary variety and innovation and furthermore, their use is right by the environment. I can’t sell sustainable fish if my clientele are not willing to at least have a go at them. Moreover, I prefer to preserve our oceans and leave behind some fish for future generations
5) We restaurateurs need your fiscal support during the week. Restaurants cannot survive on Friday and Saturday business alone. We need patrons in seats Sunday thru Thursday. If we promise to do out part — serve great food in a hospitable environment with friendly service — will you come join us?
6) Good product can be expensive. I like to provide good value. I do suspect, however, that what I consider good value is not what many customers consider good value. I really want to do the right thing and serve local food, seasonal food and use animals that are treated humanely. I want to provide my guests with ingredients that are special and delicious and varied. This approach can be relatively expensive. I promise most all of us are really not trying to gouge you. The fact is restaurants are labors of love and our margins are extremely slim.
7) If the kitchen makes a mistake, please let us correct it. Kitchens screw up. We overcook meat; we over-salt food; we are slow. We try to keep these issues to a minimum but alas we fail to do so occasionally. Please, rather than writing a scathing blog about your experience two days later, give us a chance to fix the problem while you are still dining in the restaurant and let us earn your positive tweets.
8) There is a world beyond burgers and french fries. Don’t get me wrong. I eat burgers and I love them and any chef who says otherwise is a big, fat liar and a Judas to the profession. Yet, I also love exhilarating, innovative, tricky, witty and daring cuisine. Yes, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but isn’t it fun as a diner to be part of the process? So go to your favorite burger joint, where you could very well see me, but also support your local independent fine-dining restaurant. Both of us deserve your business.
Bring it on 2011! Who’s in?
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140 comments Add your comment
DagnyT
January 19th, 2011
12:26 pm
Perhaps make weeknight dining more affordable with discounted specials or smaller servings of your entrees. We have a favorite restaurant in Cabbagetown that does just that and even though we’re on a really tight budget, we can go there for special occasions. Unfortunately, dining out is an option only for special occasions now. This restaurant offers consistently great food and service and we are loyal to it when we do go out. As for the frequency of dining out, I can’t spend my week’s grocery budget on one meal. If gasoline prices go any higher, I’m afraid the pizza guy isn’t going to see much of us anymore either.
GATA
January 19th, 2011
12:31 pm
I like your 360 degree approach to success. This can also be beneficial within the house. Let the dishwasher review the GM without fear of reprisal…
WKP
January 19th, 2011
12:44 pm
Great exchange of ideas and concerns between JK & Chef Oltarsh. I agreed with most of JKs comments (although you better leave my butternut squash soup alone!) and can certainly empathize with the difficulties of running a high-pressure, low margin business. We eat out several times a month and while we have our favorites, we’re always on the lookout for new & interesting places. Treat me well, offer a taste of something “different” before I commit and you just may win a new, regular customer.
One major gripe, though. While I’m not a vegan (I love fish too much), I’m just about fed up with chefs going on about “sustainability” while continuing to serve – even celebrate – one of the least eco-friendly proteins available: beef. I don’t care if the steer was treated “humanely” by being read a bedtime story before being tucked in each night, it still takes far more than a pound of resources to create a pound of red meat. Even worse, the methane gas they produce is a major contributor to air pollution. I’m dumbfounded how some of these chefs can talk about sustainability while contiuing to serve it.
Sydney
January 19th, 2011
12:44 pm
Great letter.
As a few have mentioned, I think good value small plates are a great way to introduce diners to something less familiar at less risk to their wallet.
Can I make one little request of all chefs? How about more local, interesting, seasonable food that doesn’t include animals at all? If my only vegetarian options are a few side dishes or a salad, it’s just not very motivating to even show up. And maybe I’m wrong, but would also guess more diners will try a different vegetable or grain or fruit than will consider things like offal.
Ex Big Eater
January 19th, 2011
12:45 pm
Before my son was recently born, my wife and I dined out 3 times a week, every week of the year. We were fine to drop over $100 for 2. No sweat. A couple of thoughts:
- Bad service kills – I’ll come back if the dish is bad and give you a second chance, but a bad waiter and you are off the list forever. Too many other choices where they actually care. And be educated on the dishes – make your waitstaff come in early and try EVERYTHING!! Also – watch them – if they look as if they’d rather be poking their eye out with a stick than working, pull them off the floor or fire them. I deal with enough jerks at work everyday.
- Over booking – why take reservations if I still have to wait 45 minutes (I’m not talking 10 minutes or even 20)? And I’m not talking one or two times. There are places that routinely overbook and you wait no matter what.
- Booze prices – I’ve read the crying (Chef’s wife) and it’s ridiculous to say you are on razor thin margins with wine, beer and liquor, no matter what the taxes are costing. A $20 bottle of wine for $65 or $10 per glass. A bottle of beer for $5 or $6. A mixed cocktail (underpoured….) for $8 – $10. It’s ridiculous, especially since you are paying wholesale prices. 3 drinks and you’ve paid for that bottle of bourbon or vodka.
- Fill my water glass and keep it full. Better yet – don’t ask if I want water, show up at the table with it. It’s water (not liquid gold)! Stupid but it’s the little things that matter.
Running a restauraunt is insanely challenging. I get and appreciate that fact. But the economy has changed (and it’s not changing back any time soon). People are going to be a lot more frugal with every dollar. Anything you can do to make a customer feel special goes a long way to getting them back as well as telling their friends that your establishment is worth the $$.
Jeff
January 19th, 2011
12:59 pm
The problem isn’t that I’m afraid of fresh boiled, steamed, or raw squid. I’m afraid of the white linen, multitude of wine glasses, decorative herb draped alongside the squid, and the gigantic bill at the end of the meal.
Ryan Dieckbernd
January 19th, 2011
1:27 pm
Great response chef. I used to work in the restaurant business and I can’t agree more.
Rodney
January 19th, 2011
1:29 pm
FOLKS – if you can’t sense the sarcasm in my post about “those people” I feel so very sorry for you.
For the record, I’m neither a prissy-pot (lol) nor am I Platinum card-ed. But I do claim a bit of snobbishness – it just comes with the territory.
j
January 19th, 2011
1:33 pm
This was a worthwhile read, both in john and nick’s letter but also all the comments. Like others, Nick’s attitude and enthusiasm makes me want to eat at Room soon. I actually went there the first month it opened long ago and had a great time (and spent quite a chunk of change doing so).
I read John’s letter as directed mostly at the high-end restaurants, where many are willing to spend the money to be adventurous and want to be impressed in the manner John described. I suspect there’s more at issue here than simply a loss of talented chefs and the closing of Joel and Seegers. The economy explains most of it, of course. But it’s not just families who are spending more wisely; back in the 90s when I was first working here, firms and companies had expense accounts that held no bounds. As much as Nick pleads for weekday patrons, I always thought that a big portion of the weekday diners that support the high-end restaurants are on expense accounts or business. Back in the day, we’d easily go to Joel or $30+ entree dinners when the firm was paying the check. Also, the city was continually full of convention attendees, who were also here on expense accounts. Nowadays, firms are much more circumspect about this kind of spending, and (I still work downtown) I just don’t see those kind of conventions as often. The reason why New York, LA, and Washington have so many highest-end restaurants is that they have so many banks, investment firms, and lobbyists who still have the need to entertain there, as well as tourists. I don’t think Coke, Home Depot, Turner, and Cox are spending like that anymore, or at least as frequently.
That leaves the business to diners like us. I now have three kids. When I first started working, we’d out a lot during the week. Now, not so much. When my parents have the kids, we eat out. But that’s once a year, twice if we’re lucky. Come the weekend, we eat out every week. My favorite is Rathbun’s, which can be as expensive as Joel’s was and, in my opinion, the food is as about as good and carefully prepared and, sometimes, innovative, as John is describing. But my tastes have changed, even as I’m now in my 40s. On John’s recommendation, we went to Sound Table and, for moderate (although still not cheap) prices we had such a fun and tasy meal as we drank late into the night with our friends. We grew up going to bars, so we also treasure a night at the Porter, where the focus is the beer. I don’t know if this is a generational shift or simply a local shift (or more likely it’s that I shouldn’t speak for others) but it just seems that we seek out the bust-the-roof option less frequently when there’s loud fun to be had at Bocado or Iberian Pig.
Nick, don’t worry: we’re coming to Room soon, sadly it will be likely on saturday, but we’ll try the exciting stuff while we’re there. But I wonder if there have been much larger forces at work here to explain the changes. I think the reason why Richard Blais is cooking burgers, and not whipped celery root, has more to do with the reasons above and less to do with atlanta having bad chefs and uncultured restaurant-goers.
Real chef
January 19th, 2011
1:59 pm
Pretty funny that Nick Otarsh is the big talker about innovation! I mean read his bio on the Lobby website where he describes himself as “The virtuoso chef” hahaha All the while his menu is as follows.
-Spinach dip
-Fried calamari
-Chicken wings
-Chicken breast with mashed potatoes
-Shrimp and grits
-ect ect ect…hell three of his entrees have mashed potatoes……… Virtuoso.
Thats a menu designed for auto pilot, or even worse Banquets!
Nothankyou
January 19th, 2011
2:34 pm
@Rodney – then I apologize to you, sir. Please remember that sarcasm in posts must be carefully orchestrated or folks get offended. I honestly apologize for my mistake and hope you enjoy eating at the chef’s restaurant. Again, if I could afford it, I would go in a heartbeat. I think he’s probably pretty good. Although I did look at the menu and must agree with “Real chef.” If I want adventure, I’ll go to Buford Hwy. Can’t remember the name of the place but I fell head over heels in love with Cuban sandiwches at a little hole in the wall there (right at N. Druid Hills). Wonder if they’re still in business?
John Kessler
January 19th, 2011
3:16 pm
Thoughtful post, J.
Robert
January 19th, 2011
3:43 pm
@Nothankyou – I grew up going to the Magnolia Room in the basement of the Rich’s at Lenox Square (note; not “mall” but “square”) and still cringe when I think of it. Awful, awful, awful food. At least that’s how I remember it. My wife still speaks fondly of it but mainly because of the memories when she went with her grandmother. Yuck! There wasn’t anything served that they felt couldn’t be improved by adding a few cups of mayo. I’ll have nightmares tonight.
Also, I do appreciate your point of not having the cash to go out and spend a ton of money at a really nice restaurant. In these times I think many people can sympathize with you – including me. However, for those people who do like to save their money and go to a fine restaurant because they don’t want to eat overly processed and pre-prepared food I see no reason for that to be necessarily snobby. Because it doesn’t happen to be your cup of tea it also doesn’t mean the folks who do like to dine at fine restaurants are complete snobs (although, as with anything, there are exceptions). Maybe lots of folks are like me who appreciate eating food from farmers who take the time and effort to raise meat ethically and grow food crops without tons (literally) of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Heck, I grew up in Atlanta, live way, way out in the boonies now, am solidly middle class, put my nice pair of jeans on when I dress up, grow my own veggies, buy eggs from someone around the corner, buy our honey and bar soap from a source just several miles away and I really don’t consider myself a snob at all (well, except I am the only person that knows how to drive a car in Atlanta). And, infrequently, I do like to go to a very nice restaurant in the city. To that end I expect something beside pizza, hamburgers, and the other usual common suspects on the menu.
And another thing, why would you spend your hard earned money going to eat at Applebee’s? Why reward restaurants that have mediocre food? Why not spend the same amount of money and go to some ethnic, or locally owned restaurant where the food is at least a bit interesting, a whole lot better tasting, and not owned by a faceless corporation? Hell, I’ve got a Beef O’Brady’s (pretty much like Applebee’s from what I can tell) not far from me and I’ve never been to it in 10 years and never will. I’ve got better things to spend my money on than slop. Step up to the plate and broaden your gastronomic horizons – at least at affordable places. There are plenty around.
Thanks,
Robert
Robert
January 19th, 2011
3:44 pm
@nothankyou – Dang it, just as I post I see you writing about Buford Hwy. restauants. Forget my last paragraph – sorry.
Robert
Nancy
January 19th, 2011
4:02 pm
I walk to the restaurant/bar closest to me about once a week. Sometimes I’m there 3 nights in a week, sometimes it’s 2 or 3 weeks between visits. I typically order one or two small plates, or will split a “real” dinner with a friend. I rarely spend more than $15 or $25 on food in a visit. But by being a regular patron, the owner makes a point to come talk to me, I often receive comped plates of new items on the menu, and am on a first name basis with most of the staff. It’s not difficult to support your local restaurants and keep your budget in check. Granted, I’m fortunate that my neighborhood has so much to offer- Inman Park- but you can find your niche anywhere in this city.
Danny
January 19th, 2011
4:58 pm
Everybody has their own preferences, some people love food and are willing to spend their hard earned money on extravagant food where others make the BMW payment, or go golfing.
As a consumer, my bottom line adds up very simple!
Does your restaurant and food worth the money! Who cares how much time and effort you put into it when it doesn’t taste good to the diner. Just because a chef thinks that something is superb doesn’t mean the next person does.
I personally just observed that majority of the restaurants are about the hype and not about the quality. I will spend $40 on a steak if it is a $40 steak but if I get a Longhorn steak for that, I rather go to Longhorn and pay Longhorn prices.
Racer X
January 19th, 2011
5:05 pm
Nicely written article JK and thoughtful response Nick, I agree with both of you. As a native Atlantan and someone involved in restaurant development for the last dozen years, I have found that 90% of my dining out involves ethnic restaurants on Buford Hoghway.
Maybe its because I now have 4 children and not at much money as I used to have, but to eat delicious, innovative food that is a good value, you can’t go wrong with some of our cities best. The choices seem endless, I find myself jumping from Mexican to Vietnamese, to Korean on a regular basis. My children love the food, and we always feel like we are getting a great value….and YES most of the Mexican restaurants include Calamari in their Ceviche!
Sometimes I feel like i’m eating in exile….but at least i’m a satisfied diner.
dr. zorders
January 19th, 2011
5:35 pm
I don’t know why, but this really got on my nerves. I got bills to pay, Jack; I can’t go out all the time. Please don’t use words like “acquiesce” and “alas.” Also, what do you care how I eat my squid? I eat it fried b/c it’s delicious and also that’s the only way I can forget i’m eating squid! And now I’m worried about the ocean’s fish. Great.
summary
January 19th, 2011
5:41 pm
Those that can, will. Those that can’t, won’t. I appreciate the conversation, but sadly, I’m one of the can’ts.
Jed
January 19th, 2011
5:52 pm
Great reply to John Kessler’s open letter. Makes me want to finally try Room at Twelve.
Top Knife
January 19th, 2011
7:55 pm
http://www.concentricshospitality.com/_uploads/Lobby_Dinner.pdf
Read the menu of innovation L O L
justacook
January 19th, 2011
10:44 pm
@realchef , topknife, ect…I think we are missing the point. I don’t think Chef Nick is trying to say he is a virtuoso with his letter, but trying to say that in order to survive, you have to put those items on your menu. I’m sure he takes pride in making the best tomato bisque if that is whats needed. I feel he is saying that he would happily change that if he could and still get people in the seats. I remember lobby’s menu when it opened and it was great. But we have to cater to our guest. When you see a pmix and you see you only sell 1 ricotta stuffed sardine with tonato sauce a night, compared to 22 hummus, there is only so much you can do. I’m not saying we shouldn’t keep trying, but at some point it becomes the choice you have to make, keep going and probably close your doors or swallow your ego and pride and feed the people what they want.
justacook
January 19th, 2011
10:53 pm
P.S. I know nobody likes to be told what to eat or like. Everybody should be free to try what pleases them. But i do think if are going to up our game all we really need is somebody to come and watch us play.
Top Knife
January 19th, 2011
11:03 pm
Tha@justacook That is a very poor excuse. The menu at Lobby is an embarassment. End of story.
kmb
January 20th, 2011
11:31 am
@justacook
Look at what’s happening on Buford Hwy. There is a demand for non-Western food. There are people who will pay to get something unusual. Go to Chequers, a chain restaurant. They now have a continuously changing tasting menu that is completely different than their regular menu. It offers something unusual. Other restaurants can do the same thing. Once you build up a following then you won’t be selling just one ricotta stuffed sardine per night.
Wendy
January 20th, 2011
3:16 pm
JK and Nick, thank you for the open and informative letters. I’ve also enjoyed reading the blog comments.
I know this blog could go on and on, but on the heels of your letters, I must share my experiences this week. I’ve eaten out 3 times in the last 5 days.
One was on Saturday at a well-attended “3-star” restaurant in the Perimeter area. The waitress was friendly and attentive. The salmon was overcooked to which the waitress eagerly brought a second salmon to replace it. The second was cooked properly but smelled very fishy…it was far from fresh. Additionally the same veggies were on the plate but by now were overcooked and dried out after likely sitting under a heat lamp. We took one bite and left it on the plate. We shared our other entree on the table. We joked that perhaps the chef had done it on purpose because we had sent the first back. (I have to say it was odd that the chef didn’t take an extra measure to ensure the second preparation wasn’t perfect). The waitress never asked how the second dish was and brought our bill. The salmon entree was invoiced in it’s entirety. We asked that she credit half of the salmon entree, as we wanted to be fair about it, and she took it one step further and credited the entire entree.
The second dining experience was on Tuesday evening at a “5-star” Buckhead restaurant. I had the fortune of being treated to dinner by a business colleague. I’ve eaten at this restuarant several times in the past. The oysters were fresh. The bread was tasty and freshly made that day. The salad was creative and tasty. We had asked for a recommendation on a white burgundy and the waitress said the only burgundys on the menu were red. In fact, after googling the names on my i-phone, there were four white burgundies on the menu. The one we ordered was very good and complimented the food nicely. My collegue’s sole was fishy smelling so he sent it back and ordered the salmon. The salmon was excellent. My butterfish entree was outstanding. However, sadly, there was a 5-inch hair imbedded in this entree. I reluctantly left the remaining entree on the dish untouched…but I wasn’t about to send another dish back to the kitchen.
The 3rd dining experience was on Wednesday evening at a popular “4-star” restaurant, again in Buckhead. The restaurant was packed…a good sign. We each started with a signature martini and all were creative and very tasty. The menu was fun to read and had a little something for everyone. The waiter was very knowledgable from the wine to the entrees. He was attentive and paced the meal to our liking. The oysters were outstanding. The pate appetizer was outstanding. The seafood tagliatelle was fresh and had delectable calamari, shrimp and scallops. Unfortunately, nothing could save the skate, as it was heavily salted. I shared my pasta with my friend.
Sorry if this is verbose but my experiences this week seemed uncannily case in point.
John Kessler
January 20th, 2011
3:44 pm
Wendy – Thanks for sharing your experiences — I really liked the way you showed how the devil is in the details, particularly at high-end restaurants where you are paying for knowledge, good ingredients and care.
One thought, however: sometimes farm-raised salmon can have a particularly “fishy” smell due to the animal’s feed. I think if chefs do use farm-raised fish, they should know the tricks for counteracting this smell, particularly if they are pan roasting the fish to get that nice brown crust. I find a splash of white vermouth after the initial sear does wonders. (And, yes, about once a month I buy farm-raised salmon to eat at home.)
Kat
January 20th, 2011
4:46 pm
If it’s farm raised fish, it better say so on the menu. Because I don’t eat farm raised, personally. It never occurred to me that I have to ask in an upscale restaurant, but now I know. Forewarned is forearmed.
I would love to be at restaurants every night of the week instead of cooking. But I can’t afford it. And I live OTP so I sure can’t commit to an hour or more of commuting downtown to get to it, either. As an OTP resident, I focus most of my eating on ethnic food, because I do chains with their mediocre food even less often than I do farm raised fish.
chef william
January 20th, 2011
5:20 pm
HERE HERE!!! Chef, You have spoken the truth!
Sharon
January 21st, 2011
12:46 am
What a cool response!! I accept, Mr. Oltarsh!
Annaportabella
January 21st, 2011
4:04 pm
If you want to broaden palettes, one person at a time, have an amuse tasting menu. It would challenge both the diner and you. Scary concept or a train wreck waiting to happen? Maybe to plate should resemble an artist palette. But as chefs, you should step out of your comfort zone and push the culinary envelope. Everyone grows together and it will keep your public guessing.
Jessamine
January 21st, 2011
4:05 pm
I do have to agree with the restaurant owner saying that pricing is out of whack. Please take an honest look at your pricing vs. expenses and see if you can’t make a few tweaks? Get rid of the ridiculous expenses for decor (who really needs a flaming tower of rotating ducks?!?!). I would love to eat out more, but not when I’m paying $40 per person (without wine) to not even feel full when I leave. Or have a menu with a broader range of pricing instead of everything being $18.95 or higher? I’ve actually made many a meal out of several appetizers and spent less than getting one entree and probably a) enjoyed my meal more and b) got a wider variety of tastes to see what the restaurant could really do with a variety of ingredients. Yeah, I know, someone will probably refer me to Appleby’s for their 2 for $14.99 menu. But honestly, when I order the $23.95 scallop dish, can you give me more than three scallops, a spoonful of potatoes and 3 asparagus spears? I know that, ingredient-wise, cost around $5! Anyone who cooks knows how much ingredients are, that’s why it galls us to pay so much for so little! Side dishes of potatoes should not cost $5. And pasta! For $5, I should get a pound of pasta. I know you have expenses to cover and the price of a dish is not just the cost of the ingredients, but seriously 300-400% markup? Also, we’ll try the specials if you tell us how much they cost up front. I always feel so odd for asking so I just don’t order them, so I don’t get that end of meal surprise on my bill. If a steak on the menu is $16.95 I’m assuming the steak special is somewhere in the ballpark, not TWICE the price. And yes, I’ll also eat out more if the wait staff actually waits on my table. I am actually a very good tipper, usually a minimum of 20%. I am not wealthy, but I reward good service. I just might not look like it. I don’t waste money on designer labels so don’t judge your clients by what they’re wearing.
Right now I’m enjoying my smaller, neighborhood restaurants, where they don’t rest on their laurels, still TRY on all levels (food, service, price) and seem authentically grateful when we visit their establishment. That might be the key to getting diners back in your restaurants!
Gee
January 21st, 2011
11:40 pm
The chef was convincing until he mentioned tomatoes. Has he never experienced hydroponic Campari tomatoes which are just as sweet & delcious in January as in August? They are very expensive either.
Gee
January 21st, 2011
11:42 pm
I meant to say NOT very expensive.
GKK
January 22nd, 2011
9:59 am
I live in Singapore but I have visited friends who live in the Atlanta area many times. I agree completely with you and have forwarded your message to my friends.
Steve
January 23rd, 2011
12:51 am
Squid is Bait, Pure & Simple …
godoggo
January 23rd, 2011
9:33 am
My sentiments exactly from David Galloway below………I’d also like to add that Jessimine had a few decent points to add….but having grown up in the biz and working in it for years, we all to remember that these Restaurants are “in business” to make a profit also…….
David Galloway
January 18th, 2011
3:20 pm
Now, if only we could get Congress to interact with such civility and reason. John’s challenge was pointed and respectful and Nick’s response was transparent and informative. I too have a renewed sense of hope for the Atlanta restaurant scene, which is, indeed, a partnership.
Thanks John and Nick!
Kim
January 24th, 2011
11:13 am
Awesome letter, GREAT response Chef! I am a huge foody, however, along with food comes service and Atlanta is lagging way behind. Please understand service is a huge part of the experience. Restaurants can omit the attitude and realize their reputation is word of mouth. I recently went to a “brunch spot” in Va Highlands, I walked out, host could really learn a lesson in customer service. You are not an “Elite” place because youahve been in Atlanta for awhile, wrong attitude. Also, owner/chefs should, when at all possible come greet their patrons, especially if I am paying more than a $100 a person for a meal. I ahve seen a huge decline in service in Atlanta and it is very discouraging and also keeps me going to the same familiar restaurants that know me and my needs vs branching out and trying new when I am always disappointed. Thanks for the letter and response!
Ashley
January 24th, 2011
12:59 pm
I love to take a chance on new foods and eat local, seasonal and fresh foods. However, as a vegetarian many of Atlanta restaurants make this hard to do. I’ve been to many fine dining restaurants in Atlanta, where I have to special order a vegetarian meal because nothing is listed on the menu. I appreciate the chef and staff accommodating my diet, but I end up receiving a plate of mismatched and bland sides. I always enjoyed trying the experiments with unique vegetable combinations at Dynamic Dish. I do not have this problem in other larger cities (NYC, San Francisco, DC, Seattle, Philly, etc) where there is always such wonderful options for vegetarians.
papasan
January 25th, 2011
4:46 pm
my wife and i dont get out often but when we do its to check out restaurants in the area that we have never been to before. Until SPRIG came along that is. a new restaurant off la vista rd in vista grove shopping center. i do believe we have found a home in SPRIG. I just can’t say enough about how good there food is. the chef’s name is robert elliot. he is the kind of chef that would make you proud. the kind that has already stepped up to the plate to bring a delightful eating experience to all who visit. on our last visit to SPRIG i felt compelled to to let everyone there know how much we appreciate the wonderful dining experience they provide. the following is my review of SPRIG.
I woke up this morning still chuckling about last night’s dinner at SPRIG restaurant. Why the chuckle? Because my dinner made me feel like a king hosting a banquet at a Knights of the Round Table extravaganza. Ya, I know, I have a vivid imagination. Hey! I have an excuse. I’m getting old you know. All kidding aside, my big plate entree was magnificently, LARGE. The slow roasted pork shank I ordered was fit for a king in both size and flavor.
Slowwww cooked in an oven allowed the meat to cook to perfection. Literally melting in your mouth and unbelievably juicy. This entree is part of the new winter menu at SPRIG and I’m sure it will become one of the all time favorites. Served with black eyed peas that are probably great if you are an aficionado of the little bean. I have to admit I have never been but gave them a try. Being a meat and potatoes kind of guy I think I will ask to have mashed potatoes and gravy as a substitute next time, but that’s just me.
To top off the evening fare, a new entree on the sweet treats menu was ordered. We had a slice of chocolate gooey butter cake that was simply scrumpdillyisous. Hopefully the management will forgive my OMG’s after tasting the first bite. Especially after the couples at tables around us ordered the same and actually thanked me for being so graphic in my appreciation. Having never tasted chocolate gooey butter cake, they too were thoroughly delighted with the new addition. I have it on good authority, (our lovely waitress Sarah) that this cake has become one of SPRIG patrons’ favorite desert items. If you plan on ordering it I would suggest having your waiter reserve a piece for you as the demand has been sometimes exceeding the supply. Not to worry though, the new sweet treats menu has a fried pie entree that owner Daniel Morrison raves about and he always tells the truth about food.
Bon appetite
PAPASAN