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In Milton lies a fruitful garden, 3 years old and almost an acre in size. A cottonwood tree grows in its center surrounded by purple and red salvia, anchoring the space. The bounty of this garden includes micro-mustard greens, five varieties of heirloom tomatoes, three types of okra and Silver Queen corn.

Review by Jenny Turknett

The garden, tucked just out of view behind the 150-year-old farmhouse that is Milton’s Cuisine and Cocktails, ignites the passion of the restaurant’s chef, Boyd Rose. During a conversation with Rose, all paths lead back to the garden.

He says, “When we started the garden three years ago, it transformed me as a chef.” His connection with the garden likely played a role in his cooking style, which has him cooking “more simple, basic food . . . not as froufrou as what [he] made at Rainwater.”

Rose categorizes his food at Milton’s as new Southern cuisine, Southern cooking with a twist. The twig-bound clipboarded menu features Southern comfort favorites …

Continue reading Milton’s Cuisine and Cocktails restaurant review, Milton »

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Like many successful suburban restaurateurs before them, Hicham Azhari and Fikret Kovac cut their teeth at a strip shopping center. They opened Little Alley Tapas in 2005 in a Roswell mini-mall and showed everyone they had a real talent for vibe — getting that right mixture of food and mood, of drinks and clinks, of tight spaces and nice places to squeeze into.

John Kessler is the chief dining critic for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

But they soon learned the real action is out by the street and not in a building sequestered behind a parking lot. In 2008, Azhari and Kovac opened their next restaurant — an instantly popular pub called Red Salt (since renamed Salt Factory due to a trademark conflict) — amidst the colorful thicket of storefronts that crowd the base of Canton Street in downtown Roswell.

The following year, they opened Inc. Street Food a couple of doors down, serving casual Mexican fare. The crowds kept coming, the energy multiplied, the great vibe …

Continue reading Little Alley Steak restaurant review, Roswell »

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Sometimes, a restaurant comes along at just the right time and fills a void in the local scene. And the people rejoice.

Such is the case with Local Republic. This Southern/international gastropub opened in the historic Lawrenceville square a year ago, and judging by the overwhelmingly positive crowd-sourced reviews online, it couldn’t have come soon enough.

Review by Jon Watson

After spending years in IT, owner Ben Bailey fled the rat race to pursue his passion for food. For generations, his family had always run a business of some kind on the square, so it seemed the natural choice for his new venture. But more importantly, Lawrenceville residents looking for a solid selection of craft beers and a memorable plate of food had few options, and Bailey sought to change that.

At first glance, Local Republic looks like it belongs in Decatur instead of the heart of Gwinnett. The small space has the feel of a semi-industrial loft, scattered with chrome-legged chairs across a …

Continue reading Local Republic restaurant review, Lawrenceville »

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A short list on the side of the menu at Fig Jam Kitchen & Bar names the kitchen’s favorite farms and purveyors. This now common practice establishes a restaurant’s good-faith effort to source the best ingredients out there, perhaps local or organic.

John Kessler is the chief dining critic for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

But here we get a shoutout to Maple Leaf Farms, which you may know as North America’s largest provider of frozen and processed duck. This behemoth of quackage works with more than 150 suppliers and has partnered with a poultry producer in Shandong province, China. Drawing attention to Maple Leaf Farms duck is like bragging on Hillshire Farms sausage. Decent products, but . . .

Fig Jam tries very hard to walk the walk and talk the talk. It calls out its suppliers. It pours craft cocktails to tipple with cured meat boards, artisan cheeses and small plates. It displays stacks of firewood and fashions its chairs from rough-hewn wooden planking. …

Continue reading Fig Jam Kitchen & Bar restaurant review, Atlanta »

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Mama said, “Whatever you do, don’t get into the restaurant business.”

Rico Cunnington, chef and owner of Rico’s World Kitchen in Buford, didn’t listen to Mama, a 20-year veteran of the professional kitchen. It’s the age-old story of restaurant families: Mama sends child off to college to pursue other options, child works in restaurants while going to school, child circles back to the restaurant industry.

Review by Jenny Turknett

Rico’s World Kitchen, which serves international comfort cuisine, began as a modest four-table restaurant on Mall of Georgia Boulevard. Two years ago, Rico’s moved into its current space in downtown Buford, more than tripling its seating.

The Pure-gas-station-turned-restaurant still retains the garage doors, now raised to reveal screened windows and a charming screened door leading to the side patio. And much like overflow parking for a garage, guests trying to score a table angle cars into every spare inch of space on the corner …

Continue reading Rico’s World Kitchen restaurant review, Buford »

How about some celebration cake in Buca di Beppo's Pope Room before a show? (photos by Becky Stein)

If you go to a show at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, you’re a stone’s throw from all kinds of destination dining: handcrafted pastas at Taverna Fiorentina, grilled chicken skewers at Yakitori Jinbei and Korean smoked pork sandwiches at Heirloom Market BBQ.

John Kessler is the chief dining critic for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Near the Gwinnett Arena, the choices are fewer but equally quirky. From yogurt-splashed scallion dumplings at Shami Kabab Afghan Restaurant to pork green chile tamales at Taqueria Los Hermanos, you’ve got lots of offbeat places to explore.

So what’s for dinner before a show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta?

You are basically on the outskirts of North Point Mall, itself surrounded by satellite shopping centers filled with sturdy, well-performing, multi-unit restaurants. Places like California Pizza …

Continue reading Restaurants near the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park »

My little dumpling! Choices abound at Chef Liu (photos by Becky Stein)

By Jennifer Zyman for the AJC

It always happens on a Sunday. I wake up wanting dim sum, but quickly come face-to face with the reality that, however varied and wonderful our Chinese restaurant scene is, dim sum spots are unfortunately inconsistent. Visit an esteemed place one weekend and it is indeed spectacular. Return a month later and it is just okay. Fear not, my fellow dumpling fiends. Excellence and consistency abounds if you know where to go — be it a shack or a top sushi palace. Follow me to dumpling Shangri-La.

Xiao long bao: the famous Shanghai soup buns

Chef Liu

Back in 2005, a tiny shack, smack dab in the middle of the Pine Tree Plaza parking lot on Buford Highway, emerged as a must-eat place mainly for its xiao long bao or Shanghai soup buns. What makes xiao long bao worth seeking out is the surprise inside. The skin is gathered like a hobo’s satchel and secured at the top with tidy …

Continue reading Roundup of Asian Dumplings »

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His reputation certainly preceded him.

The buzz around Fuoco di Napoli (Fire of Naples), the newly opened Neapolitan pizza restaurant in Buckhead, quickly spread through the blogosphere. And it all stemmed from the man working the oven: Enrico Liberato. Pizza-heads should recognize Atlanta’s most notorious pie-slinger as the former pizzaiolo at Fritti, Antico and (briefly) Vingenzo’s.

Review by Jon Watson

But Liberato soon may earn the nomadic, pied-piper status for Neapolitan pizza that Peter Chang garnered for Szechuan cuisine. He can’t seem to stay in one place for very long.

Although the details around his departure remain fuzzy and management has declined to elaborate, co-owner Lori McDowell confirmed that the rumors are true: Liberato is no longer with Fuoco di Napoli.

Opened last December in the space formerly home to McTighe’s Irish Pub at Peachtree and Pharr roads in Buckhead, the restaurant has a calculated hole-in-the wall décor. Cans of DOP tomatoes …

Continue reading Fuoco di Napoli dining review, Buckhead »

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What images does the name The Ritz-Carlton conjure? Luxury? White-gloved service? Indulgence? That’s the “The Ritz-Carlton Mystique,” a companywide strategy to deliver exceptional customer experiences that encourage lifetime loyalty and a high level of perceived value.

Now, imagine what Sunday brunch at The Café at The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead looks like. What do you envision?

Review by Jenny Turknett

Caviar? Tall flutes of bubbly? White-jacketed chefs cooking to order? Check, check and check.

Drop your car with the valet and enter through doors held wide into the hushed calm of the lobby, lush with fresh floral arrangements. The soft tinkling of the grand piano will beckon you to The Café where a lavish spread awaits.

A gracious hostess will greet and quietly seat you in an appropriate location — couples in corner booths near windows, a weary party of post-wedding late-nighters in a darker, quieter enclave and families nestled in a separate section.

Servers …

Continue reading The Cafe at The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead Sunday Brunch Review »

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If only I were an animagus from the world of Harry Potter. I’d transform into a mouse and crawl into a sparkly clutch bag that some young woman places on the bar at STK. From this vantage point, I’d watch as her girlfriends arrived, all wearing flowing crepe mini-dresses and high-wedge sandals. They would gather for a round of libations called “Not Your Daddy’s Manhattan” ($14), the mix of bourbon and vermouth turned Cosmo-sweet with the addition of fruity Licor 43.

John Kessler is the chief dining critic for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

From my hiding place, I’d follow them as they trailed behind a tall manager wearing a fitted suit and a Secret Service-style listening device coiling to his ear. He’d usher us past a wall mural composed of scores of plaster steer horns to a scalloped white leatherette booth in the dining room. All eyes would turn.

The ladies would order a second round of cocktails and shrimp rice krispies ($14) — a clever …

Continue reading STK Restaurant Review, Midtown »