Varasano’s is open! Varasano’s is open!

Jeffrey Varasano, right, and crew await the wonders from his new restaurant's kitchen

Atlanta foodies have been chomping at the bit for this. Now they can simply chomp.

Varasano’s is finally open.

A Brooklyn-born software guru, Jeffrey Varasano’s transition to professional pie guy began with a quest to find suitable pizza in the ATL. After he found none up to his standards he began tinkering with recipes and jacking around with his oven, until he’d found the perfect blend of ingredients and a hot enough temperature to produce the requisite char.

Over the past couple of years he’s fed untold legions of pizza-philes in his Buckhead home, building up a cult-like following and deafening buzz. Finally, he’ll be able to ply his trade for money.

“I was never the guy who ran a restaurant,” he said during a pre-grand opening party the other night. “I was always the guy who was going to run a restaurant.”

As any new restaurateur experiences, Varasano’s has run into its fair share of hitches. The decor wasn’t quite right, the new oven and new employees took a while to get to know each other. Nights have been long and sleepless.

“I was in here making dough at 4 a.m.,” Varasano said at the event the other night.

A perfectionist like none other, he has scoured a number of purveyors for the right olive oil, herbs and mozarella. Days after the restaurant opened he was still fiddling with the oven to achieve the quintessential crust. 

His efforts seem to be paying off. The foodie bloggers are going nuts and Varasano coyly hinted that “big-name” food critics have been nosing around the place, in the Mezzo building at 2171 Peachtree St.

Heather Stokley

Marketing director Heather Stokley says the restaurant’s been “packed shoulder-to-shoulder” since opening its doors. Intensive training ahead of opening has allowed the effervescent Varasano to spend much of his time cruising the dining room, greeting guests.

“If he’s in the kitchen, it means something has gone wrong,” said Stokley, the creative force behind the restaurant’s comfy yet sophisticated decor. 

The party guest list include Adam Klug, Beth Weitzman, Brett Holtzclaw,  Caleb J. Spivak, Carley Brom, Chloe Morris, Emily Robinson, Tami Hardeman, Terri Papproth, Vickie Sanders, Matt Brom, James R. Walker, Molly Spruill, Nancy Staab and Richard Lara.

SB didn’t chit-chat much, though. Everyone’s mouth was full.