For a lot of folks, Atlanta exists just to change planes – a pass-through place that’s home to the planet’s busiest airport.
People who frequent this town know better. Arts, entertainment, and great food suffuse the city. While no one cuisine dominates, there is an unmistakable atmosphere that permeates its best eateries: laid back, unselfconscious, sometimes gracious. Those are the common denominators, and these are some of the restaurants that practice the traits:
Anis Bistro & Café is unpretentiously French. Located in Buckhead, the restaurant is the creation of Arnaud Michel, Jean-Fredric Perfettini and Jacques Hourtal. The folks who frequent this casually chic enclave are as passionate about the surroundings (especially the tree-shaded patio) as they are about the food. A bit about that: New York Times.com describes the cuisine as “Provençal versions of healthy Mediterranean cuisine.” Indeed. Start off with something simple, the $7 Salade Maison: organic greens, goat cheese and black olive tapenade. It’s a nice, light set up for what’s next. Only $19 procures the Truite Meunière – pan roasted trout with wilted greens, marinated artichokes, and lemon-browned butter. Finish off with a $14 cheese plate that everyone can share, and a cognac. Executive chef Jeff Gomez serves up this delicious slice of France at 2974 Grandview Ave. in Buckhead.
Buckhead Diner If the city has a signature site to meet and eat, often late into the night, this is it. The service is quick and the surroundings retro. The menu is magnetic, and the prices won’t kill you. Begin with mesclun greens and goat cheese fritters, replete with apples, walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette for $8.95. Follow suit with a grilled or fried grouper sandwich with lemon caper aioli and homemade potato chips for $14.95. For a side, lest you forget this is the South, $5.00 gets you silverqueen corn and white cheddar grits. Buckhead Diner is located at 3073 Piedmont Road, and it’s a perfect place to congregate after the show.
4th and Swift Chef and owner Jay Swift presides over an innovative, ever-changing kitchen that reflects the best of local produce and meats. A typical spring seasonal menu might begin with $13 Tybee Island shrimp cevice, concocted of avocado, chiles, red bell pepper sorbet and homemade Old Bay saltines. If you’re staying on the light side, order the English pea and ricotta ravioli for $18. It’s made with spring Vidalia confit, carrots, cumin carrot sauce and mint oil. Wrap it all up with a $5‘Hot Date’ – warm English sticky toffee pudding and sweetened mango cream. 4th & Swift can be found at 621 North Ave., N.E. #B.
No Mas Cantina Sample the cuisine here just once and you’ll crave mucho mas. Modeled on a Mexican grand hacienda, the atmosphere is only part of the package. The menu may move your mindset beyond mere Tex-Mex. Among the house specialties are carnitas – slow-roasted pork with white wine and spices, served with pickled red onions, cilantro, avocado, black beans and rice. The price: $14.95. Seafood? Sample Camarones Alhambres, jumbo shrimp grilled on a sugarcane skewer, ensconced atop a masa cake and served with sweet fried plantains. It’s $17.95. No Mas is at 180 Walker St., S.W. Enter on Haynes.
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Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Ed Schipul)
