Atlanta is a full-fledged foodie city. Name a cuisine and chances are it’s represented in this Southern city.
But the heart and soul of Atlanta’s cuisine is “New Southern” – comforting with a creative zing to it.
Here are three restaurants that practice the pursuit of these flavors with passion.
- You can’t talk about Atlanta restaurants without bringing Buckhead Diner into the conversation. Order up some warm Maytag blue cheese potato chips – the restaurant’s signature snack. Looking for something more substantial? Buckhead’s veal and wild mushroom meatloaf is unlike anything you’ve had at home.
- Rosebud Restaurant is a neighborhood eatery that draws a fiercely loyal clientele from quite a distance. This is a classic farm-to-table establishment. The ingredients are spot on, and so is the way the chefs prepare them. Consider coffee-braised lamb shank. The dish comes with a root vegetable and herb pudding, port wine jus and dried apricots. See what we mean by New Southern? Looking for something form the sea? Rosebud’s menu includes wild Georgia shrimp and grits. There’s something for traditionalists too – a dozen oysters and a carafe of good chardonnay.
- White Oak Kitchen & Cocktails bills itself as a restaurant “that reflects the dynamic contradictions of Southern life…the merging of contemporary with traditional, simple with complex.” The product is simply sumptuous. Start out with chicken livers and toast: ciabatta, young greens and Banyuls glace. Then, dig into a roasted quail pot pie, prepared with carrots, onions, celery velouté cream in a flaky pastry crust.
Getting to Atlanta to take on all these culinary hot spots shouldn’t be too much of a stretch. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International is the world’s busiest airport.
(Image: tableatny)
