The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New concepts among 2019’s top food stories
It’s been a busy year for the metro Atlanta dining scene, with more than 200 restaurants unlocking their doors. Atlanta Journal-Constitution food editor and dining critic Ligaya Figueras, dining critic Wendell Brock, and food and beer writer Bob Townsend give their take on the places, faces and foods that shaped the local culinary landscape in 2019.
Established owners crank out more concepts
Big names in the local scene didn’t rest on their laurels in 2019. Anne Quatrano debuted her all-day breakfast spot, Pancake Social, at Ponce City Market, while Ford Fry claimed more Tex-Mex territory with Little Rey in Piedmont Heights. Both came with hits and misses.
In comparison, Todd Ginsberg and the folks behind General Muir branched out into barbecue with Wood’s Chapel in Summerhill, as Todd Mussman, Ryan Turner and Chris Hall, the trio behind Local Three and Muss & Turner’s, dove deep into pizza when they debuted MTH Pizza in Smyrna this fall. Both teams nailed their concepts from the get-go.
It’s been interesting to watch Tal Baum and Michael Patrick come onto the scene over the past few years. Baum attracted a following with her Bellina Alimentari at Ponce City Market, while Patrick turned his pasta biz into sitdown Italian spot Storico Fresco in Buckhead. This was a breakout year for both of them. Curiously, they both picked Westside Provisions District for their latest offerings, with Patrick’s Forza Storico offering a taste of Italy in the space vacated by Quatrano’s shuttered Little Bacch, and Baum celebrating Israeli cuisine with Aziza (and neighboring counter-serve spot Falafel Nation). It doesn’t stop there. Baum’s next Israeli concept, Rina, will open its doors on the Beltline’s Eastside Trail in mid-January.
My, was fake meat the subject of conflict! Popeyes sparked a chicken sandwich war with Chick-fil-A in the same calendar year that the vegan patty battled to become the new all-American burger.
By February, more than a dozen Atlanta restaurants offered an Impossible Burger on their menu. Then, suddenly, they didn’t, because chain restaurants like Burger King, Red Robin and White Castle had gobbled up all of Impossible Foods’ fake meat.
One local indie restaurant didn’t suffer during the shortage: Slutty Vegan. At the peak of the fake meat craze, lines at owner Pinky Cole’s counter-serve spot in Westview averaged a two-hour wait to get “sluttified” with a bite of naughty-named meatless burgers like the One Night Stand and Menage a Trois.
Another clear indication that fake meat has gone mainstream: KFC tested Beyond Fried Chicken at a location in Smyrna in August. It sold out of the plant-based chicken nuggets and boneless wings in five hours.