The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UP on the Roof elevates bar food
New Alpharetta spot offers much more than just a spectacular view.
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, UP on the Roof opened on South Main Street in Alpharetta. Perched on the top floor of Liberty Hall, with access via an elevator, the casual fine dining concept mixes drinks and shareable dinner plates with 360-degree rooftop views, ranging from nearby Town Green and City Hall, to Kennesaw Mountain in the distance.
“We just wanted to join this awesome, burgeoning community,” general manager and Alpharetta resident Pierce Brooks said. “Since I was a kid, it’s definitely blown up and become one of the cool places to be in the Atlanta area.”
Part of Sizzling Steak Concepts, which includes the Ruth’s Chris Steak House franchise group, the first UP on the Roof opened atop the Embassy Suites in downtown Greenville, South Carolina, in January 2017.
“We have been looking at this opportunity since early 2019, and really saw some potential in this Alpharetta City Center district,” said Wilson Oswald, CEO of UP on the Roof. “What’s so great about this place is that people can come up and see the wonderful view and show off their city and its burgeoning business district.”
With some 150 outdoor seats, the build-out features brick-andmortar walls and interlocking wooden decking, along with bigscreen TVS, fans, heaters, fireplaces, mesh screens and a louvered roof that can be opened and closed by remote control.
The cozy indoor bar and dining room has 24 seats, plus 10 barstools at the Barrel Bar, which was fashioned from repurposed Jack Daniel’s barrel staves, and offers 16 local and craft beers on draft. There’salso a smallprivate dining space with French doors called the Cabana Room, and a larger Chef ’s Room downstairs that’s still under construction.
Speaking about the idea for UP on the Roof, COO Kirk Watkins explained that the concept was
a kind of opposite reaction.
“Ruth’s Chris is a classic steakhouse, and in Greenville, we’re in the same building,” Watkins said. “Ruth’s Chris is on the lobby level, and eight floors up is UP on the Roof. We really wanted to come up with something completely opposite. We still wanted to do fine dining service, but we wanted to do some small plates, use local seasonal ingredients, and have a Southern twist. Really, it’s elevated bar food, and it worked out really well.”
Executive chef Max Tezza is in charge of the kitchen in Alpharetta, while executive chef Shane Robertson was responsible for many of the UP on the Roof signature dishes.
“My background was French, so there are a lot of French undertones in the ingredients and preparation of the dishes,” Robertson said. “But I’m also a big fan of Pacific Rim flavors, so you’ll see that throughout the menu. We wanted small plates to encourage people to share and try more things.”
On the current fall/winter dinner menu, you’ll find Humpty Dumpties daily deviled eggs; Harvest Salad with red onion, candied pecans, feta, apple and cranberry vinaigrette; Tuna Tataki with baby bok choy and chile-infused broth; Honey-soy Fried Chicken Lettuce Wraps with herbed goat cheese ranch; and Kobe Steak Gyudon Skillet with seared flat iron, stirfried rice and white sauce.
Coming soon, look for lunch Thursdays-sundays and brunch service on Saturdays and Sundays.
In addition to serving as CEO, Oswald is the beverage director, and a certified sommelier and spirits specialist. His drinks menu includes bottled and classic cocktails, and a fairly extensive selection of wines by the glass and bottle, plus wines on tap.
“Our pre-bottled cocktails are complicated, complex cocktails that would take a long time to make in a standard craft bar setting,” Oswald said. “But we batch them daily so they are fresh.”
Made with Fords gin, cointreau, strawberry puree, fresh thyme and lemon sour, the It’s Strawberry Thyme cocktail is what Oswald calls “really earthy, with a little bit of sweetness, and crazy flavorful.”
Among the classics, the Black Dahlia is mixed with Breckenridge Port Cask whiskey, Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur, lime juice, muddled blackberries and mint.