There’s a somewhat frustrating bit of information floating around these days that pertains to One Eared Stag in Inman Park. The restaurant, which features food from Robert Phalen and currently occupies the space of the fondly remembered Shaun’s, might be going away. The supposed end of days is set for the tail of February. Details after the jump!
Miso Izakaya and chef/owner Guy Wong have become critical darlings. The end result is that this Old 4th Ward Japanese restaurant (and chef) has won and been nominated for a slew of awards across the foodiesphere. With Wong and sous chef Melissa Allen firmly entrenched in the kitchen, one can’t be completely shocked by this critical infatuation. While many chefs across the city spend a chunk of time trying to play the celebrity game, Wong and Allen focus on consistency by cooking everything that comes out of that kitchen.
So those efforts, combined with the infatuated writings of many, have helped the small plate restaurant overcome a sputtered start, which, has given way to an ever expanding customer base beyond that of our city’s edgier food fans. While some of our city’s cash cow restaurants sit back and watch the system chug quietly along, that’s not in the cards for Miso Izakaya.
Let’s assume for a second that you have yet to step foot inside of Victory Sandwich Bar, the 9-month old bouncing baby Inman Park sandwich shop. If you find yourself in that unfortunate group of people, I have a suggestion: Lie and say you have. That’s right. I said it and I meant it.
I’d like to think that amongst my friends and cohorts, I serve as a Zuul-like gatekeeper for restaurant recs (albeit one absent of demonic qualities and a pair of boobs). I don’t think that it’s much of a stretch to say you readers serve a similar role amongst your peeps. So if your qualifying of a restaurant serves as an emotional experience in the way sharing a new tune does, I suggest you add Victory to your repertoire. Even since my first visit on day three, this friendly on the pocket “deli with edge” has been one smooth operator.
Alcohol optional in this bad boy. Freshly squeezed watermelon juice comes courtesy of Guy Wong’s Miso Izakaya. And while I have your attention, check out this article on The Kitchn about watermelon cocktails.
Miso Izakaya Restaurant Address & Information
619 Edgewood Avenue Atlanta, GA 30312 // 678.701.0128 // website // tw
Deep in the backwoods of Inman Park and the Old 4th Ward and tucked away in the corner of the vast Stove Works complex sits a little gem of a wine bar. Krog Bar, appropriately situated at the foot of Rathbun’s since 2005, serves as one fine place to enjoy an evening.
Though a tip of the hat from the food community usually only comes after mentions of Krog’s big brother and sister (the aforementioned Rathbun’s and Rathbun’s Steak), many wine enthusiasts in Atlanta vigilantly frequent this 750 square foot watering hole from celeb chef and big green egg enthusiast Kevin Rathbun.
When my buddy and I first stepped through the emblazed upon glass door at Inman Park’s One Eared Stag, I must say that it was not without both cat-like curiosity and tentative trepidation. I try not to clutter my mind with lots of advanced research. In this case, the most important odd and end is that Holy Taco’s Robert Phalen serves as executive chef at One Eared Stag, joined by his HT partners Robert McDonald and Zoë Cernut on the business side of things.
In its early days, One Eared Stag seems on the precipice of being one of, if not the, neighborhood anchor. As is the case with many restaurants, I think framing it against similar endeavors in more notable food cities would be a mistake. Still, By the time the meal wrapped, I was perhaps most curious to hear what others had to say rather than motivated to rush home and pen this full-fledged recap of my single malt visit.
So yeah, this is a little like beating a dead horse, but here’s the latest on Empire State South, Hugh Acheson’s much discussed Atlanta endeavor.
After multiple delays, the Midtown restaurant is now scheduled for late August. This is stated on their website … but last time they did that, you know how that ended up. Frankly, I’m a little worn out on restaurants putting an opening date on their doors/websites/press/etc… when there is no way they can hit the date.
Also, Nick Melvin, who many know from his time at Parish in Inman Park, is set to run the kitchen. We’ll see how that shapes up. To date, I have yet to find Melvin’s food worthy of any real praise.
Other than that, the bocce ball court seems all but finished, there’ll be a coffee bar, and the rest is brew-haha and he said/she said.
999 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 // Empire State website
On the last season of Bravo TV’s Top Chef, Atlanta made some real headway. We were fortunate enough to have three local chefs make it on to the hit reality TV show. Since then, the city hasn’t stopped buzzing. Many moons ago, Kevin Gillespie, pork tats and all, was kind enough to make an appearance on our weekly series, Inside The Chef’s Kitchen. Now, thanks to Hector Santiago of Pura Vida, we welcome the second of those three chefs.
Stupidly exiled from Top Chef after a French themed challenge (in which the one French chef on the show represented suck-tastic), Hector is back in our city and doing his thing. Puerto Rican through and through, you can find him slinging pans most any night at his tapas restaurant in Virginia Highlands. Appropriately located just off Ponce De Leon Ave (Ponce de León himself played an important role in Puerto Rico’s history … he brought them rum amongst other things), Pura Vida is one of the long standing Latin restaurants in the city.
What better way to end this beautiful week with a mojito and some light reading. And with that, welcome to ITCK!
Sauced, Ria Pell’s new fusion soul food venture in Inman Park Atlanta, has been motoring along for several months. Though the restaurant came up for a brief breath of air in 2009, it actually opened for real in early 2010. Soon after, Spark Plug and I made it the appetizer stop on one of our habitual dinning excursions. Though it’s taken me a while to recap the less than stellar experience, ATLiens have been treated to several reviews during my hiatus thanks to some of our mainstream media brethren (linkage at the bottom). It seems I’m not alone in my total lack of fandom for Sauced.
Sauced itself is Pell’s attempt to offer entry-level fine dining. After building up her eponymous Ria’s Bluebird to the point where it’s one of the more well-known breakfast places, Pell is now serving "inspired” soul food in the midst of a late 60’s-esc dinning hall. I use the words inspired here loosely because the only true inspiration seems to be coming from the servers. In the world of take it or leave it, this grub is definitely a leave it. To put it another way, it’s never a good thing when someone spends the first part of a review talking about something other than the atmosphere or the food itself. In the case of Meridith Ford Goldman, she talked about the bathrooms. Not a good sign.
Ladies and gentleman, vegetarians and pescatarians of all ages, get ready to check out BaconFest 2010 this Saturday, March 27th. Hosted annually by Dad’s Garage Theatre Company in Inman Park, the fundraiser features the predictably awesome combination of beer, bands, and bacon! Admittedly, I’m not such a big fan of the first part, but it’s still a hell of the combination. The party starts at 1pm and goes until 5pm (which is when the improv show starts).
Amongst the musicians that you’ll find on site, Mike LaSage of P’Cheen will be serving up jalapeño-infused bacon while playing tunes with his band. You’ll also be able to hear the Fingering Brothers, Bases Loaded, The Jaguars, and Nine Inch Neils.
Here’s the deal on tickets:
If you hurry, you can buy your tickets online!!!
280 Elizabeth Street, Atlanta, GA 30307 // 404.523.3141 // Dad’s Garage website // Dad’s Garage twitter // Dad’s Garage on facebook
