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DINING Scan the QR code to subscribe to Side Dish, a weekly newsletter about food. Metro Atlanta’s OTP restaurants celebrate Michelin recognition By Cathy Cobbs and Beth McKibben The expansion of the Michelin Guide beyond Atlanta’s inner loop in 2024 has the winning OTP restaurant owners saying it affirms that recognizing culinary excellence shouldn’t have geographic boundaries. This year marks the city’s second dining guide from the French tire company, which awards coveted stars, Bib Gourmands, and other distinctions to restaurants in cities worldwide. The inaugural guide to Atlanta debuted in 2023, centering selections on restaurants in the city and inside the 1-285 perimeter. But in 2024, Michelin’s anonymous inspectors expanded their dining radius to suburban Atlanta, including Doraville, Marietta, Roswell, Duluth, and Johns Creek. Michelin heads OTP According to the Georgia Restaurant Association, Metro Atlanta includes around 12,000 restaurants. The counties of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, FFenry, and Rockdale and the city of Atlanta comprise the Metro Atlanta region, home to just over 6.3 million people. Nearly half of those restaurants reside within Atlanta’s bustling perimeter. Outside the perimeter (OTP), thousands more restaurants occupy spaces in suburban shopping complexes, along major state roads, in charming historic town squares, and converted homes on the edge of quiet neighborhoods. “Before a new guide is established in a new destination, the inspection team conducts an initial study of the area. During that destination assessment, the inspectors evaluate the culinary landscape for the inaugural selection of restaurants,” an anonymous Chief Inspector of the Michelin Guide North America said. “The coverage area often expands in future editions of the Guide, which occurred for this year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Atlanta.” Of the 57 Atlanta restaurants recognized in the 2024 Atlanta Michelin Guide, five suburban restaurants made the list: Woo Nam Jeong (Stone Bowl FFouse); PFen Mother Cookhouse; Masterpiece; Table & Main; and Spring. Michelin listed Doraville Korean restaurant Woo Nam Jeong at Seoul Plaza on Buford FFighway as “recommended,” along with breakfast and brunch restaurant FFen Mother Cookhouse in Johns Creek. Both restaurants frequent many of Atlanta’s “Best of” lists, with owners Young FFui PFan and Soraya Khoury spotlighting their Korean and Jordanian-Persian heritages, respectively, in dishes on their menus. Soft-boiled egg, gravlax, and tomato on sourdough. (Courtesy of Hen Mother Cookhouse) Michelin awarded Southern restaurant Table & Main in Roswell a Bib Gourmand in its 2024 guide to Atlanta. (Photo by Randi Curling) Masterpiece in Duluth, specializing in Sichuan and FFunan dishes from China, received a Bib Gourmand in 2024, as did Roswell’s Table & Main, known for seasonal Southern cuisine. “Masterpiece is a bit out of the way in Duluth in an unassuming strip mall, but it’s worth the drive,” Michelin stated in the 2024 Atlanta guide. “The hearty Sichuan food is served family-style with care and focus shown in dishes like dongpo pork, a square of meltingly tender pork belly in a dark brown sauce that is sweet and vibrant.” Like FFen Mother Cookhouse and Woo Nam Jeong, Masterpiece frequents “Best of” lists in Atlanta, too. In 2017 and 2018, the James Beard Foundation named chef and owner Rui Liu — a Northern China native — as a semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast. Located in a converted house on Canton Street in downtown Roswell, the Michelin Guide said ofTable & Main’s most popular dish, “Fried chicken brims with flavor and is impossibly delicious, and it’s a good thing the portion is overly generous, as you’ll want to tuck into leftovers later.” Owned by Roswell native Ryan Pernice, and led in the kitchen by Chef Woolery ‘Woody Back, Table & Main opened in 2011 focusing on seasonal Southern fare. It quickly became one of metro Atlanta’s best restaurants. Michelin awarded Spring in Marietta one star in the 2024 Atlanta guide, while sommelier and partner Daniel Crawford earned the Michelin Service Award. Michelin inspectors use five criteria to help them determine star ratings: quality of the ingredients; harmony of flavors; mastery of techniques; personality of the chef as expressed through the cuisine; and consistency across the entire menu over time. Each visit features a different inspector dining at a restaurant. Inspectors then meet to go over their separate evaluations and determine the award designation. Crawford co-owns Spring with Chef Brian So, a multiple-year nominee for Best Chef: Southeast by the James Beard Foundation. The critically acclaimed fine dining restaurant is a perennial on both local and national “Best of” lists, with Michelin nodding to So and his team serving a “tightly edited, contemporary American menu” that prioritizes seasonality, technique, and simplicity. Michelin highlights Spring’s house- made sourdough bread with garlic chive butter, the pan-seared wild king salmon topped with FFollandaise sauce, and a maple-glazed cruller with sliced almonds in an amaretto creme anglaise as standout dishes. Continue on page 24
