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Not anticipated or expected
“We are just ‘heads-down-doing-our-
thing people,’ so getting the notice from
Michelin [telling them of an impending
award] was a complete surprise,” Pernice
said ofTable & Main’s recognition this
year. “We were hoping to get maybe
a ‘recommended,’ so getting a Bib
Gourmand was a special surprise.”
Khoury also said Hen Mother
Cookhouse’s Michelin honor was not on
her radar in 2024.
“We are a breakfast place, so I wasn’t
expecting it at all,” she said. “When we
first got a notice [from Michelin] to send in
some pictures, I thought it was a scam, so I
ignored it for a couple of days.”
When the official invitation arrived
from Michelin a few weeks later, Khoury
said she was still skeptical, until Aaron
Phillips, chef and co-owner of one-star
restaurant Lazy Betty in Midtown, told her
it was legitimate.
So and Crawford said they were
gratified by the Michelin recognition
for Spring, considering their humble
beginnings in the restaurant industry.
“You’ve got a guy who used to be a
hibachi chef and another one who used to
be a manager of a Pizza Hut now with a
Michelin star,” Crawford said.
Pernice, Khoury, Crawford, and So all
note the significance of Michelin venturing
OTP in 2024 and recognizing the Atlanta
HAPPY
TOGETHER,
WE LIGHT THE WAY
This Chanukah, may we celebrate the light
that unites and strengthens our community.
Happy Chanukah from your friends at Jewish
Federation of Greater Atlanta.
Jewish
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dining scene expands far
beyond the boundaries
of the perimeter. The
2025 guide may expand
even further into Atlanta’s
suburbs.
“You can’t tell the story
of Atlanta restaurants
without going outside the
perimeter,” Pernice said.
“Atlanta dining, to me,
is amazing food found in
unexpected places.”
Khoury said she was
grateful that Hen Mother
Cookhouse, located in
an area of Johns Creek
dominated by chain restaurants, was
recognized.
“A lot of people told us we should
expand to Buckhead or Midtown, but we
are very happy where we are,” she said. “We
live in Johns Creek and this allows us to
have some semblance of a life and a chance
to watch our children grow up.”
Earlier this fall, Khoury did expand
Hen Mother Cookhouse to a second
location in neighboring Alpharetta.
Is there a Michelin boost?
Pernice said in the few days following
the Michelin announcement, he saw
a significant uptick in reservations for
November, typically the restaurant’s slowest
month ahead of the holidays.
“While it’s too soon to draw broad
conclusions, the early word is that the
Bib Gourmand has definitely boosted
business,” he said. “We are starting with the
most covers on the books that we ever had
and sales were up 29% over the same week
last year.”
Khoury said she has been focusing
recents efforts on ramping up Hen Mother
Cookhouse in Alpharetta, not so much on
the impact of the Michelin designation at
either location.
“We are just trying to focus on great
service and good frickin’ food,” Khoury
said. “We might feel a bit of pressure, but
there’s no ambition to do more at this
point. We don’t want to expand, and we
don’t want to franchise.”
Woo Nam Jeong (Stone Bowl House), 5953
Buford Highway, Doraville; Hen Mother
Cookhouse, 11705Jones Bridge Road, Johns
Creek, and 50 South Main Street, Alpharetta;
Masterpiece, 3940 Buford Highway, Duluth;
Table & Main, 1028 Canton Street, Roswell;
Spring, 36 Mill Street, Marietta.
Delbar Middle Eastern
opens in Buckhead at former
King & Duke space
By Beth McKibben
Popular Middle Eastern restaurant
Delbar, owned by Chef Fares Kargar,
opened on Nov. 18, in Buckhead.
Taking over the space once home to
Ford Fry’s King & Duke on Peachtree
Road, the Buckhead location of Delbar
will serve a similar menu to the Inman
Park and Alpharetta
locations. However, this
location does offer a
handful of new dishes
exclusive to Buckhead,
including lamb and
baghali tahchin (lamb
shoulder with fava beans,
yogurt, egg, and onions
encased in crispy basmati
rice) and a rainbow
roasted carrot salad.
Dessert in Buckhead also
features tahini and honey
soft serve and Persian tea
flan.
In addition to the
main dining room and bar, Delbar in
Buckhead includes a covered patio with its
own bar and cocktail menu, as well as two
private event spaces.
Open daily for dinner and weekend
brunch, Kargar plans to launch a weekday
lunch service at the Buckhead restaurant in
December.
Kargar left Iran in 2006 when he was
17. He fled to Turkey as a refugee to avoid
the Iranian compulsory military service
requirement. The chef eventually made
his way to the United States, arriving in
Atlanta and earning a degree in hospitality
from Georgia State University.
The chef worked in several Atlanta
restaurants before opening Delbar,
including Rumi’s Kitchen in Sandy
Springs. He went on to open the first
location of Delbar in 2020 at Inman
Quarter during the height of the
COVID-19 pandemic. The success of
Delbar led Kargar to open Persian street
Delbar Middle Eastern includes locations in
Buckhead, Inman Park, and Alpharetta.
(Photo by Andrew Thomas Lee)
food stall Bibi at Ponce City Market two
years later, followed by a second location
of Delbar last year in Alpharetta.
Michelin recognized Delbar in its 2023
and 2024 guides to Atlanta.
Next year, Kargar will open Eden at the
Star Metals district on Howell Mill Road.
The sprawling French-Mediterranean
restaurant will include a rooftop bar called
Garden of Eden.
Delbar, 3060 Peachtree Road,
Buckhead. Open Sunday — Thursday, 4
p.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4
p.m. to 11 p.m.; weekend brunch, 11 a.m.
to 3:45 p.m.
241 DECEMBER 2024
ROUGHDRAFTATLANTA.COM
