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2013 WRAP-UP
When Athens keeps receiving accolades for the quality of its
organic foods, the vigor of its cultural offerings and the glori
ously local nature of its food scene, it's hard to complain. Still,
this town remains both an overachiever and an underachiever
when it comes to food. We're growing and improving every
year, but never quite as fast as one would want. That said,
there were a few innovations in 2013 that moved us further in
the right direction, as well as some eats that weren't neces
sarily new but made up for their lack of sparkle with wonderful
competence.
The opening of Independent Baking Co. was undeniably
fantastic, giving our small city a bakery that can stand with
almost any in the country. The breads made with wild yeast are
subtle and powerful at the same time, the pastries distractingly
good, the atmosphere minimalist without being austere, and
the entire staff clearly in love with what they do.
The World Famous caught the attention of the New York Times
by being an embodiment of what we all love about Athens:
small, quirky, comfortable and eager to experiment. Jarad
Blanton's bearded face is visible through the small window
into the kitchen as he assembles cre
ative, robustly flavored dishes that pair %
nicely with chill cocktails and house- S
made sodas.
Mimi Maumus decided to add in-store
dining to home.made catering on
Baxter Street, and despite a few hiccups
as neighbors complained about parking,
the charming space is making a go of
it, preparing Southern-accented lunches
with undeniable care and sweetness. The
chocolate-cherry-bourbon pecan pie has
a crust good enough to ignore its almost
equally tasty filling, and the atmosphere
is a real achievement in its strip-mall
surroundings.
Little City Diner, opened in Winterville
by the Big City Bread folks, added some
serious eats to Athens' tiny neighbor-
town, with a brunch/breakfast worth
the minor cost in gas. It, too, makes an
excellent pie, less fancy-looking than
home.made's but obviously created by
hand rather than machine.
Five & Ten moved into dramatic new
surroundings without missing a beat,
and although it's undergone quite a bit
of turnover in the past two years, with
Chuck Ramsey (Pulaski Heights BBQ) and Dean Neff moving
on, and Kyle Jacovino about to join them as he transfers his
talents to Hugh Acheson's Savannah Italian project. Jason
Zygmont has been handed the reins in the kitchen, and judg
ing by a recent dinner there, the restaurant's reputation for
smoothness and continuity remains justified. A roasted beet
soup was a particular highlight, poured from a silver teapot at
the table, with a tiny smoked-trout pierogi, dill, creme fraiche
and grains of puffed farro providing tiny presents enjoyed
while working one's way through the dish. The casual lunch is
a great addition to the town, and the coffee bar is a lovely and
focused environment with plenty of natural light.
Matt Downes of Luna Bakery finally opened Ideal Bagel, next
to Treehouse on Broad, and it was worth the wait, especially
the sandwich that consists of ketchup and scrambled eggs on
thin white bread and the house-smoked fish you can get atop a
bagel with cream cheese, red onion, tomato and capers.
The ethos that drives the juice trend nationally (raw-foodism,
radical diet in the guise of mere healthy eating) may be aggra
vating, but the product at Journey Juice in Normaltown is
damn tasty. New Year's resolutions will no doubt be kind to the
smart young people who opened it. Ditto for Juice Up and its
blended healthy stuff in the former 283 Bar/Downtowner spot
downtown on E. Broad St.
Finally, Los Reyes Mexican Restaurant is too far out (past the
Georgia State Patrol office on Highway 29 north) to attract
a lot of attention, but it is otherwise basically perfect: huge
menu, real Mexican food plus choices for the unadventurous,
super-low prices, pleasant atmosphere, nice staff, alcoholic
beverages, free delivery, spotless cleanliness and reliably deli
cious food.
Downtown may have experienced a little less turnover than in
an average year, although the closings of Five Star Day Cafe,
Farm 255 and then, at the end of the year, Echo all created
some turmoil. The Rooftop at the Georgia Theatre continued
to put out awesome grub in a killer and unique environment,
Five Bar pulled in crowds with sushi and whatnot, and OK
Cafe pressed panini and made fresh waffles in front of Wuxtry.
On the other side of College Avenue, Herschel's Famous 34
started serving various combinations of Doritos and chicken
to football fans, Little Bull Bar and Grill cooked Puerto Rican
food on Broad, Cozy Yum Yum moved next door to the for
mer Bluebird on Clayton (where Athens Wok, has a sign up
promising "Chinese Sushi and Thai"), and Insomnia Cookies
opened on Clayton.
Five Star Day Cafe
Franchises bit the dust, too, with Al's #1 Italian Beef and
Mama Goldberg's both closing. Down the hill, toward the river,
there were more changes afoot than all the Selig drama, with
Mama Bird's Granola and Kitchen opening in the 909 Broad
Building (organic produce available downtown!), Jittery Joe's
relocating from its rustic spot to Barber Street, and Dexter
Weaver continuing to yank everyone's chain with his prom
ises to close Weaver D's (thankfully untrue so far). Creature
Comforts, the small craft brewery going into the former Snow
Tire on Hancock Avenue, looks to be serving in March.
Five Points saw the opening of Grindhouse Killer Burgers on
Lumpkin Street, which added another full bar to the neighbor
hood as well as superlatively cooked small burgers and well-
spiced fries; Marker 7 Coastal Grill, a kind of fancy seafood
shack with a great patio; and, soon, both an outpost of the
Atlanta breakfast franchise J. Christopher's and, perhaps as
early as this month, Cinco y Diez, Hugh Acheson's Mexican
project in the old Five & Ten space with Farm 255's Whitney
Otawka running the kitchen.
Boulevard and Normaltown experienced a particularly high rate
of growth this year, with new ownership of the Bottleworks
welcoming new tenants to the former Coca-Cola bottling plant.
A Tavola closed there, but Hendershot's happily took its
space and added a full kitchen to create more food options.
Viva Argentine moved into what had been a Quizno's in
late November, and Seabear Oyster Bar is penciled in for
the spring. Farther down the road, Rustica closed and Hi-Lo
Lounge moved into its nice, big space. Next door, The Old
Pal took over Jewels, doing a nice build-out and serving craft
cocktails. Across the street, Ike & Jane added dinner three
nights a week, more than compensating for Normal Bar's
loss of Farm Cart on Thursdays, and, even more excitingly,
the Pizza Hut on the corner relocated, making way for Matt
Palmerlee and Eddie Russell's Taco Lupo, coming sometime in
2014, provided they can create seven off-street parking spaces.
On Broad Street, heading out from the middle of downtown,
Quickly closed; Saucehouse, a franchise BBQ concept, will
take over the former Peaches, which will soon reopen in the
Homewood Hills space that's now The Camp; Steak 'n Shake
opened to long lines; Botanas opened and then closed in
record time in the former Mexicali Grill; Taj Mahal moved to a
new location near the Alps/Hawthorne/Broad intersection; and
Opa Robby's Market started selling country-store-type items in
front of Target.
On Baxter Street, Silver Lining Cupcake Co. closed, a sad loss,
as was that of the Harris Street Locos, soon to be replaced by
Troubadour Pub and Grill. Fat & Happy BBQ operated briefly
before also closing, and YoDawgs closed as well. Groucho's
Deli opened near the dorms, as did Pizza Hut, which serves
pizza by the slice in its late-night hours and has a small music
venue (!). Always Baked Cookies, which has been downtown
in Athens Bagel Co., planned a new venture aiming for the
last weekend in January in the old Yo Dawgs location, with
paninis and other offerings in addition
to cookies. In the Beechwood area, Tin
Drum (casual pan-Asian franchise) and
Zoe's Kitchen (casual Mediterranean
franchise) both opened.
Elsewhere in Athens (and a bit far
ther), Richard Miley opened Catch-22
Gastropub on Epps Bridge Parkway, add
ing a non-franchise option to the area;
nearby, both Cook-Out (fast food from
North Carolina) and Popcorn Haven
opened; Wingspan started cooking hot
wings and burgers in a trailer on Chase
Street; Normaltown Cafe returned, this
time to Danielsville; Junkyard Dawgs
opened on Commerce Road; Rooter's
Grocery and Barbecue took over the
tiny grocery on Whitehall Road once
home to Jot 'Em Down; One Cafe briefly
occupied the former Hendershot's on
Tallassee Road; Golden Chick opened
in Watkinsville; and La Cabana de Don
Juan opened two locations (one on
Hawthorne Avenue in Athens and one in
Watkinsville, where Tlaloc #2 had been).
Los Coyotes, on Mitchell Bridge Road,
shuttered, and Donderos' Kitchen, on
Milledge Avenue, moved next door to a
bigger, better space.
Yet to come in 2014 are La Puerta del Sol (we'll see about
that), Bruno Rubio's restaurant on the Eastside that has been
in the works for getting on to a decade now; Rashe's Cuisine,
Jamaican on Tallassee at Mitchell Bridge; a location of fran
chise Chicken Salad Chick, Taqueria Tsunami and Gigi's
Cupcakes' second location in Epps Bridge Centre.
New Year's Wishes: After a year marked by cocktails, juice and
the triumphant return of carbs, with not one but two gourmet
Mexican concepts opening in the somewhat near future, I still
wish for Korean (more than one option), for more tiny and
focused concepts that make use of small spaces, for someone
to take over the restaurant space at 255 W. Washington who
will treat it right and make it work (bars are great, but it would
be a shame to waste that kitchen), and for Athens to move
in the direction of democracy rather than the clubby, pop-up
restaurant scene that has become the norm in other cities.
Everyone should be able to get something wonderful to eat and
reliably so, not just those who pay hyper-attention to the com
ings and goings of the connected. Part of what makes our town
a special place to live is the warmth of the community here,
the lack of being required to wear a tie to eat well and the
ability to experience something great without knowing exactly
the right person. Let's keep it up, y'all.
Hillary Brown food@flagpole.com
JANUARY 8, 2014 ??? FLAGP0LE.COM 9