Tasting Intown

By Megan Volpert

Like all the oddball mansions around Ansley Park, the restaurant’s architecture is a twisted yet spacious delight. Hand your keys to the valet and walk in through the hulking wooden doors to be greeted by a staircase to the dining room, which is hugged by a modern set of low-slung cocktail tables in a setting of exposed bricks and pipes. There’s a small bar in the back, hidden by the staircase, and a slightly larger bar upstairs that offers a sweeping view of city sparkle at night, the cozy heat of original wood playing smartly against cool furnishings. The cocktails are astutely mixed but not too pretentious or fussy—unless you count that many of them are named for Ernest Hemingway novels.

The dining room is also a study in understated contrasts. White ostrich leather booths and small chandeliers produce an austerity balanced by the activity of an open kitchen and artsy, animated guests. The space feels at once historic and modern, and the total effect is one of blessed seclusion, a retreat amidst the skyscrapers and a perfect environment for date nights or celebrations. The menu itself, which offers more small plates than entrees, is conducive to sharing. With an emphasis on fresh, local ingredients in American dishes that are creative yet utterly comprehensible, Rose + Rye offers food that is more interested in delight than surprise.

Amongst the starters, there is plenty to love for meat and potato people—a soup that includes leeks, duck with grit cakes, pork belly with gnocci, the default go-to of a Caesar salad palatably amped up by smoke and kale. The two standout starters are each $14. Their burratta salad lets the cheese hang back as part of a crisp green ensemble of julienne snap peas and a fluffy pesto foam. Both creamy and crispy, it’s a textural and flavorful masterclass in how to balance ingredients. Foam also starred in perhaps the most offbeat small plate, the french toast, which features both roasted and pickled mushrooms under a glorious pile of fondue bubbles. The presentation is striking, and as the foam melts into the french toast, this decadent dish becomes ever more gooey and saturated. Foams are often useless garnishes and flavorless presentation gimmicks, but their use on this menu is properly integrated and valuable to the dishes.

The six entree options, ranging from $22 to $45, offer something relatively standard for everyone—chicken, tuna, snapper, duck, pork chop, ribeye. Of the four proteins we tried, every one was properly moist. Many of the wintry sides naturally focused on available greens, but some of the sauce accompaniments were quite special. The pork chop included a pickle plum chutney and the snapper included a wild cherry reduction, both of which jazzed up classic sides like root vegetable purees or sweet potatoes.

That chutney visited us again for dessert with fantastic results that may be overlooked by many diners. Although the panna cotta with fig jam and rosemary shortbread was on point and the dark chocolate tart with bacon fat popcorn will go over big with most everybody, the silent star is a delicate olive oil cake with vanilla whipped mascarpone and pickled plums. After a meal so confident in its freshness and artful simplicity, this is the perfect light finish. If you want coffee, there’s a weird challenge there—they serve it in tiny glassware that holds maybe five sips. A server will watch your table like a hawk and refill it a thousand times if you want, which will annoy those who take cream or sugar or those who like coffee to stay hot. The whimsy and presentation of it first amuses and then quickly disappoints. Other than that small thing, the magic of Rose + Rye feels perfectly sustainable for repeat visits.

Quick Bites

Park Tavern in Piedmont Park will host Oysterfest on Saturday, Feb. 17, featuring fried, raw and steamed oysters, fried shrimp, ice-cold brews, handcrafted cocktails. There will also be live music from Atlanta Funk Society and more. Doors open at 1 p.m. and music begins at 2 p.m. For ages 21 and up, general admission tickets are available, starting at $10, at parktavern.com.

Farm Burger is set to open its fifth metro location this month at The George in Grant Park, 275 Memorial Drive. The restaurant makes its burgers from 100 percent grass-fed beef that’s dry-aged, ground fresh and cooked to order. For more information, visit farmburger.net.

The Local Pizzaiolo (pronounced pizza-yolo) is open at 1000 Marietta St., Suite 202, on the Westside. The pizza restaurant plans to open three more locations this year and next at Toco Hills, Sandy Springs and Madison Yards. For more information, visit thelocalpizzaiolo.com.

Fifth Group Restaurants has announced plans for a second Alma Cocina concept at the Terminus development in Buckhead, to be located at what was previously the Bricktop’s space. Slated to open mid-2019, the restaurant and bar will bring the restaurant’s Mexican cuisine to the mixed-use development. Visit fifthgroup.com for more details.

Sage Woodfire Tavern plans to open in the former Morton’s space across from the Mandarian Oriental Hotel at 3379 Peachtree Road in Buckhead. The two-story restaurant will feature a large dining room, expansive bar area, patio seating and private dining rooms on the second floor. Visit sagewoodfiretavern.com to keep up with its progress.

The Halal Guys will be serving up their famed gyros in a second Atlanta location – the under-construction Modera by Mill Creek apartment building on 8th Street in Midtown. The 1,486 square feet of street-level space is scheduled to open soon. The first location opened last year on Buford Highway. For more, visit thehalalguys.com.