Michelin-starred chef Anne Quatrano has opened a new daytime restaurant in the Underwood Hills neighborhood, two restaurants in Madison, Georgia, were recognized for their wine programs, a long-awaited Japanese restaurant is opening soon in Midtown, and more recent happenings on the metro Atlanta restaurant scene.
Credit: Courtesy of Summerland
Credit: Courtesy of Summerland
Summerland Cafe has opened in the Upper West Market
Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia has opened her daytime restaurant in the Upper West Market, the indoor farmers market coming to Atlanta’s Underwood Hills neighborhood.
Summerland Cafe is the first concept to open at the farmers market, which will have a variety of stalls featuring local growers, butchers and other food businesses once it debuts.
Quatrano’s latest endeavor is named after her family farm in Cartersville, Summerland. It offers daily baked goods, savory to-go options, a coffee counter and a dining room and patio, according to a news release.
The menu from Quatrano and executive chef Faye Poon highlights seasonal ingredients with offerings like cottage cheese pancakes with blueberry compote and crème fraîche; an English muffin with herb cream cheese, smoked salmon, pickled spinach, an egg and hollandaise; the Ploughman’s Lunch with rosemary ham, cheddar cheese, Cornichon pickles, a soft boiled farm egg and sourdough; and a chicken schnitzel with summer minestrone and herb butter.
Credit: Courtesy of Summerland
Credit: Courtesy of Summerland
For sweet selections, find a Georgia peanut and popcorn sundae and the Eton mess, a classic British dessert with meringue, berries and Chantilly cream.
A beverage menu will include wine, beer, cocktails, coffee, tea and juices. Expect specialty drinks like the spicy garden tomato juice with peppery tomato, vodka, horseradish and lemon; root juice with carrot, ginger, turmeric, apple, orange and lime; and Summerland tonic with bourbon, ginger beer and grapefruit.
In the fall, Summerland will introduce afternoon tea.
Credit: Courtesy of Summerland
Credit: Courtesy of Summerland
“From the repurposed Summerland Farm fencing to the silo light from my home kitchen, everything at Summerland feels very personal. A bit from restaurants past, aerial photos of the farm and cherished barn photos taken by a friend many years ago,” Quatrano said in a prepared statement.
Summerland Cafe joins Quatrano’s other restaurants, including Michelin-starred Bacchanalia and Star Provisions Market & Cafe.
Her Ponce City Market eatery W.H. Stiles Fish Camp closed last fall as it approached the end of its 10-year lease. In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she said that with the approach of Summerland Cafe, “I just think it’s the right time, and it’s a great transition.”
Summerland Cafe is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. It can be accessed from Upper West Market’s main or market entrances.
1385 Collier Road NW, Atlanta. 404-365-0410, starprovisions.com/summerland
Local bakery announces fundraising efforts
Credit: Phil Skinner
Credit: Phil Skinner
Special Kneads Bakery, a nonprofit bakery that employs adults with special needs, is asking the community for donations to help it through a tough season. Founders Michael and Tempa Kohler shared in a recent video that this summer has proved particularly difficult for the business.
“This summer has been extremely challenging, with many unforeseen building, equipment and other costs that have depleted our funds more rapidly than in the past,” Tempa Kohler said in the video.
As a result, they are hoping to raise $250,000 in donations by the end of the year to help them continue funding their payroll, which is $10,000 a week, Michael Kohler said.
“To be fully transparent, we are in the toughest time we have ever experienced financially,” he said in the video. “And we are asking if you are able to give, please consider giving what you can to help us keep the doors open and continue to be able to do what we do.”
Special Kneads Bakery first opened its bakery in 2014 with the mission of providing adults with special needs meaningful employment and work training. It also operates Cakes for Kiddos, a program that provides free birthday cakes for children of families who can’t afford one. In an update posted to Facebook this week, they shared that they have raised over $55,000 so far.
156 Scenic Highway S, Lawrenceville. 678-237-7147, specialkneadsandtreats.org
Other news of interest
Credit: Courtesy of Mad Hospitality
Credit: Courtesy of Mad Hospitality
The Dining Room and Hart & Crown Tavern in Madison have received Wine Spectator 2026 Awards of Excellence, according to a news release. To qualify for an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator, a restaurant’s wine list must offer at least 75 selections. They are the only Madison restaurants to receive recognition this year.
Both restaurants come from MAD Hospitality, a restaurant group in Madison led by Preston Snyder. The hospitality group’s wine program was developed in collaboration with Georgia master sommelier Michael McNeill. When Snyder was setting out to open the Dining Room and Hart & Crown Tavern, he wanted the wine program to match the restaurants’ culinary offerings, so he reached out to McNeill, whom he knew from working together at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead.
“(The wine program) was designed to offer an Old World-inspired selection of distinctive wines thoughtfully chosen to complement the restaurants’ culinary offerings while introducing guests to labels beyond the familiar,” according to a news release.
Wine Spectator established its Restaurant Awards in 1981 to recognize the world’s best wine lists. It recognizes restaurants that offer a “thoughtfully selected and well-rounded range of choices,” according to the publication.
In total, 70 Georgia restaurants were recognized in the 2026 Restaurant Awards.
Credit: Courtesy of Tip Top Proper Cocktails
Credit: Courtesy of Tip Top Proper Cocktails
Tip Top Proper Cocktails, the Atlanta-based ready-to-drink cocktail brand, won “Ready-to-Drink of the Year” for its Naked & Famous canned beverage at the New Orleans Spirits Competition, presented by Tales of the Cocktail Foundation.
The Naked & Famous, a mezcal-based cocktail with lime, alpine liqueur and aperitivo bitters, also took home “Best Still Agave Cocktail.” Tip Top’s cocktails are developed by Miles Macquarrie of Kimball House.
Restaurant announcements
Subtext, a bookstore cafe and bar, is coming to downtown Atlanta this fall, according to a What Now Atlanta report. There will be a cafe on the first floor and a bookstore and lounge in the basement. It will offer pastries, bagels, sandwiches and a cocktail bar experience in the evening.
342 Marietta St. NW, Atlanta. instagram.com/subtext_atl
Sozou, a contemporary Japanese restaurant from chefs Lisa and Fuyuhiko Ito, will open Aug. 7 in the Ten Twenty Spring building in Midtown, according to a social media announcement. The restaurant joins the married couple’s rooftop bar, Celestia, which opened late last year. Both concepts are part of Midtown’s Spring Quarter, a mixed-use development from developer Portman Holdings.
Sozou offered a glimpse at its menu with featured dishes like black cod miso-yaki, wagyu toban yaki, lobster toban yaki and branzino.
1020 Spring St. NW, Midtown. sozouatl.com
Metro Atlanta restaurant openings
Thyme, a modern American restaurant, has opened in Piedmont Heights, according to a news release. It offers brunch and dinner service with items like wagyu burger sliders, pulled duck confit tacos, Mediterranean lamb chops and Cajun shrimp and chicken alfredo.
1937 Piedmont Circle NE, Atlanta. thymeatl.com
Beyond Juicery + Eatery, a chain offering smoothies, juices, wraps and bowls, has opened a new location in Brookhaven.
4060 Peachtree Road NE, Brookhaven. 404-566-6707, beyondjuiceryeatery.com
Credit: Courtesy of Habaneros
Credit: Courtesy of Habaneros
Habaneros, a Mexican restaurant from Habs Hospitality Group, has opened in Midtown’s Spring Quarter development on the ground floor of the Sora apartment building. This is the first Georgia location for the hospitality group, which operates restaurants in Louisiana. Expect dishes like crawfish nachos, short rib al carbon, rib eye poblano, enchiladas del mar and charred grilled octopus.
1000 Spring St. NW, Atlanta. 404-975-3575, habanerosrestaurants.com
Refuge Coffee Co., a cafe that uses its coffee shops to offer job training for resettled refugees and other immigrants in Georgia, has opened its newest location in Decatur’s Lulah Hills development. The cafe offers a variety of coffee and tea drinks and pastries.
3861 N. Druid Hills Road, Decatur. 404-295-5247, refugecoffeeco.com
Metro Atlanta restaurant closures
Credit: Courtesy of Not As Famous Cookie Company
Credit: Courtesy of Not As Famous Cookie Company
Not As Famous Cookie Company announced on social media it is closing its Smyrna brick-and-mortar on Aug. 2 after five and a half years of business. The cookie shop will return to its roots as a food truck and will focus on private events, catering and some public events.
“The past two years have been tough. The economy has hit small businesses hard — sales have slowed while costs have continued to rise. We tried everything we could. But we have reached a point where we cannot continue at this rate and remain sustainable,” the business wrote in a statement.
Maple Street Biscuit Company has closed its west Midtown location. This closure comes after Maple Street, a subsidiary of Cracker Barrel, was acquired by Kentucky-based brunch chain Biscuit Belly, according to a report by Nation’s Restaurant News. Over the next two years, 35 Maple Street locations will be converted to the Biscuit Belly brand and will share its menu. Meanwhile, Cracker Barrel is closing the remaining 16 Maple Street locations, including the west Midtown eatery, according to Tomorrow’s News Today.
Four other Maple Street locations remain in metro Atlanta, including in Kennesaw, Duluth, Woodstock and Alpharetta.
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