This week on the metro Atlanta dining scene, Heritage set an opening date in Summerhill, La Semilla introduced a new brunch service, Aria hired two well-known beverage professionals and more.
Heritage brick-and-mortar opens Thursday
What began as chef Demetrius Brown’s pop-up Heritage Supper Club will open as a permanent restaurant in Atlanta’s Summerhill neighborhood Thursday.
The team behind Heritage announced the opening earlier this week. The restaurant continues the partnership between Brown and Brandon Blanchard, a restaurant consultant who worked with the chef for years before they acquired Bread & Butterfly in Inman Park and formed their own restaurant group, Bellevue Hospitality.
Heritage will offer both a seasonal chef’s tasting menu and an a la carte menu focused on African, Caribbean and Afro-American cuisine, according to a news release. Keyatta Mincey developed the restaurant’s beverage program.
“Heritage will be more than a restaurant; it will be a place where connections near and far are cultivated,” Brown said in a statement. “We want to dispel the notion that the food of the African Diaspora is unfamiliar. The purpose of Heritage is to be an incubator for the revolution of the culinary industry far and wide by bringing more visibility to flavors found in African and Caribbean cuisine.”
63 Georgia Ave. SE, Atlanta. 470-567-3054, heritagesupperclub.com
Other items of interest
La Semilla, the popular vegan restaurant in Reynoldstown, will introduce regular Sunday brunch service this weekend. A test run of brunch at the restaurant brought long lines, restaurant representatives said, so consider arriving early. La Semilla will serve brunch from 11:30 a.m. — 2:30 p.m. Sundays.
780 Memorial Drive SE, Atlanta. 404-228-3090, lasemilla.kitchen
Credit: Brandon Amato
Credit: Brandon Amato
Aria, the Buckhead fine dining restaurant, has added bartender Eric Simpkins and sommelier Princeton Saunders to its staff. The new hires join executive chef Austin Goetzman, whose appointment was announced in June. Simpkins has tended many well-respected bars around Atlanta and last worked at Nadair, the Scottish-themed fine dining restaurant opened by chef Kevin Gillespie that closed earlier this year. Saunders spent 15 years at Miller Union, the acclaimed Southern farm-to-table restaurant in West Midtown.
490 E. Paces Ferry Road NE, Atlanta. 404-233-7673, aria-atl.com
Baraonda, the Sandy Springs Italian restaurant that closed in August, was sold to the Columbia, South Carolina-based company Korbiz Hospitality Group, according to Atlanta restaurant brokerage the Schumacher Group. The space will be transformed into a new location of MOA Korean Bistro, the group’s Korean barbecue concept. The group also owns 929 Kitchen in Columbia, a Korean restaurant “with a modern fusion twist,” per the website.
6075 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs. moakoreanbbq.com
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Atlantic Station has a new management team, property representatives announced this week. Trademark Property Co. assumed management of the mixed-use development at the beginning of the month, according to a news release. The new team is led by general manager Sean McIntosh, who previously worked as assistant general manager at Atlantic Station from 2006 to 2013.
When the year began, Atlantic Station looked forward to several new restaurant openings, including Ikara, Gocha’s All Day and the highly anticipated full-service location of the Busy Bee Cafe. So far, only Ikara has opened, in the base of the Twelve Midtown hotel.
Metro Atlanta restaurant openings & announcements
J. Alexander’s opened Monday in Peachtree City, according to a news release. It is the restaurant chain’s fourth metro Atlanta location and its 41st across the country.
100 Market Place Blvd., Peachtree City. 678-360-4607, jalexanders.com
Credit: Henri Hollis
Credit: Henri Hollis
Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza, the Miami-based chain, opened its newest Atlanta location Tuesday in Inman Park, the restaurant announced on social media.
299 N. Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta. 770-431-1500, mistero1.com
Ruby Chow’s will open a second location, in West Midtown, next year, restaurant representatives confirmed in an email. The new restaurant will set up shop on Trabert Avenue, part of the corridor for the Atlanta Beltline’s Northwest Trail near The Grove by Monday Night Brewing.
739 Trabert Ave. NW, Atlanta. rubychows.com
Nicky’s Undefeated, the Tucker restaurant specializing in cheesesteaks and hoagies, will open a second location, in Kennesaw, this month, with a soft opening beginning this weekend. “For all of our north metro Atlanta fans that have been trekking to Tucker for two years, we’ll be closer now,” the restaurant shared in a Facebook post.
1300 Ernest W. Barrett NW Suite 310, Kennesaw. 470-412-0600, nickysundefeated.com
Metro Atlanta restaurant closings
Birria El Gordo closed Thursday after more than six years in business, the Marietta restaurant announced on social media. “Unfortunately, the continued rise in food costs and the overall cost of operating a restaurant have made it impossible for us to continue the business,” the announcement said.
Bon Ton, the Viet-Cajun restaurant in Midtown known for its fried seafood feasts and strong cocktails, announced on social media it would be closing at the end of the month. “We’re not slipping out the back door quietly — we’re throwing a full-blown month long victory lap,” the announcement said. “Come pull up a stool, get grease on your hands, and toast to nine glorious years of beautiful chaos.”
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