RESTAURANT REVIEW:
I had been wanting to try this place ever since the good folks at Atlanta Cuisine started talking about it. As you can imagine, my list of restaurants to visit is exceedingly long. I got over there at the beginning of the week with a friend. The restaurant is very well-designed-it manages to feel country, modern, and chic with minimal effort--perhaps it is the space, which has inhabited such doomed restaurants as Commune and Sampan. The table settings are simple--they use dish towels for napkins...a design element I always love for some reason. The servers' station (pictured above) is situated in the center of the dining room on top of a rustic table. There is a large pot on top of the table, which holds ice and chilled bottles of tap water-nice touch. The menu is quite extensive and runs the gamut from salads to seafood stew with Georgia shrimp. I ordered the peach/mango ice tea and the fried chicken--I have been on a quest ever since my story for Atlanta INtown Paper. My friend ordered the open-faced pulled pork sandwich.

Fried chicken: My fried chicken had very little flavor--if they brine it, they need to do it a bit longer and the breading needed a bit more seasoning as well. It did, however, taste like they were using fresh oil--a big plus in my book. The mac was more of a cream sauce with very little cheese or seasoning-there were some nice fried bits of crust sprinkled over the mac and cheese. The green beans were perfectly cooked and seasoned. Quite crisp and garlicky.

Smoked pork shoulder sandwich: My friend got the pulled pork sandwich which was very tasty. The bread tasted like it had been made that morning and the pork was smoky, sweet, tangy, and tender--really well done. The fries tasted freshly made-I would go back for the fries alone.

Banana cream pie: The pie was good. Impossibly flaky crust and I liked the bruleed bananas. The filling could have used a bit more bananas, but was pretty good overall.

Verdict: I really like the way the place is decorated. I think they will do well in Atlanta. There were some other things on the menu that looked good.It was all just a smidge above average, but I am not writing it off yet.

RESTAURANT INFORMATION:
Address: 1198 Howell Mill Road
Phone: (404) 355-2252