The thoughtful design of this newcomer’s dining room—red banquettes with granite tables, decorative bamboo, old prints of the southern city Chennai (formerly called Madras)—reminds me that one of my top five wishes for Atlanta in the coming decade is a truly fine-dining Indian restaurant. The restaurant opened in July, but early highlights include lamb Chettinad, creamy with coconut; tiny Indian eggplants in a tomato and tamarind curry; and medhu vadas, spice-infused doughnuts fried to crispiness and bathed in sambar and chutney.

4305 State Bridge Road, Alpharetta, 678-393-0044, madraschettinaad.com