On the final afternoon of last year’s Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, comments began popping up on Twitter. “Goodbye to a great food city and the festival that brought it to the world. I’ll never miss this one again,” tweeted Josh Ozersky, a food columnist for Time magazine. Raphael Brion, national editor for Eater.com, posted, “Atlanta is a great food town and has an equally great food fest.” I felt something between pride and vindication. Craving respect is encoded in our city’s DNA, and this four-day event, in only its second year, was emerging as the culinary ambassador that we’ve long needed. Read More

Saltyard—the small plates restaurant by La Grotta managing partner Christian Favalli and his wife, Kristy Jones-Favalli—is scheduled to open in the coming weeks in the Brookwood building on Peachtree Street. Read More

According to Benjamin Castro, the new executive chef at the Mill Kitchen & Bar in Roswell, the restaurant’s opening chef, Marc Taft (chef/owner of Chicken and the Egg in Marietta) “had a tantrum and walked out in the middle of a shift” about two weeks ago. Castro did not see the event firsthand but instead is relying on what he heard from his staff. Taft, however, says a difference in philosophies with the owners led him to leave the restaurant without notice after multiple attempts to work out their differences. Taft denies having a temper tantrum and says he absolutely completed his shift. Read More

Here’s a number to consider: Ten million people work in the United States restaurant industry. That’s one in ten of us. Now, more than ever, Americans are dining out, usually without knowing tipped workers earn a minimum wage of only $2.13 per hour in most states, including Georgia. Author and activist Saru Jayaraman wants diners to know the real cost of such low wages. Read More

Nikolai’s Roof is hosting a wine dinner Friday with pairings from the Beaux Freres Vineyard in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The $180 cost includes a champagne reception followed by a four-course dinner. To attend, call 404.221.6362. Read More

4th & Swift. Bocado. Flip Burger Boutique. Local Three. Holeman & Finch Public House. Miller Union. Gunshow. These restaurants may all look different, have different menus, and serve different facets of the community, but they have one thing in common: They were designed by ai3. Read More

Ford Fry’s highly anticipated open-hearth cooking restaurant, King and Duke, opens Monday in the space formerly home to Nava in Buckhead. With a 65-seat patio facing Peachtree Street, customized Elijah Craig bourbon labels, and a private dining room hidden by a belted door (see more of that below), this restaurant is drawing attention from all over. Executive chef Joe Schafer spared a few minutes between completing mock dinner service and preparing for today’s Friends and Family lunch to give us a glimpse into King Duke’s menu and more. Read More

Maureen Kalmanson, founder of Campagnolo and the recently closed Peasant Bistro, is set to open another restaurant this month in what some might consider a doomed location late: the freestanding building on 10th Street between Peachtree and Juniper streets that previously housed the short-lived Mint3 Thai & Sushi Bar, and Tenth Thai Cuisine & Lounge before it. Kalmanson named her forthcoming venture, Henry’s Midtown Tavern, after her dog. Read More

Sunday at 8 p.m. Inman Park restaurant P’cheen quietly closed its doors and will reopen tomorrow. During this brief closure, Jeff Myers of Top Flr and the Sound Table is working with P’cheen owner and executive chef Alex Friedman to reinvent P’cheen’s menu, focusing on sharable plates inspired by Octopus Bar. Proof and Provision’s Nate Shuman is consulting on a revamped moonshine cocktail list. Read More