Saltwood opened yesterday at the Loews Hotel in Midtown. Replacing Eleven, the Southern spot aims to be “a more casual, neighborhood option” with a focus on charcuterie, says Michael Kochie, director of sales and marketing at the Loews. It will serve three meals a day, plus weekend brunch, and feature small plates made with local ingredients.
Executive chef Olivier Gaupin, a native of France and one of only four chefs in Georgia to carry the Maitres Cuisiniers de France (Master Chef of France) distinction, will lead the kitchen, making items such as lamb belly with golden quinoa and Forbidden Rice Risotto with lobster and pea tendrils.
“For inspiration, I go back to the basics. I cook what I know best and use my background along with Southern influences,” Gaupin says. “The charcuterie and cheese station is the centerpiece of the restaurant, but I want to come up with new recipes, specials, amuses.”
Saltwood will make about half of its charcuterie in house, including duck sausage, pate, and foie gras, and is working with the Spotted Trotter for the rest. Georgia-based creamery Banner Butter will be supplying seasonal accompaniments like apricot butter in the spring, peach butter in the summer, and apple butter in the winter. Holeman & Finch will supply breads like yeast rolls.
Courtesy of Sara Hanna Photography
“We won’t have things like a French baguette—we’re focusing on what we do in the South,” Gaupin says.
Designed for communal eating, Saltwood’s small plates will cost $8 to $10 for appetizers and $12-$14 for “more powerful items.” Eleven’s popular salad bar will return during lunch service, along with a sandwich of the day. Options may include short rib with Brie, arugula, and pickled onions, and shrimp salad with fresh shrimp caught off the Georgia coast or the Florida Panhandle. Gaupin describes the breakfast menu as “traditional,” but notes that it will include some of the house-made sausages to “keep with the personality of Saltwood.” Expect fried chicken and biscuits with gravy, and grilled sausage with fried onions and scrambled eggs for brunch.
At the bar, Saltwood will serve SweetWater, Second Self, Wild Heaven, and Terrapin. All the wines will be domestic, including a few from North Georgia. Craft cocktails will focus on moonshine and include the Oh My Darlin’ (Bear Creek apple pie moonshine, ginger ale, and cantaloupe) and To Confessional (Bulleit rye, Benedictine, fresh lemon, and lime).
“Eleven had the perception of a classic hotel restaurant,” Kochie says. “Saltwood is a restaurant that just happens to be inside a hotel.”
