Tag: Drew Belline

Just in time for its 10th anniversary, Ford Fry's Decatur staple, No. 246, is ditching its modern, California-Italian roots for a nostalgic throwback to "red-sauce" dining rooms of the 1970s.

Eight restaurants strong and at least four more in the works, chef Ford Fry is quickly growing one of the largest restaurant empires in the city. His latest announcement has him partnering with long-time Four Seasons chef Robert Gerstenecker on Bar Margot, opening September 28.

Taste of Atlanta is only a couple of weeks away. This year’s food fest, held October 25 through 27 at Tech Square, features samples from more than ninety local restaurants, four stages of cooking demonstrations, a barcraft competition, and a “Taste Revival” kickoff event hosted by Ron Eyester of Rosebud, the Family Dog, and Timone’s.

Drew Belline celebrates New Year’s Day like any slightly superstitious Southerner—with family, friends, football, and a feast that includes the requisite black-eyed peas and collards for prosperity.

I thought I'd stumbled onto a private party for the local food glitterati the first time I visited Decatur's No. 246 in July. It was the restaurant's inaugural Monday, six days after opening for business. The full house generated such a clamor that the noise bouncing off the white brick walls vibrated in my hands and feet as well as my ears. High-profile chefs like Kevin Rathbun and Empire State South’s Ryan Smith shouted happily, twirling pastas and sharing pizzas among wine distributors and off-duty managers and servers from other restaurants. What drew them—and the unremitting crowds that have shown up night after night since then—so immediately?