Tag: Empire State South

Less than one year in, Hugh Acheson’s Mexican restaurant Cinco y Diez has closed. There’s no word on what Acheson—chef and founder of Empire State South, the National, and the Florence—and business partner Melissa Clegg—founder of Last Resort Grill—will do with the now defunct restaurant space.

Change is again on the horizon at Empire State South. Executive pastry chef Melanie Durant has accepted an offer to launch a pastry program at Fig in Charleston, where she’ll extend the eatery’s award-winning seasonal and local approach to the dessert menu. Durant led the ESS pastry team following Cynthia Wong’s departure in 2012, who moved to London taking the beloved phatty cakes with her. Ryan Smith, who previously ran the kitchen, will step in as the temporary pastry chef.

Wine may look impervious in its thick glass bottles, but it is sensitive stuff. Once it’s uncorked, oxygen will drive even the most elegant quaff toward vinegary ruin. Most restaurants, including those serious about their beverage programs, restrict what they offer by the glass, reserving the pricier, more finessed wines for the bottle list.

Culinary students may still squeeze themselves into the stiff white chefs coat, long the industry’s de rigueur uniform. But the new must-have garb, particularly among Atlanta’s male chefs who have made it to the top of the food chain, is the designer apron.

Good news: more details have surfaced on Hugh Acheson’s next restaurant, the Florence. The chef/owner is expanding to Savannah in a historic building at One West Victory Drive with an Italian restaurant. Acheson hopes to open in May, and Kyle Jacovino, previously of Acheson restaurants Five & Ten and Empire State South, will be the executive chef.

What, exactly, is in a cocktail name? Bartenders can be both inspired to name their drinks, and flummoxed by the pressure of capturing its spirit. Names can either entice or detract guests from ordering, so the decision usually comes with considerable thought. I spoke with two barkeeps about their process.

As the saying goes, you win some, and you lose some. This year we saw famed mixologists leave their longtime outposts, award-winning chefs open new “it” spots, and the restaurant community band together to help one of their own. As we welcome in the new year, we pause to take a look back at what happened in 2013.

This year I explored more wine shops and delved into more wine lists than my wallet preferred. As happens when one delves into any subject matter seriously, patterns start to emerge. You notice certain bottles and varietals cropping up around town both on store shelves and on restaurant menus. You know when a distributor is trying to move product by selling cases of wine at discounted prices to various shops (queue an email from multiple wine shops alerting you to a special deal). You also know when you're drinking something that nobody else carries.

In this weekly column, Evan Mah asks Atlanta’s sharpest wine minds about all things vino. What’s Karthäuserhof? Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg? Kabinett? If you don’t know, ask Steven Grubbs.On a recent Sunday afternoon at Empire State South, Grubbs is leaning into a booth, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a dark tattoo sprawling down his arm. The subject of talk is Rieslings, a grape varietal from Germany noted for its high levels of acidity, complexity and warm honey bouquet. And it is clear in this moment that nobody in this city loves this often-misunderstood grape more than he does.