Photograph by Raymond McCrea Jones
Atlanta’s dining scene has been bereft of French refinement since the closure of Joël on Northside Parkway in 2010. But there is hope. Across the country, revolutionary French cooking is staging a comeback. In Atlanta, that revival has arrived inside the recently transformed Hotel Clermont and directly above the lovably grungy Clermont Lounge. Yes, the French resurgence has materialized above a strip club. The restaurant even bears the name of a dancer who once disrobed in that space. Based on the descriptions alone, many of Tiny Lou’s dishes come across as rich and traditional, but chef Jeb Aldrich’s food possesses far more restraint than those phrases suggest. A mastery of sauces is part of what makes the kitchen so good, as evidenced by the harissa beurre monte that graces a whole-roasted loup de mer. Whatever you order, don’t skip dessert. Claudia Martinez is the rare pastry chef who can fashion a brown-butter blondie that pays proper homage to Blondie herself, the downstairs lounge’s most endearing star. 789 Ponce de Leon Avenue, 470-485-0085, tinylous.com
