Korean fried chicken: Thank U Chicken
Enter Thank U Chicken and you feel as if you’ve been teleported to Seoul, where frying chicken is almost a sport.
Caretaker: Steve Palmer
There are many heroes in our local food community, but this shout-out goes to the Indigo Road Restaurant Group’s Steve Palmer, who brought a chapter of his organization Ben’s Friends here in April.
Homecoming: Shaun Doty
Chef Doty is back in the kitchen again at the Federal, a bistro-cum-steakhouse that he and partner Lance Gummere opened in Midtown late last year.
Colorists: Jenn Jones, Amber Casciano, and Lindsey Wiseman
Hair feeling dull? Check out these three Atlanta colorists.
Neighborhood gem: Blue Heron Nature Preserve
This greenspace—which considers itself a “haven for nature in an urban environment”—dates back to the 1800s, when North Buckhead was home to the Creek Indians.
Empire builder: Revelator Coffee Company
The fast-expanding Birmingham, Alabama–based roaster hasn’t put its name above any of the Octane coffee shops it acquired in April, but its products are on the shelves.
Barbecue: B’s Cracklin’
This Atlanta location of pitmaster Bryan Furman’s barbecue joint—the original is in Savannah—couldn’t have been more warmly embraced by Riverside, a neighborhood in need of choice dining options.
Refresh: Sabot
In its new Powers Ferry Center digs, Sabot is as chic as ever, with established cool-kid lines like Loeffler Randall and Rachel Comey, along with niche lines you can’t find anywhere else in Atlanta.
Pop-up: Talat Market
Parnass Savang serves Thai-inspired dinners three nights a week at Gato in Candler Park, quietly revolutionizing what Atlanta thought of this nation’s cuisine.
Neighborhood gem: Brine Seafood Shack
Marc Taft is wooing fans with oysters and crab cakes at this modern two-story structure—definitely not a shack—plunked in the middle of the ritzy new Avalon extension last April.