Photograph courtesy of Hen Mother Cookhouse
Longtime diners of Hen Mother Cookhouse in Johns Creek know certain truths: You can’t make a reservation and you’ll probably have to wait, the pastries sell out quickly, and chef-owner Soraya Khoury moves to the beat of her own drum. It’s why, despite years of pleas from guests, she wasn’t in any rush to open a second location. “I was like, This is actually impossible. There’s no way to do it,” she recalls. The right opportunity finally came long, however, and on Friday, October 4, Hen Mother’s second location will open in downtown Alpharetta at 50 South Main Street. It’s twice the size of the original location at 110 seats and brings new offerings to the table.
Located in the 1912-built Jones House (the former site of Restaurant Holmes), the new location struck all the right notes for Khoury. “We were really particular. I wanted to be close to home. I want to be home for my kids at night,” she says. In-town options were financially enticing, but too far out of range. Khoury had long admired the Jones House and when it became available, it made perfect sense. “I loved the space, and I was envious of this amazing historic house being a restaurant,” says Khoury, who inked the deal almost a year ago.
Photograph by Lia Picard
Photograph courtesy of Hen Mother Cookhouse
While the house had great bones, Khoury infused it with personal touches. She started by painting the walls in Raging Sea by Sherwin-Williams, a green more soothing than its name suggests, and hiring artist Aliya Smith to paint a purple and yellow floral mural on the ceiling in the back dining room, as well as a wallpaper-like pattern of yellow California poppies in the front room. Like the original location, homey touches like plants and knickknacks that add to the Hen Mother charm weave throughout. “I refurbished some of the existing tables that were in the restaurant. We got all of our chairs off Facebook marketplace and redid those. I just repainted them,” says Khoury. Keep an eye on the plates too, many of which were sourced from Goodwill or gifted to the restaurant by regulars. “I unboxed a box that someone gave me a year and a half ago of their grandma’s China,” says Khoury.
Photograph courtesy of Hen Mother Cookhouse
Photograph courtesy of Hen Mother Cookhouse
Photograph by Lia Picard
When it comes to the menu, guests can expect to find most of the same items as the Johns Creek location, with the exception of the energy bowl and a more streamlined omelette offering. Exclusive to the Alpharetta location are the breakfast tacos and oat pancakes, as well as the addition of chicken and tuna salad sandwiches at lunch. This location also boasts a cocktail menu with drinks like “brunch punch” (rum and strawberry-arbol syrup) and an espresso “frapp-ini.” For Khoury, a basic espresso martini wouldn’t do: “I don’t like espresso martinis, and every one that we were working on, I hated,” she says. “I would wake up in the middle of the night and be like, No, this is a breakfast restaurant, the breakfast martini has to be f**king delicious.” She ultimately settled on a drink akin to an Italian frappé made with Nescafe instant coffee and vodka.
Photograph by Lia Picard
Photograph by Lia Picard
The new location packs an emotional punch for Khoury, who lost her father in 2010. “For some reason with the Alpharetta opening, I’m thinking of him more and more,” she says. “Probably because I know he’d be proud of us and because one of his biggest dreams was always to open a restaurant.” She translated those feelings into a cool piece of merch by incorporating a vintage poster from one of his grocery stores—featuring items like spare ribs and ground beef and their old-school prices ($.89 per pound for beef?!)—into a t-shirt sold only at that location. The poster got a Hen Mother twist (the bologna, for example, was replaced with a cinnamon roll) but it’s a way to honor her entrepreneurial father that kickstarted her culinary journey. “It just feels right,” Khoury says. “I feel I so inclined to just commemorate my dad with this restaurant.”
