STG Trattoria

What a casual, welcome departure for the Buckhead restaurant scene. Brian Lewis, owner of Westside’s Bocado, brings modern Italian dining to a redeveloped shopping center next to the St. Regis Atlanta. A narrow entrance hallway flanked with wine bottles leads to a breezy, open room dominated by central communal seating. Executive chef Joshua Hopkins (formerly of Abattoir) heads a kitchen that specializes in Neapolitan-style pizzas baked in wood-burning ovens, but the cooks also produce lovely small plates like anchovies and veal tongue on toast, as well as a short list of pastas.

The beverage program is equally impressive, featuring an all-Italian wine list presented on an iPad and surprisingly light cocktails based on amaros, herbal Italian digestifs.