Woodfire Grill

Chef and co-owner Kevin Gillespie made a star turn on Top Chef, but the boon for Atlantans is that his food is way more thrilling to eat than to watch on TV. You can taste his affection for the South in plates such as boneless circles of wood-grilled local quail arranged over sweet potato puree glossed with brown butter.

Expect similar dishes wrought with equal parts intelligence and soulfulness, but don’t hope for that exact entree: Gillespie constantly rotates his menu to reflect the ingredients he procures from nearby farms.

Photo by John Autry and Charlotte Fekete