October 2024
Features
The Big Green Egg turns 50: Inside its eggstensive cult following
As Big Green Egg celebrates its 50th birthday this year, the company recognizes that its success has as much to do with its exceptionally devoted fanbase as it does with the cooker itself. They go by the term Eggheads (naturally), and are so taken with their object of affection that they often refer to themselves, unashamedly, as a cult.
Atlanta’s Best New Restaurants of 2024
A recent industry report from the National Restaurant Association confirms what you already know: Costs (food and labor) are up, staffing is an issue, competition is fierce, consumers want value, and, yes, people still love restaurants. Eating out offers respite from cooking at home but also comfort, entertainment, connection, and discovery of new tastes and cultures. Bottom line: Y’all still want what restaurants have to offer. And we want you to enjoy the best experiences out there. So read on, take notes, and prepare to dine.
The Connector
At Deerlick Astronomy Village in Taliaferro County, the nights are long, dark, and starry
“There’s nothing quite like the beauty of a spectacular night sky,” says Atlanta astronomer Ed Albin. He’s lucky enough to see one a few times a month at the Deerlick Astronomy Village in Taliaferro County, about 100 miles east of Atlanta. There, one can find some of the darkest skies on the entire East Coast, […]
Atlanta Freedom Bands will be the grand marshals at this year’s Atlanta Pride Festival
Atlanta Freedom Bands, which began in 1994, will serve for the first time as grand marshals at this year’s Atlanta Pride Festival, taking place October 12 and 13. Each year, several people and organizations are nominated by their community and chosen as Pride grand marshals based on their contributions to LGBTQ+ life; other marshals this year include Dr. Elijah Nicholas, founder of The Global Trans Equity Project, and the local nonprofit Lost-n-Found Youth.
Into the nethers of Netherworld: Behind the curtains at the house of horrors
“I’m sorry for the mess,” Ben Armstrong says to me, stepping over a zombie head and vampire dress that still need gluing. We’re walking through one of this season’s attractions, Wake the Dead, where apocalyptic warriors must seal the Netherworld from element-stealing ghosts. Netherworld’s haunts change each year, building on decades of proprietary lore.
Peter Essick’s photography glimpses a changing city from above
During the pandemic Peter Essick, an award-winning photographer who often shoots for National Geographic, was spending a lot of time on the road. Commuting regularly from his home in Stone Mountain for a project at the Fernbank Museum in North Druid Hills, Essick began to notice all the construction projects popping up along the route. “From the road, all that construction wasn’t that visually interesting,” Essick says. “But then I started thinking, what would it look like from a drone?” With that idea, a new project was born.
RobertKent Galleries celebrates its big move
A little over a year ago, Robert Kent Tuchman wondered if moving his Marietta-based RobertKent Galleries from 85 Church Street to 145 Church Street was the right decision. True, it wasn’t far—just a dozen-odd doors down the street—but number 85 had been a good fit for six years. Then he saw his own initials, RKT, carved into the pavement behind the building at the proposed spot, and fate seemed sealed.
The Bite
The verdict on 3 new Atlanta restaurants: Dumpling Factory, La Glorieta, and Nàdair
A dumpling haven brings Buford Highway favorites to West Marietta Street, a welcoming spot for sampling Honduran street food, and an ode to Scottish and Southern cooking from Kevin Gillespie.
Nathu’s serves up pyrotechnics on a plate
You can hear, smell, and feel a sizzler long before it gets to your table. Served on a screaming-hot metal platter, sizzlers consist of a charred main dish and several colorful sides that arrive in a cloud of smoke, crackling and broiling. Nathu’s in northeast Decatur offers several varieties of the dish, all in a classic Indo-Chinese style—a fusion cuisine that combines Indian flavors with Chinese cooking techniques.
Review: Two Fish Myanmar is reborn in a new Clarkston location
Two Burmese refugees who came to Atlanta via Malaysia started cooking and serving brilliant meals out of their home in 2020. I became a devotee of Two Fish Myanmar and started going at least once a week to sit at the kitchen counter or the lone picnic table in the shadow of a big oak tree. Yapar Shel; his wife, Roi San; and their two daughters finally have the brick-and-mortar restaurant they have been dreaming of.
The Goods
David Cross refuses to sit down
Atlanta is where David Cross’s love of comedy first blossomed. Years before he rose to fame with the screwball sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David, and as Tobias Fünke in Arrested Development, Cross was a student at the former Northside High School. He calls its specialist performance arts program, now defunct, “a lifesaver.”
Michelle Malone’s new album draws from her musical roots—and some notable guest stars
Michelle Malone’s new album, Southern Comfort, features five songs cowritten with Dean Dillon, anchored by “I Choke on My Words.” It was the second tune she wrote with him. Malone envisioned it as a humorous look at the crazy things she did in her youth, sparked by longtime fans who sometimes remind her of past antics.
Nic Morgan of Hireth Jewelry on the power of a good skull ring
This time of year, the sheer volume of Halloween goods can make the macabre feel mundane. And yet, for those whose spooky sensibilities know no season, it can be difficult to find quality items more in the tradition of a memento mori than a winking “witch’s brew” wineglass. Enter Nic Morgan of Hireth Jewelry, a talented metalsmith creating wearable works of art primarily in silver and polished stone. Hireth’s motifs revolve around the natural world—living and dead—with a touch of the supernatural.
Miscellaneous
Editor’s Journal: The joy of discovering a new favorite restaurant
It was a cold, rainy Saturday night, and we wanted some comfort food. At the time, I lived in Rhode Island. My girlfriend and I set out for Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill in Providence, a street chock-full of some of the best Italian restaurants in America. Federal Hill was also known as the home of the New England Mafia. The two sometimes commingled: There were restaurants where mob figures had been taken out by a hitman in the middle of the spaghetti course.
A love letter to Houston’s burger
Andrew Knowlton, the former deputy editor of Bon Appétit, who was raised in Atlanta, called it “one of the best cheeseburgers on the planet” in his 2016 ode to the Hillstone Restaurant Group. As a restaurant critic, I have eaten a lot of great burgers around the world, but the Houston’s burger is something special.