Modern Mexican cuisine in the heart of downtown by Besha Rodell Is there really any way to improve on guacamole? Of course there are bad versions of guacamole, made with subpar ingredients or too many spices.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Buckhead gets a global option at Phipps Plaza by Besha Rodell Shopping and dining. It was never a concept that held much appeal to me, and yet it’s a revered tradition, particularly among ladies of leisure.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Finding the right ‘barstaurant’ by Eric Celeste It was the Tex-Mex place that sent me over the edge. The Tweet from WhatNowAtlanta.com came over the transom explaining that a Tex-Mex restaurant was scheduled to open near Seventh and Peachtree streets, two blocks from my apartment and smack-dab in the middle of Midtown.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Late-night dining in East Atlanta Village by Besha Rodell I’m sitting at a table on a patio surrounded by graffiti on one of the coldest nights of the year. It’s a patio but not a patio in that it has walls, wooden walls, but they’re not really walls, not in the traditional sense.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Chef Art Smith’s new restaurant in the InterContinental Buckhead by Besha Rodell It is an act of supreme hubris to waltz into Atlanta and presume to have something to tell us about Southern food. Of course, it can be done.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Channeling Spain with tapas, wine and fun in Inman Park by Besha Rodell Step into Barcelona Wine Bar and it hits you immediately — that crackle in the air, that new restaurant excitement. I have missed that excitement during these long dark months of recession and restaurant stagnation.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Richard Blais brings cheap fun to Poncey-Highland by Besha Rodell I understand the merit of a good burger. A good burger, at its best, is a celebration of grease and meat: the mighty, juicy yawp of carnivorism and calorific glory.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Can the grande dame of Atlanta fine dining retain its reputation as the best the city has to offer? by Besha Rodell Bacchanalia, the restaurant that is widely touted as Atlanta’s best, exists in a kind of vacuum. As the restaurant landscape around it changes, Bacchanalia remains steady, a pure distillation of chef/owners Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison’s vision.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Inventive Italian comes to Sandy Springs by Besha Rodell Cibo E Beve has been a long time coming for chef Linda Harrell. For the past four years, Harrell has been working as the culinary director for Meehan’s Public House, but in many ways that was just a placeholder of a job for her.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

A suburban French steakhouse sexes up Johns Creek by Besha Rodell Pulling into the parking lot of Viande Rouge, in a strip mall in Johns Creek, it would be possible to mistake the restaurant for a “spa.” Yeah, that kind of spa.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]