Scarlett O’Hara had a 22-inch waist, so she probably didn’t eat much grits and gravy, but her rotund Aunt Pittypat and other Atlantans of those days probably did. That was the Old South cuisine of the era and many years afterwards.
But look at those tables now. To say palates have lifted is an understatement. Atlanta foods used to be elaborately presented, sauced and covered in carbs, but now they are all about simplicity that features high quality and fresh ingredients.
Many locals credit Guenther Seeger, former chef at The Dining Room in The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, with starting the whole Atlanta cuisine change thing in the past couple of decades. Seeger built that Ritz restaurant into one of the country’s few Mobil Five Star restaurants, and it remains at the top with Arnaud Berthelier at the helm. The 1996 Summer Olympics were also a catalyst, a push for the city to become global in its outlook, says Shaun Doty, owner of Shaun’s, a casual bistro in the historic near-downtown Inman Park neighborhood, and one of the city’s several local Seeger-trained culinarians.
“Today, you could put many of our restaurants in New York or Chicago and they wouldn’t miss a beat,” he says. “And the tab would be about half what you’d see in those other cities.
“Seeger pioneered organic eating at The Ritz,” Doty continues. “He began working with local farmers and distributors about 15 years ago, and now seasonal ingredients are what discriminating clients expect.”
Atlanta chefs now know how organic and fresh enhances the dining experience, Doty adds, and the local market for artesenal cheeses and breads is certainly small by comparison with cities in Europe, but they are much more available than they were a dozen years ago.
“The trend has even trickled down to Wal-Mart and Costco, where you can find fine wines,” Doty offers. “Those companies have huge buying power, and if the demand is there they will offer them.”
Hot hotels are elevating Atlanta’s wow factor, too, along with the evolving culinary scene. Joining the four-star Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta, Midtown’s luxury W Atlanta Midtown opens this year; Hotel Palomar Atlanta debuts in 2009; and the 414-room Loews Atlanta Hotel will welcome guests in 2010. At the higher end of the market, Mandarin Oriental Hotel will appear on the downtown scene in 2010, and The Georgian Terrace Hotel plans a renovation and repositioning for entry into the five-star lux category.
The city’s new lodgings are just one indicator of local hotel developer interest in innovation and expansion. Indeed, Atlanta hotel developers have birthed some of the country’s hottest new industry brands, such as NYLO, Capella, Solis, TWELVE, and Hotel Indigo.
Meanwhile, culinary creativity continues in center city at tables like The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta’s Atlanta Grill. Dubbed one of the city’s “Hot Chefs of 2007” by Atlanta Peach Magazine, the Grill’s Chef Bennett Hollberg is making his mark with “regional cuisine that’s based on foods and cooking techniques indigenous to the area.”
“The perfect dish starts with perfect products, then the preparations must be at the same high level,” Hollberg says. “I like Southern techniques such as grilling, braising and pickling, and have incorporated them into my menus at Atlanta Grill.”
With fresh ingredients, as well as fresh perspectives, reshaping its culinary scene, the “Capital of the New South” is setting the table for a feast that Scarlett and her yesteryear set wouldn’t recognize.
But as Vivien Leigh said in the movie, “As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again!”
