By Art Huckabee
Restaurants are a lot like books. They can take us to faraway places and teach us a lot about other peoples and their cultures. They can entertain us and give us a welcome respite in our otherwise hectic lives. They can make us feel better about ourselves and encourage us to be healthier. And sometimes, they can just make us laugh and wonder, “What the heck was the author trying to say?”
King + Duke, chef and restaurateur Ford Fry’s latest addition to the Atlanta food scene, is a little of all of the above. The eatery takes its name from two fictional characters in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It’s not clear whether or not the restaurant knew the nefarious nature of these two characters or not, more likely it’s just the first of many whimsical nods to American literature.
You can smell the wood-fired open kitchen as you valet park. King + Duke occupies the space that was once Nava right in the heart of Buckhead at the corner of Peachtree and West Paces Ferry roads.
We recently visited on an early weeknight. Online reservation site Open Table indicated that there were no tables available within a two-and-a- half-hour window, definitely the sign of a popular place, but a phone call to the restaurant resulted in a table exactly at our requested time proving that the automated system may have been having a few hiccups.
When our party arrived, we were quickly greeted at the hostess stand and ushered to a table in the bar. The restaurant is an eye-pleasing open space that lacks the typical lines of demarcation between bar, restaurant and even kitchen. Our table was squarely placed in front of two double doors that opened out onto the spacious and inviting patio. As we stood there assessing our “table situation,” three patrons made their way from the patio into the bar through these doors. We asked to be re-seated somewhere more off the beaten path and were quickly accommodated.
We settled into a nice table and our server immediately greeted us with menus and a drink “novel,” in our case it was in a Moby Dick binding. As with the restaurant name, the literary references continued. There are pictures of famous American authors on the walls and literary quotations accompany both food and drink choices.
It appears that in an effort to be stylish, the food and drink menus leave out words about what the drinks and dishes really are and leave in lots of words that had us doing Google searches on our smartphones to find out what the heck “that” is. Even a seasoned chef would be hard-pressed to know how a fish is prepared “boy scout style,” and it’s doubtful that even a horticulturalist at Pike’s Nursery would know what a pluot shrub is much less how to use it in a cocktail. It’s a must to ask the wait staff about each drink and dish, and we were lucky to have a server who was more than up to the task, patiently answering all of our questions.
We ordered several of the signature cocktails. “The Yearling” was a refreshing bourbon-based drink garnished with a ripe strawberry. While we didn’t order any wine, the list is quite extensive, both by the glass and bottle, and has some helpful tasting notes for each selection. The restaurant also allows diners to bring their own wine for a corkage fee.
Each table is served warm Yorkshire puddings. While slightly overdone, these popovers were quite good with just a hint of Gruyere cheese inside. We were offered – and could have eaten – another order of these but opted not to as they were quite filling.
We ordered three appetizers: roasted carrots and beets, onion soup and troasted bone marrow. The carrots and beets were excellent; perhaps the best dish of the meal; light, fresh, perfectly roasted and expertly complimented with the sheep’s milk feta cheese and spicy Harissa paste. The onion soup was also good. The Spanish Mahon cheese was a perfect pairing to the creamy “coal roasted” onion soup. A good-sized portion of roasted bone marrow also accompanied the soup. Had toasted bread been served with it, one would have had two appetizers in one. The roasted bone marrow was good but not great; it was the first sign that the chefs wrestle with smoke versus heat in their wood-fired kitchen. The marrow lacked that unctuous doneness that occurs just before it renders into a liquid state. The side of berries and mushrooms was an afterthought and un-needed. The appetizers were $9, $12 and $15 respectively.
For entrees we ordered the “fish of the moment” which was Tile, the wood-roasted Maine lobster and the lamb saddle chops. The Tile was firm and flakey with a crisp skin. The accompanying peppers and corn didn’t seem to be friends with the fish only sharing the same large plate. The size of the plate made the dish look somewhat meager to one of our hungry diners. The lobster while roasted whole, was served cut up into pieces. The presentation would have been much more appealing had the split lobster body been placed in the bottom of the bowl and the claws, tail, etc. been placed on top. Much of the lobster meat was perfectly done while a few pieces hinted again at the challenge of cooking everything with a wood fire. The lamb saddle chops were one chop and it was small at that. Again, it was smoked and done on the outside with the meat next to the bone still needing a minute or two more. The accompanying crispy torn potato and herb salad was good but not memorable and the roasted olives were too few to even matter. The entrees were $29, $45 and $28 respectively.
While we did not order any of the “Shares,” several sounded good including a pot of soft polenta with hearth roasted mushrooms and duck jus and stewed lady peas with pepper relish and crème fraiche. We also passed on the “For Two” items that included a whole roasted “grass roots” chicken and a 1 kilo 28-day dry-aged, bone-in ribeye, although at $55 and $80 respectively both better be pretty remarkable.
Everyone at our table was comfortably full at this point but we felt obliged to try one dessert. Based upon the menu alone, one would have no idea that the “Date and Ale,” described simply as warm sticky toffee pudding and Sweetwater I.P.A. cream, would contain a moist cake infused with dates and covered in a delicious toffee sauce. It was a very sweet endnote to the meal.
Throughout our meal the wait staff was attentive without being intrusive. Their casual dress covered with matching aprons downplayed the level of expert service they provided.
Judging by the diverse clientele and the crowd that grew over the course of the early weeknight, Atlantan’s are embracing King + Duke and its homage to American heritage in food and literature.
For more information or to make reservations, visit kinganddukeatl.com.
Art Huckabee is one of Yelp’s Elite Reviewers, as well as a pilot and food lover. His restaurants reviews will be appearing regularly in print and online at AtlantaINtownPaper.com.