After 14 years in business, Kaleidoscope Bistro and Pub will raise a final glass on Monday, April 29, “breaking the hearts of the lonely, the hungry, and the uninspired,” according to a proclamation by the Brookhaven City Council.
Kaleidoscope Bistro and Pub, known to locals as KPub, was a Dresden Drive destination before the major commercial and residential development of Brookhaven’s city center.
Chef Joey Riley opened Kaleidoscope on Dec. 24, 2010. Riley has been working in kitchens since his adolescence. After Riley turned down a full college soccer scholarship to pursue his dream of becoming a chef, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. He worked in some well-known Atlanta restaurants, including Tom Tom and Buckhead Diner.
Kaleidoscope became known as “Brookhaven’s version of Manuel’s Tavern; the place where Brookhaven movers and shakers could contemplate and commiserate all things cityhood,” whether they were for or against Brookhaven becoming a city.
On the campaign trail, city council candidates often stopped into Kaleidoscope, and held parties there on election night.
Brookhaven Mayor John Park called the closing a sad day. He said, “Riley made an indelible mark on the Brookhaven community and will live on in our collective hearts and minds forever.”
“People always ask me, ‘What is the heart of Brookhaven?’ That Dresden corner and Kaleidoscope was always, to me, the heart of Brookhaven,” said Park, who plans to be at the restaurant’s closing.
Sources indicate a steakhouse will open at the location on May 1. Rough Draft reached out for more details on the forthcoming restaurant taking over the Kaleidoscope space. Stay tuned for more details.