“The Move” is your guide to the top food finds from Rough Draft Dining Editor and Editor-in-Chief Beth McKibben. The guide appears first in her weekly Side Dish newsletter. Subscribe for free to Side Dish to get the latest restaurant intel and scoops and be the first to know where Beth’s been eating around Atlanta. Side Dish drops every Thursday at noon, just in time for lunch.
Season
301 Lemon St., Marietta
Located inside an old storefront just off Marietta Square, Chef Nick Jennings opened Season last fall. Like most small-town restaurants, you come for the comfort food and friendly service. Jennings takes the former to another level – and the full reservation book, waitlist, and stream of people picking up takeout orders seems to prove he’s found the magic formula at Season. Here, the charm of a Southern cafe mingles with the laidback vibe of a diner.
Jennings has worked for some of the best in the industry, including Terry Koval at The Wrecking Bar, Sean Brock, and Rodney Scott at the Atlanta location of his eponymous barbecue restaurant. But in late September 2024, Jennings struck out on his own with Season.
A selection of buttermilk biscuit sandwiches are among the breakfast options at Season. I was torn between two, but landed on the duck garnished with orange marmalade and slivers of paper-thin prosciutto ($13). From the brunch menu, I ordered the tamale huevos rancheros to share ($19). Two handmade tamales sit atop a pool of refried lentils and salsa roja topped with two thick slices of bacon and two sunny eggs. Tamale huevos rancheros for breakfast. It was superb. No notes.
The restaurant seats around 25 to 30 people. Word to the wise, especially to anyone traveling from further afield than Marietta on the weekends: make a reservation. Even if you don’t, our wait was less than 15 minutes on a busy Saturday morning. Season is open daily, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Ticonderoga Club
Krog Street Market, 99 Krog St., Inman Park
Keep an eye out for food specials at your favorite restaurants, especially those appearing with more regularity. That’s the case with Ticonderoga Club’s seafood-heavy answer to the meaty and mighty Chuckwagon: paella. Like the Chuckwagon, the paella easily feeds four people.
Considered by The Club as a Chef David Bies “signature,” the paella uses Spanish Calasparra short-grain rice tossed in fragrant saffron as the base, to which chorizo, shell-on white shrimp, and whole clams and mussels are added. (And, I suspect, a few other magic touches from the incomparable David Bies, who knows that without the right rice, paella just doesn’t work.)
Calasparra rice originates from Murcia, considered part of Spain’s rice-growing region. Expanding in length as it cooks, allowing each kernel to retain a slender shape, the super absorbent texture of Calasparra rice easily soaks up the flavors of other ingredients, making it perfect for a one-pan dish like paella.
For the moment, you’ll only see the paella pop up on the Ticonderoga Club menu on weekdays and in limited quantities. But for $72 and the ability to feed four people, this paella is worth seeking out for dinner with friends on a Monday night.
Paper Plane
816 S. Central Ave, Hapeville
During the week, Paper Plane in Hapeville is a buzzy little Thai restaurant and cocktail bar on South Central Ave., serving everything from panang curry and pad thai to Thai street foods and crab meat fried rice. On the weekends, the dining room bustles with brunch customers clamoring for dishes like chicken curry hash laced with spicy green curry or cream-and-berry-stuffed roti crepes topped with Thai tea whipped cream.
At $14 and stuffed within an inch of its life with a bounty of ingredients, the Thai basil chicken burrito ticks all the brunch boxes for me at Paper Plane. Scrambled eggs, chunks of Thai basil chicken sausage, and sautéed peppers and onions come tossed in a zesty Thai basil sauce before being packed into a lightly fried, tightly wrapped flour tortilla. While the burrito does boast some heat from the Thai basil sauce, I added a few dashes of Sriracha to amp up the spice level and add a hint of tanginess.
Paper Plane serves brunch on Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Consider making this restaurant a brunch pit stop before or after your flight at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.