Chef Olivia McCoy wants to create a fine dining space where all Atlantans can eat, regardless of dietary restrictions or food allergies. And her pop-up String Bean, which she hopes to nurture into a restaurant, is just the beginning.
“I’d like to bring to the table and make sure that everyone is having this unified experience where they feel comfortable and confident in the food they’re eating,” McCoy said. “Make them feel nourished, like everybody’s part of the party.”
Empathy and attention have always been among McCoy’s core values. Growing up in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, exposed McCoy to a movement towards healthy food that was meant to raise awareness and inform people of the potential harm that can ensue from allergies and diet. She was first introduced to special diets through customers at her mother’s health food store.
McCoy recalled hearing stories about gluten-free and celiac experiences as a child, and attended a college-sponsored camp with entirely vegan meals as a teen. These formative experiences helped open McCoy’s eyes to allergy-friendly, adaptable dining. The key, she said, is deliciousness through simplicity.
Related: All Daily Chew coverage
“A lot of different cultures and foods have items that are naturally vegan or gluten-free or dairy-free, and it’s just about presenting them in a different way to make people more comfortable to receive them,” she said. “It doesn’t always have to be just a piece of tofu, or it doesn’t always have to be something [that’s] a struggle to make.”
McCoy “religiously” cooked her way through Julia Child’s cookbooks as a teen. While studying education at the University of Alabama, she watched “The Great British Baking Show” and challenged herself to recreate the dishes on her own. McCoy eventually got married and relocated to Atlanta when her husband nabbed an accounting internship.
In her second year of teaching eighth-grade English, McCoy hit a breakthrough and realized she could pursue cooking full-time. The following January, McCoy started cooking at Bellina Alimentari in Ponce City Market and finished teaching the rest of her school year.
“I realized in the kitchen I didn’t have to put on a facade,” she said. “I was able to be myself, be creative, and really start to harness cooking professionally.”
At Bellina Alimentari, McCoy learned how to make bread, then pasta, and then pastry. Oliva Restaurant Group then transferred her to Aziza’s starting team as an assistant pastry chef.
“I was amazed that they saw something in me,” McCoy said. “I learned a lot by being there and gaining the trust of the pastry chef, Zibaa Sammander.”
After Aziza, McCoy started working with Sarah Dodge, the owner of Colette Bread and Bakeshop, at her Bread Is Good pop-up. Eventually, McCoy transferred to the executive pastry chef and chef de partie at Kimball House. Here, she explored all stations in the kitchen and started transitioning from pastry to savory.
While at Kimball House, Daily Chew owner Julia Kesler Imerman asked McCoy to help the restaurant transition from counter-service to full-service and narrow the kitchen’s focus.
Continuing her kitchen education, McCoy next did stints at Bacchanalia and Gunshow, where the open kitchen familiarized her with interacting with guests and getting feedback. While at Bacchanalia, McCoy began writing a restaurant business proposal.
And from there, String Bean was born.
McCoy has hosted a handful of pop-ups thus far, and learned crucial lessons — gauging how much food she actually needs to prepare for an event as opposed to a restaurant and simultaneously wearing multiple hats as a chef, business owner, and marketer.
Her current priority is establishing a fan base and getting support from the local food scene. Down the line, she hopes to attract investors and open her own restaurant.
McCoy’s ultimate goal is to train Atlanta chefs on being mindful of dietary restrictions and allergies. With enough scope and bandwidth, McCoy wants adaptable food education to come to the forefront within Atlanta kitchens.
Her process of developing adaptable menus for various dietary restrictions and food allergies makes for a fun challenge, too. A good example is String Bean’s duck dish, which she developed for the vegan palate with a marinated, nori-wrapped mushroom accompanied by mustard greens and peaches.
“You’re still having all the food, but it’s not going to be harmful to your body,” she said.
You can catch McCoy and String Bean popping up at Daily Chew Sunday, July 27, at 6:30. Dishes will lean southern French, with three of the five courses vegan, dairy- and gluten-free. The meat-based dishes will offer alternatives that either look the same or capture similar flavors. Tickets are $75 and available on EventBrite.
“It does really feel like you can choose your own adventure and have the exact meal that you want,” McCoy said.
McCoy also has a month-long Sunday and Monday residency at Petit Chou in Cabbagetown on the horizon. Rather than ticketed dinner events, as with the String Bean pop-ups, these pop-ups will feature an a la carte menu.