Table Talk: Chicken Tikka Boti + Dabo Biscuits + Volcano Dogs
Aug. 6 — Happy Tuesday, and welcome to the table!
In today’s “Family Meal,” I’m bringing you a story on the upcoming opening of Sugar Loaf in Reynoldstown, a popular farmers market biscuit and bakery stall opening as a cafe this winter across from Atlanta Dairies.
➕ For “The Move,” I tell you where to enjoy chicken tikka boti on Canton Street in Roswell. And Rough Draft Dining Reporter Sarra Sedghi provides you with a recipe for the volcano hot dog from Chef Lino Yi, now served at Minhwa Spirits in Doraville.
Cheers!
🍸 Beth
✨ Food. Drinks. Stories. Improv. Community. L5P Alliance’s annual fundraiser People Make the Place returns Sun., Aug. 17! Experience the spirit of Little Five Points while supporting local arts, safety, and placemaking efforts. Together, we build a better L5P. Learn more here! SPONSOR MESSAGE
The Move: Chicken Tikka Boti From Dosa Boti
🇮🇳 I stumbled upon Dosa Boti after grabbing cocktails and dinner in downtown Roswell last weekend. The small Indian restaurant took over the space formerly occupied by Rhea’s Take Out Foods at the corner of Canton Street and Woodstock Road.
Rhea’s #1 closed in 2022 after the death of the incomparable Mahfuz “Jimmy” Hussain, who purchased the OG Rhea’s in 2013. Under Hussain, Rhea’s became a household name in Roswell, with people traveling far and wide just to eat its burgers and chat with Mr. Jimmy.
🌯 Today, the space is home to Dosa Boti, serving generously portioned combo plates of Paneer and Chicken 65, mutton keema tacos, butter chicken, and dosas. Despite having already eaten, we decided to grab takeout for the road, ordering chicken biryani ($14.99) and a chicken tikka boti ($13.99) stuffed with vegetables and apricot chutney wrapped in a dosa.
That chicken tikka boti alone is worth the drive from Atlanta to Roswell. I’m already making plans to visit for breakfast, which includes a variety of dosas and an Indian bread omelet. The omelet sees two slices of bread added to seasoned, beaten eggs in a hot skillet. The eggs and bread are then fried and folded together to create a toasted sandwich imbued with sweet and savory Indian spices.
Summer Sippin’ in Roswell
SPONSORED BY VISIT ROSWELL
🍹 Summer Sippin’, the annual beverage competition, is back for its 10th year, now through Aug. 19. Sip your way through Roswell at 61 participating establishments – from breweries and restaurants to coffee shops and tasting rooms – all serving up uniquely crafted, summer-inspired sips.
☀️ Start your Summer Sippin’ journey here.
Sugar Loaf Transforming From
Farmers Market Stall to Reynoldstown Cafe
🛳️ Sugar Loaf owners Nebi and Lindsay Berhane first met in the middle of the ocean in 2004 while working as dancers on the cruise ship circuit. Over the years, their paths continued to cross, until one day, they bumped into each other in Chicago and realized they were living blocks apart on the same street.
Bonding over their shared love of dance was only equalled by the couple’s shared love of cooking, especially baking, a skill forged during childhood assisting their mothers in the kitchen.
“We grew up baking and cooking alongside our mothers. Nebi’s mom is an incredible baker and mills her own flour and cooks incredible Ethiopian food,” Lindsay said, whose mother was a home economics teacher in Virginia.
Growing up in Kennesaw, Nebi said his mother was known for her baked goods. Ethiopians in the community would often come to their house for a traditional meal that included desserts and sweets not found elsewhere in Atlanta.
“We lived in New York, Chicago, and LA. Amazing food cities, but we were living off of dancers’ budgets, so we learned to cook the food that we couldn’t afford to go out and eat, and started getting second jobs to support our dance careers,” Nebi explained of the impetus behind Sugar Loaf.
🇪🇹🇦🇱 That’s how the Berhanes ended up working in restaurants, and later in bakeries, learning to make cuisines and pastries from around the world, including from their respective Ethiopian and Albanian family backgrounds.
But an Achilles tendon injury forced Nebi to stop dancing for six months. He threw himself into cooking and recipe testing. The couple was living in New York City at the time. Nebi worked at Levain’s Bakery, while Lindsay worked at Molly’s Cupcakes. When the pandemic shut down the bakeries for months in 2020, Nebi and Lindsay found themselves at a crossroads. With their lease ending and jobs in flux, the couple decided to make a change.
They had talked about moving to Atlanta and opening a bakery together. So when a weeks-long pandemic bake sale proved successful, the Berhanes headed south to Atlanta.
In 2021, Sugar Loaf launched and has become a staple at local farmers markets like Grant Park and the Piedmont Park Green Market.
Now the couple will take Sugar Loaf to the next level, opening the farmers market bakery and biscuit stall as a cafe later this winter, taking over the former Chick n’ Cone space in Reynoldstown.
☕ 🥪 🍔 Located across from Atlanta Dairies on Memorial Drive, the cafe will offer breakfast and lunch, include a small bakery, and serve Ethiopian and Albanian-inspired coffee and coffee drinks. Expect the pop-up’s biscuits and biscuit sandwiches here and the return of Sugar Loaf’s Liege waffles and Oklahoma-style fried onion smashburgers to the menu.
➡️ Read the full story, including details on the menu.
The Minhwa Spirits Volcano Dog Recipe
By Sarra Sedghi
🌋 This week, we’re bringing you a recipe for Minhwa Spirits volcano hot dog.
You may have noticed a familiar face serving food at Minhwa Spirits lately. Chef Lino Yi (formerly TKO Korean, Lazy Betty) recently took over the kitchen at the jumak and distillery. Among the new dishes are kimchi fried rice with mozzarella, spicy mayo, gochujang, and scallions, and house-made beef mandu (Korean dumplings).
Yi became the head chef after Minhwa Spirits hosted months-long residencies with Ganji and Salty Smiles, and joins James Sung (formerly Palo Santo, Umi), now the distillery’s new beverage director. But don’t worry, Postern Coffee isn’t going anywhere, and you can still catch the occasional pop-up here, like Dhaba BBQ, on Mondays and Tuesdays.
In addition to his duties as chef, Yi will serve as a mentor for participating pop-ups. “This way our in-house staff can help pop-ups get some advice from a guy who’s done it and [get] support from a full staff,” said Minhwa Spirits co-founder Ming Han Chung.
🌭 Yi conceptualized the volcano dog recipe served at Minhwa Spirits more than a decade ago while working at a sushi food truck in Orlando.
“One night, we were posted up in front of Will’s Pub, a dive bar full of punks. There was a show going on, and the place was packed, but no one’s buying sushi. I complained, ‘These kids don’t want sushi, they want hot dogs,'” Yi said. “I literally walked across the street to 7-11 and bought a pack of hot dogs and buns. Then I took all the toppings of our volcano roll and put them on top of a hot dog.”
He quickly changed the dry-erase board in front of the food truck to read “Volcano Hot Dog $6.” Yi recalled watching a customer walk away with a volcano dog, taking a few bites, and then showing it to friends, who all ordered the hot dog. It’s been a staple at Yi’s pop-ups ever since.
“It’s sushi in a bun, but it’s easier to eat, no chopsticks required,” Yi said. “Think of it as East meets West, and the economy lobster roll.”
🌶️ Yi prefers using Nathan’s beef hot dogs and recommends serving the volcano dog with shrimp chips (pictured), which complement the seafood-heavy profile and resemble fries. And, instead of ketchup, opt for gochujang, a fermented red chili paste, as your dipping sauce.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 pack hot dogs
- 1 pack buns
- 1 pack imitation crab sticks (1 lb)
- 2 cups spicy mayo
- 2 ounces eel sauce to garnish
- 1 ounce Sriracha to garnish
- Scallions chopped into 1/8-inch pieces, enough for 1 ounce to garnish
- Pinch of sesame seeds to garnish
- Pinch of togarashi (Japanese seven-flavor chili pepper) or gochugaru (Korean chile powder) to garnish
Directions
- Make the crab salad: Finely mince the crab sticks and mix in the spicy mayo. Set aside.
- Cook hot dogs according to personal preferences. (At Minhwa Spirits, Yi deep fries the hot dogs and finishes on the flat-top.)
- Warm the crab salad using a torch or toaster oven. If using a toaster oven, spray a foil sheet with oil and spread the crab salad so it’s the same length and size as the hot dog. Bake at 350° Fahrenheit until hot mayo starts bubbling, or about 5 minutes
- Assemble the hot dog on top of the bun. Add torched crab salad on top, or slide toasted crab salad on top of the hot dog.
- Garnish with a drizzle of eel sauce, dots of Sriracha, scallions, sesame seeds, and either a pinch of togarashi or gochugaru.
✨ Food. Drinks. Stories. Improv. Community. L5P Alliance’s annual fundraiser People Make the Place returns Sun., Aug. 17! Experience the spirit of Little Five Points while supporting local arts, safety, and placemaking efforts. Together, we build a better L5P. Learn more here! SPONSOR MESSAGE
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