A whopper of a cheeseburger for Braves baseball
March 26 — Hello, internet friends.
🤧 If you are also allergic to tree pollen, I sympathize and hope you’re faring okay through this dusty, yellow week. Remember to stay consistent with your medication and stay hydrated. Or, you could handle your allergies like a food writer and add brothy soups and spicy dishes to your dining repertoire. Whatever works! For me, that’s usually pho.
🥚 In this week’s Quick Bites, get the scoop on LA-based sandwich shop Eggslut’s opening Downtown, a restaurant closure in Buckhead, and the return of daily specials to the Eats menu. Plus, Slutty Vegan’s founder is back in the news, Gwinnett County residents crown a burger champion, and learn how to help fund women’s sports bar Jolene Jolene.
You’ll also find stories below on the expansion of San Francisco Coffee into Midtown and Druid Hills, new food options at the Braves stadium this season, including a colossal burger, and a dining hall redo at Emory University.
🦀 Don’t forget to check out this week’s Family Meal, where Beth offers a peek inside new Inman Park restaurant Mushi Ni and recommends an A-plus Manhattan in Summerhill.
One programming note: Beth will cover Side Dish for the next two weeks while I’m on vacation.
See y’all next month!
🍰 Sarra
🐟 Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Men’s Group Lenten Fish Fry. Fridays only: Now through March 27, 6 p.m – 8 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary School, 2855 Briarcliff Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30329. Menu and Pre-orders here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Quick Bites
Openings
🍳 Los Angeles-based sandwich shop Eggslut opened at the new Moxy Downtown Atlanta. The menu includes BECs, egg salad, and cheeseburgers on brioche buns. Another location will open this spring along the Eastside Beltline at the Krog District.
🍙 Asian lifestyle store Teso Life opens in Chamblee this week. The store will celebrate through Saturday with a grand opening event offering a free item with any purchase, a free snack gift bag when you spend over $50, and a free surprise gift bag when you spend over $100.
🍦 In case you needed another excuse to visit Zoo Atlanta, Ben & Jerry’s opened a location there offering scoops, milkshakes, cones, and sundaes Thursday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Closure
🥞 Another Broken Egg closed in Buckhead for a second time, according to Tomorrow’s News Today.
New women’s sports bar
🏅 After operating as a pop-up for two years, women’s sports bar Jolene Jolene finally found its dream location and launched a Kickstarter seeking $50,000. Founder Chelsea Fishman will share the permanent location for Jolene Jolene once the campaign is fully funded.
Daily specials
🍝 Eats, which reopened this month inside Wild Heaven Beer-West End, brought back its popular daily specials. Those include spaghetti and meatballs and half-priced cocktails on Monday, ziti alfredo with a $5 dealer’s choice beer on Thursday, and barbecue chicken on Sunday.
Slutty Vegan founder’s bankruptcy woes
🙀 After filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month, a home Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole owns in Loganville was seized by the bank, WSB-TV reports. But Cole is fighting back saying that the seizure of the property “violated the automatic stay” of the bankruptcy agreement and the bank must return the property. An emergency hearing is scheduled for today in federal court. Cole owes the Small Business Administration $1.2 million and $192,000 in Georgia taxes. She joins The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast for season 17 this year.
Gwinnett burger champion
🍔 The people have spoken. B&W Burgers in Norcross won the People’s Choice Award in the Gwinnett County Burger Week competition for the third year in a row. The winning bourbon bacon smash burger comes topped with smoky bourbon bacon jam and fried mozzarella.
Cookbook news
👩🏽🍳 Local cookbook author and food writer Nandita Godbole is seeking funds for her upcoming cookbook “India in a Cup: From Gardens to Glasses.” Make a contribution via Kickstarter.
Athens update
☕ Hendershot’s won’t be closing after all! Owner Seth Hendershot told Flagpole some locals purchased the three-in-one coffee shop, bar, and music venue and will keep it open and Hendershot’s ethos intact. The farewell festival on March 31 will instead commemorate Hendershot’s retirement and passing of the torch to the new owners.
Add to your calendar
🎂 Celebrate four years of Recuerdos Coffee on March 28 at Bar Ana from noon to 3 p.m. The birthday party will feature a live DJ set from B. Bruja, an espresso and pour-over release from Finca Santa Cruz Coffee and Patch Coffee, and birthday cake affogatos in collaboration with Bar Ana.
💐 Raani Coffee Roasters in East Atlanta Village will host a spring market with Morpher Studio and The Blue Pot Flowers on March 28 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Expect fresh bouquets, handmade ceramics, and a selection of coffee, chai, and kaapi.
🍻 Flight Club ATL will celebrate 404 Day with $4.04 pints of Monday Night Brewing’s Bullseye Brew. The darts venue on Howell Mill Road has also launched all-day happy hour on Mondays and Tuesdays, along with its regular happy hour Wednesday-Friday from 4-6 p.m. Expect $2 draft beers, liquor, and wines by the glass, and $8 cocktails.
☕ Chichería Mexican Kitchen and In Common will host a joint Coffee Social on April 11 from 9-11 a.m. The gathering includes Baja-inspired breakfast, interactive coffee stations and tasting experiences, live music by DJ Krutik, and optional low-ABV cocktails. Purchase tickets before April 3 for $35 per person, when price increases to $45.
25 Years of Flavor: Taste of Atlanta Returns
SPONSORED BY TASTE OF ATLANTA
🥂 Taste of Atlanta is celebrating its 25th Anniversary with an epic night of two dozen chef-driven tastings, craft cocktail, wine and beer tastes, live music, and electric energy!
Join us at The Works for a one-night-only party highlighting the best of Atlanta’s food and drink scene.
➞ April 16 from 6 to 10 p.m. at The Works. Tickets are on sale here.
Top Stories From the Week
New food options at Truist Park include a colossal burger
🌭 The Braves home opener is tomorrow, which means Truist Park put a bunch of journalists and influencers in a room to introduce them to this season’s new food and drink options at the stadium.
Most of our questions for the chef were about the Bat Flip, a burger that’s quite literally the size of a human head made from a whopping two pounds of beef.
⏩ Read more about Truist Park’s new food and drinks.
San Francisco Coffee expands to Midtown
☕ For more than 30 years, San Francisco Coffee Roasting Company has been a cornerstone of Atlanta’s coffee scene. Founded by Doug and Tanya Bond in 1992, the coffee company began as a love story in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Now with two locations in Virginia-Highland and Candler Park, the Atlanta-based coffee company will open a Midtown location on April 4, followed by a location in Druid Hills later this year.
⏩ Read up on San Francisco Coffee’s history and future in Atlanta.
Dining hall redo at Emory
✨ If you haven’t visited Emory’s Cox Food Hall recently, you may not know the dining hall has a brand new look and five new restaurant stalls.
⏩ Read more about the renovation 20 years in the making.
At the Market + Two Recipes
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKETS
🥗 Spring has finally sprung, and that means it’s time for salad season! This week, Rough Draft Atlanta and Community Farmers Markets are bringing you two fresh spring salad recipes you can make at home using ingredients from your local farmers market. Check out both salad recipes here.
🥂 Taste of Atlanta is celebrating its 25th Anniversary with an epic night of two dozen chef-driven tastings, craft cocktail, wine and beer tastes, live music, and electric energy! April 16 from 6 to 10 p.m. at The Works. Tickets are on sale here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
That Slaps!
😍 It’s no secret that ChingYao Wang is a gifted pastry chef. And her talents were on full display this week during Brush Sushi’s 10th anniversary party.
While there, I encountered a pastry that changed my life: Black Forest dacquoise. It’s a heavenly combination of whipped cherry and dark chocolate ganache, cherry jam, chocolate pearls, and chocolate shavings sandwiched between spongy almond cakes. Black Forest cake is such an underrated flavor combination – and if done well, it’s unstoppable.
We sampled mini versions during the party, but you can order the full dacquoise dining at Brush.
⚡If I personally harassed you about trying the Black Forest dacquoise at the party, I’m sorry, but I’m also guessing you understood why once you took a bite.
We’re always looking for recipes to highlight on Rough Draft. If you have a favorite dish from a restaurant you want the recipe for, please send me an email to sarra@roughdraftatlanta.com.
