Hot nights = cold noodles
Thursday, Sept. 3 — Hello, internet friends.
⁉️ What are you eating these days? And by that, I mean, which foods do you actually feel safe consuming given the number of recalls?
Let’s be clear, a recall on one brand doesn’t mean an entire food category is unsafe to eat (looking at you, tofu). But it seems that avoiding Salmonella, Cyclospora, Listeria, E. coli, or foreign objects is no longer as simple as cutting red meat or blueberries for a few weeks, and even some shelf-stable items, like certain nut butters.
🤔 So what can you do? For starters, try sourcing more ingredients from local producers and farmers. You may pay higher prices at the farmers market, but it may reduce your exposure to large-scale recalls. It’s also good to stay informed. Allrecipes does an excellent job reporting on food recalls.
Now on to the latest Atlanta dining news, including updates on a Michelin-recommended pizzeria’s opening in Inman Park, a trio of restaurant closures, and a long-awaited vegan brunch menu debut in Reynoldstown. Keep reading for a look at our latest (and massive) MARTA dining guide to North Avenue and downtown Atlanta stations.
Make sure to also read this week’s “Family Meal” for a mega roundup of August restaurant openings and closures, along with Beth’s love letter to the vada pav from Bun & Bombay in Avondale Estates.
See y’all next week,
🍰 Sarra
🥦 Groceries are getting more and more expensive. But after 35 years, Urban Recipe Food Co-ops are still free, providing fresh produce, frozen protein and pantry staples to families across Atlanta. Learn more. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Quick Bites
Openings
☕
V’s Coffee Collab opened in Roswell.
🍕 Michelin-recommended Mister O1 Pizza opened a location in Inman Park. The pizzeria also includes locations in Buckhead and Sandy Springs.
🇲🇽 Amasa Mexican Kitchen is now open in downtown Alpharetta.Closings
🌮 Birria El Gordo will close on Sept. 3 after six years in Marietta.
🍺 The Local Tavern closed on Briarcliff after just nine months.
🇮🇹 Baraonda closed after just four years at its new Sandy Springs location. The popular Italian restaurant relocated from Midtown to Sandy Springs in 2022.Coming attractions
🍔
Mister Burger will open in the former Casa Balam space on Sept. 11.
🇭🇹 Chef Demetrius Brown will open his much-anticipated restaurant Heritage in Summerhill on Sept. 10. Look for Beth’s story on Heritage soon on Rough Draft Atlanta.Community announcements
🏅 Congratulations to Chef Robert Butts on being selected for the James Beard Foundation’s fall 2026 cohort for the Chef Bootcamp for Policy and Change.
🍸 Aria in Buckhead named veteran Atlanta barman Eric Simpkins (BonTon, The Lawrence) as bar lead and Princeton Saunders (Miller Union) as lead sommelier.
🍷 Michelin-starred Lazy Betty launched a wine club offering members two bottles each month selected by Wine and Beverage Director Gracie Barwick. Membership with delivery within the Atlanta city limits is $125 per month. Members choosing to pick up their wine at the Midtown restaurant will pay $110 per month.
⏰ Chef Jared Warwick of Octopus Bar and Wick & Nicks is launching Clockwork in late September. The pop-up residency at Babygirl in East Lake will take place Thursday through Sunday. Follow on Instagram for more updates.
Menu updates
🌱 Vegan restaurant La Semilla now serves Sunday brunch, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Check out the menu here.
Add to your calendar
🍹
Wylie & Rum in Reynoldstown will serve its full island-style menu this weekend, including two drink specials.
🍷 Madre Selva in Uptown Atlanta will host Under Pressure wine bar for a Latin American wine pop-up on Sept. 17, starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $125 per person.
🍵 Wanderstate Mercantile in Chamblee will host matcha and coffee shop The Postcard for two morning matcha workshops on Sept. 20. Tickets are $65 and include a 20-gram Muracha matcha tin, a Muracha matcha whisk, small bites with a matcha drink, and a 10% discount on any purchases made at Wanderstate.
🍽️ Epicurean Atlanta will host the annual Atlanta Food Staples wine dinner on Sept. 24, from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person.
🎃 Mark your calendar now. Lonely Sweets and Ginkgo Bakery Cafe in Duluth will host a Halloween cake swap on Oct. 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets start at $7.61. No cake, no entry – unless you purchase a VIP ticket.
Salt: A Design Story
SPONSORED BY MUSEUM OF DESIGN ATLANTA
🧂 MODA’s newest exhibition – what if the seasoning in your pantry actually built the world?
The answer is more complicated than one might imagine. Salt shaped roads, cities, and civilization, and it sits at the center of rituals that mark birth, marriage, and death worldwide.
→ Visitors, taste your way through a curated salt bar. Explore the global craft salt revival, learn about Atlanta’s own Beautiful Briny Sea, and discover the design history behind the shaker on your table. Through October 31.
Top Stories
Our favorite August eats
😋 Beth and I are back with our monthly roundup of favorite dishes highlighted in our respective weekly newsletters.
In August, we enjoyed Iraqi food in Clarkston, eggplant fries with hot sauce (pictured), and dim sum in Chamblee.
⏩ Check out our favorite dishes from August.
MARTA dining guide: North Avenue and downtown Atlanta stations
🚆 Will you be in or around Downtown this weekend for one of the many Labor Day events? Pro tip: take MARTA and avoid both the traffic and excessive parking fees.
Chances are you’re going to get hungry while attending one of these events. In our latest MARTA dining guide, we’re shining the spotlight on more than three dozen restaurants, coffee shops, and bars walkable from train stations in southern Midtown and downtown Atlanta.
⏩ Take a look at the MARTA dining guide here.
New Japanese food stalls at Ponce City Marke
🇯🇵 Sushi counter NoriFish and ramen and tsukemen spot Okiboru are now open at Ponce City Market.
These new stalls replaced Miso Ko and Ton Ton Ramen Bar, which both closed after a decade.
⏩ Read more about NoriFish and Okiboru here.
🌱 Come spend a day on the farm! Love is Love’s Fall Plant Sale & Family Day is Sept. 12 in Mansfield. Shop certified organic plants, enjoy FREE gardening and foraging workshops, farm tours, local food, artisans, kids’ activities and more. Pre-order plants by Sept. 6! Details here. SPONSOR MESSAGE
At the Market
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKETS
🥗 Community Farmers Markets and Rough Draft Atlanta partner to bring you two recipes that you can make at home using ingredients from your local farmers market. This week, it’s all about okra with a fresh salad and vegetable-forward fajitas. Check out both recipes here.
At the Market
🥵 It goes without saying that this week is not ideal for using the oven. It may be September, but it’s still hot out. Instead, I’m opting for chilled or room-temperature food whenever possible.
The other night at the monthly mahjong meetup at Atlanta Chinatown, I ordered the cold noodles from China Kitchen at the food court. These noodles were exactly what I wanted: chewy, toothsome, top-caliber noodles, slippery with oil and even kind of hydrating, with the inclusion of fresh bean sprouts, cilantro, and scallions.
🍜 When it’s this hot out, you just can’t go wrong with cold noodles, especially when you can get it to last over multiple meals at a reasonable price.
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.
