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ABATTOIR- Butcher\u2019s Menu<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Top Chef<\/i> alum Hector Santiago\u2019s secret \u201cButcher\u2019s Menu\u201d was a perfect example of the adventurous culinary streak he brought to Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison\u2019s meat-centric Abattoir. Promoted only via word-of-mouth and social media, his offal-based appetizers changed nightly, featuring ingredients ranging from common (liver), to rare (sweetbreads), to challenging (brains). Santiago sadly moved on to open his own project at Ponce City Market a few months back, but new executive chef Joe Schafer (formerly of King + Duke) has kept the Butcher\u2019s Menu alive, offering unique flavors you won\u2019t find anywhere else in town, such as Bone Marrow Bourgignon with mushroom on fresh-baked sourdough.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n ANTICO PIZZA NAPOLETANA- Margherita D.O.P.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Although his restaurant has no valet parking, no fancy interior design, not even a proper seating area to speak of, Giovanni Di Palma has had Atlanta foodies raving for years. The New York native makes pizza in the Verace Artigianale (True Artisan) style, using techniques learned during a pilgrimage to his ancestral Italian village. Antico is authentic to the extreme, adhering to strict guidelines: Di Palma imports flour, San Marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella di bufala from the Campania region of Italy every week, and cooks every pizza in 10,000 pound ovens hand-made in Naples. The result is a perfect balance of crispy and chewy, bursting with robust, earthy flavors, with the Margherita D.O.P. a marvel of simplicity that tastes like the culmination of hundreds of years of culinary refinement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n C&S SEAFOOD & OYSTER BAR- RC\u2019s Char-Grilled Oysters<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n With a career that includes stints at the Ritz-Carlton, Brasserie Le Coze, and Atlanta Fish Market, C&S co-owner\/chef Rich Clark is known for his love of classic New York and Parisian-style brasserie cuisine. But for the seafood hotspot\u2019s popular Char-Grilled Oysters appetizer, the Alabama native returned to his Southern roots for inspiration. \u201cI love grilled oysters,\u201d he confesses, \u201cand ate them on family vacations every year in St. George Island. After I took a trip to New Orleans, the motherland of char-grilled oysters, I decided to combine Apalachicola oysters with NOLA flavor.\u201d The result\u2013 fresh-shucked oysters sprinkled with blackening spice, garlic butter and Parmesan cheese\u2013 is as delicious as it is simple, tasting a bit like escargot, but with a softer texture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n CACAO ATLANTA- Aztec Sipping Chocolate<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Designed with Old World allure by founder Kristen Hard, Cacao feels like Atlanta\u2019s version of the quaint European shop from the film Chocolat. Hard\u2019s small batch approach to sweets has made her one of the most critically acclaimed chefs in America: In 2012, Cacao was named Best Chocolate Shop in the World by Travel and Leisure and Best Chocolate in America by Bon Appetit. Her Aztec Sipping Chocolate\u2013 a zesty blend of Cacao\u2019s bean-to-bar chocolate, locally sourced milk, sugar and a dash of secret Aztec spice\u2013 was named Best Hot Chocolate in the U.S. by Food and Wine. It\u2019s an intense, thick and remarkably rich drink, with just enough chili heat to get your blood pumping even on the coldest winter day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SPICE TO TABLE- Kerala Fried Chicken<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Nominated for a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant and named one of Bon Appetit<\/i>\u2019s Top 50 Best New Restaurants in its first year, the late, lamented Cardamom Hill found owner\/chef Asha Gomez combining influences from her native South India with that of the American South. The fusion is revelatory, showcasing surprising similarities (see: focus on rice, stews and comfort food). Now she\u2019s brought it to her more casual Indian pattiserie, Spice To Table. Nowhere is this culinary connection more apparent than in Gomez\u2019s Kerala Fried Chicken, which has been praised as one of the country\u2019s best fried chicken dishes by Bon Appetit<\/i> and the Miami Herald<\/i>. Perfectly balancing sweet and spicy flavors, the chicken benefits from a 24-hour brine in Chef Asha\u2019s secret spice blend, and is drizzled with coconut oil and fresh mango sauce and finished with roasted curry leaves.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n LITTLE ALLEY STEAK- Progression of New York Strip<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Little Alley offers four flavored butters, four sauces, and an array of \u201cenhancements\u201d for their steaks. But with beef exquisitely hand-selected, cut and aged by Meats By Linz (one of Chicago\u2019s oldest and most respected butchers), you honestly don\u2019t need them. Their Progression of New York Strip includes 4 ounces of wet-aged USDA Angus beef, USDA Prime beef and dry-aged USDA Angus beef, all cooked using the\u00a0 sous vide<\/i> method. \u201cBy cooking sous vide<\/i>,\u201d explains culinary director Bob McDonough, \u201cwe\u2019re able to control the temperature to the exact degree, resulting in perfectly cooked steak every time.\u00a0This method of cooking also eliminates the\u00a0\u2018graduation of doneness,\u2019 resulting in a medium rare steak from end to end.\u201d By sampling three kinds of beef in a \u201csteak flight,\u201d diners are afforded an appreciation for the complex flavor profiles found in the different grades in aging method, making this meal a carnivore\u2019s dream come true.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n MILLER UNION- Farm Egg Baked in Celery Cream With Rustic Bread\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n A semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation\u2019s Best New Restaurant Award, owner\/chef Steven Satterfield\u2019s farm-to-table restaurant prides itself on connections to local farmers, with a menu based around the week\u2019s harvest. Satterfield\u2019s Farm Egg Baked in Celery Cream is a homestyle favorite, emphasizing freshness and simplicity. \u201cIn a saucepan,\u201d he explains of the cooking process, \u201cwe \u2018sweat\u2019 chopped celery with sweet onion, shallot, bay leaf, thyme and peppercorn. Once the vegetables have softened, fresh cream is added. After heating for 30 minutes, the cream is strained and the solids removed. The egg is baked in this flavored cream for 4 minutes in a convection oven, and then finished in the broiler.\u201d Served with crusty grilled sourdough bread, the result has been an ATL foodie fave for years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SEED KITCHEN & BAR- Sweet Potato Ravioli<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n In recent years, as \u201cfast casual\u201d has become Atlanta\u2019s hottest culinary buzzword, more and more of our best upscale chefs have moved out to the \u2018burbs. Owner\/chef Doug Turbush\u2019s Seed Kitchen is a perfect example, offering a refreshing mixture of happening hotspot and neighborhood bistro, with a menu that blends Southern cuisine with myriad international influences. Turbush\u2019s Sweet Potato Ravioli was originally among his nightly specials, but it became so popular he had to add it to the seasonal menu. The decadent dish features slow-roasted sweet potatoes spiced with raz el hanout<\/i> (a Moroccan spice blend), honey, mascarpone and parmesan cheese, which is stuffed into handmade pasta and topped with candied salted pumpkin seeds, saut\u00e9ed mushrooms, sage, and soy brown butter. \u201cThis is one of those dishes that the guests keep asking for,\u201d Turbush says. \u201cIt hits the right balance of sweet, salty, earthy and herbaceous.\u00a0It\u2019s a labor-intensive dish, and I think you can just taste the time and love we put into it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n UMI- Otoro Caviar<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n It seems somehow fitting that the logo for this modern Japanese restaurant is a simple drawing of a man playing a fish like a musical instrument. Owner\/chef Fuyuhiko Ito, formerly of MF Sushibar, is a beloved master of his craft, crafting symphonies of flavor from an elegant sushi bar stage. UMI opened in May to rave reviews, with exquisite interior design by artist Todd Murphy and an expansive menu Ito crafted with his wife (and former MF pastry chef), Lisa. But his sushi is the star of the show, with the Otoro Caviar ngiri a one-bite masterpiece. Listing its ingredients\u2013 Otoro (the fattiest tuna), rice, truffle soy, serrano, cilantro and caviar\u2013 cannot possibly convey its robust combination of flavors, or the way the tuna seems to melt in your mouth like butter. But one taste will leave you begging for an encore.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n VINGENZO\u2019S- Torta Caprese<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Owner\/chef Michael Bologna\u2019s loving tribute to the old-world Neapolitan cuisine he grew up on earned him the James Beard Foundation Award For Excellence, and he was invited to prepare dinner at the James Beard House in his native NYC back in 2011. His made-from-scratch Italian fare has foodies from around the city making the pilgrimage to his classy-but-casual restaurant, where an open kitchen design and Old School ambience make guests feel like part of the familia<\/i>. Entrees are uniformly excellent, but the Torta Caprese\u2013 a rich gluten-free chocolate cake\u2013 is out of this world. Instead of flour, the cake uses ground almonds and chocolate as a base, adding butter, sugar, eggs, whipped meringue and a little house-made lemoncello to create a sweet with plenty of flavor, but a lot less guilt. Trust us, it\u2019s well worth the drive. \u00a0\u2013Bret Love<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you enjoyed our post on the Best Food in Atlanta, you might also like:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Barnsley Gardens Resort<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Top 5 Autumn Activities Around Atlanta<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Jekyll Island Eco Activities<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n A Weekend in the North Georgia Mountains<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n