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Photograph by Ben Rollins
When Tom Murphy opened his namesake restaurant in Virginia-Highland in 1980, the area was ripe with new restaurateurs. The neighborhood had fought off the Georgia Highway Department which had planned to plow an interstate right through its heart and home values were soaring. The Dessert Place and Capo’s Cafe had joined stalwarts like Atkins Park, George’s, and Moe’s and Joe’s as neighborhood hotspots. The original Taco Mac had opened the year before, foregoing the expense of a new sign in return for a better kitchen.
Longtime Atlantans may remember Capo’s owner John Capozzoli roaming the dining room occasionally with a joint tucked behind his ear stopping to chat with regulars as they feasted on fettuccine Alfredo and his signature chicken diablo. Down the street, at the Dessert Place, cofounders Sheryl Meddin and Bennett Frisch baked moist carrot cake and addictive cheesecake brownies.