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.
Atlanta Magazine
The most anticipated metro Atlanta restaurants of 2021
We all need something to look forward to
Courtesy of Jose Pereiro
It’s an understatement to say that last year was rough, especially for the restaurant industry. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, many restaurants have been forced to rethink their business models or have had close completely. Yet the industry has remained resilient and innovative, introducing new menus and options like curbside pickup, embracing delivery-only ghost kitchens, and expanding outdoor dining. And new restaurants are still opening, giving us new options to look forward to whether you choose to dine in or out. Here are the most anticipated restaurants of 2021, in no particular order.
Kinship Butcher & Sundry targets a February 1 opening in Virginia-Highland
The shop will offer fresh meat, sandwiches, coffee, and basic pantry items
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Kinship owners Rachael Pack and Myles Moody in front of the historic building that will house their butchery and market.
Courtesy of Gene Kansas | Commercial Real Estate
Myles Moody and Rachael Pack are fine-dining hospitality professionals who moved to Atlanta in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. They had big plans to start a restaurant group, but as Pack says, “I can’t think of a more inappropriate thing to do than open a fine-dining restaurant right now.”
Instead, they thought about the idea of hospitality and how they could become more engaged with the community on a different level. The result is Kinship Butcher & Sundry. Located in the former home of Goin’ Coastal’s bar area, Kinship will serve as a market and meeting place for neighbors to purchase fresh meat, sandwiches, coffee, and basic pantry items, eac