Heading South

There are a lot of big name restaurateurs heading to Atlanta, opening fine dining spots. Check out this list.

Tom Colicchio will bring Craft to Atlanta. Craft Restaurant and Colicchio are huge in NYC, not to mention the success of his television show.

Jeffrey Chodorow has teamed up with Maxim magazine to open what else, but a steak house. Look for Maxim Prime, offering soft porn and meat in downtown Atlanta soon.

Jean George Vongerichten, who has restaurants all over the world, will open Spice Market. He is also slated to open a Spice Market in Dubai, Istanbul, Miami and Barcelona. Good company if ya ask me.

Laurent Tourondel of BLT, that would be Bistro Laurent Tourondel, will open BLT steak at the W Hotel in downtown. This is the second W Hotel to open in Atlanta.

These are really big names and I like it. I have always said I want to be around to watch Atlanta grow into one of the coolest and largest cities in the world and when I can’t take it any longer, sell out and move to the sticks. Well I think Atlanta is well on it’s way, and so am I. You can hardly tell we are in a “recession” the way things are going here in Atlanta. Sure gas is up and home sales are slow and Deltas in limbo, but all in all we haven’t suffered as much as the rest of the country. I think all these big names heading this way is a sign of how well we are doing here and also how much “Southern Culture” is being embraced far and wide, not just here in the south.

The names above are just the folks that will be new to Atlanta, there is also a large list of local restaurant groups that are growing by leaps and bounds. It is amazing the growth that continues here. Everyday there is a new condo/loft development, restaurant or some other business opening here and if they offer a good product they usually succeed.