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Thursday, June 26, 2008
Food Studio Says Goodbye
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
GOING, GOING, GONE… the orange rice pudding napoleon with grapefruit vodka gelee at the Food Studio.
Photo: T. Levette Bagwell/AJC
I had been at the AJC a little over a year when I rereviewed the Food Studio, a West Side hottie that had opened in July 1996, smack dab in the middle of the Olympics craze. When it opened, the menu had that whole artsy food conceit going on —- menu pontifications that described the food in James Joyce-ian script, and what came to the table was beautiful but contrived.
Time aged and improved the kitchen’s attitude, making the food more inviting rather than off-putting. Mark Alba was chef when I reviewed and his approach to modern American cuisine had a mature touch and quiet veneer, but with subtle splashes of personality.
But the West Side became a hot bed of activity for restaurants and retail — new places popped up not just in that area, but all over the city. The dining public seemed to forget how hip they thought the artsy King Plow building, a former farmhouse/manufacturing plant, was. And they moved on.
Now the news is that the space will be used for events only, as part of parent company Fifth Group’s Bold American Catering with BAC’s exec chef Todd Anis. The “new chapter” will change the space from restaurant to event venue on July 19.
This feels a little like you don’t know what you have til it’s gone to me — a hip spot when it opened, hotter than hot, with a progressive menu for the time and a very cool space. I am sad to see it go….
Do you have a memory of Food Studio? Have you eaten there recently?
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