The hallmarks of good service are timeless. A friendly mien, attention to detail and an ability to read a guest’s mood and preferred level of interaction will always earn repeat business. A few new restaurants go a step further and curate the experience.
At the minimalist 16-seat Dish Dive, owner Jeff Myers pops out of the kitchen to take your order on the iPhone he uses for his POS, chats a little and opens the bottle of wine you’ve brought to this strictly BYO establishment. You choose from the six or seven dishes on the menu (heck, get them all and don’t miss the lamb-neck gravy fries), and pay by swiping your finger on the phone. It’s like a handshake that says “until next time.”
Enter the Atlanta Botanical Garden at night to visit the Cafe at Linton’s at the Garden, and you will be greeted at the entrance booth by a host who will personally walk you to the cafe 200 feet away. He can answer questions about the restaurant, the gardens and the exhibits, and when he hands you off to the restaurant hostess, you feel like a VIP. The shrimp and grits with she-crab cream are as rich as the surroundings.
Top kudos to the terrific crew at Asante who are tasked with explaining chef Marvin Woods’ vision of “the coastal soul cuisine of the African diaspora.” Under General Manager David Espin’s direction, they do an outstanding job of elucidating the common foodways developed through the slave trade while making you desperately hungry for Brazilian nut cheese with tomatoes and the yam dumplings called ducana, which arrive in a pungent Caribbean salt cod saute.
