Metro Atlanta fine dining suffers Nadair closure, Truth Be Told pivot
The metro area’s fine dining scene has two fewer tasting menus, Atlanta Food & Wine tickets went on sale, one of the city’s oldest vegan restaurants announced it would close and more from the restaurant scene this week.
Chef departures lead to fine dining losses
Metro Atlanta’s fine dining scene has lost two of its most interesting and innovative tasting menus with the closure of Nadair and a pivot toward more casual dining at Roswell’s Truth Be Told.
Chef departures preceded both situations. At Nadair, acclaimed chef and owner Kevin Gillespie left the kitchen last August, the restaurant previously shared on social media. Nadair was listed on the Atlanta 50 and earned a recommendation in the Michelin Guide in 2025. In February, the restaurant announced it was simplifying its service to focus on a shorter three-course prix-fixe option and an a la carte menu. Four months later, Nadair shared that June 27 would be its final service before shuttering after two years in business.
In Roswell, Truth Be Told announced it would make changes “to better reflect our vision for neighborhood dining,” according to a news release. Those changes will include a new menu and branding, as well as new leadership in the kitchen thanks to the departure of executive chef Matt Marcus.
“We are grateful for his contributions to Truth Be Told and thank him for his dedication and the role he played in the journey thus far,” the news release said. “We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Under Marcus’ leadership, Truth Be Told served an innovative hybrid tasting menu: seven courses at the time of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s review, with several courses predetermined and a few that could be chosen by the diner.
In a phone call with the AJC, Marcus said he was proud of the team he’d built at Truth Be Told since opening in July 2025. Several of the restaurant’s employees had been hired with no prior experience and trained to deliver a sophisticated fine dining service with a highly technical menu. Truth Be Told earned a spot among the AJC’s best new restaurants of 2025.
“I’ve had the pleasure of leading a team of extraordinary individuals, a lot of which had never worked in a restaurant before, and turned it into a Michelin-caliber experience,” Marcus said.
Restaurant representatives did not say who would take over the Truth Be Told kitchen.
Other items of interest
Atlanta Food & Wine tickets went on sale this week, according to a news release. The festival will return for its 16th year with a four-day event Sept. 10-13 at the Home Depot Backyard downtown. The festival’s overall theme for 2026 is “The City is the Story,” the announcement said, with separate themes for each day of the event that explore different facets of Atlanta’s culinary identity.
Tickets starting at $99. Sept. 10-13, 1 Backyard Way, Atlanta. atlfoodandwinefestival.com
Creature Comforts Brewing Company announced the launch of a new liqueur this week, inspired by a Georgia heritage fruit that will benefit a coastal nonprofit. The Athens-based brewery introduced Sapelo Aperitivo, a bright liqueur based on the flavor profile of the Sapelo Sour Orange, which was developed in partnership with the Saltwater Geechee nonprofit SOLO (Save Our Legacy Ourself).
“Sapelo Aperitivo began with a simple idea that a rare citrus with deep roots on Sapelo Island could inspire a distinctive beverage while helping create demand for the crop over time,” Creature Comforts co-founder and CEO Adam Beauchamp said in a press statement. “Creature’s role is to support SOLO’s work by helping build a market for Sapelo Sour Oranges so that, as the orchard and supply chain grow, the additional revenue will support community-led agriculture, heritage preservation, and long-term economic opportunity on the island.”
Sapelo Aperitivo is now available statewide, the announcement said.
Cafe Momentum, the nonprofit restaurant that employs justice-involved youth, received national recognition this week when founder and CEO Chad Houser was named to the TIME Visionaries list. The list recognizes leaders driving meaningful impact in the lives of children across education, health and wellness, technology, economic opportunity and more, according to a news release.
“This recognition belongs to the young people who have inspired and shaped our work from the very beginning and continue to do so more than 11 years later,” Houser said in a press statement.
200 Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta. 770-881-8790, cafemomentum.org
New restaurant openings
The Chai Box Cafe has opened near the corner of Howell Mill and Collier Roads, specializing in Indian tea and kaapi (Indian filter coffee). Currently open until 3 p.m. every day.
1963 Howell Mill Road NW, Atlanta, 844-242-4269, thechaibox.com
Jeremiah’s Italian Ice will open another metro Atlanta sweet shop in Buford this week. The shop will open at noon Saturday and hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 3 p.m. hosted by the Buford Business Alliance.
3320 Buford Drive, Buford. 470-266-1101, jeremiahsice.com
LikeMinds opened Thursday in the former BrewDog space in the Krog District, kicking off its 120-day pop-up in the massive, highly visible location on the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail.
112 Krog St. NE, Atlanta. likemindsatl.com
Nando’s Peri-Peri opened Thursday at Krog Street Market. The South African-themed chicken chain has taken over the former Bar Mercado space, which closed its Krog Street-facing storefront in December 2022.
99 Krog St. NE, Atlanta. 404-777-6090, nandosperiperi.com
Restaurant closings
Mother’s Best, the Decatur fried chicken restaurant with a fine dining pedigree, will shut down, the restaurant shared on social media. The announcement explained that the restaurant suffered “a few catastrophic equipment failures” that left the business financially crippled. The Instagram post said Mothers Best would continue as a pop-up, while a local restaurant brokerage, The Shumacher Group, announced that the space had been sold and a new restaurant called Dan’s Snack Bar would take over.
Soul Veg, the West End eatery that claims the title of Atlanta’s oldest Black-owned vegan restaurant, will hold its final service July 12 with a “grand closing” celebration from noon to 7 p.m., according to a social media announcement. The restaurant has been in business nearly 50 years.