Midi, Little Tart open in Candler Park and more from Atlanta’s restaurant scene
Sister eateries opened together in Candler Park, an Atlanta-based wine competition announced a new venue, a new bar from the Talat Market team debuted and more from the metro area’s dining scene this week.
Midi and Little Tart opened this week
A Parisian-style sandwich shop and its sister bakery opened next door to each other in Atlanta’s Candler Park neighborhood this week.
Little Tart Bakeshop opened its newest location Wednesday, the local bakery chain announced on social media. The new Candler Park storefront at 1645 McLendon Ave. NE was joined the following day by Midi, a French-inspired cafe and sandwich shop first announced in May.
Midi is the first new business concept from the Little Tart team since the debut of Big Softie in 2019, the soft serve ice cream shop that now has three locations.
Owner Sarah O’Brien told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she was thrilled with the warm reception from the Candler Park neighborhood.
“The response has been incredible,” O’Brien said in a Friday afternoon phone call. “I just feel like the whole neighborhood is here right now and has been the past couple days.”
On its first day in business, Midi sold out of sandwiches and salads — “everything except soft serve and fries,” the cafe posted on social media. O’Brien said there was a rush on soft serve in the middle of the afternoon when a school bus dropped off a group of neighborhood kids.
“It makes me emotional because I really was trying to create a place where it felt like the neighborhood, in all the different parts of the day, could come and get what they need and want,” she said.
Little Tart, 1645 McLendon Ave. NE, Atlanta. littletartatl.com
Midi, 1643 McLendon Ave. NE, Atlanta. midi-atl.com
Sommlympics competition finds new home
A national wine competition backed by the Oenophile Institute was rescued by Atlanta’s wine community after the venue for its January event fell through.
Sommlympics is a competition for teams of wine professionals and enthusiasts that involves blind tasting, tests of theory and demonstrations of service, according to a news release. The event brings in teams from across the country for a live, in-person gathering.
The 2027 event was originally set to take place at the Hotel Phoenix in downtown Atlanta, according to a Sommlympics social media post. Several months after the next year’s competition was announced, the Sommlympics founders “learned that new management declined to honor the previously executed event contracts,” according to a news release.
“What happened next was a welcome reminder that the wine industry, for all its complexity, still knows how to show up for its people,” the announcement said.
Donations and sponsorships poured in, the announcement said. They allowed the competition to secure the Perlant, a private wine club in Buckhead, to host the event on Jan. 10.
“The response from our community has been overwhelming, in the best possible way,” Chelsea Young, founder of the Oenophile Institute, said in a press statement. “We were navigating what felt like an impossible situation, and the wine people of Atlanta stepped up in ways that made it clear Sommlympics means something to them. We’re grateful and honored — and we’re going to make this year’s event the best it’s ever been.”
Representatives for Hotel Phoenix have not responded to an inquiry from the AJC.
The Perlant, 3050 Peachtree Road NW, Atlanta. Jan. 10, $350. sommlympics.com
Metro Atlanta restaurant openings and announcements
Some Luck, a new Thai bar and restaurant from the team behind Talat Market, opened Nov. 8 in the basement of Otto’s Apartment Hotel in the Poncey-Highland area, the business announced on social media. The menu will offer small bites like papaya salad, lemon pepper wings and shrimp toast. Some Luck has not yet received its liquor license, so the beverage menu remains non-alcoholic until the permit is granted.
644 N. Highland Ave. NE, Atlanta. 678-535-0375, someluckatl.com
Rreal Tacos has reopened its Chamblee location, five months after a disastrous Mother’s Day fire that caused several businesses in the same development to close. The taco restaurant opened in the Windsor Parkview Solis building on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard on Monday.
5070 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Atlanta. 470-268-8290, rrealtacos.com
Two Bells Burgers, a new restaurant from chef Todd Ginsberg, is coming to Marietta Square, the chef announced with the help of Atlanta Magazine. Just weeks after launching Ida’s Kitchen Counter in Atlanta’s South Downtown development, Ginsberg shared that Two Bells would take over the former Boru Ramen space in the heart of Marietta.
154 Roswell St. NE, Marietta. instagram.com/twobellsburgers
Metro Atlanta restaurant closing
Doodle Pies, the sweet and savory pie shop in Roswell, announced that it would close up shop on Nov. 25.
“Thankful for every connection, conversations, and all the laughter,” the shop shared on Instagram. “Yes, there have been many tears too. I will miss you all.”