Atlanta restaurateur Brian Lewis is about to unveil the latest iteration of his longtime Atlanta restaurant Bocado.
Located at 6300 Powers Ferry Road in Sandy Springs, Bocado will open in early September with a menu focused on small plates, wood-fired pizzas, pasta, seafood and steak entrees.
According to Lewis, the “evolved” menu will include several items from Bocado’s former locations, including a lobster roll on Saturdays. New small plates such as grilled artichokes with lemon garlic remoulade and beef Carpaccio with white truffle oil, arugula, watermelon radish, capers and Parmesan; entrees such as lasagna, pasta carbonara, filet mignon and red snapper; and 72-hour leavened, wood-fired sourdough pizzas.
The Neapolitan-style pizza’s base is “in line with what pizza makers are moving toward, which is a truly natural dough,” Lewis said. “It’s going back to ancient French baking and saying, ‘Hey, this is a deeper, richer-flavored dough.’ It’s taking something that’s typical and setting us apart.”
Credit: Courtesy of Bocado
Credit: Courtesy of Bocado
Ingredients for the pizzas will be sourced from Italy, including flour from a small Italian farm and tomatoes from Campania, near the coast. Other items on the menu will be made as much as possible with locally-sourced ingredients, meaning some dishes will be changed out seasonally.
The now defunct Bocado in Midtown earned a following for what was widely recognized as one of the best burgers in the city, but a burger will not be a regular fixture on the menu in Sandy Springs, though Lewis said it might appear occasionally as a special.
“It’s like an artist or a business that grows up,” Lewis said of the new menu. “We’ve done really well with a burger, but we were never established as a burger joint. It was just one of many things we did well.”
Credit: Courtesy of Bocado
Credit: Courtesy of Bocado
Bocado will also serve beer and wine, with several local options and “some stuff that’s hard to find,” he said.
The 1,200-square-foot space will have a “craft vibe,” Lewis said. While most of the seating will be on the attached patio, the interior will offer seating for 16 guests at the bar, three six-top tables and leather booths in the dining area.
“We want it to be a little neighborhood space that you can go to multiple times in a week and see your friends at other tables,” Lewis said.
Credit: Courtesy of Bocado
Credit: Courtesy of Bocado
Bocado opened on Howell Mill Road in west Midtown in late 2009, and closed in 2021 after 12 years.
Sister concept Bocado Burger closed in mixed-use Alpharetta development Avalon earlier this year after nearly a decade. Bocado Bar & Diner closed in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2022.
The Sandy Springs Bocado will be open for lunch and dinner.
“We’re not trying to press culinary boundaries,” Lewis said. “We want to sell food that people want to eat.”
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