Alpine-inspired restaurant Avize is on the cusp of opening in Atlanta’s west Midtown neighborhood.
Located at 956 Brady Ave. NW in the former Nick’s Westside space and set to debut Oct. 3, Avize comes from chef Karl Gorline, a Mississippi native who worked at several restaurants in New Orleans before landing in Atlanta. Most recently, he worked at the Woodall, and also worked in the kitchen of Michelin-starred Atlanta restaurants Atlas, Girl Diver, Char and the now-shuttered Watershed.
Gorline said the concept for Avize was conceived in part because of his interest in researching and working with new and unusual ingredients.
“Chefs as a whole are very curious people,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re always looking for stuff that’s not necessarily uncommon, but maybe not readily available.”
Credit: Courtesy of Avize
Credit: Courtesy of Avize
His background also made him particularly interested in the region, with family who came to the U.S. from just outside of Berlin. “I want to better understand where I come from and my heritage,” he said. “That curiosity leads to one thing, which leads to the next, and the shoe just sort of fit for this restaurant.”
With a couple of exceptions, notably Terry Kovals’ Deer and the Dove in Decatur and Kevin Gillespie’s recently-opened Nadair, there aren’t many similar concepts in metro Atlanta, Gorline said.
“It’s something that’s relatively new,” he said. “This isn’t a traditional Alpine restaurant, it’s a take on Alpine food traditions.”
Much of the produce used in Avize’s dishes will come from an 800-acre farm in Breman, Georgia, and most other ingredients will be sourced from other local farms.
Gorline expects his hay smoked, dry-aged duck to become a signature dish, alongside offerings like venison tartare with blueberries, buckwheat and walnuts, and striped bass prepared with turnips, salsa verde and an anchovy emulsification, alongside more accessible dishes like roast chicken with a lemon caper sauce.
Though ingredients will change seasonally, the menu will feature year-round core offerings including three handmade pastas (two stuffed shapes and a cavatelli), and a “regionally-driven” Caesar salad with a dressing that uses as its base a Frankfurt green sauce emulsified with boiled eggs, and herbs like chervil, upland cress and borage.
Credit: Courtesy of Avize
Credit: Courtesy of Avize
The duck will always be hay-smoked and seasoned with spicebush, sumac and black tea, but the setup will change depending on the season. The opening offering will include caramelized endive with Morello cherries and foie gras Dippin Dots.
“I’ve been in Atlanta for awhile, and I’m always trying to understand, what’s the code for places that stay busy and people love going to?” Gorline said. “I think some of it is consistently having some dishes that guests can rely on.”
By the holidays, Gorline plans to unveil a tasting menu, which will rotate dishes frequently.
“We’ll have the best of both worlds,” he said. “We’ll have some of those core dishes on the main menu, and the tasting menu will have fun with the hyperseasonality that the Southeast presents.”
Though Avize doesn’t have a dedicated pastry chef, Gorline is excited about dessert options, which include a modern take on the traditional Mont Blanc, made with brown butter banana frangipane, coconut custard and Alpine liqueur with chestnut cream. Housemade ice cream flavors will rotate, with the opening offering a juniper ice cream with fig leaf oil and Oolong milk tea.
Credit: Courtesy of Avize
Credit: Courtesy of Avize
The beverage program will be overseen by Avize’s director of hospitality Taurean Philpott, who previously served as a manager at Michelin-starred restaurant Bacchanalia. Philpott said he’ll put a focus on wines, Champagnes and amari from the Alps, as well as a handful of domestic wines.
Cocktails will include the Alpine swizzle, with navy rum, allspice dram pineapple and Chartreuse Végetal served in a vintage German beer stein. In addition to Amari, spirit offerings are rounded out by a “meticulously thought through” selection of Scotch, Bourbon, gin, rum, mezcal and tequila. The beverage menu also offers a smattering of Bavarian beers.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
“There’s a bit of something for everyone,” Philpott said. “We’re trying to find that balance between classic representation and Alpine representation, and sometimes those two things come together to be both Alpine and classic, within the wine world especially.”
The Avize space also leans into Alpine inspiration. Designed by Micah Hall of Gather and Grow Studios, the moody interior includes a 10-foot mural of an Alpine mountain range in the dining room.
Avize’s opening hours will be 5-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. Reservations are now open on resy.com.
956 Brady Ave. NW, Atlanta. 404-879-1713, avizeatlanta.com
Scroll down to see the full food menu for Avize:
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
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