A new restaurant from two veteran restaurateurs hopes to bring a taste of Oaxaca to Chamblee.
Oaxaca is set to open Feb. 15 at 5255 Peachtree Blvd. on the ground floor of the new Attiva Peachtree 55+ apartment building.
The restaurant comes from Cesar Hernandez, who owns Oaxaca Tacos & Tequila Bar in Lawrenceville, and Luis Damian, who co-owns El Valle in Midtown and Habitat in Buckhead as part of his Mi Casa Tu Casa Hospitality Group and has worked in the kitchens at several metro Atlanta restaurants including Escorpion and Big Sky Buckhead.
Credit: Courtesy of Oaxaca
Credit: Courtesy of Oaxaca
The pair, along with executive chef Gabriel Salinas, developed a menu that pays tribute to the dishes Hernandez grew up eating in Oaxaca, complete with many ingredients imported from the region (including squash blossoms and wild spinach known as quelites) and house ground masa for use in tortillas.
Dishes will include tlayudas, thin, crispy tortillas topped with vegetables and meat; tetelas, a triangular empanada-style dish stuffed with ingredients like braised duck and Oaxaca cheese; gorditas with pork belly or pork chorizo with potatoes; tostadas; burritos with fried shrimp; and more seven kinds of tacos including carne asada, al pastor and pollo ala tinga.
“Masa not a simple technique,” Damian said. “A lot of work goes into it. We’ve taken the same respect as a lot of sushi chefs who bring their fish in from Tokyo.”
Damian’s wife and business partner, Faye Jonah, who serves as the pastry chef for El Valle, created desserts for Oaxaca’s menu such as churros and deconstructed corn husk meringue.
Complementing Oaxaca’s food will be the full bar, along with a selection of agave-based, Oaxacan-inspired cocktails.
Credit: Courtesy of Oaxaca
Credit: Courtesy of Oaxaca
The eatery will offer a “relaxed, casual atmosphere,” Damian said, with seating for 80 inside and 80 on a covered patio facing Peachtree Boulevard. The decor is “clean, comfortable and modern, with not a lot of ornamentation,” he said. The space features white walls and custom-made oak tables.
Though Hernandez’s restaurants share the Oaxaca name, Damian said they’re two very separate concepts.
“He wanted to do something where he goes deeper into the food,” he said. “He wanted to evolve his old concept into a new concept.”
Oaxaca’s opening hours are 5-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 5-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. Lunch and weekend brunch will be added in the coming weeks.
5255 Peachtree Blvd., Atlanta. 770-450-4805, oaxacaatl.com.
Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
