The word is out. Little Five Points drinking and dining destination, the Porter Beer Bar, is opening under new ownership soon.
Molly Gunn and Nick Rutherford opened the Porter in 2008, when craft beer wasn’t nearly as ubiquitous as it is now. Certainly, the couple’s fine dining background was an anomaly back then, too.
They met at Seeger’s in Buckhead, where Rutherford was a chef, and Gunn worked the front of the house. But they decided their restaurant would be casual and creative — set off by bric-a-brac, a long concrete bar, and daily specials featuring local and seasonal ingredients. Along the way, the Porter earned two James Beard Foundation award nominations for its bar program.
Like many other bars and restaurants, the pandemic impacted business at the Porter: the menu and daily specials were trimmed, table service was eliminated. “The last two years really took it out of us,” Gunn said.
Credit: Bob Townsend for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Bob Townsend for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With their lease up in January, the couple decided not to sign for another five years. When Gunn started putting out feelers, longtime Atlanta barman Manuel “Manny” Maloof answered the call. Maloof is the grandson of the founder of Manuel’s Tavern, and currently operates Manny’s Grant Park, and Euclid Avenue Yacht Club in Little Five Points.
“My employees have a relationship with Manny, in that they drink at Manny’s and Yacht Club, and I knew that they liked him and respected him,” Gunn said. “He’d wanted to do something with chef E.J. Hodgkinson, so they’re partnering. And I think Manny understands that the food is more of the focus at the Porter than it is at some other bars.”
For his part, Maloof said partnering with Hodgkinson was key to the deal to takeover the Porter. “Honestly, I wouldn’t have done this without E.J. being involved,” he said. “Somebody has to keep going what Nick has been doing for the last decade and a half. Sometimes opportunity comes knocking and you’ve got to answer it. The Porter is such a good joint, and E.J. is such a good chef, it just made sense.”
Hodgkinson’s resume includes more than four years working with Kevin Gillespie at Woodfire Grill, and six years with Ford Fry Restaurants, where he served as executive chef at JCT Kitchen and King + Duke. But the Porter is the first time he’s partnered on a restaurant of his own.
“I’m very excited,” Hodgkinson said. “Working with restaurant groups over the years has been a really, really tremendous experience. But getting an opportunity to do it for myself is like a chance of a lifetime. Nick and Molly created an institution in Atlanta, and so I don’t want to do anything other than add my touch to what they created. I’ve got a lot of respect for those two, and that place.”
Maloof and Hodgkinson agree that they want to return the Porter to its heyday, with full-service dining, an expanded menu with specials, and events in the beer cellar room.
As to the future of the Porter, Gunn is both wistful and optimistic.
“I’m very hopeful,” she said. “People have asked me, ‘What if they change things?’ My answer is they’re going to change things for the better. Right now the menu has four entrees, so you can only make that better.
“But I really want to thank Atlanta for the support we’ve had for the past 14 years. Especially the support we received during the pandemic. We really have great people who went out of their way to make sure we survived.”
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