Chef Virgil Harper has lived in Buckhead for years, so when he started developing a new brunch concept, he knew he wanted to keep it close to home.
“Buckhead needed a new breakfast and lunch spot. We thought it was important to have it there. We thought if we put a new brunch spot in the middle of Buckhead, we’d corner the market.”
Harper, along with business partner Tamara Young, found their ideal location at 2770 Lenox Road in the former home of wine bar Vine & Tap.
The pair debuted their “New American brunch” spot, Toast on Lenox, this week. The restaurant, which caters to “everybody who loves brunch,” Harper said, is an homage to his favorite meal of the day.
A chef for more than 25 years, Harper drew on his time cooking in New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well as visits to gastropubs and chef-driven restaurants during his travels when developing the Toast menu.
Look for dishes including Bananas Foster French toast with caramel rum sauce-charred bananas; beef short rib breakfast skillet with eggs, roasted potatoes, peppers, red onion confit, scallions, chives and horseradish aioli; fried chicken with Cinnabon waffles and vanilla creme caramel rum sauce; smoked lobster Croque Monsieur with pommes frites; and Mississippi fried catfish and grits with a Cajun crawfish sauce.
In the spring, Harper plans to launch a Fried Chicken and Champagne special, which he previously offered as a pop-up, with two glasses of champagne, a bucket of fried chicken and biscuits, collard greens, sweet potatoes, and macaroni and cheese.
The restaurant will also serve brunch cocktails once its liquor license is approved. Toast’s beverage director and its general manager, both level two sommeliers, will offer a curated selection of wines.
The Instagram-ready space, designed by Young, includes a plant wall adorned with a neon sign reading “Toast to a Good Life,” leather banquettes, teal velvet bar stools and basket chandeliers.
The Toast dining room seats up to 124, but as part of its COVID-19 safety precautions, the restaurant is currently seating at about 50% capacity and limiting parties to 90 minutes at a table. Patio seating will be available beginning in March.
Toast on Lenox requires all of its staff to wear masks; customers must wear masks when not seated.
Besides full-service, on-premises dining, the restaurant offers takeout and delivery.
Hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays.
2770 Lenox Road, Atlanta. 404-745-4549, toastonlenoxatl.com.
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