Hungry for dinner and without reservations, the wife and I couldn’t bring ourselves to drive past CRAFT opening weekend here in ATL. We were hoping to squeeze in for a first taste at CRAFTBAR—the looser downstairs sister boasting a recession special menu with entrees under 25 bucks. Although the upstairs was packed, within minutes of our 9PM arrival, we were seated by the small but insanely organized open kitchen. Front and center is owner/chef Tom Colicchio’s concept wood-burning stove. It’s one of those mother-of-all kitchen creations that most cooks can only dream about, waking up hungry. Once seated, we quickly opened the small menu of wintry interpretations and ATL firsts. The signature drink section on the first page drew us in like thirsty camels and we ordered both a Lions Head and a Sunshine Squeeze. They tasted true to their names: the Lions Head, a sophisticated whiskey/bitters martini; the Sunshine Squeeze, a happy kettle one mixer with lemon and muddled ginger. See if the food lives up to our high expectations after the jump…

For the first course, we split the steak tartar and a baby romaine caesar with white anchovies. The tartar was a rustic ode; the raw meat diced into micro cubes, served in a small cast iron trough. The plate was completed with homemade waffle potato chips, a trinity of pickled veggies, and a dollop of whole-grain mustard. I thought that this tartar was excellent, and an interesting new take on the classic. It was not a “wet” tartar as you would expect; the dish was dictated by the unique dicing of the meat and fat. The small cubes fit perfectly into the spaces in the waffle chip-amazing. The salad was delicious. Baby hearts of romaine bathed in a caesar emulsification. We cut it with our butter knife. The fresh white anchovies added the perfect, naturally salted touch to finish the dish. For our main courses, I ordered the Lamb Tenderloin with a fresh mint yogurt, chickpeas, and spinach. The dish was a true Mediterranean classic, probably prepared the same way hundreds of years ago over a similar wood-fire grill. The chick peas, fresh olive oil, yogurt and mint all mixed together for a blissful last bite. Wife ordered the famous Veal Ricotta Meatballs with homemade tagliatelle. Colicchio channels the spirit of an Italian octogenarian in this hearty, hand-made dish. The meatballs are perfect in every fashion; soft and delicate in form, bold and hearty in taste. On both meals, the presentation was classic. The proportions were a bit on the light side, my wife and I cleaning our plates. But we had dessert to attend to. For our final course, I stepped it up and asked our waiter if we could re-locate to the big sofa table in the back that was moments before relinquished. The waiter was more than willing to oblige, confirming its “best table” status. In such a relaxed position, it was too easy to order both the home-made smores and the ginger-beer cream-sickle float. The smores were divine: perfectly melted California chocolate coated a warm, homemade, vanilla-bean marshmallow, sandwiched between two freshly baked graham crackers. Summer camp has nothing on this; think sandwich of the gods. The wife and I coined this the, “Death Penalty Dessert,” as we concluded that if you disliked this dessert, you should have your gene pool phased out. We knew that we had picked the perfect drink to wash everything down as soon as we fished our straws out of the cold fountain glass. The cream-sickle float had chunks of gingerbread and oranges throughout. Subsequently, it was gone in 60 seconds with the help of the long spoons provided. The perfect ending to another great meal. As far as our first taste goes, we had no doubts that CRAFT/CRAFTBAR would live up to its high expectations. With his warm, rustic flair, Colicchio’s New York concept feels right at home. After all, this isn’t the first time Atlanta has seen the power of a northerner who likes to play with fire. We will be back.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS