It seems like there has been some reverse migration going on. While some well-known, old-time Atlanta chefs and restaurateurs have recently up and left the ATL for NYC (first it was Joel Antunes of Joël heading to NYC for a position at the Oak Room at the newly refurbished Plaza Hotel — check out today’s NYPost review here – and then it was world-class sushi chef Sotohiro Kosugi dealing the ATL a blow by announcing his plans to close his popular Atlanta Japanese restaurant, Soto, to open one in New York), some big-name NYC chefs are breaking on to the ATL dining scene in a major way. Celeb chefs Tom Colicchio, Laurent Tourondel and Jean-Georges Vongerichten are blanketing the ATL with new locations of their famous food franchises, making the ATL the next big culinary destination in the eyes of many. 

Tom Colicchio opened Craft Atlanta and Craftbar in front of The Mansion on Peachtree. “We’re excited to come to Atlanta, a city with great food culture,” Colicchio says. “The wealth of local farms and artisanal producers here make it an ideal home for Craft.” Chef Kevin Maxey of Craft Dallas is in charge of the kitchen.

BLT Steak opens in Allen Plaza’s new W Atlanta Downtown next month. “Atlanta is a great city with an emerging culinary scene, and I am excited to have BLT Steak be a part of the development of this city as a new food destination,” Laurent Tourondel says. “I love the energy of the city, and I think BLT Steak will match the personalities in Atlanta.” Will be interesting to see how BLT Steak stacks up against some old-school ATL steakhouses like Chops, Bone’s and Kevin Rathbun Steak.

Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten opened a Spice Market outpost in April inside the W Atlanta Midtown. “Atlanta’s evolving dining scene continues to draw my attention to the South,” Vongerichten says. “The city’s culinary diversity makes it an ideal home for a concept like Spice Market.” But he didn’t stop there. In November, Vongerichten opened Market, a chic comfort food concept, in the new W Buckhead.  

Wined & Dined has you covered with some loyal blog readers down in the 404 who will be checking out some of these new celeb chef outposts, as well as other spots in the Dirty South, and reporting back to us. Will these new splashy restaurants bearing celebrity chef names become the next wave of the ATL dining scene or  are they merely a temporary trend until a new band of local culinary talent emerges? Is the ATL becoming a dining destination like NYC? ATL didn’t seem to take well to Emeril’s outpost. Be on the look out for reviews from guest contributors Adam Kramer and Scott Solomon who have their fingers on the pulse of the ATL dining scene. In fact, Adam and wife Elyssa hit up Craftbar ATL this past weekend and Adam’s review will be up on the site soon. We’re also lookin’ forward to hearing about the gastropub craze that is taking over the ATL…oh yeah, and someone’s gotta send us some pics of the burgers from Ann’s Snack Bar (the WSJ called it the “Best Hamburger in America.”)

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