Located on the corner of Church and Main streets in historic downtown Flowery Branch, you feel a delightful mix of experiences as you approach the  front door. Outside, a Victorian Queen Anne cottage with its wrap-around porch, big shade trees and wild bamboo. Inside, a quaint bistro atmosphere, complete with piano bar and paintings by local artisans. Owners Jeff and Alina Hills have created a warm establishment. As you enter the restaurant, you are greeted with smiles and welcomes. Then you walk into a relaxed lounge with easy chairs, sofa and fireplace. The rustic oak bar is adorned in nautical burgee's from across the United States. Before moving from New Jersey, Jeff was working at a renowned catering establishment, The Manor in West Orange, New Jersey.  Jeff was involved in the restaurant business for 13 years, and Alina wanted to establish a cosmopolitan eatery, that was when the Flowery Branch Yacht Club Restaurant was formed.  It was a marriage made in heaven, in more ways than one. By viewing the seasonal menu and how they are specially prepared, you’ll know why. Appetizer and dinner specials are based on what’s best in season, guaranteeing freshness and an original experience each time you visit.   Chef Michael Thorne's delectable menu features Seasonal Specialties and Yacht Club staples.   The lounge boasts a full-service bar and offers a large selection of mixed drinks, wines, imported beers, and champagne.  It is also the perfect spot to relax and enjoy coffee, espresso our an after dinner drink while listening to the piano. The desert menu offers many tempting treats including crème brûlée topped with berries, seasonal cobbler, and much more. These confections are beautifully artistic and sinfully delicious.   Call and arrange for the Hills and Chef Michael Thorne to choose an entire experience for you from entrees to the wines at the Chef's table. Your distinctive dinner can be served in the dining room or the private room. It’s a perfect way to celebrate a special anniversary, birthday, or business meeting.   The Flowery Branch Yacht Club unites excellent food, comfortable ambiance and an attitude that says, quite distinctly, Welcome!

 

Main Street Gourmet 54 Main Street, Buford, GA 30334, 678-271-0537, A sunny cafe that is splashed with modern art, this charming cafe serves contemporary sandwiches, salads, soups, and light plates daily for lunch and dinner

The 20 most exciting places to dine right now, plus Chef of the Year, Chefs to Watch, and the hottest (coolest) new foods.
By John Mariani (more from this author)
10/31/2006, 7:00 AM








Arcadiana Washington, DC • Ame San Francisco • A Voce New York • Bong Su San Francisco • Cordavi Charleston, SC • Country New York • Dona New York • Ecco Atlanta • The Georgian Room Sea Island, GA •Guy Savoy Las Vegas • Joel Robuchon Las Vegas • Junnoon Palo Alto, CA •Om Cambridge, MA • Proof on Main Louisville • Rasika Washington, DC • Redd Yountville, CA • Re.Past' Atlanta • Sorellina Boston
From fine regional Indian in D.C. to a reimagined chophouse in Los Angeles, John Mariani has once again scouted the country in search of the best new eateries. Here, the twenty most exciting places to dine right now.
Acadiana, Washington, DC
Anyone can add a splash of hot sauce to a recipe and call it Cajun, but chef Jeff Tunks has done his homework. After two field trips to the bayous, gorging his way through five or more eateries a day, Tunks returned fifteen pounds heavier and with contracts for genuine Creole staples: French bread from Leidenheimer Baking Company, seafood from P&J Oyster Company, and beer and root beer from the Abita Brewing Company in Abita Springs, Louisiana.
Every meal here starts with a basket of the best biscuits you'll find outside of Mother's in New Orleans; they're as big as hockey pucks and pumped full of butter and somehow still light. The fried green tomatoes, crispy until you puncture the batter and release the tangy juices, are topped with a thick coat of sweet-and-sour Gulf shrimp remoulade, while "Aunt Boo's" crawfish bisque teems with tail meat and comes with hot cornmeal hush puppies. Desserts here are as decadent as you'll find anywhere: The warm white-chocolate bread pudding with salted macadamia-nut ice cream and butter-rum sauce tastes as if it's about ten thousand calories per spoonful -- and worth it. 901 New York Avenue NW; 202-408-8848; acadianarestaurant.com.
Ame, San Francisco
When husband-and-wife chef-owners Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani received a call from the St. Regis management to open a place in its new South of Market hotel, they wondered if it was a mistake. For eighteen years now the couple has run the low-key Napa Valley restaurant Terra, beloved for its rustic mix of East and West cuisines. A high-end hotel dining room seemed out of character, maybe even beyond their capabilities. Thankfully, they accepted the challenge.
Ame's high-ceilinged dining room has a highly polished mesquite floor, walls painted in calm shades of gray and brown, except for one done in deep red, and a bright open kitchen with a sushi bar. Start here with innovative sashimi, like a carpaccio of sea bream, which Sone infuses with the woodsy taste of truffles and the mild sea flavor of bottarga, flaked from the belly of tuna. The menu is rich in Asian seafood -- the signature dish from Terra, a sake-marinated black cod with shrimp dumplings, is present -- but don't let that deter you from dishes that borrow heavily from other cuisines, like the remarkable braised veal cheeks on ricotta cavatelli dumplings with summer squash and pesto. Doumani is in charge of the whimsical desserts -- like a rum-ice-cream sundae with peanut brittle, banana, and hot-fudge sauce -- which are every bit as American as her partner's cuisine is global. St. Regis Hotel, 689 Mission Street; 415-284-4040; amerestaurant.com.
A Voce, New York
French master chef Paul Bocuse once told me, "If chefs ate their own cooking, you'd have much better food." It is very obvious that Andrew Carmellini, a former interpreter of Daniel Boulud's vision at Cafe Boulud, is now cooking the kind of food he truly enjoys: unfussy regional Italian dishes like his grandmother's traditional meat ravioli.
A Voce's dining room is sixties modern, with a wall of large windows that looks out onto Twenty-sixth Street, swiveling Eames chairs, lime-green tabletops, and retro-looking light fixtures. There are also outdoor garden tables, coveted in good weather.
You can't go wrong starting with the juicy duck meatballs, made with foie gras and served with dried-cherry sauce. Mostly, though, traditional dishes are tweaked just enough to make them seem fresh, as with good old chicken cacciatore with crushed potatoes, sweetened with peppers, and duck glazed with fennel and served with snap peas, duck sausage, and olive sauce. One of the most exceptional pastas is simple chewy pappardelle, coated in a lamb ragu and then topped with a scoop of ultrafresh ricotta. The twist? Just a bit of mint in the sauce that will leave you craving it weeks later. 41 Madison Avenue; 212-545-8555; avocerestaurant.com.
Bong Su, San Francisco
With Bong Su, owner Anne Le and chef-partner Tammy Huynh, a former Miss Vietnam, have fashioned a dining room of silvery-gold light filtered through delicate chiffonlike strips of fabric, accented with bamboo and glowing hanging lamps -- all tended to by a female wait staff that sashays by in backless outfits designed by Calvin Tran. A big communal table honors the kind of family meals the owners remember fondly from their childhoods in Vietnam.
Huynh, whose mother was a seafood exporter, studied biochemistry and pharmacy, and the background seems to inform her insight into the way ingredients play off one another. Delicate, small cupcakes made of rice flour cuddle sweet sauteed baby prawns and diced green scallions. Plump-breasted quail is stuffed with sticky rice and ginkgo nuts, basted with honey, and roasted till golden. She takes the homey idea of Vietnamese noodles and lavishes them with rich Kobe beef -- the first taste suffuses you with the spices, followed by the fat of the meat melting on your tongue and then the warm pleasure of slurping down the soft noodles. 311 Third Street; 415-536-5800; bongsu.com.
Cordavi, Charleston, South Carolina
From the outside, Cordavi, whose name is an amalgam of partners Corey Elliott and David Szlam, looks like your typical South Carolina eatery, with clapboard siding and a small wooden doorway. On the first floor, there is a bar with a few tables; a set of wooden stairs leads to a dining room configured not for the maximum number of seats but for the correct number the kitchen can handle. The decor is simple, with deep red walls and a single flower set on white linens adding a burst of color.
Far more risque is the food. Dreamy foie gras sits atop thick, crisp brioche toast, with a blackberry compote and tangy fruit sorbet. Lobster is poached gently in butter, retaining its satiny texture and natural sweetness, then accompanied by a rich pork-belly ravioli. For dessert, there is a Key-lime panna cotta with blood-orange jelly and graham-cracker crisps, and warm banana crepes with chocolate ice cream and blueberry compote.
In a town that still loves its meat and taters and fried fish, Cordavi is a maverick. And that's something Charlestonians should be proud of. 14 North Market Street; 843-577-0090; cordavi.com.
Country, New York
Country is simply one of the most civilized spaces in New York. An extraordinary 1911 Tiffany glass dome sits twenty feet above a room bold enough for clinching a business deal and romantic enough to bring friends the night before your wedding. You arrive via a staircase angled to give you a look at the two levels Country occupies -- including the dimly lit first-floor cafe with a zinc bar.
Geoffrey Zakarian, who also runs Town on West Fifty-sixth Street, brings a command of classic American ingredients that justifies the restaurant's name -- evident from the very first bite of soft, yeasty Parker House rolls lavished with good butter. (You can tell a lot by a place's butter.) It's hard not to be wowed by the crisp skin of his signature spit-roasted sizzling chicken with chewy Swiss chard and soft artichokes, and the Berkshire pork has the rapture of fat that pork rarely exhibits these days, giving it a nice sweetness. The grilled prime rib of beef is a generous slab, cooked impeccably to your taste and served with tiny ricotta ravioli that soak up the red-wine reduction.
In bringing Country to the city, Zakarian has again proven he is a master interpreter of American cuisine and ensured that New York will remain the epicenter for such sophisticated taste. Carlton Hotel, 90 Madison Avenue; 212-889-7100; countryinnewyork.com.
Dona, New York
The owner is Donatella Arpaia, that tall blond wearing Cavalli tonight, Versace tomorrow, striding through her restaurant and welcoming customers. Arpaia had the good sense to give up a law practice to enter the more convivial restaurant biz (she also owns David Burke and Donatella) and play hostess to a nightly party in a dimly lit room of zebra-printed carpets, orange banquettes, and space-altering mirrors. She also had the good sense to hire chef Michael Psilakis, who reinvented Greek food at New York's Onera.
Psilakis has again crafted a menu based on what he calls first-generation cuisine, which refers to the fact that he (and Arpaia) was born in the U.S. to immigrant parents. He works with ingredients and spices that might shake some heads among purists on the coast near Bari or on the shores of Corfu but work wonders here. His crudo includes a ceviche of razor clams with fennel, green apple, and mint, and there's an incredible tartare of earthy yellowtail topped with crunchy, salty capers. There are also dazzling appetizers like octopus with sweet peaches and guanciale bacon in a red-wine reduction, and offbeat pastas like butternut-squash tortelli with spiced walnuts, aged asiago cheese, and tart dried cherries. Wine-red tuna is cut into a cylinder, dusted with ground cumin, and dressed with a vinaigrette containing puckery and salty feta cheese. If you have trouble deciding, and you will, just go for the three- or five-course tasting menu and have it all. 208 East Fifty-second Street; 212-308-0830.
Ecco, Atlanta
The Fifth Group had already proven themselves innovators in this town with restaurants such as South City Kitchens, La Tavola Trattoria, and Sala-Sabor de Mexico, but Ecco is a much bigger (240 seats) and more refined space, and certainly Atlanta's best Mediterranean-style restaurant ever.
The restaurant is housed in what used to be the Atlanta Fencing Club, with dark walnut, leather, and Carrara marble adding a swank modern sheen to an old, comfortable space. Chef Micah Willix works in full sight from the tiled open kitchen, and as soon as you're seated you're tempted by the sizzles and smells as he whips up specialties like fall-from-the-bone short ribs stuffed with hot piquillo peppers, and sherry-dashed sweetbreads with a crushed-almond coating. His golden-squash blooms are fried and given a crunchy sprinkling of sea salt; the braised breast of veal can be eaten with a spoon. Loads of garlic bolster the chile-braised pork that dresses firm house-made pappardelle noodles. Order any bottle of wine and, at meal's end, you get a lovely description of the vintage printed on a very thin sheet of wood to take home with you -- along with your feeling of deep satisfaction. 40 Seventh Street; 404-347-9555; ecco-atlanta.com.
The Georgian Room, Sea Island, Georgia
If the Michelin Guide should ever start rating dining rooms of the American South, the Georgian Room at the Cloister hotel might well deserve three stars as a restaurant "worth a special journey."
Set amid the wavy Sea Island marshes Georgia poet Sidney Lanier called "a limpid labyrinth of dreams," the hotel has just reopened after being totally rebuilt. It includes the new gilded Georgian Room, with its bas-relief ceilings, large chandeliers, and classic Ionic pillars.
Chef Scott Crawford's knack for blending classic technique with regional southern specialties is on full display here, as in his fluffy shrimp-and-grits souffle with the surprise of smoked tomato. Wild sea bass is served with ham-hock essence, fresh Gulf crayfish, and succotash of fava beans and corn. There's even barbecue here, though this barbecue is lightly grilled and smoked cuts of beef, veal, and rabbit, beautifully presented on fine china with braised summer beans. For dessert, there's a butterscotch custard with a macadamia crust and coconut ice cream. It's all backed by one of the great wine lists in the country and a staff who could not possibly be more at your beck and call. The Cloister, 100 Cloister Drive; 912-638-3611; seaisland.com.
Guy Savoy, Las Vegas
Michelin three-star chef Guy Savoy has made this, his first stateside foray in twenty years, a tour de force designed to compare in every respect with his namesake Paris original. And greater love hath no man than to send his only son, Franck, to manage his restaurant.
The thirty-foot-high entrance is happily distant from the cacophony of the Caesars Palace casino, and once you're inside, the frenzy of Vegas is replaced by a calming sophistication. The main dining room, which seats only seventy-five, is actually two large rooms with very high ceilings, gray cement, and minimalist decor softened by shafts of overhead light that create an intimate space around each table.
An eleven-course tasting menu might begin with executive chef Damien Dulas's little foie gras "club" sandwiches, served on sterling-silver skewers as an amuse. Then on to "Colors of Caviar," a shooter of haricots verts puree, caviar vinaigrette foam, caviar-spiked creme fraiche, and more layers of Sevruga and osetra. And so it progresses, one stunning achievement after the next: "Tout Petit Pois" is a study in pea flavors, textures, and colors, with peas and puree afloat in a pea broth and crowned with an oozing soft-boiled quail's egg and shavings of black truffles. Savoy's famous oysters en gelate gleam in their pearly shells atop an oyster cream pudding, itself dotted with oyster aspic.
Main desserts -- like chocolate fondant with praline-and-chicory cream -- are followed by marshmallows, lollipops, tiny creme brulees, cotton candy, buttery pastries, and sorbets, as many as you desire, for as long as you want to keep nibbling. And why not? The table is yours for the evening. Caesars Palace, 3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South; 702-731-7286; guy-savoy.com.
Joel Robuchon, Las Vegas
Ten years ago, Joel Robuchon retired from the field of haute cuisine, more than once pronounced the world's greatest chef. He came out of retirement to open a series of counter-based eateries called L'Atelier -- fun places, very casual, very popular. But his eponymous new restaurant -- one of the most expensive in the U.S., with menus at $360 per person and an a la carte lobster dish alone at $135 -- proves that he's lost none of his fire to compete with the best of the best.
The restaurant is Bob Guccione-style swanky, with huge urns, purple-and-black fabrics, a crystal chandelier, a replica of a Rodin nude, and electric candles; the "terrace" is indoors. But the cooking, by executive chef Claude Le-Tohic and chef de cuisine Tomonori Danzaki, is dazzling. You start off trying to decide among twenty different breads of various crusts and flavors. Then you move on to crab in the most fragile of puff pastries with sweet tomato. A tot of Wagyu beef marrow adorns a marrow bone stuffed with a rosemary-infused puree of fava beans. Crispy panfried Japanese tilefish swim in a broth of lily bulbs. And a rosy-pink Colorado veal chop comes with vegetable pasta flavored with pesto, and a puree of pommes de terre that seems more butter than potato. And, as at Guy Savoy (above), dessert itself is a multitiered affair.
You can eat at L'Atelier and say you experienced the Robuchon touch, but until you dine here, you won't know how good French cuisine can be. MGM Grand Hotel, 3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South; 702-891-7925; mgmgrand.com.
Junnoon, Palo Alto, California
Too many Americans still regard Indian restaurants as places for hot, spicy food and plenty of it. The lovely owner of Junnoon, Sabena Puri, along with her consulting partner, chef Floyd Cardoz of New York's Tabla, is out to change that image by investing the restaurant with everything the Hindi word junnoon connotes -- passion, energy, even obsession.
Some of chef Kirti Pant's dishes here are quite delicate, others intense. You take a bite of a semolina shell filled with spiced chickpeas, mint, and tamarind and your palate is awakened. Old Delhi-style chicken tikka is done in a wondrous fenugreek-seasoned tomato-and-onion sauce; sea bass is flaked with rice, Kerala style, giving it additional crispiness. Tandoor ovens can too often scorch all moisture from seafood, but here shrimp comes out sweet and juicy, lightly seared and served with a piquant red-pepper vinaigrette. Yogurt-based raitas are subtle and creamy, chutneys tangy and not too sweet, and the breads -- like goat-cheese nan with green chiles, saffron, and fennel -- are puffy, charred, and as memorable as the place itself. 150 University Avenue; 650-329-9644; junnoon.com.
Om, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Om is not quite as peace inducing as its meditative name suggests. In fact, the two-level restaurant overlooking Harvard Square has been designed to spark, not sedate. Owners Bik Yonjan and Solmon Chowdhury pay homage to their ancestry with five thousand square feet of bamboo floors, Buddhist sculptures, handcrafted stone walls, and a light-reflecting waterfall.
The kitchen is manned by the remarkable Rachel Klein, who cooked previously at Lot 401 in Providence (Best New Restaurants 2004), where she showed a tremendous flair for Asian fusion. At Om she has a broader canvas and takes full advantage. When you sit down, you nibble on tasty Parmesan-dusted popcorn. Hamachi sashimi comes with peach confit, yellow peppers, Thai-chile syrup, pineapple mint, and sage. Then try her glorious scarlet borscht with smoked potatoes and ginger, derived from her Russian-Romanian parents, or her tantalizing take on duck confit, with Castilian blue cheese, pear mustard, Turkish pepper, and pine-nut brittle. Finish with "Tea and Chocolate," an extremely rich chocolate bar topped with Earl Grey ice cream and spearmint-bergamot syrup. 92 Winthrop Street; 617-576-2800; omrestaurant.com.
Proof on Main, Louisville
Co-owned by the redoubtable Drew Nieporent (New York's Tribeca Grill, Nobu, Montrachet), Proof on Main is a distinct departure from the commendable but fairly staid Louisville restaurant scene.
The name Proof evokes the other two owners' (Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown) family control of the spirits titan Brown-Forman, and their personal interest in art collecting and downtown restoration buoys everything at the restaurant, which comprises four late-eighteenth-century brick buildings decorated with knitted rugs, linen upholstery, light boxes, and their own fine-art collection.
Chef Michael Paley serves food every bit as colorful and bold as the design, starting with country-ham fritters with a grain-mustard aioli. Kentucky striped bass comes with stewed artichokes and marinated tomatoes and is perfumed with basil. And you will not go hungry here, especially if you order the massive bone-in bison tenderloin treated to plenty of buttered leeks, roasted fingerling potatoes, rosemary oil, and smoked salt. End the meal with one of the scores of bourbons that Proof stocks, then walk the fifty feet to the room you should have booked -- the restaurant is attached to the 21c Museum Hotel, so you can check out the art, have dinner, and happily stumble home. 702 West Main Street; 502-217-6360; proofonmain.com.
Rasika, Washington, DC
Like Junnoon (above), this place is out to show Americans that Indian cuisine is as diverse as the subcontinent it comes from. So Rasika (Sanskrit for "flavors") avoids every Indian-restaurant design cliche. In their place are sharp, modern lines; deep colors of saffron, tamarind, and cinnamon; and polished wood-and-stone floors. It is very seductive, even during the daytime.
The best way to eat at Rasika is to have Bombay-bred chef Vikram Sunderam prepare a tasting menu for you, either vegetarian or not, which he'll happily pair with selected wines. Ask him to include some of my favorites: the minced lamb cooked on the tawa griddle with spring onions and green chutney; black cod sweetened with honey and spiced with star anise and red-wine vinegar; sliced okra with dry mango powder; and the creamiest of lentil dals with caramelized onions and tomato. Even desserts like carrot halvah with cinnamon zabaglione show just how wonderfully refined Rasika's food is. It will change your mind about Indian cuisine forever. 633 D Street NW; 202-637-1222; rasikarestaurant.com.
Redd, Yountville, California
It's always nice to have big financial backers in this biz, and for them to stick part of your name on the door is a real sign of commitment. So Richard Reddington must have been delighted when the folks who run Napa Valley's finest resort, the Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford, teamed up with him on Redd.
The decor is minimal: nearly bare white walls, wooden floors, nicely set tables, and that's about it. It's Reddington's cooking that brings in the crowds. It is clean, colorful, balanced, and very northern Californian -- every ingredient brimming with flavor as if plucked from a nearby field or stream moments before.
The rabbit, braised and served with cheddar-cheese polenta and mole sauce, is from Sonoma, as is the duck, whose leg is made into a confit with nectarines, ginger, and five-spice jus; the triple-cream Red Hawk cow's-milk cheese is from Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes Station; the quail, with black Mission figs and green beans, comes from the Wolfe ranch in Vacaville; and, of course, most of the wines are made within a few miles of the restaurant.
California chefs know they are blessed to have such bounty so readily available, and we are all fortunate that guys like Richard Reddington know exactly what to do with it. 6480 Washington Street; 707-944-2222; reddnapavalley.com.
Re.Past', Atlanta
The name and punctuation make me think of a new Hagen-Dazs flavor, but the husband-and-wife team of Joe Truex and Mihoko Obunai has fashioned a fifty-four-seat restaurant that turns out food that is very much an expression of their own magnanimous personalities.
I love the casually hip configuration of the place -- down a level from the street, with lots of exposed concrete, tall windows, an open kitchen, and a central column speckled with pin lights to give it a slightly extraterrestrial look.
The cooking here is fairly straightforward but always with a unique twist or unexpected layer, as in red ruby trout wrapped in Serrano ham and served with a pleasingly southern sweet-corn succotash and lush lemon-herb butter, or scallops skewered on sugarcane and grilled, accompanied by green-papaya salsa, coconut-scented jasmine rice, and an aromatic curry vinaigrette. The cheesecake is lightened by being whipped into an airy souffle. With a wine list that offers some great deals under fifty bucks, like a 2003 Hook & Ladder chardonnay at forty-four, Re.Past' provides the kind of delectable, easygoing evening of great food and drink that you will definitely want to Re.Peat' soon. 620 North Glen Iris Drive; 404-870-8707; repastrestaurant.com.
Sorellina, Boston
Chef Jamie Mammano's greatest strength is in knowing exactly what people like to eat. He creates bighearted dishes like a Niman Ranch pork chop with a dried-fruit mostarda and polenta laced with plenty of Parmesan, and a huge bowl of American-Kobe-beef meatballs in a Barolo wine sauce over macaroni. Hot ciabatta toast and marinated heirloom tomatoes are smeared with creamy ricotta.
Clearly this is not formulaic Italian-American fare, and Mammano (who also runs the great Mistral) continues to inspire Boston's restaurant scene with dishes like addictive fried rice balls called arancini stuffed with Jonah crab. Foie gras comes with two types of tangy-sweet cherries and apricot crostini, and fat New England scallops are graced with a gratin of squash perfumed with basil.
Sorellina, which means "little sister," is a wide-open place -- 126 seats plus a full bar -- all done in black and white, with tall columns, comfortable chairs that cost $800 each, white leather banquettes, and cork floors that soak up what would otherwise be a cacophonous noise level. This is a restaurant that hits on every cylinder of food and fun, which is obviously why it's packed every night of the week. 1 Huntington Avenue; 617-412-4600; sorellinaboston.com.
Restaurant of the Year
Cut, Los Angeles
There are several reasons we doubted Cut would make this list at all, much less top it. For one, it's a steak house, a stubbornly conservative genre. And it's the creation of uberchef Wolfgang Puck, who seemed an unlikely candidate to open another revolutionary restaurant like Spago (1982) or Chinois on Main (1983). Yet by the time I was halfway through my meal at Cut, I knew this was the best new restaurant to open in the U.S. this year.
The sweeping two-tier space was designed by Richard Meier, and during the day, its beige-white-and-black color scheme, ribbonlike ceiling, and curving expanse of windows look a bit like an executive cafeteria. But at night, the place glows with stars (the celestial kind) twinkling through a dramatic slice of skylight and stars (the Hollywood kind) tucked away in the sought-after booths.
Chef Lee Hefter and chef de cuisine Ari Rosenson (both of Spago) have crafted a menu that includes all the exceptional USDA prime cuts -- aged either twenty-one or thirty-five days -- as well as true Japanese Wagyu beef. But what keeps things interesting here is the supporting cast of dishes, like a creamy, silky foie gras paved with date chutney, and warm veal tongue with white beans, artichokes, and a hot, spicy salsa verde. A rich bone-marrow flan with mushroom marmalade and parsley salad is devastatingly good. The "side" dishes are hardly an afterthought, from the sweet brown-gold tempura onion rings that crunch, then melt in your mouth to a golden-brown potato tarte Tatin suffused with butter. And Puck cannot resist serving one of his own childhood favorites, Wiener schnitzel, again with enough butter to make you grasp the arms of your chair with pleasure. Darren McGraw's desserts are spot-on -- rooted in classics but with plenty of wit -- like a napoleon that is about a thousand sheets of tender, fragile puff pastry enclosing the richest cream imaginable, served with fresh strawberries.
Cut reasserts that when Puck puts his mind to it, no one else in America can create such excitement in a restaurant. Shame on us for doubting. Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Boulevard; 310-276-8500; wolfgangpuck.com.
Chef of the Year
Stephan Pyles, Stephan Pyles, Dallas
Twenty-two years ago, in the first installment of Esquire's Best New Restaurants in America, we honored Routh Street Cafe in Dallas, owing to chef-partner Stephan Pyles's wholly innovative "New Texas Cuisine." In the decades since, Pyles has opened fourteen restaurants here and in other cities, although as time went on he cooked less and less. Eventually he took a five-year traveling sabbatical and has, apparently, returned as eager as ever to man the stoves.
His new 160-seat restaurant, located in the Dallas Arts District, is a beauty, with a central open kitchen, wood-burning oven, and ceviche-and-tapas bar set under a ceiling that subtly changes color the way Texas skies do from sunup through sunset.
Pyles calls his food "New Millennium Southwestern Cuisine," which I happily accept: It's still based on big southwestern flavors, perfumed with mesquite smoke, and laced with plenty of chiles, but it is more global in scope. You should definitely start off with an array of ceviches or tapas here, like a branzino with vanilla-roasted fennel and almond gazpacho. Sweet soft-shell crabs are served with the best of the summer's corn and tomatoes and local mozzarella; spit-roasted suckling pig, with crisp skin and silky fat, is sidled with a peach-filled empanada. And the margaritas are among the best I've had in Texas.
Pyles is not only one of the best of his generation but a chef who still has a lot to teach the current crop of cooks. 1807 Ross Avenue; 214-580-7000; stephanpyles.com.
Four Chefs to Watch
Arnaud Berthelier, the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, Atlanta
The Ritz demands the best, and Berthelier's accessible haute French is up to the task. Try his filet of Peking duck glazed with coco. 404-237-2700.
John Fraser, Compass, New York
After several successive chefs, Compass has emerged as the best restaurant on the Upper West Side, thanks to Fraser's sophisticated American cuisine. Try his black-pepper-crusted venison. 212-875-8600.
Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, Frasca, Boulder, Colorado
Wholly committed to exalting the food of Italy's Friuli region, Mackinnon-Patterson does it with such personal style that he has made Boulder worth a drive up from Denver. Try his tenderloin of Colorado beef. 303-442-6966; frascafoodandwine.com.
Wade Hageman, Blanca, Solana Beach, California
Get past the strip-mall location and you'll see that Blanca has high style and a chef whose fresh ideas place him in the top ranks of southern-Cal cuisine. Try his pork belly "en sous vide." 858-792-0072.
Awards
Best Thing Since Sliced Bread for Sliced Bread: Bone Marrow
The Japanese have their word for indescribable richness -- umami -- and we have ours: bone marrow. The jiggly, sickly rich fruit of the veal bone has reclaimed its rightful spot on restaurant menus, and grown men are cooing like babies when they get their hands on it. You can taste it in bone-marrow custard at Seasons in Chicago or spread it on toasted brioche at Barbounia in New York, but if it's your first time, we recommend scarfing it up caveman style at San Francisco's Bar Tartine, where you scoop it straight from the bone. --Maile Carpenter
Least Emasculating Small Plates: Ansill
At his new namesake restaurant in Philadelphia, chef David Ansill serves some of the boldest food ever to land on tiny china: braised pork belly with spaetzle, sauteed sweetbreads with fava beans, cured lamb's tongue, raw venison, scrambled duck eggs.... The menu's a veritable checklist of deliciously obscure animal parts. You want more manly? Hunt them yourself. --M.C.
Hot Ingredients
Duck eggs
Barramundi
Bone marrow
Chorizo
Salted caramel
Salsify
Best New Design
Summit, Colorado Springs
The grande dame resort the Broadmoor, which opened in 1918, has long needed a total rehab, and it got one to the tune of $78 million last year. But it also needed a first-rate modern restaurant, and Summit exceeds expectations. Adam Tihany's playful but graceful Rocky Mountain design gently evokes Colorado's silver-mine architecture, using steel I beams and rustic stone along with wraparound glass that looks out on the Broadmoor mountainscape. Two thousand wine bottles are arrayed in an exquisitely crafted glass tower that is a smaller rendering of Tihany's forty-two-footer at Aureole in Las Vegas.
Chef Bertrand Bouquin, formerly at Maisonette in Cincinnati, is wisely holding on to longtime regulars while attracting a younger crowd with dishes like Colorado lamb cuddled in crushed pine nuts and served with spicy ratatouille, and cote de boeuf for two with a textbook bearnaise and stuffed-tomato Provencale. It's a joy to sit at Summit in view of all that natural grandeur, which is about the only thing that could distract you from all the goodness on your plate. The Broadmoor Resort, 19 Lake Circle; 719-577-5896; summitatbroadmoor.com.
Awards
Best New Proof That Size Doesn't Matter: The Meatballs at Little Owl
If you're into big-dick dining, you've got all kinds of new options in New York: Morimoto, Buddakan, Del Posto...and that's just on one block. But those with less to prove will prefer the saucy little pork-beef-and-veal-meatball sliders at Little Owl, a charming new West Village American bistro from former Harrison chef Joey Campanalo.
Best Reason to Wait -- and Wait: Paella at Toro
You don't have to be connected or famous or even own a phone to get a table at hotshot Boston chef Ken Oringer's new Spanish restaurant. You just have to wait your turn -- at least an hour on weekends. By the time you get seated, you'll probably want to shove a pile of jambon down your throat and call it a night. But sit tight for thirty more minutes and you can dig into the classic paella, a big copper pot of saffron rice mixed with fat shrimp, juicy clams, mussels, and bits of chicken.
Most Likely to Snag Your Beach Chair: Bobby Flay (and Friends)
If you were building an empire of restaurants, you'd put one in Vacationland, too. Flay, whose latest Mesa Grill spin-off opens in the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas next year (he also has restaurants in Vegas and Atlantic City), will be in the company of other great chefs who've set up shop in tropical resorts, including Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Cafe Martinique) and Nobu Matsuhisa (Nobu), also at the Atlantis, Charlie Trotter (C) at the One & Only resort in Mexico, and Laurent Tourondel with a new BLT Steak branch in the Ritz-Carlton San Juan. --M.C.
The Best New Restaurants 2006
Acadiana, Washington, DC
202-408-8848; acadiana-restaurant.com
Cuisine: Cajun
Average entree: $23
Don't-miss dish: The "twelve napkin" roast-beef po'boy with "debris gravy."
Regulars know: The restaurant stocks about forty bourbons, including rarities like an eleven-year-old Black Maple Hill and a ten-year-old Eagle Rare.
Ame, San Francisco
St. Regis Hotel; 415-284-4040; amerestaurant.com
Cuisine: Asian fusion
Average entree: $34
Don't-miss dish: "Lissa's staff meal" of cuttlefish noodles tossed with quail eggs, wasabi, and pickled salsify.
Regulars know: To book the lacquered "red table" and allow the chef to cook for you and seven friends.
A Voce, New York
212-545-8555; avocerestaurant.com.
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Average entree: $27
Don't-miss dish: Big fat bombolini fritters with chocolate sauce.
Regulars know: It can be very loud in certain spots, so ask the maitre d', Dante Camara, for something a little less intense.
Bong Su, San Francisco
415-536-5800; bongsu.com
Cuisine: New Vietnamese
Average entree: $21
Don't-miss dish: Empress rice with garlic, leeks, ginger, and quail eggs.
Regulars know: The six L-shaped booths, tables 31 through 36, are the most romantic. The Queen's Table, at the back of the restaurant, also enjoys a private curtain.
Cordavi, Charleston, South Carolina
843-577-0090; cordavi.com
Cuisine: American creative
Average entree: $27
Don't-miss dish: Pan-roasted Kurobuta pork with smoked mushrooms and apple.
Regulars know: Go with the remarkably priced four-course meal for $55, with a $30 wine-pairing option.
Country, New York
Carlton Hotel; 212-889-7100; countryinnewyork.com
Cuisine: American creative
Average entree: $22
Don't-miss dish: Lobster with salsify, chanterelles, and black truffles.
Regulars know: The downstairs cafe serves one of the best brunches in N.Y.C.
Cut, Los Angeles (Restaurant of the Year)
Beverly Wilshire Hotel; 310-276-8500; wolfgangpuck.com
Cuisine: Steak house
Average entree: $42
Don't-miss dish: Prime-sirloin-steak tartare.
Regulars know: Nab a window table to see everyone get out of their Maseratis in the hotel's car port.
Dona, New York
208 East Fifty-second Street; 212-308-0830
Cuisine: "First-generation" Italian and Mediterranean
Average entree: $28
Don't-miss dish: The "nude" gnudi, ricotta dumplings encased in pasta dough and dressed with truffle butter and crispy speck.
Regulars know: You won't find better Greek wine anywhere, even reds, like the dry, balanced Karydas Naoussa, 2003 xinomavro.
Ecco, Atlanta
404-347-9555; ecco-atlanta.com
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Average entree: $25
Don't-miss dish: Fig-glazed lamb loin with potatoes.
Regulars know: To request table 61 in the back left corner of the dining room.
The Georgian Room, Sea Island, Georgia
The Cloister; 912-638-3611; seaisland.com
Cuisine: Haute American
Prix fixe: $110, $125, $140
Don't-miss dish: Vanilla-scented lobster with Galia melon, fennel, and mint.
Regulars know: To dine with a dozen friends in the subterranean wine cellar, where you're surrounded by some of the world's rarest vintages.
Guy Savoy, Las Vegas
Caesars Palace; 702-731-7286; guysavoy.com.
Cuisine: Haute French
Average entree: $130
Don't-miss dish: Guinea hen cooked in a pig's bladder.
Regulars know: To get taken care of like a prince, ask for the champagne bar's Bernard Erpicum.
Joel Robuchon, Las Vegas
MGM Grand Hotel; 702-891-7925; mgmgrand.com
Cuisine: Haute French
Prix fixe: $225, $360
Don't-miss dish: Scallops in a court bouillon with baby leeks and ginger.
Regulars know: The easiest way to get into Joel Robuchon is to call the restaurant after 4:00 p.m. the same day. Or walk in: There are often a few unused tables that were reserved for high rollers.
Junnoon, Palo Alto, California
650-329-9644; junnoon.com
Cuisine: New Indian
Average entree: $20
Don't-miss dish: Bombay crab-and-cod cakes flavored with fennel.
Regulars know: Now that Facebook's creator Mark Zuckerberg is old enough to drink, he often shows up at the bar here.
Om, Cambridge, Massachusetts
617-576-2800; omrestaurant.com
Cuisine: American creative
Average entree: $30
Don't-miss dish: "Steak & eggs," a grilled filet mignon with Yukon-potato puree, asparagus, fried truffle egg, and bordelaise sauce.
Regulars know: If you want to catch John Malkovich, dine upstairs; Alan Dershowitz is downstairs in the small Mandala Room.
Proof on Main, Louisville
502-217-6360; proofonmain.com
Cuisine: American creative
Average entree: $19
Don't-miss dish: Crispy duck in a sweet-and-sour broth.
Regulars know: The tradition of rubbing the apple held by Randy the Satyr, a sculpture by Larry Shank, at the bar -- followed by a shot of bourbon from the massive list.
Rasika, Washington, DC
202-637-1222; rasikarestaurant.com
Cuisine: Indian creative
Average entree: $19
Don't-miss dish: Crispy fried baby spinach served with sweet yogurt and a tamarind-date chutney.
Regulars know: Not to automatically order the Kingfisher beer: Rasika has a great wine list.
Redd, Yountville, California
707-944-2222; reddnapavalley.com
Cuisine: American creative
Average entree: $25
Don't-miss dish: Petrale sole with chorizo, Manila clams, and saffron curry.
Regulars know: You won't find a Sunday brunch as extensive as Redd's anywhere (four courses for $50).
Re.Past', Atlanta
404-870-8707; repastrestaurant.com
Cuisine: American creative
Average entree: $22
Don't-miss dish: Georgia shrimp and heirloom grits with lemon sauce.
Regulars know: About the hip upstairs lounge where young Atlantans gather.
Sorellina, Boston
617-412-4600; sorellinaboston.com
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Average entree: $31
Don't-miss dish: A mountain of truffled french fries dusted with Parmesan.
Regulars know: To go a little late -- after 9:00 p.m. -- when tables are more readily available and the bar is in full swing.
Stephan Pyles, Dallas (Chef of the Year)
214-580-7000; stephanpyles.com
Cuisine: New Millennium Southwestern
Average entree: $32
Don't-miss dish: Black-bean cake with sea scallops.
Regulars know: About the barbecued-short-rib pizza -- not on the menu.
Awards
Most Emasculating Dessert: Cotton candy at Simon L.A.
No self-respecting man would ever order a big pink poof of spun sugar for dessert, but once in a while at Kerry Simon's restaurants (the Las Vegas original and the new Los Angeles location), the lady does. And out comes the chef's signature supersized cloud of cherry-flavored cotton candy. You will eat the girlie dessert, you will get sticky pink crap all over your face, and you will like it.
Most Embarrassingly-Trendy-but-Still-Pretty-Freakin'-Tasty Cocktail: The Negroni
First came the mojito, then the caipirinha, and now the negroni -- a bitter, grown-up blend of gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. The century-old Italian concoction has been showing up on menus all over the country -- with orange at Michael Mina's Stonehill Tavern in Dana Point in southern California, with blood orange at A Voce in New York, and with pomegranate liqueur at Sweets & Savories in Chicago.
Worst Place to Order in Front of a Group: Los Angeles
We're not sure how many Marilyn Monrolls the new L.A. restaurant Geisha House sells every night, but the number would probably be higher if someone renamed the dish. Ditto for Republic's Oh! the World-Famous Mac n' Cheese or Providence's Nacho Ordinary Chocolate Dessert. Then again, Luna Park has been quite successful dishing out Dr. Seuss-inspired "Here" eggs and "There" eggs for brunch. Frankly we'll take all of the above here or there or anywhere, as long as we don't have to order them out loud. --M.C.
by Randy Golden
exclusively for About North Georgia
Whether you are drinking a glass of water in one of the many communities that draw from the lake, or you turn on a light during the peak hours of the day and it works, or you are sitting on a campsite watching the sun go down, the Lake Lanier portion of the Chattahoochee River is an integral part of your life and the lives of more than 5 million area residents. Just as with all other parts of the Chattahoochee River in north Georgia a great deal of controversy exists around virtually every aspect of the lake.
History
Notables at dedication
Person Title
Herman Talmadge GA. Governor
Walter F. George GA. Senator
Richard B. Russell GA. Senator
William B. Hartsfield Mayor, Atlanta

On March 1, 1950 a group of men met in Buford, Georgia and seven of them each turned a spade-full of dirt over in what was a symbolic start to a project that was proposed shortly after construction began on Allatoona Dam in 1941 -- what would eventually be known as Lake Lanier (timeline of Lake Lanier). The meeting of these men was a culmination of effect by a large number of people from local communities, the city of Atlanta, the state of Georgia and the federal government.

View of Lake Lanier's Buford Dam powerhouse channel.
There was a good deal of disagreement over almost every aspect of the dam. Its uses (should it be designated to provide power, water or recreation?), its location (originally proposed to inundate Roswell), even its name (Lanier would be chosen after the start of construction). Many starting dates are given, from 1950 (dam construction begins) to 1959 (first time Lanier reaches its "full" level of 1071 feet above sea level), 1946 (the date the Army Corps of Engineers was charged with developing the project on the Chattahoochee River, but in our minds the grand lake of the Southeast actually began with the first purchase of land in 1948. Owned by a relative of Forsyth County historian Don Shadburn, Shadburn's Ferry marked the first physical move towards creating what would be known as Lake Lanier.
There were a number of political factors involved in building Lake Lanier. To the west, Allatoona Dam was nearing completion, and the people in the Coosa Valley were already feeling the benefits. Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield was an early, vocal supporter. He was aided in moving the project along by Senator Richard B. Russell, who served on the powerful Senate Appropriation Committee and could always be counted on for supporting hydroelectric projects. Governor Talmadge joined the group after his election in 1948.

Sails unfurled in the breeze on Lake Lanier
Shadburn's Ferry would be only one piece of history destroyed by the creation of Lake Lanier. Also covered was the toll-gate run by James Vann, the entrance to the Georgia Road (later known as the Old Federal Highway) and a number of other ferries that crossed the Chattahoochee River. Many covered bridges were also lost, the most famous of which would be the original Brown's and Keith's Bridge.
Wooden structures that would be covered by Lake Lanier's pool were removed. Concrete and brick structures were left in many cases. On a more personal level, graves were relocated, frequently from small, family graveyards that were common in these northeast Georgia hills.
The dam at Buford was more than just a political achievement. Technological advances had been made since the first dam built in 1902 just outside of Gainesville, Georgia and ironically covered by the completion of the new lake. Although the powerhouse would still need to tie to rock walls, engineers were confident that the river could be stopped with a series of "saddlebacks," dams created from gravel and dirt.
First, a channel was blasted and the powerhouse constructed. Then the Chattahoochee was diverted through the open gates of the powerhouse and the newly created channel while the saddlebacks were built. Once completed the saddlebacks were allowed to sit in place. Finally, on February 1, 1956 the powerhouse gates were closed and Lake Lanier began the slow process of filling. In 1957 the first power was generated and in May, 1959 the lake reached its full level for the first time.
One ongoing concern of the Army Corps of Engineers is the wildlife who use the Chattahoochee downstream from Buford Dam . Even before closing the dam to fill the lake, they had determined a minimum "continuous flow" requirement to preserve habitat and breeding grounds. Water always flows into the Chattahoochee River from Buford Dam.

Magnificent homes surround the shores of Lake Lanier
The Lake we call Lanier
Underneath Belton Bridge the Chattahoochee River reaches a key altitude, 1071 feet. The river slows and begins to back up as Lake Lanier is formed. The 26-mile long lake covers almost 47 miles of original riverbed. Along its shores lies growing cities, upscale homes, family fun, and plenty of public access areas for those who want to participate in all kinds of outdoor recreation.
Boating
Although the lake only covers 38,000 acres the Corps of Engineers purchased a total of 58,000 acres, the rest accounting for shoreline and islands. Along the shore are private marinas including

Looking towards Lake Lanier from Aqualand Marina
• Gainesville Marina
• Aqualand
• Starboard
• Holiday
• Lanier Harbor
• Bald Ridge
• Lazy Days
• Sunrise
• Lan Mar
• Habersham
Want more information on the marinas? Visit Roadside Georgia's Lake Lanier Marinas links
Fishing by Kevin Dallmier
Another popular Lake Lanier pastime is fishing. The lake is noted for its fine black bass fishing, especially for spotted and largemouth bass. Another favorite species of Lanier anglers is the striped bass. This hard-pulling species, a member of the "temperate bass" family, is typically found in saltwater but has adapted well to many freshwater lakes and rivers where it has been stocked. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources performs annual stockings of hatchery-produced striped bass fingerlings since this species does not typically reproduce in freshwater. Lake Lanier is the premier destination in Georgia for striped bass angling, with good numbers of trophy fish available.
Lake Lanier is a deep, highland reservoir. Successful anglers have learned to focus on offshore "structure" like humps and points to find the fish. Since the lake is nearly devoid of natural shoreline cover, the fish relate to changes in the lake's bottom. Anglers would do well to carefully study a good lake map to find the best offshore structure. A shortcut to this process would be to simply cruise the lake searching for hazard buoys warning of shoaling and shallow water. Fish these areas thoroughly, since these types of abrupt depth changes are the places Lake Lanier fish like to call home.
Many thanks to noted Georgia Fisherman Kevin Dallmier, whose book Fishing Georgia is available from fine bookstores everywhere, or purchase a personalized, autographed copy from the author. (This is a great gift for any fishermen in your family).
Camping and hiking
There are many camping areas on Lake Lanier. Staff favorites include:
• Chestnut Ridge
• Van Pugh
• Old Federal
• Shady Grove
For more information on the individual areas, the Army Corps of Engineers site on Lake Lanier provides up-to-date information and on-line reservations.
Hiking is good in places, nonexistent in others. One of our favorites is the Laurel Ridge Trail, which connects Buford Dam with the South End camping and day use areas. Start this hike at the Lower Overlook restrooms. This 3.8 mile loop trail is a great way to spend the afternoon, especially if you want to wear the kids out before dinner. A second trail is the Buford Dam Trail, which covers the entire Lower Pool, part of Buford Dam Park.
Golf
Lake Lanier has become a destination for golfers from Atlanta and the Southeast. On its shores, or fairly close to the lake are some of the best golf courses in the state. Emerald Pointe and Renaissance Pine Isle which are both on Lake Lanier, Chateau Elan, in nearby Braselton or one of the less well-known clubs like the semi-private Chestatee Golf Club.
Challenges of the Future
Just as with the other sections of the Chattahoochee River, Lake Lanier faces challenges. Competition for this resource has always been a concern. Residents and local businesses demand recreational opportunites, communites desire drinking water and electricity while further down the river Florida, Alabama and Georgia demand a navigable Chattahoochee, sometimes straining the already overburdened lake. Looking forward, none of these demands are going to be reduced and local residents, outdoor groups and environmentalists are opposing plans for a reregulation dam that might alleviate some of the problems.
Introduction
America's Top 50 Restaurants 2006

Grant Achatz defies convention at Chicago's Alinea
This list is proof that American food as served in all 50 of our top restaurants has never been so exciting. Or so new: More than half of these restaurants are making their debut on the list — you'll recognize them by the star.

Below, the top 50, in order:


1. Alinea – Chicago, IL*
2. Chez Panisse – Berkeley, CA
3. The French Laundry/Per Se – Yountville, CA; New York, NY
4. Spago – Beverly Hills, CA
5. Joël Robuchon at the Mansion – Las Vegas, NV*
6. La Rêve – San Antonio, TX
7. Masa – New York, NY*
8. Alan Wong's Restaurant – Honolulu, HI
9. Daniel – New York, NY
10. Le Bernardin – New York, NY
11. Magnolia Grill – Durham, NC
12. Michel Richard Citronelle – Washington, D.C.
13. Charlie Trotter's – Chicago, IL
14. Arrows – Ogunquit, ME
15. Cyrus – Healdsburg, CA*
16. Striped Bass – Philadelphia, PA*
17. Babbo – New York, NY
18. Locke-Ober – Boston, MA*
19. Canlis – Seattle, WA
20. L'Auberge Carmel – Carmel, CA*
21. Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare – Las Vegas, NV*
22. Restaurant August – New Orleans, LA*
23. The Inn at Little Washington – Washington, VA
24. The Dining Room in the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead – Atlanta, GA*
25. Vetri – Philadelphia, PA*
26. Fore Street – Portland, ME
27. Jean Georges – New York, NY
28. Higgins – Portland, OR*
29. Da Marco – Houston, TX*
30. La Belle Vie – Minneapolis, MN*
31. Parker's New American Bistro – Cleveland, OH
32. Michy's – Miami, FL*
33. Frasca – Boulder, CO*
34. Gramercy Tavern – New York, NY
35. Providence – Los Angeles, CA*
36. Restaurant Guy Savoy – Las Vegas, NV*
37. Zuni Café – San Francisco, CA
38. Urasawa – Beverly Hills, CA*
39. Bacchanalia – Atlata, GA*
40. Sanford – Milwaukee, WI
41. York Street – Dallas, TX*
42. Manresa – Los Gatos, CA*
43. No. 9 Park – Boston, MA*
44. Trattoria Nostrani – Santa Fe, NM*
45. Cafe Juanita – Kirkland, WA*
46. Paley's Place – Portland, OR*
47. Lantern Restaurant – Chapel Hill, NC*
48. L'Etoile – Madison, WI
49. Herbsaint – New Orleans, LA*
50. Nana – Dallas, TX*
Le Bernardin
The city is full of ornate restaurants, but none of them manages to exude the glamour and class of Manhattan the way this one does, without any overweening glitz. The impeccable French service is the best in the city. The wood-paneled room is grand, but in an oddly soothing way. And then there’s the chef, Eric Ripert, who, unlike most super-chefs in town, tends to stay in his kitchen and cook. Go at dinner (when the room fills with suits at lunchtime, it looks like a corporate cafeteria). All the food is excellent—from uni seviche to barely cooked salmon with black truffles—but if it’s on the menu, order Mr. Ripert’s shrimp ravioli puddled in truffle sauce. Michel Couvreux is one of the great sommeliers in America—let him choose the wines.
2 Masa
Masa Takayama, the illustrious sushi god from L.A., came to New York with a uniquely Japanese, if slightly insane proposition: that a meal of the highest quality is worth almost any price. It turns out he’s right, but only under the most specific Rashomon-like conditions. Whatever you do, sit at the bar of this quirky, lavishly overpriced little restaurant (not at the dinky, dimly lit tables), preferably in front of Masa himself (not one of his acolytes). The ensuing spectacle, complete with risotto folded with uni and truffles, Kobe-beef sukiyaki, and slabs of foie gras cooked in a little shabu-shabu pot, is part nourishment, part entertainment, and part ancient performance art. It’s not just a meal, it’s an event—well worth the $350 cost of a single omakase dinner (before the sakes are factored in), and as different from the average dining experience as a TV rerun is from a first-rate Broadway show. 3 Per Se
Thomas Keller’s extravagantly hyped establishment gets four stars instead of five because, well, it’s not quite like dining at the French Laundry, his famous restaurant in Napa. It’s a somewhat stagy version of the prototype, which means the whole scene feels vaguely solemn, like a studious California version of what a first-class New York restaurant should be. There’s nothing solemn about the food, however. Keller has a special facility with luxury items like caviar—try his famous “Oysters and Pearls”—and lobster tails, which he paints with vermouth, or beets, or vanilla essence. If you get caught up in one of his prolific tasting dinners, you may struggle at first, but in the end, all resistance is futile.
4 WD-50
In cooking, as in the other arts, New York is an international bazaar, a place where great chefs come from around the world to display their skills. Wylie Dufresne is that rare thing on the New York cooking scene—a home-grown talent. In his industrious culinary atelier down on Clinton Street, he produces some of the most cutting-edge cooking in New York or anywhere else. Who knew mayonnaise could be fried in little sugar-cube squares, or that the deep scarlet color of venison complements the soft, creamy green of edamame ice cream? The room and location don’t necessarily merit four-star status, but factor in the cost of a meal—a nine-course tasting costs less than a third of what you’ll pay at Masa—and you have the best, and certainly most interesting, multi-star deal in town.
5 Craft
Tom Colicchio is a fanatic for the integrity of fresh ingredients and simplicity in cooking, and this much-discussed, much-imitated restaurant is the extreme, almost priestly expression of his views. You may not like the conceit of building your meal one spare ingredient at a time (many food aristocrats I know actively hate it), but there’s no denying the quality of Colicchio’s sweet day-boat scallops or bluefoot mushrooms lovingly foraged in the piney forests of Oregon. Craft gets four stars for its huge influence on the way restaurant meals are conceived, presented, and eaten in this new Greenmarket era, and also for Karen Demasco’s impeccable desserts—toffee-steamed pudding bombed with fresh-made rum-raisin ice cream—which, for my money, are the best in town.
6 Babbo
Mario Batali’s great achievement, among many, has been to turn animal viscera into the epitome of haute cuisine. Is this enough to make Babbo the sixth- best restaurant in all New York? Well, why not? Even after repeated, feverish tastings, I’m still not tired of his lamb’s-tongue vinaigrette, or crispy pig’s-foot Milanese, with its soothing thatch of arugula on the side. Batali has eclipsed most of the country’s effete French chefs in terms of notoriety, influence, and glossy-cookbook sales. After a glass of grappa or three, it’s even possible to argue that he is the Escoffier of our messy, Rabelaisian era. Despite an influx of celebrity diners from around the globe, Babbo still manages to achieve that elusive combination of style and comfort better than any restaurant in town.
7 Jean Georges
The boss is rarely home these days, but somehow the flagship establishment of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s ever-expanding restaurant cosmos manages to retain its sense of magic and haute-fusion exceptionalism. On a recent visit to the gleaming, glass dining room, the table next to mine was occupied by a prosperous gentleman from Brooklyn. Watching your humble critic with a napkin tucked into his collar, devouring an order of foie gras brûlé, among other extravagant Jean-Georges creations, he observed: “You eat like my friends back in the old neighborhood.” You might take this as an insult. I take it as a sign that the great chef can still cook.
8 Daniel
The overwrought, Vegas-like space is too big, and if you’re not recognized as a regular, you may find yourself, as I did not long ago, sitting by the kitchen doors, gazing from the mezzanine over the balding heads of the assembled fat cats. But Daniel is still one of the city’s great cooking polymaths, a master of refined French technique, and also a great innovator. Dishes like roast squab and black sea bass en paupiette remain classics, and his braised pork belly is still the gold standard in a city obsessed with such things. On a recent visit, I enjoyed a lamb chop of such ethereal quality—crusted with a Middle Eastern seasoning called zaatar, and flavored with yogurt—that I put down my fork and offered up a little prayer of thanksgiving.
9 Aquavit
It’s true that Marcus Samuelsson’s new home, on the ground floor of an anonymous midtown skyscraper, looks like the first-class waiting lounge of a new and prosperous Scandinavian airline. But the high-minded interpretations of Scandinavian cuisine that issue from his kitchen—order the duck breast, which is cured in lemons, or the salmon, sealed in a light brioche crust—are as excellent as ever. The bland new setting comes perilously close to knocking off a star, but addle yourself with glasses of esoteric aquavit and you’ll hardly notice. 10 Blue Hill
This may be the best low-profile restaurant in town. Dan Barber is a master of the gentle arts of poaching and braising, and much of his best material—pasture-raised turkeys, non-stressed Berkshire hogs—comes from the biodynamic farm and restaurant he and his brother run at an old Rockefeller complex upstate called Stone Barns. Although not as extreme or innovative as Craft, Blue Hill is the city’s other seminal Greenmarket haven, so expect a certain amount of hushed reverence here, a certain amount of ecstatic whispering about the quality of the summer peas.
11 Gotham Bar and Grill
If Jean-Georges is the multitalented Willie Mays, and Batali is Babe Ruth, then Alfred Portale is the Lou Gehrig of the city’s dining world. While other chefs have branded themselves out of existence or wigged out and gone to Vegas, the innovator of toppling vertical cuisine delivers the same, steady performance day after day, year after year, decade after decade. His food may not be as varied or flashy as some other diva chefs in town, but we give him a star each for quality, longevity, and overall class.
12 Wallsé
This modest, neighborly restaurant is named for the Austrian hometown of its chef and owner, Kurt Gutenbrunner. It’s possible that in this mountain hamlet you can obtain slow- cooked lobster with your spaetzle, or light, improbably flaky strudels stuffed with portions of perfectly cooked salmon, though I doubt it. Austrian fare? No. 12 on the list? People forget that the Austrians had their own empire once, and their cuisine has a diverse lightness and sophistication to it. If you’re tired of France, like everyone else, and searching for classic cooking in a great European tradition, this is the place to find it.
13 Chanterelle
In a town where chefs wander the culinary landscape like Japanese ronin, David and Karen Waltuck have made a virtue out of constancy, quality, and general good sense. The pretentious, hand-scripted menu has a fusty, decades-old feel, and the room looks like it was last decorated around 1932. But the Waltucks earn three stars for their cooking, which is still pleasing in an opulent, old-fashioned way. If you don’t believe me, order the duck, or the oysters, which are touched with caviar and sauerkraut, and finished with a spoonful of the sweetest country cream.
14 The Modern
In the great Danny Meyer tradition, this new restaurant built into the newly renovated MoMA manages to be all things to all people, almost all of the time. Dinner in the main dining room, looking out at all the expensive modernist statuary, gets multiple stars for pageantry and ambition alone. Then there’s the food: clean, modernist dishes like roast duck with black-truffle marmalade and cod crusted with little rounds of chorizo. For something less high-toned, visit the bar room. That’s where the Alsatian chef, Gabriel Kreuther, loosens his collar a little and experiments with the comfort foods of his youth, like baekeoffe stew, a delicious tarte flambée, and braised pork cheeks with sauerkraut.
15 Sushi of Gari (East Side)
Sushi snobs are an imperious bunch, but mention the name Masatoshi “Gari” Sugio in their midst and they begin squealing like a bunch of boy-band groupies. At this small, uniquely Japanese establishment on the Upper East Side, Gari marinates his raw fish in sake, spikes it with creamy tofu mayonnaise, and singes it with his trusty butane blowtorch. Such three-star innovations are widely imitated these days but rarely equaled. When you’ve finished your sushi, do what I do and indulge in a bowl of tempura-fried ice cream.
16 Union Square Café
Yes, the rooms are a little cramped, and after twenty years, those scrawled murals on the wall look like some early Martha Stewart experiment gone horribly awry. But consistency and good cheer are the keys to Danny Meyer’s perennially popular, Zagat-approved restaurant. Great dishes like Michael Romano’s lobster shepherd’s pie also help. I know patrons who’ve committed his blue-plate specials to memory (Monday is the lobster-shepherd’s-pie day) the way devout nuns memorize the Stations of the Cross.
17 Café Boulud
Although longtime chef Andrew Carmellini recently departed, this remains the most intimate restaurant in the continually expanding Daniel Boulud empire, and arguably the most enjoyable. The multi-sectioned menu veers around the globe (you can enjoy Hungarian goulash with your lobster “Chiang Mai”), but for the best results, do what Mrs. Astor and the rest of the locals no doubt do. Begin with the foie gras terrine sweetened with port, proceed to the duck, which is glazed with honey, and conclude, for dessert, with the chocolate soufflé.
18 Ouest
Why the high rank for this glorified neighborhood joint? Because Tom Valenti’s cooking is an almost perfect marriage between elegant style and messy trencherman goodness. Because it’s the only place in town where you can watch a ball game at the bar while you enjoy a decent bowl of tripe. Because if I had to choose one restaurant to have around the corner from my home, it would be this one.
19 Balthazar
Three stars for a faux–French brasserie? It is the dominant restaurant genre of our era, after all, and despite the unceasing and bitter attacks by Keith McNally’s many detractors, the world headquarters of McNally-land is the best brasserie in town. The mood in the manic, glittering room changes by the hour, so pick your spots. Our favorite is late at night, for a helping of duck shepherd’s pie or the impressive boudin noir, or early in the morning, for a serene breakfast croissant and a fishbowl-size dose of restorative café au lait.
20 Esca
Before David Pasternack set up shop near this barren, restaurant-challenged stretch of Ninth Avenue, the average New Yorker’s conception of Italian seafood was a stuffed clam and a serving of rubbery calamari. Now, thanks to Pasternack, we can enjoy densely rich branzino, which arrives at the table caked in its famous crust of salt, or linguine tossed with clams, hot-pepper flakes, and bits of pancetta. And then there’s the crudi, of course. Thanks to some strange alchemy, and Pasternack’s obsessive quest for perfect fish, raw fluke seems to taste better here than anywhere else.
21 Town
The tall, windowless room here has a chameleon-like quality, which makes it equally pleasant for a starchy business lunch, clubby late-night dining, or an early-morning breakfast. Chef Geoffrey Zakarian’s flashy, seemingly effortless cooking achieves a similar effect. Our perfect day might begin with a wheel of lobster hash for brunch (or, if we’re feeling reckless, coddled eggs with crisped short ribs), lobster bisque and a bite of crisped skate wing for lunch, and for dinner the chef’s signature escargot risotto. The chocolat beignets—filled with molten chocolate and served with white-chocolate ice cream—is one of the city’s great desserts.
22 Café Gray
Of all the self-important dining establishments populating the arid upscale food court at the Time Warner Center, this one is probably the most fun. Gray Kunz’s menu is chock-full of old Lespinasse-style favorites, like the lightly creamy lobster chowder, bowls of classically dense mushroom risotto, and tender, blocky short ribs braised down to their rich, beefy essence. But the star of the show is the room itself, with its panoramic views of Columbus Circle, and the great open kitchen, which stands before the rows of white-tops like a Broadway stage.
23 Picholine
With its low-slung chandeliers and walls covered in musty pink linen, Terrance Brennan’s flagship establishment looks 50 years older than it is. But don’t let the frumpiness fool you. It’s carefully calculated to appeal to the opera fanatics who have turned the restaurant, over the years, into their personal party venue. In fact, Brennan’s menu is full of surprises. He flavors his John Dory with grapes and truffles, and serves wheels of panna cotta spiked with sea urchin and caviar, and if you order the snails Grenobloise, it comes with truffles and pleasing shavings of serrano ham. As you pat your tummy, call for the famous cheese cart, which, as any opera nut can tell you, is worth an extra star all by itself.
24 Cru
The “wine portfolio” contains an astonishing 80,000 bottles, which is why Cru has become the latest gathering spot for the city’s ever-growing population of wine geeks. But if you’re wise, you’ll save some of your money to spend on the food. Shea Gallante is a refined, painstaking chef who builds flavors on the plate with a kind of painterly precision. His crudi are models of that overworked genre; he cooks sturgeon (with black-truffle sauce), duck (with braised onions and Swiss chard), and pike quenelles with equal facility. If you’re looking for just the right something to go with your $1,100 bottle of ’00 Coche-Dury Grand Crû, try the lobster, flavored with barely perceptible nuggets of pork belly.
25 Oceana
By nature, I’ve observed, seafood chefs tend to be subtle, retiring types, but Cornelius Gallagher seems to be the exact opposite. Since taking over the kitchen of this venerable expense-account fish house, the young Bronx-born chef has indulged in all kinds of madcap experimentation—halibut soaked in pork juice, caramelized scallops spritzed with apple cider. Some dishes work better than others, but we give him three stars for bringing talent and imagination to the stolid gray-suit world of midtown dining.
26 L’Impero
Beefy, rustic grub is the rage in Italian circles these days, but at Scott Conant’s well-appointed, consciously highbrow establishment in Tudor City, you’ll find lobster scented with rosemary, mini-pillows of sweetbreads set over bows of farfalle, and agnolotti stuffed with braised duck and foie gras. Conant is one of the city’s most talented young chefs, and here he demonstrates his trademark style—taking strong, heavy flavors and infusing them with a kind of delicate grandeur.
27 Annisa
The small, tastefully appointed room here is conducive to all sorts of intimacies. A variety of sweet champagne-based cocktails are available at the bar, along with a selection of wines by female vintners. No wonder certain women I know consider Annisa to be a restaurant calibrated almost exactly to their tastes. It helps that the Asian-fusion menu, produced by co-owner and chef Anita Lo, contains some of the most consistently interesting food in the city, including Shanghai soup dumplings stuffed, in high New York style, with foie gras.
28 Dévi
The Indian chef duo Hemant Mathur and Suvir Saran have a habit of changing kitchens every year or two. But wherever they go, the city’s Indian-food aesthetes follow. At this gauzily decorated restaurant in the Flatiron district, they cook up a whole smorgasbord of regional Indian delicacies, like jellied veal brains scrambled with quail eggs and green chiles (a Muslim breakfast treat), halibut cooked Parsi-style in coconut sauce, and delicious Manchurian cauliflower, which resembles a crispy vegetarian version of sweet-and-sour pork.
29 Sushi Yasuda
The room looks like the interior of a giant bamboo bento box, but the sushi here is of the highest quality and prepared by-the-book. The fish is flown in daily from faraway places like Alaska, Nova Scotia, and the Sea of Japan, and the freshest items are marked on the menu in the chef’s own hand. It’s possible to enjoy four varieties of yellowtail in one sitting, and eel prepared five different ways, and on good days chef Naomichi Yasuda’s highest-grade o-toro tuna belly has a pale bubblegum pinkness to it, and leaves a pleasing slick of richness on your tongue.
30 Veritas
The city’s original wine-geek club has only 3,000 bottles on its list. But compared with the aggressively refined Cru, it’s an amiable, even cozy place, where the excellent clubhouse cook, Scott Bryan, churns out a dependable roster of wine-friendly food like well-braised short ribs, a good deconstructed rabbit ravioli, and delicious pork belly in wintertime. Plant yourself at the bar, where you can fritter away your cash on glasses of the house Burgundy, while sucking up to the assembled wine millionaires swilling down their bottles of Comtes Lafon. If you’re lucky, one of them might give you a sip.
31 David Burke & Donatella
If Wylie Dufresne is the earnest downtown artist toiling in his studio, then David Burke is his expansive uptown counterpart, a chef who spikes his spicy Cajun lobster on flower holders, slathers pieces of salmon with fishy Cantonese XO sauce, and infuses his foie gras terrine with kumquats. It’s all on display at this theatrical little restaurant down the street from Bloomingdale’s, where it’s a pleasure to watch the restaurant’s staid Upper East Side clientele gawk at Burke’s decorative and generally delicious creations as they go by, like spectators at some loony Dr. Seuss fashion show.
32 Tabla and Tabla Bread Bar
Floyd Cardoz does for Indian cuisine what Yo-Yo Ma does for aged Chinese folk ballads. Or something like that. Aside from the obvious quality of the cooking—lobster rolled in a coating of puffy rice, cones of frozen condensed-milk kulfi tipped with gold leaf—the key here is the downstairs Bread Bar, with its attendant tandoori grill. As a result, Tabla is one of the few haute cuisine establishments I know that actually smells like good food.
Wylie's Restaurant
A casual dining restaurant on the square in Dahlonega. Local musicians play on the weekends.The building is a old three story house. Full bar. Dahlonega, GA
Appalachia Grill
Casual but never ordinary, dining at Appalachia features the familiar to the sublime. Just right for everyday dining or for that special occasion. MarbleHill, GA. (Located just outside Big Canoe)
The Pontiac Cafe
Cafe serving homemade comfort-food in authentic re-creation of an early 1900's mercantile in historic downtown Ellijay. Large menu selection, museum & gift shop. Ellijay, GA.
Cohutta Lodge and Restaurant
Mountain top lodge located between Ellijay and Chatsworth on Hwy. 52. Dining with a view available 7 days a week.
Dillard House
Meals are served "family style" in the generous proportions that are the hallmark of southern hospitality. Breakfast lunch and dinner. Dillard, Georgia
Toccoa Riverside Restaurant
Nice casual dining overlooking the Toccoa River outside of Blue Ridge.
Fieldstone Inn
The large casual lakeside restaurant is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Breakfast is served weekends only, special selections just for you. Each seat in the main dining room features a view of the Lake Chatuge. Hiawassee, Ga.
Old Clayton Inn
Our daily buffet with an expanded buffet on Sundays offers a wonderful selection of fine foods to satisfy the most discriminating diner. Clayton, Georgia.
The Smith House
Down home country cookin' and plenty of it. Dalohnega, Georgia.
Glen Ella Springs Inn
Fine Dining. Dinner is served by reservation most evenings to inn guests and to the public beginning at 6:00 PM. Specific days and hours may vary, especially in Winter and very early Spring. Call for reservations. Clarkesville, Georgia.
Nacoochee Valley Guest House
Intimate country French dining. Advance reservations are appreciated. Helen, Georgia.
The Woodbridge Inn
Historic restaurant serving continental cusine. Jasper, Georgia. Little River Farms
Country Inn and petting farm, hayride, nature trails, picnic area, mazes, play ground, pony rides, pumpkins, scavenger hunt. Covered porches with grill and fireplace. Pet friendly. Resaca, GA
Mountain Memories Inn Bed & Breakfast
Guests will enjoy the many spectacular views of the mountains, as well as the panoramic views of the glistening finger lakes of Lake Chatuge from our hilltop overlook. Hiawassee, Ga.
FieldStone Inn, Conference Center, Restaurant & Marina
Escape to this unique inn for its privacy and beautiful mountain setting on the shore of Lake Chatuge. The hand laid stonework, oak paneling and striking double-sided fireplace of the Inn add to the warmth and charm. Hiawassee, Ga.
Boundary Waters Resort & Marina
Nestled in the cool Blue Ridge Mountains of the Chattahoochee National Forest on the shores of beautiful Lake Chatuge in Towns County. Hiawassee, Ga.
Misty Mountain Inn and Cottages
A Victorian farmhouse renovated to provide four spacious guestrooms. Furnished with antiques and queen-sized bed, each room has private bath and fireplace three have balconies. Blairsville, Ga.
Glen-Ella Springs Inn
Located two miles down a gravel road ninety miles northeast of Atlanta, Georgia, we specialize in quaint accommodations, first-class dining, and personal service. Clarkesville, Ga.
Kingwood Resort
Inn and golf resort. Offers restaurant, lounge swimming pools, and spa. Clayton, Ga.
Your Home in the Woods Bed & Breakfast
Nestled on a hillside, surrounded by forest and mountains, relaxing wide porch overlooking valley, hearty homemade breakfasts. Blairsville, Union County.
Old Clayton Inn
Our rooms are comfortable and inviting. All are individually decorated, adding to the Inn's charm. Each room has a private bath, some with jacuzzi tubs. Clayton, Ga.
Mountain Laurel Creek B&B
In the heart of N. Georgia wine country, 3 bedroom suites, whirlpool tubs, private balconly, gay friendly, and welcome people from all walks of life. Dahlonega, Ga.
Claremont House Bed & Breakfast
Built in 1882 and listed on the Historical Register as the finest example of Victorian Gothic architecture in the state of Georgia. The 14-foot ceiling, 11 fireplaces, remarkable carved woodwork and rooms decorated with Victorian antiques give you the feeling of living in the past. Rome, Ga.
The Castle Inn
Located on the edge of the beautiful Chattahoochee River and overlooking Alpine Helen Square, The Castle Inn appears to be an old castle. It is, in fact, a modern well appointed motel. Helen, Ga.
The Smith House
The Inn has cozy guest rooms for folks planning to stay the night in Dahlonega. Just a few steps from our front porch you'll discover the great shopping offered around town or at the new Chestatee Village. Dahlonega, Ga.
Cedar House Inn & Yurts
Bed and breakfast in the heart of the North Georgia wine country and mountains with unique yurt lodging. Dahlonega, GA.
North 40 Lodge
A delightful little lodge. Rooms have kitchens and fireplaces. Very reasonable rates. Walk to Lake Burton. Batesville, Ga.
Dillard House
Nestled in a picturesque valley in the ancient North Georgia mountains, the Dillard House has been a favorite destination of travelers for decades. Dillard, Ga.
Cohutta Lodge and Restaurant
Mountain top lodge located between Ellijay and Chatsworth on Hwy. 52. Dining with a view available 7 days a week.
Alpine Village Inn
Located in downtown Helen, across from the Chattahoochee River.
Garden Walk Inn
Forties built guest cottages on Lookout Mountain with outdoor pool and hot tub. Lookout Mountain, Ga.
• Tanglewood Cabins and Conference Center
Nestled in 75 acres of forest with creeks and endless tranquillity. There are many styles and sizes available. We also offer 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 bedroom cabins, honeymoon cabins, a 4-unit motel, and a Lodge for groups. Helen, Ga. 10 Degrees South, Fulton County, GA
• 5 Seasons Brewing, Fulton County, GA
• Ali Oli, Fulton County, GA
• Aqua Blue, Fulton County, GA
• Aria, Fulton County, GA
• Atlantic Seafood Company, Fulton County, GA
• Au Pied de Cochon, Fulton County, GA
• Basil's, Fulton County, GA
• Boi Na Braza - Atlanta, Fulton County, GA
• Bone's, Fulton County, GA
• Cafe at East Andrews, Fulton County, GA
• Capital Grille - Atlanta, Fulton County, GA
• Cassis at the Grand Hyatt, Fulton County, GA
• Chequers Seafood Grill, Fulton County, GA
• Chicago's - Sandy Springs, Fulton County, GA
• Chopstix, Fulton County, GA
• DolceVita Ristorante Italiano, Gwinnett County, GA
• Eclipse di Luna, Fulton County, GA
• Eclipse di Luna - Park Place, Fulton County, GA
• Fire of Brazil - Perimeter, Fulton County, GA
• Floataway Cafe, Fulton County, GA
• Food 101, Fulton County, GA
• Garrison's Broiler & Tap - Duluth, Gwinnett County, GA
• Garrison's Broiler & Tap - Perimeter, DeKalb County, GA
• Goldfish, Fulton County, GA
• grace 17.20, Gwinnett County, GA
• Hal's - Buckhead, Fulton County, GA
• Kurt's, Gwinnett County, GA
• Lumi?re at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Atlanta, DeKalb County, GA
• McCormick & Schmick's Seafood - Atlanta, Fulton County, GA
• McKendrick's Steakhouse, Fulton County, GA
• MidCity Cuisine, Fulton County, GA
• Milan, Fulton County, GA
• Morton's, the Steakhouse - Buckhead, Fulton County, GA
• Mosaic, Fulton County, GA
• Pampas Argentine Steakhouse, Fulton County, GA
• Paul's Restaurant, Fulton County, GA
• Portofino Bistro, Fulton County, GA
• Prime, Fulton County, GA
• Rainwater, Fulton County, GA
• Seeger's, Fulton County, GA
• Sia's Restaurant, Gwinnett County, GA
• Sugo Restaurant & Tapas - Clock Tower Place, Fulton County, GA
• Sugo Restaurant & Tapas - Duluth, Gwinnett County, GA
• Sugo Restaurant & Tapas - Perimeter, Fulton County, GA
• Sugo Restaurant & Tapas - Roswell Crossing, Fulton County, GA
• Taverna Plaka, Fulton County, GA
• The Cafe at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, Fulton County, GA
• The Clubhouse - Atlanta, Fulton County, GA
• The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, Fulton County, GA
• The Melting Pot - Duluth, Gwinnett County, GA
• The Melting Pot - Roswell, Fulton County, GA
• Twist, Fulton County, GA
• Van Gogh's, Fulton County, GA
• Village Tavern Alpharetta, Fulton County, GA
• Woodfire Grill, Fulton County, GA
• YellowFin Restaurant, Fulton County, GA
 

Flowery branch yacht club which wine to accompany your meal is second-nature at Grapes & Hops Bar & Bistro. You’ll notice this immediately upon opening the menu. It illustrates & recommends the most appropriate wine for each of the numerous plates offered. For example, let’s say you choose Chef Timmy Lee’s famous Crab & Lobster Bisque. This exquisite soup places lobster claw meat as a garnish over a mixture of blue crab meat in a sherry coconut cream base. Grapes & Hops recommends a medium or full bodied white wine to perfectly complement this dish. Our Flowery Branch restaurant is located near the Falcon’s training camp, by exit 12 off of highway 985. We opened our doors in 2004, and in 2005 Michelle Schreck and Bernd Koerner, became the new proprietors. Michelle is a professional wine consultant who pairs wine with the seasonal menus prepared by Chef Timmy Lee. Michelle belongs to the Wine & Spirits Educational Trust, conducts classes in the fine art of wine, and judges wine tasting events. Grapes & Hops offers over 60 wines by the glass as well as our unique wine flights, and also over 20 different beers from all around the world! Timmy B. Lee is an inventive chef, educated at the Art Institute of Atlanta. He brings international influences to the American food served here, which includes many seafood & beef selections. You will enjoy wild game here as well, such as venison, pheasant, ostrich and duck. Grapes & Hops is a beautiful place to eat with fine linen on the tables and the quaintness of natural brick wall surroundings. We entertain monthly wine tastings, special champagne tastings, beer tastings, along with wine dinners & wine classes. You’ll find live music on the patio in the summer and a live pianist inside on the weekends as well. We encourage reservations for all parties, especially those larger than four individuals. Michelle and Bernd would like to invite you to experience the difference in the pleasant atmosphere of Grapes & Hops Bar & Bistro tonight. After working in kitchens around the world, racking up a slew of honors with each new stop, Christopher Hope was ready for his own place. When an initial project in Atlanta wasn't the success he'd hoped for, Hope cooked in a few chain kitchens before setting his sights on his new culinary home: Gwinnett County
His busy restaurant is one in a clutch of upscale eateries along Buford's Main Street. There's Aqua Terra, a hip bistro with an intown vibe and a no-reservation policy. Two-hour waits on Saturday nights led Laurie Attaway to open 37 Main, a jazz and blues bar serving tapas, a few doors away. Now 37 Main has gone from a place to sip a drink while awaiting a table at Aqua Terra to a destination in its own right.By the way, Attaway says she picked Buford because it's close to her house.Does anyone else see a trend?Just as Hope and Attaway wanted to open restaurants close to where they live, it seems Gwinnett residents are interested in fine dining that doesn't involve a trip intown. If you're looking for an upscale dining experience without a drive to Atlanta, here's a taste of options convenient to Gwinnett residents.Grace 17.20 opened last year at the Forum shopping center in Norcross. Managing partner Barbara Di James, chef Charles Schwab and sous chef John Leichty all have culinary degrees and experience in high-profile restaurants in the area — Di James at Sia's, Schwab at Bacchanalia, and Leichty at Garrison's. An AJC reviewer said "the menu is a textbook example of modern regional-American dining, and Schwab's cherry-picked selection of Southern American ingredients is fresh and uplifting."Recommended dishes include jumbo lump crab cake with caper and mustard remoulade, Prince Edward Island mussels with Anson Mills grits, grilled white marble pork chop and stone-ground mustard sauce with collard greens and caramelized apples. The restaurant, which features a courtyard and two private dining rooms, is open 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday for lunch and 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner. It is closed Sundays but is available for private events. Information: 678-421-1720, www.grace1720.com.Also new to Norcross last year was The Continental, a glammed-up Art Deco spot that resembles the swank dining car on the circa-1930s Orient Express. The menu features lots of seafood dishes, including crab and shrimp mornay, black sesame-crusted salmon and crab cakes. Other options include beef tenderloin, coq au vin and vegetable napoleon. Artistic squiggles of berry coulis make their way from the fried brie wedge appetizers to some of the desserts. Hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays-Fridays for lunch and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays for dinner. 15 Jones St., Norcross. 770-242-1880, www.royalnorcross.com/continental.htm.The aforementioned Sperata and Aqua Terra are neighbors in Buford. Sperata, where the menu ranges from lamb shank to roasted duck breast to filet mignon to scallop and crab risotto, is open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, and dinner 5-10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. 9 E. Main St., 678-546-9111, www.speratarestaurant.com. At Aqua Terra, the aqua includes blackened yellowfin tuna, honey-glazed Atlantic salmon, and herb-encrusted jumbo shrimp. The terra includes New York strip, barbecued pork tenderloin and artichoke and basil raviolis. The hours are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 2:30 p.m. Saturday for lunch, and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday for dinner. 55 E. Main Street, 770-271-3000, www.aquaterrabistro.com.Medlock Bridge Road in Duluth is home to a number of dining destinations (technically they may be north Fulton, but they're not far over the Gwinnett line). The lineup includes Sia's, deemed a "Best Bite" by an AJC reviewer for its oysters: "flash-fried to perfection, so that they are crunchy on the outside, sweet and tender on the inside, and the perfect size for a mouthful . . . and another . . . and another." The menu also includes chilled seared salmon, fire roasted filet of beef tenderloin and cranberry grilled lamb chops. Lunch is 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays, dinner is 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. weeknights and 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 10305 Medlock Bridge Road, 770-497-9727, www.siasrestaurant.com.Merlot, true to its name, boasts an extensive wine list that includes more than a dozen Merlots, and serves a selection of favorite foods from around the globe."Merlot is a wine that almost everybody likes," co-owner Saeed Mahzari once said. "Folks who like wine normally like food, too. Here, we have a little bit of every country, from pizza to lobster tail." Lunch is from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and dinner is served from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 11655 Medlock Bridge Road. 678-474-0444, www.merlotrestaurant.com.Then there's Barcelona, a restaurant and tapas bar. The tapas menu includes garlic shrimp, duck prosciutto and beef empanadas; the dinner menu includes lobster tails, shellfish stew and sea bass. Also featured is chicken or shrimp paella.Lunch is 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Dinner is 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 3 pm. to 11 p.m. Fridays and 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays. 11705 Medlock Bridge Road, 770-814-7477, www.simplymediterranean.com.When marriage proposals are on the menu, Little Gardens Restaurant & Lounge is the place to be. The Lawrenceville restaurant estimates it handles 30 proposals a year. Presenting solitaires on plates ringed with "Will You Marry Me?" in chocolate ringing the bling seems to suit lots of prospective grooms. Assuming all goes well, the happy couple can return for the big day, as Little Gardens is a popular spot for weddings, too. The "Chateaubriand for Two Tableside" has been the house speciality for years; the menu also features Beef Wellington veal chops and crab and macadamia nut crusted grouper. The restaurant is open for dinner Monday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. 3571 Lawrenceville Highway, 770-923-3434, www.littlegardens.com.If you're willing to step just over the Hall County line, our neighbor boasts some fine dining options as well.Chef Jeff Hills and wife Alina have created a culinary destination in The Flowery Branch Yacht Club, housed in a circa-1800s home in the historic downtown. Jeff Hills brought two decades of restaurant experience from the West Orange Manor in New Jersey. The lineup also includes kitchen manager and lead chef Andy Gindlesperger, an 11-year industry veteran and a Johnson & Wales graduate; and chef Dennis Selby, a Georgia Southern University graduate who has been in the restaurant business for six years. 5510 Church St., Flowery Branch, 770-967-9060, www.fbyachtclub.com. Lunch is 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; dinner 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday- Saturday.Jack Hunt, formerly of the Flowery Branch Yacht Club, has struck out on his own with Grapes and Hops Bistro. Hunt headed east from San Francisco, where he earned a degree in the culinary arts from the California Culinary Academy. He says his style is influenced by many cuisines, with the foundation of French technique. Wild game and exotic seafood are his specialties. 4856 Hog Mountain Road, 770-965-9145, www.grapesandhopsbistro.com. Timothy B. Lee was born of Chinese decent in South Korea on December 2, 1976. As a third generation chef, food has always been a part of his life and his family. At the age of 1 his family immigrated to the United States to pursue the American Dream. They settled in Atlanta, GA in hope of a better life for themselves. With little money and education his parents continued to support themselves the only way they knew how, through food. Since then he has grown up in and around the restaurant business.Head Chef Timmy Lee, along with Wine Counsultant Michelle Schreck, who is the Wine Consultant of Home Town Spirits. She has 7 years in the wine business, teaching wine courses, holding seminars on wine and food pairing as well as judging in wine tasting events and writing articles about wine in the local newspapers. She has recently been certified into the internationally respected 'Wine and Spirits Education Trust.'Timmy Lee and Michelle are equally excited about this new venture together and they both feel that there has been a gap in great wine and food pairings in most restaurants. Michelle boasts, "We plan to fill that gap with some of the most exquisite and monumental wine and food pairings you have ever encountered - your taste buds will never be the same." Dining...with Sweet T.
By Terry and Lynne Mays

Fine Dining in Flowery Branch

There is treasure in Flowery Branch, in the form of a restaurant called The Yacht Club. Located at the end of the quaint downtown area, this new place is a delightful mix of experiences. Outside, the home is the quintessential southern dollhouse, with its wrap-around porch and big shade trees. Inside, the picture of a beachside bistro, complete with cool jazz tunes and seaside paintings.
Owners Jeff and Alina Hills have created an establishment which is not only a pleasure for their guests, but also seems to be a great joy for them.
Dressed casually, they greet each diner with a handshake and the genuine impression that they are thrilled at their good fortune for having met you and your family. Smiling and moving comfortably around the dining room, the Hills seem to be a couple having a really good time at their own party.
Our server, the lovely and efficient Jennifer, enticed us into trying a number of the specials offered that evening. We started with crawfish tails, nicely cooked, not overdone, covered in a sweet-smoky bar-b-que sauce, drizzled with a garlic aioli. Steamed Mussels Fume Blanc followed.
These are a regular menu item, served with shallots, fresh thyme, spinach, and garlic mayo saffron croutons. The sauce, we found, is positively addicting and can be finished off with the thinly-sliced crusty bread provided. Each appetizer is enormous; plenty to be shared by two to four people.
At Jennifers suggestion, we tried the Lobster Bisque. Served with chunks of lobster and drizzled with fresh cream and cognac, this soup is a favorite of regulars who rejoiced when it returned to the menu after a short absence last year.
The specials are based on whats best in season. The owners purchase only a few pounds of each offering a night, guaranteeing freshness, and an original experience each time you visit.
We enjoyed Grilled Ancho-rubbed Shrimp with jasmine rice, salsa verde, and celery root slaw, as well as Pan-seared Pompano encrusted in polenta and served on a bed of duck confit mashed potatoes and steamed artichoke.
Sadly, we had not saved room for dessert. The menu lists many tempting treats including Creme Brulee, Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble with Ginger and cinnamon ice cream, and Profiteroles stuffed with Hazelnut Gelato and topped with chocolate and caramel sauces. The confections that were served around us were beautifully artistic, and, judging from the cleaned plates returning to the kitchen, delicious.
The Yacht Club boasts a large selection of wines, in all denominations. Rather than trying to choose one for ourselves, we elected to leave that to Jeff, who selected a breathtaking Chardonnay from a vineyard he was featuring that night. Wines are a strong suit of this restaurateur, who hosts a special wine evening one Monday a month. The event in March was to highlight wines of a particular Sonoma County, California vineyard, with matching delicacies from the kitchen.
Another original twist to fine dining is this restaurants Chefs Table. Call and arrange for the Hills and Executive Chef, Jack Hunt, to choose the entire experience for you, from the entrees to the wines, in the private dining room. It is perfect for that special anniversary or birthday dinner.
We have yet to take this adventure ourselves, but can say that we would do so without the least trepidation. Chef Hunt, though he looks barely old enough to drive, is a talented, experienced artist who provided us with a masterful meal. Trained and practiced all over the United States, it is our great blessing that he found his way to this area.
After we paid our check, we had the opportunity to meet the Hills and talk to them about The Yacht Club and their experiences in the ten months theyve been open. Our customers are our family, said Jeff, They support us and talk to us about whats going on with their day. Indeed, the place did seem to be populated, in part, by regulars who rave about their experiences and, at the same time, seem scared to death that the word will get out and The Yacht Club will become popular.
No longer Flowery Branchs best kept secret, The Yacht Club is a winner. The Hills have brought personality back to the dining experience uniting great food, comfortable surroundings, groovy tunes, and an attitude that says, quite distinctly, Welcome!
Gainesville
Chattahoochee Country Club
3000 Club Drive
Gainesville GA, 30503770-536-4461
Chilis
American
669 Dawsonville Highway770-532-9844
Courtyard at Best Western
Continental/Fine Dining
400 E.E. Butler Parkway
770-531-0907
Hudson Steam House
Oysters, Shellfish, and Spirits770-287-1777
Longhorn’s
American
1709 Browns Bridge Road770-538-0400
Longstreet Cafe
770-287-0820
Luna's Restaurants
Contenintal/fine dining with a popular piano bar at the downtown location. Two locations; one on Gainesville's historic downtown square; the other at Colonial Lakeshore Mall. Catering also available.
McDonalds: Fast Food
4 locations: See Map
McIntosh Grill: American
4005 Hwy. 365706-776-8381
Outback Steakhouse
American
655 Dawsonville Hwy.770-287-1060
Pasquale’s
Italian
1101 Riverside Drive770-534-0606
Poor Richard’s
American
1702 Park Hill Drive770-532-0499
Rabbittown Café
Southern
2415 Old Cornelia Highway770-287-3695
Rudolph’s Restaurant
Continental/Fine Dining
700 Green Street770-534-2226
St. Ives Coffee Roaster
Coffee House/Sandwiches
915 Green Street770-531-0928
Tea Tyme Restaurant
Fine dining on Gainesville's historic downtown square.Features music on various weekends. Catering also available. Owner's art is on display inside.678-450-5770 www.tea-tymedine.com
Texas RoadHouse
Southwestern
895 Dawsonville Highway678-450-8447
The Boiler Room
Restaurant and Nightclub with Entertainment nightly. Fresh Seafood, hand-cut steaks, chicken, pasta, and signature handmade icecream desserts.678-450-0115
Turnstile Deli & Catering
Deli
109 Green St.770-718-9988

Lake Lanier Islands
Bullfrogs at Emerald Pointe Resort
American
7000 Holiday Road770-945-8787





Flowery branch yacht club which wine to accompany your meal is second-nature at Grapes & Hops Bar & Bistro. You’ll notice this immediately upon opening the menu. It illustrates & recommends the most appropriate wine for each of the numerous plates offered. For example, let’s say you choose Chef Timmy Lee’s famous Crab & Lobster Bisque. This exquisite soup places lobster claw meat as a garnish over a mixture of blue crab meat in a sherry coconut cream base. Grapes & Hops recommends a medium or full bodied white wine to perfectly complement this dish. Our Flowery Branch restaurant is located near the Falcon’s training camp, by exit 12 off of highway 985. We opened our doors in 2004, and in 2005 Michelle Schreck and Bernd Koerner, became the new proprietors. Michelle is a professional wine consultant who pairs wine with the seasonal menus prepared by Chef Timmy Lee. Michelle belongs to the Wine & Spirits Educational Trust, conducts classes in the fine art of wine, and judges wine tasting events. Grapes & Hops offers over 60 wines by the glass as well as our unique wine flights, and also over 20 different beers from all around the world! Timmy B. Lee is an inventive chef, educated at the Art Institute of Atlanta. He brings international influences to the American food served here, which includes many seafood & beef selections. You will enjoy wild game here as well, such as venison, pheasant, ostrich and duck. Grapes & Hops is a beautiful place to eat with fine linen on the tables and the quaintness of natural brick wall surroundings. We entertain monthly wine tastings, special champagne tastings, beer tastings, along with wine dinners & wine classes. You’ll find live music on the patio in the summer and a live pianist inside on the weekends as well. We encourage reservations for all parties, especially those larger than four individuals. Michelle and Bernd would like to invite you to experience the difference in the pleasant atmosphere of Grapes & Hops Bar & Bistro tonight. After working in kitchens around the world, racking up a slew of honors with each new stop, Christopher Hope was ready for his own place. When an initial project in Atlanta wasn't the success he'd hoped for, Hope cooked in a few chain kitchens before setting his sights on his new culinary home: Gwinnett County


His busy restaurant is one in a clutch of upscale eateries along Buford's Main Street. There's Aqua Terra, a hip bistro with an intown vibe and a no-reservation policy. Two-hour waits on Saturday nights led Laurie Attaway to open 37 Main, a jazz and blues bar serving tapas, a few doors away. Now 37 Main has gone from a place to sip a drink while awaiting a table at Aqua Terra to a destination in its own right.By the way, Attaway says she picked Buford because it's close to her house.Does anyone else see a trend?Just as Hope and Attaway wanted to open restaurants close to where they live, it seems Gwinnett residents are interested in fine dining that doesn't involve a trip intown. If you're looking for an upscale dining experience without a drive to Atlanta, here's a taste of options convenient to Gwinnett residents.Grace 17.20 opened last year at the Forum shopping center in Norcross. Managing partner Barbara Di James, chef Charles Schwab and sous chef John Leichty all have culinary degrees and experience in high-profile restaurants in the area — Di James at Sia's, Schwab at Bacchanalia, and Leichty at Garrison's. An AJC reviewer said "the menu is a textbook example of modern regional-American dining, and Schwab's cherry-picked selection of Southern American ingredients is fresh and uplifting."Recommended dishes include jumbo lump crab cake with caper and mustard remoulade, Prince Edward Island mussels with Anson Mills grits, grilled white marble pork chop and stone-ground mustard sauce with collard greens and caramelized apples. The restaurant, which features a courtyard and two private dining rooms, is open 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday for lunch and 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner. It is closed Sundays but is available for private events. Information: 678-421-1720, www.grace1720.com.Also new to Norcross last year was The Continental, a glammed-up Art Deco spot that resembles the swank dining car on the circa-1930s Orient Express. The menu features lots of seafood dishes, including crab and shrimp mornay, black sesame-crusted salmon and crab cakes. Other options include beef tenderloin, coq au vin and vegetable napoleon. Artistic squiggles of berry coulis make their way from the fried brie wedge appetizers to some of the desserts. Hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays-Fridays for lunch and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays for dinner. 15 Jones St., Norcross. 770-242-1880, www.royalnorcross.com/continental.htm.The aforementioned Sperata and Aqua Terra are neighbors in Buford. Sperata, where the menu ranges from lamb shank to roasted duck breast to filet mignon to scallop and crab risotto, is open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, and dinner 5-10 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. 9 E. Main St., 678-546-9111, www.speratarestaurant.com. At Aqua Terra, the aqua includes blackened yellowfin tuna, honey-glazed Atlantic salmon, and herb-encrusted jumbo shrimp. The terra includes New York strip, barbecued pork tenderloin and artichoke and basil raviolis. The hours are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 2:30 p.m. Saturday for lunch, and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday for dinner. 55 E. Main Street, 770-271-3000, www.aquaterrabistro.com.Medlock Bridge Road in Duluth is home to a number of dining destinations (technically they may be north Fulton, but they're not far over the Gwinnett line). The lineup includes Sia's, deemed a "Best Bite" by an AJC reviewer for its oysters: "flash-fried to perfection, so that they are crunchy on the outside, sweet and tender on the inside, and the perfect size for a mouthful . . . and another . . . and another." The menu also includes chilled seared salmon, fire roasted filet of beef tenderloin and cranberry grilled lamb chops. Lunch is 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays, dinner is 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. weeknights and 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 10305 Medlock Bridge Road, 770-497-9727, www.siasrestaurant.com.Merlot, true to its name, boasts an extensive wine list that includes more than a dozen Merlots, and serves a selection of favorite foods from around the globe."Merlot is a wine that almost everybody likes," co-owner Saeed Mahzari once said. "Folks who like wine normally like food, too. Here, we have a little bit of every country, from pizza to lobster tail." Lunch is from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and dinner is served from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 11655 Medlock Bridge Road. 678-474-0444, www.merlotrestaurant.com.Then there's Barcelona, a restaurant and tapas bar. The tapas menu includes garlic shrimp, duck prosciutto and beef empanadas; the dinner menu includes lobster tails, shellfish stew and sea bass. Also featured is chicken or shrimp paella.Lunch is 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Dinner is 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 3 pm. to 11 p.m. Fridays and 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays. 11705 Medlock Bridge Road, 770-814-7477, www.simplymediterranean.com.When marriage proposals are on the menu, Little Gardens Restaurant & Lounge is the place to be. The Lawrenceville restaurant estimates it handles 30 proposals a year. Presenting solitaires on plates ringed with "Will You Marry Me?" in chocolate ringing the bling seems to suit lots of prospective grooms. Assuming all goes well, the happy couple can return for the big day, as Little Gardens is a popular spot for weddings, too. The "Chateaubriand for Two Tableside" has been the house speciality for years; the menu also features Beef Wellington veal chops and crab and macadamia nut crusted grouper. The restaurant is open for dinner Monday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. 3571 Lawrenceville Highway, 770-923-3434, www.littlegardens.com.If you're willing to step just over the Hall County line, our neighbor boasts some fine dining options as well.Chef Jeff Hills and wife Alina have created a culinary destination in The Flowery Branch Yacht Club, housed in a circa-1800s home in the historic downtown. Jeff Hills brought two decades of restaurant experience from the West Orange Manor in New Jersey. The lineup also includes kitchen manager and lead chef Andy Gindlesperger, an 11-year industry veteran and a Johnson & Wales graduate; and chef Dennis Selby, a Georgia Southern University graduate who has been in the restaurant business for six years. 5510 Church St., Flowery Branch, 770-967-9060, www.fbyachtclub.com. Lunch is 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; dinner 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday- Saturday.Jack Hunt, formerly of the Flowery Branch Yacht Club, has struck out on his own with Grapes and Hops Bistro. Hunt headed east from San Francisco, where he earned a degree in the culinary arts from the California Culinary Academy. He says his style is influenced by many cuisines, with the foundation of French technique. Wild game and exotic seafood are his specialties. 4856 Hog Mountain Road, 770-965-9145, www.grapesandhopsbistro.com. Timothy B. Lee was born of Chinese decent in South Korea on December 2, 1976. As a third generation chef, food has always been a part of his life and his family. At the age of 1 his family immigrated to the United States to pursue the American Dream. They settled in Atlanta, GA in hope of a better life for themselves. With little money and education his parents continued to support themselves the only way they knew how, through food. Since then he has grown up in and around the restaurant business.Head Chef Timmy Lee, along with Wine Counsultant Michelle Schreck, who is the Wine Consultant of Home Town Spirits. She has 7 years in the wine business, teaching wine courses, holding seminars on wine and food pairing as well as judging in wine tasting events and writing articles about wine in the local newspapers. She has recently been certified into the internationally respected 'Wine and Spirits Education Trust.'Timmy Lee and Michelle are equally excited about this new venture together and they both feel that there has been a gap in great wine and food pairings in most restaurants. Michelle boasts, "We plan to fill that gap with some of the most exquisite and monumental wine and food pairings you have ever encountered - your taste buds will never be the same." Dining...with Sweet T.
By Terry and Lynne Mays

Fine Dining in Flowery Branch

There is treasure in Flowery Branch, in the form of a restaurant called The Yacht Club. Located at the end of the quaint downtown area, this new place is a delightful mix of experiences. Outside, the home is the quintessential southern dollhouse, with its wrap-around porch and big shade trees. Inside, the picture of a beachside bistro, complete with cool jazz tunes and seaside paintings.
Owners Jeff and Alina Hills have created an establishment which is not only a pleasure for their guests, but also seems to be a great joy for them.
Dressed casually, they greet each diner with a handshake and the genuine impression that they are thrilled at their good fortune for having met you and your family. Smiling and moving comfortably around the dining room, the Hills seem to be a couple having a really good time at their own party.
Our server, the lovely and efficient Jennifer, enticed us into trying a number of the specials offered that evening. We started with crawfish tails, nicely cooked, not overdone, covered in a sweet-smoky bar-b-que sauce, drizzled with a garlic aioli. Steamed Mussels Fume Blanc followed.
These are a regular menu item, served with shallots, fresh thyme, spinach, and garlic mayo saffron croutons. The sauce, we found, is positively addicting and can be finished off with the thinly-sliced crusty bread provided. Each appetizer is enormous; plenty to be shared by two to four people.
At Jennifers suggestion, we tried the Lobster Bisque. Served with chunks of lobster and drizzled with fresh cream and cognac, this soup is a favorite of regulars who rejoiced when it returned to the menu after a short absence last year.
The specials are based on whats best in season. The owners purchase only a few pounds of each offering a night, guaranteeing freshness, and an original experience each time you visit.
We enjoyed Grilled Ancho-rubbed Shrimp with jasmine rice, salsa verde, and celery root slaw, as well as Pan-seared Pompano encrusted in polenta and served on a bed of duck confit mashed potatoes and steamed artichoke.
Sadly, we had not saved room for dessert. The menu lists many tempting treats including Creme Brulee, Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble with Ginger and cinnamon ice cream, and Profiteroles stuffed with Hazelnut Gelato and topped with chocolate and caramel sauces. The confections that were served around us were beautifully artistic, and, judging from the cleaned plates returning to the kitchen, delicious.
The Yacht Club boasts a large selection of wines, in all denominations. Rather than trying to choose one for ourselves, we elected to leave that to Jeff, who selected a breathtaking Chardonnay from a vineyard he was featuring that night. Wines are a strong suit of this restaurateur, who hosts a special wine evening one Monday a month. The event in March was to highlight wines of a particular Sonoma County, California vineyard, with matching delicacies from the kitchen.
Another original twist to fine dining is this restaurants Chefs Table. Call and arrange for the Hills and Executive Chef, Jack Hunt, to choose the entire experience for you, from the entrees to the wines, in the private dining room. It is perfect for that special anniversary or birthday dinner.
We have yet to take this adventure ourselves, but can say that we would do so without the least trepidation. Chef Hunt, though he looks barely old enough to drive, is a talented, experienced artist who provided us with a masterful meal. Trained and practiced all over the United States, it is our great blessing that he found his way to this area.
After we paid our check, we had the opportunity to meet the Hills and talk to them about The Yacht Club and their experiences in the ten months theyve been open. Our customers are our family, said Jeff, They support us and talk to us about whats going on with their day. Indeed, the place did seem to be populated, in part, by regulars who rave about their experiences and, at the same time, seem scared to death that the word will get out and The Yacht Club will become popular.
No longer Flowery Branchs best kept secret, The Yacht Club is a winner. The Hills have brought personality back to the dining experience uniting great food, comfortable surroundings, groovy tunes, and an attitude that says, quite distinctly, Welcome!
"…a destination for diners with discriminating tastes who are looking for something more than just another meal in a chain restaurant."
-Forsyth County News"I cannot write or say enough about the enjoyable evening we spent at the delectable Aqua Terra Bistro. This cozy, friendly place exudes charm." -Arrington Widemore, Points NorthAQUA TERRA BISTRO is located in historic downtown Buford, among galleries, antique stores and boutiques. As so much of North Gwinnett county is colonized by chain stores and restaurants, Aqua Terra offers an oasis of originality and charm. Aqua Terra was opened in late Fall of 1999 by Laurie Attaway, to bring fine dining in a casual atmosphere to the area.
The artistry of Executive Chef, Brian Legault, will amaze diners. Aqua Terra is an eclectic American-style bistro, where "traditional" foods are enlivened by inspired influences from world cuisine. Please take a moment to peruse the menus on this site. Also note that Legault creates daily specials, which are not to be missed. Legault achieves complex taste harmonies in every dish, without sacrificing delicacy or subtlety.Aqua Terra is a wonderfully comfortable place to spend a quiet evening. Both dining rooms are decorated by local artists, giving Aqua Terra a decidedly bohemian charm. The ambiance, the open kitchen and the warmth of the attentive staff all combine with the exquisite food to make Aqua Terra the ideal combination of comfort and elegance.Aqua Terra does not accept reservations; we do, however, encourage you to call in advance if you're bringing a large group. Please visit the Special Events page of this site to learn about our Customer Appreciation Sundays!
Aqua Terra now offers a full bar, in addition to our good selection of domestic and imported beers and our extensive wine list! Come in and try one of our specialty drinks like our Chocolate Martini or Aqua Terra Coffee...Aqua Terra also offers gift certificates. Please feel free to call or email for more information.
We look forward to serving you.
Aqua Terra, its sister restaurant, 37 Main, and now our new banquet room 99, are great places to have corporate events and private parties. The two restaurants together offer options to suit the needs of every group, with a wide variety of menu and beverage options. We offer the same food options for both venues.
We invite you to peruse the following menu options for large groups. For party arrangements and more information, please call 770-271-3000 or email aquaterrabistro@charterinternet.com.
BANQUET MENU This first option is a sit-down multi-course meal available Sunday thru Thurday for parties of 20-40 at Aqua Terra Bistro or 37 Main. $40 per person or $44 per person with array of desserts. Does not include alcohol, tax or 20% gratuity.
AN ARRAY OF APPETIZERS
FRENCH COUNTRY SALAD
Mixed field greens, Gorgonzola cheese, bacon, apples, walnuts, and red onions with a warm apple cider vinaigrette
ENTRÉE CHOICES
SEARED SCALLOPS
Served over pasta with an exotic mushroom
and truffle cream sauce and baby spinach
CHARGRILLED FILET MIGNON
8 oz Filet Mignon served over whipped potatoes and a ragout of exotic mushrooms, onions and tomatoes
BARBECUED PORK TENDERLOIN
With creamy smoked gouda polenta, country cole slaw, and crispy shoe string sweet potatoes
BUFFET MENU
$35 per person. For use at 37 Main or 99. Does not include alcohol, tax or 20% gratuity.

ENTRÉE CHOICES
Choose 2 of the following:

ATLANTIC SALMON

GRILLED CHICKEN
With penne pasta, spinach and fresh corn in a light cream sauce

ROASTED PRIME RIB
With a blackpepper au jus

HERB CRUSTED PORk LOIN
With an apple brandy glaze

VEGETABLE CHOICES
Choose 2 of the following:

MIXED BABY VEGETABLES
With fresh herbs and lemon

SQUASH CASSEROLE
With Gruyère cheese

STEAMED ASPARAGUS

STARCHES
Choose 2 of the following:

CREAMY ROASTED GARLIC MASHED POTATOES
CREAMY GORGONZOLA GNOCCHI

VERMONT CHEDDAR GRITS

CRISPY RED BLISS POTATOES
With rosemary and thyme

SALADS
Choose 1 of the following:

MIXED GREEN SALAD
Mixed field greens with tomatoes and cucumbers in a balsamic vinaigrette

CAESAR SALAD
Romaine lettuce with croutons and parmesan

DESSERTS
Choose 2 of the following:

WARM APPLE CRISP
With maple crème anglaise

CHOCOLATE BROWNIE TRIFLE
With whipped cream and berries
KALUHA TIRAMISU
With whipped cream and chocolate

HORS D’OEUVRES MENU
You may opt for the $25 per person menu or the $35 per person menu.

CHEESE TRAY $75

FRUIT TRAY $50

For $25 per person choose 5 of the following:

BEEF KABOBS $24

STUFFED ROMA TOMATOES $18
With basil and mozzarella

STUFFED CRIMINI MUSHROOM CAPS $18

BBQ CHICKEN QUESADILLAS $24
With sweet peppers and onions

FRESH SALMON CEVICHE $22
With crème fraiche

CRAB-STUFFED ARTICHOKE HEARTS $22

ORANGE-GINGER MARINATED CHICKEN WINGS $18

BEEF EMPANADAS $22
With pico de gallo
GRILLED CHICKEN $22
With mango sour cream on homemade tortilla chips
ROASTED PORK TENDERLOIN PASTRIES $24
With sweet potato mousse
PORK POT STICKERS $19
With orange ponzu
CUCUMBER TOMATO HATS $18
Stuffed with herbed goat cheese
CRISPY ASIAN EGGROLLS $24

For $35 per person choose 5 of the following and/or from the preceding $25 list):

CRAB CAKES $48

SMOKED SALMON $26
CHIPOTLE-MARINATED SHRIMP SKEWERS $30
SEARED YELLOWFIN TUNA $32
With ginger and wasabi w/ rice cake

OPEN-FACED BEEF TENDERLOIN SANDWICH $32
With horseradish

CRAB AND CILANTRO STUFFED BELGIAN ENDIVE $36
MINI BEEF WELLINGTONS $48

LOBSTER RAVIOLIS WITH TRUFFLE BUTTER $36

GRILLED LAMB CHOPS $36
Rubbed with southwestern spices

SEARED DIVER SCALLOPS $36
With fresh pico de gallo
Desserts can be added by the dozen or included as one of the five selections
DESSERTS CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRIES $18
ASSORTED PETIT FOURS $18
MINI ASSORTED TARTS $18
CHEESE CAKE BITES $18
MINI BROWNIES $18
BANQUET POLICIES
A major credit card number is required to finalize the reservation. In case of cancellation, 37 Main and Aqua Terra Events must be notified at least 5 days prior to the event. Cancellation given later than 5 days prior to the event will result in a $100 charge applied to the credit card.
Food and beverage choices must be made no later than 2 weeks prior to the reservation date. Beer options include: Bud, Miller Lite, Michelob Ultra, and Corona. Domestic $3 and Imports $3.50. For wine we offer Bogle Merlot, Bogle Chardonnay, and Beringer White Zinfandel at $20 per bottle. For full liquor we offer: Absolut, Tanqueray, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Dewars, Jose Cuervo and Bacardi. Liquor drinks are $6 or $6.50.
Requests for additional choices must be given to and approved by a manager 2 weeks prior to the event so we may order accordingly. A final headcount is required 3 Days prior to the event. Please be aware that 37 Main and Aqua Terra Events may not be able to provide enough food (for events with a pre-selected menu) for parties arriving with significantly more guests than the guarantee.
Parties reserved at 37 Main and Aqua event facility 99 :
For reservation at 37: Banquet rooms are only available to parties of 20 or more For parties at 37 Main ordering from one of the three banquet menus: You will be charged for your confirmed number of people. If the number of people attending is greater than the confirmed number, you will be charged for the number of people attending. If you have a showing of less then 20 people you will be charged for a minimum of 20 people for use of the banquet room. For reservations at 99: Banquet menus are only available to parties of 30 or more.
For parties at 99 ordering from one of the two banquet menus: You will be charged for your confirmed number of people. If the number of people attending is greater than the confirmed number, you will be charged for the number of people attending. If you have a showing of less then 30 people you will be charged for a minimum of 30 people for use of the banquet room.
The doors to 99 & 37 Main will be unlocked and open to your party at the time of your reservation and no sooner. All state, local taxes and a 20% gratuity will be applied to the food and beverage bill.
Reservations for private events will be held up to 30 minutes past the reservation time. At that time the reservation will be considered null and void, and the $100 fee will be applied to the credit card number provided. Guests may not bring food or beverage in the restaurant without prior approval from 37 main’s and Aqua Terra Event’s management. Food or beverage brought into the restaurant is subject to a service charge. Cake-cutting and plating fee is $1 per person (with a maximum of $50). If the Buffet or Hors d’ oeuvre menu is chosen, to-go boxes of food will be provided to the host or hosts of the party. All other remaining food or beverage must remain in the restaurant. Parties may utilize the banquet room for no more than 3 hours. Food will be cleared no later than 10:15. Last call for alcohol will be given 15 minutes before the 3 hour time limit comes to an end. These are a non-smoking establishment. Guests are not allowed to use back entrance/exit for smoking purposes. Guests are required to come upstairs and/or go out the front door to smoke. Any amendments made to this policy must have a manager’s approval. The amendments must be written on policies and signed by both parties. All alcoholic beverages must stay inside the establishments at all times.