HUD'S CORNER - Page 2
The Research Continues... (The Scoop - Page 3)

by hud report staff

In the oven...
(The following are but a small mention of the new places on our ‘Coming Soon’ radar...)

•Ormsby’s ~ Rumor says longtime Atlanta restaurateur and bar owner, Warren Bruno’s (Aunt Charley’s, Atkins Park) new bar project in the White Provisions development on Atlanta’s Westside, will be called Ormsby’s. Projections are a September opening for this new laid-back tavern... The Arizona Pub is looking at a July 1st opening on Arizona Avenue in Candler Park. Bar fare will include wings, burgers, mussels and Guinness floats with homemade ice cream. Microbrews will be on tap at this two story, two bar eatery with patio seating. Arizona’s lower deck will be pet-friendly... Aurum Lounge is shooting to open August 1st in the Metropolis building, taking the street level space on the 8th Street side. Owner Mike Soo is a resident of Metropolis and Aurum (Latin for Gold) is being designed by Atlanta-based Habachy Designs whose work includes Dressed and Compound Nightclub. The concept will have a gold and chocolate color palette. It’s also being said the menu will not include anything fried in it’s bar fare selection of sushi, small tapas and sandwiches... Bruegger’s Bagels ~ 26-year-old Vermont-based Bruegger’s Enterprises Inc. is in negotiations to open a dozen units in metro Atlanta. They will open three in 2010 including a Buckhead location but no word on where the other two will be... The 32-year-old Havana Sandwich Shop originally located at 2905 Buford Highway, closed in late ‘08 due to fire. A second location had opened just months before in Canton in September and has also closed in recent weeks. It’s now rumroed that owner Debbie Benedit will be reopening the Buckhead location a little further North on Buford Highway in Crossroads Village on Buford Highway in six to eight weeks... Rumor has it that STK—a hip steakhouse chain with locations in Miami, West Hollywood, Manhattan’s Meatpacking District and Las Vegas—has signed a lease to open at 1075 Peachtree, an office building that’s currently under construction as part of the 12th & Midtown project... Metrotainment Cafes Inc. is opening its fourth Hudson Grille in the former Artistry/Sweet Lowdown location on Peachtree Street. Plans are to open by football season. Another Metrotainment Cafes Inc. concept, Sugar Shack, a restaurant & retail version of their wholesale bakery is expected to open in August next to the Brookhaven Hudson Grill in the former Marc Anthony’s Italian location, serving breakfast, lumch & dinner... Cake Cafe ~ A new urban lounge is rumored to be opening soon in the Glenwood Park area of Atlanta off I-20 and will feature a full bar with live jazz... A new restaurant going into the former Crescent Moon space at Northlake Mall, The Casual Diner, is said to still be in negotiations but owners hope to open in September... There are rumblings that a new Turkish cuisine, three-level eatery, Puruva, has started renovations on the old Steak & Ale location in downtown Atlanta and that it will be opening early September... Located in Alpharetta, the Pure Taqueria concept has a second location opening in late July in Woodstock. Pure is owned by Bistro VG owners Chris and Michele Sedgwick’s The Sedgwick Restaurant Group, which also includes Aspens Signature Steaks and Theo’s Brother’s Bakery. Pure opened in 2005 as an open-air concept serving Mexican tacos and antojitos. Six to 10 more stores are slated to open in the next year in Georgia and Alabama... The Yogurt Tap ~ A self-serve frozen yogurt concept opening on Church Street in the old Houseworks space in Decatur by mid-July... Niramish ~ A vegetarian Indian cuisine eatery is rumored to be opening on Euclid Avenue in Little Five Points in the former Bay Leaves Natural Food location... And, yet another Bay Leaves ~ The former Udipi location on Lawrenceville Highway in Decatur has a sign that says Bay Leaves is ‘coming soon.’... In early ‘09 Dew’s Downstairs was located on Concord Road in Smyrna downstairs from Red’s Timbers. Latest rumblings say they may be reopening soon on S. Cobb Drive in Smyrna in the former Chuck’s BBQ location... Advertising an authentic English Tea experience, Holly Cottage Tearoom, is anticipating opening September 2nd on Savannah Street in Newnan... Haiku Asian Restaurant ~ Opening expected soon in the former Burger Joe’s on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs... Croakers Seafood Restaurant is rumored to be opening in the former Power Plant Vegan Restaurant location on Edgewood Avenue... Lot 99 is a new restaurant/bar opening soon in the recently vacated Aiko Sushi Bar & Lounge space on E. Andrews in Buckhead... Piece of Cake is preparing to open its third location July 1st in downtown Decatur. The original location is on Roswell Road in Buckhead and a second is on Crabapple Road in Roswell... Buffalo Wild Wings ~ Another unit is expected soon in the former Ali Oli space on Peachtree Road... Latest sources say Sweet Georgia’s Juke Joint, opening in the former Macy’s building downtown, will be Spring of 2010. The owner is Global Concessions Inc., an airport restaurant contractor that currently operates 12 restaurants at Hartsfiled-Jackson. Sweet Georgia’s downtown will be a 138-seat upscale Southern restaurant and music hall featuring live acoustic music... Local rumblings say Cha Cha Bongo Cuban Grill, which opened in March on McGinnis Ferry in Johns Creek, may be opening a second unit soon on Windward Parkway... Atlanta Magazine reported recently that Charlie & Nan Niyomkul of Tamarind Seed Thai Bistro and Nan Thai Fine Dining might be considering the empty space on Peachtree left by the closing of Chef Gary Mennie’s Taurus in December of ‘08 and says it may be called Vertigo.

Cha, Cha, Changes...

Concentrics Restaurants has announed that the main dining room of TROIS will undergo renovations and a new concept will open in the space at summer’s end. The Bar at TROIS will remain open Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. until close and will now serve a dinner menu by Chef Todd Ginsberg. The Event Space at TROIS will also remain open and all previously scheduled events will not be affected. A new restaurant concept is scheduled to take over all three spaces in September 2009. Concentrics’ has offered employees a job at other Concentrics Restaurants while the restaurant is being renovated... In a sign of the times, year-old Neo, the Mansion on Peachtree’s in-house restaurant, is now “going casual with light, farm-fresh fare” and has a new chef, Scott Hemmerly... Indie Coffe & Books on W. Ponce de Leon was sold and has reopened as Cafe Cliche without the books... Madras Chettinaad has closed its Decatur location and reopened in Alpharetta in the former Minerva Restaurant space on State Bridge Road... Marc Anthony’s Italian Restaurant moved a couple of months ago from its Brookhaven location to new digs in the Clairmont Shopping Center on Clairmont Road... New owner, Gregg Freishtat, purchased The Grape out of bankruptcy in February and now reports he will be changing the concept. Less wine, nore emphasis on the menu and less retail space, that will begin at the Phipps Plaza location... After speculation of Pano’s Grand Cafe or Balon Rouge, Marketing Director for Buckhead Life Group, Jennifer Boozer, has confirmed the new name for the upcoming 3344 Peachtree eatery will be Chez Niko, after director of operations Niko Karatassos, and that they are shooting for an October opening.

Chefs shuffle...

Sous Chef at the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel since 2004, Russell Sleight has replaced Thierry Grodet as the hotel’s top chef... Andy Fox, formerly of Ecco, is the new general manager at the newly opened Livingston Restaurant in the Georgian Terrace... Since Memorial Day, the kitchen at 5 Season Prado has been headed by Chefs Mel Toledo and Vince Hernandez.

Other’s news...

In July you can catchWestside Urban Market’s JCT Kitchen & Bar on the Food Networks’ ‘The Best Thing I Ever Ate With Bacon’ featuring JCT’s Angry Mussels. Tune in July 1st at 12:30 a.m. or July 11th at 6 p.m. to find out where to get the best pork-licious dishes... Bon Appetit Magazine has been named Rolling Bones BBQ as one of the top 10 “new barbecue restaurants in America” in their upcoming July issue, which is devoted entirely to barbecue. While researching the blurb, we found that the Edgewood Avenue location of Rolling Bones is ‘For Sale’ priced at $95,000 for the business with a monthly lease at $3,500 per month or buy business and Real Estate and all equipment, furniture, fixtures and smokers for $695,000.

Sign of the times...

A heartfelt message from Karen Bremer, owner of Dailey’s & City Grill: “To all our valued guests, it is with much sadness and regret that I announce Dailey’s & City Grill Restaurants have closed for business as of Wednesday June 3, 2009. Due to our current economic conditions, we are unable to continue in business. Many thanks to all the great Team members that have made both of these restaurants so very special, and for creating so many memorable meals for Atlanta. Thank you Atlanta for supporting Dailey’s for 28 years and City Grill for 20 years, and for allowing us to be part of your lives and hopefully for always in your memories.” Sincerely, The Great Teams of Dailey’s & City Grill, and Karen Bremer, Owner... The 85-five-year-old Clermont Hotel on Ponce de Leon in Atlanta is scheduled to go into forclosure on July 7th. The fate of the The Clermont Lounge, the iconic strip club and dive bar housed in the basement of the hotel, is unknown. The Lounge has made the “best of” lists of several national men’s publications, including Maxim and Stuff magazines and also inspired a documentary... Opened since November of ‘08, owners Yancy Cazes and Tommy Burton, have shuttered the doors of their Wine Loft on Marietta Street. The Downtown venue was a restaurant/ winery/after hours spot featuring 70 wines by the glass and 250 by the bottle... Dan and Kathleen Stockham of The Laughing Elephant Bakery in Cumming have written their goodbyes on their website, www.thelaughingelephantbakery.com, citing that because the banks are pulling their funding, they are shuttering their doors in July.