Every month, the Rough Draft dining team of Beth McKibben and Sarra Sedghi share where they’ve been eating, along with standout dishes, cocktails, and drinks you should put on your restaurant radar. Beth and Sarra’s favorite dishes and drinks appear first in their weekly dining newsletters, “Family Meal” (Tuesday) and “Side Dish” (Thursday).
Check out Beth and Sarra’s best bites and sips from January.
Beth’s Best Dishes
Lunch salad and fries at Elise in Midtown ($$$)
From the Jan. 13 edition of “Family Meal”
Lunch at Elise is a leisurely affair, hosted in the airy salon of the Woodruff Arts Center restaurant. It’s a respite in the heart of Midtown – a quiet oasis tucked away from the hurriedness of busy Peachtree Street. Couples wander in after visiting the High Museum. Business deals go down at corner tables. Friends cheers each other at banquettes because they made it to Friday. Solo diners relish alone time at the bar.
On a recent Friday afternoon, two friends (and food writer colleagues) and I ordered a trio of salads at Elise. My entry for the tour de salad lunch was the smoked fish chopped salad.
Chunks of lightly smoked white fish, chopped romaine, shaved carrots, and house-made croutons come tossed in a creamy herb dressing. Sometimes simplicity wins the day, especially when paired with a plate of fries and glass of blanc de blanc. And while not listed as an entree on the menu, the smoked fish chopped salad leans hearty enough to satiate at lunch.
Greek lasagna at Buddy Buddy in Midtown ($$)
From the Jan. 20 edition of “Family Meal”
Buddy Buddy took over the former Tapa Tapa space at Midtown Promenade last fall, transforming it into a cozy neighborhood bar serving homestyle Greek dishes just like owner Nick Chaivarlis’ grandma used to make. In fact, Chaivarlis tells me that Buddy Buddy has received the yiaiyia (Greek grandma) seal of approval. Several Greek matriarchs heard about his little Midtown bar through the Greek grapevine and decided to check it out. Despite being in restaurants for 20 years, pleasing the Greek grandmas of Atlanta was more nerve-wracking than having a restaurant critic in the house.
Chaivarlis is a familiar face to Atlanta cocktail enthusiasts. He’s been part of some of the city’s most revered cocktail programs, and co-owned Ink and Elm at Emory Village until it closed in 2015. At Buddy Buddy, Chaivarlis leans into his Greek heritage on the menu, honoring his parents, who immigrated to the U.S. from Greece. Cured yolks for the deviled eggs are whipped with labneh, aleppo pepper, and dill, then garnished with feta cheese. A whipped Yukon gold potato and garlic dip (skordalia) is served with pickled vegetables, fried garlic, and grilled bread. But while entrees of lamb and stuffed peppers (yemista) grace the menu, the Greek lasagna (pastitsio; $22) at Buddy Buddy is a showstopper.
A thick layer of savory ground lamb and beef comes sandwiched between a crispy thin layer of béchamel and a dense foundation of béchamel-laced bucatini noodles. Chaivarlis isn’t playing when it comes to Buddy Buddy’s Greek lasagna, which arrives as a hefty slab of meat and pasta sitting in a pool of spicy tomato sauce.
Duck soba at Shoya Izakaya in Doraville ($$)
From the Jan. 27 edition of “Family Meal”
Shoya Izakaya opened in 2009 at the H Mart Plaza in Doraville. Lines were almost always out the door during its first few years in business, snaking out along the sidewalk where the wait could inch up to an hour. People, including myself, didn’t mind because the food, the vibe, and Asahis by the mugful were plentiful at Shoya.
I’m happy to report that Shoya still features a line, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, which means this restaurant must be doing something right. (For two people at 8:30 p.m., we waited around 20 minutes.) Once seated, we were surrounded by tables filled with people gobbling up sushi, kushiyaki, ramen, and katsu curry. Multiple mugs of Asahi (Japanese rice lager) were on nearly every table, often accompanied by pots of hot tea to stave off the January chill.
Pro tip: check the specials board located across from the sushi bar near the entrance. That night included duck soba – a warm, unctuous soup laden with slippery buckwheat noodles marinating in a savory broth. A perfect soup for a cold winter’s night in Atlanta paired with Asahi to help cut the fat.
Sarra’s Best Dishes
Otoro fatty tuna handroll at 1678 Omakase in Brookhaven ($$)
From the Jan. 8 edition of “Side Dish”
I saw a post about Brookhaven’s 1678 Omakase in the ATL Asian Eats Facebook group and added it to my list of new restaurants to visit, since I’m a huge proponent of double-digit omakase ($78 for 16 courses). My husband and I finally went last week and had a fantastic experience. I noticed that the otoro fatty tuna (pictured in the hand roll above) wasn’t quite as oily as usual. It reminded me more of chutoro, medium-fatty tuna. Check out Sarra’s “Rough Cut” on 1678 Omakase here.
Kaapi, salted jaggery latte, and baked goods at Raani Coffee in East Atlanta ($$)
From the Jan. 22 edition of “Side Dish”
I visited Raani Coffee Roasters in the former Hodgepodge Coffeehouse location twice in a week, and foresee many returns in the future.
On Monday, I ordered a drip kaapi (south Indian filter coffee) and a sun-dried tomato chutney and curry leaf biscuit. I also picked up a bag of honey barbecue cauliflower puffs. Then, on Wednesday, I tried the salted jaggery latte (it’s a seasonal item I highly recommend you order before it’s gone) and pour-over coffee. I tasted the cardamom rose pistachio scone and cardamom and coriander bun, too.
The Raani experience made me realize that biscuits make an ideal vehicle for international flavor exploration. My only other recent example is Leftie Lee’s kimchi cheddar biscuit. I ate that biscuit at Postern Coffee inside Minhwa Spirits in Doraville. Biscuits are an art, and both Raani and Leftie Lee’s biscuits taste legendary. My hot take from two years ago still applies: savory pastries are so hot right now.
Strawberry oat matcha latte and Earl Grey cake at Laylo Cafe in Chamblee ($$)
From the Jan. 29 edition of “Side Dish”
I am not afraid to admit that I get a good bit of restaurant intel from social media. For example, I encountered a video showcasing Laylo Cafe in Chamblee. It was worth the drive in morning traffic from the city
Laylo managed to make the industrial space it occupies feel serene with muted tones and a soft aesthetic. The mousse desserts at the counter look like they’ve been freshly knit. I tried a jammy strawberry oat matcha latte ($10.50) and an Earl Grey cake made with joconde biscuit, blueberry and chestnut cream, and Earl Grey mousse ($13.50).
If I had one criticism, it’d be that Laylo Cafe is definitely more of a gathering space than somewhere to hole up and get work done, at least for me. The music was simply too loud — and too good — for me to focus, and that’s on me, not them. Laylo Cafe is where you go to catch up with friends over matcha and desserts that aren’t overwhelmingly sweet, not to grind out some work.
