Business & Tech

The Optimist; The Spence Open Doors This Week

Midtown foodie news to use

A pair of new restaurants are prepared to open in the Midtown Patch area this week starting with Monday’s debut of The Optimist and Oyster Bar at The Optimist in West Midtown.

Then on Saturday, May 26, The Spence, the Richard Blais American cuisine concept, will open at 75 5th Street in the old Globe space. The restaurant will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., offering Midtown residents another late-late night dining option. Read more about The Spence here.

The Optimist is located in a 10,000-square-foot space at 914 Howell Mill Road and offers West Midtown a sustainable seafood restaurant from chef-owner Ford Fry and executive chef Adam Evans. The restaurant’s name was suggested by Fry’s father and refers to a small, single-handed sailing dinghy intended for use by children up to the age of 15. The understated quality of the name along with the forthright meaning of the word appeals to Fry. Fry also appreciates the reference to being an optimist about the “day’s catch” and “catching the next big fish.”

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Oyster Bar at The Optimist is adjacent to The Optimist and is a more casual “fish camp” style venue featuring a raw bar and an outdoor patio with a two-hole putt-putt golf course.

Fresh catch will come into the kitchen daily and will be prepared with a simple touch that highlights the restaurant’s wood-burning oven and grills. The menu is a combination of Chef Evans’ boyhood fish camp days with a touch of modern flare to match today’s palates.

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The lunch menu includes a selection of fish entrées, salads and sandwiches ($12-$19).

Examples of lunch dishes at The Optimist include:

  • Chopped salad, wood roasted organic chicken, local feta, “wooden bowl” dressing
  • Blackened haddock banh mi, charred pork, pickles, cilantro, mint, fries
  • Crispy day-boat flounder, ricotta gnocchi, field peas, grilled lemon
  • Fish & chips, ale battered haddock, malt vinegar aioli

The Optimist’s dinner menu is broken down into the following components: On Ice ($2.50-$11), Start ($7-$12), Fish ($19-$26), Farm ($18-$24), Sides and Such ($6) and Pies, Cakes and Frozen Stuff ($4-$7).

Examples of dinner dishes at The Optimist include:

  • East coast oysters, mignonette, fresh horseradish
  • Florida grouper, smoked Vidalia onion and horseradish broth
  • Roasted heritage pork, farm spinach, sherry onions
  • Duck fat poached swordfish, pickled sweet peppers, crispy pancetta
  • Buttermilk doughnuts, sweet corn ice cream, red pepper jam

The menu for The Oyster Bar includes raw bar items and small plates ($2.50-$14).

Examples of menu items include:

  • Peel & eat Georgia shrimp, “comeback sauce,” lemon
  • Smoked haddock chowder, oyster crackers
  • Little gem lettuce, Meyer lemon anchovy dressing, tiny croutons, parmesan
  • Maine lobster roll, shoestring fries

The Optimist lunch is offered Monday – Friday: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner is offered Sunday – Thursday: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday: 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The Oyster Bar's hours are Monday – Thursday: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. or later; Friday: 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. or later; Saturday: 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. or later; and Sunday: 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. or later.

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StarChefs.com, the online magazine for culinary insiders, has announced its 2012 Atlanta Rising Stars. The award winners will be showcased at the 38th StarChefs.com Rising Stars Gala on June 13, from 6 to 9:30 p.m., at the Goat Farm Arts Center in West Midtown. Hosted by chef Zach Meloy of PushStart Kitchen and chef Chad Clevenger of Alma Cocina, the walk-around tasting gala will allow local food lovers the opportunity to experience the talents of Atlanta’s Rising Stars and sample beverage pairings from the awarded sommelier and mixologist.

“We've found a creative, eclectic and burgeoning culinary landscape in Atlanta,” said StarChefs.com editor-in-chief Antoinette Bruno, in a news release. “It’s the heart of farm-to-table, artisanal product and historical cooking. This city is the epitome of Southern cuisine.”

Chosen from more than 80 Atlanta culinary professionals through in-person tastings and interviews, the 2012 Atlanta Rising Stars Award Winners include:

CHEFS

Andy Carson, Bacchanalia

Shane Devereux, The Lawrence, The Sound Table and Top FLR

Adam Evans, JCT Kitchen

Robert Phalen, One Eared Stag

Ryan Smith, Empire State South

Tyler Williams, Abattoir

Guy Wong, Miso Izakaya

PASTRY CHEFS

Aaron Russell, Restaurant Eugene

Chrysta Poulos, Woodfire Grill

SUSTAINABILITY

Terry Koval, Farm Burger

ARTISAN

Todd Immel, Star Provisions’ Meat Department

HOTEL CHEF

Anthony Gray, Southern Art and Bourbon Bar at the InterContinental Buckhead

CONCEPT

Richard Blais, HD1 and FLIP Burger Boutique

COMMUNITY

Taria Camerino, Sugar-Coated Radical

RESTAURATEUR

Brian Lewis, STG Trattoria and Bocado

SOMMELIER

Seth Roskind, 4th & Swift

MIXOLOGIST

Miles Macquarrie, Leon’s Full Service

General admission tickets are $85 per person. VIP tickets are $125 and include a private reception with champagne and Petrossian caviar beginning at 5:45 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.starchefs.com/tickets or by calling 212.966.7575.

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RA Sushi will host its eighth annual “Nicky’s Week” fundraiser Sunday, May 27, through Saturday, June 2, to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, one of the world’s premier centers for research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other deadly diseases since it opened 50 years ago.

The Midtown restaurant and bar will donate 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of a variety of menu items and beverages to St. Jude to help support the hospital’s lifesaving mission. Since its inception, Nicky’s Week has raised more than $943,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and RA Sushi hopes to surpass the $1 million mark this year. 

The special Nicky’s Week menu includes: Edamame, Tootsy Maki, Shrimp Nigiri, Pork Gyoza, Chicken Yakitori, Garlic Citrus Yellowtail Tapas, plus a variety of select beverages.

All 25 RA Sushi locations in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada and Texas will participate in the fundraiser. Visit the Atlanta location in the 1010 Midtown building at 1080 Peachtree Street.

All donations from the weeklong effort will help support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which has treated children from all 50 states and around the world. Known primarily as a cancer research center, St. Jude doctors and researchers also treat children with sickle cell disease and pediatric HIV.

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The American Red Cross Southern Blood Services Region is hoping to make backyard gatherings and mid-day lunch runs even more rewarding as it partners with metro Atlanta area KFC restaurants for the “Lunch is On Us!” promotion. The promotion will provide a $5 off coupon to KFC for presenting blood donors at select blood drives in May and June.

On Tuesday, May 22, Emory University Hospital Midtown, at 550 Peachtree Street will be conducting a blood drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A list of participating blood drives is available at redcrossblood.org/kfc


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