Cafe Momentum, a nonprofit restaurant employing justice-involved youth, is set to open its Atlanta location at 200 Peachtree St. NE at the beginning of 2025, and it now has a chef to lead operations.
Josh Lee has been selected to run the Cafe Momentum kitchen. Lee, a 2022 James Beard Award semifinalist and co-owner of Soul: Food & Culture in Krog Street Market alongside Todd Richards, has spent the first two weeks in his role working with the first group of interns and developing the eatery’s opening menu.
While Cafe Momentum has locations in Pittsburgh and Dallas, Lee plans to distinguish Atlanta’s outpost with a menu influenced by Southern culture.
“(We’re going) to take some of your grandmother’s favorite dishes, (and) we’re going to come back with more elevated food,” he said. “We’re going to push the boundaries on some things.”
While the menu is still being finalized, it currently features wild game and dry-aged meats, including smoked bison, as well as a deviled egg “experience,” vegan and vegetarian items like a butternut squash risotto with lions mane mushrooms, and elevated vegetables like coal-smoked broccolini.
Lee said part of the challenge in creating the menu is considering how far he can push culinary boundaries while still making it accessible for incoming chefs to learn.
Lee, who has only worked with and trained adults in previous roles, expects the position will be an “impactful challenge”. After observing at the Dallas Cafe Momentum, he said he’s learned that sometimes what the interns need more than anything is compassion and someone who’s willing to listen to them.
“With the first round of youth that are coming in, I want to assure that we leave a stamp (here) of this is our home,” he said. “This is their safe space.”
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Credit: Mia Yakel
Credit: Mia Yakel
Detric Fox-Quinlan and Malik Rhasaan of Che Butter Jonez will no longer open their Queens-inspired concept Butter & Scotch at the Origin Hotel in South Downtown. Mississippi-based hotel developer Thrash Group purchased the shuttered office building at 110 Mitchell St. in 2022 with plans to turn it into a 122-room boutique hotel.
Fox-Quinlan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she and Rhasaan signed on to open Butter & Scotch at the hotel in July 2022, but extended construction delays, a lack of communication and disagreements with management ended the deal. Fox-Quinlan said they are looking to open Butter & Scotch in a different location.
According to a prepared statement from Origin Hotel shared with the AJC, “Origin Hotel Atlanta originally partnered with the Che Butter Jonez team to develop a restaurant. Unfortunately, delays in construction and permitting timelines have impacted the business plans for both parties. Although the Che Butter Jonez team will no longer be part of the restaurant, Origin Hotel Atlanta still plans to open a restaurant in the hotel, and it should be ready near the time of the hotel opening. The completion date for the hotel continues to be a moving target for late 2024 or early 2025, and more information will be shared as soon as it is available.”
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Food hall Roswell Junction is now open at 340 S. Atlanta St. in Roswell. The 12,000-square-foot space is home to seven food stalls, including Cleaver & Co., Pretty Little Tacos, Shawarma Shack, Across the Coast Seafood, Mad Dad Phillys, Flying Fish and Flourish Cafe from the owners of Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee. The hall also features three bars (including an indoor/outdoor bar) and outdoor patios, with a stage for entertainment.
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Tijuana-style taco eatery TJ’s Street Tacos is now open at 3230 Steve Reynolds Blvd. in Duluth. The menu features a variety of tacos, burritos, tortas, quesadillas and nachos.
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Alpharetta sushi restaurant Lily Sushi Bar has opened a second location at 1865 Heritage Walk in the Crabapple Market development in Milton. Lily Sushi Bar joins several other food and beverage concepts at Crabapple Market including Resto L’Antoinette, Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub, Alumni Cookie Dough, Knuckies Hoagies, Peace Love and Pizza, The Nest Cafe, Six Bridges Brewing and Spiced Right Ribhouse.
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The Brunch at East Atlanta will open Dec. 3 at 845 Flat Shoals Road in East Atlanta. The menu features dishes such as lobster with grits, chicken and waffles and avocado toast, as well as brunch cocktails including mimosas and the Parisian Spark with gin, Champagne and citrus.
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The Salted Fork Kitchen and Cocktails is set to open at 2298 Cascade Road SW with a seafood-focused menu.
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Several metro Atlanta restaurants and food businesses have closed their doors recently, Tomorrow’s News Today reports. The owners of Georgetown Cupcakes, which has been open at 267 East Paces Ferry Road in the Buckhead Village District for almost a decade, have reportedly decided not to renew their lease; CraveWell Cafe has closed at 6125 Roswell Road in the Morgan Sandy Springs development after less than a year; and Taylor’d Bar-B-Q is shuttering at 2759 E. College Avenue in Avondale Estates after a little more than four years.
In a post on Instagram, Taylor’d owner Josh McDowell blamed the restaurant’s closure in part on government projects including the DeKalb Water Project and the Avondale road diet project.
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Mexican dessert and coffee shop Dulce Canela is now open at 2730 Summers St. in Kennesaw, Marietta Daily Journal reports. Owned by Katty Sanchez and Albert Trevino, Dulce Canela serves a variety of ice creams and filled churros, as well as drinks including horchata iced latte.
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Mexican restaurant Mexico Lindo is set to open at 7870 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs in the former Tijuana Joe’s space, Rough Draft Atlanta reports. It will join other Mexico Lindo locations in Mableton and Smyrna.
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