It took Chef Duane Nutter years to fine tune the art of running an airport restaurant. One of the most vivid lessons came from someone he calls the “Wrong Answer Guy.”
Wrong Answer Guy was a business traveler who had gone through a hellish day: He lost a client at a business meeting, his shoe got caught in the escalator, the Plane Train broke down and he had to walk to his concourse, Nutter said.
But, that customer thought, “‘Everything’s gonna be all right. I’m gonna get my scallops at One Flew South,’” as Nutter told it.
Credit: Christina Matacotta
Credit: Christina Matacotta
Before Wrong Answer Guy walked into One Flew South — the celebrated restaurant on Concourse E at Hartsfield-Jackson International where Nutter was executive chef — the price of scallops had risen to $30 a pound. Nutter took scallops off the menu.
Standing, the customer declared: “‘That’s the wrong answer.’”
Then, he “just started yelling about everything that happened,” Nutter recalled.
“And that’s when the light bulb went off in my head,” Nutter said. The business traveler is “totally different than everybody else.”
Travelers are often harried and in a rush. Road warriors may have a routine at the airport. And they can become loyal customers — with high expectations.
Nutter is applying those lessons at Southern National Market and Pizza Boxx, his newest eateries at Hartsfield-Jackson.
They are part of a group of Paradies Lagardère-operated concessions on the north end of Concourse T, along with Vino Volo wine bar, a Starbucks and a recently-opened Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Together, they are the first phase of a massive, multiyear refresh of restaurants and shops at the Atlanta airport.
They also demonstrate the evolution of airport dining, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the myriad challenges of feeding the hundreds of thousands of travelers that pass through the airport every day.
Taste of local flavor
Atlanta-based Paradies Lagardère’s partnership with Nutter and his restaurateur partner Reggie Washington is part of a broader effort to bring more local and regional flavors into the airport.
Nutter and Washington own and operate Southern National, an upscale restaurant that opened last year in Summerhill. The airport market location sells sandwiches and baked goods, including bourbon pound cake.
“We make our own pimento cheese, jams, jellies,” and sell items from Southern purveyors in the market, Washington said. He described it as “an opportunity to take a little bit of the South or a little bit of Atlanta back.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
The ideas behind Southern National Market and Pizza Boxx originated during the COVID-19 crisis. After many restaurants closed in the pandemic, Washington said he and Nutter “started baking and doing cookies and pastries and sandwiches and you know, we were selling to some local coffee shops.”
And to survive the pandemic, Nutter said, “I was making pizzas and (Washington) was delivering them.”
“We were just glad to put some of our items that we developed in the pandemic” for sale at the airport, Washington said. “It just made sense.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Changing tastes and higher expectations
Nutter said he stops by his airport location at least twice a week to help out and ask about what customers are requesting.
The partnership with Paradies allows Southern National to “be hands on,” Washington said. It’s a closer relationship than some other airport outposts of familiar restaurants borne of licensing agreements.
“A lot of people want a croissant sandwich, so I’m starting to develop a recipe for that,” Nutter said. After hearing of demand for more vegetarian options, he’s working on a falafel plate and wrap.
The Tropical Smoothie is also a move to attract younger travelers and others interested in choices seen as healthy.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Washington said travelers have a palate that’s “more educated than it ever has been.”
Some passengers will get to the airport early to seek out food they want to try.
Requests for items from Southern National’s full restaurant location are an example of the shift in travel trends. But with a smaller kitchen in the airport location, it’s a challenge to replicate some dishes, Nutter said.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Even opening a new airport eatery can be full of more logistical challenges than street locations.
It took more than a year for Paradies to open its full slate of concessions after the Concourse T expansion opened in late 2022.
Concessions consolidation
The Vino Volo location on Concourse T has a menu that’s a mashup of the chain’s more traditional wine bar items and Southern National dishes. That includes wine flights as well as a bourbon and rye whiskey cocktail called The Southern National.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
The Vino Volo location opened by Paradies is also the product of industry consolidation.
Vino Volo, founded 20 years ago, was acquired by Atlanta-based Hojeij Branded Foods in 2017. Then, in 2018, Hojeij was acquired by Paradies. Paradies was sold to Paris-based Lagardère Travel Retail in 2015. Paradies Lagardère, the North American division, is based in Atlanta.
The Concourse T spot is Vino Volo’s first location in Atlanta. It’s also the first time Vino Volo has highlighted a local partner on its menu in such a way, said Larissa Dubose, beverage director for Paradies.
“There would be no reason to not try emulate this in other locations in other parts of the country,” she said.
Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on X and @ajcdining on Instagram.
About the Author
