Mixed-use development Uptown Atlanta will soon be home to a culinary space that aims to attract chefs with international backgrounds.
Set to open next month in a space facing Piedmont Road, Uptown Test Kitchen will host Chow À La Carte, a program that will bring a rotating list of chefs to town to showcase their skills.
Chow À La Carte comes from Yohana Solomon and Amanda Plumb, the founders of Chow Club, a local supper club that has been highlighting food from other countries since 2016.
Uptown Test Kitchen and Chow À La Carte will be open from 5-9 p.m. May 18, ahead of its official opening on May 26. The soft opening event will feature dishes including pork belly adobo sanwits, canastas de plátano and sauteed radicchio.
Starting May 26, Chow À La Carte will open for lunch and dinner every weekend in Uptown Test Kitchen, each time with a mix of chefs and menus. The concept will feature seven house chefs, with rotating guest chefs on the weekends.
The seven house chefs include Andrea George, who grew up in Antigua and owns Rapid Gourmet; Wellington Onyenwe, who specializes in West African and Caribbean cuisine as well as a fusion of Latin, Italian, North American, Asian, French and German cuisines; and Christian Lopez, a first-generation American with a Colombian background who started HUMO, a Latin American food experience.
All of Chow À La Carte’s house chefs will be at Uptown Test Kitchen for the soft opening. All dishes will be served via counter service and priced between $3 and $5 for the soft opening.
Credit: Courtesy of Uptown Test Kitchen
Credit: Courtesy of Uptown Test Kitchen
“Atlanta is lucky to have such an incredible collection of chefs from different backgrounds, cultures and countries, and Uptown Test Kitchen presented a unique opportunity to bring them together,” Solomon said in a prepared statement.
In addition to its regular rotating menus, Chow À La Carte will offer traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremonies, pop-up art events with local artists, monthly Chow Club dinners, cooking classes and grab-and-go meals.
Uptown Test Kitchen and Chow À La Carte are part of a growing roster of food and beverage concepts set to open in Uptown Atlanta in the coming months. Others include Mexican restaurant El Gordo; Korean steakhouse Bene Korean; J’ouvert Caribbean Kitchen, a Caribbean street food and brunch restaurant; and White Windmill, a Korean bakery and coffee shop. The restaurants will join Uptown Atlanta tenant 26 Thai, which has been open in the development since 2016, has renewed its lease.
Uptown Atlanta, previously known as Lindbergh City Center, is currently undergoing redevelopment by Rubenstein Partners, along with design firm ASD|SKY and Gensler. The first phase includes construction to revitalize Main Street.
Eventually, Uptown will have nearly 1 million square feet of office space and 120,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, along with community gathering spaces. The project will be accessible to pedestrian trails including the Beltline and the South Fork Trail.
Rubenstein is also planning to incorporate art installations and events. Located along Piedmont Road, the Hambidge Center’s 12,000-square-foot Cross Pollination Art Lab, offers space for art galleries, studios and performance spaces.
Additionally, MARTA has signed a 130,000-square-foot lease at Uptown and will relocate up to 540 employees to the new space at Uptown.
500 Lindbergh Drive NE, Atlanta. uptownatlanta.com
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