A restaurant offering a wood-fire Spanish-Latin menu opened this week in Alpharetta.
Located at 10 Roswell St., Fogon & Lions comes from chef and restaurateur Julio Delgado, who also owns neighboring pizzeria Minnie Olivia.
Fogon & Lions was inspired by Delgado’s grandfather, Polo Lopez, who was a butcher in their native Puerto Rico. A photo of Lopez hangs in the entryway of the restaurant. “The whole concept is a tribute to him,” Delgado said.
The menu is dominated by Spanish, South and Central American and Caribbean dishes cooked on a 14-foot-long hearth from Grills by DeMant, including pollo a la brasa, a South American-style rotisserie chicken; a churrasco skirt steak with chimichurri; seafood paella; pulpo “al fogon” with pimenton and fennel puree; and three kinds of ceviche.
“Everything is very simple and very straightforward,” Delgado said. “We just let the fire do its job.”
He got to reconnect a bit with his roots on a couple of the menu’s dishes, including the beef empanadas with pickled aji pepper, a recipe he got from his father.
Credit: Ash Wilson
Credit: Ash Wilson
“He didn’t give me any (measurements), just the ingredients, so I had to experiment to figure it out,” he said.
The beverage offerings include a section called “mis tres amores” (my three loves), which include selections of rum, tequila and bourbon. The cocktail list includes the Fogon Grand Fashion, Delgado’s take on an Old-Fashioned made with Don Q rum (he grew up just blocks from the factory where the rum was made).
The space features “colonial-style” decor with lots of iron, dark woods, stone walls and pops of yellow.
A 30-seat bar offers both seating inside and outdoor sidewalk seating; all together, there’s seating for about 70 guests inside and 80 outside.
Fogon & Lions’ opening hours are 5-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays and 5-9 p.m. Sundays. Delgado plans to add lunch and Sunday Latin-style brunch hours in the coming weeks.
10 Roswell St., Alpharetta. 770-676-9133, fogonandlions.com
Scroll down to see the complete menu for Fogon & Lions:
Credit: Fogon & Lions
Credit: Fogon & Lions
Credit: Fogon & Lions
Credit: Fogon & Lions
Credit: Fogon & Lions
Credit: Fogon & Lions
Credit: Fogon & Lions
Credit: Fogon & Lions
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