One Flew South, the only airport restaurant to be nominated for a James Beard Award, is expanding with a second location on the Eastside Beltline.
The restaurant, owned and operated by restaurant group Jackmont Hospitality, will open in June at 670 DeKalb Ave. in the former Hazel Jane’s space. Chef Todd Richards, who serves as culinary director for Jackmont, initially planned to open Japanese seafood restaurant Kuro in the building, but ultimately decided One Flew South was a better fit for the location.
The Beltline location will feature a menu similar to the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport location, with a few new dishes.
Existing menu items include poke tacos, collard green ramen, lamb ribs, Dragon Roll with broiled eel, English cucumber, shiso leaf and eel sauce and a Southern Roll with Georgia pecan smoked trout, shiso leaf, roe and cajun cocktail sauce.
New items on the menu will include hot drunken chicken and mochi waffle with drunken plum chutney and green tea butter; short ribs Szechuan style with coconut fried rice, plantain and kimchi slaw; and Cauliflower Dreaming made with scallops, tempura, curry cauliflower puree and pea tendrils.
The full bar will feature a cocktail menu with options like the One Flew South made with plush plum vodka, yuzu, ume and hakutsuru sake and the You Only Live Twice with roku gin, haku vodka, lemongrass and italicus.
Upon opening, One Flew South will be open for weekday happy hour and dinner service, with plans to add weekend brunch after a few weeks. Chef Cedric McCroery will serve as executive chef overseeing the day-to-day operations, while chef Phu Dong will lead the sushi side of the menu. Richards will continue to oversee culinary development for Jackmont Hospitality.
The location will seat 120 total guests, including 60 interior seats and 60 outdoor patio seats, with 40 of those seats facing the Beltline.
“It’s very important to us that we maintain the core elements of One Flew South as we expand beyond the airport, including the execution of the food and the customer service we’re quite famous for,” Richards said in a prepared statement. “Having this larger space will offer more opportunities for seasonal menu items, expanding to brunch and simply being more accessible for folks.”
One Flew South opened at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in December 2008 and was named a James Beard Award semifinalist for outstanding service in 2015. The restaurant also helped launch the career of chef Duane Nutter, also a James Beard Award semifinalist, who is bringing a location of his acclaimed Alabama restaurant Southern National to Atlanta’s Summerhill neighborhood later this year.
Richards, himself a James Beard Award semifinalist, owns Soulful Company Restaurant Group with chef Josh Lee. The group includes the counter-service restaurant Soul: Food & Culture at Krog Street Market and Lake & Oak BBQ in East Lake, with a second location set to open in West End. Richards is also the author of the 2018 cookbook, “Soul: A Chef’s Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes.”
In addition to One Flew South, Jackmont Hospitality also owns Hartsfield-Jackson International restaurant Chicken + Beer and franchise locations of TGI Friday’s and Twin Peaks.
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