The owners of recent Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant Poor Hendrix are poised to open a second eatery in the coming weeks.
Husband and wife Aaron and Jamie Russell are set to debut the Velvet Hippo at 27 N. Avondale Road in Avondale Estates by the end of the year. The 400-square-foot restaurant will feature a covered counter for ordering, and guests will be able to get their orders to go or to eat on a turf-covered outdoor area with both picnic tables and smaller tables or a dog-friendly side patio.
Though the menu is still being finalized, customers should expect to see five or six hot and cold seasonally-rotating sandwiches, “probably something fried, something with cold cuts and something braised,” Aaron Russell said, along with soups, salads and several small plates. Velvet Hippo will also offer a small beverage list with cocktails, beer and wine.
Aaron Russell said he and Jamie hadn’t been looking to open a second restaurant, preferring to focus on Poor Hendrix, which opened in the Hosea + 2nd development in East Lake in 2016.
But when the Avondale Estates property, which previously belonged to the family that owns the Waffle House restaurant chain, became available, the couple decided to take the plunge.
“When our realtor approached us with other properties, we always said they were too big,” he said. “With this one, he said ‘You’re not going to be able to tell me it’s too big this time.’”
Though Poor Hendrix and Velvet Hippo (each named after the Russells’ dogs) will be completely separate concepts with no menu overlap, Russell said both will highlight “food that we like to eat.”
Velvet Hippo’s design from Atlanta-based Family Bros. will invoke “hanging out in a really cool backyard,” Russell said.
Once open, Velvet Hippo’s hours will be 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Before opening Poor Hendrix, the James Beard-nominated Russell worked as a pastry chef at Atlanta restaurants including Nikolai’s Roof, the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, the Chocolate Bar and Restaurant Eugene.
Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
About the Author
