Update...
Screw third time's a charm... Sometimes it takes four. So, after a few I weeks went back to see how they were doing. That large kitchen staff should be nailing this shit by now... Hell, they should have had enough time to sync their periods by now.
Friday night primetime... No more amateur hour. Kevin was present for tonight's showing which is a good sign. Time to nut up or shut up.
Bay scallops and beets. Bay scallops are silly to me because they look like leftover kibbles and bits my dog leaves in his bowl when he rather eats my meat... But I got say this was a colorful and tasty little dish.
Razor clams. Surprised and happy to see them on the menu on this visit. They're like penises of the sea but better. Pretty awesome stuff. Didn't see many chicks ordering this, their lost is my gain. Wait, that didn't come out right. Order it before it's off the menu.
Sweetbreads, pork belly. Nice combo of fried sweetbreads and pork belly, very tasty but the carrot ribbon did nothing for me. I rather trade it for another nugget of sweetbread. Good stuff though.
The hamery, tenshootoe, Tennessee. Nice and smoky meat flaps from the cameltoe region.
Tri-tip. Best cut of the heffer? Ah, yeah, prolly right after the deckle cut. This was cooked spot on medium rare.
Pappardelle, bolognese. Pastas in the past disappointed but have they finally fixed the problem? I think so. This was executed nicely.
Hanger steak, mushrooms, brown butter. A tad bit under cooked at medium rare minus. A rookie mistake or rushing out plates too quickly? Who knows but not really a big deal except it was missing the brown butter. Still a tasty piece of meat... After another few seconds back in the oven.
Chocolate hazelnut budino, candied hazelnut, biscotti. Yeah, pudding, how exciting... But the sea salt brought it to another level, edible.
Has the kinks been worked out since day one? Well, the fancy shitter outside has been taken away, I think that says a lot that this place has cleaned up it's act. So, yeah, this place has my blessing now.
Tasty stuff.
2 Stars.
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3/14/13
No marketing, no PR, no Opentable, nor frivolous spending on wasted email blasts that doesn't seem to do shit to fill the seats... This joint proves that the marketing industry is as dead as newspapers. In this technological age it's all word of mouth and free social media via the intertubes to put a place on the map... And having the name Kevin Rathbun doesn't hurt either in this town.
What I like about this place is that it isn't in Inman Park. He broke away from his little corner of the world and set up shop in all places, Peachtree Hills. WTF is that? Yeah, it's a little street that most people never heard of or been on. There's a couple restaurants around there that no one really goes to but somehow survives the sands of time. The small plate concept of this new joint is based loosely on the Italian and steakhouse theme. I'm guessing there's pasta and meat. Let's sample a dish or ten... Small plates can't be that expensive, right?
Lamb tartar, caponata. Supposedly, lamb hearts... Hmmm. They were tender, that's about all I could remember of this dish. Sounds better on paper than on the dish.
Mushrooms, charred lettuce. See any char? Put on your glasses then. Still don't see it? Oops, my bad, you're right there was no char. Mushrooms? Yeah, a few bits here and there, hen of the woods, barely noticeable. Weak weak dish, amateur at best.
Sardines, fennel, pine nuts, saffron. This was a nice dish, well-executed and tasty. Real sardines! It needed a nice drizzle of olive oil, though.
Tripe, guanciale, tomato. It's just one big pool of mess, can't differentiate the tripe, guanciale or tomato. It's a mash up of a dish but edible. But I won't be getting it again.
Salt cod fritters, parsley aioli. Cute little dish and tasty, too. No complaints... Of course not, it's fried.
Octopus, farro, candied lemon. Baby pussies poached in red wine and then grilled off, you can't screw that up but you can try to screw it. Tis was a decent dish.
Chicken hearts, rosemary. Loved these hearts, sliced in half, super tender and flavorful... The price not so much. Put these 3 slices together you get 1.5 hearts for the mere price of like $6. A quart of hearts (about 250+ hearts) at Buford Hwy farmers market is like $3. Fuzzy math.
Lamb sausage, aged balsamic. We all know what this looks like... Pass the doggie bag. I got this a couple times, the first was pretty good and tasty, the second was seared on the outside but totally raw on the inside. The presentation really looks like shit, no pun intended.
Rapini, cream, garlic, parmesan. Mushy baby food with other green veggies added into it. Hmmm, kinda suspect. Liked the slices of cheez, though.
Oxtail ravioli. Pulverized meat filling, coulda been tempeh or Ikea meatballs. Pasta was gummy. They would be better off as little hats for hamsters.
Trenette, clams, white wine, parsley. Fancy pasta name, all it was- fettuccine, undercooked. Clams- decent. Kinda a snoozer of a dish with little flavor. Barely a hint of white wine, butter, olive oil or seasoning. Tiny portion, big price tag for pasta.
Hanger steak, kumquat salad.Grilled perfectly, tasted great... And it should from KR. Chintzy on the kumquat with like 3 thin slices from a single kumquat.
Porchetta, cracklings. Cracklings- cute, porchetta- deep fried like a mini chuleta can can found in Puerto Rico but not as tasty. It's one of the better dishes here but a non-contender compared to other porchettas around town.
Spaghetti, guanciale, black pepper, egg. Pasta- undercooked (again), guanciale- acceptable (but can't confirm if it was guanciale), black pepper- yes, egg- AWOL (unless it was an eggwash). A pretty underwhelming dish that I could make with a Boy Scout mess kit in the woods.
Short rib, polenta. Short rib fork tender and savory but the polenta was like a thin porridge lacking any seasoning.
Like the location, like the space and decor, service was decent but could use more training, cocktail menu needs work, the food menu needs a lot of work. Italian small plates is a oxymoron. The tiny pasta dishes were barely satisfying and the flavors were weak. The meats were well executed but the portion doesn't equal the price. You feel like you were ripped off after paying the check while thinking of the next place to go to get something else to eat (which I did twice).
The food is a hit or miss (mostly) but it doesn't matter what I think, the place has been slammed since opening night. The demographics is diverse but it's definitely catered towards the age group that's about to make their required minimum IRA distribution... And y'all know that the cougars can sniff them out like me to Popeyes. As a dinner destination, it's kinda borderline for me. I don't mind grabbing a drink and a small nibble at the bar but the smallish bar has been pretty much packed on a nightly basis. They have a lounge area with chairs and small tables, if the bar is full. I like KR's other joints, they got their shit together over there... Hopefully, this new baby to the family grows up sooner rather than later.
Developing...
349 Peachtree Hills Ave.
Atlanta, GA 30305
404-841-8820
www.krsteakbar.com
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