Spotted: A Porsche Panamera covered in black VELVET parked all crooked on the street. Take one guess where I am... Yep, Atlantic Station. I know, I know... The Freaknik of the westside. I was a little surprised that The Shed peeps would want to open a joint in this sketchy development. Even a change of management did little to change it's troubled past. I woulda figured they would want more of a real neighborhood feel for their new project... And not in the projects. Ok, obviously, I'm not in love with Atlantic Station but restaurateurs are starting to give this area a new shot.. Like the upcoming Diner by the angry chef which seems like a snoozefest to me like his other restos. Don't even get me started about his pizza joint. Anyways, The Shed has always been solid throughout the years and they know what they're doing so I'm willing to put my life and pouch on the line and enter the Thunderdome of Atlanta. I hope my two cojones enter and both my boys leave intact.
Their name is quite interesting because it sounded familiar to me before they even started the build out. There's another resto by almost the same exact name up in Richmond, VA. But their menu is very casual compared to here. This menu reads well but it's quite extensive... A big gamble for a new resto with a large menu to keep the quality up... Let's take a peek.
Smoked Deviled Eggs eggplant caponata, crispy shallots. Nice presentation, tasty caponata, the yolk mixture was kinda bland but when you eat it all together it worked out nicely.
Oysters. Chef's choice and don't remember where these came from but they were cleaned very well and tasted pretty damn good.
Chicken Liver Paté blackberry preserve, brioche. This potted meat butter portion was very large, they really need to give you more bread/"brioche" because you'll be asking for more in 2 minzies. The pate was very nice, smooth, creamy, flavorful, fresh and with a hint of mineral. It's worth it.
Smoked Trout Spread lavosh, egg, capers. Another very nice spread. I did not find one tiny bone in there, good job. The lavosh paired very well with this spread. Another hit so far.
Brunswick Stew “Pot Pie” cornbread cracklin’. I fucking love Brunswick stew and I love pot pies... Put them together and it's a win in my book. But sadly, this dish sounded great on paper but execution was a miss. It was overly sweet and the cornbread cracklings were just crumbled up bits and pieces from the pan. If they reworked this, it could be outstanding but it looks like they are taking this off the menu... Might be for the better.
½ Slab Spare Ribs. When I see slab of ribs, I expect a slab of ribs... I like cutting them apart myself. But I get what they're trying to do here, they want to present it nice and pretty, so the broads don't have to cut them apart. These ribs were pretty good, nice rub, smokey and tender.. The amount of meat of them were average. It's definitely a passable set of ribs but no where near the top of my list.
1/2 Smoked Springer Mountain Chicken. I don't usually order chicken at a sit down resto unless it's Popeyes but I had to see what the fuss was about with their smoked version. It wasn't bad, had nice smoke to it, the skin was nice with a light rub and the meat was moist inside. Can't complain but in the end, it's just another "roast" chicken.
Smoked Pork Shoulder. This was a nice piece of the other white meat. Tender and flavorful, it just looked all covered up in the presentation like they're trying to hide something. If it is good, show it off and it was good. Don't need all the stuff on top of it.
10 oz Brisket. I don't get why they have to give you the weight of it. For $14, I expected a little more than 3 slices... And that's without any sides. But overall, they were pretty good. Smokey and tender but I do miss seeing the bark and smoke ring when it's sliced to order and not finished off on a grill top and presented in a cast iron for looks. Brisket is not meant to be fancy, it's a working man's piece of undesirable cut.. I like it presented simply.
Creamed Corn serrano pepper. Yeah, I liked this because it had a lil kick to it. Could use a little more cream but it was still good.
Duck Home Fries. Anything in duck fat is good, anything. But with home fries you're gonna need a lot more duck fat because those chunky spuds absorb that fat like a sponge. It needed to be more crispy but overall, it was still very tasty.
Campfire Treat. Ok, I have no clue WTF this is. It is revolting looking. It looks like some type of alien insect's close up shot. Stop trying to be like the dessert course at Alinea. This ain't no campfire treat, more like a enema treatment. This was pretty bad... I can't believe someone actually made this and prolly said, "Yeah, it's pretty fucking awesome." ...Ah, no it's not. Don't ever put 2 cups of brown ooze in a white porcelain bowl in front of a customer unless you're Modern Toilet in Taiwan or Magic Restroom Cafe in L.A... But I heard that one crapped out after 8 months. Flush. This is why I don't eat dessert.
Churros. Maple bourbon sticky popcorn, apple cider-earl grey sorbet. Ok, they're not churros, they kinda look like Krispy Kreme's mini crullers. Churros were decent but I don't get the Fiddle Faddle wannabe popcorn. It seemed like they struggled to put together a dessert menu.
I am still not in like with their location, that's just me. But the interior was quite nice (except the oyster shells above), at least they're in the corner of the complex and away from all the riff raffs. The last thing they need is some incident and then it's all downhill from there. The service was good and attentive. The menu is on the right track, there's a lot of things to like about this place with a little more tweaking (smoked meats and potted meats) and some not so much (dessert menu). I do want to try the duck next time but nothing is making me rush back here for it. It's a nice addition to this area, hell, anything that is not a celebrity wannabe driven concept would make this complex even better. But for now, it's still the same old Atlantic Station to me and I avoid it unless I have a reason to go there... And this joint was the only reason I entered the Thunderdome this entire year.
380 Atlantic Dr NW
Atlanta, GA
(404) 541-0930
http://www.thepigandthepearl.com/
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