Salt, 07-30-04

(as published in The Southern Voice, www.sovo.com)

Salt adds flavor

Salt
794 Juniper St. NE
Atlanta, GA
404-541-1988
www.saltatlanta.com

New Midtown eatery puts a twist on comfort food by blending Southern favorites with fresh new ideas.

In a gentrified house in Midtown, Salt is Chef Jason Dauble’s first offering to Atlanta’s ever-expanding restaurant scene.

The house is a mixture of old and new, blending modern lighting and music with a hint of Southernness, including beaded chandeliers hanging over tables on the dining porch. It’s a mere half a veranda, really. But there is a feeling that once, years ago, belles in bustles fanned themselves here while sipping iced tea and fretting over which gentleman caller to humor.

Step inside, and Salt transforms into a well appointed bar area, complete with tables, dark wood trim and floors and spartan décor. It’s modern meets functional with just a dash of fancy.

The main dining room is upstairs, accessed by a gothic wooden staircase. But for the fun and spirit of Salt, the best seats can be found downstairs.

One word of caution: the dining area in the bar is for smokers. It’s well ventilated, but it can be rather bothersome to diners sensitive to smoke.

Of course, the true test of any restaurant is the food. The menu focuses heavily on rethinking traditional southern comfort foods, with a smidge of modernism thrown in for good measure — with good results.

Starter plates such as Comfort Salad ($6.60), a spinach and arugula salad with Fuji apples, walnuts and warm bacon vinaigrette, and Pork Biscuits ($7.50), small cheddar cheese biscuits sliced and filled with a piquant, pulled pork barbecue, are a few examples of Chef Dauble’s innovative approach.

Another starter plate is a luscious little dish called Hand Pies ($6.50). Small baked pies of country ham and white cheese, folded inside a pastry reminiscent of pretzel dough, are topped with true pretzel salt. They are comfort snacks not to be missed by fans of ham and cheese sandwiches.

The chef’s fondness for whimsical names carries over to the entrée menu. Le Big Mac ‘n Cheese ($12.50) is a pasta with goat cheese and chicken. Lavender Fried Chicken ($14) is a gigantic chicken breast coated with lavender breading seated atop smashed skin-on potatoes and sweet corn.

More traditional comfort fare includes Michelle’s Meatloaf ($14), seasoned with a hint of chipotle. Now that’s a spicy meatloaf! It’s served with smashed skin-on potatoes and French green beans. It is quite possibly the pick of the bunch. This meatloaf packs a punch, but the flavors are not lost in the spice; they are complemented by it.

Another surprise on the menu is the Blue Plate, which arrives on an elementary school cafeteria plate, with each portion occupying its own section. It even includes a small, squat carton of milk. Charming? Well, yes, unless childhood school lunches were spent fighting the class bully or bartering for your safety while trading desserts.
The Blue Plate at Salt, the contents of which change frequently, promises to allay those brutish moments and offers comfort and warm memories.

Desserts at Salt are prepared fresh with seasonal fare that can change daily. Cobblers are high on the rotation with Peach Cobbler ($7) leading the menu. It’s an individual serving with a sugared crust, but it seems to lack the down-home factor required of a cobbler. The sugared crust detracts from the sweetness of the peaches, which are already drowning in a warm, soupy jous.

The menu is, overall, wonder-fully produced and should only better itself over time. As with most new restaurants, the service and kitchen-to-server coordination is still irksome, but cooperation between the ranks should coalesce to function fluidly.

Drawing on experience cultivated in some of Atlanta’s more experimental and celebrated kitchens, Dauble has created a potentially fantastic spot with Salt. Each dish is something Grandma might have made, but with a definite twist.

A young, fresh energy bounces off most dishes and helps to enhance the feeling that comfort food is not for comfort only, but also works well as a tasty neighborhood supper.