AVIZE ATLANTA
Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 1/1/25
Avize is the best new restaurant in Atlanta right now! Last weekend, I went down to West Midtown to indulge in Avize, Chef Karl Gorline’s new modern alpine fine dining spot. It is a masterpiece. I was blown away! From the elegant lodge vibes to the impeccable flavors and presentations to the alpine inspired cocktails and wine, you can’t get much more to perfection than this!
My favorite thing at Avize include the divine venison tartare. This dish is rich and meaty, smoky, tender venison, crunchy buckwheat, tangy blueberry, earthy mushroom, an amazing walnut ketchup. Did you know walnut ketchup predated our tomato version? And you have to pair it with the Alpine Swizzle, a refreshing rum cocktail paired with tangy and tart acid adjusted pineapple, earthy chartreuse and spiced allspice. It is swizzled with a swizzle stick and served in a stein topped with a flower lemon peel.
For entrees, we highly recommend the Botanical Hay Smoked Duck. It is dry aged for 10 days and smoked, only 10ish are served a day, you can put it on your reservation. The duck was perfectly cooked, tender and smoky, crunchy fat and skin, doused in a dark burnt chocolate sauce with a hint of cherry! They pour the chocolate sauce at the table! We paired this amazing dish with the old man in the woods old fashioned. It is a boozy Michter’s rye cocktail with a hint of sweet maple and a gomme syrup served in a tall decanter and poured at the table.
As far as the other dishes we tried, we really loved both the Trout Cru and the Foie Gras Parfait. The Trout Cru is a tender and meaty raw trout dish with sweet, tart apple, crunchy kohrabi then a barrel aged ponzu infused with apple that is aged in house is poured over the top to create a moat of sweet, savory deliciousness. Then, the Foie Gras Parfait is beyond good with a savory, rich, slightly sweet pate paired with a sweet ice wine and served in pie form on a delicious flaky and sweet shortbread crust. It eats almost like a dessert.
Looking for something Alpine inspired? Try the Mezzaluna. It is a rustic ravioli pasta from the region that is typically filled with a type of cheese. This one is a tender, earthy, rustic bite paired with a divine brown butter, earthy mushroom and truffle. It is a must try. On the side, I finally got to try honey nut squash! It has been on my list to try. It is tender squash kept inside it’s shell and stuffed with crunchy granola, a boozy rum molasses, creamy labneh and tangy pomegranate seeds.
For dessert we tried the Tiramisu. This wasn’t your typical one as it was a mix of sweet and savory. Delicious lady fingers, coffee flavor, then they add black sesame into the dessert for nuttiness and then topped with earthy, savory black truffle. For this we paired one of their Austrian white wines, a crisp and cool sipper. They have a ton of wine, liquors, and amaro from the region!
When you hear the word fine dining, you think coursed meals with top notch service, special treats from the chef and curated cocktails and wine, well you get that here too but in an a la carte setting. At Avize, I got these additions to my meal, including the Amouse Bouche a chef’s treat that starts the meal. It is a divine small bite served in an actual egg, savory butternut squash custard, sweet pine maple Gillette, earthy pumpkin seed, sake yeast, pollen.
In between my starters and entree, they brought out a bread service. It is a crunchy house made pretzel bread that is warm, crunchy outside and tender inside. Served with a creamy herbaceous butter on the side. Finally, with my duck course, Gorline sent out a pair of treats, a crunchy outside and savory inside duck croquette and a gelatinous beet and duck bite served in a pastry crust.
Finally, when you come to Avize, you’ll get the best service, like fine dining, without the pretentiousness. Nikolai was the best, he explained every dish perfectly and was very knowledgeable about the menu.
