Posted by Liz and John Attaway, 4/5/21
Chattahoochee Food Works
Announces the Newest Round of
Culinary Tenants Coming to The Works
Cubanos ATL, Hippie Hibachi, Philly G Steaks,
Belen de la Cruz –Empanadas & Pastries, & Monster Cravings
The globally-inspired food hall,
Chattahoochee Food Works, is proud to announce the latest lineup of local, culinary talent expected to open throughout 2021. In addition, a select group of culinary tenants will participate in the first-ever The Works
Hoppy Easter event on Saturday, April 3 from noon to 9:00 pm.
Chattahoochee Food Works, curated by Robert Montwaid, creator of New York’s Gansevoort Market and Emmy and James Beard Award-winning chef
Andrew Zimmern, will introduce a total of 31 culinary tenants to the industrial-glam food hall this coming year. The beautifully crafted indoor and outdoor, full-service bar is slated to open in the coming weeks. The outdoor patio is perfect for enjoying a cocktail and soon-to-come special events and appearances.
The most recently signed food hall tenants, include
Belen de la Cruz – Empanadas & Pastries,
Cubanos ATL, Hippie Hibachi, Philly G Steaks, and
Monster Cravings. All of the vendors to date are Atlanta-owned, small businesses. The 22,000-foot food hall acts as an opportunity for local owners to either jump start their culinary concept or transition from a food truck or online business to a brick and mortar.
Owner Robert Montwaid said, “This is an impactful moment for the Atlanta culinary community. My partner Andrew Zimmern and I are thrilled to provide a space where owners can kick-off their vision and see it come to life. We are here to support and provide consult to every culinary owner who comes on board. We want them to succeed, find their audience, and share their family or original recipes with our guests. We think of Chattahoochee Food Works as a tight knit community within our thriving city. This is “the” place Atlantan’s and those visiting our city will desire to be.”
The Makers Building that houses Chattahoochee Food Works is located on The Works property, an 80-acre, adaptive mixed-use development in the heart of Atlanta’s Upper Westside. Additional retailers include Ballard Designs, BOBO Intriguing Objects, Les Mains Nail Bar, and others.
Currently, the list of food hall vendors includes seventeen that are soon-to-open:
- From beautifully hand-crafted appetizers and rolls packed with a myriad of flavors to Signature Nigiri plates and Robata Grill options, Flying Fish owners Christine Nguyen and Johnny Cho are excited to bring their new concept to Atlantan’s. The beautiful space was curated and designed by Alex Kinjo
- Bahn Mi Station is the second concept owned by Christine Nguyen and Johnny Cho, Banh Mi Station will bring traditional Vietnamese cuisine and authentic recipes to the food hall, serving some of Vietnam’s most famous food like bánh mì, pho, and Vermicelli Noodle bowls. Also curated and designed by Alex Kinjo.
- Sakura Ramen Bar offers classic ramen flavors like Tonkotsu ramen and vegan, and broth-less ramen with beyond meatballs – all created with in-house made ingredients. Owned by Anna Grace, Sakura Ramen Bar will also offer a monthly chef tasting menu with sake pairing, a variety of yakitori selections along with appetizers you would find in traditional izakaya’s such as Takoyaki’s and gyozas. Online ordering, catering, and delivery will be available too. Designed by Alex Kinjo.
- Sakura Gift is a unique, Japanese gift shop that will showcase rare Japanese whiskey, an array of Japanese sake and sake tasting bar along with beer and boutique wines. Owner Anna Grace is excited to welcome you to this unique space, created by Alex Kinjo who wanted to share a taste of traditional Japanese culture with the locals. The store will also sell sake ware, Japanese fashion, and offer monthly sake and sushi pairing events and ikebana (Japanese floral arrangement) classes.
- Monster Cravings, owned and created by Veronica Dalzon, are the freshest, handcrafted cookies Atlanta has ever tasted. Veronica has been known to say that her cookies are even better than your grandmother’s cookies! Addicting cookie flavors such as PB&J, Strawberry Shortcake, Cookies & Cream, or the vibrantly colored Bam Bam cookie, topped off with fruity cereal, are just a few customer favorites.
- After living in several countries, Argentinean native Belen de la Cruz landed in Atlanta and finally felt it was the right place for her to pursue her long-time entrepreneurial dream of opening Belen de la Cruz – Empanadas & Pastries, an Argentinean empanadas shop. Currently Belen and her two brothers run two shops where menu offerings include delicious Argentinean empanadas including beef, chicken, cheese, and veggie as well as traditional desserts.
- Cubanos ATL has quickly become a go-to spot for authentic Cuban sandwiches and Cuban style coffee. Cuban-born, Owner Ozzy Llanes, and his team craft his authentic Cuban sandwiches using locally and organically sourced ingredients. Ozzy is delighted to share his kitchen, his family’s recipes, and his love of Cuban food.
- Hippie Hibachi will be the first, hibachi spot to debut in Atlanta that offers vegan dishes on the menu. The concept was created by Joshua Brock when he chose to live a healthy, vegan lifestyle, but could not find many dining options for himself. Joshua’s menu is based on classic hibachi style whereas guests can choose a protein such as Teriyaki chicken, shrimp, or plant-based meat, paired with a variety of vegetables, fried rice, and Hippie Hibachi’s house made Vegan Yum Yum sauce.
- Philly G Steaks will offer an authentic, ribeye Philly Cheese Steak created by Philadelphia born Gordon Brown. Currently located at Sweet Auburn Curb Market.
- Pomodoro Bella is a new Italian concept from long-time, culinary industry cohorts and pizza fanatics, James Semanisin and Byars Parham. In addition to pizza and pasta, marketplace items such as make-at-home meal kits, house made sauces, pasta, Italian desserts, and more will be offered. Pomodoro Bella will have an exclusive ordering window located on the expansive outdoor patio and will be open later than the daily food hall hours.
- Baker Dude founded by Orran Booher, is “more than just frosting.” Orran’s artistic cake work is in the form of cupcakes, cookies, and beautiful cakes but the long-time, pastry pro will also offer an array of savory and sweet breakfast and lunch creations too.
- Baked Kitchen South African Street Food Owner, Allan Katzef, takes pride in sharing his home-country’s cuisine with Atlantans. Patrons will find a variety of South African dishes such as The Burri Don Dawg, South African boerewors (a type of sausage) and Sosaties, a lamb and apricot skewer grilled to perfection. Evolving, weekly red-eye specials ranging from vegan-friendly burgers to out of the ordinary sandwiches will also be featured.
- Atlanta’s famous Morelli’s Ice Cream owned by husband-and-wife team Donald Sargent and Clarissa Morelli. Chattahoochee Food Works will be the ice cream dream team’s fourth location.
- TydeTate Kitchen, a family-owned and operated catering business located in Lawrenceville, Georgia that will serve home-style comfort Thai food.
- Unbelibubble Tea House will offer handcrafted bubble tea using homemade ingredients by husband-and-wife team, Alex Yoon Kim and Mindy Kim offer. Experience almost 50 bubble tea variations tailored to meet customers’ tastes.
- Graffiti Breakfast will feature breakfast staples with a southern twist and will “pay it forward” by using local ingredients from Atlanta’s urban farms. This will be the first location for husband-and-wife team, Chef Marcus James Waller and Tonya Waller.
- Taqueria La Luz, a new Mexican street food concept crafted exclusively for Chattahoochee Food Works by co-owners of Midtown Atlanta icon Zocalo, brother and sister twins Luis Martinez-Obregon and Lucero Martinez-Obregon.
About Chattahoochee Food Works
Chattahoochee Food Works is located at 1235 Chattahoochee Ave NW in the Makers Building at The Works. It will feature 31 food stalls and an extensive outdoor patio covering 22,000 square feet in total, that will offer a collective of global culinary vendors. Additional features include chef-driven demonstrations, intimate events, and artisanal market shops.
Owner Robert Montwaid, creator of New York’s Gansevoort Market, and celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern, are the curators behind Chattahoochee Food Works and are currently selecting vendors.
Robert Montwaid is the former owner of one of the top ten nightclubs in the world, The Pink Elephant, which formally occupied spots in New York City, Hamptons, Mexico, and Brazil. Montwaid will blend his 15-plus years of craft cocktail and entertainment experience with Chattahoochee Food Works in the form of an industrial-glam, center-style, indoor and outdoor bar, and welcoming lounge. Ample public seating, a retractable glass wall, and eye-catching chandeliers that dot the clerestory ceiling are a few of the bar and lounge featured highlights. A simple menu with high-level offerings such as a raw bar, champagne and prosecco list, craft cocktails, and charcuterie will be available.
ORIGINAL RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 202
Pomodoro Bella, Baker Dude, and Baked Kitchen South African Street Food
Highly anticipated food hall, Chattahoochee Food Works, curated by Robert Montwaid, creator of New York’s Gansevoort Market and Emmy and James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Zimmern, will open this fall at The Works, a Selig Development located in the heart of Atlanta’s Upper Westside. Three new tenants, Pomodoro Bella,
Baker Dude, and
Baked Kitchen South African Street Food have confirmed participation as part of the new 31-vendor, 22,000 square-foot space including an extensive outdoor patio.
Pomodoro Bella
An Italian concept from long-time, culinary industry cohorts, James Semanisin, General Manager and chef, and Chef Byars Parham, most recently Executive Chef of Cru Food & Wine Bar at Avalon. James shared, “Why pizza? We are both pizza fanatics and love good, fresh ingredients. As chefs, we only work with the best produce and cheese we can source and will be dedicated to finding and using the perfect tomato.” Byars added, “One of the most interesting parts of our stall will be the dough room where patrons can catch a glimpse of us working giant sheets of dough for our house-made pasta and pizza. Working dough is an art. The right ingredients and the right vision are key. We brought in a Forno Bravo oven that we will fire up at 600-700 degrees — our pizzas will cook quickly in 1-2 minutes.”
In addition to pizza and pasta, marketplace items such as make-at-home meal kits that will vary weekly, house made sauces, pasta, Italian desserts, and more will be offered. Pomodoro Bella will have an exclusive ordering window located on the expansive outdoor patio and will be open later than the daily food hall hours.
Baker Dude
Founder Orran Booher, began baking Christmas cakes as a teenager in Kingston Jamaica where he grew up. His Christmas cakes became so popular that he started to outsell his talented baker mom who taught him this trade. At the age of twenty, he moved to the United States and raised his cake game to include decadent fondant-style cakes and European-style desserts so he could express his artistic ability. Fast forward more than a decade and patrons can now find miniature versions of Orran’s artistic cake work in the form of cupcakes at his pastry shop Baker Dude at The Beacon Atlanta.
Orran shared, “After years of baking birthday cakes for colleagues and family, it was a no-brainer to bag corporate life and lead with my passion — art. I’m a strong creative so there is nothing I would rather do than use my art and tasty cupcakes to make our guests smile. Right now, our world can use all the happy it can get — my goal is to provide that to anyone who comes to our new stall.” Guests will find “more than just frosting” at the Baker Dude. The pastry pro will offer an array of savory and sweet creations in addition to cupcakes such as the Bou-Cake, a beautiful, seven cupcake bouquet. Menu items include, Super Ah-Vocado Toast, the must-have Farmer’s Market Egg Wrap, Classic Quiches, mouth-watering Plum Galettes, scrumptious blondies and an array of vegan, gluten-free, keto, and paleo treats.
Baked Kitchen South African Street Food
Owner, Allan Katzef, culinary arts graduate of The Art Institute of Atlanta, wanted to learn everything there was to understand about how to open and successfully run a restaurant. “My inspiration for our Baked Kitchen food truck was driven from attending music festivals around the nation. Long lines and mediocre food offerings — I wanted to bring my South African-inspired menu to these spots and share exceptional food with great folks while my team and I could enjoy the surroundings. Now that my food truck business has grown, we feel it is time to set up a brick and mortar.” His girlfriend, Kelsie Lam, will design their new food stall and include elements that are a nod to Allan’s birthplace, South Africa.
Allan takes pride in sharing his home-country’s cuisine with Atlantans. Patrons will find dishes such as The Burri Don Dawg, South African boerewors (a type of sausage) in a toasty baguette topped with caramelized onions, cheese sauce, monkey gland sauce and guacamole, garnished with scallions. Another inspired creation is Sosaties, lamb and apricot skewers grilled to perfection and coated with a heavy layer of apricot jalapeno barbecue sauce and paired with a side of yellow wild rice and a South African delicacy called Pap, which is mielie-meal — a course flour mixed with water. Baked Kitchen South African Street Food will also feature an evolving, weekly red-eye special ranging from vegan-friendly burgers to out of the ordinary sandwiches and various off-the-cuff dishes. Look out for Allan’s Dragon Sauce too — what’s in it? We can’t tell ya!
The first round of recently released tenants included:
- Atlanta’s famous Morelli’s Ice Cream, owned by husband and wife team Donald Sargent and Clarissa Morelli. Chattahoochee Food Works will be the ice cream dream team’s fourth location.
- TydeTate Kitchen, a family-owned and operated catering business located in Lawrenceville, Georgia that will serve home-style comfort Thai food.
- Babakabab!, the decade-old food truck known for their authentic Lebanese barbecue dishes and bowls as well as a variety of grilled kebabs and falafel, owned by Samer Bakri and Mark Haddad.
- Unbelibubble Tea House will offer handcrafted bubble tea using homemade ingredients by husband and wife team, Alex Yoon Kim and Mindy Kim offer. Experience almost 50 bubble tea variations tailored to meet customers’ tastes.
- Graffiti Breakfast will feature breakfast staples with a southern twist and will “pay it forward” by using local ingredients from Atlanta’s urban farms. This will be the first location for husband and wife team, Chef Marcus James Waller and Tonya Waller.
- Taqueria La Luz, a new Mexican street food concept crafted exclusively for Chattahoochee Food Works by co-owners of Midtown Atlanta icon Zocalo, brother and sister twins Luis Martinez-Obregon and Lucero Martinez-Obregon.
About Chattahoochee Food Works
Chattahoochee Food Works is located at 1235 Chattahoochee Ave NW in the Makers Building at The Works. It will feature 31 food stalls and an extensive outdoor patio covering 22,000 square feet that will offer a collective of global culinary vendors. Additional features include chef-driven demonstrations, intimate events, a test kitchen, and artisanal market shops.
Owner Robert Montwaid, creator of New York’s Gansevoort Market, and celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern, are the curators behind Chattahoochee Food Works and currently selecting vendors for a fall 2020 opening.
Robert Montwaid is the former owner of one of the top ten nightclubs in the world, The Pink Elephant, which formally occupied spots in New York City, Hamptons, Mexico, and Brazil. Montwaid will blend his 15-plus years of craft cocktail and entertainment experience with Chattahoochee Food Works in the form of an industrial-glam, center-style, indoor and outdoor bar, and welcoming lounge. Ample public seating, a retractable glass wall, and eye-catching chandeliers that dot the clerestory ceiling are a few of the bar and lounge featured highlights. A simple menu with high-level offerings such as a raw bar, champagne and prosecco list, craft cocktails, and charcuterie will be available.
