Date Night Dining
These four restaurants are guaranteed to provide the best food and atmosphere for date night.
Skye Estroff is the marketing and media manager for Atlanta’s largest food festival, Taste of Atlanta (tasteofatlanta.com). She is an Atlanta native, a University of Georgia grad and an expert in Atlanta’s best food.
The pressure is on when it’s time to choose a restaurant for date night. It doesn’t matter if this is your first date or a rare night out with your long-term love, the biggest factor in making the night a great one…is restaurant choice. Don’t go to your regular spots; try somewhere outside of your rotation. Food and atmosphere are crucial components to enjoying your companion’s company, and we have four places where these elements are guaranteed.
You may know Joy Café as a decadent brunch destination, but now the restaurant has expanded its menu to dinner. Every dish is artfully composed and is sure to impress your date. Salmon is grilled and stacked on fresh vegetables with puree dotted around the plate. Pasta is freshly made and tossed with seasonal vegetables and, if you’re lucky, a cured egg yolk is shaved on top. The best way to end the night is with one of their desserts. The Dark Chocolate Espresso Brownie with Homemade Espresso Ice Cream and doused in espresso will take your night to the next level.
Tucked behind the chaos of Lenox/Phipps malls in the Shops Around Lenox shopping center lies an inventive Italian restaurant. Seven Lamps, a small restaurant with exceptional food and drinks, provides an intimate experience of dining. Order small plates for sharing or go all in with full-sized entrees of homemade pasta or wood-grilled proteins. This restaurant is participating in Southern Wing Showdown (Sunday, August 5) as well as Taste of Atlanta (October 19-21) if you want to try Seven Lamps for a day-date instead.
Monkey 68 Sushi is the new hot spot for sushi in the Roswell area. Word is spreading quickly, and people are coming from all around the city to try this menu of rolls, small plates and shared plates. The menu offers much more than sushi and your date is sure to find something that suits his or her palate. If you want to order like a pro, start with the Sesame Asparagus Fries served with black truffle aioli, share a plate of the Jjang Jjorim with Buttered Rice (a.k.a. braised beef brisket, buttered rice, daikon and enoki mushrooms) then share a roll or two of your choice from the sushi menu.
Leon’s is perfect for summertime dates because of the indoor-outdoor restaurant design. The restaurant offers a great variety of menu items like seasonal fish and crispy quinoa salad, but don’t be shy and skimp on fries. Leon’s Pomme Frites are the perfect combination of crispy on the outside, pillowy on the inside and there are several sauces to pair with them. Leon’s has traditional pairings like ketchup and garlic aioli but most their sauces are truly one-of-kind like Massaman Curry Goat Cheese Fondue and Mango-Peppadew Catsup. No matter which you choose, great fries will solidify your great date status.
Stay up-to-date with the best food and restaurants in Atlanta. Follow Taste of Atlanta on Facebook (Taste of Atlanta), Instagram (@TasteofAtlanta) and Twitter (@TasteofAtlanta). You can also follow my food stories on Instagram: @skyemichelle58.
For tickets and more information about the upcoming Taste of Atlanta events, visit SouthernWingShowdown.com and TasteofAtlanta.com.
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