On the Road: Southern Revival

I’d grown up on family vacations to Six Flags and the World of Coca-Cola. The Atlanta of my youth was satisfying to be sure, but I wanted to rediscover it with grown-up tastes. Roller coasters, sprawling malls, the crack of the bat, and all-you-can-eat buffets has transitioned into bohemia meets urban-chic, fueling my penchant for ethnic foods and charming antiques.

Atlanta, too, has gotten better with age. Today’s whip-smart and worldly Atlantans have nursed its neighborhoods to a unique vitality: Industrial wasteland gives way to revitalized textile mills and dollhouse homes, bundled like colorful flowers in the artsy-eclectic Cabbagetown neighborhood; refurbished Victorian architecture sits nestled among hundred-year-old oaks of Atlanta’s oldest suburb, Inman Park; and specialty boutiques of the Virginia-Highland area abut standout arts and entertainment venues, cutting-edge dining, and unique pubs and bars.

For this trip, I’d made reservations at W Atlanta Downtown, the upscale hotel’s newest spot, just a few blocks from Centennial Olympic Park (there are three additional W locations—Midtown, Perimeter Road north of the city proper, and Buckhead, Atlanta’s high-end suburb). Locals explained, while there is a bevy of refurbished or recently opened hotels, W would set the tone for my reclaimed experience of Atlanta—and they were right.

W, a combination of residences and guest rooms, oozes big-city sophistication and new-millennium style with clean lines, muted colors, and modern furniture, not to mention a smart bistro, BLT Steak, from New York City–based chef Laurent Tourondel. One look at my handsome room, with its plush king-sized bed and baby-blue styling, I realized Atlanta had grown up right along with me.

Dinner calling, I managed to leave my cushy room for a drive to Buford Highway in Atlanta’s northeastern outskirts to sample its staggering row of ethnic cuisine. Passing a colorful array of Indian, Peruvian, Ethiopian, and Indonesian restaurants, I settled on Korean barbecue at Hae Woon Dae, an easy-to-miss spot in a small strip mall. Once inside, I slipped out of my shoes (a Korean tradition) and into sweet-savory short-rib heaven—a perfect prelude to dreamland.

Waking Saturday, I felt like walking (what better way to explore) and headed directly to the High Museum of Art to sample its latest exhibit The Louvre and the Masterpiece, featuring ninety-one works from Musée du Louvre in Paris.

The High Museum is one of a cluster of white, modern buildings that makes up Woodruff Arts Center, a leading visual and performing arts center in the United States. Though the High’s special exhibits and 11,000-piece permanent collection are formidable, I didn’t have to go inside for quality art: Atlanta is an urban canvas for a creative tour de force—prints screen towering buildings; mosaics and graffiti punctuate city blocks.

One could even consider the city’s 2005-opened Georgia Aquarium an interactive work of art. Minus the fact that it is the world’s largest, with eight million gallons of water and an unparalleled collection of marine life, its cool-blue tunnels transport adults and children through a maritime wonderland of hot-pink jellyfish, sea turtles, tropical fish, and whale sharks (the only other aquarium outside Asia to have them). I considered swimming with the sharks, as this is now possible through the aquarium’s Swim with Gentle Giants program—but opted to save the experience for another visit.

My appetite hummed after trekking through centuries-old art and swells of marine life, so I moved along to a recommended Midtown spot, R. Thomas’ Deluxe Grill. The name, which is more fitting for a greasy spoon, belies the restaurant’s focus on whole foods: fresh, free-range meats and vegetables; myriad vegetarian and vegan dishes; and juices, teas, and smoothies.

The space itself is a mini-oasis in the middle of bustling Peachtree Road, replete with fresh herbs (plucked for daily use), flower pots, birds of all feathers (including Sparkle, owner Richard Thomas’s punchy sixty-four-year-old parrot), and a tent-covered patch of asphalt that provides the restaurant’s only dining area. In the tent, with paper lanterns, colored lights, and the peaceful sound of chirping birds, I was transported to sunny California while munching on Raw Walnut Sunflower Pate and Guacamole with fresh vegetables and flax chips, and a meaty Portobello Melt with white cheddar, sweet red onions, and zucchini.

I skipped dessert at R. Thomas’ to satisfy my craving at Sweet Auburn Bread Company. The bakeshop is named for its downtown location in the culturally rich Sweet Auburn district—Atlanta’s historically black neighborhood where Martin Luther King Jr. was born, preached, and is now buried. Digging into owner Sonya Jones’s ethereal sweet potato cheesecake (a favorite of President Bill Clinton), I thanked time for broadening my palate—and for Atlanta’s vast culinary landscape.

Back at my swank hotel, I rang in the evening at Drinkshop, its über-hip rooftop bar (a must for those who want a four-star cocktail while observing the city’s haute couture), and then spent a lazy morning tucked into my king-sized bed, scanning the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

But soul foods’ beacon Mary Mac’s Tea Room beckoned for lunch, so I headed to Ponce de Leon Avenue to get my fix of the renowned sixty-four-year-old restaurant’s Southern-style fixin’s. Though Mary Mac’s is about a fifteen-minute walk from my hotel, I chose to drive, as I planned to explore the trendy Virginia-Highland neighborhood just northeast of Midtown later that afternoon for window-shopping and strolling. Virginia-Highland, aptly named for the intersecting avenues Virginia and Highland, has seven shopping villages and delectable restaurants, cafés, and out-of-this-world gelato (try Paolo’s on Virginia Avenue). Plus, I looked forward to perusing its magnolia-swathed lanes for the eighty-year-old bungalow of my dreams.

Food at Mary Mac's did not disappoint. The restaurant (whose original owner Mary McKinsey named “tea room” because women in post-World War II were not acceptable proprietors of food establishments) is a bright, bustling space with tables covered in oilcloth and walls in butter-yellow. After jotting my selections on a tablet, a surprising and smart feature (how could my order be misunderstood?), my server whisked it to the kitchen, which then dispatched lighter-than-air salmon croquettes and heaping portions of hot, cheesy macaroni, fresh collard greens, and a homemade cinnamon roll. I dined solo but wished I’d had companions to sample the menu’s many mouth-watering options. (Be sure to ask for a sample of their famous “pot likker,” a lip-smacking bowl of the flavorful turnip-greens broth.)

To cap off my meal, I managed to bypass the Peanut Butter Pie and Georgia Peach Cobbler for a simple glass of sweet milk and cornbread: truly Southern and divine—like this city that keeps rising.

Eat:

Mary Mac’s Tea Room
224 Ponce de Leon Avenue, N.E.
(404) 876-1800, www.marymacs.com

R. Thomas’ Deluxe Grill 1812
Peachtree Street, N.W.
(404) 381-1154

Sweet Auburn Bread Company
234 Auburn Avenue, N.E.
(404) 221-1157, www.sweetauburnbread.com

Watershed, for Chef Scott Peacock's award-winning Southern food
406 West Ponce De Leon Avenue, Decatur
(404) 378-4900, www.watershedrestaurant.com

Stay:

Hotel Indigo, stylish boutique hotel
683 Peachtree Street, N.E.
(404) 874-9200, www.hotelindigo.com

W Atlanta Downtown
45 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard
(404) 582-5800, www.starwoodhotels.com

Explore:
Georgia Aquarium
225 Baker Street, N.W.
(404) 581-4000, www.georgiaaquarium.org

High Museum of Art, Leonardo da Vinci: Hand of the Genius opens October 6
1280 Peachtree Street, N.E.
(404) 733-4400, www.high.org

Margaret Mitchell House, where the author penned Gone with the Wind
990 Peachtree Street
(404) 249-7015, www.margaretmitchellhouse.com

Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, to tour King's birth home, church, and tomb site
450 Auburn Avenue, N.E.
(404) 331-5190, www.nps.gov/malu