John Kessler Awards Abattoir Three Stars, Slate One

The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s John Kessler visited two restaurants this week: Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison’s Abattoir and Brian Martin’s Slate. Kessler gave Midtown West’s Abattoir a respectable three stars, praising the menu’s Asian influences while noting its inconsistencies:

I love the umami-bomb flavors of the pork belly ($18) served with a weirdly winning pâté sauce and a pickled vegetable salad jumping with the brightness of kaffir lime leaf and ginger. This is the work of a chef who sees the big flavor picture. Alas, I can’t quite deal with the hard jiggle of that seared hunk of fat. A longer cure, a braise, a sous-vide spin in an immersion circulator — something needs to be done to this porky blubber.

Meanwhile, Roswell’s Slate merits a disappointing one star. Despite the impressive selection of craft beers and an impressive Reuben, Kessler notes that “not all of the pub-grub staples work here.” Kessler ultimately finds that Martin’s menu fails to live up to expectations:

I had high hopes for the ginger barbecue Kobe beef brisket skillet ($14.99), a hearty helping of beef, mashed potatoes and green beans. But nothing about the shredded chunks of meat in the gravy-like sauce looks or tastes like its Kobe namesake, and it certainly doesn’t do justice to the meat...Paring down the menu to focus on the things they do well and a tighter execution of some dishes would go a long way toward improving the consistency in an otherwise promising lineup of food.

THE BLOGS
ATL Food Snob pays a visit to Pho Dai Lo 2 and enjoys soups and apps, and Quick Bite assesses the Italian fare and overly loud music at Cucina Asellina.