A Beachside Restaurant In Atlanta: A Sneak Peek at The Optimist and The Oyster Bar at The Optimist

Grid View

• The dining room at The Optimist
• The patio at The Optimist
• The Oyster Bar at The Optimist
• The Oyster Bar features casual, surf-like decor.

Ford Fry's new Westside sustainable seafood spot The Optimist and its little more casual sister, The Oyster Bar at The Optimist, will open Monday with a menu inspired by Executive Chef Adam Evans's boyhood days at fish camp. The decor is beachside-meets-loft-life with exposed beams, white subway tile and floor-to-ceiling windows, along with cabana-style bathrooms and what looks like lobster traps on the walls.

The menus are centered around utilizing the restaurants' wood-burning stove and grills.

Optimist's lunch menu includes a selection of fish entrées, salads and sandwiches, such as:
· Chopped salad, wood roast organic chicken, local feta and “wooden bowl” dressing
· Blackened haddock banh mi, charred pork, pickles, cilantro, mint and fries
· Crispy day-boat flounder, ricotta gnocchi, field peas and grilled lemon
· Fish & chips, ale-battered haddock and malt vinegar aioli

The Optimist’s dinner menu is broken down into On Ice, Start, Fish, Farm, Sides and Such and Pies, Cakes and Frozen Stuff. The offerings have not yet been finalized but may include:
· East coast oysters, mignonette and fresh horseradish
· Florida grouper, smoked Vidalia onion and horseradish broth
· Roasted heritage pork, farm spinach and sherry onions
· Duck fat poached swordfish, pickled sweet peppers and crispy pancetta
· Buttermilk doughnuts, sweet corn ice cream and red pepper jam

The menu for The Oyster Bar includes raw bar items and small plates, such as:
· Peel & eat Georgia shrimp
· Smoked haddock chowder and oyster crackers
· Little gem lettuce, Meyer lemon anchovy dressing, tiny croutons and parmesan
· Maine lobster roll, shoestring fries

And to help landlocked Atlantans better imagine they're really dining oceanside, the cocktails:
· Fish House Punch with cognac, dark rum, peach brandy, lemon, sugar, black tea
· Prosecco punch with brandy, grapefruit and fresh citrus
· Green tea punch with rhum agricole, fresh pineapple and coconut water
· Rose sangria with fresh berries, pomegranate, Luxardo Maraschino and brandy
· Swedish punch with rum, Batavia Arrack, lemon, cardamom and black tea

The Oyster Bar will also serve "Oyster Backs," mini-cocktails designed to pair with raw bar items. These may include:
· The Kanon Ball: Kanon Vodka, capers, brine
· Pickleback: Jameson, housemade pickle juice
· Sea Grass: Bison Grass vodka, fresh tarragon, citrus
· Gin Mignonette: Hendrick's gin, cucumber dice, sea salt, sparkling

· Don't Worry, Be Happy ... and Full of Seafood [Thrillist]
· Fory Fry's New Raw Bar Shrine [UD]
· All Coverage of The Optimist [EATL]