The AJC Awards Proof & Provision Two Stars

Situated on the lowest level the Georgian Terrace is not a speakeasy, but instead a basement bar with unique craft cocktails and dishes based on familiar flavors. It's called Proof & Provision, and Jon Watson gives it two stars this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Nate Shuman heads up the bar at P&P and, of course, makes his own ice cubes. He also barrel-ages rye Manhattans for six weeks and has put a cocktail program in place that's "surprising and exotic" and has many spot-on drinks. Watson recommends the Maximillian Affair or the Firm Handshake.

The menu, created by chef and recent Chopped winner Zeb Stevenson, "balances [the beverage program] with a supporting cast of slightly tweaked and enriched familiar flavors." These twists on comfort food include a grilled cheese sandwich with truffle butter and deviled eggs with bacon-dusted foam yolk filling. The AJC refers to the menu items here as drunk food (which might be their new favorite qualifier). They're comforting and hearty, like the french bread pizza with spinach, artichoke, and asiago, but sometimes they can be under seasoned and underwhelming. All in all, Proof & Provision is a great place to go to after a show at the Fox or when passing through Midtown to "enjoy a sip of something different and a bite of something familiar."

THE ELSEWHERE AND THE BLOGS: Creative Loafing has lunch at Bone Lick BBQ, deems Curly's Fried Chicken cheap eats, and checks out Joystick Gamebar; a Redditor has a trip report of the Gamebar too; Atlanta Magazine tries White Oak Kitchen & Cocktails; Hot Dish Review goes to There Brookhaven and El Porton; Food 404 Thought is hooked on Lure; Atlanta restaurant blog does date night at Dunwoody's Co'm and d'Vine; BBQ Geek takes a first bite out of Bone Lick BBQ; and Jennifer Zyman has a hot chicken roundup over at the AJC.