Jessica Koslow of LA Hit Sqirl Is Popping Up in Atlanta to Serve Toasts and Grain Bowls

Jessica Koslow, chef and owner of Los Angeles sensation Sqirl, is coming to serve her breakfast fare in Atlanta for one day only. Koslow will pop up in the kitchen at Hugh Acheson’s Empire State South on Sunday, December 18.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Koslow will serve dishes from her LA restaurant — think toasts, jams, grain bowls, etc. Empire State South’s regular brunch menu will be available as well. Reservations are not required, but they can be made by emailing the restaurant.

Koslow opened Sqirl in November 2011, and in the five years since it’s become the face of modern California cuisine. Listing it among his picks for the 38 best restaurants in America this year, Eater’s traveling critic Bill Addison wrote:

If Jessica Koslow's tiny storefront in LA’s Silver Lake neighborhood wasn't already a phenomenon — shorthand for the California breakfast and the ascent of the grain bowl — then the publication of her cookbook sealed it. There are reasons for her victory: The combined flavors in her famous sorrel rice bowl suggest how sunshine on a lemon tree might taste, and the ricotta toast painted with three jams (upon request) resembles a flag to which I’d gladly pledge allegiance.

Koslow recently released her first cookbook, a companion to her restaurant. Reviewing Everything I Want to Eat: Sqirl and the New California Cooking for Eater, Maria Bustillos declared it to be “too delicious to hate”:

There’s a fantastical disconnect in California and indeed, in all Western culture, between the hedonistic and the healthy, along with all our prejudices against overweight, against overindulgence, and, conversely, against puritanism and anhedonia. We Want It All, I suppose, against all reason. If I cavil a bit at the idea of Sqirl as "California Cooking," that is largely because many of us can’t bolt down such rich, complicated food while maintaining even a vague approximation of the Southern California beach bod. But in this fun, luxurious book, Koslow ultimately transcends all such prejudices and paradoxes with her inclusivity and love of California’s rich fields, its crowded streets and bustling kitchens, and of its people, whether they are farmers or movie stars, in a manner that is as innovative and pleasurable as the food she serves.

Update: A representative for Empire State South tells Eater Atlanta Koslow’s cookbook will be on sale during the pop-up, and the chef will be available to sign copies.

• All Sqirl Coverage [ELA]
• All Pop-Ups [EATL]