Jeff Banks Is out, Shanna Mayo Is in Behind the Bar at The Luminary

The Luminary lead bartender Jeff Banks has moved on and will run the beverage program at the forthcoming Brush Sushi Izakaya. Replacing Banks, on a temporary basis, is Shanna Mayo, formerly of Victory Sandwich Bar and The SOS Tiki Bar.

The Luminary chef and owner Eli Kirshtein confirmed Mayo will be "hanging out" behind the stick at the Krog Street Market restaurant while she makes future plans — "it could be two months or two years," Kirshtein told Eater Atlanta. Mayo joined the Victory Brands team in June 2014 after parting ways with Leon's Full Service.

Banks took over The Luminary's bar program in December 2014, moving to Atlanta from Graft in Grayson. He replaced Ian Cox, The Luminary's opening lead bartender, who left the industry to take a job in beverage distribution. Cox was Eater Atlanta's 2014 Bartender of the Year.

Brush Sushi Izakaya, from former One Sushi + executive chef and Craft Izakaya sushi chef Jason Liang, is opening soon at 316 Church Street in Decatur. Liang says the Japanese restaurant will be "more inline with the traditions of the Japanese sushi-ya than Atlanta is used to seeing."