A New Midtown Hotel Restaurant Hopes to Entice Local Diners

Xhibit Studio Kitchen & Bar will open in December at the new Hilton Canopy Atlanta Midtown on West Peachtree Street. The restaurant, under the direction of chef Christian Messier, plans to feature vegetables, meats, and seafood from local farms and breads from Atlanta’s H+F Bread Company. In addition to its full menu, Xhibit will provide hotel guests with quick-serve foods such as pastries and quiches as well as coffee from Smyrna’s Rev Coffee.

Messier, who has worked at the iconic Sun Dial restaurant in downtown Atlanta and spent a number of years as the culinary director for Taco Mac, says Xhibit’s menu will lean seasonal and change frequently. Many of the dishes will make use of the stone hearth oven installed in the kitchen, which can be seen from the white granite, L-shaped bar in the dining room.

“Our focus here at Xhibit is on the unique needs of our guests,” Messier says in the press release. “We’re creating a fresh and local approach with food, something you don’t necessarily find often in hotels.”

Jonathan Buiel

The design of the 3,350-square-foot restaurant includes stacked canvases from Atlanta-based artist Emily Mann, tiled floors, oversized domed lighting, and a mixture of booths and tables and chairs throughout the dining room.

Atlanta hotel restaurants have struggled to strike a chord with locals, who opt instead to dine at stand-alone restaurants in town. The two exceptions seem to be Tiny Lou’s, located on the ground floor of the Hotel Clermont on Ponce de Leon Avenue, and Atlas at the St. Regis Hotel in Buckhead. Both Sun Dial and Polaris at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta are popular special occasion restaurants, too. Time will tell if Xhibit can win over Atlantans too.

1414 West Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta.