Chef Brings the Dishes of Puebla and Guadalajara to Buckhead in August

Botanico Kitchen and Bar, owned by chef Luis Damian, replaces Rise and Revelry on the second floor of Savi Provisions on Pharr Road, the AJC reports. The restaurant, serving dishes from the Puebla and Guadalajara regions of Mexico, should open in August.

Damian, who hails from Puebla, is currently the executive chef at Big Sky in Buckhead.

The menu of around 12 dishes likely includes a tostada made with blue crab topped with hoja santa (Mexican pepperleaf), papálo (herb), avocado, and salsa verde and tlacoyos, a pre-Hispanic masa dish shaped like a boat in which refried beans are stuffed inside. Damian’s version also comprises of Mexican corn truffles, ricotta, and salsa morita.

Those who’ve strolled through the markets of Mexico, in particular Mexico City, have likely seen Mexican “caviar” — or ant larvae called escamole — sold especially during the spring. The Wagyu tartare is topped with the caviar from Oaxaca, a cured egg, toasted sunflower seeds, avocado oil, and pickled nopálitos (cactus). Chicatana ants are also to be featured in the camarones enchilpayados — shrimp and wood-grilled langostines (lobster) topped with the ants, chile de árbol, and chaya leaves.

Desserts such as gancitos, a vanilla sponge cake along with a selection of mezcals and tequilas are in the works.

Botanico will incorporate live plants and living walls in its design with an all-weather patio that opens to the outside. The restaurant should evoke a “greenhouse” feel and be reminiscent of a high-end restaurant in the coastal resort town of Tulum or the fine dining restaurants found throughout Mexico City in neighborhoods like Roma Norte, Condesa, and Polanco.

312 Pharr Road, Atlanta.

• Rise and Revelry to Be Buckhead’s Newest Rooftop Restaurant [EATL]
• Pharr Road Savi Provisions Includes Drive-Thru, Breakfast Burritos [EATL]