‘Peek Behind the Curtain’ at Atlanta’s Restaurants With This Chef’s New Podcast

Atlanta chef Jarrett Stieber is having quite a year. He opens his first restaurant called Little Bear on Georgia Avenue in Summerhill by the end of the year, shut down his longtime pop-up Eat Me Speak Me at Decatur’s S.O.S Tiki Bar in April, and now hosts a weekly restaurant insider podcast entitled Ticket Stabbers. The title refers to the metal receipt spike used to hold completed ticket orders in restaurant kitchens.

So, why should the average diner or food-obsessed person care about tuning into Ticket Stabbers?

According to Stieber, each episode is meant to be a “peek behind the curtain” into the world of Atlanta restaurants where he talks shop with chefs, bartenders, general managers, and servers. Topics range from the state of Atlanta’s dining scene as seen through the eyes of its restaurant workers to wage gap issues and the lack of healthcare in the restaurant industry.

Stieber’s first episode, recorded in April, features beverage maven Mercedes O’Brien (Cold Beer, Gunshow) and former Staplehouse sommelier Melissa Davis of the forthcoming Hazel Jane’s Wine Bar. The pair speak frankly with Stieber about the gender discrepancies women experience in restaurants, being a women in power at a restaurant, and dealing with unruly and drunk guests.

“While a lot of each episode will be [funny] banter, there will definitely be more topical things brought up from episode to episode, depending on the guests,” Stieber says. “Listening to Ticket Stabbers will let them [listeners] get a feel for people’s real personalities when they’re in a comfortable setting.”

Ticket Stabbers falls under the programming umbrella of the Atlanta Foodcast, run by podcast host Ben Getz. Stieber plans to record each late night, post-shift episode every weekend, allowing his fellow restaurant workers to candidly commiserate with each other and for Atlanta’s diners to “get to know” people who work at restaurants and bars around town.

Podcast guests won’t be announced prior to each episode. Stieber wants listeners to tune in and be surprised. But, he would reveal Ticket Stabbers is less about the PR spin, restaurant owners, and “hot shot” restaurateurs and more about the people who “actually” work the day-to-day operations.

As for Stieber’s new restaurant, he tells Eater Atlanta Little Bear experienced some permitting delays with the City of Atlanta. He just received approval on the restaurant’s building permits. Construction on the restaurant should begin soon.

Little Bear

“We’ve starting the build out and are hoping to be open before the end of the year, City of Atlanta willing,” he says. “All of our preview dinners sold out really quickly, which is great, but we will also have some one-off, non-ticketed pop-ups at Halfway Crooks [Beer across the street in Summerhill] every month.”

The 30-seat Little Bear is named for Stieber’s dog — a fluffy Pyrenees mountain dog called Fernando. Little Bear’s menu will feature seasonal produce and proteins from local farms as well as longstanding Eat Me Speak Me favorites like Steiber’s raw beef lettuce wraps and blondies with rum or whiskey milk.

Little Bear joins Wood’s Chapel BBQ, Little Tart Bakeshop, soft serve ice cream shop Big Softie, and brewery Halfway Crooks, already open in Summerhill. Future neighbors include: Junior’s Pizza, opening Monday, August 5, Concept from Hush Dinner Club founder Bea Lewis, Hot Dog Pete’s and Hero Doughnuts, Conspiracy Basement Drink Parlor, D Boca N Boca taqueria, and a third location of East Atlanta’s Hodgepodge Coffeehouse.

71 Georgia Avenue, Atlanta.

• Longtime Pop-Up Eat Me Speak Me Finally Says Goodbye in June [EATL]
• Popular Pop-Up Chef Settles on a Permanent Restaurant Space in Summerhill [EATL]