Lindbergh’s Uptown Atlanta Development Will Soon Include a Test Kitchen for Local Chefs

The team behind underground supper club Chow Club Atlanta is launching a year-long chefs series in May, part of the new Uptown Test Kitchen opening at Uptown Atlanta, a 47-acre development anchored by the Lindbergh MARTA Station.

Called Chow a la Carte, Chow Club founders Yohana Solomon and Amanda Plumb plan to bring in seven house chefs and several other guest chefs weekly to Uptown Test Kitchen serving food from countries like Nigeria, Colombia, and the Philippines. And a couple of the chefs taking part in Chow a la Carte’s residency at Uptown Test Kitchen are likely already known to people who frequent Atlanta’s pop-up food scene.

“Atlanta is lucky to have such an incredible collection of chefs from different backgrounds, cultures and countries, and Uptown Test Kitchen presented a unique opportunity to bring them together,” Solomon says of why they chose to launch the chefs series.

Chow a la Carte opens for lunch and dinner, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, beginning May 26. Menus and chefs rotate every two weeks. However, people wanting a sneak peek can swing by Uptown Test Kitchen on May 18, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., for food from the Chow a la Carte chefs.

Chow a la Carte

Meet the chefs below:

Andrea George
Founder of Rapid Gourmet, Andrea George takes inspiration from the foods she grew up in eating in the Caribbean island of Antigua to create dishes for her meal prep service and catering business.

Deborah Kudelka

Private chef Deborah Kudelka centers dishes around Italian, French, and Polish cuisine.

Elna Kolarich

Founder of Filipino comfort food pop-up Sarap Atlanta, look for dishes like longganisa wontons, pork belly adobe sanwits, pancit, and chicken asado bao.

Christian Lopez

Founder of Latin American pop-up Humo, Christian Lopez serves Colombian ceviche, smoked pernil plates, and choriperros (Colombian hot dog topped with queso, garlic mayo ketchup, pineapple sauce, and shoestring potatoes.)

Wellington Onyenwe

Founder of Shamiso Foods, Wellington Onyenwe is a graduate of the molecular toxicology and food additives program at the University of California-Berkeley. He specializes in West African and Caribbean dishes fused with flavors and ingredients found in Latin, Italian, North American, Asian, French, and German cuisines.

Marlena Joseph

Marlena Joseph takes food inspiration from her grandmother’s cooking and growing up in Trinidad. Joseph currently works with Caribbean pop-up and catering business Shamiso Foods.

Michele K. Tompkins

Founder of Roots and Culture Craft Kitchen, Michele Tompkins specializes in cooking Caribbean and Southern food.

Ciao Chow

This local food business brings Ethiopian-Italian gelato to Uptown Test Kitchen.

Chow a la Carte will also offer traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremonies, as well as host local artist events and monthly Chow Club Atlanta dinners, cooking classes, and grab-and-go meals during its residency at Uptown Test Kitchen.

Uptown Test Kitchen joins previously announced restaurants El Gordo, Bene Korean Steakhouse, White Windmill Bakery and Cafe, and J’ouvert Caribbean Kitchen, which are all expected to open by the end of the year at the complex. A location of 26 Thai Kitchen and Bar is already open at Uptown Atlanta.

Future plans for the Main Street revamp at Uptown Atlanta call for connections to forthcoming portions of the BeltLine and South Fork trails, several community gathering spaces for events, and a large park.

Uptown Test Kitchen and Chow a la Carte open May 26 for lunch and dinner, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

2440 Piedmont Road, Atlanta.