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The opening of the new Hudson Grille at Brookhaven Station provides an opportunity to reflect on tavern culture here in Atlanta. We have an advantage over many cities in that we have mid price range up scale taverns that are based here. Just as Charlotte has a great diner culture, we have a great tavern culture. Most cities have great dive taverns and really high end bars, but few have great quality in the middle. Hudson Grille joins a great group that includes The 5 Seasons Brewery, Village Bakery and Restaurant, P’cheen, Atkins Park and others. All of these places serve quality beer and food that is a step above the dreaded Sysco and Monarch Bars.

The Hudson Grille takes the place of Jocks and Jills and GM Tony Shaw wants to recapture the J&J crowd “Plus”. That plus is a little bit better atmosphere and a real focus on the food. Like Garrison’s (the best value in steak in Atlanta, especially the Vinings location), the menu has some serious dishes on it. It also has bar food. To make his restaurant distinctive, Shaw knows that not only must serious dishes have to meet muster, but the basic bar food has to be better than expected. The burgers have to be worth it and wings have to be as good as Atkin’s Park.

Shaw is also taking another pretty big risk. He’s broadening the menu to add pizza. A broader menu will let him expand the crowd that comes in, however, serving pizza when you’re 50 feet from Mellow Mushroom is risky. Still, if he wants to capture both the Brookhaven parental crowd and the Oglethorpe University students, pizza is a risk that can pay. The trick will be to keep an eye on the quality. If some parts of the menu are not consistently prepared well, the reputation of the restaurant could suffer. With a diverse menu, that’s harder to do.

In doing a broader menu, he’s going the opposite way from institutions such as 5 Seasons and the Village Bakery and Restaurant. Both of those watering holes have made their mark by limiting their menu to a particular zeitgeist of food. The Village does delicious authentic German food. The 5 Seasons Brewery has done it by embracing a slow food philosophy and using only organic ingredients (and it’s Kobe beef you can afford!). They’ve also created an atmosphere that’s very community oriented. As a result both restaurants are beloved.

Shaw’s path to stalwartship in the community is riskier, however he also has the power of the Metrotainment group behind him. That gives him some marketing muscle, management help, access to first class desserts, and branding. It helps to be able to say “We’re the sports entertainment version of Cowtippers or Garrisons”; the message being “hey we’re just like these other places you love, but you can keep an eye on the game too!”

Visiting the Hudson Grille on opening night was a good experience and worth repeating. The interior is a bit upscale from Jocks and Jills but higher energy than Garrison’s. The service was on point and the food was good. The desserts were delicious. Key lime pie with a raspberry drizzle is always a good idea. The biggest complaint is that it’s a tad noisy, but they’ll learn to zone things. The check was $26 including one main course (shrimp), two desserts, and drinks.

Tests for the Hudson Grille and Shaw’s team will come pretty quickly. The community test will first come this weekend when the surrounding professional community comes to relax. He’ll be ready for them. Then two weeks from now, ‘the excellence in a broad situation’ test will continue when Oglethorpe students return.

Hopefully this place will succeed for a number of reasons. First, with Jocks and Jills on the defensive, Atlanta can use a good upscale sports bar. Second, Hudson Grille stays open late (until 2 AM) and is walking distance from a MARTA station so you can zip over after the game or concert is done). In an era where places have cut back their hours, it’s good to have a transit accessible watering hole where you can stay until the last train!

Clearly College Park’s community wants to keep growing.  With the lull in the development market, College Park is growing more slowly than 3 or 4 years ago and downtown has some vacant spaces.
The City, however, has made some smart choices.  They’re using the vacant store fronts as Art Galleries.  While this is not a new idea, it is something not seen inside the perimeter much, and having the art in the windows helps in three positive ways:

1. It keeps the street scape from looking vacant and keeps traffic interested in the life of the town rather than just passing through on the way to the car rental returns.
2. It brings attention to the fact that the space is available.  That helps the Realtors and hence the value of the taxes
3. It keeps local artists engaged in the community.

It’s a shame that shopping malls, town councils, and other retailers do not see the benefit of creating inducements to let vacant space be used for art.  If you have a run down area, nothing will bring traffic in like creating a theater and gallery space.  Just look at how vital ART Station is to keeping Stone Mountain afloat and see that East Atlanta has suffered after Echo Lounge closed.

Heck, look at Underground.  It’s never recovered from Dante moving out.  Further, with no Gallery Space or theatrical performance down there, the space continues o suffer.  Now, ACPA is working with with Underground to develop some theater space on Upper Alabama.  That’s guaranteed to bring traffic in and as long as the rent is affordable, performances by emerging groups can bring those with the spirit of the adventure and the finances to afford it back to Underground to help make it alive.

Theater is the next step for the south side as well.  East Point, Hapeville, and College Park are all missing theaters in their downtown.  When they get established those town will really kick it in to the next level.

Places of quiet contemplation in the heart of a city are vital and Atlanta is losing them.  Yes, there are parks, coffee houses, stores, malls, sidewalks, but fewer and fewer non-commercial spaces to simply quietly contemplate.  The saddest example of this is that The Temple of All Faiths at the King Center has been locked for years.  Contemplations of Faith are no longer welcome there.

The same goes for many churches, which are now locked more often than not.  On a recent Sunday afternoon the First Presbyterian Church was locked up tight.  Even Catholic Churches are closing their doors to those who simply wish a quiet moment in a solemn setting.  Right now, only the Airport Chapel and those in Hospitals are available all the time, and even during the day few places are available.  Though, if they’re not in session, the Georgia House Chamber is a beautiful place.

Atlanta needs a space such as the Baha’i Temple in Chicago.  Anyone can go there and meditate on the world.  They will be left in peace to consider as they will.  There is no pressure to participate in their religion, though people are there if you have questions.

What prevents places like this from developing?  A few challenges seem to stand in the way.  The two worst villains are the twins of Security and Insurance Liability.  No one wants the headache.  Second, I fear that the vagrancy problem the city faces has a perceived impact.  Still, it’s sad that there is no respectful non-denomination place for all the city to gather to think, pay respects, or celebrate greatness.  Maybe that’s the next great thing on which Bernie Marcus can invest in the city…

Everyone should go see the current exhibit at MODA. The basic message is that Global Warming is coming for us because of the way we live. If we do nothing, we’re  doomed… or at least anyone with current ocean front property is doomed.

It’s also about design innovations that will let us easily transform the way we live. From Nike shoes that help your Ipod work as a pedometer to ways you can reduce the cleaning agents you use that damage water, the good of the future is in smart design.

There are also architecture projects from Jova Daniels Busby and other firms, contributions from Citizens for Progressive Transit and a video by Joe Winter and Cathy Poley. Yes. That Joe Winter and That Cathy Poley.

The exhibition uses Atlanta as a basis and compares other cities.  It points out, for example, that Barcelona packs the same number ofpeople we do into four percent of the land we use. They also use Koolhaas-like maps to visually indicate the direction of change as well as the numbers representing it.

The exhibit can be a bit preachy (one panel exhorts us to stop want to own things for after all, where we put it all?) but much of it is good work and worth catching.

This is being cross-posted everywhere.

The Immortal Game lives in Atlanta!  Chess is among the longest lasting, most powerful contests humanity has created, and Atlanta has a chess culture.  It’s not talked about or covered in the paper, but people here talk about chess, think about chess, and support institutions that let it thrive.   It’s an underground movement.

Here then are three of the most important places on the chess circuit in Atlanta:

1. The Atlanta Chess Center is a great resources.  That there is a cultural center dedicated to chess here speaks highly of the city.  Annual memberships are only $100 and you can sit in and play a casual game for $2.  They sell chess clocks, sets, books, and videos as well as a variety of snacks!  It’s a great place to do play actual people rather than a computer or on line.  It’s also a chance to get some instruction if you want to move your game to the next level.
2. Woodruff Park.  The Southwest side of the park is Chess Hustler Central.   Again, no chess hustlers, no real city.   The chess here is often for money, is fast and furious, and transcends all.  This is where the well-healed and the homeless meet on equal turf.  Everyone’s King is equal and everyone’s a pawn.  Just be ready for the kibitz that will surely come your way.
3. The Village Bakery.  This is the chess players’ tavern in town.   There are four sets in the the building including one that is a meter square!  Located at Memorial Drive and Ponce in Stone Mountain, the German food is excellent, the beer is fresh, and the proprietor, Clause is a great guy.  He’s also not a bad player!  On a recent visit the bar was not crowded and friendly people stopped by to check out the boards in play.  Places such as the Village Bakery deserve community support as they are the real deal.  This might be the true thinking man’s tavern.

Hopefully, Atlanta will begin to acknowledge the broad based support for the game.  It would be great to see Creative Loafing or Sunday Paper carry a regular column on chess.  It would be even better if all the Starbucks and other coffee houses in town which had chess boards on their tables went to their local dollar stores and bought a couple of chess sets.  It would create community for the coffee houses and symbolize the city’s commitment to more than one kind of Queen.

What does it say about a community when a Houston’s goes out of business?  Houston’s has been among the most successful restaurant chains in Atlanta history.  The restaurants made their name by being the best of the “glorified burger/fern bar” joints in the city.  Waits have been as long as two hours.  Now, the Ashford Dunwoody location has gone belly up.

According to several websites, a few elements precipitated the close.  First, websites noted that of all the Houston’s, the Ashford Dunwoody location had the worst customer service.  This apparently lead to the store being the worst financial performer of all the Houston’s in the metro area.  When J. Alexander’s (A Houston’s knock off) offered a substantial payout for the location, Houston’s accepted and closed.

It seems two trends have intersected to make this happen.  First is the national trend toward squeezing out the middle.  Houston is in a similar situation to department stores such as J.C. Penny’s, Montgomery Ward, and Sears.  These stores suffered from price competition from their downmarket rivals such as Target and Wal-Mart and lost upper end customers to Nordstrom and Bloomingdales.  The middle was squeezed out.  In the Perimeter area, the increase in property values has meant that staying competitive requires either high volume and profit items such as Chili’s or more upscale environments such as Garrison’s.  The middle gets squeezed.

The second element here is the quality of service deteriorated.  This seems to be one of the big subjects in Atlanta right now.  Quality waitrons are harder to find.  Bartenders don’t know their drinks, waitrons don’t know their food, and the shortage of qualified staff has lead restaurant managers to accept lower standards.   Restaurant such as Houston’s suffer disproportionately when the service drops because people are aware of their team concept and come with expectations.  Nothing hurts a restaurant with a good reputation more than poor service.

Still the neighborhood is suffering here.  Houston’s was the best of the fern bars.  If too many mid-list restaurants are removed the neighborhood has fewer reasonably options.  Further, it means that local, one of a kind restaurants have less chance of opening and surviving.  That hurts everyone.

So… you want to take a local power broker our for drinks or meal and you want them to be at ease.  Where should you go?

If you’re courting a Democrat, member of metro Atlanta’s finest, a theater person, or beat writer, there is no other place than Manuel’s Tavern.  Manuel’s was named for Manuel Maloof, whose family still runs the bar.  Democrats have been meeting here for years and many a political deal has been cut in this establishment.  Members of Atlanta’s finest, theater folks, and reporters also all mix here depending on what time of day you get there.  Just look on the walls.  You can’t be a Democrat and win the general election without coming to Manuels.  Anyone can get in and anyone can walk around.  It helps however, to know which group your trying to reach as they all sit in different parts of the tavern.  Particularly progressive Democrats have also been known to congregate at Thinking Man’s Tavern.

Republicans have more money and have not really established a single watering whole as their own.  However, the Capital Grille seems to meet the needs of Republicans and their well heeled lobbyist clientele quite nicely.  Apologist Neal Boortz has been throwing his “power lunches” there for some time and the staff makes sure that deals can be made with the utmost discretion.  Some Republicans have also taken to hanging out at the River Room.  First, it’s right next to Matt Towery’s offices, and second, it’s in a Post Community where it looks like a town, but there is no civic authority to create regulation.  Instead, it’s entirely corporate controlled.

In Atlanta, African Americans are a substantial power structure on their own without regard to party (though there are more Democrats than Republicans).  Still, all must pass through Paschal’s at some point.  Many folks don’t even realize that the venerable restaurant is still in business, but it has a lovely location just west of Castleberry Hill.   A visit there on any given Sunday will still show you class of Atlanta’s African American Elite.  As the “Unofficial Headquarters of the Civil Rights Movement”, and as the  place where Morehouse and Spellmen graduates celebrate big events, Paschals remains a vibrant part of the scene.  The tea is sweet, the steaks are good, the cobbler is hot.  Anyone who has not been should go.  Anyone who has been knows that if you want to meet the elite, Paschals is the place to which you should beat your retreat!

Libertarians?  Apparently, you’re free to meet where ever you’d like… but they seem to tend toward the Piccadilly Cafeteria in Cobb County.  That’s scary.  C’mon guys, couldn’t you find a bar in which to drink about Ayn Rand?  Or does the cafeteria form create the best culinary representation of informed consumer choice?

While Atlanta is not a big Marine town, it’s time for people who are going to use the docks here to start to learn the rules.  If they don’t, someone could literally get hurt.  Here then, is some basic etiquette for using dock space.

1. The people who work on and maintain the docks have first right to them.  That means at location such as Azalea Park, Crew Sculls get first dibs.
2. Next come non-powered boaters: canoes, kayaks, and rafts.  While slower, they’re being controlled by people, not engines and come next.
3. Powered marine vehicles that are picking up or dropping off folks come next.  If there are no cleats at your dock, you perhaps should not plan to be there long.
4. If you have nothing to do with any marine vehicle, you’re lowest on the totem poll and when anyone else needs dock space, your job is to get out of the way.

Further, some more basic rules for those “just visiting” and with no real business on the dock

1. Watch your kids.  Really.  Even with something as simple as a kayak, if your child’s fingers get caught between the shell and the dock, they could break.  Imagine what happens when it’s an outboard motor.  If there is a boat nearby, your kids should be no more than arms length from you.
2. Picnics are great… at picnic tables!  Nearly every park by the water has these.  You don’t need to sit on the dock and eat.  If a number of boats come quickly your food will get wet, your beer will spill and it will be your fault.
3. Fishing from Docks has a long tradition, but you also need to be ready to get out of the way.  If your hook catches a boat, you could lose your equipment, or if your stubborn, you could be pulled in to the water.  Again, this is on you and not the boater.  If you have kids, remind them that casting at people is both rude and dangerous
4. Don’t feed the wildlife on the docks.  Yes, the geese, the ducks, snakes, bats, fish, and otters love the food (yes, there really are otters).  Feeding them on the docks puts boaters at risk and leaves the dock a mess.  You’re not going to clean it up, so don’t leave it for others.  Feed the animals from the shore, not the dock.
5. Don’t try to help unless you’ve been asked.  Most boaters know their boats and how to launch them.  If someone needs help they’ll ask for it.
6. Don’t run toward the arriving boat unless you’re a passenger.  Give passengers a wide berth to get from the deck to the dock.
7. You’re a guest.  Be smart.  How would you want strangers to treat your driveway?

For more on Georgia Boating Laws and Regs, click here!

With the closing of Walden Books (deep discounts while they last) in Lenox Square, neither of the city’s two premiere shopping plazas will have a book store in them. Lenox barely has a music store (FYE) and Phipps has none. That’s fascinating. Lenox once had two bookstores and had an HMV. They even had the Met Shop. Now, virtually nothing.

Perhaps this says something about our culture. Yes, one of the larger Borders is near by, but one would think that Atlanta’s wealthier shoppers would want more than home furnishings and clothes. One would think they’d want something to read to go with one of the coffee stands around the mall.

Perhaps there is a division between the culture of literature and serious music and the pop scene in our town. Atlanta has not had a serious literary hangout since Oxford Books closed all but the comics store. Tower was one meeting place for serious musicians, but now that it’s gone, now it really does revolve around clubs such as Churchill Grounds and Apache Cafe. Unlike other cities, Atlanta likely could not support a Gibson shop in Lenox.

It is surprising however, that there is not a serious hip hop industry shop in Lenox. On any given Saturday, the ultra-bling set can be seen shopping there and the lack of a store that sells cutting edge electronics, beat samplers, tracks, and recorders is surprising. Perhaps Simon is trying to discourage it.

Ah well, at least Atlanix is there, but with the loss of the music stores, book stores, and museum stores, a serious commitment from the Management at Simon would be a friendly gesture.

Atlanta is still not a 24 hour city.  Compared to other cities, there are some amenities we need and some changes that should occur.

Atlanta is still a place where Dunkin Donuts closes.  The Brookhaven Dunkin’ Donuts is a mile from Oglethorpe University, yet by 10:30, it’s closed.  Don’t they know if they throw a wifi router in the place and advertise they have access, the place will be packed 24/7?  Worse than that, we don’t have Tims!

The same goes for Starbucks.  Some are closed by 7.  Others by 10.  What’s with that?  There is not a single 24 hour Starbucks in Fulton or Dekalb County.

More Trader Joes are great, but as the NFT Atlanta points out, we like chain stores a little too much.  Other cities have gourmet stores that largely stock local product.  The closest we have is Alon’s.

We lack late night gourmet food.  Only Atkins Park is still serving ‘better than bar food’ on a Tuesday at 1 AM.  Yes, there are more diners, and some pubs still serving, but when you need a 1 AM business dinner, you’re left with Atkins Park or Chinese.

There are too few independent book stores in town, and none of them have a full service restaurant or bar in them.  Someone is missing the opportunity to make some serious cash.

We have too many governments and that is going to quash our regional effectiveness.  While other cities are in uni-gov mode, we’re splintering even more.

At least 3 of our major sports venues are inaccessible directly by subway.  Further, none of them have won a Championship this century!

MacDonald’s here do not serve Newman’s Own Organic Coffees.

One of the better midrange chocolate companies does its manufacturing here and most Atlantans don’t know because local stores don’t carry Flyer Bars!

The Museums around here have no free day, and rather than showing off the great art they own and acquiring more, they rent art from other museums!

Okay… enough snarking, but after visiting other cities, it’s clear we’re slipping.  Still, there is hope.  Housing is surely plentiful.  The city of Atlanta was truly strengthened by the Olympics.  People here are ambitious and want to get things done.  We have Atlantix.

One wonders, however, how long Metro Atlanta can survive until the lack of affordable starter homes, public transportation, and bickering between the various counties cripples the place.