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| Mitra (upscale casual) **** (excellent rating) Midtown 818 Juniper Street, Atlanta, GA 30308 404-875-5515 Sia’s in North Fulton has been a success for owner Sia Moshk and chef Scott Serpas. They’ve honed their talents in and brought their creativity to a Midtown house where they are serving a menu of very good “creative American fare with Latin influences.” MENU: **** Here’s the sign of a good restaurant, you wrestle with your partner over what to order, vowing to come back for what you can’t try. There’s a great variety among starters, entrees and desserts and a variety of techniques used (frying, roasting, baking). FOOD QUALITY: **** Serpas, a James Beard chef, knows how to select and enhance cuts of meat, fish, vegetables and starches and pulls a variety from a variety of vendors. Similarly, pastry chef Ann Marie Kenney uses excellent ingredients. FOOD PRESENTATION: **** All the dishes are stunningly presented on white plates. ATMOSPHERE: **** Urban chic meets Mediterranean flair in a causal, comfortable setting. The rubbed tangelo and persimmon walls pop with paintings of voluptuous men and women and the wrought-iron, custom made furniture is both comfortable and handsome. A dark beamed, exposed ceiling and a chandelier dubbed “medusa” create a warm, striking effect. CLEANLINESS: **** From kitchen to bathrooms, upstairs and downstairs, the place is tidy. SERVICE: ***** Team service from the manager to the bartender to the waitstaff is uniformly friendly and knowledgeable. A black napkin was proffered to keep lint at bay and a shared salad was separately plated. There’s absolutely no attitude here. MENU RECOMMENDATIONS: I’d give a blue ribbon to the plump, flash-fired, briny oysters in a whisper-light corn flour spiked with Anaheim garlic escabeche on top. A close second was the exquisitely flavored roasted lamb, served in crisp, finger-sized red tacos with an almond-raisin relish and a topping of cabrales, Spanish blue cheese. Thin slices of chimichurri skirt steak nestled on a whipped bed of cayenne maple sweet potatoes were perfectly cooked and tender; masa harina herb-roasted mahi-mahi with grilled vegetable mahon enchiladas was similarly well-executed, the fish juicy and flaky and tomatillo adding a bit of heat. The coffee flan (more like a pot de crème served in a coffee cup) paired with a terrific cornmeal sugar cookie and a glass of Don PX sherry as a lush accompaniment are a choice ending to the meal. OVERALL RATING: **** Start to finish, this restaurant offers wonderfully innovative food and personable service in an appealing environment at very fair prices. What more can you ask for? review by Suzanne Wright |
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