March Hit List: Bastone, KR Steakbar, Dough Boy Pizza Co, and More

The hand-pulled and made-to-order mozzarella, delightful charcuterie, and handcrafted pastas haven’t changed — but they’re now easier to obtain, via Resy. Chef Pat Pascarella’s elegant restaurant, designed to feel like a place where happy hour lasts all day, should be one of the first places that come to mind if you’re a fan of burrata, as they have several iterations, including the creamy Lioni truffle from New Jersey. Pork ragu, braised lamb, brown butter agnolotti, and even Tuscan fried chicken are there for heartier appetites, and both the well-focused wine menu and classic aperitivo cocktails such as the Spumoni (gin, Carpano bitter, grapefruit, lemon, tonic) are spot-on.

Ben Ferris, a native Atlantan who worked for nearly a decade as a winemaker in Napa, Sonoma, Washington state and Australia, is behind this new self-serve wine bar and market at Chattahoochee Ave’s mixed-use development The Works. The setup of 48 Enomatic wine dispensers allow for a global tasting tour; select from 1.5-ounce, full glass or carafe pours. Those can be matched with made-to-order paninis, charcuterie boards, fresh salads, and more, with more than 100 wines by the bottle for an at-home wine-and-dine experience. You can also purchase olive oils, vinegars, and jams from the market, plus meats and cheeses sold by the pound.

See the full wine list and find more details here.

Just coming off its 25th anniversary last month, this charming Italian restaurant is owned and operated by the wife and children of late Atlanta restaurant legend Tony Fundora. He passed away late last year but gave Atlanta such classic dining spots as Alfredo’s, the 41-year Italian institution of Cheshire Bridge, which closed in 2016. Though the patriarchal chef and restaurateur is gone, his legacy remains in his family’s north-OTP Italian spot, which is all about the Italian classics and offers a textbook neighborhood dining experience. You’ll feel and taste the old-school soul that’s still present in layer-upon-layer of the lasagna al forno, or dinner plates like tender breaded chicken Parm or crab ravioli, all from the same recipes Fundora featured at Alfredo’s, and all of which come with highly addictive garlic bread (be careful).

Kevin Rathbun’s fancy, feisty fine-dining house of steaks and Italian fare is celebrating its 10th anniversary, as well as the Italian Festival of the Pig, Maialata, with a special March 5 event (tickets required). Even if it sells out, the high-level service and never-miss quality of the food make every visit an event. Stop in whenever you’re ready for masterful meals like mussels in fennel tomato broth, followed by a 10-ounce cut of spinalis rib-eye cap in balsamico and roasted garlic. Finish with caramelized white chocolate gelato, plus a well-balanced and reasonably priced list of wine by the glass and bottle, and brilliant cocktails like the Fantastic Voyage (Tequila, Aperol, banana, sumac, lemon, and coconut). FYI, a few slots are open for Kevin’s quick-to-sell-out cooking classes, so act quickly.

Longtime Atlanta radio icon Ryan Cameron has opened a pizza restaurant inside The Gallery at South DeKalb. Started in Birmingham, Dough Boy was founded by Erica Barrett, an Atlanta-based Black woman chef who brought in Cameron as the first franchisee and owner of the chain’s second location. The thin-crust, Neapolitan-style pies are named with nods to mobster themes, including the Goodfellas meat-lover’s pizza with sausage, pepperoni, ham, and bacon; the High-Flying Gambino (diced chicken, Buffalo sauce, blue cheese, diced celery and four white cheeses); and the Big Banks Bonanno, which is topped with ham, salami, pepperoni, and hot capicola.

See the pizzas and learn more about Dough Boy on Instagram.

The buzz remains big for this friendly and festive Peruvian haunt, where the ceviche and other menu items are outstanding and the coastal energy is infectious. Chef Arnaldo Castillo’s ceviches are still the main draw, with medium levels of spice on his leche de tigre, which you’ll find in the de pescado (snapper), the mixto (snapper, octopus, and shrimp), and the vegan mushroom ceviche made with beech and shiitakes. That said, don’t be so distracted by the cold fish dishes that you overshoot your ability to enjoy starters like the fried cornmeal catfish with ciabatta, or Chifa (Chinese-inspired Peruvian fare) plates such as seafood fried rice with pork belly, shell-on shrimp, and chow mein noodles.

Celebrating its one-year anniversary as a bespoke plant shop, Nourish Botanica’s highly anticipated cafe, which aims to be Atlanta’s first sustainable greenhouse restaurant, launches this month as a cafe and incubator for pop-up chefs. Along with teas, cocktails, and mocktails, every weekend there’ll be coffee from local baristas like vegan coffee shop pop-up Rainbow Calypso, and plant-based food from groups like The Powerplant, leaning into Southern and Caribbean cuisine. The idea is to reintroduce food as medicine to the community, and of course you’ll still have lots of options for purchasing flowers and houseplants before and after your healthy Saturday meal.

Learn more about Nourish Botanica and the café on Instagram.

It’s been one year since the upper-Peachtree second location of this contemporary gourmet Indian restaurant entered Buckhead, after establishing itself in Midtown since 2013. Along with expertly cooked veggies from samosas to chile-garlic cauliflower, and meatier small plates such as spiced lamb chops and basil chicken tikka in chile marmalade, you’ll also find a variety of biryani dishes and curries: the ginger-garlic curry goat and the spicy vindaloo are worth a first or repeated try. If all else fails — and don’t worry; it won’t — the butter chicken will always be the best thing you’ve had all day.

Inside this historic Main Street house, built in 1914, you’ll find not just a surprisingly contemporary design aesthetic (neon signage that reads “Keep the vibes alive,” and a glorious mural of a howling gray wolf), but a keen sense of modern dining that defies expectation in its range and execution. The small plate menu goes global, with pork belly tacos next to Korean barbecue brussels sprouts, chicken satay with bok choy, and Mexican street corn. Entrees are more centered on the American diner experience, upscaled so that your steak is a filet with saffron mashed potatoes and compound butter, your spicy pomodoro spaghetti comes with veal meatballs, and so forth. The cocktail menu also steps high, with a gin lavender lemonade, spiced old fashioneds and the bourbon, lemon, and fig “Figgy Smalls.”