Five Things to Know About TBB 122, a Sunny West Coast Cafe in Alpharetta

TBB 122’s raison d’être is inspired by the owner’s travels with her daughter.

Equal parts charming and chic, TBB 122 is inspired by owner Michele Sedgwick’s travels with her daughter (and TBB 122’s head of marketing), Peyton Fallick. The pair traveled annually to The Raleigh Hotel in Miami, where they enjoyed flavorful breakfasts in a distinctly boutique atmosphere. They also spent time in Los Angeles, where fresh and organic ingredients are plentiful, and health-conscious fare more commonplace on menus. These two destinations inspired the concept for TBB 122, and the historic home on quiet Marietta Street was the perfect setting.

“We wanted to create a space that wasn’t just a restaurant,” said Sedgwick. “We wanted individual spaces, and we wanted coming here to be an experience. We felt like that was missing in Atlanta — and Alpharetta.”

“TBB 122 is a little bakery, a little coffee shop, a little wine bar, breakfast, brunch and serious food at night,” she said.

The ingredients may be simple, but they shine. 

Self-described as “crunchy,” Fallick is passionate about bringing the freshest produce and vital options to the restaurant. TBB 122 lifts the Cali fresh spirit by working with as many local suppliers as possible and keeping the menu seasonal. That can look like bibb lettuce salads in the spring, an elegant peach and blackberry galette in the summer, or a rotation of hummus, spreads and seasonal veggies on the mezze board. There’s a popular brunch with lighter fare ranging from buckwheat blueberry banana bread, to comforting soft scrambled eggs with seasonal vegetables and spicy peperonata, to steak and eggs lifted by Sicilian-style salmoriglio sauce.

The restaurant has also become a popular destination for dinner, with good reason. In the evening, expect small plates designed for sharing, from a light, flavorful tuna crudo or a blue crab toast with sumac aioli, to handmade pastas and elegant comfort cooking in the form of roast chicken with a house cured bacon vinaigrette and Calabrian chilli.

Throughout the menu, Fallick’s attention to detail and passion for top produce shines, in ingredients like grass-fed local and low-temperature pasteurized milk, organic chicken, and healthier cooking oils, like butter, olive oil and coconut oil. There’s even a garden that the kitchen dips into when vegetables and fruit hit their peak, like juicy heirloom tomatoes, fragrant melons, and gorgeous cucumbers and fennel.

It’s a social hotspot built for the community.

Sedgwick has a vision to establish TBB 122 as a social hotspot for afternoon drinks, snacks, socializing, and community gathering. “There aren’t many places you can go to in the afternoon, have a glass of wine and small plates. And that’s what I want.” Events have become an increasingly busy area, as the restaurant’s popularity and status as a community hub have grown.

This summer, the restaurant kicked off its wine tastings and live music series. For $40, guests get five wine tastings and seasonal hors d’oeuvres. The series features distributors with small production, low intervention, natural and biodynamic wines from interesting and small producers. This wine club, which also allows guests to pick up bottles to take home, is just another detail that brings a breezy West Coast vibe to Alpharetta. Meanwhile, the restaurant’s weekend yoga series brings regulars and locals alike together for Saturday morning classes and granola afterwards.

On Wednesday nights, there’s live music on the patio and elegant, seasonal small plates on the menu like scallops, tuna crudo, and beet and melon salad. Sedgwick also has plans for social hours from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday featuring wine specials, flatbreads, snacks and more.

Planning ahead is encouraged, and so are your celebrations.

While reservations are recommended on Saturday or Sunday, you might want to snag one for lunch on a weekday, too. It’s quickly become a popular lunch spot and bustling café most days. But if you don’t have one, don’t worry – there are plenty of spaces to wait if you need to. From the front terrace to the cozy couch, guests can make themselves at home with a cocktail or coffee here. For those feeling sociable, the community table is available and filled with guests catching up over drinks and solo workers on their laptops.

The restaurant also plays host to private events popular with a local clientele, like baby showers, wedding showers, rehearsal dinners, and intimate weddings.

The coffee and pastries are some of the best in town.

TBB 122 teamed up with local favorite (and close neighbor), Valor Coffee. And when you add the orange peel honey syrup to any espresso drink, you’re in for a real treat.

A pastry chef with a culinary background, Sedgwick is well-known for her celebrated bakery, Theo Brothers Bakery, in nearby Roswell. It’s no surprise then that the top-selling items on the menu are the Breakfast Sammy, served on a giant slab of sourdough, and the French toast with seasonal compote, made with Theo Brother’s Bakery brioche bread.

And Sedgwick would like to do more when it comes to pastry offerings, too. “I’d like to explore more nutrient-dense pastries,” she said. “We have a great gluten-free matcha cake, but I’d like to collaborate with someone in the pastry world on how we can improve on our ingredients. That might mean using honey, dates, or maple syrup in place of sugar, things like that. These are goals.”

TBB 122 is open Tuesday to Sunday for breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks. On Weds-Sunday, the dining room opens in the evening for dinner and Sunday supper. To learn more or to make a reservation, click here.

Ashley Twist Cole is an Atlanta-based freelance writer and the founding editor of Southern Kitchen and the manager of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s AccessAtlanta. Follow her on Instagram; follow Resy, too.