What to Know About Avize, a New Alpine-Inspired Restaurant in West Midtown
Karl Gorline hails from Ocean Springs, a small town in coastal Mississippi. But the chef’s new restaurant, Avize, recently opened in Atlanta’s West Midtown neighborhood, is named for a small village in Northeastern France known for its exceptional vineyards, chalk-rich soils, and prestigious Grand Cru status.
Gorline has meticulously developed this concept over the past year-plus for Avize, aiming to create a menu that honors classic dishes through the lens of local, sustainable sourcing, and it’s his way of stepping out of his comfort zone professionally, after more than 20 years in the kitchen at restaurants like August in New Orleans, Brent’s Drugs in Jackson, MS, and most recently, the Woodall in Atlanta.
Avize promises to bring the ethos of the Alps to the South, blending French, Italian, Swiss, Austrian, and German influences in an ambitious yet approachable dining experience, while paying homage to Gorline’s roots – his ancestors arrived to the US via steamer from Bavaria many years ago. With an emphasis on close relationships with farmers (such as Bremen Farms and other family-run farms in the Southeast) and a commitment to high-quality ingredients, his interpretation of Alpine cuisine promises to be both fresh and rooted in tradition.
Which brings us to this: Avize also takes inspiration from the Middle English word “avisen” (it means “to look at,” “consider,” or “inform”), representing the intentionality behind Gorline’s style of hospitality. Avize will not necessarily showcase traditional food, but instead an interpretation of food traditions. And yes, there will be a focus on bubbles.
Here’s everything you need to know before you go.
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Expect to step out of your comfort zone.
“My family, they don’t eat fancy food,” Gorline says. For the chef, holiday dinners consisted of dishes like smoked chicken and crab dressing, fried mushrooms, greens, and sweet potatoes — worlds away from the rabbit liver parfait and rösti potatoes that will grace Avize’s menu, in addition to core staples like Alsace pizza and Black Forest cake and some evolving, seasonal dishes. Guests can look forward to an in-house aging program for meats and a focus on heritage livestock, while proteins like rabbit, duck, and North Georgia trout will be mainstays.
As for specific plates, look out for dishes like a fermented carrot Bolognese made with sheep’s milk, cavatelli, horseradish, mint, and pecorino, and a Juniper ice cream with fig leaf and oolong milk tea. Finally, pasta, “really good bread”, and cheese will always be handmade.
Drinking, like eating, will also be an adventure.
On this menu, wines by the bottle are separated by Old and New World, but also by styles (think electric/fresh, robust/opulent, vibrant/dazzling, and so on), inviting diners to choose their own adventure in a way that’s anything but intimidating. In terms of pointers, Taurean Philpott, Gorline’s business partner and Avize’s beverage director and hospitality manager, enthuses that sparkling wine is the most versatile across the list’s styles. And true to the restaurant’s regional focus, the list will represent a range of styles popular in the Alpine regions, plus more: German pinot noirs, Grüner Veltliner from Austria, amaros, chartreuse, and other Alpine spirits, in addition to classic wines, cocktails, and of course, lots of champagne.
Jason Swaringen (formerly of the Michelin-starred Bresca in Washington D.C., James Room, and Hyatt Centric Buckhead Atlanta), will lead the cocktail program with Alpine-inspired beverages, including some non-alcoholic options. A favorite of Gorline’s, which is also a nod to Philpott’s native Bermuda, is the Alpine swizzle, a tiki drink served in an antique stein with a custom swizzle stick and garnishes from Avize’s garden.
Taste and smell aren’t the only senses activated.
Avize aims to be a place of consistency, quality, and welcoming hospitality. First impressions are important because, as Gorline says, new restaurants don’t always get a second chance. He envisions the scene as a “big house party every night” as well as a pillar of stability in Atlanta’s dining scene, with a commitment to value and luxury. The goal is to capture a special atmosphere where guests can be themselves, enjoy consistently excellent dishes, and look forward to little surprises.
When I chat with Karl on a call initially, I notice he’s wearing a New Orleans Jazz Fest hat, and he mentions in passing that prior to becoming a chef he studied audio engineering. So, will music play a role in the feel of the restaurant at all? “We replaced the entire sound system on both sides,” he tells me, “26 speakers and two subs total.” While the playlist has yet to be solidified, if Gorline has a genre of music in mind for the dining room, he’s not saying what it is quite yet.
Thoughtful touches make Avize feel like home.
The restaurant space had a solid foundation to begin with. Formerly home to Aix and Tin Tin, then Nick’s Westside, Avize has been redesigned by Micha Hall (previously with Jamestown and NELSON Worldwide) of Gather & Grow Studios, marking the debut project of his new firm. Retaining the original layout, the space balances elegance with approachability, featuring custom millwork and Alpine-inspired design elements that aim to be chic, not kitschy. The dining room seats 80-plus guests, and recent enhancements included adding textures, changing upholstery, and upgraded lighting, ensuring a harmonious connection between the dining room and kitchen.
There are future plans for an adjacent bar that will double as a holding area for guests and a destination in itself, plus an outdoor dining area promise to further elevate the guest experience, solidifying Avize as a go-to answer for an array of dining situations in Atlanta.
Allison Ramirez is a bicoastal, Atlanta-based (for now) freelance journalist. She has over a decade of experience writing for publications like Travel + Leisure, the Daily Beast, Liquor, Thrillist, and others. Her recent work spans art, architecture, travel, and food & beverage stories, focusing on diversity within those spaces in the South and beyond. Follow her on Instagram here. Follow Resy, too.
