Look at you, standing there with one foot out of 2013’s door already. Get back in here. Sit at our feet. Allow us to regale you with tales of all that was glorious in the last 360 days. Reconsider sitting at our feet and maybe sit in a chair instead.
West Egg. You’ve always thought it didn’t need to do anything else. That it’d already done enough. Then, without warning (okay, there was a ton of warning), the owners opened a New York–inspired Jewish deli that changed your attitude toward pastrami forever. Fine, that’s dramatic, but you get it.
When you were out celebrating on July 4, a small kitchen fire happened at Rathbun’s, forcing it to shut down. And then when you were out celebrating on... October 23, the same thing happened to the Optimist. The good news: they both reopened stronger than ever. And presumably with more fire extinguishers.
New spots putting oysters on their menus in Atlanta: not unusual. New spots dedicating entire raw bars to them in Atlanta: pretty unusual. Still, it happened with the onslaught of Kimball House, Ink & Elm and Shucks. And then you happened with them.
You appreciate beer. It’s why a major part of your year revolved around it. Especially at new breweries like BlueTarp (Decatur’s first full-scale facility) and Three Taverns (Decatur’s... second full-scale facility). It wasn’t a race. But if it were, you’d have won.
McAlister’s Deli should’ve known better than to give Rosebud a cease-and-desist order for having a sandwich with the same name as one of theirs (The Big Nasty). But alas, they did. And you watched as Ron Eyester promptly renamed it The Nasty McAlister. New passive-aggressive name, same great taste.
There were a few too many times this year when all you needed was a dark, alley-accessible bar with gin cocktails. Before, you would’ve had to settle. But all that changed when Paul Calvert opened up a tiny quaffing den behind Victory Sandwich Bar. And with it, your outlook on life.
For 40 years, Dante’s was the place to go if you wanted fondue, jazz and... crocodiles in a moat. Which made the fact that they demoed it to build a high-rise in its place kind of bittersweet. Word is, though, they’re looking for a new location. Fondue knows no defeat.
