Saltwood Charcuterie and Bar; Loews Atlanta Hotel; 1065 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309; (404) 745-5000.
Casual dining, an evolving menu with a refreshing emphasis on small plates is what you will find at one of Atlanta’s newest restaurants in Saltwood, located on the entrance level of the Loews Atlanta Hotel in midtown.
The inviting space features a charcuterie station that serves as the restaurant’s centerpiece, so diners can pull up a stool to sample house-made and locally sourced items while watching the restaurant’s charcuterie chef hand-carve meats and assemble charcuterie plates.
Rounding up a seat or table in this 190-seat restaurant will soon prove to be a challenge, but don’t be afraid to try the 20-seat patio, where even on a warm night a nice breeze was blowing.
The menu is much like the restaurant itself in that you want to experience all of what it has to offer.
Saltwood is the vision of Loews executive chef, Olivier Gaupin, a native of Orleans, France, but the talented Chris Español, restaurant sous chef, is handling Saltwood’s day-to-day menu execution.
Español says he picks the different meats and cheeses that infuse the heart of the menu, but he expects it to change with the seasons.
“We also try to look local, whenever we can,” added Español, while offering our party of two a refreshing non-alcoholic taste of one of his concoctions.
“Local” is a popular word at Saltwood as everything from the butter to the honey and jams, along with the aforementioned meats and cheeses come from local or regional purveyors.
That means “fresh” and that is what management at the Loews is presenting to guests and Midtown diners.
“When we opened in Midtown in 2010, we committed ourselves to growing and evolving with this dynamic neighborhood,” said Mark Castriota, general manager of Loews Atlanta Hotel. “Now, five years later, we’re reaffirming that commitment by opening Saltwood, which caters directly to the Midtown lifestyle and the demand for house-made and locally-sourced ingredients.” He added, “We’re excited to create a new gathering place that both local and hotel guests will enjoy.”
My wife and I couldn’t wait.
We dove hand-first into some of the meats and cheeses, opting for soft nickajack from Tennessee’s Sequatchie Cove Farm. For meats, the ham and salami were givens. Now, this isn’t a typical ham and salami sandwich you might find in an average school lunch. The meats were perfectly shaved and packed with flavor.
In fact, flavor wasn’t lacking in any dish we tried. I’m sure quite a few of the specialty cocktails Saltwood churns out will bring your palate back down to earth for your next bite.
If starters are your thing, our server raved about the chilled cucumber soup and the Guanciale flatbread.
We decided to move on to one of the dishes that resembled and entree to to see what we would get. The Alabama grassfed ribeye was about as good of a cut of beef as you will get anywhere in Atlanta. The frittes were tasty and the homemade hollandaise sauce was a nice extra.
Delicious.
Dessert
With a dinner menu like Saltwood offers, we couldn’t wait to see and try the dessert menu.
Leaving just enough room for dessert, my wife’s eyes got big when she saw the banana pudding made with sweet vanilla custard. I was intrigued with the “Snicker’s stick,” but there was no stick at all. It was basically a Snickers bar you had to assemble yourself, unless you wanted to eat it in parts.
All good!
That is what Saltwood really is about…
Parts.
You eat your breakfast, lunch or dinner in parts, and in any any order or way you want.
Other dessert menu options include:
Shoo Fly Pie
Blueberry Buckle
and Moonshine Coke Float
It doesn’t matter if you bring your big or small appetite to Saltwood, what matters, is you bring yourself and try out what is sure to be a hit in Midtown.
Hours
Saltwood is open Monday through Sunday for breakfast from 6:30–11 a.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m., and dinner from 5:30 –10:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 5:30 – 11 p.m.
Saltwood is located at 1065 Peachtree Street NE in Midtown Atlanta. To see restaurant updates, “like” the Saltwood Facebook page. For more information about Loews Atlanta Hotel, visit www.loewshotels.com/Atlanta-Hotel.
