2017 Index of Winners
Best Latin music club BOA Award Winner
Best bowling alley BOA Award Winner
Best patron for the arts BOA Award Winner
Kebbi Williams
KEBBI WILLIAMS has spent a lifetime immersed in music. Spending decades traversing the late-night music scene, and landing a gig playing sax for the Grammy-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band seems more than worthy of earning a lifetime achievement award. And sure, when he rolls up to Kevin Scott's Tuesdaymore...
KEBBI WILLIAMS has spent a lifetime immersed in music. Spending decades traversing the late-night music scene, and landing a gig playing sax for the Grammy-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band seems more than worthy of earning a lifetime achievement award. And sure, when he rolls up to Kevin Scott's Tuesday night jam sessions at Elliott Street Deli & Pub, the city's finest players turn their heads in awe. But Williams' work on the ground level truly makes a difference. As one of the proprietors of Gallery 992, he's created an outpost for the arts, music, yoga and education in the West End. His annual Music in the Park blowouts in Howell Park place young students and professional musicians on a level playing field, and engage them all with music. After watching music education programs being stripped from public schools throughout the city, Williams has worked with more than 5,100 students and more than 300 professional musicians to crowds of more than 15,000 people. Now seven years deep, and still free for all to attend, Williams has done more than his share of heavy lifting for the arts; changing hearts and minds every step of the way. www.musicintheparkatl.org/gallery-992.
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Best sound guy BOA Award Winner
Andrew Wiggins
Since taking over Johnny Rhum's role as production manager at the Earl in August 2016, guitarist and noise specialist ANDREW WIGGINS (Caesium Mine, ex-HAWKS) has brought his high level of expertise and professionalism to sound quality and production show after show. A tech at Acorn Amplifiers by day,more...
Since taking over Johnny Rhum's role as production manager at the Earl in August 2016, guitarist and noise specialist ANDREW WIGGINS (Caesium Mine, ex-HAWKS) has brought his high level of expertise and professionalism to sound quality and production show after show. A tech at Acorn Amplifiers by day, Wiggins' sound production stands out due to his personal touches to the Earl's sound setup, such as his mid-1970s Echoplex EP-3 he sometimes chooses to run through vocals. Having learned under Rhum and Curt Wells in his earlier days as sound guy around town, Wiggins maintains the reputation the two established at the Earl, continuously braving the impairments of tinnitus and bringing his insight and meticulousness of sound to bands' performances. His expertise and service of producing consistently impeccable-sounding shows with the attention and care he takes to make artists sound their best make him a standout favorite among Best local and touring bands and an asset in the Atlanta music scene.
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Best act to kick footwork into the future BOA Award Winner
Charolastra
In February, when Peter Roglin released CHAROLASTRA's debut cassette, God Help Us, the project appeared to be a one-man operation: Roglin kept on track by producers Anthony Nolan and Tito Mazzetta. Throughout God Help Us, songs such as "Top of the World," "Microdream" and "Is Everything as It Seems"more...
In February, when Peter Roglin released CHAROLASTRA's debut cassette, God Help Us, the project appeared to be a one-man operation: Roglin kept on track by producers Anthony Nolan and Tito Mazzetta. Throughout God Help Us, songs such as "Top of the World," "Microdream" and "Is Everything as It Seems" make fine intros to Roglin's early obsessions with hip-hop, drum and bass, Chicago footwork and spacey ambient production. But when performing live on stage, Charolastra opens up dramatically. These days Roglin hesitates to even talk about the project without diverting attention to the band he has assembled, featuring guitarist Speros Kokenes, bass player Alex Pound, saxophone player Marquinn Mason and drummer Dylan Banks. On stage, the group takes a headlong dive into cosmic jazz excursions, bookended by Mason's towering presence walking the frontline of long, sustained moments of improv and beat-driven structures. Roglin lays low in the background, twisting knobs and watching over his devices with stoic presence, as the group digs into rhythms grooves and textures that transcend the instincts and temperament of modern musical trends. This is music that forges its own adventurous path from the group's collective conscious into the colorful outer regions of modern Atlanta music. www.charolastra.bandcamp.com.
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Best food trend BOA Award Winner
Poke
Best brunch BOA Award Winner
Atlanta Breakfast Club
Best Indian BOA Award Winner
Masala Indian Cuisine
Best Mexican BOA Award Winner
Best Spanish/Tapas BOA Award Winner
Best Vietmanese BOA Award Winner
Best pizza BOA Award Winner
Antico Pizza
Best local food advocate BOA Award Winner
Best OTP newcomer BOA Award Winner
Spring
Praise be the OTP restaurant that makes intowners (not to mention out-of-towners) jealous. Marietta’s SPRING is such a place. Chef Brian So, formerly of Sobban, crafts elegantly simple compositions — like a recent sweet corn risotto with charred padróns and a scattering of local chanterelles —more...
Praise be the OTP restaurant that makes intowners (not to mention out-of-towners) jealous. Marietta’s SPRING is such a place. Chef Brian So, formerly of Sobban, crafts elegantly simple compositions — like a recent sweet corn risotto with charred padróns and a scattering of local chanterelles — that showcase our region’s bounty as well as any farm-driven ITP mainstay does. The rustic dining room, converted from an old train depot, makes good use of exposed brick and old wood beams, reminding you that you’re in the heart of a place with history — a feeling that’s increasingly hard to find among Midtown’s construction cranes. But be warned: Bon Appétit recently selected Spring as one of the 50 best new restaurants in the U.S., which will surely spur visits from well beyond Marietta’s bounds. 83 Church St., Marietta. 678-540-2777. www.springmarietta.com.
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Best career move BOA Award Winner
Chef and home cooks alike used to arrive early to Peachtree Road Farmers Market to get first dibs on forager MICHAEL HENDRICKS’ found edibles. This year, however, after nine years of working closely with Staplehouse’s Ryan Smith, Hendricks took a forager’s dream job, searching through the woodsmore...
Chef and home cooks alike used to arrive early to Peachtree Road Farmers Market to get first dibs on forager MICHAEL HENDRICKS’ found edibles. This year, however, after nine years of working closely with Staplehouse’s Ryan Smith, Hendricks took a forager’s dream job, searching through the woods full-time for chef Smith’s award-winning restaurant. Besides mushrooms, he brings in ramps, daylily shoots and buds, wood sorrel, Japanese knotweed and violet leaves. That dreamy chicken liver tart recently came tweezered with Hendricks’ golden chanterelles, and marrying their skills together is the basis Staplehouse was born upon: “health, happiness, and longevity through what we eat,” as Hendricks puts it. He can take a little credit for that edible flower in your cocktail, too, as he also cares for the herb garden out back. Staplehouse, 541 Edgewood Ave. S.E. 404-524-5005. www.staplehouse.com.
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Best long-awaited recognition BOA Award Winner
Root to leaf to medal: After five consecutive years of nominations for one of the restaurant industry’s highest honors, Miller Union’s STEVEN SATTERFIELD was finally named Best Chef: Southeast of 2017 by the James Beard Foundation. In a ceremony last spring in Chicago, fellow titleholder Anne Quatranomore...
Root to leaf to medal: After five consecutive years of nominations for one of the restaurant industry’s highest honors, Miller Union’s STEVEN SATTERFIELD was finally named Best Chef: Southeast of 2017 by the James Beard Foundation. In a ceremony last spring in Chicago, fellow titleholder Anne Quatrano placed the coveted and well-deserved medal around Satterfield’s neck. And collectively, we in Atlanta cheered because Satterfield has long been a dedicated champion of both our local farmers and our bellies, churning out seasonal, veggie-focused food (not to mention an impeccably curated wine list, which was also nominated this year) at eight-year-old Atlanta gem Miller Union. You earned it, chef. Miller Union, 999 Brady Ave. N.W. 678-733-8550. www.millerunion.com.
photo by: Joeff Davis
less...Best food spectacle BOA Award Winner
Get your tickets to the GUNSHOW because there is no place quite like it. Kevin Gillespie’s Glenwood Park hot spot is the rare collision of cool concept meets exceptional food. There are no menus with set courses; rather, dishes audition for your choosing as chefs come to the table and present itemsmore...
Get your tickets to the GUNSHOW because there is no place quite like it. Kevin Gillespie’s Glenwood Park hot spot is the rare collision of cool concept meets exceptional food. There are no menus with set courses; rather, dishes audition for your choosing as chefs come to the table and present items both homey and exotic. A mashup of dim sum and Brazilian churrascaria, where a wide-open kitchen sets the stage for maximum chef-diner interaction, Gunshow is never the same place twice. Executive chef Joey Ward carefully curates a scene of clever, heartfelt and playful food. Cocktails come by way of a rolling cart, where your conductor, Mercedes O’Brien, mixes and stirs right in front of you. 924 Garrett St., Suite C. 404-380-1886. www.gunshowatl.com.
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Best little chocolate factory in Atlanta BOA Award Winner
XOCOLATL
Nestled inside Krog Street Market sits the tiniest chocolate factory in Atlanta — and maybe the nation. Husband and wife team Elaine Read and Matt Weyandt opened XOCOLATL back in 2014 and have been steadily churning chocolate bars (and their highly addictive drinking chocolate — hot in the wintermore...
Nestled inside Krog Street Market sits the tiniest chocolate factory in Atlanta — and maybe the nation. Husband and wife team Elaine Read and Matt Weyandt opened XOCOLATL back in 2014 and have been steadily churning chocolate bars (and their highly addictive drinking chocolate — hot in the winter and frozen in the summer) out of their miniscule 250-something-square-foot space ever since. The couple is serious about ingredients and sourcing. All bars are single origin and start with a base of just cane sugar and pure cacao from South and Central America. Be sure to try their latest offering: Love & Happiness, made with Peruvian cacao beans, fresh raspberry and blood orange. 99 Krog St. N.E. 404-604-9642. www.xocolatlchocolate.com
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Best cheap eats BOA Award Winner
Best service BOA Award Winner
Atlanta Breakfast Club
Best Chinese BOA Award Winner
Golden Buddha Restaurant
Best Italian BOA Award Winner
Bambinelli's
Best Korean BOA Award Winner
Gaja
Best Middle Eastern BOA Award Winner
Imperial Fez
Best mixologist/bartender BOA Award Winner
Bob Ruede
Best farmers market BOA Award Winner
Best biscuits BOA Award Winner
Best playground BOA Award Winner
Best weed warrior BOA Award Winner
Allen Peake
A handful of politicos pushed pot policy reforms this year, but only one of those efforts bore fruit. State Rep. ALLEN PEAKE passed legislation that expanded the list of ailments a person must have to be eligible for a medical cannabis oil prescription. The THC limit is still capped at 5 percent, somore...
A handful of politicos pushed pot policy reforms this year, but only one of those efforts bore fruit. State Rep. ALLEN PEAKE passed legislation that expanded the list of ailments a person must have to be eligible for a medical cannabis oil prescription. The THC limit is still capped at 5 percent, so patients aren’t exactly getting stoned just yet. But Peake is also a proponent of establishing an in-state cultivation model, so Georgia could start regulating its own bud market. We’ll have to wait until the next legislative session to see how that shakes out. Meantime, state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, and Councilman Kwanza Hall are driving local efforts to relax weed laws in Atlanta. Stay tuned. www.allenpeake.com.
photo by: Joeff Davis/ CL File
less...Best co-working space BOA Award Winner
The era of the co-working space is in full effect in Atlanta these days,, but all these startup-focused spots are not created equal. Leading this increasingly crowded pack is SWITCHYARDS DOWNTOWN CLUB, although it’s not totally because of its cool work areas, funky auditorium, espresso bar or ping-pongmore...
The era of the co-working space is in full effect in Atlanta these days,, but all these startup-focused spots are not created equal. Leading this increasingly crowded pack is SWITCHYARDS DOWNTOWN CLUB, although it’s not totally because of its cool work areas, funky auditorium, espresso bar or ping-pong table. None of that matters as much as the fact that SDC seems to cultivate and nurture a vibe that is uniquely Downtown: creative, down-to-earth, more about substance and less about flash. In the process, drawing entrepreneurs — like Bhargava and Anu Chiluveru of the art-focused e-commerce startup fourofour, and Tallia Deljou and Kate Gremillion of the women-centric career development company Mavenly + Co. — who share those same values to work and create there. 151 Ted Turner Drive N.W. www.switchyards.com.
photo by: Joeff Davis/ CL File
less...Best sneaker store BOA Award Winner
Best natural hair salon BOA Award Winner
The Good Hair Shop
Best nail salon BOA Award Winner
Lark and Sparrow
Best spa BOA Award Winner
Best gym BOA Award Winner
The Rack Athletic Performance Center
Best liquor store BOA Award Winner
Green's Beverages
Best CSA BOA Award Winner
Bliss Farm
Best independent bookstore BOA Award Winner
Best bike shop BOA Award Winner
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