Joel, Atlanta

Nation's Restaurant News, Jan 14, 2002 by Jack Hayes

When Joel Antunes resigned his prestigious, five-year post as chef of The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, his vision was to create a namesake fine-dining venue with a little bit more casual flair. Thus his menu at brasserie Joel, while showing some influence of foie gras and truffle, is not overweighted with luxury items.

Consequently, Joel's menu pricing is one-third or more below the prix-fixe level at The Dining Room, as is the restaurant's per-person check average. Appetizers range from $7.25 for the chilled vichyssoise with chives to $15.95 for the terrine of foie gras with fig marmalade. Entrees begin at $16.95 for the farfalle with tomato confit, spinach and asparagus and run to $27.95 for the fillet of turbot with butternut squash and lemon pepper sauce. Dessert pricing holds a narrow range, from $7.75 for the lemon meringue tart to $9.00 for the pineapple bruschetta.

"I didn't want to go over the top," says the French-born chef, who graced his kitchen with a 62-foot-long, stainless steel stove, said to be the longest of its type in a stand-alone kitchen in the United States. The stove boasts a chrome self-cleaning smokeless griddle, a water-cooled electric grill, a continuously rotating bainmarie, a salamander, six ovens, five cook tops, a deep fryer and undermounted sauce and plate warmers.

In fact, in a recent review praising the size and embellishments of Joel's kitchen -- down to its climate-controlled pasta room -- Atlanta-based food writer Christiane Lauterbach called Joel's food "awesome, and in some cases better than many of the dishes Antunes used to do at the Ritz.... There is no such thing as the eye being seduced and the palate being unfulfilled."

The award-winning chef, born in Volvic, France, and taught by Paul Bocuse, among others, brought to Joel not only his home-learned talents but also the Asian skills he acquired while cooking at The Oriental hotel's Normandie restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand.

The menu accordingly is garnished with Thai influences, including the crab roll appetizer with lobster consomme and tomato petal, the lobster cannelloni entree with Thai sauce and cucumber and the lemon grass soup with pineapple dessert.

One factor that has influenced menu planning is Atlantans' request for healthful cuisine. The chef was against adding green salad to the menu at the outset although his kitchen prepared the salad on request. However, overwhelming demand has convinced Antunes to add salad to the menu.

Antunes is the principal menu-maker, but Joel's kitchen crew of 12 includes sous chef Robert Guillou -- a friend for 20 years -- from Chevre d'Or in the south of France, and pastry chef Philippe Givre from the acclaimed Fauchon bake shop in Paris.

Antunes, subscribing to a structured kitchen philosophy, has assigned each of his 12 chefs to focus on the preparation of three or four dishes from start to finish, each with his own cooking area on the massive stove. "I think I am running the most organized kitchen in the United States," Antunes boasts.

RELATED ARTICLE: Location: Piazza at Paces, 3290 Northside Parkway

Concept: French brasserie with Mediterranean and Asian influences

Date opened: Oct. 10,2001

Capacity: 128 in main dining room; 65 in tap as bar/lounge; 32 in private dining rooms

Covers: 100 at lunch, 200 at dinner

Check average: $20.00 at lunch, $50.00 at dinner

Best-selling item: sauteed snails with corn ravioli, com and truffle broth

Worst-selling item: mast cod, eggplant caviar and sauce piperade, with potato puree

Menu maker: Chef Joel Antunes