Salmon with vegetables
Photo by Ryan Fleisher
A nondescript office building on the edge of Midtown, near a FedEx Office and Marriott Residence Inn, is getting an upgrade. Come September 10, it will welcome a French brasserie and a micro food hall. Led by chef Akhtar Nawab—who brings experience from Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern and Tom Colicchio’s Craft—the 7,000-square-foot space at 1375 Peachtree Street will bring sushi, hibachi, French bistro, and Southern fare to the area.
The restaurant is named Brasserie Lundi for the French word for “Monday” because “it’s not an occasion place—it’s a place you can go every day,” Nawab explains.
It will open with dinner service and begin to offer breakfast and lunch on September 25. The menu will feature “a slew of dishes consistent with a brasserie—familiar items,” Nawab says. “Sometimes we see brasseries pushing the boundaries. We want to incorporate local items and play around a bit too.” Examples include fried green tomato schnitzel with Japanese curry and rice. There will be foie gras torchon with stone fruit preserves and brioche, poached halibut with charred leeks and smoked trout caviar, and Parisienne gnocchi with basil pistou and zucchini.
Squid ink pasta
Photo by Ryan Fleisher
Weekend brunch will feature dishes such as sheep’s milk ricotta pancakes with orange honey syrup and caramelized pan perdue with seasonal fruit, while weekday breakfast leans more continental with omelets, oatmeal, and pastries from Saint Germain. The lunch menu will be a paired down version of dinner with the addition of entree salads (think braised and pickled beets) and sandwiches (croque madame and jamon beurre). A coffee bar will serve traditional espresso-based drinks from Illy.
A separate, full bar will specialize in French cocktails with a twist—such as a saffron Old Fashioned. There will be a riff on the Vesper called the Olive Branch, made with olive oil-washed vodka, gin, Cocchi Americano, and basil, and a spin on a Swizzle comprised of Boomsma Claerkampster Cloosterbitter, Martinique-style rum, cane syrup, lime, and peach liqueur. Wines will be heavily French with New World and other Old World selections to round out the 55-bottle list. Fifteen of these will be available by the glass, including natural and orange options. In addition to local beers, Brasserie Lundi will offer Kronenbourg, a French pale lager.
Set between two walls of windows, the restaurant feels airy. Antique mirrors and variety of paintings attraction attention. Wooden arches separate the space from the food hall.
The Peacherie features communal-style seating.
Photo by Ryan Fleisher
Nawab is curating the food hall, called the Peacherie, with two of the three tenants announced thus far. Jack Bai of Gekko Kitchen (Politan Row) is launching a new food stall called Ninja Way Express there. It will serve poke, sushi, and hibachi with items like a shrimp bowl and hibachi chicken bowl. Newer to the industry is Miles Davis, who is serving modern Southern cuisine like pimento cheese dip, smoked honey chicken, and fried green tomatoes with cherry tomato jam. His stall will be called Discourse Eatery, and every meal will come with conversation-starter cards designed to get people talking.
Decorated in light woods with plenty of natural light, the dining room features a lot of curved, communal banquettes to accommodate groups. It also offers counter and patio seating. Patrons will be able to order drinks from cocktail servers who will deliver them from Brasserie Lundi’s bar.
“Not everyone has an hour-and-a-half to sit down for lunch. Here, people can get something in 10 minutes and take it with them if they need to,” Nawab says. “We want to appeal to both types of consumers, offering something for everyone.”
Croque glace with chocolate sauce
Photo by Ryan Fleisher
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Dining and Cooking