The newly minted Leons Full Service Restaurant auctioned off its first pint for $2,650.
MAXIMIZING SPACE
On March 1, Maxim Prime is closing its doors, but will reopen them soon in a new locale. Maxim Prime and the Glenn Hotel just announced that restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow and real estate developer David Marvin have come to an amicable agreement allowing the Glenn Hotel to expand its meeting and banquet space and give Maxim Prime the opportunity to move to larger quarters. The contract includes Marvin buying out the remainder of Maxim Prime’s lease, and the restaurant purchasing certain branded furniture and fixtures, which will be installed in the new location, to be announced shortly. Key employees of Maxim Prime will be reassigned to other Jeffrey Chodorow restaurants during the relocation.
TASTE RED & BLACK
Athens is about more than its football team, UGA’s famous arches and R.E.M. The college town offers a plethora of great restaurants, which are being celebrated at the 16th annual A Taste of Athens on Sunday, Feb. 22, from 5 to 8 p.m. The festival brings together more than 50 of Athens’ top eateries, such as Big City Bread Café, DePalma’s Italian Café, Earthfare, East West Bistro, Farm 255, Five and Ten, Five Star Day Café, Harry Bissett’s New Orleans Café (the original), Last Resort Grill, Porterhouse Grill, the Grill, the National and Weaver D’s. About 2,000 people are expected to join in the Classic City noshing, which also includes wine and beer tasting, as well as an elaborate silent auction. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the event’s beneficiary Community Connection, an organization that’s spent more than two decades providing links between those requiring social services and the services they need. In honor of Community Connection turning 25, the event will also feature a birthday cake competition, which will match up the culinary talents of Cecelia Villaveces Cakes, Deborah’s Specialty Cakes, Five Star Day Café and the Grill. Taste of Athens takes place at the Classic Center, located at 300 N. Thomas St. General admission tickets are $45, and VIP tickets, which include access to a VIP Taste Garden, early entrance, additional wine tasting, a commemorative plate and glass, and a special seating area, are $75. Tickets and more information are available at www.tasteofathens.com.
GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNING
Decatur’s Brick Store Pub owners Dave Blanchard, Michael Gallagher and Tom Moore have partnered up again on a new concept: Leons Full Service Restaurant. Housed in a former filling station, Leons offers a smattering of comfort foods. For starters, a pig smörgås (Benton’s country ham, melted gruyere grand cru, cherry jam and pineapple on toast), $7. Need a snack while you drink a pint? Try the bacon served in a glass with peanut butter on the side. Two other sure-fire winners: White Oak Pastures grass-fed burger crowned with Tillamook cheddar, ketchup, mustard, and bread and butter pickles, $9, and Niman Ranch pork osso bucco served with roasted butternut squash, braising greens and Gordon DIPA jus, $14.
Chef Eric Ottensmeyer (you might recognize him from his stints at Blais and Rathbun’s) sources local ingredients with menu decisions that herald his Southern upbringing. The dinner-only restaurant (owner Gallagher says to expect lunch service to begin in April) offers a winning selection of beers, natch. Liquor lovers can indulge in the full-service fill-up of specialty cocktails like the red-hot rye, a concoction of Rittenhouse rye whiskey, Angostura bitters, local spicy ginger ale and lime zest, $7.
In celebratory fashion, Leons auctioned off its first pint on eBay, with intentions of donating the winnings to a charity. The first bid was $50. The hammer came down at $2,650, a collective purchase from the staffs at Universal Joint and Steinbeck’s. The money collected by Leons was given to the employees of Trackside and Fifth Earl, which recently burned down. The official drinker for the pint-buying group, Marshall Davis, chose Terrapin Indian Brown Ale, and happily drank it down on opening day, Monday, Feb. 9.
Leons Full Service is located at 131 East Ponce de Leon Avenue, Decatur. 404-687-0500. www.leonsfullservice.com. SP
This article originally appeared in The Sunday Paper, Feb. 22, 2009. Kirsten Ott is the Life, Food & Style Editor for The Sunday Paper. Have an idea for Dish? Connect with her at kirstenott@sundaypaper.com.
