Shaun Doty & Fifth Group Opening The Original El Taco

It seems like the taco is about to get some attention from some heavy hitters in the biz. Shaun Doty (of Shaun's in Inman Park) and Fifth Group are coming together to bring you The Original El Taco in the space formerly occupied by Sala. I was never a big Sala fan, primarily because they strayed from two tenants of good Mexican in my mind- it was neither simple nor cheap. I hope Fifth Group learned their lesson from that. Here is the official release.

"The owners of Fifth Group Restaurants have joined forces with Executive Chef Shaun Doty, owner of Shaun’s, to create The Original El Taco in the former Sala space in Virginia-Highland. The new restaurant will open in mid-October. Doty is developing recipes for creative Mexican fare like tacos, tortas and salsas, and the Fifth Group Restaurants team is working with William Peace, Peace Design, to change the look and feel of the restaurant.

“The Original El Taco will be lively, bright, open, and - most of all - fun,” said Robby Kukler, co-owner of Fifth Group Restaurants. “We have known Shaun for years and when we found out he had been thinking about doing Mexican too, we knew it was a great partnership.”

“I love Mexican food and have wanted to do a restaurant like this for a while,” said Doty. “To have this opportunity to work with the pros at Fifth Group Restaurants is great.”

“We are going to create an easy, approachable destination for great Mexican food,” added Kukler.

Doty will work with a chef de cuisine at El Taco when the restaurant opens, while remaining executive chef at Shaun’s.

The Original El Taco is located at 1186 North Highland Avenue N.E. (formerly Sala) and will be open for dinner nightly. Fifth Group Restaurants sold Sala in mid-2007 and reacquired it in July 2008.

Fifth Group Restaurants is the privately owned company that operates Atlanta restaurants South City Kitchen® Midtown, South City Kitchen Vinings, La Tavola Trattoria and Ecco, as well as Bold American®, a catering and events company with onsite services at the Studio 887 and the Event Gallery at the King Plow Arts Center and offsite at private homes, offices and Atlanta's premier venues. For more information, call 678-302-3251 or visit www.fifthgroup.com.

What's Mother's Day Without Fried Goat Cheese?

Mother's Day is one of those holidays that turn places into true family-friendly restaurants that might not normally be that way. Take Ecco in Midtown, for example. I called ahead of time to see if kids would be welcome for their special Mother's Day brunch, and if they had high chairs. After hearing they would, I booked my reservation through Open Table (wanted my 100 points, you know). I later learned they don't normally carry any high chairs. They had planned to rent them for the day, but their supplier fell through. Ecco was really on the ball, and called us to let us know and to advise us to bring our own booster chair. They must have had a lot of calls to make, as most tables had small children, and many of those folks got the advanced word and brought their own boosters as well.

As soon as I told Lady Steakhead about our reservations at Ecco, she began salivating over the Fried Goat Cheese. And for good reason as I love the way the taste of the cheese mixes with the honey and peppercorns. We also sampled some of their cured meats and salamis. This was definitely the highlight of our brunch. I ordered the pizza as it was something that could be easily shared with Little Steakhead. Good, but not as good as the fried cheese. Lady Steakhead had something that resembled a quiche. It didn't live up to the fried cheese either. That's the downfall of having one of the best appetizers in Atlanta...the main courses may not live up in comparison.

The staff was great, and our waiter made sure that our Mother's Day brunch was the special occasion we were looking for. We'll definitely be back, even if its just for the fried cheese. It's that good.

NHL All-Star Ticket Giveaway at South City Kitchen

If there is one thing Steakhead likes as much as food, its hockey. And South City Kitchen has a deal that brings those two worlds together. Here is the press release:

"On Wednesday, January 16 from 6 pm to 8 pm, guests who bring a canned good to South City Kitchen Midtown or Vinings will be entered to win two tickets to the NHL All-Star Game (on 1/27 at 6 p.m.) at Phillips Arena (one raffle ticket per can – no limit, so the more cans you bring, the better your chances). Canned food will go to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. A pair will be raffled off at 6:30, 7 and 7:30 pm; you must be present to win."

Call 404.873.7358 (Midtown) or 770.435.0700 (Vinings) for reservations. I will be attending!

Ecco Emerges from the Haze

When Lady Steakhead lived in Midtown a couple of years ago, the building on the corner of Cypress and 7th was a grey cinderblock nightclub called Haze. A crumbling hotel sat across the street. Today, the Spire, a gleaming glass high-rise, now sits across the street. And in the place of Haze is Ecco, the latest entry by the Fifth Group restaurants.

Ecco has been on our list for sometime, partly because we remember how this area used to look a short time ago. And with this being Midtown Restaurant Week, this was a perfect excuse to have a date night.

The day was filled with highs and lows. First the lows, I learned this was the last weekend for McCray’s in its current location. Damn, I really liked that bar. Once of the few great hangout bars in Midtown- really reminded me of NYC. Then a high- we discovered the new Midtown location of Marlow’s Tavern. This will take McCray’s place. In fact, I’m meeting a fellow Mets fan there tonight before heading down to the Ted.

But, as this blog is primarily about food, let’s get on to the main course, our dinner at Ecco. I want to give Ecco a lot of credit for giving a great selection of their regular menu for restaurant week. They didn’t cut portion sizes of the entrees, and even included an entrée that normally sells for $24. For appetizers, I went with the Mussels (the only dish on the Restaurant Week menu that is not the normal size), while LS went with the fried goat cheese with honey. I’m not a huge goat cheese fan, but this was pretty good- the cheese, pepper and honey created a nice blend of sweet and spice. I was happy to see one of the entrée choices was the chili-braised pork with pappardelle. The pork was very tender, and the red chili sauce had a good little kick to it. The wife’s choice of the braised lamb was good, but she thought a little too heavy for the time of year. My dessert was one of the oddest I have ever had- an olive oil poundcake with rosemary ice cream. And it tasted exactly like it sounds- sort of like salad dressing cookies with garlic bread ice cream. Like I said, odd.

The service was very good and the place was packed, probably due to Restaurant Week. It’s nice to see continued development of Midtown, especially off Peachtree St. This was an area you may have been nervous to walk at night several years ago. Now, it’s a destination restaurant in the shadow of Midtown high-rise living. Very cool to see.

Steakhead Recommends: Definitely for Restaurant Week
Price: $$