Welcome to Atlanta where the players play and….Just kidding. Any who, you need to head to Atlanta immediately to try Gun Show. One of the most casual restaurants with the highest culinary talent I’ve seen. I can’t even begin to share the joy I felt at this restaurant without wishing I was still there. The concept is unlike any other I’ve seen and extremely untraditional. Basically, you don’t have a waiter. You have your own circle of chefs. The menu changes each night with about 15 savory courses and 3 desserts. Each chef brings gallops out from behind the kitchen to each table showing you their course for the evening and you say yay or nay…to their face. Therefore, you are either cheersing the chef saying “hell yeah give me that bacon” or “no thanks that looks like poop.” You have the menu in front of you so you know what you will be previewing throughout the night to ease that ordering anxiety and to not go overboard and say yes to everything that comes out immediately. This style of dining is pure entertainment, it keeps the juices flowing and the party alive. It’s also super fun to interact with the chef that made each dish and really brings the experience full circle Each dish ranges from $10-$17 and desserts are $8.
Mussels
On a late night at the end of August we started with the Shrimp and Beef Carpaccio with pickled veggies, horseradish, smoked aioli. I’ve never seen a shrimp plated like this and it almost felt like I was eating shrimp sausage. Whatever it was it was amazing, unique, and challenged my palate. The Smoked Pork Belly was paired with spam which took off positively with half the table and unsure with the other. We loved the Roasted Diver Scallop with Farro Vidalia “risotto,” carrot, and truffle. I do have to say that my piece of scallop was torn apart by my “wolf” friends as I was too slow to dive in because I was taking pictures for y’all. Hey, it was worth it and the reason I had room to order two orders of the “Not Fried” Fried Chicken & Biscuits. That’s another thing here at Gun Show. The staff comes around and asks if you desire seconds once you are hitting the end of the meal or once they see only a few portions dwindling. We had to get a second order of this chicken. It was roasted and served with the skin along with some crunchies on top to give it that fried feeling. The jam poured on top of the chicken and the biscuit sealed the deal. It tasted like a dreamy southern brunch and one of the best takeaways from my Atlanta trip. Therefore, yes, I ordered a second portion before we threw in the towel. Other favorites of the night were the Japanese Style Baked Mussels floating atop the sweet potato tempura (tasted like a funnel cake but without powdered sugar) and the Creamed Corn Polenta, Local Mushrooms, 6 Min Egg, and Scallion. This is the deep south remember? The only thing missing from the night was grits.
For dessert we had the Carrot Cake with Rum Raisin Ice Cream, Madras and Burnt Carrots. Hands down definitely the best carrot cake I’ve ever had. Moist and flat as can be and not layered like you traditionally see at bakeshops. The others loved the Warm Old Fashioned Banana Pudding. Topped with meringue, you take a deep dive through the mixture into a bowl of hot pudding to end the night. I also had my first white pinot noir here. Esquire and Bon Appetit have applauded Gun Show and now so have it. Like it, love it, go eat it.