Omnivore - Home Grown Ga. opens in Reynoldstown

Chef Kevin Clark is keeping it simple after years at Spice and Paul’s

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Image I had a great lunch today at the new Home Grown Ga. (968 Memorial Dr., 404-222-0455) in Reynoldstown. The restaurant, open for breakfast and lunch only, is owned by Lisa Spooner and Kevin Clark, who worked in the kitchens of Spice, Paul’s and Sun in My Belly most of the last 10 years.

The concept here, as the name suggests, is simple comfort food made with locally sourced ingredients. I ordered this sandwich of barbecued chicken, along with collards and black-eyed peas. A bite of the sandwich excited me. Clark is using a vinegar-based, North-Carolina-style sauce — my favorite kind. Clark’s has a vague citric note that turns out to be oranges. The chicken was tender and juicy. My only complaint was the rather soggy texture of the bottom layer of the Texas toast with which the sandwich was made.

Both my vegetable sides were cooked deliciously Southern to the core. I also ordered dessert, Million Dollar Pie, which is mainly a concoction of Cool Whip and pineapple in a graham-cracker crust. If you’ve ever been to a church dinner, you’ve eaten Million Dollar Pie whether it was called that or not.

The brief menu changes somewhat daily, depending on availability of ingredients. At brunch this past weekend, Clark made omelets with chanterelle mushrooms he bought from a North Georgia grower.

Clark said the restaurant has no plans to open for dinner but he does hope to cook special meals at which he’ll showcase the fine-dining skills he developed at Paul’s and Spice. “But I’m very happy to be keeping it simple, the kind of food I grew up eating,” he said. “This is what I’ve always wanted to do.”