Monday, December 19, 2011
News French American Brasserie bites the dust
Posted by Besha Rodell @BeshaRodell on Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 2:06 PM
F.A.B. never quite hit the heights in people's hearts of its predecessor, Brasserie Le Coze, which was located in Lenox Square Mall but moved out in 2006. For a while former Joel chef Cyrille Holota ran the kitchen at F.A.B, but never seemed to have the creative leeway to make the restaurant great. (Holota has now landed at BLT Steak, where his influence is more successful.)
What interests me is what type of place will end up in that F.A.B. location.
Comments (5)
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FAB was hit in the hearts of many. These restauranteurs run phenomenal establishments. The harsh reality is economically downtown has not experienced the resurgence everyone hoped for several years ago. Times change, conventions and businesses and expense accounts shrink. This is simply not about the product but about the economics of downtown. While we cannot control the ebbs and flow of the economy, we can control our own destiny; and that is what we see these longtime successful restauranteurs doing. The business has moved and they are in a prime position to recreate their acclaimed food and atmosphere where they belong.
The reality is that all of us in Buckhead should feel privileged to have this Atlanta institution returning to it's roots. Everyone in Buckhead should open their arms to what will undoubtedly be one of the years best editions to the neighborhood. I will guarantee that as Spring breaks the next incarnation of the FAB patio will be the place to be and be seen.
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Now where will the Real Housewives of Atlanta go and fight???
Loved Le Coze but never had a good meal at FAB. That and the location killed it, in my book. Going back to Buckhead and hopefully reverting to the tried and true of Le Coze will get them back.
FAB failed to produce the exclusive dining experience it presented and priced itself as being capable of delivering. So while it sucks to see another business shuttered downtown, good riddance to faux luxury.
After 10+ years living in Atlanta, I still don't understand why a restaurant needs to "hit the heights in people's hearts" in Atlanta to survive. Can we not have a restaurant that just serves reasonably nice brasserie-style food at the kind of prices that allow local people to eat there often? I liked FAB, but I wished they had offered more down-to-earth dishes alongside the fancier ones. You know, the average brasserie in France offers reasonably priced, basic dinner fare alongside the pricier delights. And people who live in the neighborhoods are regulars in their brasseries. I live near downtown and have waited and waited for a "neighborhood" restaurant scene and lively downtown culture to evolve. Few people want to live downtown because there are few restaurants open at night, and though things have improved in the past decade, most of downtown remains relatively dodgy to go strolling about at night. But few independent restaurateurs seem to be able to make a go of downtown because not enough people live there for a restaurant to develop a following of regulars; conventioneers aren't enough. It's a circle in which I see no way out. The City of Atlanta doesn't seem to want to invest in making downtown a genuine place to live the way some other cities have.
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