Omnivore - Bantam and Biddy boys at Ansley

I ran into Shaun Doty and Lance Gummere at the Ansley Mall Starbucks today. As has been reported everywhere, the two are opening a new restaurant, Bantam and Biddy, across from Starbucks.

While the mall is at risk of turning into a food court with the fairly recent openings of Panera Bread and Boardwalk, regulars at LA Fitness and Starbucks regularly complain about the lack of a higher-quality restaurant there.

The two are waiting for a city building permit to get started. They are hoping for an October opening.

Lance told me that while the menu will focus on rotisserie chicken, it won’t be entirely limited to that. Basically, the restaurant will be fashioned in some ways after a classic meat-and-three but, of course, with the high-quality cooking for which both of them are known.

I asked Lance, until recently chef of the Shed at Glenwood, if he grew tired of making $3 sliders every Wednesday night after three years. He said that by the time he left, he felt like he was developing “something like writer’s block,” where it became difficult to create new versions.

Let’s hope the City of Atlanta gets its slow ass in gear to approve the building permit soon.