Sunday, February 22, 2009
Food, In this Issue..., Reviews, Atlanta

Secret Cellar 56

The best deal in cuisine in Atlanta

BY KATIE KELLY BELL

We’re all aware by now that the economy is an ugly business. Finding a gem of a restaurant with budget-minded pricing has more urgency these days—times may be bad, but we still love to get out of the house now and then. If you hanker for sophisticated food and decent wine but your wallet is thin, a visit to Cellar 56 is in order. Just for fun, I could probably come up with 56 good reasons to patronize this little spot. For now, I’ll settle on the biggest reason any of us should visit: It’s a knockout deal.

Located in East Andrews Square (it’s a reincarnation of the old East Andrews Grill), Cellar 56 invites you in with an outer courtyard perfect for idling with a glass of wine and a light bite. Inside, the small dining room is flanked on one end by a long bar; the rest of the space is fleshed out with wood tones, white tablecloths, fluffy banquettes with plump pillows and a wall of wine bottles.

Comprised of small dishes, the menu is divided into garden plates ($4), sea and land plates (a whopping $5). The most expensive item? A fondue chocolate pot for two, for a hefty $6. At this point, my skepticism seeps in and I expect Lilliputian portions, cheap ingredients and a chef they recruited from a school cafeteria. Alas, every plate we order was easily shared by two people. I’m no math wizard, but I think that averages out to about $2.50 a person. Ingredients are fresh and often sourced from organic boutique purveyors. The chef? None other than Paul Agnelli, who brings heavyweight experience to the kitchen from his stints at Van Gogh’s and the Capitol Grille.

Best bets on this menu (there are more than 25 selections) run the gamut. Chef clearly likes to dabble in a variety of tastes and textures. Let’s start with the mac ’n’ cheese, a holdover from his days at the Capital Grille (where I can assure you it costs quite a bit more money). Our portion easily serves two. Plump with orecchiette, the sauce was a wicked combo of green chilies, crispy prosciutto, butter and layers of silken cheese.  Gorgeous New Bedford scallops, pan-seared with crisped brown edges and a pliant center, sit atop a pile of sweet corn speckled with Applewood smoked bacon. Afterward, we croon over rich and earthy Guinness-braised short rib. There’s a small altercation as my friend and I both dive for the remaining slice of duck confit flatbread with fig jam and Point Reyes blue cheese. I could go on—crabmeat with avocado and grapefruit mojo, grilled lamp pops, chipotle pork, fried green tomatoes—but then I’d run out of room to talk about the wine (or the blueberry crumble with gingerbread and lemon curd for $3).

The wine list offers roughly 30 or so options by the glass, and, for my money, the white selections are more interesting (and make better pairings) than the reds. Don’t fret about knowing what wines should pair with your food. The servers here are almost panting to share their opinions—and seem thrilled to get the chance to turn you on to something new and different. At a mere $3, you can taste five wines and still not break the bank. At one point during the meal, our waiter asks me if I’d noticed the Eisch glassware. No, I haven’t (too busy with the food). He waxes poetic about the sandblasted surface of each glass and how it aerates the wine more quickly by creating more turbulence in the glass as one swirls. Even the stemware is of fine provenance.

The doors here have only been open for almost two months, yet the parts all seem to be moving together nicely. Make time to pop in and try a plate or two—you can’t afford to miss it. SP