Kevin Rathbun’s Krog Street Krawl

I had the opportunity to "get rolled", at all three of Kevin Rathbun’s Atlanta restaurants  recently and fortunately, unlike Nancy Nichols, the power stayed on! In chef parlance "getting rolled" means sit down, forget the menu and get ready for one fabulous dish after another to roll out of the kitchen.

If you haven’t dined with "Big Daddy" you are missing the boat big time. I was fortunate to work for Kevin at Baby Routh in Dallas, one of the best restaurants and kitchens I’ve ever been involved with. Kevin was fantastic to work for and an incredible chef. He shaped much of what I, and many other top chef’s in and around Texas, do. He taught us about building flavor and seasoning. If Kevin came down the line during pre meal, tasted your prep and found anything not well seasoned you would get to wear the "salt belt".  This was a tool belt that had places to hang five 2lb. boxes of kosher salt. You would wear it until you learned to properly season your food. Usually didn’t take long.

My beautiful wife Carol arranged a little trip to Charleston, West Virginia for my big 5-0 birthday. My dad was a pro baseball player for a AAA team there when I was born. My folks loved Charleston but I had never been back. We stopped in Atlanta to visit Carol’s uncle Ken. When she told me about her little plan I immediately screamed, "I have to get in touch with Kevin and Melissa so we can eat!" When I reached "Big Daddy" he said come on down, I want ya’ll to do the Krog Street Krawl.

Let me do some splainin’. Kevin and his wife Melissa, who is from New Orleans and a certified barrel of fun, own three places on Krog Street. Krog Bar, Rathbun’s, and Kevin Rathbun Steak. Big Daddy got in on the ground floor in a part of town known as Inman Park. Sort of an older warehouse/manufacturing district that some thought was a tad risky. Well it has worked out pretty well as Kevin has won just about every conceivable award Atlanta, and the US for that matter, has to offer.

Carol, uncle Ken, his roommate Tony and I were truly in for a treat. Here’s how the Krawl went down-

Krog Bar is a Mediterranean inspired tapas, Italian and Spanish wine and beer bar. It is located just in front of Rathbun’s in a separate little building but still part of the old Atlanta Stove works. We got there about 5:30 and got right to it with direction from a wonderful bartender.  Marcona almonds, Arbequina olives, grilled artichokes and simple crusty sliced Italian bread got us started, followed by Manchego Reserva, Cabrales and Mahon cheeses . Crudi ahi tuna with apricot vinegar and Tuscan olive oil was amazing. Slow down I thought, we have a long way to go…

Rathbun’s is a beautiful modern American themed restaurant and Kevin’s initial venture in Atlanta. He rocked our world. A substantial 4 top was not large enough to hold the culinary blitz coming our way. Small plates of eggplant fries with confectioners sugar (Kevin’s homage to beignets) and Kurobuta pork belly tacos with orange hoison. Raw plates of , ahi Tuna, citrus, serranos & cold pressed olive oil and hamachi tartare with Korean chili mayo and spicy cucumber were just a few of the fabulous items we reveled in. We went ahead and had dessert just in case we popped  after the steakhouse. Pastry Chef Kirk Parks wowed us with banana peanut butter cream pie, gooey toffee cake with JD ice cream and a Fuji apple cobbler with sage ice cream, YUM!

Kevin Rathbun Steak, "a steakhouse for the new generation".  By now it’s about 8:30. My crew, Kevin, Melissa and I sat on the beautiful patio and enjoyed a nice cigar and cocktail before we took on the beef.This is an incredibly beautiful restaurant. Since we’d already had a ton of apps previously, KR went straight to the meat of the matter. Dry aged porterhouse for 3 and a dry aged 22 ounce cowboy cut ribeye. OMG, the umami factor the dry aging brought on was sublime. The meat so tender it was like eating beef butter. I think he sent out every side on the menu- from black truffle butter and a killer house steak sauce to twice baked taters, zucchini picatta, oregano-garlic roasted potatoes and good ol’ creamed spinach.

I had just one request when we finally submitted to the tasty delights laid before us, Skycap with a wheelchair. Thank God for life’s pleasures and Big Daddy’s food is surely one of them!

Tell me about your experiences "getting rolled". I’d love to hear it!