Chef Ford Fry, owner of JCT. Kitchen & Bar, No. 246 and The Optimist and Oyster Bar at The Optimist in Atlanta plans to open King + Duke, a new colonial American focused restaurant in March 2013. Located in One Buckhead Plaza in the former location of Nava, the restaurant will feature a large open hearth for early American cooking techniques and use locally sourced products. Joseph Schafer, currently the chef de cuisine at JCT. Kitchen & Bar, will serve as executive chef.
Although the menu is still in the planning phases, the emphasis will be on wood roasted meat, fish and fowl. For lunch service, these items will be adapted for salads, sandwiches and lighter entree plates.
Plans from the interior design team at Meyer Davis Studio Inc. feature an open kitchen design that allows diners an unobstructed view of the chef and kitchen staff as they prepare dishes. A heavily planted exterior garden will lead to the main dining room.
The restaurant will also have a private dining room – called The Drawing Room – as a nod to the rooms where men used to retire after dinner to smoke cigars and drink brandy during colonial times. This space will be furnished with old oil paintings and plush seating.
